Falling in love with your best mate's sister

Chapter 9: Uncle Trent

"Are you sure you can take them?" Jack Ginnivan asked for the thousandth time, his eyes wide, voice slightly panicked.

"Yes!" Trent exclaimed. "I'll take good care of them." He cuddled Cher in his arms, the other cats circling his feet.

"And I can come around whenever I want to see them?" Ginni went on.

Trent just smiled. "You're around here all the time anyway," he said.

"Because you're always making woodfired pizza," Ginni explained. "And Napoleon ice-cream for dessert."

"Mm," Trent said, more interested in nuzzling Cher's long hair with his nose.

"Be careful, Tracey got hay fever doing that," Ginni warned.

"Allergies, she's got allergies," Trent corrected. "Don't worry about me, I've never had an adverse reaction to animals."

Ginni just grunted. "Okay, so Madonna likes half a packet of wet food in the morning and the other half at night," he said, pointing to the tabby cat.

"And the rest?" Trent asked. "Will they fight over food?"

"I fed them all at different times," Ginni said. "They know to come for breakfast and dinner at ten minute intervals. It's all in the binder." He handed a thick binder over to Trent.

Trent took the binder, juggling it with Cher. "You've trained them?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Ginni said, as if it was completely normal. "Oh and they've each got their own toilet..." He handed over five tubs of kitty litter, each individually labelled. "And they liked sleeping on the end of my bed."

"Alright," Trent said, placing Cher on the floor and taking the tubs of kitty litter. He admired the sparkly glitter spelling out Cher, Madonna, Cardi B, Ollie Henry and Rupaul. "Thanks. I suppose I'll put these in the laundry." He turned and walked down the hallway.

"Mm," Ginni said, his attention on the cats, all staring back at him, heads cocked to the side.

When Trent came back to the front door, Ginni was squatting down, at eye level with the cats, talking to them. "... It's okay, daddy's still going to be around but you'll be living at your uncle's place," he was saying soothingly. "Mummy and daddy love you very much."

The cats meowed plaintively, rubbing their heads in Ginni's hands.

"Don't make this harder than it is," Ginni choked out, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

Ginni stood up and looked at his best friend. "Thank you," he whispered quietly, voice breaking. A tear slipped down his cheek.

Trent's eyes softened and he stepped past the cats to give Ginni a hug, enveloping him in a giant bear hug. "They'll be alright," Trent murmured in Ginni's ear. "Come over whenever you like."

"Thanks," Ginni mumbled, his face pressed against Trent's shoulder pads. "You're the best."

They stayed locked in an embrace until Amelia came home, her face lighting up at the cats. "Kitties!" She cried, bending down to pat them all. They all edged away from her.

Trent and Ginni broke apart, watching Amelia attempt to pat the cats with amused smiles.

"Sweetie, it's okay, they'll get used to us," Trent said gently, sensing his girlfriend's frustration at the rejection.

Amelia slowly stood up, frowning. "I hope so," she said glumly. "Maybe they can still smell dog on me."

Trent frowned. It'd been a year since Amelia's stint at the kennel.

"They already love their uncle Trent," Ginni piped up, "he used to come around with little bits of prosciutto for them."

"Well, I guess you're their main carer," Amelia said to Trent, grinning, and sashayed into the house.

"Sure," Trent said shrugging, looking down at the adorable cats, all of them busy cleaning themselves.

Trent and Ginni said their goodbyes and Trent shut the front door and headed down the hallway, the five cats following him dutifully.