Work Text:
2003
When you’re with someone long enough, the universe sometimes warns that something out of the ordinary will happen on any given day. It doesn’t have to be big, dire, or even terrible, but when that gut feeling comes around, you know to be on the lookout for whatever it is.
The sensation gets delivered to KJ on a Wednesday evening. She glances at the clock and sees that Mac should have been home already. She’s not sure what, but she must be up to no good. It’s Mac, after all. KJ starts bracing for what’s to come before she gets home.
The door opens fifteen minutes later.
“Kaje?” KJ tries to detect any unevenness in Mac’s voice as the door shuts behind her. If it’s there, she’s masking it well.
KJ shuts the stove off, removing the pot from the heat, “Kitchen!”
“Hey,” Mac smiles as she enters, stopping an arm’s length away. Any suspicion that something’s up is confirmed when KJ catches a glimpse of Mac’s left hand tucked under her jacket; there's a massive bump, and she swears it’s moving, too, “whatcha got there?”
“Lemon chicken.” KJ raises an eyebrow, “What do you got there?”
“Oh, this?” Mac shrugs as she looks away, biting down on her bottom lip before bringing her gaze back to KJ, “Listen, don’t freak out, alright?”
She tilts her head, “Right. Of course, except those words almost always preclude me freaking out.”
“Fine. Don’t freak out too loud, then. You’ll scare him.”
“And who is 'him' exactly?”
She's half-expecting it when Mac removes her hand to reveal she’s been concealing a kitten the entire time, but half-expecting means it’s still a half-shock. Mac cradles the cat as KJ gets a better view; small, all black, and cute as a button, but she already knows what Mac is thinking.
“What is that?” KJ crosses her arms as she looks back at Mac.
“It’s a cat,” Mac’s face scrunches, “Did Nora not teach you your animals or something?”
“I know what it is,” she rolls her eyes, “but why is it under your jacket and in our apartment?”
Mac holds the kitten out, pulling her face into a pout. It’s hard to tell which of them is cuter, “Surprise?”
“Mac,” KJ cautions softly.
“No, no. Don’t ‘Mac’ me. I’m walking home, minding my business, and I see this guy going down an alley. Look at him, Kaje. He’s probably only, like, seven weeks, max. He’s young to be on his own, so I picked him up.”
“What do you plan on doing with him?”
“I mean, he shouldn’t really be on the street, you know? It’s going to start getting fucking cold soon. I was thinking, who better to take care of h-”
KJ holds her hand up, “Please don’t finish that sentence.”
“Why not?”
“Because we can’t keep him.”
Mac clicks her tongue, “Says who?”
“Um, hello?” KJ gestures to their surroundings, “Our leasing agreement?”
“Screw our leasing agreement! Who’s gonna know? They’re not going to come in here and check our shit.”
“No, but what if something breaks and the maintenance man has to come?” A million scenarios fill her head, “Or Linda comes to bother us about being too loud and sees him through the doorway and tells the landlord?”
Mac brings her hand to her forehead, “Jesus Christ, I forget Little Miss Perfect is still under there sometimes. Listen, if Linda wants to be a snitch, I’ll dig under this goddamn building and cut her cable wire.”
“Great plan,” KJ scoffs, “but we’d still have to find a new place to live, and I really, really don’t want to move right now. This is a great apartment, I love this apartment.”
“Alright, then, we don’t move.” Mac purses her lips, “I’ll train him to hide.”
“You’re gonna…train…the cat...to hide?” KJ's positive that her eyebrows reach her hairline.
“Sure,” Mac turns the kitten toward her, “you look pretty smart now, don’t you, pal?” It's not clear if the mew that comes from his mouth is intentional or well-timed, but Mac chooses the former, “He says his IQ is 309.”
KJ runs a hand down her face, “Oh, my God.”
“Hey, don’t think I didn’t notice how you’ve only looked at him once since I got here because you know he’s fucking adorable; you want to keep him, too.”
“Of course I do. Who wouldn’t?” KJ releases a long sigh, “But we can’t, Mac.”
“Kaje, I went down that alley to see if there were any other cats or his mother or something, and I didn’t see a thing.” Mac swings her hand out, “What if his mom got hit by a car or some shit? Wouldn’t you want someone to take our kid in if you got hit by a car?”
“So incredibly morbid,” she doesn’t mean to laugh, but one escapes her, “but yes. If I got hit by a car, I would like someone to take care of our hypothetical child, preferably you. Probably wouldn’t appreciate a stranger grabbing him or her from an alley.”
“Well, maybe I got hit by the car, too.”
KJ sputters, “Can we stop talking about being hit by cars?”
“Look, hold him. Just one time. No harm if we can’t keep him, right? I’ll take him to work tomorrow and find him a place,” she sings as she steps closer, “I know you want to.”
“You’re trying to manipulate me,” she narrows her eyes when they’re face to face.
“I sure am," Mac smirks, “why don’t we see if it’ll work?”
They’re in a standoff until the kitten paws at KJ’s arm. With a groan, she relents, gently taking him from Mac. He wastes no time trying to climb up her torso, so she lets him; everything her resolve needs to melt away, "He's not very shy."
"No, how crazy is that? He came right to me." Mac wiggles her eyebrows, "Almost like it was meant to be."
KJ throws her head back, effectively waving her white flag, “What are we going to name him?”
“You fucking serious?” When she looks back at Mac, she’s got a shit-eating grin on her face. It’s almost funny; how Mac acts like she’s ever actually said no to her, like KJ's desire to give her the world doesn't win the battle in her head every time.
“Yes, I’m serious.”
“Hell yeah!” Mac hoists her fists like she’s just won the Super Bowl before leaping forward to kiss her. She loops an arm around her waist, scratching the cat’s head, “Look at us, adding to our little family.”
“I like the sound of that,” she wonders if Mac’s heart leaps the same way hers does at the statement, “but we seriously have to make sure no one finds out.”
“I got this, don’t even worry about it,” Mac waves her off, “Worry about what the hell we’re gonna call him instead.”
KJ detaches the animal from her shirt, holding him up and out so they can look at him. She tips her head from side to side, “He kind of looks like Salem.”
“Kind of, yeah,” Mac nods, “but there’s probably a shit ton of black cats named Salem right now. That show just ended.”
“True,” she hums before an idea dawns on her, “Oh, I got it!”
“You gonna tell the class or?”
“How about Binx?”
Mac cocks an eyebrow, “Hocus Pocus?”
“Um, yeah? The black cat from the best Halloween movie ever? It's perfect.”
“The only reason you say that is because you had a big fat crush on Vinessa Shaw,” Mac frowns at the thought.
“I did not. You made that up.”
“Yeah, I don’t fucking think so. I was there, Slackjaw Sally.”
“It’s been ten whole years; I think it’s time to let that one go,” KJ shifts the cat to one hand so she can pat Mac on the head, “and it would be cute if he had a Halloween-ish name. Hell Day brought us together.”
Mac taps a finger to her lips, “What about, like, Freddy or something?”
“Like Mercury?”
“No, like Krueger.” Mac grins, “Very Halloween.”
“That’s not bad,” KJ considers, “Maybe we should give him a choice.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
They end up on the living room floor, two pieces of paper with a name scrawled on each and a kitten in front of them, frantically wiggling the pages on the hardwood floor. The kitten watches them cautiously at first, but soon, his gaze darts between the pages, waiting for the right moment to strike. He jumps, his paws hitting the hardwood with a light thud.
“Ha!” KJ scoops him up, sticking her tongue out at Mac.
“God damn it. Binx it is, then,” Mac sighs as she crumbles her piece of paper into a ball, tossing it over her shoulder. She points her finger at Binx, “Just don’t forget who brought you home, you little shithead.”
KJ places him back down, allowing him to roam his new environment, “And he’s off, the man of the house.”
“Did you ever think we’d have one of those?” Mac chuckles.
She snorts, “Definitely not.”
“I guess I need to go get him some shit since he’s living here now,” Mac stands, brushing her legs with her hands, “you good with him?”
“We’re good. We'll have some bonding time.” KJ smiles at her, “Dinner will be ready when you get back.”
“Cool, and hey, thanks for letting him stay.”
“You’re welcome.” She smirks, “I just said yes because I want to see you train a cat.”
“Whatever,” Mac rolls her eyes as she bends to kiss the top of KJ’s head, “I’ll be back. Love you.”
“Love you.” KJ shouts as Mac heads down the hallway, “Don’t take forever, please!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Mac yells over her shoulder. She’s half out the door when she turns back with a wink, “I got a new kid and smokin’ hot wife to get back to.”
KJ laughs as she flops backward to lay on the floor, knowing Mac will come back with enough stuff to crown Binx the most spoiled cat in SoHo, and it doesn’t matter that it wasn’t in the plan. A growing family is just that, even if the addition has four legs.
She’s sure to thank the universe for the heads-up anyway.