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Stu felt as if the hair on his arms were standing up and there were a bundle of nerves in his stomach. He only got this way right before it was time to perform but that wasn’t the case. No, it was far from it. He was in a building where there were no shining lights on him or fans. The sounds in the building sounded loud from all the barking coming from different dogs.
“Nina, do you really need another cat?” Stu rubbed the back of his neck, hoping his discomfort wasn’t easy to catch.
“It’s not just my cat, Stu. It’ll be both of ours.”
“Not really. It’ll live with you an’ you’ll take care of it.”
“But we’re picking the cat out together, thus making it ours.” Nina took Stu’s hand, rubbing the side with her thumb while looking up at him with a soft smile, “It’ll be alright.”
Stu let out a sigh and closed his eyes, focusing on the feel of Nina’s thumb rubbing against his skin. He had to believe her. This wasn’t going to end with him getting a cat and the next day finding it dead like all the other times. Nina would never let that happen to her, no, their future cat. As he opened his eyes he smiled down at Nina, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
“Alright, lead the way.”
Nina led the way to the cat section of the shelter as Stu looked around. There were bulletin boards with information about how to get your pet spayed and neutered, affordable vaccinations, and the naughty and nice pets of the week. Stu stopped walking, causing Nina to jerk at his arm when she continued but when she looked back she let out a laugh.
“Oh, I love looking at those whenever I come here. Let’s see who’s been naughty and nice.”
Under the dogs section there was a pit bull under nice and a small dog with wiry hair under naughty. Stu read the shelter’s listing out loud, “Maxell’s the nice dog of the week ‘cause he always returned the ball when playin’ fetch. Sophie’s the naughty dog of the week ‘cause she peed on Henry’s shoes.” Stu snickered, “That’s funny. Imagine if Lavenza peed on Murdoc’s boots.”
Nina joined in on the snickering, “And there would be nothing that he could do about it ‘cause if he tried Noodle would have his head.” It was as if their minds were synced as soon their snickering turned into laughter with Nina turning to press her face against Stu’s arm. When their laughter died down they both took a deep breath with Nina speaking first, “Okay let’s see which cats have been naughty and nice.” As they looked at the cat section they saw a chunky orange cat under naughty and a calico that was black and orange under nice. “Dawn is nice ‘cause she started coming up to the staff for pets. William is naughty ‘cause he ate the other cats’ food.” Nina chuckled, “I’m sure William is on a specialty diet and is mad about it.”
They continued on their way until Nina paused in front of a door that led to a room. Nina opened the door and as soon as she did meows rang in the air. Stu’s grip on Nina’s hand tightened as he looked around. Stu had never been to the cat section of the shelter out of the few times that he had been there. As they walked and looked at each cat Stu couldn’t help putting a guard up, not allowing himself to feel any warmth from them.
“Oh, Stu! Look at this one.”
“Uh-huh, sure is nice,” Stu dismissively said.
“This one has a white spot on their chest!”
“How nice.”
Nina glanced at him, then back at the cats. “This one has six toes.”
“Wonderful,” Stu said as he looked at his nails.
Nina pursed her lips, feeling the rage boiling up inside her. She couldn’t believe that Stu was acting this way. How could he act so cold and uncaring about something that they were doing together? Before she could control herself she looked up at him with a glare.
“What the hell is your deal?! You were totally fine before and now you’re acting as if you couldn’t give two shits.”
Stu stared down at her and returned the glare with one of his own, “I don’t know, Nina! Maybe I don’t want a cat. Maybe I don’t want a pet at all. Maybe I don’t want something that’ll just die the next day!”
All the fight drained out of Nina, her expression changing to confusion, “What?”
Stu sighed as he nervously stroked his hair, “During my time away I tried adoptin’ a kitten. It died. Then I thought, ‘Oh that was ‘cause the kitten was sick. Maybe a dog from the shelter is better.’ Well, I was wrong ‘cause the dog died too. Okay, so that didn’t work either. Surely I can’t fuck up fishes. But apparently, I can fuck them up ‘cause a whole group of guppies died in my tank.” Stu’s voice came out in a nervous frenzy, “What if this cat dies? You were so happy to get this cat an’ now it’s dead all ‘cause of me.”
Nina stared at him, how his hands tugged on his hair with each stroke. She knew all too well the heartache that comes with losing a pet so she could imagine the heartache that he had gone through. She reached for his hands and took them into hers, “I wish that didn’t happen to you, Stu. I really do. If we get a cat and it dies it won’t be your fault. You won’t even be the one taking care of it. I will. I just say it’s our cat ‘cause we’re picking it out together. But Stu, listen to me,” she let one of her hands cup the side of Stu’s face, “We’ll love this cat together. For as long as it’s here it’ll know just how much you love it and I’m sure all the pets you had knew how much you cared about them.”
Stu closed his eyes and leaned into Nina’s touch. He did love each and every one of his pets and it comforted him to be told that they knew how much they were loved. “Yeah, you’re right. Whatever cat we get I’ll love the lil’ booger.”
Nina softly chuckled, “Booger sounds like a cool name.”
“Yeah, yeah it does.”
They stayed quiet, Stu relishing in Nina’s touch while Nina watched Stu become relaxed. When Stu pulled away they continued looking at the rest of the cats. Suddenly Nina stopped in front of a cat that was black with a white chest, ears, stomach, and paws. Stu watched on as Nina stuck a finger through the bars and the cat came up to rub its head along it.
“Friendly lil’ fellow.”
“I know! Why don’t you pet them.”
Stu brought his hand up to the cage, then drew it back as he hesitated, but then stuck a finger through the bars. Instantly the cat went over and rubbed its body all along Stu’s finger. Stu couldn’t help the smile on his face.
“I like them.”
“Then it’s decided. This is our Booger.”
Nina watched from the doorway of the restroom as Stu played with Booger with a string toy. Every so often she’d hear him say, “Good boy, Booger! You caught it.” She had to admit that it was the cutest thing that she had ever seen. She stepped inside, shut the door behind her, and sat next to Stu, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“I’m glad you like him.”
“Yeah! He’s such a cool cat. I like that his ears an’ paws are white. Kinda looks like he’s wearin’ earmuffs an’ mittens.”
Nina let out an acknowledging hum. Stu turned his head and kissed the top of Nina’s before going back to playing with Booger. It felt like everything had fallen into place.