Page 74 of Falling With You

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You haven’t had to deal with Satan.”

“I have four cats. I think I can deal with your kitten.”

“Famous last words.”

Diego was excited to get in his little carrier and buckled into the backseat, and we even picked up a couple of things for Aiden so he had something to wear in the morning. I noticed that we didn’t pack him any pajamas, and I was just fine with that. I didn’t think we would be needing them.

“Okay, are you ready?” I asked, looking over at him. He had his bag over his shoulder, and little Diego clutched tightly to his chest. We had taken him out of the carrier because he was so small that it should be fine. Okay, we really took him out of the carrier because he was adorable, and we couldn’t help it. But, still. Adorable. I opened the door and looked back at Aiden. “Wait right there. Just let me see if the cats notice.”

I closed the door behind him, and we stood in the foyer as the four cats slowly made their way into the living room. Oh, they knew something was amiss. They knew that there was a stranger. And it wasn’t Aiden.

Runway walked right up to me, looked behind me at Aiden, huffed, and then flicked her tail at me before walking away.

That was a good sign. She didn’t growl, she didn’t hiss, but I was probably going to have to figure out exactly what she would do later.

She walked back to the couch and sat on it, glaring.

The boys came at me, both of them glaring.

Diego let out a little mewling sound, and I winced.

Of course, he wanted to announce his presence. There were big cats here, and he wanted to play.

“He’s wiggling, Sienna,” Aiden whispered.

“Oh, just be careful.”

I tried to sing-song it, but I was a little worried. Moxie looked right up at the kitten, his eyes wide. Then he dashed out of the room, scared to death.

“Is that very large cat scared of this kitten?”

“He’s afraid of his own shadow sometimes. It happens.”

Danger went right up to Aiden, rubbed his body all over his legs, and sat down, looking up at Diego.

“Okay, bend down slowly and see if they want to sniff each other.”

“And leave my hands in the way of claws?” Aiden asked.

“Perhaps.”

He slowly knelt down in front of Danger, and Danger sniffed at Diego while Diego lifted his little paw and patted Danger on the face. But there were no claws. I counted that as a win. And then Danger licked Diego’s face and sauntered away.

“Well, he’s claimed now,” I whispered, holding back the laughter.

“So, this is going good then?”

I winced. “Just wait for it.”

And then Baby came in. She ran from the stairs and slid across the hardwood floor before catching her feet and running towards us. Diego was still in Aiden’s hands, crouched, but at the commotion, Diego bit Aiden’s hand. Aiden let go. Diego was on the ground, and we were both trying to catch him, but then suddenly, Baby was on top of Diego, and they were rolling around, screaming at each other and yelling. But no claws, and no teeth. They were just playing.

Aiden reached in to try to grab one of them, but I pulled him back.

“No, let’s not get you bit.” He held up his hand. “He’s lucky he didn’t break the skin already,” he said, shaking his fist.

“Well, I think Diego’s made a friend.” Danger and Baby started rolling around with Diego, playing and pulling at each other’s tails but not playing too roughly. Moxie watched from the sidelines as if he wanted to play but was still a little too scared.