A knock on the door jolted Katie from her deep slumber. Blinking away the sleep, she eyed Stephen. He was standing at the sink, shaving. "I'll get it." He smiled at her.
Climbing out of the bed anyway, she shook her head. "It might be Elunara." She opened the door and blinked at Ryan.
Ryan stood on the porch holding a large basket, and seeing Stephen behind Katie, wearing nothing but pants and shaving cream on his face, came to his own conclusions. "Katie..."
She sighed. "What is it, Ryan?"
"I came to apologize."
"Ryan..."
"What I did was stupid." He rushed on. "I shouldn't have lost my head or accused you of anything. I realize that now. I was accusing you as much as I was... him. I didn't mean it. I... love you. Or, I thought I did. But... I guess I lose."
Katie frowned. "Ryan, things are really jumbled up and confusing for me right now. I can't..." She swallowed. "I don't know that I can love you back."
"I get that now." He sighed. "But I wanted..."
"You're my best friend." She whispered. "At least, I thought you were."
"I am! I mean, I could be, if you'd let me again. Look, I brought you something."
"Ryan..."
He opened the basket. Inside were five tiny sleepy kittens. "Aunt Mayby's cat had kittens a couple of months ago. They're ready to go to new homes now. I was thinking that maybe you'd like one. Or all of them. As many as you want!"
"Oh!" Katie gasped and collapsed to her knees. "They're so precious!"
Sitting the basket on the ground, Ryan knelt. "Aren't they cool?"
Carefully, Katie lifted a fuzzy grey kitten and cuddled it to her cheek. "I want one." Sitting it back in the basket, he picked up an orange one. "But, how can I choose?"
Stephen eyed Ryan before kneeling beside Katie. "You can have as many as you want." He stroked a hand down her back. "It might be a bit much, but you could just take the whole basket."
"No. No, I wouldn't know what to do with so many." She picked up a multicolored one. "I want this one. And maybe that one." She pointed to a black one.
"Then they are yours." Stephen kissed her temple.
Ryan winced and deliberately stared at the kittens. "Yeah. They're yours."
"What about the rest?" Katie looked up at Ryan. "What will happen to them?"
"I don't know. Aunt Mayby said she can't take care of any more cats, and that she wanted rid of them. Which is why I thought of you."
"What about Carla?"
"Carla?"
"Have you offered any to her?"
"I hadn't thought about that."
"From what little you have told me about Carla, I wonder if she could use a friend. Maybe the kittens will cheer her up too."
--
Ryan sighed as he hauled the basket. He hadn't even commented on Katie's pregnancy, and he was going to. He was going to make everything up to her, he was just using the kittens as an excuse to go see her, but with Stephen there... well, he guessed he lost. Katie was so beautiful and sweet, but her taste in men was terrible. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he wanted to punch himself. He deserved to lose if that was the kind of person he was. Sitting down in an alley, he opened the basket and pulled out a kitten. The sleepy little grey cat mewed at him. He wanted that one for himself, but pets weren't allowed in the soldier's barracks. Cuddling the little fluff ball, he sighed again.
"Come on, Grey, let's see if Carla will give you a home instead." He was treated to a claw in the cheek. "Hey!" It mewed at him again, flexing and pawing at him. "Oh." He laughed. "You like me, you're just terrible at showing it. Ok, I get it. We're just same is all." He tucked the kitten back in the basket with his brother and sister. "Come on, stay put." He muttered as he tried to get the lid closed. Grey kept trying to escape. Even with the lid closed, the pitiful mewing got the other two awake.
"Oh, don't do this to me. You heard Aunt Mayby. You have to go."
Making his way over to Carla's house, he frowned. What if she didn't want a kitten? What if she got mad at him for offering? Who else could he ask about the kittens? He slowed his pace down. Maybe Elunara knew somebody who take a kitten. He'd ask her next.
Stepping up on to the porch, he gave a swift knock. When the maid opened the door, he held up the basket. "Is Carla in?"
"The Mistress—"
"Ryan? My boy, is that you?" Richard stepped out from the parlor. "It is! How good of you to visit."
"I'm sorry sir, I was hoping Carla was in."
"Yes, yes. Tilda, go retrieve Carla, please."
Tilda backed away and bowed. "Yes, sir." She headed for the stairs.
Richard eyed the basket in Ryan's hands. "Is that a picnic perhaps?"
"Huh?" Ryan looked down. "Oh! Oh, no. This is just some kittens. I was going to offer them to Carla. If that's ok."
Richard regarded him for a few moments. "Kittens, you say..." A twinkle came to his eye. "I see. Yes, yes, I do. Come. Come, let's put you in the parlor."
"Put...?" Ryan blinked as he was shuffled into the parlor.
Carla made her way downstairs and rolled her eyes at her father's back in the parlor door. His favorite past time was locking her in that room with strange men. She was only glad it was Ryan this time. Tilda had mentioned some sort of basket in Ryan's hand. Maybe...
"Father?"
Richard turned slightly and shot a grin at his only daughter. "Yes? Oh! Yes, yes. Go in, dear." He ushered the girl in the door. "I'll leave you to it."
Trying not to sigh, Carla turned her attention to Ryan and his basket. "I didn't expect to see you today."
"Listen, I... well, I had a question..."
Biting her lip, Carla scooted closer. "Yes?"
A mewing noise had her freezing in place. "Sorry about that." Ryan stooped down and put the basket on the floor. "Grey really wants out."
"Grey?"
"It's not very creative, I know." Lifting the lid, he pulled the grey little fluff ball out of the basket and cuddled the kitten to his cheek. "I came to ask if you'd like a kitten. My aunt Mayby told me she couldn't keep any more cats around the house, and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them."
Carla put a hand to her chest and blinked down at him. "And you brought them here?"
"Yeah! Well, ok it was kind of Katie's idea... I'm sorry, do you not like them?" Ryan's face fell.
Carla's face twitched. "Katie?"
"Yeah, Katie took two of them, leaving these three." He held up the little grey kitten. "This one is my personal favorite. He's really spunky."
"She did, did she?" Carla asked quietly. Clearing her throat, she crossed the rest of the distance. "Well, let me see them." Tugging up the hem of her skirt, she stooped down beside the basket and peered in. Two more kittens were trying to climb out of the basket. Poking the fuzziest one in the head, Carla considered the contents of the basket. "What about you?"
"Oh, I can't have one in the soldier's barracks. It's against the rules. Though, at my current rate, I might get kicked out soon." He sighed and fiddled with the grey one's paw.
"Why do you say that?" Picking up the fuzziest kitten, she held it up and stared into its blue eyes.
"I keep screwing up. General Mark told me if I toe out of line just one more time, I'm through."
She cuddled the kitten to her chest and put a hand on his arm. "How awful."
"I just don't know what to do. Aunt Mayby doesn't have room for me at her place, what with all my cousins, and the cats and the dogs. I don't want to go back to Dustwallow."
Carla considered the mewing little fluff balls. "I'll take them."
"Huh?"
"All of them." She stood up and hugged the kitten to her chest.
"You will?" Hope broke through his voice. "I don't want them to burden you."
Cala rolled her eyes. "As if. This house is big enough for a few little kittens. In fact..." She bit her lip. "If you do get kicked out, maybe you could stay here."
Ryan cocked his head to the side. "Wouldn't that be improper?"
With a wave of her hand, she shrugged. "Again, this house is big enough for the both of us. I'm sure my father wouldn't care. He's always going on about how lonely it is around here. You could keep him company."
"You sure about that?"
In actuality, Carla wasn't sure about anything that just came out of her mouth. But the more she thought about Ryan leaving the city, the more unhappy she felt. Something just had to be done, she guessed. And if her father had something to say, well, she would handle it. Somehow. "It is settled." She said finally. "If you find yourself without a home, then mine would be open to you."
"You're so sweet, Carla." Without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I'm going to go tell Mayby about the kittens." He sat Grey on the floor and grabbed her hands. "I'll see you later."
After he left, Carla gently touched her hand to her cheek.
-----
Down at the training yard, Stephen was giving his best to his opponent as Katie watched on from the platform with Susan.
"So, what did you decide?" Elunara flopped down on the platform and pulled out her board.
"We... well, we didn't. I mean, I kind of want to. But he is awful set on me being sure."
"It does take two to tango." Elunara shrugged. "You both have to come to an agreement."
Katie blushed. "We..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "We agreed to still have sex though."
Elunara laughed. "Good choice. Good choice. I must say, when you're compatible in bed, you're compatible in other areas. But, don't let it be the only area, okay?"
"Yes, Momma." Katie rubbed a hand over her belly and blushed. "Oh, watching him work just does something to me."
"Why do you think I'm out here?" Susan winked. "I could sit in a million other locations and get my painting done just as easily, but here I get to watch my husband work."
"Don't I know it?" Elunara winked back.
"Mommy? Can we go see daddy today?" Emaline sat down beside her mother. "Watching everyone is fun, but I like the castle."
"Later, little bit. Momma wants to watch her husbands too."
