“If you don’t mind me taking you through this way,” Ramy continued, “I do want us to stop at this room before I take you to where we keep the kittens.” Nana leaned an inch closer to the glass door, the coolness of the surface on her forehead was helping calm her nerves. Nana was ready for 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.
“Who’s this?” the woman stopped and squealed as she saw Nana’s door.
“That’s our Nana. She is our oldest resident and has been here the longest. She is a sweetheart, and she loves kids, perhaps more than adults.” As though on cue, Nana looked up with wide eyes and a slight smile.
“Awwwwww,” the woman replied—
𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵; 𝘐’𝘮 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦—
“She’s so cute, but...”—
𝘰𝘩 𝘯𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 '𝘣𝘶𝘵'—
the woman took another look at Nana before turning back to Ramy, “...a senior would be too difficult for our family right now. I wish… I just don’t think it’s the right choice for us.”
And that was that.
Before the woman finished her sentence, Nana’s eyes had already returned to the floor. But she could still sense Ramy’s compassionate eyes on her even without looking back up.
“Of course. I understand what you mean, and the most important thing for us at Belling is finding the right pet for you and your family. There are many parts to consider, and I appreciate that you are not acting impulsively when it comes to adopting,” said Ramy as he started to take her toward the kittens' room.
They were not looking at Nana anymore nor was she at them. She had heard “it would be too hard” or some other version of the phrase too many times. She wasn’t sure what it was about her that was 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥. She was capable of cleaning up after herself and would be doing a better job if the annoying litter didn’t get stuck in her paws all the time. And if they wanted, she could even feed herself. Just give her access to a kitchen… or a trash can…
Suddenly Nana noticed that the small girl, Mona, was still staring at her—she knelt down to Nana’s level and placed her hands on the glass to balance herself. Mona brought her face so close to the glass that their foreheads would be touching if not for it. Nana felt warmth, all the way down to her stomach. Their eyes grew further as they met each other.
“Mona, come dear, don’t get out of my sight.” With that, Mona was back on her feet and running toward her mom down the hall, before disappearing around the corner.
𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘔𝘗. Nana turned around to a loud fall, and even before looking, she knew what had happened. Sameera had chosen to do acrobatics today, after all. Then Jackson picked up a can—𝘛𝘊𝘏𝘏𝘒—and all the cats, except for a disappointed Nana and a pained Sameera, went wild.
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