Page 39 of Piece Us Together
He nibbles on his bottom lip, eyeing all of the cats in the room. He shakes his head before signing something close to,what if my cat doesn’t like me?
After I confirm that’s what he’s worried about, I turn to the girl who brought us in here. “Do the cats ever come to people, if they just kind of sit and wait?”
Her eyes light up. “Yes! Actually, that’s what we tell families with little kids to do. That way they end up with cats that aren’t particularly fearful and are more willing to be touched and played with. The cats that hang back are going to be the cats that will usually hide in the house most of the time or just kind of laze nearby, but not want to be cuddled. Though sometimes there’s a skittish one that becomes very affectionate once they feel safe at home, so it’s not a perfect test.”
It apparently seems like a good test for Matt because he immediately plops down on the floor with his legs crossed and just sits there waiting. I join him since I don’t really care what cats we end up taking home as long as he’s happy with them. Though, as I check on Bryce’s stare-down, I can’t help but think that maybe the grumpy orange cat should stay here. That cat is either going to kill Bryce in his sleep or become his second-in-command. Both are equally terrifying.
At least Carter and Casey seem to be enjoying themselves with the three kittens on the floor. The girl who brought us in is talking to them, mentioning something about a bonded pair that has Carter grinning. The fluffy white one has climbed up Casey’s shirt, licking at his chin.
A movement near my leg catches my attention. I look over just in time to watch a cat bump its forehead against Matt’s knee. It’s bigger than a kitten, but skinny, with fur looking like it was once white before someone splatter-painted it with brown and black and orange. Matt makes a soft sound that’s very close to an, “Oh,” and offers the cat his hand.
The cat immediately starts purring loudly, its tail swishing almost like a dog’s tail would wag.
“Oh! That one is one of our hiders,” the worker says with a smile. She squats down, giving us plenty of space. “She was found a few weeks ago in a barn, just as the weather was starting to turn really cold. She was all alone and a little roughed up, but she’s a survivor.” Her smile widens to a grin. “Seems she likes you.”
Matt swallows hard, burying his fingers in the cat’s fur. He glances at me with glassy eyes and lifts his free hand to sign,this one.
“We’ll take her,” I tell the worker.
“This one too,” Bryce adds. I look up and have to swallow a groan when I see the giant orange monster is overflowing out of his arms. The cat seems to squint its beady eyes at me.
“And these,” Casey declares, a cat in each arm—the bonded pair.
I don’t even have to look at Carter, but I still do. Sure enough. “And this one, please!” he tells the worker, holding up the white fluffball for us to see.
The worker laughs softly. I can tell she’s slightly overwhelmed by all of the people suddenly adopting at least half of the catsin the room, but she jumps right into explaining the next steps and asking us questions from the adoption checklist. We had bought plenty of things for the house in preparation—though we will probably need more considering the number of cats we’re apparently going home with. The one thing no one thought of was cat carriers.
She tells us to leave the cats behind, leading us to the front desk so we can sign papers and pay the fees. Apparently the shelter has carriers we can buy and then she’ll help us get the cats into them.
The guys are all excited, Matt practically bouncing while the rest of them start debating names. It seems they’re considering a food theme. Casey asks Matt if he’d be okay with that and Matt grins wide and nods.
Then the poor girl walks us into the lobby to find all of the operatives quickly turning to face us, hiding a cage behind them.
“Um.” She glances at us before facing them again. “Did you all want to look at the cats as well? These guys picked out a few of them already.”
“A few?” Maison asks in amusement.
“Five,” Bryce says proudly before his eyes narrow. He settles a glare on each operative for a few seconds before smiling like he didn’t just threaten them using his eyes. “Isn’t that great?”
“Fantastic,” Jake says at the same time Maison says, “Absolutely,” and Ace says, “Hell yeah,” and Travis says, “Carter, you didn’t get one, did you?”
There’s some chaos for a moment as Carter answers Travis and Maison answers the worker to let her know they don’t want any other cats and Jake informs her that they want one of the pets out here, apparently in the cage behind them.
A fucking tortoise.
“But we can change his name, right?” Ace asks. “Because Fred is a terrible name.”
The girl laughs, giving us all a look like she’s considering the possibility that she fell asleep at some point and is having a crazy fever dream or something. “Uh—yeah. You can change the names of any of the animals if you want.”
“We’re going to name him Bushmaster,” Maison informs everyone.
“Like the snake?” Max asks with a frown.
Maison blinks at him. “Like…the firearm.”
I’m pretty sure all of us survivors roll our eyes in unison, but the operatives look pleased as punch. Which is how we end up bringing home a ginormous angry orange cat named Stud Muffin, a multi-colored sweetheart named Chai, a white fuzzball named Dumpling, a bonded pair named Cookies and Cream, and a fucking tortoise named Bushmaster.
It’s not until the end of the day when Maison and I are enjoying a glass of wine in front of the fireplace, the cats peeking around the back of the couch at the flames like they might attack, that I even remember we’re waiting for our next night with Hunter.