Alfie and George

by Rachel Wells

  I was teaching George how important us cats actually were in the lives of our humans. He did get a bit carried away, telling me that his latest goal was to make Summer less bossy. I wished him luck with that; it was too ambitious a plan, even for me. And for him, I thought, as I watched her still insisting that he pretend to be her baby. But the boy was taking after me, and although there was no blood shared, I could never love anyone more. A chip off the old block, he was eagerly lapping up information and charming all the neighbourhood cats, even Salmon; he pretty much had us all wrapped round his little paws.

  Tiger had become such a great surrogate mum to George too. We spent so much more time together and although she was still sarcastic, judgmental and a little scathing of my more sentimental side, she took George under her paw as if he was her own. We were quite a team, the three of us. We had a bond I knew no one could ever take away from us, and we spent more time together than ever. Even Claire and Jonathan had noticed the time we spent together, calling Tiger and I an ‘old married couple’. They thought it was funny. I did not. There was nothing old about me.

  And our other cat friends were all part of our lives in a way they hadn’t been before. Losing George and Pinkie had bonded us in a way that took us all by surprise. The cats of Edgar Road were a force to be reckoned with, and not to mention Dustbin, whose friendship I valued highly.

  My families were all doing well again, and I had my paws crossed that it stayed that way. I didn’t for one minute think that it would – after all, it never did – but I had learnt to enjoy the good times and only worry about the bad when they actually came.

  Tash was now a fully-fledged resident of Edgar Road and George and I visited her flat regularly. She was seeing Max and apparently their status was ‘in a relationship’. She was cautious, but happy. And though it hadn’t been plain sailing, they weren’t friends, Tash and Dave had reached a level of agreement over Elijah which, according to Tash, was the most she could hope for. And lovely Elijah was so laid back and happy; he was getting big but he was the loveliest boy. The adults joked that he and Summer would get married one day but to be honest I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, Summer would run rings around him. He’d be totally henpecked – I had learnt what that phrase meant from my holiday in the country and my rescue mission. Of course, I loved Summer and I loved her bossiness, I just didn’t wish it on anyone else.

  I had been to stay with my Polish family, with George as well, because Claire and Jonathan had had something important to do. They were much happier now and Aleksy told me he was no longer worried about his parents. Big Tomasz was busy, and they were planning on opening their third restaurant, but they had put such a good formula in place that he didn’t have to actually be working all the time. He was the brains behind the food, his business partner looked after the business side, and they had good chefs and managers working for them. They were even talking about moving to a bigger home, so the boys, who were growing so fast, would have more space. I could see their point but I worried that I would miss Dustbin. George and I loved hanging out with him. He’d declared that George was a very good hunter, which I didn’t approve of; but I couldn’t really stop him, it was natural for most cats and I knew I was an anomaly. But I enjoyed spending time with Dustbin, who was one of the wisest cats I knew; even if they moved, I would find a way to see him, I knew the way to his home by now. Franceska was saying how wonderful it would be if they could live on Edgar Road again, although they hadn’t seriously looked at anything at this stage. Jonathan joked that they were turning into ‘The Waltons’, although I didn’t know what he meant. I would love to have them back on our street – I would have another home to visit regularly and I would feel like a proper doorstep cat again. You could never have too many homes.

  I’d tried explaining this to George when I’d settled him back home. He had been a little traumatised by his ordeal but mainly because of the noise of the other cats.

  ‘This is your home,’ I’d said.‘Always remember that.’

  ‘But what about Matt and Polly’s?’

  ‘Well, yes, that’s your home too.’

  ‘And Franceska and Tomasz.’

  ‘Yes, that’s your home too, but nowhere else.’ I was getting a bit frustrated.

  ‘Tash?’

  ‘OK, George, what I am trying to say is that these are your homes, all the ones you mentioned. But the easiest way to look at it is that your home is wherever I am.’ He seemed to accept that.

  It had taken a while, but Polly and Matt had ironed their issues out. They both worked now and they both loved their jobs, but they made their family life work too and had employed a nanny, who the others shared sometimes. Lucy, the nanny, was so nice and we all liked her. Polly and Matt also made sure they spent time together once a week. They were all lovey-dovey like they used to be. Polly looked so much like her old self, beautiful and happy. Matt was relaxed and he enjoyed the time he spent at home – even the tidying. They were planning a big family holiday, but I was pretty sure that George and I weren’t going to be invited. Martha was getting bigger, as was Henry. He now refused to play with Martha and Summer and was relieved when Aleksy and little Tomasz returned from Poland and he had boys to play with again.

  Claire, Jonathan and Summer were all great too. George and Summer were so close, and I liked that, because I wanted her to have that relationship the way I did with Aleksy. We both loved all the children but we did have an extra closeness with those two, because I felt as if I had grown up with Aleksy and Summer was growing up with George. Summer had turned three recently and we’d had a lovely family party, and it was then that Claire and Jonathan told us their big news. It hadn’t happened overnight, but it didn’t matter, because today was a big day. Everything was about to change yet again, only this time I hoped it was going to change for the better.

  We were all very nervous and excited at the same time. My stomach fluttered. We were all looking our best: Jonathan wore a pair of smart trousers and a shirt; Claire was wearing a pretty floral dress; and Summer was wearing a princess costume that she’d got for her birthday, which she insisted was her best outfit ever. To be honest, she barely took it off, but she did look very cute. I had made sure George groomed himself thoroughly and I had done the same. We both looked incredibly handsome, even if I did say so myself.

  We all waited, fidgeting and not quite knowing what to do with ourselves. Time crawled by so slowly, which it always did when you were waiting for something.

  Claire and Jonathan had met him, of course – our potential adoptee. They’d had lots of visits and trips with him, but now he was coming to our house to see if we were all going to live together. He couldn’t move straight in, he had to be happy here, but why wouldn’t he be? Our home was so full of love it radiated out of every room. He would fit right in, once he had time to get used to it. Just like me, and like George.

  I stretched as the doorbell went.

  ‘Oh goodness, they’re here. Do I look OK?’ Claire patted her hair and looked flustered. Claire’s mood had been so great lately, she was so happy and excited about the future. She kept saying that this was fate and she knew it was meant to be. And I think Jonathan believed her, finally.

  ‘You look lovely,’ Jonathan said, taking her hand. I could see he was sweating a bit as they made their way to the front door.

  ‘Me too!’ Summer shouted as she followed them, George and myself on her heels.

  Jonathan opened the door, and in walked a lady holding the hand of a boy about Henry’s age. He looked terrified, and clutched the lady’s hand tightly. My heart went out to him; if anyone needed a cat it was this boy, I could immediately tell.

  ‘Hi, Marie,’ Claire said, shaking hands with the lady.

  ‘Hi, guys, Summer,’ Marie said.

  Claire knelt down on the floor.‘Hello, Toby, welcome to our house,’ she said gently. The boy looked at her and smiled uncertainly.

  ‘Toby.’ Summer jumped forward and smiled at him.‘I
’m a princess.’

  ‘Hi, Summer.’ He seemed a bit more at ease with her, but still shuffled from foot to foot. I watched Claire kneeling before him, with Summer next to her. Jonathan hung back slightly.

  I decided to introduce myself. He must have been feeling so mixed up, and he was so young to have to handle such emotions. I lost my first home when I was too young to fully understand and it had been the hardest time of my life. I wanted him to know I knew how he felt, in my own way.

  ‘Miaow,’ I said, rubbing his legs.

  ‘A cat!’ he exclaimed, and sat down on the floor to stroke me. Claire followed suit as did Summer. George joined us.

  ‘Another cat!’ Toby said, even happier to see George, who crawled into his lap. This boy was all right, he clearly loved cats. Summer giggled, and Toby looked at her and giggled too. I felt choked up as I saw Claire’s eyes fill with tears. We were both thinking the same thing, I was pretty sure. This is our boy.

  We all played on the floor for a while. Marie the social worker hung back but Jonathan still seemed rooted to the spot. I decided to go and give him a little nudge.

  ‘Who’s hungry?’ he asked finally, looking at me and then at them.

  ‘Me!’ Summer shouted.

  ‘Toby?’ Jonathan asked. Toby nodded shyly. We all looked at Jonathan. He had tears in his eyes, which was rare, and his voice was choked. I was so proud of all of them, but especially him, at that moment.

  He reached out his hand to Toby. Toby looked at it for a few seconds, but then he put his hand into Jonathan’s. Jonathan pulled him gently to his feet and held onto that little hand so tightly.

  ‘Come on, son,’ he said.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  When Toby had to leave, he said he didn’t want to go, and nor did anyone want to say goodbye. Although he was still shy and uncertain, he had enjoyed being with us, I could tell. I found it hard to accept that a boy who was five years old had to come and live with a new family. It was part of life that I would always find upsetting, confusing and just wrong. But then I also knew, watching how Claire, Jonathan and Summer were with him, that if he had to go to a new home, ours was the best.

  Marie took Claire and Jonathan aside and said the visit had gone very well and so they would be increasing the time Toby spent with us until it was decided he could come and live here, which she hoped would be sooner rather than later. Claire looked relieved and Jonathan beamed, proving us right, he could love a child that wasn’t biologically his. His eyes were already full of love. After Toby left, with many hugs and kisses and promises that he could come back soon, we were all emotionally drained.

  ‘So Toby’s going to come and live with us?’ George asked when I was trying to settle him in bed.

  ‘Yes. Claire will be his mummy and Jonathan will be his daddy.’

  ‘Like you and Tiger are to me?’

  ‘Yes, just like that.’

  ‘Because I love you, Dad, and I love Tiger-Mum too.’ I kissed him goodnight: there was only so much emotion one cat could take in a day and I had reached my happiness limit.

  ‘Jonathan, I didn’t want him to go,’ Claire said when we were alone later, after Summer and George were fast asleep.

  ‘Me neither, I almost couldn’t bear it. You were right. The minute I saw him, I knew he was my son. I don’t understand it but I looked into his eyes and I loved him. Right away, I loved him.’ Jonathan was crying again – this was a regular occurrence today.

  ‘Oh, Jon, I love you so much and Toby will be the luckiest boy having you as a father.’

  ‘He deserves it after what he’s been through.’

  ‘Jon, don’t talk about that, let’s look to the future.’

  ‘Can’t wait to take him to the football.’ Jonathan tried to laugh.

  ‘Summer might want to go too,’ Claire pointed out.

  ‘Of course. I’m not being sexist, I’ll take them both. But I think you’re right, you know, it feels as if our family is complete now. Us, Summer, Alfie, George and now Toby. It feels right. It feels really wonderful, in fact.’

  ‘I know exactly how you feel. I’m just so happy right now. I can’t wait to have that lovely little boy living here.’

  ‘It might be hard at first, he’s going to need a lot of time and attention and we need to make sure Summer doesn’t feel left out.’ Jonathan was always the voice of reason.

  ‘I know, Jon, and that’s why I’m taking a year off work, remember. I’ll have time to give them both the attention they need. Nothing worthwhile is easy but we are going to do this and we’re going to do it really, really well.’

  ‘Maybe I should listen to you more in future,’ Jonathan laughed.

  ‘Finally! It’s about time you realised that. But seriously, Jon, we’re going to be all right.’

  ‘No, Claire, we’re going to be more than all right.’

  I checked on George, who was snoring gently, before I got ready to go out. I went past the living room, where Claire and Jonathan were snuggled on the sofa, and left the house. There was someone I needed to see. I had taught my humans a lot, and of course my plan had ultimately worked, despite it going terribly wrong, but they had taught me a great deal too. Seeing my families pulling together, all of the parents reaffirming their love, or looking for new love, had opened my eyes. Being a parent, whether of a child or a kitten, gave you a different perspective. Love and parenting worked in so many different ways. For example my first human, Margaret, didn’t have human children, she had Agnes and then me, we were her babies and she parented us brilliantly. She showered us with love and affection, not to mention pilchards. And it was the same with Claire and Jonathan before Summer came along. You were parents to your pets, your pets were parents to you. There were no rules when you loved – you just took care of each other.

  That was what I had learnt. I had also discovered that nothing is forever, so you need to snatch whatever happiness you can, when you can. You need to hold tight to what’s important to you and nurture and cherish it. You need to appreciate everyone you love every single day. Everyone had learnt something when George was missing, and I wondered if perhaps I had learnt the most.

  It wasn’t late, but I gently bumped the cat flap and waited in the back garden. After a few moments, Tiger emerged. The sky was dark blue, the moon bright and round; stars sparkled at us, it was a beautiful night. We sat on the back step, the place where our plan had gone wrong, looking up at the moon together, sitting side by side in silence.

  ‘How did today go?’ she finally asked, flicking her whiskers at me.

  ‘Wonderful, brilliant, it couldn’t have gone better if I’d planned it myself. Toby is a lovely little boy. I feel sad he doesn’t have a forever family already, but we’re also so lucky that we’re going to be it for him. You’ll love him too!’

  ‘Another kitten to worry about,’ Tiger grinned.‘Although perhaps it’s time to hang up your hat when it comes to plans to fix things.’

  ‘As if I will ever do that! Anyway, I don’t think he’s as naughty as George, or as bossy as Summer, but yes, of course I’ll worry about him, and love him, and do all I can to take care of him.’

  ‘Because that’s the kind of cat you are.’

  ‘It is. But I also need to appreciate those who help me, with George and my families, a bit more than I do at the moment,’ I said. My thoughts were clear but I was finding it hard to articulate them.

  ‘Anyone in particular?’ Tiger asked.

  ‘You know who I mean, Tiger. You. You’ve always been there for me, even after that business with Snowball you still were my best friend, and now you’re my co-parent.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of a co-parent,’ she said. She looked slightly embarrassed, probably because I had alluded to the time she told me she was in love with me.

  ‘You know I’ve learnt that love comes in all shapes and sizes. I think with Snowball it was young love, my first ever romance, I suppose, but we didn’t have too many responsibilities back then. I�
��ll always miss her a bit but life is different now and I wouldn’t change it for all the pilchards in the world.’

  ‘You wouldn’t?’

  ‘Tiger, what I’m trying to say, which I’m not doing very well, is that you’ve been by my side when it matters and I want us to be like that for a very, very long time.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Our relationship – we’re best friends, we’re parents and we love each other. All that teasing about us being an old married couple, well, I see it now. Maybe not the passion of youth but a more mature kind where we love each other properly.’ I felt so flustered by this conversation.

  ‘So you think we’re like an old married couple?’ Tiger asked, her voice slightly mocking.

  ‘Yes, well, less of the old, but a married couple who have the utmost respect for each other, who both love George in a way where he will always come first, but also a couple who have fun, who laugh with each other, and have deep, deep feelings of love for each other – that’s how I feel, Tiger. And vanity aside, none of us are getting any younger, it’s about time I saw what was right in front of my face.’

  ‘Me.’

  ‘You.’

  ‘Oh, Alfie, I never thought you’d say this, I mean, I never dreamed after Snowball …’

  ‘Shush. Some things take longer to figure out. Like with Toby, that’s not an overnight thing and we aren’t either.’

  ‘But … we’re rock solid?’ Tiger asked. Her eyes were full of everything I loved about her: warmth, fun, friendship, beauty. I had taken her for granted for so long but now my eyes had definitely been opened.

  ‘Unbreakable. Like the best things in life, we’ve been worth waiting for, and now, Tiger, my love, the wait is over.’

  ‘I’ve loved you for so long, Alfie.’

  ‘I know, and I’m sorry it hasn’t been plain sailing, but now I can return that love. And I know one little kitten who will be incredibly happy.’

  As we both looked at the moon, my heart was full – of my families, of my cat friends, of Tiger and, most of all, of our kitten, George.