Рейчел Уэллс - Alfie And George

‘I don’t like the vet. Why didn’t you tell me?’ he said.

‘Because we all have to go. They are what we call a necessary evil. And now you’ve had your vaccinations you won’t have to go so often — hardly ever, in fact, if you stay healthy and out of trouble.’

‘Really? But I might have to go again?’ He looked at me with his big eyes full of terror.

‘I’m afraid all cats do from time to time, but listen, it gets easier.’ It really didn’t, in all honesty, but I wanted to be positive.‘And the good thing is that now you’ll be allowed outside and you’ll love that.’ Although suddenly I started fretting. There were all sorts of dangers outside and I didn’t want to think about what might happen to my kitten.‘But you don’t go out without me or a human, not yet anyway. Promise?’

George looked at me with those big eyes that melted my heart every time.‘I promise, Dad.’

Was there anything sweeter than that word?

‘I love hearing Summer call me Daddy,’ Jonathan said that evening as he and Claire were having dinner. The kids were in bed, as was Tash, so it was just the three of us in the kitchen.

‘I know. And you know what, you’ll love it when our next child calls you that too.’

‘Claire …’ Jonathan’s voice had a warning edge to it. I knew this issue was far from resolved but, what with everything that had been going on with Tash, it had been put on the back burner — or so I thought.

‘Look, Jonathan, I’m going to be positive about this. We have the adoption workshop tomorrow and then after that we’ll get allocated our own social worker. It’s early days, I know. We’ve got a long way to go, but I refuse to feel disheartened.’ Claire looked determined and I knew there was no arguing with her when she was like this.

‘Right, well how’s Tash doing?’ Jonathan seemed to agree with me that an argument with Claire was a waste of time right now, and obviously decided a subject change was easier.

‘I wanted to talk to you about that. The solicitor is great, thanks, and she suggested that Tash buy Dave out of the house. She said they have quite a lot of equity, because they bought it so long ago, and the prices have rocketed in their area, so her idea is that she buy hi m out and then if she doesn’t want to live in it she can rent it out.’

‘That makes sense,’ Jonathan said. ‘It’ll be a good investment for her and Elijah.’

‘I think at first she wanted to fight Dave a bit, you know, because he thought she’d just hand over half the money and she’d believe his half-baked promises to pay child support. And especially as he hasn’t made much effort to see his son since he moved out. But now she just wants to move on. So the solicitor is going to be firm but fair with Dave.’

‘Good for her. And if he does anything, I’ll go and see him. Or maybe a solicitor’s letter would be better. I never exactly took to Dave but I didn’t think he was this much of an idiot. What about finding her a new home?’

‘Well, there’s a flat coming up at the end of the road, a bit like Polly’s old one, which would be perfect for the two of them. The tenants are moving out in a month.’

‘Are you sure you didn’t kick them out?’ Jonathan raised an eyebrow.

‘No, although I admit I was asking around. I actually went to see the curtain twitchers.’ That was their name for Salmon’s owners, Vic and Heather Goodwin.

‘Blimey, you must really want her here, to have done that! Though it would be lovely to have them down the road. What does Tash think?’

‘I haven’t mentioned it, I wanted to talk to you first.’

‘Well, darling, I think it’s great. She can stay here until she’s ready to move somewhere else, either Edgar Road or wherever.’

‘See, you are such a compassionate man, Jonathan, you’ll be fine with this adoption.’ His smile quickly vanished, but Claire didn’t push it.

‘Oh, and Heather and Vic were talking about something else. You know there’s been a few cat posters going up on the street?’

‘This is London, unfortunately there are always cat pictures. I see loads on my way to the tube station. Maybe they’ve been hit by cars, or just run away,’ said Jonathan.

‘I know, but there is a bit of a spate of them at the moment. Anyway, Heather and Vic are going to mention it at the next neighbourhood watch meeting, as they think it might be a bit sinister.’ I felt my fur shiver. I hoped it wasn’t something bad, but I couldn’t help but feel they might be right.

‘Well, you know what those two are like, I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about,’ Jonathan replied.

‘I hope you’re right, darling.’ Claire sounded worried, which made me feel even more worried. I had a feeling we were on the cusp of something; I had to make sure the local cats all kept their eyes and ears well and truly open.

Claire wanted an early night with her latest book club book, so after checking that George was fast asleep, I sat with Jonathan and we watched a film. Or he watched a film and I snuggled up and got a bit lost in my thoughts.

‘Oh, Alfie, I know there’s no stopping Claire when she makes her mind up, but I just don’t think I can do this adoption.’ He actually looked sad and I think I understood. Jonathan was a lovely, honourable man but he did struggle with his emotions a bit sometimes.

I snuggled into him to try to reassure him that he could, but I was pretty sure that it wasn’t enough. I would have to think of another way. There were more changes a-paw, I could feel that, and suddenly I felt even more exhausted. Heartbreak, in whatever form, takes its toll and now it looked as if it might also be spreading its wings over all the people I loved.

‘What’s this?’ George looked at me in wonderment as he tentatively padded his paw onto the lawn.

‘It’s grass,’ I replied.‘You can walk on it.’

‘It’s soft and springy and a bit damp!’ he exclaimed. Seeing things through his eyes did open mine to what I usually took for granted. Maybe that was the point of children and kittens? It certainly made having them make more sense. I smiled at him indulgently. Could he be any more adorable?

‘It’s very good for walking on, and it’s only damp because it’s still early, although when it rains it will be wet too.’

‘So it’s safe and not like a bath?’

Educating George was still a bit of a chore. I watched him leap off across our small lawn. He was allowed outside now but only in the garden until he got used to the area. Claire and Jonathan were talking about getting a lead for him — honestly, we cats are not dogs — which was a terrible idea as I could do that just as well. I tried to tell Claire as much by miaowing very loudly and giving her my disapproving look but as Jonathan said, when she makes up her mind …

George flipped onto his back and rolled over in the grass. He was so happy with such simple pleasures; it was yet another thing I loved about him. I could remember when all I wanted to do was to sit on a warm lap or relax in a sunny spot, but those simple days had ended prematurely for me after my first owner died when I was still young. I now wanted that simplicity for George, and to protect him from the complexities of life. That was when I knew that I was definitely a parent.

‘Hey, Alfie,’ I heard Tiger hiss quietly as she jumped over a fence and into our garden.

‘Tiger!’ I was delighted to see her.

‘I know the humans might not like it but I had to come and see you.’

‘They won’t mind, they know we’re friends. I don’t think they’d even mind if they found you in the house — Snowball used to visit all the time.’