Page 107 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
And he clearly still felt that way or he never would’ve called us a family.
“Miles?”
I blinked and turned my head to Winter, who was looking at me with a worried expression.
“You alright?”
I nodded automatically, then shook myself out and looked at the teen, whose forearm I still held. I gave it a squeeze and let go, sitting back. “I’ll be happy to keep Confetti, and you’re welcome to come visit anytime you want, yeah? As much as you want. You can come over every day if you want to, okay?”
Hell, if he did that, I could feed him more.
A few more tears leaked down his cheeks. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course. We’d love to have her here. And you know, even before this, you and your brother were welcome anytime. In fact, why don’t you stay for dinner?”
His eyes widened. “It’s only three o’clock.”
I snorted. “Hey, we’re not that old. I meant, stay for the rest of the day. You can help me set things up for Confetti and let her get settled since she’s clearly attached to you. Actually, maybe we should run to the pet store to pick some things up for her. And then we can come back, set everything up, introduce her to Odin and Goliath—did the vet say she’s allowed around other cats yet?”
He nodded.
“Great. I’ll call my vet friend to see if we can get her in. I know you already had her checked, but my friend is the best vet I’ve ever met, and I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“I think that’s a good idea. I want her as healthy as possible.”
I sent him a smile. “Cool. After that, you can stay for dinner, and if Chaos wants to come over after work, he can eat with us too. What time does he get off?”
“Uh, the museum closes at six on Saturdays.”
“Alright, perfect. He can come here for dinner, then. You wanna text him to check? Does he need a ride?”
Aeson shook his head. “No. He has the car.”
“Awesome. Text him and then let’s get your kitten some supplies.”
That made Aeson blink back more tears, but he pulled out his phone and texted his brother.
Aeson kept the kitten curled up against his chest almost the entire time we were together. My vet friend gave her a checkup, told me what kitten formula she needed as we taught her how to eat wet food, and gave the okay for her to be around the other animals as long as we introduced them slowly.
I figured she was fine since Aeson said so, but I wanted to double-check before she was in close quarters with Odin, Goliath, and Sola.
After we bought her way too many toys and extra beds—I had no idea where I was going to put them since my house was already covered in cat and dog beds, but I’d find a way—we headed home.
I bought two baby gates and set them up in the doorway to the kitchen—one on top of the other so Odin couldn’t climb over. I kept Odie and Sola with me while I cooked, and let Winter hang out with Aeson, Confetti, and Goliath. Sola and Odin really wanted to go meet the kitten, but I wanted to give her a little time to sniff out her surroundings before bringing the two of them into the picture.
Goliath was so calm he just lay there while Confetti climbed all over him like he was a kitten jungle gym. And Win and Aeson tested out every single new toy we’d bought. The two of them kept laughing, and I was happy to see Aeson looking a lot less stressed and happier now that we were settled.
By the time Chaos arrived, dinner was ready, so I kept Odin and Sola in the kitchen while we ate at the table—with Confetti on Aeson’s lap. I felt bad because they wanted out, but they could wait a few minutes while the humans ate.
Everyone finished up, so I asked, “You ready for Odin and Sola?”
Aeson nodded. “Sure. Should I go sit on the floor with her again?”
“If you want. It’ll be easier for Odin to sniff her, but keep her in your hands for a few minutes so you can grab her if you need to.”
Winter stepped in, grabbing the dirty plate from my hands. “I’ll clean up. You go help Ace with the cats.”
I stared into his ice-blue eyes for a moment. “Thank you.”
