“What?”She looked up at him and shook her head.“No, it’s nothing like that.It’s just that Riley has a tendency to be interested in something until she gets it, and then she loses interest pretty quickly.”
“Well, it’ll be up to us to keep her on track, then,” he said.“If we gamify the whole thing maybe?”
“Gamify cat care?”
“Just, like, keeping track of what each girl is doing to make sure that the care is being completed.Did you clean out the litter box, did you spend time with your cat?I do it with Sally’s chores.Any time she finishes them all without a fuss, we do something like get a pizza, make cookies, or go to a movie.She needs to understand that chores—including caring for cats—must be done before fun.But then I try to make the fun worth her while, because really, who likes to just work all the time?”
“I may have to see this chore list one day,” said Sarah.“Meanwhile, it looks like we have two girls interested in going into that store.”
He followed her to the door and held it open for the three to walk through.Sarah seemed surprised by what was a natural inclination for him, and thanked him genuinely.He shrugged and followed them to the cat supplies.
There they weighed the pros and cons of the beds, the food bowls, and the food itself.Sarah consulted a list that Raven had sent and found the brand of food she had recommended for new kittens.
Finally, they settled on cat food, water dishes made of metal so they couldn’t easily break, beds that were brown because they reminded the girls of chocolate and had cute paw prints on them, and cat carriers that they got on sale with a coupon Raven provided.
“You’re getting one of Raven’s rescue kittens, are you?”the young woman at the cash register asked.
“We’re getting the Tumble Twins,” said Riley.
“Wow, I’ve seen them on the kitty cam.They’re so cute,” said the woman, “Your mom and dad must be cool to let you adopt two cats at once.”
Sally and Riley looked at each other, and they both said, “Yes, they are.”Then each looked up at their parent, smiling widely, and neither he nor Sarah spoke up to correct the woman.Maybe Sarah hadn’t noticed.Or maybe she just didn’t have the energy to correct them.
Or…?
But that idea had to go back in the box before he let it out completely.They were just cat co-parents, and that was it.
As he picked up one of the bags and followed the trio to the door, he couldn’t help but wish—just a little—that the woman at the cash register had the ability to see the future.Because the simple act of shopping for cat things with Sarah and the girls had been one of the more pleasant experiences of his life.Drama free.Normal.
He liked drama free, normal days.
In fact, he kind of craved them.
When they arrived at the Cat’s Meow Rescue Centre half an hour later, Sarah felt better about the decision to adopt the cats.Riley chattered on about cat care facts as she drove.It was clear she’d read the book Sarah bought her—or at least had looked things up on the internet.
“Which one should I get?”asked Riley.“Dot or Dash?”
“Why don’t you and Sally decide together?Or let the cats decide?”
“I really want Dash.”
“Why?”
“Dash is more like me.He likes to run and tumble around a lot.Dot sits more.I don’t like to just sit.”
“That’s true.Have you talked to Sally about it?”
“I think she’ll like Dot better.”
“What makes you say that?”Sarah glanced over her shoulder and changed lanes to take the next exit to the center.
“Sally’s different than me.She likes to go home after we play and read books.She needs a cat who would like to lie around with her.I need one that would still want to jump around.”
“Maybe Dot will pick her, then,” said Sarah, scanning the road ahead until she saw the big sign for the center.She turned into the driveway.
“Maybe I can just tell Sally I want Dash.”
“You could do that too.Nothing wrong with voicing your opinion.As long as you both agree.It must be best for the cats too.”
