Page 27 of A Little Spilled Milk

Could I take care of him? Probably not, but I could call a shelter. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t going to put him back in that box again.

“Yeah, I got you.”

He handed me the kitten and ran into the apartment building next door, his backpack thumping against him as he ran.

“Hey, you. Let’s get inside.” The kitten snuggled right in.

When I reached the elevator, Daddy was already standing by my suitcase. “I was wondering where you went. I didn’t know it was to make new friends.” He eyed the kitten.

“Somebody left him abandoned out there in a copy-paper box.”

“Any directions, likefree kittenor anything?”

I shook my head.

He came over and took the kitten from me. “Look at you. I think your name is Tippy. You keep calling him a him. Did you look to be sure?”

“I call all cats boys.” I shrugged.

He picked her up—herbecause he announced, “It’s a girl.”

“Tippy still works.” It had already grown on me. “We need to find her a home.”

The shelter was the rational choice, but I didn’t want to take a chance on her going to a cruel family or being put down because no one fell in love with her adorable little face. The second was probably not going to happen, but the first? That worried me.

“We could be her home.”

It took me a second to digest.

“We? Like she’s both of ours.”

“Yeah? What do you think?”

What I thought was—it was a huge step. And one I was beyond excited to take.

“Yeah. I think I’d like that a lot.” We were going to be kitten parents. She could go between apartments until we took the next step and moved in together. It wasn’t like we were far away from each other.

“Let’s get everything inside, and then we will go and make a store run.”

Who knew that kittens needed so many things? Well, maybe she didn’t need all the toys we bought her. But I knew from personal experience—you could never have too many toys.

16

EMORY

Something soft brushed over my face.

It wasn’t Vinnie, though he was beside me.

I opened one eye. “Tippy.” She was all black apart from splotches of white fur on the tips of her ears. “You should be asleep.” I rubbed her head, and she purred before snuggling against me. “Don’t you know it’s Saturday?”

She pushed herself into the space between me and Vinnie, looking up at me expectantly.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s too early for F-O-O-D.” Her head bobbed up. “Oh, no. Don’t pretend you can spell.”

I closed my eyes, hoping she’d fall back asleep. She tapped my jaw with a paw. I lay still, not moving, hardly daring to breathe, but she didn’t settle. It was food or she’d continue to bug me.

“Fine.” She leaped off the bed and was out the bedroom door before I’d thrown the covers off. Vinnie didn’t stir, and I tiptoed into the kitchen where Tippy was sitting beside her bowl.

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