Page 34 of Santa Baby Maybe
“You do know you’re a cat,” I explained to him. “You’re supposed to hiss and shit.”
Jake’s sleek black head tilted to the side as if he was insulted I wasn’t more intimidated by the growling.
“Look, here’s the deal. I’m going to be here for a while so you need to get used to me.”
Again Jake growled, as if trying once more to remove what he perceived as threat from his vicinity.
I didn’t move toward him and I certainly didn’t try to reach a hand out.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I told him.
It seemed as if the cat understood me because the growling stopped. Then he hopped up on the counter and just watched as I moved to the refrigerator. I opened the door and found it was pretty stocked. I wasn’t going to need to take a trip to the grocery store.
“You got enough cat food?”
Jake made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded like a high whimper.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Walking back through the dining room and toward the living room I called to Joy again.
“Painkillers, Joy?”
“I have some in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom, but I’m good for now.”
And she looked it. She was on the couch, her coat and bag off, crutches on the floor, and her ankle on a raised pillow.
“What about an ice pack?”
“I have peas in the freezer.”
“You’re hungry for peas right now?” I asked, confused. “I’ll make them if that’s what you want.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, you can use the bag of frozen peas as an ice pack.”
“Or I can go to the drugstore and get you a legit ice pack.”
“Peas work better. They have magical healing properties. Everyone knows it,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. She was wearing another oversized sweater that hid all she was underneath it. I had this sudden urge to pull it up and over her head so I could see for myself what she was hiding.
“What about something to drink?”
She seemed to hesitate. Like asking me for anything was hard. But eventually she relented. “I would really love a cup of tea. I’ve got some ginger tea in a tin in the cabinet over the sink.”
“Peas and tea coming up.”
“You really don’t need to do this. I’m home. I’m fine. I have crutches, and I can call and have anything I need delivered.”
All reasonable arguments. “I’ll get the peas first, then I’ll make your tea.”
Back in the kitchen Jake was still growling at me, but stopped when I gave him my best intimidating face. Instead he lifted and licked his back paw.
“That’s right,” I told him. “You know who daddy is.”
“Are you talking to Jake?” I heard Joy shout from the living room. “Is he growling at you? I meant to you tell you he’s growler, but he won’t bite you. Or he might if you try to touch him! So don’t touch him!”
“You bite me, cat,” I said, looking him dead in the eye, “I’ll bite you back.”
Jake stopped, mid-paw lick, looked at me with that tilted head, then went back to licking. I thought were beginning to understand each other. I grabbed the bag of peas from the freezer and strode back into the living room. I didn’t want to risk causing her pain so I let her deal with the placement of it as I headed back to make her tea.
