by Rachel Wells
‘Oh, George.’ I started trying to figure out how to get things back in the cupboard before realising that I had no chance, so I left it like it was, knowing I would probably be the one who got told off. I wasn’t best pleased with George but I was also cross with Claire and Jonathan. They had put those funny childproof things on most of the cupboards to stop Summer, so why hadn’t they done this one? Honestly, parenting was going downhill these days.
I was exhausted after my attempts to tidy up, but George was hopping around wanting to play. He had far too much energy, so I decided that we would brave the outside. I led him out through the cat flap.
‘It’s wet!’ he screeched as he stood in a puddle and a big fat raindrop plopped onto his head.
‘OK, look, we’ll go and see Matt, come on, I’ll take you the back way.’ I led him over and under fences in the direction of Polly and Matt’s house. Luckily it was a dog-free route. Although George still didn’t like the rain I was hoping that the exercise would wear him out a bit. He was one exhausting kitten at times.
We let ourselves in through the cat flap, and as we both dripped a bit onto the kitchen floor, Matt appeared, talking on the phone. He smiled at us.
‘Polly, calm down. I’ve said it’s OK. I’ll pick the kids up, get them ready for bed and if they’re not too tired they can stay up and see you when you get home.’ He listened for a bit. ‘OK, love you.’ He put the phone down and then looked at us.
‘You guys are pretty damp. Stay in here until you dry off.’ He put the kettle on and I shook my fur. George went and lay in the warmest spot he could find.‘Right, well, nice to see you boys. This being at home on my own is a bit dull, to be honest. Don’t know how Polly did it, but she never seemed to complain … I miss going to work though, I miss the pressure as well as the actual job.’ I went to him and rubbed his leg, but carefully, so he didn’t get too wet.‘Thanks, Alfie. Anyway, I’m trying to make the best of it. I love spending more time with the kids, I really do enjoy that, and it’s nice because I’m seeing them do things I’ve never been around for before. But the school gate is a bit scary, all those women. And in this day and age it still is mainly women, I’m not even being sexist. I got asked to go for coffee today but I was too afraid so I made an excuse. If I’m not careful they’ll draft me onto the PTA!’
‘Miaow?’ I had no idea what he was talking about, none whatsoever.
‘I really do need to get a job. I mean, I might have got the hang of being a househusband, nearly, but it’s just not me, and I miss Polly. I miss us being together and not arguing. I honestly think if I had a job then we wouldn’t argue as much.’
He sat down with his tea and George started chasing his shadow across the kitchen floor.
‘If only life were that simple, eh, Alfie?’ Matt said, looking at George. I purred my agreement. If only I had just my shadow to worry about, but no, I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Or the weight of Edgar Road at least.
We stayed with Matt until he had to leave to go to the supermarket before picking the kids up. George was very entertaining, being a bit of an exhibitionist, showing Matt how he could jump onto counters and climb up the kitchen blinds – which very nearly didn’t end well. But at least he made us both laugh. It was nice to see Matt smile; now I understood why people watched funny cat videos on the internet for hours, it was better than catnip for lifting a mood. I was so pleased when we left; Matt was smiling, he looked smart and the house was spotless. Maybe he was turning a corner, and it seemed we had definitely cheered him up.
As we left, we bumped into Tiger at the front of the house. The rain had stopped and the sun was almost shining.
‘Hey, guys, how are you?’ she asked, giving George a big nuzzle.
‘Exhausted and in need of a nap,’ I said. I really was. I also wanted time to think about my humans, but with George it was impossible.
‘But I want to play!’ George said. He was still far too full of energy.
‘Hey, Alfie, I can watch him. I’ll take him to the park or something and bring him home after?’ Tiger looked hopeful. An offer of babysitting? How could I refuse, especially as I knew Tiger would never let anything happen to George.
‘You’re on. Now, George, be good for Tiger and I’ll see you later.’ I nuzzled him goodbye and headed home for a well-earned rest.
I enjoyed my nap but I didn’t relax fully while George was out. I knew he was safe with Tiger but still … He hadn’t been out without me before. When I heard the cat flap bang, I rushed to the back door. I put my head through, and saw Tiger sitting with George in front of the cat flap. I grinned; he looked so cute. They looked cute together, in fact: my best friend and my kitten.
‘Hi, Alfie,’ Tiger said.
‘Has he been good?’ I asked.
‘Good as gold. We’ve had so much fun,’ Tiger replied.
‘Oh, Dad, I love the park! We climbed a tree and teased a chubby dog. It was great!’ George was full of enthusiasm and I was both relieved that he was all right and thrilled to see how happy he was.
‘Right, come on in, it’s teatime. Thanks, Tiger, thank you so much.’
‘Can Tiger-Mum come home with us?’ George asked. My heart melted and I looked at Tiger and could see she felt emotional too.
‘I’m afraid not, she has to get home now, but you’ll see her soon. Thanks again, Tiger.’
‘My pleasure. Any time you need some time to yourself, I’m there,’ Tiger replied, then bade us goodbye. I stood back so George could hop through the cat flap.
‘I missed you,’ I said, and I really had. It was strange – I did need time to myself every now and then, but when I had it, I missed him. Was that parenthood? I guessed it must be because I was pretty sure I had heard my humans saying something similar.
‘Me too, Dad. What’s for tea?’
Later that evening I lay snuggled up in the armchair, with George curled up next to me. It was dark outside; Jonathan was watching the news on TV and Claire came in to join him. I felt nervous; they had been perfectly civil to each other while Summer was around, but now she was in bed, I was unsure how the land lay.
‘Hi,’ Jonathan said.‘Are you OK?’
‘Yes, I just spoke to Tash.’ Claire sat down.‘It looks as if it’s all being sorted. I think Dave has had some kind of wake-up call. She’s not sure, but he has apologised and said he does want to be a good dad to Elijah. They’re going to meet up this weekend, with his mum, and she seems hopeful.’
‘She won’t take him back will she?’ Jonathan looked concerned and I sincerely hoped not.
‘No, I think the way he acted, cheating, moving out, not to mention the lying and the way he behaved since, means she’ll never fully trust him again, but Tash is a good mum and she wants what’s best for her child. At the moment that means having his dad around, no matter how useless he is.’
‘I agree, although I’m not Dave’s biggest fan. But I am Elijah’s, of course.’ Jonathan touched Claire’s arm.
‘Jonathan, we have our own issues to deal with, I know that, and we need to figure them out, so this weekend I want to go and see Mum and Dad with Summer, and I want you to come.’
‘OK, what’s brought this on?’
‘I’m not going to pretend. I could do with a change of scene, but also … Dad is a social worker, you know that, and he’s going to help us with the adoption – just explain how it works and what we need to do, if we decide to push forward with it. I thought it might help you to speak more to him about it.’
‘You mean your dad is going to talk me into it?’ Jonathan bristled.
‘No, I told him that I found it all a bit confusing and I explained how you felt, and he said perhaps if he talked us through the process, and all the options available to us, then maybe we’d stop arguing and come to a decision we were both happy with.’ I was proud of how reasonable Claire sounded.
‘Right …’ Jonathan still sounded doubtful.
‘Look, I know how single-minded I
get, so does Dad. I wanted us to get married when we did, I wanted Summer when we did, I know how I am and, well, I think Dad is probably more likely to be on your side than mine.’
‘It’s not about sides, you know that. I just don’t know if I can do this.’ Jonathan sounded sad rather than angry.‘I wish I had your belief, I really do.’
‘And that’s what this weekend is about. Having a chat, a change of scene and then hopefully we can make a decision together. Besides, Mum and Dad are dying to see Sum.’
‘Blimey, you sound more reasonable than I’ve ever heard you,’ Jonathan said.
‘That’s my dad. He kind of gave me a bit of a talking-to. Anyway, can we go?’
‘What about Alfie and George?’
‘Frankie said they could both go and stay with them. We can drop them off on the way and either pick them up on our way home or Tomasz will drop them back here. The boys want to spend time with Alfie, and George, of course, before they go on their holiday.’
Wow, I was going to spend the weekend with my Polish family, which was great, and George was going to have his very first weekend away. And we’d see Dustbin! I was already excited.
‘You’ve got it all sorted then.’ I saw Jonathan raise his eyebrows.
‘Sorry, I know, I’m so bossy. But you kind of knew that when you married me.’
‘True, I did. Look, Claire, about the adoption—’
‘I know you’re worried you won’t be able to love a child that you didn’t make.’
‘Yes, that’s it.’
‘But I think you can.’
I felt a tingling in my fur. I looked at George, curled up next to me. I couldn’t love him any more than I did, yet I didn’t make him. I looked at Jonathan and Claire, who appeared to be deep in thought. I had adopted George, hadn’t I? Yes, it had been an enforced adoption at first, but still … And now I would be distraught without him; I loved him so much. I needed Jonathan to understand this. Surely that was the answer. He had to see that, if I could love George, he could love an adopted child. I just wasn’t sure how I could make him see that – at least, not yet.
Chapter Twenty
‘Oh, Mama, look, George is playing with the sardine!’ little Tomasz exclaimed with joy. I had told George that food was not to be played with, but he loved how slippery it felt between his paws and he was chasing it around the kitchen – although of course it wasn’t alive – and pouncing on it. The boys thought it was hilarious. Aleksy was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak.
‘George, eat the fish, is not a toy,’ Franceska chastised, winking at me. She then grabbed it, chopped it up and put it back in his bowl. He obediently ate. We had arrived a little while ago, just after the boys had got back from school. They were excited, not only because we were staying with them but also because it was the start of the summer holidays. They were leaving next week for their holiday in Poland, which I felt sad about, but I didn’t want that to tarnish this weekend. I wanted us to have as much fun as possible.
We ate tea and then the boys put on a film, Star Wars, which I couldn’t quite figure out, but it was quite exuberant. There were lots of flashes of colour across the screen. George jumped up onto the TV stand and tried to chase the flashes before Aleksy moved him away.
‘You’ll be in trouble if you break it,’ he said, echoing my thoughts. George looked at me, and I tried to give him a stern look but he just smiled that adorable smile of his. I think he was enjoying his first holiday.
Just as the film finished, big Tomasz arrived home.
‘Ah, the cats, my boys, how lovely to come home to you all.’ He smiled broadly and kissed everyone, and then he kissed his wife.
‘Kochanie, I have bought some champagne home from the restaurant for us tonight.’
‘What are we celebrating?’ Franceska asked. Big Tomasz looked a bit sad, but didn’t say anything. It was yet another ‘not in front of the children’ moment.
‘Right, boys, bedtime,’ Franceska said.
‘Oh, Mum,’ Aleksy said. He sounded like an English boy now, although I knew big Tomasz and Franceska were teaching their sons Polish. ‘Can we stay up a bit, with Alfie and George?’ he begged.
‘Half an hour,’ she conceded. ‘Tomasz, I’ll put supper on, you spend time with the boys.’ I noticed that Franceska didn’t exactly sound happy, but I was distracted as Aleksy picked me up while both big and little Tomasz started playing ball with George. Aleksy carried me into his bedroom. As my first child friend, Aleksy and I had been through a lot together. I had been his first friend in England and I’d also helped him when he was being bullied at school a couple of years ago. He confided in me, and as he placed me on his bed I knew we were going to have a chat.
‘I’m worried, Alfie. Mum and Dad aren’t really speaking and now we’re going to Poland for the whole holiday without him. I’m going to miss you, and home, but I’m going to miss Dad the most.’ He looked sad as he stroked me. I snuggled into him and purred my understanding.
‘I’m worried we won’t come home. I mean, Mum said we will when I asked her, but what if we don’t? Or what if our parents split up like Elijah’s and my school friend Justin’s did? I love Mum and Dad, and I get we don’t see enough of Dad at the moment because he’s too busy but they have to fix it.’ He thumped his hand down on his bed and looked so sad. I really felt for him. Aleksy was ten but very sensitive and mature, I thought, a little like me. I tickled him with my tail, which normally made him laugh and then I put my paw up in a high five.‘You’ll make sure that they’re OK, won’t you, Alfie?’
‘Miaow.’ Of course I would. I had no idea how, but I would. I was giving Aleksy my cat promise.
‘I’m excited to go to Poland. I don’t really remember much about it and Tommy has no memory at all. We’ll get to see family and Mum says it’ll be really cool but I want to come home to both my parents, Alfie. I’m relying on you.’
‘Miaow.’ Oh goodness, I had just been given even more responsibility.
After the boys had gone to bed, Tomasz let us out the back. He and Franceska were speaking to each other using only one word at a time, which I knew wasn’t good, and he was going back to the restaurant downstairs to quickly check everything was fine. He promised Franceska he wouldn’t be long, but she just grunted in response.
‘It’s dark,’ George said as he tentatively stepped into the yard.‘Yowl!’ he shrieked.‘What was that?’
‘Your shadow, George. Don’t worry, I’m here.’ I felt brave. After all, I’d been in this yard loads of times, and yes, it was a bit scary, and there were some nasty creatures around, but Dustbin would be here somewhere and he’d take care of us.
‘Yowl!’ he shrieked again. ‘What’s that?’ A figure loomed towards us.
‘George, that’s my friend, Dustbin.’ Dustbin emerged from behind a bin, licking his whiskers.
‘Nice surprise, Alfie.’ He looked at George. ‘And who’s this?’
‘This is George, he’s my kitten.’
‘I heard the boys talking about someone called George when they were down here the other day. I didn’t know you were a kitten. Nice to meet you, George.’ Dustbin’s voice softened as he spoke; even he wasn’t immune to George’s charm.
‘We aren’t allowed out for very long,’ I explained.‘But it’s safe, isn’t it?’
‘Don’t worry, Alfie, I won’t let anything happen to your lad. Will you come to see me tomorrow?’
‘Yes, I’ll miaow to be let out after breakfast and we can have a proper catch up.’
‘Looking forward to it, and getting to know the little lad a bit better too!’
Big Tomasz came out again, leaving a big plate of food for Dustbin, before taking us back upstairs. I noticed George was still shaking.
‘It’s OK, Dustbin is really nice,’ I said.
‘I know but it was so dark and it smelled funny in the yard. Dustbin smelled funny too.’ I couldn’t argue with that. He was a little fragrant, but he had a heart of gold.
George and I settled down in my bed in the living room as Tomasz and Franceska drank the champagne that Tomasz had brought from the restaurant, but neither of them looked as if they were enjoying it. They barely said a word, until finally they both started speaking really quickly in Polish, which meant that I couldn’t understand what they were saying. They didn’t sound very happy, I had to admit. I went to sleep worrying about them and feeling bad for Aleksy. And for myself – after all, I had promised to fix it.
The following morning, the sun was shining brightly as George and I waited to go out into the yard. In the daylight, George felt more confident, and ran straight up to Dustbin.
‘MIAOW!’ he screamed, as Dustbin, taken by surprise, dropped what he had in his mouth. It was a very fat mouse, or perhaps even a rat. George jumped back, the rodent jumped towards him, and before I knew what to do, Dustbin had grabbed it and flung it out of the way.
‘Oh dear, that was a bit close,’ Dustbin said as I went to comfort George.
‘What was that?’ George asked, wide-eyed.
‘It was a small rat, not very nice, but my job is to keep them away from the restaurant.’
‘But what do they do?’ George said.
‘Good question. All they seem to do is eat rubbish and spread disease.’
‘Are they worse than dogs then?’ George asked.
‘Not exactly, but as bad as.’ Dustbin was very patient with him; it was gratifying to see.
‘But you know what, Dustbin, Dad, I wanted to leap on it, I had this feeling inside me.’
‘That’s your cat instinct,’ Dustbin explained.‘Cats are natural hunters, it’s in your nature and that’s why you felt that urge to do that.’
‘Dad, do you hunt too?’ asked George.
Dustbin exchanged a look with me.
‘Well, George, I’m not so keen on hunting. There was a point in my life when I had to, and I’ll tell you all about that later, but now, well, I try not to get involved.’ I saw Dustbin smirk but he didn’t contradict me.