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Penelope: Life update: I’m so enjoying the day with the girls!
Colin: Hi my love! 🙂
Colin: I’m enjoying the day with our munchkins
Colin: Everything is going great! No one cried so far
Colin: We miss you
Colin: Love you mum! - Aggie
Penelope: Aww love you too princess!
Colin: Wuv you! - Thomas & Elliot
Penelope: Hahaha
Colin: mEOW - the kitten we saw on the street
Penelope: Colin Bridgerton what did you do?!
Colin: Hehe
Colin: See you tonight Pen!
Colin had just slipped his phone back into his pocket when Agatha held up the kitten again, “Daddy please? Can we keep him?” She looked up at him with her eyes wide, the kind of look that had ruined many of Colin Bridgerton’s attempts at discipline and couldn’t resist.
The kitten, as if sensing it was the center of negotiations, gave a small mew.
Thomas gasped.
Elliot gasped louder, “He’s crying!” He declared.
Agatha hugged the kitten closer. “He doesn’t have a home.”
Colin rubbed his chin like a man facing a serious moral dilemma and not three children who had already clearly decided the outcome.
I already did mention it to Pen, anyway. He thought.
“Well,” he began slowly, crouching down in front of them. “Keeping a kitten is a very big responsibility.” The twins nodded solemnly despite clearly having no idea what that meant.
“You need to feed him.”
“I will!” Agatha said immediately.
“You must clean up after him.” Colin continued, knowing it was going to be him cleaning up.
Thomas frowned. “Like when Elliot spilled juice?”
“I did not spill it!” Elliot protested.
“You did!” “Did not!”
Colin raised a hand. “Twins!”
“So we’re keeping him?” Agatha asked him again.
He sighed and nodded, “Yes, little love.”
The night came, and the living room had turned into what could only be described as a kitten playground. Agatha sat in the middle of the rug with the kitten carefully cradled in her lap while Thomas and Elliot surrounded her like overly enthusiastic assistants, taking turns on petting the kitten.
“He likes me more!” Elliot bragged.
“No, he likes me more!” Thomas argued.
Colin watched from the sofa, one arm draped over the backrest, thoroughly entertained. He had long accepted that once a small creature entered the orbit of his children, chaos naturally followed.
The kitten pounced clumsily on the ribbon, rolled onto its back, and immediately got tangled in it.
The twins burst into laughter, “help him!” Elliot cried.
Agatha carefully untangled the ribbon. “There. You’re okay.”
The kitten rewarded her by climbing onto her lap once again. Colin chuckled under his breath just as the front door opened.
Penelope arrived quietly, pausing just inside the doorway as she listened to the commotion coming from the living room. The giggles and whispers gave it away that her husband gave in to taking home the kitten.
Removing her coat and shoes before she stepped further into the house, careful not to make too much noise. She walked slowly toward the living room, her steps soft against the floor. As she reached the doorway, she paused and leaned slightly against the frame, taking in the scene before announcing herself.
Agatha sat proudly in the center of the rug like a queen presiding over a court, her legs crossed neatly as she cradled the small gray kitten against her lap. Thomas and Elliot lay sprawled on either side of her, elbows propped on the carpet as they watched the kitten with breathless fascination. A ribbon that Penelope would recognize immediately as one from her sewing basket, trailed across the floor like a battlefield casualty, its end clutched tightly in Elliot’s hand.
From the sofa, Colin watched the entire scene with the quiet amusement of a man who had fully surrendered to the chaos hours ago. One arm rested lazily along the backrest while the other held his phone loosely in his lap, though he had long since stopped looking at it. His attention stayed firmly on their children. He chuckled quietly to himself watching the kids and the newest member of their family.
That was when Penelope decided to speak. “So,” she said calmly from the doorway.
Four heads turned instantly, “mummy!” the twins shouted at once.
Agatha brightened, lifting the kitten proudly as if presenting evidence in her defense. “Mum, look what we found!”
Penelope stepped fully into the room now, her gaze drifting first to the kitten, then slowly, very slowly to her husband.
Colin straightened slightly on the sofa, offering her the most innocent smile he could manage, “Hello, my love.”
“You really brought home the kitten,” she said.
Colin cleared his throat lightly. “Technically, the children found him. Although, I think it's a ‘her’…”
“And you brought the kitten home.”
“He seemed rather determined to join us.”
Penelope raised an eyebrow, “You texted me ‘meow,’ Colin.”
“I felt it summarized the situation efficiently.”
Behind them, the kitten chose that exact moment to meow again. Penelope and Colin glanced down at them at the same time, Agatha was still holding the kitten carefully, her expression hopeful but cautious, while the twins watched their mother with the intense focus of spectators awaiting a final verdict.
“He didn’t have a home,” Agatha said softly.
Thomas nodded firmly. “We rescued him.”
Elliot added, “Daddy said yes.”
Penelope’s eyes flicked back to Colin, “I told you about the kitten.”
“...and we could call her Purrnelope.” He added, joking.
For a moment she simply looked at him then she sighed. It wasn’t the exasperated sigh of someone truly furious but more of a weary resignation of someone who had married a man whose heart was far too soft for his own good, and she loved him for it.
Colin rose from the sofa and walked over to her, his expression gentler now. “Come sit with me and meet him first,” he said quietly.
His hand rested lightly at the small of her back, warm and familiar, the silent reassurance he often used when he knew she was trying very hard not to be charmed by something. In this case, he knew perfectly well that she was losing the battle already.
The children watched their mother carefully as she approached, their small bodies stiff with anticipation. Even the kitten seemed to sense the gravity of the moment, its tiny ears twitching as it blinked up at the unfamiliar figure now standing before it.
Instead sitting right away beside her husband, Penelope crouched slowly, smoothing the skirt of her dress beneath her as she lowered herself closer to their level. Up close, the kitten looked even smaller than she had expected. Its fur was soft and slightly scruffy, a pale gray with faint darker stripes along its back, and its paws looked almost comically oversized for its tiny body. It tilted its head curiously at her, as if assessing whether she belonged in this strange new place it had found itself in.
“Well,” Penelope murmured quietly, extending a finger toward it.
The kitten sniffed her cautiously, then with complete confidence, it placed one tiny paw on her finger. Behind her, Colin tried very hard not to look triumphant, “Oh,” Penelope whispered before she could stop herself.
Agatha’s eyes widened instantly. “See, Mummy? He likes you!”
“He?” Penelope repeated, glancing over her shoulder toward Colin.
He lifted both hands innocently. “We really haven’t confirmed it yet. I should probably check.”
The kitten chose that moment to wobble forward and clumsily climb onto the edge of Penelope’s skirt. Its little claws caught gently in the fabric as it tried to steady itself, letting out a soft, determined mew as though announcing its intentions to the entire household.
“I think you’re his favourite, mummy,” Thomas pouted, crossing his arms.
Penelope looked down at the tiny creature now half-perched on her lap and felt the last of her irritation quietly dissolve. The kitten blinked up at her with wide, golden eyes and began to purr once more.
She exhaled slowly. Colin, watching her closely, recognized the exact moment she surrendered.
“You see?” he said gently, crouching beside her now. “She has excellent taste.”
Penelope shot him a look, though it lacked any real sharpness now, “You are insufferable.”
“And yet,” he replied mildly, “here we are.”
Agatha and Elliot were practically vibrating beside them, their patience worn thin by the suspense. “So…?” Elliot asked.
Elliot clasped his hands dramatically. “What is the… Daddy help, what's the word again?” He looked up at his father asking to help him out.
Colin chuckled softly at Elliot’s question and glanced back at Penelope as she stood up, the amusement in his eyes barely hidden.
“Go on then,” he said gently, “What’s the verdict, my love?”
Penelope looked down again at the tiny kitten, who had made itself entirely comfortable on the rug, kneading the fabric with its little paws while purring loudly, as if it had already decided this was its new home.
Around her, three children waited with breathless anticipation with Agatha and Thomas holding their hands together tightly, begging while Elliot looked between his parents like a spectator at a very important trial.
Penelope sighed, though a small smile tugged at her lips. “Well,” she said at last, “I suppose the Featherington-Bridgerton household has gained a new family member.”
Agatha squealed as she scooped the kitten into her arms while the twins cheered beside her, already arguing over who the kitten liked best. The tiny creature meowed loudly in the middle of the excitement, clearly enjoying the sudden attention.
Colin and Penelope watched the scene together, laughter slipping from them both at the pure chaos unfolding on the rug.
“And you!” Penelope suddenly said, turning and pointing at her husband.
Colin raised his brows innocently. “Me?”
“You are responsible for this.”
Colin caught her hand before she could continue, tugging her gently until she landed on his lap on the sofa. His arms wrapped easily around her waist as he looked up at her with a guilty but charming smile.
“I know, I know,” he said. “I’ll help them take care of the kitten.”
Penelope tried to remain stern, though the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her, “You had better.”
Colin leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
Across the room, their children continued celebrating with the kitten, completely unaware that their father had just secured his forgiveness. Penelope sighed quietly, resting back against him as the kitten purred happily in their daughter’s arms.
“Well,” she murmured.
Colin kissed her temple this time, “Welcome to the family,” he said, glancing toward the tiny new Bridgerton.