I jumped up, slammed my fists on the table.

A sudden silence fell.

Wide-eyed, Tau stared at me.

"OUT!" "But." "OUT!"

Without a word he raised and left the kitchen.

When I caught my breath after a moment, I remembered that Kaami was still sitting next to me.

"Kaami, I-" "Why did you do that? Why did you have to shout at him?" "Babe, he was completely disrespectful! That's not how we should talk to each other." "It's been only a day. This is all new to him. Give him some time!" " I should give him time? Honey, what about us? Just because he's a traumatized kid, it doesn't mean he can treat us like shit. Because this is new to us, too and we aren't shitty to him, either."

For the next two minutes, neither of us spoke. We just ate in silence and then filled the dishwasher with plates and glasses.

So that was basically how Saturday went. Nothing more to say about it. Tau only came out of his room for brushing his teeth and Kaami was still mad at me for scolding the boy. I couldn't turn back time! And I didn't want to.

Tau had to respect us as his custodians while we had to respect him as the kid he was! 

I had felt intimidated by him, too! We had never been in such a situation, where some random kid had invaded our privacy! No one had taught us how to behave in such a situation. So, I just did what felt right. I wouldn't let him make me feel bad for who I was!

Normally we would watch a movie on a Saturday evening. Or cuddle. OR have sex. But after dinner, we brushed our teeth and went to bed.

"Fuck!"

We were lying next to each other for almost half an hour until I had to roll over to Kaami.

"What's up?" He didn't even consider looking at me while talking. "Kaami, can we have a word?" "Having it right now." "No. I'm trying to apologize here but you don't even look at my face." "Didn't hear you say a word until now." I sighed and rested my body on my elbows while looking over his shoulder. When I did so, his ears twitched backward.

"Please, look at me. I want to talk to you properly."

"Fine."

Finally, his head turned towards me. I could see him put his phone on the bedside table.

"Let's talk."

When he faced me completely, I sat up and leaned forward to kiss his forehead.

"I am sorry for reacting like that, earlier. It's not easy for me, either. I know, you are so excited about this whole fostering thing, and so am I. But we mustn't forget that we are his parents

now." "Pfff." "We are, honey. And we have to be strict at some point. Imagine him in twenty years. Do you want to raise a bully, who is disrespectful to his parents? Because if he is, he will be disrespectful to everyone else, too. Do you want that to happen?"

While I was talking, I grabbed his hand and kneaded his long, slender fingers. I gently brushed over his fur until I felt him relax.

"I want us to be a family as long as we can", he responded. His voice sounded tired, almost sad. "I know that. And we will. But that will only happen if we have some rules."

He huffed. That was something we had talked about before the orphanage had given us green light to foster. At some point, I understood his point of view. Kaami's parents had always been very strict. They wanted him to become a lawyer, marry a beautiful girl, a tiger if possible, and have some cute babies.

Well, that never happened.

Kaami had made his dream come true and became a pastry chef. During one of his early shifts, I happened to come in with some friends, having a lunch break at university. It was the first time for me to see a tiger in real life! I had never experienced this love-at-first-sight -thing, but when I saw him, I completely felt drawn to him. After that, I spent more and more time at the café until I finally had the heart to talk to him - only to find out he was the most beautiful person in this entire world.

From that day I couldn't stop thinking about him.

"...Nik!"

His voice got me out of the past and my thoughts.

I blinked.

"Sorry. I spaced out." "Thought so." While I still tried to remember what he had said in the past moments, he sat up and scooted even closer.

"I know, we are all a bit stressed out. But this will work." "How can you be so sure about that?" "I am not. But we have to try at least. Otherwise, we won't succeed." He put his hands on my cheeks and held me softly.

Immediately my cheeks warmed up. One of the things I loved about him was his fur. He was warm and soft. It never felt too hairy or fuzzy, just very nice.

I closed my eyes.

"I trust you." "I know. Just give us more time." "I will."

When he finally kissed me, I could feel my tension melt into him. "I love you" his voice brushed on my lips. "Mhm. Some more love, then."