I smile when his chubby little cat waddles himself right up the steps and rubs against my leg, purring loudly. “Hey, Marvin.” I scratch his ears but then let out a startled little laugh when I see the protruding belly.
“What? I told you not to fat shame my cat,” Dakota says, all huffy.
I pick up the cat carefully and find exactly what I suspected, cuddling it up to my chest. “I’m not. But I have to tell you, I don’t think Marvin is actually a Marvin. I think she might be a Mavis.”
“What?” Dakota’s brow furrows. “What are you talking about?”
I smile and cuddle the cat to my chest. Her nose is a little cold and wet as she rubs up against my cheek. “You ready to be a cat grandpa?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” His frown gets even more intense.
“She’s pregnant,” I say. Having been around plenty of cats in my life and growing up on a farm where we had many, many barn kittens, I’d bet my next paycheck on it. You learn to pick up on the signs pretty quickly when new kittens are coming.
“What? No. He can’t be pregnant.”
“I’m almost positivesheis.” I try to gently nudge his brain in that new direction. I smile at his adorable angry face as he studies his cat, and I can see the realization hit him. His cheeks pink a little. “I’d say you have about a week. Two tops.”
I offer the cat to him, and he takes her, her plump little belly looking full and on display as he looks her over. “Mavis?”
I can’t stop my chuckle. He just looks so adorably clueless right now. “Do I need to get her anything?” He holds her close, and her purring intensifies. “Should I take her to the vet? I don’t think she’d like the car. She runs away when she hears a vehicle.”
I scratch her ears, and she leans into the petting. “Nah, I think she’ll be just fine. When the time comes, she’ll know what to do.”
“But...” He looks distressed now, and I feel kind of bad for teasing him about it.
“Hey, she’ll be okay.” I put my hand on his shoulder, causing him to stiffen for only a brief second. But it’s enough for me to remove my hand because I don’t want him to be uncomfortable. “She has a really nice barn. I’m sure she’s already been getting it ready for her kittens.”
“But it still gets so cold at night,” he says, his voice dripping with worry.
I hop up and walk down the stairs. “Come on. Let’s go make sure,” I say and smile when he follows me, his cat in his arms.
We walk into the barn. I was right. It’s really nice, clean and tidy with some hay spread about.
“This is perfect.” I look up at the roof and see it’s in good shape. “They’ll be plenty warm in here.”
I look around and smile, my heart feeling warm when I see there are two bowls. One with what looks like fresh water and one with some cat food in it. Dakota places the cat down extremely gently, so carefully, she gets a little annoyed and kind of jerks out of his hold to get herself to the ground. But she seems to love him, wrapping herself around his legs.
“My parents didn’t allow us to have any animals.” His mouth purses. “Well, not ones we couldn’t eat. I never had cats or dogs growing up.”
I can tell he’s a little embarrassed that he didn’t know the cat was female and about to have babies. “I had a lot, which is the only way I’d have known. Grew up with cats running all over the property. Always having babies.”
He smiles slightly at that, his lips barely twitching. “That sounds fun.”
“It was. But it was stressful too.” I grin. “I always worried about them, and sometimes the babies didn’t make it. Broke my fucking heart every time.”
His smile vanishes, and he’s frowning again. “That would be awful.” He looks panicked and over at Mavis. “What if theydon’t? She’d be heartbroken. Are you sure there isn’t anything else I can do?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe when they’re born, you could take them to the vet. But for now, I think you’re doing everything you can. Food and water.” I lean down and scratch her soft little ears. “Lots of love.”
I look up at Dakota and see a determined look on his face, like he’s taking in the information and making a checklist in his head. “Okay, I can do that.”
I stand up straight and fight the urge to reach out and touch his arm again. “You’ve got this.”
I’m rewarded with that small smile again that looks totally involuntary, but I’ll take it.
“Hey, you want to go to trivia with me tonight?”
“What?” He looks horrified now, and I almost regret asking him because I feel like an ass for frazzling him—though I have to admit I kind of like it. “Why would you want me to go with you?”
