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“I got a kitten!”
“You what?”
“I got a kitten!” Nina repeated as the apartment door closed behind her and her keys fell carelessly to the floor with a jingle. “Look! Isn’t he the most adorable little thing ever?!” she said excitedly, holding the baby kitten up in front of her face and pressing a kiss between its small ears.
Wide-eyed, Matthias looked at her from the kitchen where he was quietly cooking lunch before his girlfriend came storming in like an overexcited tornado. “Where?”
“He was just on the street a few blocks from here and he was hungry, poor thing, and he started clawing at my dress when I picked him up, so I just figured he liked me,” she shrugged, then turned on her heels and walked to the bathroom, the small kitten still secured against her chest.
“It was on the street? And you just picked it up?!” Incredulous, Matthias followed her after a moment to find her crouching next to the bathtub, weaving her free hand in the clear water to check the temperature.
“Yes, Matthias, I know you’re a giant but I’m pretty sure my voice can reach your ears just fine.”
“It could have any kind of diseases and you’re kissing it!”
“Oh, you’re so dramatic. I’m taking him to the vet in a minute; let me clean him first.”
“How do you even know it’s a him?”
“Can you calm down?” She sighed as she gently lowered the meowing kitten into the shallow water before turning to her boyfriend with a flash in her gaze. “I’ve kissed worse, anyway,” she winked.
Matthias scoffed, and then let his surprise (and slightly wounded pride) turn into a laugh when Nina’s green eyes fell back on him. “We can’t keep a cat, we already got Trass leaving fur everywhere and eating like two kids. Not to mention, they would surely fight,” he said, kneeling on the tiled floor next to her and pushing his sleeves up past his elbows. Yeah, words were coming out of his mouth, but that didn’t mean he really meant them. He’s a sucker for animals, sue him.
“Who would fight with his beautiful ball of light? Look at him!” Nina held the kitten up to pass it to Matthias. The little critter was as orange as a tangerine, with a small, dark brown mark on the nose. It gripped Matthias’ palm as soon as Nina put it there, small claws out and mouth open in what should have been a ferocious roar; it looked even tinier standing there, half-soaked in his big hands. Matthias brought a finger to its muzzle, evening the fur out, gently scraping away the dirt. The kitten started purring, spreading and retreating the claws in an involuntary gesture that made Nina squeal in delight.
“He likes you!”
“I told you that animals love me, Nina,” Matthias sighed, now deliberately scratching in a gentle cuddle-like movement. “How are you so positive it’s a he, anyway? Since when are you an expert?”
“Oh, I just figured that from the way he was clutching on the very upper part of my body,” Nina shrugged.
“That’s– that’s not–” Matthias sputtered, before erupting in a loud laugh. “That has nothing to do with it!”
“Yes, yes, I don’t care, I’m equally happy if it’s a she,” she replied, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Maybe even happier.” She smacked a kiss on his cheek and stood up to wash her hands.
“You said you were cleaning him?”
“But you’re doing such a wonderful job all by yourself!” Matthias was, in fact, already cleaning the kitten and doing an excellent job at it. His thumb covered the little animal’s entire snout. “This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Nina cooed.
Matthias glowered at her.
“Oh, come on!” she said, back on her knees and draping an arm over his shoulder, head resting on the curve of his neck. “He makes you look even bigger, you know.”
“That’s just perspective.”
“You’ve spent enough time with Kaz to know that illusion and reality are separated by a very, very, very fine line,” she commented. “Where is Trass, anyway?”
“I was about to take him out when Jesper popped by and they were both very happy to go together,” Matthias grumbled. “My phone has been buzzing with all sorts of pictures ever since.” The resignation in his voice made Nina laugh.
“Oh, Jes is going to be elated when he sees this little one. Don’t you think he kind of looks like Wylan?”
“Hm.” Matthias held the kitten up, scrutinizing him. “Well, if that kind of magic were possible, I wouldn’t totally exclude it.”
The vet visit went well. As it turned out, the kitten actually was a boy and perfectly healthy with no diseases whatsoever, though a bit malnourished. Nothing that a couple of weeks in Nina’s company wouldn’t fix. Matthias could have tried to argue as much as he wanted but he knew it was a lost cause the moment the kitten burrowed in Nina’s chest when the vet tried to grab him and she lit up as if someone’d just shouted “free waffles,” so he mentally patted himself on the shoulder in congratulations for adopting a new pet. They brought him back home with them and set a new cat-corner near the balcony in the living room.
The outcome was even more fur lost around the house, the vacuum cleaner used at every hour of the day (and occasionally night), black clothing rendered unusable because it never remained black, a whole cabinet of pet food in the kitchen, and a preposterous amount of pictures and videos for Jesper to capture. He had even taken it upon himself to get Trass and Tigger to get along (yes, Nina and Matthias heard the complaints and the jokes about the similar names, and no, they didn’t care), and eventually he’d succeeded.
There was one picture that Nina liked the most of her three best boys — one she had taken herself. It featured Matthias slumped on the couch, Trass’s muzzle on his leg and a three-month-old Tigger resting on his broad chest, a small ball of orange fur rising and falling with the rhythm of his steady breathing, held protectively by Matthias’ big hand. It was quiet, and delicate, and just the right amount of messy, a perfect representation of their little family. The contrast of such a tiny animal curled against a giant man never failed to make her heart swell with unconditional happiness.
That’s why Nina set that photo as her phone wallpaper, and only changed it a few years later, when she took another one in which, this time, a tiny human was curled up on his father’s chest.