Page 20 of Lane's Lost Kitten

“I didn’t realize how many things I had,” I noted.

“And you also have things at my place,” he reminded me. I didn’t have a ton over there—a couple of outfits was all. At least as far as clothing went. I did have toys, coloring books and crayons, and my panda dishes though. We had it set up where I could wake up and choose to be little in either place without the need to go back and forth. It was working out for us.

“Speaking of my place, did you want to come over and play today? We could try the new play dough set I got you.”

I had to admit the offer was tempting.

“I so want to play,” I said, really meaning it. “And I love play dough, but I had a different kind of play in mind.”

“Oh, really? I could be persuaded. What are you thinking?”

I grabbed his hand. “Let’s throw the garbage away and go get pancakes, eating them until we burst.”

He broke into laughter.

“Things are not boring with you.” He cupped my cheek. “They’re not even close to boring. Heck, they might not be on the same continent. Even when we are ‘boring’ by most standards, though, and when we just stay in, that’s not boring, either.”

“Daddy, is this a long-winded way of saying no pancakes?” I stuck my bottom lip out in a faux pout.

“Of course not. We can eat pancakes until tomorrow if you want.”

“Good because we are going to need our energy.” He nibbled on my bottom lip while I grabbed his ass. “Lots and lots of energy.”

Chapter Sixteen

Elio

It was a logical thing to do, moving in together. The real question was why it took us so long. We had been spending every night together in one place or the other for months, bringing Cat-terine with us each night, and while it wasn’t a big hassle, it was a little inconvenient. We’d end up at one house while the fixings for that night’s dinner were at the other, or the shirt Lane wanted for work was in my closet and we were at his place. Things like that. But none of those were reason to move in together. Not really.

The best reason was we’d grown together into a couple of people who loved each other but also liked one another and never willingly were apart. The people at the club joked we were chained at the hip, and I didn’t hate the idea. It was time, and there was no question which unit we would live in. Gramps’ old space, my current one, had three bedrooms. The owner’s unit was more like a house than an apartment, right at the front of the building with a big front window Cat-terine loved for its patch of afternoon sunlight. She even had her own towel there.

We woke up on the morning of moving day very early because Lane’s place was already rented out, and the new tenant would be moving in very soon. We wouldn’t have much to do because he had kept it nice, but we did need to get his things out soon enough for the new cleaning service to do their thing. He protested that he’d do it himself, but I had these ladies for a reason. Unlike the last service, they had eagle eyes and left everything immaculate. They were in and out in a few hours in most cases, too.

“Good morning, love.” I rolled over ready to wake Lane in a fun way, but all I found was Cat-terine curled up beside me. “Where is Lane?” I stroked her furry head. “Is he in the bathroom?”

“I’m packing up the kitchen.” He bustled into the bedroom with an empty box. “Since you mentioned the bathroom, want to be in charge of that?”

“We haven’t even had coffee yet.” I sat up, but I wasn’t really awake. “Don’t you want to come back to bed for a few minutes? Maybe we can…”

“Not right now, we can’t, Mr. Landlord. If we’re going to have this place emptied in time for Maria and Jolene to clean at three. The new tenants will be here tomorrow. We have no time to waste.” We’d actually planned to get more done earlier in the week, but between some plumbing problems that came up for me and an extra busy week at work for Lane, we hadn’t been able to. “Come on! I have the coffee brewing. Bathroom packing, please.”

I was awake enough now to be excited about what this day meant. From now on, we’d have the same exact address, down to the unit number. We’d have all our things in one place and would live together for real. Officially. I bounced out of bed and grabbed the box, planted a kiss on Lane’s cheek, and raced into the bathroom to take care of business and pack the things that lived in there.

When he moved in, when I helped him unload, it hadn’t seemed like nearly so much stuff, but it had all been neatly packed in boxes intended to be carted a long distance. Now, we figured we’d pack a few boxes, unpack, and come back for more.

That was a better idea on paper than in reality. We were starting to pile things in my place, our new place, because time was bearing down on us. Lane was starting to get a wild look in his eye and Cat-terine, well, she didn’t have a clue what was going on except that she didn’t like it and was sitting in a corner glowering at us. By noon, I knew I had to step in and make some decisions. My little and our pet needed me.

First things first. I picked up the phone and called the cleaners. “Hi, Maria. I know we said three o’clock, but can you possibly change and come very early tomorrow morning? Like six o’clock?”

She laughed. “Six? Really?”

“It’s a lot to ask, I know. But I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Sounds like someone had some planning issues.” Maria and her partner in crime were incredibly organized and would never have anything like this happen. “Can I make another suggestion?”

“All right…” If they couldn’t come tomorrow morning, we’d be in deep trouble because we were not going to get done today at the rate we were going. Not with any level of sanity. “What did you have in mind?”

“We can come now and help. Clean behind you as you go, even pack and move things. We’re very good at that.”

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