It had all started the day Jack came home holding a squirming something inside his hat.
"What's that?" Katherine asked, instantly suspicious.
"Ah .... sweetheart?" Jack asked, shooting her that nervous smile he only ever wore when he wanted something from her. "How do you feel about cats?"
"Jack," she sighed, but before she could say another word, a tiny orange head popped out from the gray fabric of Jack's favorite hat.
"Henry found her while he was at work in the deli this morning, and he didn't know what to do with her. I couldn't just leave her!"
Of course he couldn't. Jack had never been able to abandon someone who needed help. And that was what Katherine loved about him.
"Alright," Katherine said, "but she's going to need a name."
"Killer!"
"No."
"Mouse?"
"That doesn't even make sense, Jack,"
"Well what about Cheese? We did find her in a deli, after all,"
Katherine laughed. "Jack, that's completely ridiculous!"
"No, look! She likes it! Right Cheese? Who's a happy kitty, huh Cheese?"
And he looked so happy with himself that Katherine couldn't possibly argue any further.
Cheese turned out to be a very social cat, which was a good thing because the Kelly household almost always contained visitors.
She especially seemed to favor Crutchie. She'd come barreling to the door like a puppy the moment she heard his voice, and would refuse to leave his lap until he got up to leave.
Davey, on the other hand, was her favorite subject of torment. She'd bat at his shoelaces, attack his ankles if he stood or sat in one place for too long, or jump into his lap and then growl if he tried to move her. Jack found the situation hilarious, but Katherine sympathized.
Jack had worried at first that having a pet would bother Katherine. It hadn't really been her idea in the first place, and he just felt bad about pushing her into a commitment that she may not have even wanted.
But when he came home late one night after a very long meeting with the governor over the still less-than-satisfactory living conditions of the refuge, the first thing he saw upon walking in was Katherine asleep in an armchair with the cat curled up in her lap.
He smiled to himself, took a mental snapshot to draw later, and then kissed Katherine on the forehead to wake her up.
"You ladies been having fun without me?"
"'Course we have," Katherine said sleepily, "Cheese is better company than you, anyhow,"
Jack decided that his witty response could wait until she wasn't moments away from falling back asleep.
"Why don't you two head to bed," he said, ruffling her hair.
"Alright," Katherine yawned, picking up Cheese and cradling her against her chest. "Are you coming?"
"In a minute," he replied, making his way over to his desk. He pulled out a sheet of paper and began to sketch out the scene he'd just walked into.
When he finished, he affectionately titled it "My Girls" and then set the drawing on her desk where he knew she'd find it in the morning.
