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The day they got Bertie was a very happy day in the Deluca-Bishop household. Liam, Andrea, and Gianna had been begging them for a pet for a very long time, and in the lead up to summer break, their Moms had hatched a plan.
On the first day that both Maya and Carina were off work they took the three kids to a local cat rescue centre as a surprise, and that was where they met Bertie. He was a partially deaf 10 year old light grey Siberian cat and they had all fallen in love with him. Gianna had seen him first - he wasn’t running at them like some of the other cats, but instead was curled up in the corner. She’d grabbed Maya’s hand and dragged her over to see him, and he had immediately stuck his head up, welcoming the strokes and scratches that came from them. Eventually the whole family had ended up fussing over him, and he’d even ended up jumping into Andrea’s arms at one point.
It became quite clear quite quickly that Bertie was going to become part of their family.
He wasn’t actually Bertie when they met him. His name was Albert, and they weren’t going to change it given he had known his name for 10 years. Then on the first day they had him home, Maya jokingly referred to him as Bert in a conversation with Carina, and Gianna overheard. Except Bert had very quickly become Bertie, and from that point on she refused to call him anything else. Thankfully, Bertie seemed to accept his new nickname, even if Maya insisted he looked nothing like a Bertie.
Six months later and it was like they’d never been without him. He was always under their feet, his fur was everywhere (especially Maya’s uniform), and his late night opera singing wouldn’t have America’s Got Talent, but they loved him. And he loved them.
Well, most of them.
Because for some reason, Bertie was not Maya’s biggest fan. At least, she was bottom of the pile when it came to his options. If he wanted food and there was nobody else about, then he’d be nice to her, but otherwise Maya was mostly the final choice - something she’d pretty much gotten used to (and yet his fur was still all over her uniform).
Gianna was his favourite - probably because she snuck him the most treats. He also adored her fluffy dressing gown and if she was wearing it, Bertie would follow her around until she was sat down and he could curl up in her lap. But he adored all three children, often taking it in turns to sleep in their rooms at night. He’d sometimes come into Maya and Carina’s room too - but always Carina’s side of the bed.
When the kids weren’t around, Bertie was guaranteed to be found wherever Carina was, but if Carina wasn’t around also, Maya usually had no idea where he was. If Bertie did enter the same room as her he’d usually look at her suspiciously and then leave.
Today, however, he was following her everywhere and she had no idea why.
It had started after Carina had left to do the school run and some errands, so at first she’d just assumed he was trying to get more food out of her, but then she realised there was no screaming going on. When she’d finished getting the house in order, Maya had gone through to her office to start some work, and he’d followed her there too.
Maya was pretty sure he’d never been in the office before, so she was surprised enough that he’d entered, and even more so when he insisted on curling up on her lap.
He’d laid there the whole 2 hours until the door went signifying Carina’s return home, and Maya laughed knowingly as he rushed off. Except less than a minute later he’d come running back upstairs and straight back onto her lap.
Carina followed not long after, stopping in the doorway of her office, knowing Maya was working even though it was from home. “Since when did Bertie come in here?”
“Since today, apparently. He started following me around after you guys left, then once I started work he climbed onto my lap. Hadn’t moved until you got home. I assumed he’d go back to his favourite mom, but now he’s back,” Maya replied, turning on her chair to face Carina, showing Bertie who was snuggled up close to her abdomen. “No idea what I did to deserve this but I’m enjoying it, he’s a great hot water bottle.”
Carina chuckled, “well I will leave you both to it. Join me for lunch?”
“Of course,” Maya smiled before turning back to her desk and setting herself up for a meeting she had in a few minutes.
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It was pretty clear when it was time for lunch because Maya could smell it. On days they were home together Carina would often batch cook a meal, but would always do enough for them to also eat for lunch. She’d also make sure the smells made it upstairs so Maya remembered to eat - something she could be quite bad at when working from home with nobody to remind her.
Normally she would be desperate to get down to eat her wife’s food - it was one of the many reasons Maya was lucky to have her - but today for some reason the smell was making her feel a little nauseous.
Bertie had stood up on her lap, looking up at her and meowing. “I know bud, you love lunchtime,” she stroked him. “You can go down y’know? Why are you so insistent on sticking with me today, hm?” He did jump down, but continued looking up at her. “Alright alright, let’s go,” she rolled her eyes at his insistence and made her way downstairs.
The stronger the smell of food got, the worse Maya felt. When they made it to the kitchen, Bertie immediately went for his bowl which Carina had already filled with food, while Maya went to the sink and filled up a glass with water, sipping it slowly. Carina appeared in the kitchen, having delivered food to the table already, but she stopped whatever her plan was and diverted to Maya. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?” Maya asked, confused. Yes she felt a little nauseous but that was all, and even that seemed to be settling down now.
“You’re pale - more than normal,” Carina reached up and felt your forehead. “Hm, you don’t feel warm.”
“See, I’m fine,” she told her. “And Bertie is officially distracted by food.”
Carina looked over to where their cat was eating as if his life depended on it, chuckling. “Shall we go and find ours then?”
Maya nodded, following her through. Carina started telling her a story about Gianna while they began eating - apparently their daughter had insisted on giving the whole school a rendition of her current favourite song as she walked in. She laughed at the picture, but the laughter caused her head to pound slightly.
As lunch went on she started to feel worse, and she really hadn’t managed to eat much. Bertie had also reappeared, sitting right next to her. She was still feeling nauseous, though was fairly sure she wouldn’t actually be sick.
Carina had been talking again, but she’d zoned out. It was only when Carina reached over and took her hand that she registered it. “Bambina what is going on?”
“I don’t know, I feel strange,” she spoke quietly. “My head kinda hurts. I’m nauseous but I don’t feel sick, I’m pretty sure my temperature is fine too.”
“Sometimes we just feel a little unwell, bella. Why don’t we go and rest up a while on the couch?”
“I have work,” Maya mumbled.
Carina shook her head, “nope. You are sick, I’m prescribing movie time with your wife.”
She sighed a little, “I can’t exactly call out saying ‘I’m a bit meh’ though.”
“No, you call out saying you’re unwell, they don’t need to know details. Bambina sometimes it’s okay to just admit you need some rest.”
As usual, her wife was right - not the most surprising fact - and so Maya accepted it.
Carina walked with her and got Maya settled on the sofa, insisting on wrapping her up in a blanket, and then disappeared saying she needed to get water. It was sweet, Carina had always been like this when she was sick - doting on her as much as possible.
The second she left the room, however, Bertie appeared again and jumped straight up onto the sofa and then onto her lap. “Hey bud, you’re back then?”
He squeaked a response, turning a few times and then setting himself down back on her lap. “I wonder if he knows you’re poorly,” Carina suggested as she returned, placing the glass of water beside Maya and then sitting down beside her.
“If that’s the case then he knew I was poorly before I did,” she pointed out.
“Cats are very perceptive,” Carina reached over, scratching his head. “He’s been looking after you.”
Maya hummed in agreement. “Do you think he’ll let me move so I can lie on you?”
It took a little bit of persuasion, but Bertie did eventually, begrudgingly, get off to allow her to lie down - head in Carina’s lap and lying on her side. They decided to watch Bridesmaids - or rather, Carina did. Maya didn’t really care too much - she knew Carina would be paying more attention anyway.
But Bertie didn’t stay away long. He quickly jumped back up onto the sofa and smooshed himself right up on the bit of the sofa next to Carina’s lap and in front of Maya’s chest.
“I guess now everyone’s comfy,” Carina chuckled. Maya smiled too, using one hand to give Bertie scratches as the film started playing. With Carina also stroking her hair, everyone was content, and it also wasn’t long before both Bertie and Maya were asleep - both needing their rest.