A Picture-Purrfect Christmas (A Klepto Cat Mystery Book 13)

by Patricia Fry

  “Much better,” she said petting Rags, who had plopped down next to her on the floor.

  “And you, Erin?” he asked. “You seem to be getting around a little better this morning.”

  “Yeah. The soreness is starting to go away.” She took a breath, then coughed. “My ribs still hurt, though.”

  Suddenly Marissa pointed. “Hey, there’s my name.”

  “Where?” Savannah asked, smiling, a twinkle in her eye.

  “On a package under the tree. Did Santa bring me something this year?”

  Michael winked at her. “I guess he did.”

  “How did he know I’d be here?” she asked, looking confused.

  “Santa knows everything,” Savannah explained.

  Erin smiled at Marissa. “Yeah, even when you’ve been naughty.” She started to stand, asking, “Can I get some water, please?”

  “No!” Savannah stood. “I mean, you stay there, I’ll get it,” she said, rushing to the kitchen.

  When Savannah returned, Marissa asked, “Can I open it?”

  Erin nudged her. “Don’t be pushy.”

  “Oh, sorry,” Marissa said, looking down at her hands. But her eyes kept wandering toward the tree and the beautifully wrapped package with her name on it. “It has cats on it. Wrapping paper with Christmas cats. Isn’t that cute?”

  “Marissa, honey,” Savannah said, “before you open your gifts…”

  “Gifts?” she exclaimed. “More than one gift?” She leaned closer to the tree, her eyes darting from package to gift bag to envelope and back to the package with Christmas-cat paper.

  Savannah smiled. “Sure. But before we open the packages, we have a very special gift for both of you girls…something that wouldn’t fit under the tree.”

  Marissa’s eyes grew wide. “What?” she asked. She looked around, then put her hand on the grey-and-white cat, who lay sprawled next to her. “Rags? Are you giving me Rags?”

  Savannah chuckled. “Oh no, something better.” She stood and walked toward the kitchen. When she returned, she wasn’t alone. “Marissa, these are your grandparents,” she said, motioning toward the couple who accompanied her. This is Mabel and Roland Roberts.”

  “But, you can call us Grandma and Grandpa,” Mabel said.

  Marissa peered at the couple, who both smiled down at her. Her eyes darted from one to the other and then to Savannah and back to the couple again. Finally, “Wait,” she said, “I remember you. You came to the hospital, but I was kinda sleepy. I thought it was a dream. It wasn’t a dream? You’re real?” Michael gave her a hand as she struggled to stand, and she walked toward the couple.

  “It wasn’t a dream, honey,” the woman said. “We did come to see you at the hospital. We’ve been looking for you for a very long time and we are so happy to have finally found you.”

  “You are? How did you know about me?” Marissa asked. “No one ever told me about you.”

  “You are sure full of questions,” Roland said, chuckling. He knelt down to the child’s level. “Honey, we’ve known about you since the day you were born, but your parents decided to keep you from us. They kept you hidden. Like your grandmother said, we’ve been looking for you for ten whole years.”

  “Why?” Marissa asked, in all innocence.

  Roland glanced up at his wife, then Mabel leaned down and took the girl’s hands. “To make sure you were being well cared for and safe.”

  When Marissa started to cry, Mabel pulled the child to her and held her tightly, fighting back tears of her own. “I know, I know,” she said in a soothing tone, “it’s been rough for you. Horrendously rough.” She stepped back and looked Marissa in the eyes. “But, honey, that’s all going to change.”

  “It is?” Marissa asked suspiciously. “How?”

  Mabel chuckled a little. “We want you to come live with us in our home.”

  Wiping at his eyes, Roland added, “…where you will be protected and safe for the rest of your life.”

  “Really?” Marissa asked, her voice cracking. “Forever? A forever home?”

  Her grandfather smiled at her. “Oh yes. Now that we’ve found you, we’re never letting you go and we’ll always keep you safe. I promise.” He reached his arms out toward her and she fell into them. Wiping at her eyes, she stepped awkwardly over to her grandmother and wrapped her arms around her waist. She then stepped back. “Home? Where is your home?”

  “In a lovely town in Massachusetts.”

  “Massachusetts…that’s far away from here, isn’t it?” Marissa said.

  The couple nodded.

  Straight-faced, the child asked, “Do you have other children? Any pets? Do you celebrate Christmas?”

  “Marissa,” Savannah whispered, “are you going to make them audition for the job of loving grandparents?”

  Marissa looked down. “I’m sorry,” she said, “it’s just that…”

  The woman lowered herself into a chair near the child and held tightly to her hands. I know, honey. You want to make sure this is right for you. And you deserve to know about us. We are strangers, after all.” She took a breath and continued, “We have two children.” She hesitated before saying, “We had three. Your mother was one of our children. As you know, she has gone to be with the Lord.” She paused, then continued, “Our living children are both grown now and they have children of their own. One of them is about your age, and guess what,” she asked, a big smile on her face, “they live just around the corner. We have a sweet dog named Petunia and,” she scowled for effect, “…a kind of ornery cat named Brutus.”

  “Brutus?” Marissa said, wrinkling her nose.

  “Yes, he looks a lot like that one,” Mabel said, pointing at Rags.

  Marissa looked lovingly at Rags. “Well, there will never be another Rags. But I would love to have cats of my own in a house of my own with a family of my own.”

  “And we would love to have you as our very own daughter,” Mabel said, inviting Marissa’s embrace.

  “Thank you. Thank you so much,” the child said. She limped swiftly toward Erin, who stood next to Michael, and hugged her.

  “Hey, Rissy,” Erin exclaimed, “don’t knock me over!”

  “Errie I have a home. I have a forever home,” she said excitedly. She looked up at Erin and said, “But, I sure will miss you.”

  “No you won’t,” her grandmother said, quietly. Both girls stared at Mabel, who cleared her throat before speaking. “Erin, I understand that you’ve been a sister to Marissa.” She glanced at her husband. “We cannot deprive her of a sister as wonderful as you have been to her. We want you to come live with us, too.”

  Erin’s eyes lit up. “Me? Really? I mean how? Will I actually be able to? Do I need permission?”

  Mabel and Roland chuckled. She walked over and put her hands on Erin’s shoulders. “We’ve started the process to get that permission. Detective Craig has been a big help. Besides, won’t you be eighteen soon?”

  Erin nodded and Mabel continued, “Then you can decide for yourself where you want to be. We just want you to know that you’re welcome in our home just the same as Marissa is, for as long as you need a home.”

  Erin peered into Mabel’s face, then, choking up, she wrapped her arms around her and began sobbing.

  Marissa patted Erin, a look of concern on her face. “Erin, are you okay?” She turned to the others and explained, “I…I’ve never seen her cry before. Erin, are you all right?”

  Erin pulled away from Mabel. “Better than I’ve ever been in my whole life.” She put her hands on Marissa’s shoulders, looked into her eyes, and said, “Oh yes, baby sister, I cry. I cry in the night when you’re asleep. I cry so often that I thought I would be out of tears by now. But this is the first time in a very long time that I’m crying happy tears.”

  Savannah wiped tears from her own eyes as she watched their four guests enjoy a group hug.

  “You’re crying, too,” Marissa said a few minutes later, as she appro
ached Savannah. The child plopped down next to her on the loveseat and leaned against her. “Are you happy, too?”

  “Yes and no,” Savannah said. “I’m over-the-top happy for you and Erin. But,” she laughed through her tears, “I will miss you girls so much.”

  “You can visit.” Marissa quickly looked at Mabel and Roland. “Can’t they?”

  “Of course,” Mabel said, smiling widely. “Anytime.”

  “Please sit down, Mabel…Roland,” Michael invited, motioning toward the chairs they’d placed around the room.

  After a brief silence, Marissa said, “This is the best Christmas ever.” She then thought for a moment. “In fact, this is my only Christmas.” She looked around at everyone, ran her hand over Lily’s curls, and said, “I like it. I like it a lot!”

  “What smells so good?” Michael asked.

  “Oh,” Mabel said, quickly standing and heading toward the kitchen, “my cinnamon rolls! Don’t want to burn them.”

  Savannah followed after her. Turning, she said, “Your grandmother was busy in our kitchen while they waited for the…surprise.”

  “Oh, that’s why you wouldn’t let me get my own drink of water,” Erin said, laughing.

  In a moment, the two women returned, carrying a pitcher and a platter. Savannah took some glasses and small plates out of the buffet and placed them on the table. “Everyone grab a cinnamon roll and a glass of orange juice, and we’ll open some gifts.”

  “Hellooo.”

  “Oh, hi,” Savannah said, when she saw Margaret and Max walk into the dining room from the kitchen.

  “Are we in time for the big reveal?” Margaret asked eagerly.

  “We were getting ready to open the packages from under the tree. The girls just opened their biggest gift of all.”

  “How’d it go?” Max asked the couple.

  Both Mabel and Roland smiled from ear to ear. She said, “They think this was a gift for them. What they don’t know is that it is as much a gift for us,” she said, dabbing at her eyes.

  Margaret hugged Mabel.

  “Thanks, by the way, for allowing us to spend the night with you and Max,” Mabel said. “We sure enjoyed your hospitality. I hope we can reciprocate sometime soon.”

  Margaret looked at the girls. “So did you like your surprise gift?”

  Both girls nodded. “I still can’t believe it,” Erin said.

  “What about you, Marissa?” she asked.

  “I believe it.” She looked at the angel on top of the tree and said quietly, “I believe in miracles and this is a Christmas miracle.” She then looked at Savannah and asked, “Can I open my present now?”

  “It’s burning a hole in your pocket, isn’t it?” she said smiling. “Yeah, I guess you can…” Before she’d finished the sentence, Marissa had snatched the package out from under the tree and started to tear into it.

  “Wait, we want to watch you open it. Let me get my camera,” Savannah said.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Marissa complained good-naturedly. “I have only so much patience, you know.”

  “Yeah, wait,” Margaret said. “I want you to open our gift first.”

  “You brought gifts, too?” Marissa asked, jumping up and down a little. “This is so much fun.”

  “Yes,” Margaret said handing Marissa a covered basket. “Careful, it’s fragile,” she cautioned, helping the girl carry it to the sofa, where she sat down with the basket on her lap.

  Marissa looked up at Margaret and Max, who both had wide grins on their face. “Thank you,” she said.

  Max winked. “I hope you like it.”

  “Angel!” Marissa shouted when she lifted the basket lid and saw the little snow-white kitten peering up at her. “She’s mine? You’re giving her to me?” she asked, disbelieving.

  “Yes,” Margaret said.

  Max nodded.

  Marissa looked to Mabel and Roland for their approval.

  Dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, Mabel said, “It’s okay with us, as long as you take good care of her.”

  “Oh, yes, I will. I sure will.” She then addressed Margaret and Max again, “Thank you so much,” she said, taking the kitten out of the basket and hugging her. “She has a harness and leash like Rags!” she exclaimed.

  Margaret smiled. “Yes, we thought you might like to take her for walks in the summertime.”

  “Like Rags,” she said. She scooted off the sofa with the kitten and gave Margaret and Max each a one-armed hug. Then, rushing with the kitten across the room, she said, “Look Grandmother and Grandfather, she’s damaged like I am.”

  “Damaged?” Roland said, choking up a little. “Oh no, dear child. You are perfect just the way you are. And so is Angel.”

  “Honey,” Mabel said, “we talked to a doctor at the hospital and he said he can straighten your legs.”

  “Oh,” Marissa said, a puzzled look on her face. “I wondered why that doctor was looking at my legs. He can fix them?” she asked, her eyes wide.

  “He sure can.”

  Marissa looked down at the kitten and ran her hand over the crook in her leg.

  “I can fix that, if you want me to,” Michael said, “although, we should consider whether it would give her more quality of life or not.” He explained, “We don’t want to put her through surgery unnecessarily.”

  Marissa put the kitten down on the floor and watched her for a moment. “Well, she can walk.” Before she could pick her up again, Rags rushed toward the kitten and began sniffing her. When he knocked her over with his exuberance, everyone laughed.

  “She isn’t intimidated by him, is she?” Max said.

  “No, she just seems to take things in her stride and bounces back,” Michael observed.

  “Just like Marissa,” Savannah said, squeezing the child to her.

  “Oh, look at that,” Roland said, when the kitten raised up on her haunches and began batting at Rags playfully. She jumped and then skittered around the room a few times, leaving Rags watching with interest.

  “Just look at her,” Marissa said. “She can even run and play. Maybe she is okay just the way she is.”

  “Shall we open the gifts?” Michael suggested.

  Savannah nodded. “Yes, just as soon as I change Lily. I’ll be right back…promise,” she said, scooping up the toddler in her arms and heading through the living room and down the hallway with her.

  When she returned, she noticed that the energy level in the room was high. Marissa sat on the sofa with a grandparent on each side of her and Angel on her lap. Roland was showing her and Erin pictures on his phone of their home and neighborhood and telling Erin about some of the choices in nearby colleges. Max and Michael were examining one of Lily’s new mechanical toys.

  “Okay,” Savannah said, handing the baby to Margaret who waited with open arms, “is everyone ready to open gifts?”

  Mabel and Roland laughed when Marissa let out an excited yelp. “Yes!” she said.

  “Erin, would you help me with the gifts?” Savannah asked. “We’ll hand them all out and each of you can take turns opening your gifts so everyone can see what you got.”

  “All this for me?” Marissa asked as she watched the packages and gift bags with her name on them piling up around her.

  Mabel hugged Marissa to her. “Thank heavens for stores that stay open late on Christmas Eve.”

  “But wait ‘til you see what we have for you at home,” Roland added.

  Marissa looked confused.

  “Your grandmother has been buying you gifts every year for Christmas and your birthday, hoping that would be the year we would see you. We never did, of course, so she stored them in a closet for the day when you would come back into our life.”

  Mabel laughed. “I’m not sure you’re going to need baby toys anymore, or a princess dress, size three.”

  Marissa thought about it for a moment before saying, “But boy, will I have fun opening them and pretending I had all that st
uff when I was a kid.” She leaned against her grandmother, cuddling for a few moments. “That was nice of you to think of me all those years.” Mabel hugged her tightly as Marissa continued, “I just wish I could have been thinking about you, too.” She pulled back and looked at her grandmother, her head tilted. “Actually, I guess I was. I just didn’t know who God would send me.”

  “Who He would send you?” Roland said.

  “You know, as the answer to my prayers.” She then picked up the package with the Christmas-cat wrapping and asked, excitedly, “Can I open this now?”

  After opening what seemed like a myriad of gifts including clothes, winter jackets, games, and toys, Savannah handed Marissa another package and said, “Open this.”

  “Thank you,” the girl said. “I can’t imagine there’s anything else in the world I need or even want.”

  “Oh you might change your mind when you see it. Open it,” Savannah said smiling.

  “A camera!” she shouted. She hugged the box to her briefly, then held it out and looked at it. “…like yours.” Handing it to her grandmother, she stood and hobbled over to where Savannah sat, hugging her tightly. “Thank you, Ms. Savannah.”

  “You’re so welcome. Here’s a charged battery. Let’s put it in and you can take pictures this morning, if you want.”

  “Okay,” she said, first moving toward Michael and hugging him around his neck. “Thank you so much.”

  When she returned to where Savannah sat with her camera, Marissa climbed into her lap. Wiping her eyes, she said, “Ms. Savannah, if I could choose a mother, it would be you. I love you.”

  “And I would be proud to have you for a daughter,” Savannah said, choking up.

  When Marissa pulled back, she held out her little finger. “Will you be my wishful mommy?”

  Savannah linked her little finger with the child’s. “Absolutely, wishful daughter.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Just then, Rags jumped up on the chair where Savannah and Marissa sat. He stepped into Marissa’s lap and began rubbing his cheek against hers.

  “And you’re my brother cat, Rags,” she said, running her hands down his back. “…and my hero,” she said quietly.

  Just then, Mabel spoke out. “Erin, we have something else for you, too, dear.”