Alfie and George

by Rachel Wells

  After the linen cupboard incident I barely let him out of my sight. I needed to teach him how to fend for himself, which he definitely needed. Despite my lesson on the importance of staying out of cupboards, I had to drag him out of a kitchen cupboard the following day. He said he wanted to explore, which I understood, but I seemed to be constantly warning him of the dangers. And suddenly dangers were everywhere. I wasn’t sure if I could kitten-proof the house, let alone the world – an even more terrifying thought.

  He had also been pinching my food; I caught him with his nose in my tuna, and, well, let’s just say I’m not used to sharing. But I couldn’t bring myself to get angry with him, not when he looked at me with those cute eyes, that smile and his little whiskers. I was putty in his paws. I found telling him off difficult already, but I knew I had to, because that was a part of parenting.

  I was proud of him at the same time; he was doing so well using the litter tray, there had only been one terrible incident when he had done his business in Jonathan’s slipper. Jonathan acted as if someone had committed murder – they were Italian leather slippers, apparently – and Claire had to pacify him for ages. When we were alone, I explained to George that Jonathan had always been a bit hot-headed and his bark was worse than his bite – excuse the dog reference, which was another thing I had to teach George all about. Although he still couldn’t go out, I needed to prepare him for when he did. We spent our evenings before bedtime having lessons about life. I was taking my parental responsibilities very seriously. George had a lot to learn and teaching him was really taking my mind off Snowball. By the end of the day I was often so tired that, once I had settled George into bed for the night, I fell straight into a deep, dreamless sleep myself.

  After me sleeping in his bed the first night, we both now slept in mine, which was a bit bigger and more comfortable for the two of us. Claire thought it was adorable and took photos to put on something called Facebook. As George nestled into me, the warmth of him was undoubtedly comforting. It reminded me of when I used to sleep next to Agnes, back in another of my nine lives. I was still unsure that Claire had been sane, getting George and thrusting me into the role of parent, but on the plus side I had no time to indulge in my heartbreak anymore.

  I’d hardly been out, but I had managed to snatch some time with Tiger, who was keeping me abreast of any cat news in the neighbourhood. We were still no clearer on the cat pictures, but apparently she had seen another one on the way to the park the other day. It was getting more and more mysterious.

  I missed seeing my other friends and planned on spending some time with them the following day. As Summer and Claire would be at home, I was hoping it would be OK to leave George for a little while. I also hadn’t been to Polly and Matt’s, although I had seen Polly and the kids at our house – Martha was just as obsessed with George as Summer was. Henry wasn’t as interested, so he and I watched TV together while they played, treating George like one of their cuddly toys. George loved it – he didn’t mind even being manhandled. I hadn’t seen Matt, who was busy job hunting, though I worried about him, of course. Polly seemed OK, albeit not quite her usual self, but I was trying to keep that worry on the back burner for now.

  Early evening, I was in the garden. Claire had left the cat flap open for me as she was taking George into the bathroom with her while she bathed Summer. I remember when Summer first arrived, Claire had moaned to Jonathan that she didn’t have any time to herself – even going to the loo and showering had become a luxury. I had thought she was exaggerating. Well, guess what, she wasn’t – as I was quickly finding out. So I decided to make the most of this rare time alone. The cool breeze of the summer evening felt wonderful on my fur and I enjoyed it thoroughly before reluctantly returning inside. I wanted to make sure George ate a good tea and cleaned himself before bedtime … I realised there was so much to do as I ran upstairs, just in time to hear a disturbing noise.

  ‘YOWL!’ I heard his little voice cry out.

  ‘Deorge, Deorge,’ Summer cried. I panicked and ran to the bathroom door, bashing against it until Claire finally opened it.

  George was sitting on the bath mat, dripping wet, and Summer was standing up in the bath. Claire was trying not to laugh. I allowed myself to breathe again.

  ‘Oh, Alfie, George fell into the toilet. I didn’t realise he could jump up that high but he must have climbed up onto the loo seat while I was washing Summer and then fallen in,’ she explained.

  Of course he could jump up, I thought, he was a clever kitten.

  ‘Right, now, Sum, I’ll get you out of the bath and then pop George in, we don’t want him smelling of toilet cleaner.’ As Claire wrapped Summer in a towel and gently bathed George, he looked far from happy. I gave him a knowing look; tonight our lesson would be about water.

  By the time George had recovered and dried off, it was teatime. Jonathan had come home from work and was soon laughing at George’s antics, which was lovely to hear – he hadn’t been laughing much lately, although I hadn’t had a chance to get to the bottom of that yet. Claire told him that they had to make sure the loo lids were always down now, which was a relief; there were so many hazards to think about when you had a kitten. Anyway, Jonathan was smiling as he changed his clothes; he was going to Matt’s house for a boys’ night while Polly was coming here. Franceska was joining us too, so I was excited. Normally I would move between the two houses for boys’ night and girls’ night, but as George needed me I would be with the ladies tonight. Hopefully I’d pick up some new information about everything that was going on around here.

  ‘Don’t want go bed!’ Summer shouted as Jonathan tried to coax her upstairs.

  ‘If you come to bed now I’ll read whatever story you want, but if not then no story,’ he said. I watched her face as she weighed up the situation. Summer didn’t like to concede anything, so it was hard to tell which way it would go.

  ’K,’ she said in the end.‘But only if Deorge comes.’ I felt a little stab of jealousy at all the attention George was getting, but I adored him too much to really mind. I had had a lot of attention in my day after all. Perhaps it was time to step aside for the lad.

  ‘Magic touch,’ said Jonathan as he picked George up.‘But, Claire, couldn’t you have named the kitten something Sum could actually say,’ he said, laughing as Summer kept saying ‘Deorge’ over and over.

  ‘Right, George,’ I said later, when the living room was empty, with Summer asleep upstairs and Jonathan gone. ‘Are you ready to go to bed yet?’

  ‘No. I want to see the others.’

  ‘OK, you can stay up a bit later tonight, but you must tell me when you’re tired. And we need to talk about water. And the hazards of the toilet.’

  ‘I didn’t like it much,’ George admitted.

  ‘No, us cats should avoid water if we can, apart from drinking it of course.’ I went on to tell him about my past experiences. I had once nearly drowned, after all, and I didn’t want George to be in any danger. They say cats have nine lives, and I reckon I’ve used up about three or four of mine, but I didn’t want to take any more chances and I didn’t want my little boy to either.

  The doorbell interrupted our discussion and I ran to the door with George on my heels. As Claire opened it, and Polly and Franceska came in, with wine and hugs, I felt happy. We followed them into the kitchen where Claire poured wine and I drank some water before settling on Franceska’s lap. Polly scooped up George and he purred as she cuddled him.

  ‘So, I have big news,’ Polly announced.

  ‘Not another baby?’ Franceska asked. I shot a worried look at Claire but she didn’t appear upset.

  ‘No, don’t be daft. It’s more complicated – Matt lost his job.’

  ‘Oh no, Pol, I am so sorry,’ Claire said.

  ‘Now I feel the stupid,’ Franceska said. Her English was brilliant but when she got upset or stressed her accent became stronger and she sometimes put words in the wrong places.

  ‘No, honestly, I�
��m used to the idea now. ’

  ‘But I’ve seen you loads lately and you didn’t say anything.’ Claire sounded worried.

  ‘I think I wanted us both to get our heads around it a bit before we told anyone. He’s talking to Jon about it tonight. But anyway, he went to work and they simply told everyone it was closing down – the company’s gone bust. They’re sorting out packages now but Matt says he’ll be lucky to get a couple of months’ pay. But the thing is, just before we found out, DF Design offered me a job.’

  ‘Wow, Polly, that’s great.’ Claire smiled at her.

  ‘Yes, well, I turned it down at first because I didn’t want to work full time because of the kids, but things have obviously changed. It’s a rolling six-month contract, and it doesn’t pay as much as Matt earned, but we can manage, at least until Matt gets another job.’

  ‘It all sounds complicated,’ Franceska said.‘But you OK?’

  ‘Yes, the main thing is that we’ll be fine – financially anyway. But the thing is, Matt and I are arguing because he’s miserable about not working. He says he doesn’t want to be a househusband but I don’t even know if that’s the real issue.’

  ‘Oh God, Pol, it could be the role reversal … I shudder to think how Jonathan would cope with that. If I told him I was going to work and he was staying at home, he’d wonder what the hell he was supposed to do. He thinks Summer and the house get sorted by magic. Anyway, at least the kids are a bit bigger now.’

  ‘Yes, Henry’s at school and Martha will be soon,’ Franceska added.

  ‘I know, I know, but I’ll miss them, and the idea of working full time, well, let’s be honest – I was a model before so I’ve never actually had a nine to five. Now I will, five days a week, and Matt will be at home, making packed lunches and cleaning the house. Well, hopefully cleaning the house!’ They all laughed.

  ‘Is he taking it that badly?’ Claire asked.

  ‘I keep telling him that it’s only until he finds another job, which will hopefully be sooner than he thinks. Then goodness knows what I’ll do if he gets a job, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’ She sighed. ‘Right, enough about me, what’s going on with you two?’

  ‘Well, we’re well underway with the adoption process,’ Claire told them.

  ‘Claire, that is the biggest news! Why you haven’t told us?’ Franceska asked, giving her a hug and nearly sending me flying off her lap.

  ‘I was waiting for tonight. It’s a long process, and Jonathan still isn’t exactly keen … I’ll keep you posted but having George has made me want a sibling for Summer even more. She thinks that Alfie and George are her brothers and she talks about them at nursery as if they’re human!’

  ‘That’s so cute, although perhaps a bit worrying when they find out she’s talking about cats,’ Polly pointed out.

  Franceska then told the other two that they were now ready to open a second restaurant. Tomasz had a partner, a friend from Poland who had moved here a while ago, and they were expanding the business together. The restaurant was really popular so it made sense, although I worried that big Tomasz worked too hard already. I didn’t want him to be too busy for his family.

  ‘I’m worried that we’ll see less of him, but he assures me that he’s going to put managers in so he can concentrate on the food side and not have to be there quite so often. Well, we are hoping,’ Franceska said. I knew that Tomasz found it hard to let go and delegate to others – his wife had worried about that since he had opened his first restaurant.

  I looked at George, who was fast asleep on Polly’s lap, then at my three human women. They were all so strong and had come a long way since I had first met them. Claire with her broken heart, Polly with her post-natal depression after giving birth to Henry, and Franceska struggling to settle into a foreign country. But I knew that it wasn’t plain sailing and once again it felt as if issues were mounting up for each of them. Changes were happening and change always threatened to cause problems, I knew that. I just hoped we would all be able to keep it together, and that my families would weather the storm I had a horrible feeling might be brewing.

  Chapter Twelve

  The first storm came not from my main families but from someone else I was very close to. Though all my families were a bit rocky, there was nothing that was an immediate concern to me. After the girls’ night, Claire and Jonathan had had a bit of a row, but that wasn’t anything new. When Jonathan went over to his house, Matt had been upset about his job loss, understandably, but Claire commented on how lucky they were that Polly had been offered something. Jonathan said she didn’t understand how unsettling it would be for Matt to have to slip into a housewife role and then Claire accused him of being sexist, which Jonathan quite happily admitted he was … It was just one of their usual annoying bickers. But it unsettled little George, who still had a long way to go before he understood.

  ‘I don’t understand why they shout,’ he said, his voice quivering.

  ‘Humans do that sometimes. It’s very complicated and it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘Well, sometimes people – and cats, for that matter – don’t agree.’

  ‘But why?’ he asked. And on and on he went, until I had to cover my ears with my paws, because I couldn’t hear ‘why’ one more time. Again, I knew how the human parents felt; Martha was going through a ‘why’ phase right now and Polly said it made her want to tear her hair out. Parenting this kitten was almost harder than taking care of my grown-up humans. But of course this cat had to do it all.

  The next day, Claire and Jonathan had made up and were doing that yucky thing they do when they keep kissing and being soppy. Poor George looked at me, eyes full of confusion, and I wondered how on earth I was supposed to teach him about life when it made so little sense sometimes.

  ‘Yuck,’ Summer proclaimed, watching her dad kiss her mum as they made breakfast. ‘Yuck, yuck, yuck.’ Claire and Jonathan laughed but I had to agree with her – it was pretty embarrassing to see them put on such a public display!

  George was stationed underneath Summer’s high chair, where he was enjoying licking off the yoghurt she kept dropping onto him. It was his new favourite thing to do. I was eating my breakfast, having ensured George had eaten enough of his by telling him he wouldn’t grow up as strong as me unless he did. I had heard many a human parent saying this so I knew it was true. But we were having lovely family time together and it made my heart swell with love, a feeling that had been lacking since the loss of Snowball. Don’t get me wrong, I still missed her when I had time, but I was also happily counting my blessings too.

  The doorbell dinged, interrupted our lazy Saturday morning. Jonathan and Claire looked at each other, and Claire went to open the door. I gave George the ‘stay there’ look I had mastered and followed her.

  ‘Oh God.’ Claire and I stood back as she opened the door. Tasha, her best friend and one of mine too, stood on the doorstep, holding her son, Elijah, who was only a bit older than Summer. She was crying with such force, it suggested she might fall over.

  ‘Tash, come in,’ Claire said. She grabbed Elijah, almost dropping him; he was only a few months older than Summer but he was about two children heavier. She shouted for Jonathan, who came running, thrust Elijah at him and told him to take him into the kitchen with Summer. Jonathan looked shocked but didn’t argue as Claire led Tash into the living room with me at their heels, where Tash immediately collapsed onto the sofa.

  ‘Tash, darling, what on earth is it?’ Claire wrapped her arms around her friend as she sobbed. Not quite knowing what to do, I curled up next to her. At least she would know I was there for her.

  Tasha and I had met when I started living with Claire on Edgar Road, a long time ago. I had loved her straight away. She was a good friend to Claire and had seen us both through some tough times. Claire and Tasha used to work together and had quickly become best friends. Now, with the children so close in age, they spent
loads of time together and she remained one of my favourite humans. I didn’t go to her house, as it was too far away, but she was nevertheless part of my family.

  ‘It’s Dave, he’s gone!’

  Dave was her partner. They had never married, and although he seemed an all right kind of bloke, he was allergic to cats, so we always had a bit of an issue between us. He used to take pills when he was around me but he still never touched me, so our relationship was far from close.

  ‘Gone? Gone where?’

  ‘He’s, he’s …’ She hiccupped.‘He’s left us. Moved out.’

  ‘What? Tash! What on earth?’ Claire took hold of her friend’s hands, looking as shocked as I felt. I might not have been Dave’s biggest fan but I thought they were solid in their relationship. Immediately, I felt a kinship with Tash – we both were suffering heartbreak, after all.

  ‘He said last night he couldn’t do this, this relationship with me. He said he loved Elijah but this wasn’t how he thought family life would be and he wasn’t cut out for it. I tried to ask him for reasons, he just kept saying that he didn’t love me anymore. I tried to talk him out of it, but he, he didn’t change his mind. I cried, I begged, I didn’t sleep all night and this morning he packed a few bags and went. What am I going to do?’

  ‘Oh, Tash, I can’t believe it.’ As Tash sobbed in Claire’s arms I came to the sad realisation that I had been right all along not to trust a man who was allergic to cats.

  Claire was good in a crisis, a bit like myself. She mobilised the troops. She told Jonathan to look after the children while she took Tash into a different room. She ordered Jonathan to call Dave and try to get to the bottom of it, then she said that Tash and Elijah had to move in with us for now. She drove Tash home to get some of their belongings so they could stay for a few days at least. Basically she did exactly what I would have done, if I were a human. I had taught her well.

  I felt sad for my lovely friend. Why did humans continue to hurt each other? It was something I didn’t understand. I knew how Tash felt, a little bit, having lost Snowball. But at least Snowball hadn’t abandoned me – she didn’t have a choice but to leave.