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“Mom is going to kill you.”
“I know.”
Kara Danvers was absolutely screwed. No number of superpowers would help her when Cat arrived and saw what she had brought back. She had been on her way back from Catco when her superhearing had picked up on some noises coming from an alley. Noises that didn’t sound human. Curiosity had gotten the better of her. That’s when she had found them.
Three kittens in a cardboard box. They were tiny and couldn’t have been more than one month old, their mother nowhere to be seen.
Kara hadn’t hesitated for more than one second before picking up the box and making her way home. It had only been once she had stepped inside the penthouse - where she lived now - that she had started second-guessing her decision. It didn’t matter that Kara thought she didn’t have any other choice – she wasn’t going to leave them alone on the street after all – Cat wasn’t going to be happy about this. Both her and Carter agreed on this.
“They’re really cute though.”
“They are, aren’t they?” They both smiled at the kittens – two grey ones and one white and grey - who were currently playing with each other, unaware of their temporary owner’s problem. “Maybe it won’t be so bad. Maybe I could convince your Mom that I had to,” Kara added, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.
“If anyone can, it’s you,” Carter said. “And even if you can’t, she can’t actually hurt you anyway. The worst she can do is make you sleep on the sofa for a week.”
Kara groaned. “Not helping.”
“Will making my best puppy-dog eyes when you explain this,” he gestured to the kittens, “help ?”
“It can’t hurt. And we don’t have to keep any of them. I’ll just explain we’ll have to look after them until we can find them a family.”
Looking down at the box again, they saw the white and grey kitten trying to climb out of the box.
“Maybe you could convince her to keep this one ?” Carter said. He bent down to pick up the kitten, who had tumbled back in the box, but Kara stopped him.
“Wait don’t! If your Mom learns I let you touch them before we know for sure they’re not sick, she’ll kill me”
“I think we agreed that she was already going to do that.”
“Carter."
“Fine,” he huffed, his shoulders slightly slumping. “So, what’s the plan then?”
He looked at her expectantly but Kara couldn’t come up with an answer. Taking down bad guys who were trying to destroy the world she could do. Facing her girlfriend’s wrath for bringing strays into their home? Not so much. She pushed back her glasses on her nose, trying to think of something, but the sound of a key sliding into the lock made her look up towards the front door.
“No time for that buddy,” she said, stepping in front of the box to hide it from view. “Just…try to look natural.”
“Please,” Carter laughed, “she’s going to take one look at you and she’ll know something’s up before you even say anything”
“What? That’s not true I can totally -” Kara’s protest was cut short by the door opening. They both watched as Cat dropped her keys on the table and took off her coat. She was halfway through kicking off her heels when she finally noticed them, standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room. “Hey,” Kara greeted but Cat eyed them suspiciously and looked around the room, surely to find what was making them so nervous.
“What did you two do ?” she finally asked.
“Told you,” Carter snickered.
Kara pouted. “Could have been you.”
“You both look equally guilty. Now speak," Cat ordered.
Kara and Carter looked at each other, neither of them wanting to be the one to break the news. Carter shrugged innocently and gave Kara a pointed look that said ‘You’re the adult here’. Kara sighed. Carter was right and she’d been the one to bring the kittens home.
“It’s nothing bad really. You see, I was on my way home and – hey!” She turned to look at Carter, who had definitely elbowed her in the ribs, but his eyes were focused on the floor. Oh.
Without them noticing, the white and grey kitten had succeeded in leaving his cardboard prison and was now making its way toward Cat. Kara and Carter watched horrified as the kitten stopped at Cat’s feet, looked up, and let out a tiny meow. Kara would have actually thought it cute, if only she weren’t scared of Cat’s reaction.
“What is this ?” Cat asked calmly. Too calmly.
Oh, they were in so much trouble. Or at least, she was.
“I heard them in an alley. They were alone. I couldn’t leave them there.” It was clear and to the point. The cat was literally out of the bag - or the box in this case - and there was no way to dance around the issue anymore.
“Them ?”
Right, Cat had only seen one of them.
“There are two others.” Kara stepped aside, letting Cat view the box with the other two kittens.
“I see.”
Kara waited for Cat to say more – anything that would let her know how mad Cat was on a scale from ‘you left your boots in the middle of the hallway again’ to ‘don’t throw yourself into a dangerous situation without backup ever again’. But she remained silent, so did Carter, and the silence between the three of them stretched.
“I know I probably shouldn’t have brought them here,” Kara finally said, rushing over to pick up the kitten. “I didn’t want anything to happen to them. It was an ‘act now, apologize later’ kind of decision so…I’m sorry.”
She smiled tentatively and Cat sighed.
“You don’t have to apologize, Kara. It’s your home too.” Cat looked at the kitten, now purring in Kara’s arms. “And well I might not be fond of pets but I'm not cruel either. I just hope they haven’t touched anything.”
“They haven’t. And I made sure Carter didn’t go too close to them either.”
“Yeah Mom, don’t worry, she wouldn’t let me hold one,” he agreed. “Kara is planning on taking them to the vet to have them checked out.”
“I’ve already made the appointment.” It wasn’t exactly true. She had looked for vets in the area and had saved the number of one of them. Only, she had thought she would have the time to phone them before Cat came home.
“Uh uh and then we’ll find them a home and this will be like it never happened,” Carter concluded, a hopeful smile on his face.
“I see you two have covered all of your bases." She paused."Alright, fine. But they stay in the laundry room.”
* * *
A few weeks later, Cat came home to an empty and quiet penthouse. Almost too quiet. It was rare for her home to be this silent these days. Ever since Kara had moved in, she’d started getting used to coming home to the sound of her son and her girlfriend laughing together.
Unfortunately for her, Carter was at his father’s for the weekend and Kara had been called away by the DEO just as they were stepping out of Catco, leaving Cat with a much too short kiss and a promise to make it up for her later. That’s what she got for being in a relationship with a world-saving alien.
The unexpected brush of soft fur against her leg made Cat jump. Reaching blindly for the lights, she squinted at the sudden brightness when she found the switch. She looked down, her heart still pounding in her chest, and found the culprit circling her legs. Right, they still had one kitten at home.
During the weeks that had followed the visit to the vet – who’d confirmed that the three kittens, all of them females, were healthy - Cat had stayed away from the tiny creatures, letting Kara and Carter handle them.
One of them had been given to Winn and the other one to J’onn. Kara had told her it had started as a joke from Alex about him needing company, then, when he’d refused, both sisters had insisted and he’d relented, grumbling that the Danvers sisters were going to be the death of him.
That had been last week. Yet, the white and grey kitten remained and Cat knew exactly why. The kitten had been Carter and Kara’s favorite from the start and by pretending that they’d found her no family yet, they were hoping that Cat would give in and let them keep her.
The kitten circled her legs once more before sitting down in front of her.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said. They must have forgotten to close the door this morning.
The kitten meowed and trotted off to the laundry room. Sighing, Cat followed her in to the room. Kitten duty – as Carter called it – was on her tonight. She was sitting next to her empty bowl so Cat quickly poured some food in it, her nose wrinkling at the smell.
Not closing the door on her way out, she then walked to the kitchen and warmed up some leftover. After weighing her options, she decided to sit on the sofa because contrary to popular beliefs, Cat wasn’t above eating on the couch. She just rarely allowed it because her alien girlfriend and her teenage son were animals when it came to food.
Once she finished her plate, Cat sat back against the cushion and closed her eyes, the stress of a long day slowly fading away. She’d been staying like this for a few minutes when the sound of tiny paws on soft fabric followed by a weight settling into her lap disturbed her well-earned rest. Cat tried to move so that the kitten would leave but it only made her curl up further against Cat.
“Fine,” Cat thought, closing her eyes again. She was hoping that Kara wouldn’t be too long and therefore had no plans on moving from the sofa to their bed just yet. The kitten could stay here, as long as no one was there to witness it.
Cat, however, must have been more tired than realized because she woke up to the unmistakable click of a camera followed by someone typing on their phone. Kara was home then. And Cat was still on the sofa. With the kitten. So much for having no witness.
“You better not be sending the picture you just took to anyone,” she warned, her speech a bit slurred from sleep.
“I’m not,” Kara lied, dropping a kiss on Cat’s forehead. “Did I wake you?”
“Your camera did.” Cat opened her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position. Had she been laying down when she fell asleep ?
She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. You two were just too adorable.” She pointed at the kitten, who wasn't happy about being taken away from her warm spot when Kara picked her up. “I’ll put her back in the laundry room. You should go to bed, I’ll join you in a sec.”
Cat followed Kara’s advice and, when her girlfriend joined her in bed a few minutes later, sleep had almost claimed her again. Kara wrapped an arm around her waist and Cat felt – more than heard – her sighing happily against her neck.
“She can stay.”
“What ?” Kara asked sleepily and seemingly confused.
“The kitten. She can stay.”
There was a pause but Cat felt Kara smile.
“Thank you.”
“But she’s not allowed here. The only cat allowed in this bed is me.”
Kara chuckled. “Deal.”
* * *
11:35pm:
Look how I found your Mom! - K
11:39pm:
Aaaaw. But you do know she’s going to kill you for taking that pic – Carter
11:40pm:
Won’t tell her you’re awake past your bedtime if you don’t tell her I took the pic – K
Oops she’s awake. - K
11:41pm:
Good thing you’re kryptonian then – Carter
11:42pm
Yep – K
Goodnight Carter – K
11:42pm:
Night Kara :) – Carter
8:45am:
We get to keep the kitten !!! – K