Page 70 of Big Island Sunrise
“I’ll email you a couple of things for you to sign, and then I’ll appear in court. All that’s likely to happen at the first hearing is the assignment of a second date, as much as six months out if things are as booked as they have been.”
“So…” She tried to pull the bottle away from the orange kitten’s needle-sharp teeth, but he growled and grabbed onto her hand with his equally sharp claws. She winced and unhooked them from her skin.
“So it’s a lot of waiting, basically.”
“Right.”
“Live your life,” he advised. “Try not to worry too much.”
“Easy for him to say,” Lani muttered after she hung up.
She put the orange kitten back with his siblings and picked up one of the others, a black kitten with white paws. It drank the formula eagerly, though not with the same ferocity as its brother.
“Someone is trying to take my baby away from me,” she told the tiny cat. “How can I not worry?”
“Oh!” Emma paused in the doorway and smiled. She had a tiny bottle in her hand. “You beat me to it.”
“This one’s nearly done,” Lani told her, “and only the orange one’s eaten.”
“Right.” She picked up the runt of the litter and sat down next to Lani.
The white kitten looked a million times better than she had a couple days ago. They had cleaned her eyes – when she could open them again, they revealed themselves to be a startling shade of blue – and washed away about a thousand fleas. She was so small she could have slept stretched out on Emma’s hand. But she gulped the formula down just as fast as her siblings, like she was eager to make up that lost ground. Her tiny paws kneaded the air and she drank.
“Did you name any of them yet?”
Emma shook her head. After a moment she admitted, “I’m scared to.”
Lani looked down at the tiny creature that had fallen asleep in her lap.
“The vet said it’s anyone’s guess if they’ll pull through or not,” Emma said quietly.
Lani stood up suddenly, cradling the black kitten in two hands. She felt a surprising rush of anger at Emma’s fatalism. It felt too much like giving up.
She put the kitten back in the box and picked up the other black and white one, which was screaming and scraping the side of the box in its eagerness to be fed.
“There you are, Mama!” Rory ran into the room, straight to the box of kittens. “They’re awake! Can I feed one?”
“We’ll do the feeding,” she said firmly, giving this kitten the last of the bottle. “If you’re very careful, you can cuddle one. They need lots of love.”
“Hi baby,” Rory crooned, picking up the fuzzy black kitten. It cried plaintively.
“Would you trade with me?” Emma asked. “That one still needs to eat, and this one’s all done.”
She deposited the mewling kitten in her auntie’s lap and picked up the white one, which was now full and lethargic. With immense tenderness, she put it down to sleep with its siblings.
“It’s a cuddle puddle!” she whispered. “Look, they love each other. That’s so cute.”
“Lani!” Kai shouted from the living room. “Olivia’s dad is here!
She looked at Emma in confusion and handed over the kitten she held. Rory raced out ahead of her and ran across the front yard. Tenn stood at the gate, smiling, loose and relaxed in a way that Lani could hardly remember feeling.
“Where’s Olivia?” Rory demanded.
“Sorry, Roar. She’s with her grandma and grandpa today. You’ll see her at the beach tomorrow.”
Rory turned and stomped back to the house, scowling fiercely. Then her face lit up, and she turned back. “We have kittens! Tell Olivia that we have kittens.”
“Will do.”
