Julia knows I won’t hurt anyone besides Mittens, so she lets me stay out while she has a friend over.
I watch as Julia makes toast, using fragrant homemade bread, toasting it and scraping a thick slab of butter infused with homegrown herbs.
There’s herbal tea, she lets it steep for a minute before scooping the teabags into a container.
I wish I could eat human food, it’s all dry pellets for me now.
“He sure seems rich. Does he make you happy?” asks the other woman bluntly, sipping the tea.
“Yes! Well, that is, he’s been nothing but nice…” Julia trails off, looking at the floor.
“Yet you said you wanted to talk about him. He not working for you?”
Julia is silent. The other woman drinks more tea and nibbles at her toast.
“Nice tea by the way.”
“The cats don’t like him.” Julia blurts out.
“There’s no problem with admitting it’s not working out, dear.” the woman urges.
I like this woman. I rub my cheek on her leg and purr. She ruffles my head absentmindedly.
“Rosa, I’m pregnant.” Julia admits.
I trip over my feet.
“Your cat sure seems shocked.” the woman says, then seems to catch herself.
Yeah, that wasn’t an appropriate reaction, thinking as she does that I’m a normal cat.
“So you’re worried he’ll get custody of the child?” Rosa asks.
Julia gets up and paces.
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. He seems so nice, but I don’t know if he’ll stay nice if things don’t go his way, but at the same time I have no reason to think that, so I should…”
“Even if there are legal battles, you need to get out early, Julie. Trust me, I’ve been through it and I know.” says Rosa.
“It’s not like that.” Julia insists, not sounding certain of herself.
Rosa just shakes her head.
Then she offers me a piece of bread. I eagerly take a bite. It tastes really good, but completely different from how it did when I was a human.
I go to take another bite but she pulls it away.
“Moderation.” she warns me. “Too much is bad for you.”
She looks back at Julia, who is nibbling on her toast without actually eating any.
“Honey, I’ve been where you are, and I know you won’t listen to me. I’ll let you make your own mistakes.”
I hiss in frustration. Julia looks at me sharply, and I rub my cheek against Rosa’s leg again. Look, she’s right, listen to her.
“Are you going to be aggressive with me too, Isabelle?” Julia asks me.
No. I run over to her and jump into her lap and meow.
“That cat…” Rosa pauses. “Isabelle, come here.”
I obligingly walk over.
“I’ve never seen a cat come when called. Isabelle, meow.”
I meow.
“No way. Isabelle, hiss.”
I do it. Julia looks shaken.
“There’s… no way. I mean she’s been weird lately but… Cats can’t understand people.”
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