Work Text:
It all started with a cat getting stuck in a pile of discarded iron parts.
The parts belonged to a puppet that was several models too old, and was recently taken apart in order to salvage the pieces that could still be used or repaired, and the ones that could not would become scrap. It was kept carefully out of the way of the working mechanics, attracting the attention of a curious stray cat who crawled into the mess and ended up getting entangled.
The cat was meowing incessantly, struggling in the pile-up of iron and making quite a bit of noise. Ge Chen stumbled over, rubbing his tired eyes, and stared uncomprehendingly at the vaguely moving pile of puppet guts. He pulled out the unfortunate cat by the scruff.
She wriggled in his grasp, flailing with her claws out, until he released her; she proceeded to slink away without a single glance back.
Unexpectedly, the cat showed up again a few days later, thankfully unstuck this time. For a while she sat in a corner watching Ge Chen work with round, yellow eyes. When he eventually stopped for a break and took out a cooled-down steamed bun, she pricked her ears and inched a bit closer, but then caught herself and turned her head away, acting disinterested.
Ge Chen broke off a piece and tossed it her way. The cat indifferently eyed the bit of food, delicately licked her paw a few times, then looked at Ge Chen intently. Reluctant to give up, he tossed her a bit more.
The cat finally stood up and strolled over to the offered food, finishing it off in a few quick bites. She then turned her back to Ge Chen and began to wash her face and ears, as if he was not there at all.
The visits became a regular occurrence, to the point that a few other mechanics caught on and also began to leave her food scraps every once in a while. Zhang Fenghan grumbled about her presence and tried to shoo her away the few times he saw her, but she always inevitably came back, and Ge Chen was too soft-hearted to drive her away himself.
“Don’t let my mentor see you,” he told her conspiratorially as he pushed a wooden crate in front of her to hide her from view. The cat yawned in response and curled up to sleep for the day.
Cao Chunhua, who was usually incredibly perceptive, did not notice the presence of this new guest the first few times they visited Ling Shu Institute after their recent mission. It was a long, difficult mission the details of which they did not disclose, and they were clearly exhausted. These first few visits were spent in very brief conversation, before Cao Chunhua would curl up in some corner of the institute to catch up on sleep. Ge Chen kept an eye on them, wondering how they managed to fall asleep despite the constant noise.
He carefully slid the diagrams he needed from under their sleeve, but not carefully enough; they groggily lifted their head and turned towards him, eyes already sliding shut again.
“Sorry, it was nothing,” Ge Chen waved them off. “Go back to sleep.”
The cat, meanwhile, jumped onto the work table and sniffed curiously at Cao Chunhua’s sleeves, splayed out on the wooden surface. They looked at her indifferently, turned to Ge Chen, mouth open to say something, then blinked and looked back at the cat. The cat did not acknowledge them in the slightest, gingerly walking across the sleeves to the other side of the table.
“A-Chen, who is that?” Cao Chunhua asked, disoriented.
“My assistant,” Ge Chen responded.
“Oh,” Cao Chunhua muttered, rubbing their eye, and put their head back on the table. “Alright.”
Once she noticed that they were staying still, the cat deigned to approach them again and sniff at their hair. When they did not move, she tentatively reached out and poked their hair ribbon with her paw.
“Be careful with that,” Ge Chen told her. “Don’t bother them.”
The cat stared at him with her bright yellow eyes, as though comprehending and thinking over his words. She then settled down on the table, her paws curled under her, and stared at Cao Chunhua’s slack, sleeping face.
When Cao Chunhua woke up again several hours later, they managed to make friends with the cat rather quickly. They even graciously sacrificed one of their ribbons for her to play with, — and then had to rescue her from it after she got tangled up while playing. Ge Chen watched Cao Chunhua chat with the cat as they pulled her paw out of a ribbon loop, feeling that the cat had somehow become much more clumsy compared to when he first found her. Although it may have just been his imagination.
“You all are feeding her too much,” Zhang Fenghan said when he saw her again. The cat’s ear twitched at the sound, the only sign of acknowledgement.
“What do you mean?” Ge Chen asked innocently.
Zhang Fenghan raised an eyebrow while looking at the cat curled up on top of someone’s work apron. “Look at how much bigger she is.”
Ge Chen shrugged nonchalantly. “She was practically a skeleton before, it’s good for her to gain some weight.”
Zhang Fenghan squinted at the cat, humming thoughtfully. “Well. If you say so.” He then frowned. “Hold on, didn’t I tell you to —”
“Anyways,” Ge Chen said quickly as he hurried to usher Zhang Fenghan in another direction, “We are working on this right now, please take a look!” Thus, the cat was left to dwell in the workroom unbothered for yet another day.
So it went, with the cat continuing to be a frequent guest at the institute; she reminded Ge Chen a little of a certain someone, with the constant coming and going. He began to notice, however, that the cat became much less mobile, as though she was too tired to run around and explore like she would before. Perhaps she was sick, which was not a rare occurrence among stray animals, though Ge Chen hoped it was nothing serious.
This time, the cat was nowhere to be found for the day. Ge Chen shrugged it off and began to go about his current routine, which involved spending all day working outside with heavier machinery along with a few other mechanics. He only made his way to the usual workroom when the sun already began to set; he intended to meet Cao Chunhua there, who promised to hand him a translation for a diagram that they have been working on for him.
At first Ge Chen thought himself to be alone. He paced around for a bit, straightening out some items and occasionally glancing at the gradually reddening sky outside the window. Suddenly, he heard quiet movement somewhere among the pile of crates, where the cat sometimes liked to hide during the day. Curious, he went over to check, just to make sure it was her.
He did find the cat. She was laying on her side, grey fur unkempt, looking more exhausted than ever. It took Ge Chen a few moments to decipher that there were little blobs of fur glued to her side, four in total. They were squirming, trying to bury themselves further into her belly.
“No,” Ge Chen said weakly. “You didn’t.”
The cat fixed her yellow glowing gaze on him, motionless, watching carefully. The newborns kept shuffling around, completely oblivious to their surroundings.
Ge Chen, faced with the reality that there was now not only a living being making a home in the workroom, but one that had several tiny, helpless babies, panicked. When Cao Chunhua suddenly appeared in the doorway, he quickly grabbed them by the arm and dragged them over.
Cao Chunhua stared at the tiny baby cats at a complete loss. “Oh.”
“You see this too, right?” Ge Chen asked shakily. “She just— she gave birth!”
“I see that,” Cao Chunhua said absentmindedly. “Congratulations?”
“Wh— what?” Ge Chen stumbled over his words. “Xiao-Cao, what am I supposed to do with this?”
“I assume nothing.” Cao Chunhua glanced back over at the cat; the cat inquisitively stared back at them. “I think this little lady has it all figured out.”
“Are you sure?” Ge Chen fretted. “Why would she settle down here, of all places?”
“Maybe because she thinks it’s safe here?” Cao Chunhua wondered. “If I was a small animal, I might consider living here, too.”
“But the noise…” Ge Chen stared down at the cats, scratching his head in exasperation. “I need to think of something.”
“What are you panicking for?” Cao Chunhua pursed their lips and leaned in closer to study the little balls of fluff. “Just leave them be.”
“I should move them someplace else,” Ge Chen objected. “Who knows what could happen by accident.”
“Well, if you insist.” Cao Chunhua raised an eyebrow. “In that case, how will you transport her?” The mother cat flattened her ears and looked at the two of them warily, as if understanding what they were planning to do. Ge Chen felt uneasy.
“I’ll think of something,” he said hoarsely.
“Alright, good luck with it!” Cao Chunhua dusted off their robes and hopped to their feet. “I have some errands to run, so I will check in with you later.”
“Wait, you’re — don’t leave me alone with this!” Ge Chen pleaded, but his friend already disappeared in the doorway, their giggle tinkling in his ears. He didn’t get to even ask them for the translated diagram.
It took a few hours and many scratches for Ge Chen to deliver the cats to his residence. He procured an old woven basket and lined the bottom with coarse cloth, then tried to lure the mother cat in with scraps of food; she only eyed them warily. He then opted for picking up the kittens and placing them in the basket directly, guessing that the mother will follow, which was predictably met with a lot of violence.
Finally, he managed to package them all away and carry them off. It was the middle of the night by then; he was exhausted.
“Took you long enough.” Cao Chunhua was somehow already inside, nonchalantly drinking water at the low table in his room. “I was beginning to think she took you prisoner.”
Ge Chen was flabbergasted. “How long were you waiting here?”
“Not long at all,” Cao Chunhua lied smoothly.
“Hm.” Ge Chen gave them a flat look. “Well, I got them here."
“I see that.” Cao Chunhua languidly stretched their arms above their head. “Eugh, can I sleep here? It’s too late to go back.”
“It’s up to you.” Ge Chen barely finished getting the words out, Cao Chunhua was already undoing the pins in their topknot.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” they chirped with a smile, letting their hair fall loosely all over their shoulders. Ge Chen swallowed.
“No problem,” he said, voice faltering. Cao Chunhua hummed quietly as they took out their earrings next and set them down on the table next to the water cup. Ge Chen averted his gaze and set the basket down on the floor, in the corner furthest away from the lamplight, assuming that the cat would want to feel hidden for now. She was glaring daggers at him the entire time, but at least she stopped hissing.
Ge Chen looked down at his scratched up hands, the dried blood uncomfortably pulling at his skin as he tentatively moved his fingers.
“Your battle wounds?” Cao Chunhua asked with amusement, gliding up to him, and clicked their tongue. “Oh, this is a bloodbath.”
Ge Chen wriggled his fingers, and fresh blood oozed from the broken blood clots. Cao Chunhua wrinkled their nose as they gingerly picked up one of his hands to examine it closer. “I did not expect it to be this bad,” Ge Chen admitted.
“I will help you bandage them up,” Cao Chunhua promised as they carefully turned his hand over this way and that. “She really put up a fight, didn’t she.”
“And you left me to handle her all alone,” Ge Chen sighed. The cat, as though understanding that they were talking about her, turned her head and gave them a stink-eye, her ears flattened to her head. She was still angry, then.
“Poor you,” Cao Chunhua said solemnly while lightly patting his hand. Then, after a pause, — “What will you do now?”
Good question. Now that this task was done, he realised that he knew absolutely nothing about taking care of cats, and much less newborn ones.
At a complete loss, Ge Chen thought long and hard about who might be able to provide him with advice in this situation. Master Zhang Fenghan knew very little about cats, Cao Chunhua was obviously clueless, so that meant…
Meant…
Shen Yi cackled for a full minute while Ge Chen sat on the floor with a forlorn expression, petting the mother cat’s side. She was graciously allowing it for now.
“So do you know anything about kittens, or not?” he asked lamely.
Shen Yi cleared his throat, and schooled his face into a more serious expression. “I know you want to help, but the best you can do is leave them be and let the mother cat handle everything on her own. You gave them a safe and warm place to live while they are still growing, so you’ve already done enough.”
Ge Chen glanced at the basket. Though he tried several times to move the little cat family to a much roomier corner of his room, the mother cat would inevitably gather up her children and eventually return them to the basket. Perhaps she found it to be a safer shelter than the haphazardly bunched fabric on a wooden floor.
“Are you sure?” he asked, just in case.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Shen Yi said. “If anything, interfering too much will cause more harm than good.”
“Did I not tell you the same thing?” Cao Chunhua materialised in the doorway, holding a small dish filled with water, which they promptly placed in front of the basket. The cat poked her head out, sliding out from under Ge Chen’s hand.
Shen Yi looked over in surprise. “Oh, xiao-Cao, you’re here too.”
“We’re co-parenting,” Cao Chunhua said in a serious tone, then quickly lifted their sleeve to hide a smile behind it. Ge Chen shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“I see,” Shen Yi said. He stepped from foot to foot for a few moments, then held a hand up. “If you really want to help, you can make her more comfortable. Change out the fabric, keep bringing her food, make sure she has places to roam around safely. She still needs a bit of exercise.”
“Right,” Ge Chen nodded. “That is doable.”
“Let me know how it goes.” Shen Yi glanced out of the window. “Ah, I really need to leave now. Remember what I said!”
Ge Chen saw him off and returned to his room, scratching his head. He still felt like he should be doing much more than just that, but it was a much safer bet to trust Shen Yi’s advice, since it was clear even from as far back as the days of Yanhui Town that Teacher Shen knew the most about animals out of any of them.
“I have some fabric scraps I won’t miss,” Cao Chunhua spoke up, scratching the mother cat behind the ear. “I’m sure the little lady would appreciate something soft to sleep on.”
“Only if you want,” Ge Chen said, sitting down next to them to pet the cat’s side again.
“All you have is some itchy shreds of coarse cloth, I’m surprised she is willing to sleep on those.” Cao Chunhua wrinkled their nose. “I would refuse to even touch these if I were her.”
“Looks like she is more amicable than you,” Ge Chen said. Although, to be fair, it was not like the cat had much choice unless she wanted to have no cushioning at all.
The kittens blindly crawled around, constantly stumbling into their mother and squeaking. Ge Chen dared to stroke one of the babies with the pad of his finger, then quickly took it away; he was not quite brave enough to handle them yet. He was worried they were still too fragile, — even their little ears were still barely decipherable on their heads.
“Did you decide to keep them here, then?” Cao Chunhua asked. Ge Chen shrugged.
“Looks like I am.” His hand wandered to pick at the fabric, and he had to admit that Cao Chunhua had a point; the cloth was stiff and had an uncomfortable, scratchy texture. He should handle that first.
Cao Chunhua hummed in response, looking at the family of cats with a thoughtful expression on their face.
Over the next few days, Ge Chen carefully stuck to Shen Yi’s advice. He still gave the mother cat food, cleaned up, and switched out the fabric for a much softer kind when Cao Chunhua brought it over, but generally kept a respectful distance while watching over them, and did not needlessly bother them.
It was hardly exciting, since all the babies did was wriggle around and let out tiny squeaks, but Ge Chen nevertheless had to admit to himself that the little cats were incredibly cute. The mother cat also calmed down considerably, and barely reacted when he was around.
Ge Chen promised to keep Cao Chunhua aware of any news, and when the most recent development happened, the first thing he did was send them a vaguely worded note. They arrived later that day, barely getting out a greeting before Ge Chen unceremoniously grabbed them and pulled them towards his room.
“Don’t drag me,” Cao Chunhua pulled their sleeve out of Ge Chen’s grasp. “Hey, what’s this about, anyways?”
“You’ll see,” Ge Chen said cryptically.
“Is this about the babies?” Cao Chunhua’s eyes went round.
“Hm… yes?”
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything! Why would you think that?”
“Then why are you being so cryptic!”
Ge Chen grabbed their shoulders and guided them through the doorway of his room. “You— hey, stop flailing! Look.”
Cao Chunhua paused with their hands still around one of Ge Chen’s wrists, and turned. “Oh!”
“See?” Ge Chen gestured to the cat nest with no small amount of pride, while being fully aware that he didn’t really do anything. Cao Chunhua slipped past him and knelt down next to the mother cat, who was covered with her kids crawling all over her. Their eyes were now somewhat, — finally, — open, and they were making tiny squeaking noises.
The cat warily sniffed Cao Chunhua’s hand, then allowed them to pet her head when she recognised them. Ge Chen sat down next to them and tentatively reached for one of the kittens, the grey one with the single white paw. The cat gave him a side-eye, but did not protest when he scooped up the kitten, the little ball of fur fitting perfectly into his cupped hand.
“Careful,” Cao Chunhua warned.
“I am,” Ge Chen cradled the kitten close to his chest. It blinked, looking around blearily and squeaked in confusion once it realised it was completely detached from the ground. Cao Chunhua cooed, very gently petting its spine, and the kitten calmed down.
In light of these events, Cao Chunhua ended up staying until sunset, and Ge Chen once again agreed to them spending the night. The two of them spent an embarrassingly long amount of time picking up the kittens one by one, holding them one-handed and petting the soft baby fur. Ge Chen did not even notice that his face was wearing a huge, dopey smile the entire time.
“Seems like you are getting attached,” Cao Chunhua said slyly.
“I’m not attached,” Ge Chen deflected, lightly squeezing a kitten’s soft pink paw pad. The kitten let out a high-pitched squeak.
“If not now, you will be in the future.” Cao Chunhua looked at the kitten purring loudly on Ge Chen’s lap. “You are already acting like a smitten first-time father.”
“What would you know about that?” Ge Chen grumbled.
“Absolutely nothing,” Cao Chunhua chirped. “It’s nice to see you so happy, though.”
Ge Chen blushed and busied himself with petting the kitten, letting the comment hang in the air. Leave it to Cao Chunhua to notice exactly when, despite his overall positive demeanor, he is happier than usual.
The more time passed, the more often the other person ended up passing their nights at Ge Chen’s place. They wanted to see the little cats grow up, in turn leading to them spending even more time than usual with Ge Chen, which he only welcomed. Often, the two of them would rest in his room, either quietly existing next to each other or talking about anything and everything.
The amount of free time that Cao Chunhua seemed to have lately surprised Ge Chen. He was used to them running off without warning, materialising in the capital one day and disappearing again soon after, with only a few exceptions to his memory. When he asked them about it, Cao Chunhua smirked and told him not to worry about it, and the topic was closed.
In the meanwhile, the kittens were growing up steadily under the careful watch of their mother. Their vision gained focus, their limbs grew stronger, and they began to look more like cats rather than furry beans. They also became incredibly energetic; Ge Chen could tell that they were growing into their most troublesome, playful age.
“Little fiends,” Cao Chunhua huffed, holding their hair and ribbons out of reach of the grabby little paws. “I cannot wear anything nice around here.”
“They are just curious.” Ge Chen’s tone was slightly defensive as he scooped up the two mischievous kittens and deposited them back next to their mother. The culprits promptly wiggled away as soon as he turned his back. “It looks like a toy to them.”
“Everything looks like a toy to them, — they’re babies,” Cao Chunhua retorted.
The two of them stared each other down, Ge Chen with a hand on his hip, Cao Chunhua with their lips pressed in a thin line as they tied up the loose ends of their ribbons further up into their hair. It only took a few moments for Ge Chen to crack a smile and reach out to lightly poke their forehead.
“Stop looking at me like that, it’s only a few kittens,” he chuckled.
“I liked them better when they were newborns,” Cao Chunhua muttered, but their voice lacked any malice. They were just finished with securing the ribbons on their head when there was a sudden tug on the ribbon hanging at their waist. The grey kitten was back, with its grey-and-white sibling sitting a small distance away, watching carefully.
“No,” Cao Chunhua said sternly and picked up the kitten, deftly untangling the ribbon from its little claws. “Stop that.”
The kitten squealed and tried to reach out for their earring.
“Hey!” Cao Chunhua held the kitten out further away. “You cannot play with this, either!”
It wriggled in their hands, meowing defiantly.
After a while of negotiation, the grey kitten finally stopped flailing its paws and simply rested in Cao Chunhua’s hands, looking at them inquisitively. They turned to give Ge Chen a winsome smile. “See? They can learn.”
Ge Chen was trying his best to bite back a laugh. “They will try again, you know.”
“Well of course, this is just the first step,” Cao Chunhua agreed breezily, then looked at the kitten again; it was purring quietly. “I think it is possible for us to come to an agreement eventually, though.”
“Of course,” Ge Chen nodded, amused.
Cao Chunhua’s smile turned sweeter as they cradled the calmed-down kitten close to their chest. Ge Chen’s heart skipped a beat.
As though in a trance, he stepped forward and swooped Cao Chunhua into a hug, arms wrapped around them carefully as to not hurt the kitten caught between them. He only fully realised his action when Cao Chunhua hooked their chin over his shoulder in response.
“What’s this?” They chuckled.
“Nothing.” Ge Chen lightly gripped the fabric of their robe, reluctant to let go yet. Cao Chunhua did not question it further, stepping closer and pressing against him as much as possible with their arms occupied. He inhaled the familiar, flowery scent lingering on their clothes, and sighed.
Afterwards, Cao Chunhua predictably asked to stay the night. Ge Chen, predictably, agreed to it without hesitation. At this point, even if they asked to move into his home, he might have said yes.
The days trickled by in this settled routine, with the two of them running around with their own business by day and reconvening by night. This arrangement had its boons, such as having two pairs of hands to clean up whatever chaos the kittens made of the room while no one was there; every evening, there would inevitably be a mess waiting for them. They seemed to especially take a liking to a few old, no longer useable wooden birds, which Ge Chen stopped putting away and just surrendered to them.
“They’re very active,” Ge Chen noted, fondly watching a kitten try to chew on his sleeve with its little baby teeth. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“Sure,” Cao Chunhua muttered, expression dark. They were nursing a scratched up hand in their lap while the little perpetrator, trying to make amends, purred incessantly and rubbed its head against their knee.
“What are you so huffy for?” Ge Chen shook his head, carefully scratching the offender behind the ear. “They’re babies, they can’t control their claws well.”
“I know,” Cao Chunhua pouted, side-eyeing the kitten. “But it was still rude.”
The kitten meowed loudly, innocently looking at them with big round eyes.
“No need to be angry, it didn’t mean it,” Ge Chen soothed, leaning over and taking Cao Chunhua’s hand; a few clear pink lines were visible on the skin. “Look, it’s not even bleeding.”
“But it could have,” Cao Chunhua complained shamelessly, not noticing the offending kitten jumping onto their lap and making itself comfortable. “Not only that, but they scratched me yesterday, too.”
Ge Chen sighed, giving in. “Poor xiao-Cao, bullied by little baby cats. How unfair.”
“Exactly,” Cao Chunhua sniffed and glanced down. “I am just— hey!” The kitten lounging on their lap turned into three, who looked up at the same time, ears all twitching.
“I don’t think you can escape,” Ge Chen said with a lopsided smile. “They like you too much.”
“My robes are all covered in cat fur again,” Cao Chunhua complained, but did not push the kittens off.
The kittens, trusting this complaining human without a second thought, all drifted off. Cao Chunhua was now stuck there for the time being, refusing to disturb them no matter how annoyed they may have seemed. The little cats would not stay asleep for long, anyways; after a quick nap they will be up and about again, ready to chew on anything they can reach.
This happened frequently. When the kittens weren’t biting and scratching, — albeit by accident, — they were jumping on the humans like they would on their mother.
“I will end up trapped here again,” Cao Chunhua sighed and fell back to lay out on the floor. The white kitten sitting on their stomach looked at them in confusion, then, with small steps, tentatively walked over to stand on their chest.
“I feed you and offer you a bed, and you claim to be trapped?” Ge Chen snorted, then scooped up another kitten and placed it next to its sibling. “There.”
Cao Chunhua gently stroked the two kittens on the back, one with each hand. “I see right through you all.”
“How else am I supposed to keep you here?” Ge Chen quipped, then faltered; that did not come out quite right. Cao Chunhua tilted their head slightly to get a better look at him.
“More wine,” they said decisively, then relaxed with their eyes fluttering shut. “The sweeter, the better…”
“Noted,” Ge Chen muttered, a little flustered, and deposited a third kitten close to their chin to distract himself. Cao Chunhua huffed as the little ball of fur sniffed their cheek, its whiskers brushing against their nose.
Ge Chen looked around for the fourth kitten, then scooped it up one-handed.
Cao Chunhua giggled as the kittens crawled over their torso, splayed out on the floor with their hair fanned out around their head. “They’re tickling me!”
“You’re moving around too much,” Ge Chen grinned, settling the last kitten directly on their stomach. The kitten meowed loudly and immediately started kneading the spot.
Cao Chunhua was still shaking lightly from laughter, but tried to remain as still as possible so they wouldn’t dislodge the baby cats. Their eyes were sparkling in amusement, a little happy tear at the corner of their eye.
They looked devastatingly cute like this. Ge Chen was content with watching them, chin propped up on his hand. Lately, he more and more often found himself pausing to focus on small moments, make the effort to commit them to memory so he would always have them stored away. The more details he remembered now, the more he would have to dwell on later.
Cao Chunhua caught his gaze; they seemed to guess at what he was doing, judging by the knowing look in their eyes. They patted the kittens thoughtfully as they kept crawling over them.
After a while, Ge Chen startled and finally looked away. One more memory saved carefully for him to think of later. One more shared moment.
Eventually, both the kittens and the mother cat disappeared.
Upon the discovery, Ge Chen panicked and looked everywhere for them, only to be stopped an hour later by loud meowing under the window. He looked out; the entire family was there, lounging in the shade and looking up at him. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ge Chen considered luring them back inside, but ended up deciding against it. He did not want to force them, and if they could leave, then surely they could come back in.
The next day, they were gone again. Ge Chen looked wistfully at the patch of ground outside of his window and made his peace with them becoming independent and going off to live their lives.
The cat family did not seem to want to leave entirely, coming back once every few days to stroll around the territory of Ge Chen’s home. His hypothesis that the height of the window was no obstacle for them was proven correct; a few times he came home to find the cats already making themselves comfortable in his room, sometimes even in the already-familiar old basket.
While Ge Chen was trying to get used to not having the cats around as much anymore, Cao Chunhua was highly amused by these developments. Ge Chen’s solemn explanation of the cats’ departure and their visiting schedule elicited a soft laugh from them.
“You sound like an empty nester. Not only did your children grow up and became independent, they even come back to visit you!” Cao Chunhua pet his arm, unable to hold back a smile. “I think everything turned out rather well, no?”
“Well… yes,” Ge Chen muttered, glancing in the direction of the window, listening carefully in case he heard a familiar meow. “I still worry about them a little, though.”
“Their mother was already a stray cat, I’m sure she taught them how to survive on their own,” Cao Chunhua soothed, voice quiet and light. “If they ever need you again, they will know to come back here. There is no need to worry.”
“That is true,” Ge Chen sighed, scooting closer and dropping his head on Cao Chunhua’s shoulder. “And you were right, too.”
Cao Chunhua tilted their head curiously, their hair tickling Ge Chen’s cheek. “About what?”
“That I would get attached,” Ge Chen said, then suddenly let out a bright laugh. “This is certainly something, isn’t it? How many people can say that an unfamiliar cat trusted them with her babies?”
“Yes, yes, you are very lucky,” Cao Chunhua agreed indulgently. “That cat is a very good judge of character.”
Ge Chen’s face lit up. “Maybe we’ve met in our past lives, that’s possible, isn’t it?”
Cao Chunhua laughed quietly. “I am sure it is.”
“And they’ll keep coming back,” Ge Chen said with certainty.
“Mhm, they will.”
So they did; the cats came back again, and again.
In the coming year, there were more kittens to greet.