Chapter Text
Mercutio wondered why his parents had done this to him. What had he done that was so bad to warrant this betrayal?
They had been promising him a new friend to play with, someone to grow up with and dared to get his hopes up. Then they dared to bring home a baby. What was Mercutio supposed to do with some dumb baby? The stupid thing could not even hold its own head up by itself, and it just cried and pooped. How was Mercutio supposed to play with that thing when he could only hold it sat down, surrounded by cushions and supervised? His papi had flinched and went to catch the baby every time Mercutio had so much as shifted.
He had wanted a kitten, he had specifically asked for a kitten as well. His parents had asked him if he would have preferred a brother or a sister at one point, and Mercutio had answered neither and that he had wanted a kitten. His mammina had laughed, but she had laughed when he had asked for ants for his birthday and he had gotten some at his birthday picnic. So she should be more consistent.
He had really wanted a ginger kitten, but he would have been fine with any kitten at all. He had met a beauty of a ginger cat once whilst playing near the woods, his papi kept telling not to play there because it was ‘dangerous’ but if it had been dangerous, he would have gotten hurt by now and he hadn’t. Bruises did not count, Mercutio could get a bruise wherever he went so by that logic everywhere would be dangerous, even his bed. His papi wanted Mercutio to go to bed every night super early and stay in bed as long as possible. So if his bed was not dangerous because of bruises neither could be the woods.
There had been this massive ginger cat in the woods, could have been a tiger if he was honest, and it had loved Mercutio and let him pet it unlike the cats who came around the back of the restaurant and always ran away from Mercutio when he just wanted to love them.
There was a mostly white one but it had a little black moustache which Mercutio had called Moustachio. Moustachio was skittish and shy, and Mercutio had to stand guard and chase other cats away so Moustachio could eat without the food being stolen by bigger cats.
There was a black one, Mercutio heard apparently you were not supposed to cross black cats because it gave you bad luck. He thought that was rather silly, you should not make any cats cross at all, it was bad luck to have any cat not like you and be mad at you. He supposed that perhaps black cats were just a scary angry, so that was why of all cats they were not the ones to cross. So he made sure he was super polite and nice to that one, just in case he had called the cat Bello to appease it.
There was also a grey one who was wiry, old and mean. Mercutio had called that one Rat Bastard because it reminded him of the stories his Nonno would tell of ‘that rat bastard on the hill’. His Nonno had promised to let Mercutio have his Nonno's cookie as well as his own, just as long as he did not say that name in front of his parents and he could have three whole cookies as long as he did not in front of Nonna.
There was one that was super fancy and had a tuxedo on, Papi and Zio still did not let it into the restaurant which was unfair, there was a speckled one, there were so many cats.
But there had never been a ginger one though. Mercutio felt like this was unfair. From his experience with the cat in the woods, gingers obviously loved him and were the ones for him.
Mercutio felt like crying. He had been so looking forward for a ginger kitten companion and now he had a baby.