Pirouette [h.s.]

chapter 33

Everyone worked to set up the house, only stopping once for a pizza break when Diana brought Nate over. We all sat in the living room, surrounded by cardboard boxes with scrawled sharpie marker labels, eating and laughing. I had another one of those moments where I felt a little like I was watching the memory from the outside. The picture painting itself; embedding deep in my mind as it took place. Like freezing time for a snow globe scene - building miniscule sculptures of these people I desperately love so that I can always look back on it.

Not even two weeks later, Harry brought a stray cat home from the vet's office, smiling guiltily as he walked through the front door. "I know what you're thinking." He warned, one hand cradling the animal, the other raised in surrender. "But I have everything in the car - a litter box, toys, food, everything. Just look at her pretty little face, Bee." Harry's bottom lip poked out in a pout as he held her out to me - a fluffy little calico with a bright white belly.

I don't know why he thought I'd have any reaction different to the one that I had; especially with a kitten that cute. Gently, I took the small cat from his soft grip and she immediately curled up against my chest, purring like a motorboat. She was so tiny, probably only a few months old, and her ribs poked out from the fur across her belly.

"Harry, she's precious." I murmured, lifting her tiny body to kiss the top of her head.

"She's been hanging around the office to get food and I, uh, I play with her during my breaks." The fondness in his eyes as he looked at his kitten warmed my heart. "We can change her name, but I've been callin' her Wonton."

"Wonton!" I cried out, covering my mouth with a hand. She tilted her head up at me, kneading at my collarbone. "Hi, sweet girl, are you gonna be my little baby?" Wonton mewed in response before squirming to be let down. After setting her on the ground, I watched as she scampered off to explore, already making herself at home.

"So we can keep her?" Harry asked with stars in his beautiful eyes. He was like a kid in a candy shop, so innocent and bushy-tailed. So soft and tender. Endless oceans of love.

I stepped closer to him, cupping his cheeks in my palms, before connecting our lips smoothly. A few gentle pecks; a slower, deeper kiss. Harry's lips parted ever so slightly before we were interrupted by a loud cry from a hungry kitten. "Try to take her away and see what happens."

Wonton's become as much my cat as she is Harry's. Even though she usually ends up curled around his feet at night, her tiny paws patter behind my footsteps wherever I go. So, it only made sense to bring her to the studio every so often for the kids to play with during breaks. She meowed and meowed today until I pulled out the cat carrier, eager to come to work with me.

"Miss Phoebe, is Wonton here today?" one of the little girls, Naomi, asks as she makes a beeline for the corner of the room where there's a baby gate set up for the cat.

As if on command, Wonton starts swatting at a toy, crinkly plastic scattering across the wooden dance floor. The room erupts in gasps as the girls run to the baby gate, fingers gripping the edge as they peer inside to coo at her.