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"I can't believe we're doing this," Annabeth mutters, more to herself than anyone, as she steps out of the car into the brisk January air, and walks with her husband through the cold, mostly empty parking lot.
Percy squeezes her hand. "Me neither."
She gives him a look. "It was your idea in the first place."
It's a Saturday in the start of January. New Years had just passed a couple days ago, marking the start of a brand new year full of hope and new beginnings. The city's been packed with tourists and shoppers, and the roads in Manhattan were even harder to drive through than on a regular day basis due to the crowds. Earlier that morning, she and Percy had dropped the girls off at their grandparents' for the day since they hadn't seen them in a while, a downside to all the snow storms that have been passing through, and then headed to their next destination. They'd agreed to go the day prior, but it shocks both of them that they'd actually gone through with the idea.
As they near the building, the sound of dogs barking and birds chirping can be heard through the howling wind, and as Percy holds the door open, it only becomes louder. Annabeth gives him a small smile of thanks as she steps inside, rubbing her gloved hands together as she waits for Percy to come inside, the door shutting with a quiet thump behind them. They saunter further into the building and take a look around. The animal shelter isn't anything special, really, with its white painted walls and light blue furniture, and the smell of animals that seems to cling through the air, no matter how much fragrance the dispensers produce.
The woman behind the front desk smiles as they come closer into view. Her green eyes are soft and friendly, her brown hair framing her face. The name tag pinned to her blue shirt identifies her as Sara. "Hey, guys, how are you two doing today?"
"We're doing pretty good," Percy tells her and when Annabeth nudges her with his elbow, he quickly corrects his mild mistake. "We're well. Thank you. You?"
"I'm well, thanks. How can I help you today?"
Annabeth glances up at Percy before answering, "We're thinking about getting a cat."
"We certainly have plenty of those," Sara says with a smile. "If you could just follow me, I'll take you to the back so the two of you can take a look at your options."
"Great," Annabeth says, sounding genuine.
Sara gestures to follow her through a doorway. "Right this way. Anything in particular you're looking for?"
"Something friendly," Annabeth tells her, "and clean."
"Did you want a kitten or one a little older than that?"
Percy speaks up, "I think our girls would like a kitten."
"How old are they?"
"Four and three," Percy says.
"Besides," Annabeth pipes up, placing her hand atop her small baby bump. "I think it would be nice if the little one grew up alongside a pet."
Sara nods and leads them partway down another corridor, and on their way to the door on the right, they pass the cages with varieties of different birds. Annabeth grimaces as one leans down and squawks at her as she passes, and Percy laughs. Sara opens the door, revealing a room with chain-linked cages lined against the walls with others stacked on top of each other. Each holds cats of different sizes and breeds, smaller looking kittens running around in the cages, while the older ones laid in a furry ball and napped. "Feel free to look around and pet them," Sara says, leaning against the wall. "Just don't stick your fingers inside the cage. Some might bite."
They thank her and look around. Annabeth's grey eyes flicker to each cage, scanning the cats' faces, and she feels a bit sad. Nothing should be caged and imprisoned. There are at least thirty cats in cages and none of them have a home.
Percy approaches a cage where two adult cats are watching him expectantly with green eyes, their gazes fixed in what seem to be glares. Their white tails whip back and forth in perfect unison and their black ears twitch as he comes closer. He's crouching down to get a better look at the two of them when the one on the left lets out a gentle hiss and he instantly stands right back up, holding his hands up in surrender.
"That's Bella and her sister, Lily," Sara tells him. "They've been here for a couple months."
"How long do you keep animals here?" Annabeth asks her from a few cages away from Percy where's she's examining a small looking tabby as it sleeps in a little ball. Her eyes are a light grey, so he knows she's warming up to the little feline.
"Depends," she answers, "though, the average time is a few months. Kittens seem to go faster so we usually send the adult cats out to go live on farms."
Annabeth nods in acknowledgement and turns to another cage. Percy tears his gaze away from his wife and glances into the cage beside Bella and Lilly where a thin, brown cat with light green eyes watches him carefully. Percy sets his hand against the cage and little cat rubs her head against the thin bars and he's a bit surprised at how soft she is. "Who's this?"
"That's Millie," Sara says as she steps beside him. "She's only been here for about a week but she's a sweet heart. Her previous owner hadn't done a good job taking care of her. She had been so thin. Fortunately, she's been eating and making a fantastic recovery."
A fist squeezes painfully over Percy's heart as he watches little Millie nuzzle his hand, and he's about to ask a couple more questions about her, such as how old is she, does she have any healthy issues, and is she up to date on shots, but Annabeth speaks up before he does. She's sitting on the floor in front of the same cage he'd seen her at a few minutes before, peering into a cage and she asks, "Can I get a better look at this one?"
Sara nods. "Absolutely." Fishing a single key out of her pocket, she strides over to where Annabeth is sitting and Percy follows, watching as Sara unlocks the cage and backs away seconds later so Annabeth and he can get a closer look. He crouches down behind his wife as his sea green eyes look into the cage where he can faintly see a dark outline pressing itself to the back of the cage, frightened.
"Come on," Annabeth softly coaxes, "it's okay."
Percy's eyes involuntarily widen as the cat listens to her, and he watches intently as the black colored cat with white paws limps to the front of the cage and his heart's already melting when the tiny thing lets out a small meow, which sounds more like a squeak.
"You can hold him," Sara says.
Annabeth holds her hand out, letting the small kitten sniff her fingers, and when he nuzzles his small head into her palm, she uses the other to lift him into her arms. "Oh," she whispers, out of shock or astonishment, Percy's not sure.
But when he tilts his head a bit more over his shoulder for a better look, that's when Percy sees what had caused Annabeth's breathy reaction, which is also the reason why the kitten had limped his way over to them. He's missing his right front leg.
"We had to amputate it," Sara answers the question for them. "He'd been abandoned and his legs had been injured badly. The vets tried everything they could but-" she breaks off with a sad sigh as she grabs the clipboard hanging on the side of the cage and flips through a couple of the pages, green eyes skimming over the black printed words. "He's not yet named and only a month old, though, he's old enough to live without a mother and healthy enough to live the shelter."
"Can he walk alright?" Percy asks, reaching out to pet between the kitten's ears and he nuzzles his head into his palm, letting out another squeaky meow.
Sara nods. "Yes. It's just a harmless limp."
"Is he all up to date on shots and everything?" Annabeth questions, smiling when the kitten snuggles onto her lap, nuzzling her slightly swollen stomach.
"Yup. He shouldn't need any until he's one," Sara informs. "He's up for adoption if you want him."
Annabeth meets Percy's eyes and he knows this is the kitten she wants to adopt into their little perfectly imperfect family, and he can't say he doesn't feel the same. The small, black kitten, that reminds him so much of Small Bob, had caught Annabeth's eye before she had even known anything about him, and Percy hadn't been long after. She takes a deep breath and tears her eyes away from his to look up at Sara. "How long will the adoption process take?"
Sara thinks for a moment. "You'll have to fill out an application and it will need to be approved before you move forward. Depending on fast you get it approved, you should be able to take him home as early as tonight. Since they're small, sleep all day, and require food and water, cats can be taken home quicker whereas dogs require more personal assistance which is why it's longer to adopt one."
"Are we sure about this?" Annabeth asks Percy.
Percy grins. "I think we should fill out an application."
Annabeth smiles. "Glad we're on the same page." She turns back to Sara. "We'll take him."
"Great!" Sara exclaims, excited that another animal is getting a home. "The paperwork shouldn't take too long and while I get it approved, you guys can go out and buy all the necessary things a cat requires to survive like food, a litter box, toys. But before we can start all that, he has to go into the cage first and I'll have someone get him ready to go."
After they both pet him once last time, Annabeth helps him back into his cage and smiles sadly as the kitten starts to meow when Sara closes the cage, locking it. Percy leans in close and smiles at their soon to be kitten and says, "We'll be back little guy."
Fifteen minutes later, all the applications and paperwork for the adoption were filled out, and Sara's currently working on getting them approved as Percy and Annabeth head to a pet store in downtown Manhattan, a list of all the items they need to get clutched in her fingers. Percy parks the Prius in the parking lot and they both hurry through the snowy weather, stepping into the store, sighing as the heat wraps their bodies in a hug.
"Okay, first up: food," Annabeth says as Percy grabs a cart.
Finding out what kind of food to get a kitten is frustrating, especially since they'd never had a pet before. Do they get chicken or beef flavoring? This brand, or that brand? After a half an hour of searching the internet for recommended cat foods, they finally settle for BLUE Wilderness Indoor Chicken dry cat food, they move on to finding the litter which isn't nearly as complicated. Once quick search and they are ready to go.
As they're checking out their items after traveling around the store for toys, a carrier for the way home from the animal shelter, and litter box (Sara had told them a bed wouldn't really be needed since cats just tend to sleep wherever they choose), Percy's phone vibrates in his pocket. Half expecting it to be his mom calling about the girls since it's getting pretty late into the afternoon, he's not too shocked to see it's the animal shelter calling.
"Hello?" Percy answers, holding the phone up to his ear.
Annabeth watches him curiously as she pays.
"Is this Percy Jackson?" a masculine voice speaks into the phone.
"Yes."
"I've called to tell you that your applications have been approved," the man says, and Percy can hear the muffled shuffling of papers on the other line. "You may come get your kitten at any time but we advise he gets picked up before the week is over. If not, we will cancel the adoption plan."
"We're on our way," Percy tells him and after bidding a kind goodbye, he's stuffing his phone back into the pocket of his jeans and telling Annabeth the good news. Her smile's so wide and his heart thumps inside his chest as she excitedly pulls him out of the store and practically throws their recently purchased items into the back seat.
Ten minutes later they're back in the parking lot of the Animal Shelter, and Percy's holding the cat carrier as they step inside. Sara meets them at the doors, smiling widely as she leads them back to the room where their kitten is waiting for them. She unlocks the cage and allows Annabeth to grab the black kitten who's yet to be named and hold him in her arms, letting out a small laughs as he nuzzles against her collar bone.
Sara leads them back to the front desk where she sits back down by her computer and types a few things and prints it out on the printer. She slides the one sided sheet over to them along with a black ballpoint pen. "One last thing. Since he's not yet named, it's your decision what to name him. Take as long as you need to decide, but when you do, please just write his name down on the blank line. Thank you."
Percy turns to Annabeth with an eyebrow raised, a silent question passing between them and she nods vigorously and he scrawls the name of their new kitten down onto the paper exactly where Sara had instructed him to. After handing the paper back to her and getting more information on veterinarian visits, she lets them go.
"Shall we bring this kitten home?" Percy asks as they slide into the car.
Annabeth who's holding the cat carrier with their kitten meowing inside nods. "Yes."
-----
About twenty minutes later, Percy's bringing in their purchased cat items into their apartment building, awkwardly nodding to Darrel, their doorman, who smiles slightly when Annabeth enters shortly after him with a frantic kitten in the carrier she's holding.
They enter the elevator and Annabeth presses the button to the fourth floor since she's got one hand unoccupied while both of Percy's hands are full, and she takes a step back beside him as the doors slide close. Their new kitten hasn't stopped meowing since they'd left the animal center but Percy doesn't blame the poor thing. He's probably scared. Percy would have been to if he'd been abandoned all his life then had been rescued and taken to a safe place, only for two big strangers to come and take him away. Of course, they'll never let anything harmful happen to the little guy, but he can't possibly know.
The elevator doors open with a quiet ding and they step out into the hallway, walking to the last door to the right where two little girls are waiting anxiously for them to get home. On their way back from the animal shelter, Annabeth had shot Sally a quick text, asking if she'd be willing to bring the girls home and stay with them inside until her and Percy got back. The older woman had been skeptical at first until Annabeth spilled the news about them adopting a kitten and it being a surprise for the girls, and Sally had instantly agreed.
Annabeth grabs the keys out of Percy's coat pocket and unlocks the door, pushing it open and calling out she's home as they step inside and start removing their shoes. Thankfully, their kitten had quieted down the moment they'd stepped out of the elevator.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Anthea who's dressed in pajamas with her curly hair tied up into a messy bun rounds the corner, her bare feet padding against the wooden floors, and Priya comes barreling in after her, also dressed in pajamas with her hair tied back into a french braid.
"Grandma said you have a surprise," Priya says as she wraps her arms around Percy's legs and he sets the grocery bags down on the floor so he can hoist her up into his arms, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead in greeting.
"What is the surprise?" Anthea asks, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did the baby come?"
Annabeth laughs, holding the carrier behind her back so the girls don't see. "Gods, no."
Sally enters the entryway at that time, blue eyes knowing, and lips pulled into a gentle smiles and she kindly tells the girls to go wait in the living room for their surprise. Anthea reluctantly obeys and treks back into the living room with Priya on her heels after she'd squirmed her way out of Percy's arms. Once the girls are out of ear shot, Sally says, "They've been on the edge of their seats the moment I took them back home."
"Thanks for doing this, Mom," Percy says gratefully after he kisses her cheek.
"Don't mention it." Sally waves them off.
"Mommy!" Priya shouts from the living room. "Daddy! Come on!"
Percy chuckles. "Lets give these two impatient girls their surprise."
"Good idea," Annabeth says and follows her husband into the living room where Sofia the First is playing quietly on the TV, but their daughter's who are seated next to each other on the couch aren't paying attention to whats on the TV, or their snacks on the coffee table. Instead they're watching them with excitement in their eyes as Annabeth and Percy enter the room.
Anthea grins. "What's the surprise?"
"Yeah, what is it?" Priya asks.
"Hold your horses," Annabeth mutters with a breathy laugh as she sets the carrier down on the coffee table and begins to unzip it, ignoring Priya's question of what it is, and she gently wraps her fingers around their kitten's small body who had shied away to the back. She gently shushes him as he lets out a small squeak and holds him in her arms as she straightens back up, laughing when she heard Anthea and Priya gasp in surprise.
The kitten lets out another meow just as Priya exclaims, "A kitty!"
Walking around the coffee table, Annabeth sits next to Anthea as Percy sits down beside Priya who crawls into his lap so he scoots over closer to Anthea. The girls are peering down at the kitten in her arms with wide eyes and big smiles, and Annabeth hears the fain click of a camera, and she knows Sally's taking pictures off to the side.
"You got us a kitten," Anthea says matter-of-factly. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A boy," Percy answers, bouncing Priya on his leg causing her to giggle.
Priya leans over Anthea and looks down at the black kitten. "Mommy, why does he have one leg?"
"He got hurt," Annabeth replies, not going into detail. "Would you like to hold him?"
"I want to!" Anthea says, holding out her arms.
Anthea yelps as he's placed onto her lap, his back claws digging into her legs, but then her face breaks out into a grin as he looks up at her with curious big green eyes, black tail wagging contently. "What's his name?"
Percy and Annabeth make eye contact over their daughters' heads. "Bob," they say together.
"Bob," Priya giggles, reaching over to pet the soft dark fur. "I like it."
"Hi, Bob," Anthea mutters adorable and leans down to press a kiss on Bob's forehead.
Both Percy and Annabeth smile fondly down at their daughters as they talk sweetly to their new house kitten, whom they've named after an old friend who'd selflessly helped them in a great time of need, even though they hadn't treated him fairly. Warmth flooded their hearts because they know he'll never be forgotten.
Bob Jackson. The three legged kitten named after a hero.