Inola

The birthday Part 41

The moment she opened the door, Lyla yelled:  "Here you are!  I missed you so much!  Come inside, let's go to my room."

"Happy Birthday, here is something small for you, I hope you like it."

She sat down on her bed and opened the parcel carefully.  When she saw the photo of us in the decorated photo frame she jumped up and hugged me.  "This is the best, I so wished I had a photo of the two of us together through the lockdown."  I watched her while she carefully put it next to a photo frame with a photo of her and Dave.

There was a knock on the door: "Can I come inside?"  Dave asked and entered with a big brown box.

"Is that for me?" Lyla squealed.  I thought I heard a faint cry from the box when Dave dropped it on the bed.  Lyla started to open it, she dipped her hand into it to retrieve Percy.

"Awe! Is that Percy?" she asked while she looked at Dave.

"Of course it is Percy, do you like him?"

"Of course I do!  He is so tiny and here's the pamphlet with his story.  This is so special and he is so adorable, I just can't believe it!" she said as happy tears filled her eyes and she side hugged Dave.

"How did you know about Percy?"  I asked Dave.

"Lyla told me and as I'm working on Saturdays at the SPCA, I knew exactly where to find him and I made sure that I collect the pamphlet to save his identity," he smiled from ear to ear about Lyla's happy tears.

"Let's go and introduce him to the rest of the family," Lyla said and lead the way with Dave shortly on her heels with me following.

"Wow! Lyla, it's so tiny and just adorable," her mother smiled tenderly at the adorable kitten.  "You'll have to close it inside your room though, for the time being, so that we all can enjoy dinner together, it will start in fifteen minutes."

"I'll go and fetch his litter tray and food and bowls to keep him happy while we enjoy our dinner," Dave laughed when he saw the disappointment on Lyla's face.

We went back to Lyla's room and took turns to cuddle Percy while Dave set up his litter tray and put down a tiny basket with a blanket and toys and his food and water.  I felt so happy at the knowledge that Percy has found a loving home.

We went to the dining room where two tables were moved next to each other and laid out beautifully with the birthday cake in the center.  When everybody was seated I noticed the open place next to Lyla.

"Where is Theo?" I asked, concerned that his absence has something to do with my presence.

"He said he has a very important appointment with Kim and will join us later," Lyla said with a not too happy face. 

 I didn't know if I should feel relieved or sad, it should have been awkward if he sat opposite me and effortless ignore me or worse, staring at me and stirring up all the feelings that I try so hard to suppress.  Alas, I'm missing his smile and all those emotions he unlocked in me.