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Jon slept in daddy’s bed the night before. He’d had a hard time getting to sleep because the shadows in his room were too much, so he’d guiltily climbed into daddy’s bed, and been happy when Elias had grabbed him and cuddled him close like a teddy bear. That’s Jon’s favorite position, when daddy wraps both arms around him and throws his leg over top of Jon’s to stop them wiggling. It feels very nice to be cocooned like that, and it always makes sleep seep into his bones.
He wakes up refreshed and ready for the day, but Elias is already out of bed. He’s in the closet getting dressed and Jon rolls over to watch him. He’s humming a song Jon doesn’t know, so Jon just watches quietly and enjoys the sound of his voice. He’s very casual today, in slacks and a nice sweater over his button-up, which Jon thinks is very handsome. He wonders why , though, because his daddy is usually very put together to go to work.
“Did you forget, button?” says Elias. “We’ve got to go get your kitty cat today.” Jon gasps and sits straight up in bed.
“We do?” he squeals, banging his hands on the bed in excitement. Daddy smiles at his antics and nods. “Did you make sure that my kitty was there?”
“Mmm-hmm,” says Elias. Jon scrambles out of the bed and takes a running leap at Elias. Elias laughs as he catches him, whirls him around. “Well, my little acrobat, shall we go get dressed?”
Jon makes sure to match his outfit to daddy’s. He wishes Peter was here and not at sea, because he wants all three of them to match. He knows his parents had a fight, which is why Peter had to go on this voyage so suddenly, he just hopes against his better judgement that it wasn’t another fight about him.
He dozes a bit as daddy does his hair, carefully detangling it with his fingers before smoothly plaiting it back from his temples. He leaves a lot of it out of the braids, but he puts in the coconut stuff on it to make the curls pop out better. Jon loves when he gets to have the coconut stuff in his hair, because Elias uses a pomade from the same brand, and now they match scents. Daddy presses his cheek to Jon’s so they’re right next to each other in the mirror.
“My perfect boy. I love you so much.” Jon thinks that daddy looks kind of sad, so he turns and gives him a kiss on the cheek. That always makes him feel better.
“I love you, too, daddy,” says Jon. He wants Elias to know that he’s the best thing in the whole world. Jon doesn’t know how he’d survive if he didn’t have his daddy to turn to. Elias turns and gives Jon kisses all over his face, which makes Jon squeal and laugh and pretend to push him away. He secretly thinks of daddy’s kisses sometimes and it makes his tummy flip all around so he tries no to do it often. It’s times like this that he always ends up thinking about. Elias ends with a very soft kiss on his forehead and leans back. Jon is giggling breathlessly, and clutching the front of his sweater.
“Are you ready to go, kitten?” asks Elias, hushed. Jon nods, and daddy picks him up to carry to the car. Jon’s a bit old to be carried all the time, but he’s not going to protest lest Elias actually stop carrying him.
In the car, Jon excitedly tells Elias all the cat facts he knows, speaking at length about the nuances of tail movement, and that his kitty will probably be very anxious in the new environment and not to be disappointed if he doesn’t warm up to them very quickly. Elias barely gets a word in edgewise, but he keeps giving Jon fond looks in the rearview mirror, so Jon thinks it’s fine.
They pull into the car lot of the adoption agency and Jon cuts himself off thinking about finally getting to hold his kitty. He’s so excited he can barely speak, and he holds the squeezy fidget toy from the collection papa bought him. He likes the squeezy one because it helps him hold in his especially loud noises, and he gets uncomfortable when people give him looks like he doesn’t know how to control himself.
“Shall we take some deep breaths before we go in?” asks Elias. Jon squeezes the toy and nods. Daddy leads him through one of his special breathing exercises to help him calm down.
Elias holds his hand as they walk in, the picture of patience as Jon carefully maneuvers around cracks in the pavement. He tells the front desk person that they’ve an appointment to see the cats for adoption and the front desk person calls over a lady to help them find a kitty.
The lady who helps them is nice, and asks Jon if he’s thought up a name yet. He tells her, a bit affronted, that he can’t give someone a name before he meets them. He says, with all the authority in his body, that that would be very silly. Elias laughs a bit at this assertion, but Jon doesn’t think he’s being made fun of. The room the lady brings them to is full of kittens, all playing or lazing about, and Jon can’t hold in a squeak of excitement. The lady smiles at him conspiratorially and says she feels the same way when she sees them. Jon’s not sure that he likes being reassured by her but he smiles at her anyway because that’s being polite. When the door opens, a lot of the cats jump up and start meowing for attention. Jon completely forgets his self-consciousness and immediately sits down and lets several cats climb into his lap. He can’t suppress his delighted laughter, and when he looks up, Elias is leant against a counter, stroking a nearby cat with his off hand and filming on his phone with the other. Jon smiles and holds up a mewling little tabby to show the camera.
“Do you see them, daddy?”
“I do ,” says daddy, smiling. He looks content over there, so Jon goes back to greeting each and every cat he can get his hands on. One kitty, a big grey one, brings him over a feather toy to wiggle for them, and Jon occupies himself being the best, most accurate bird for them to chase.
One kitty in particular sticks close to him the whole time. The other cats come and go as their attention waxes and wanes, but the little black and white puffball with a dot beside his nose watches them all from his position scooted as close to Jon as he can get. Jon finally gets tired of being a bird and puts the feather toy down. He picks up the fluffy black cat. It gives him a meow, so he meows back in greeting. They have a whole little conversation in that manner, before Jon cuddles the kitty close. He meows in mild affront, but starts purring in short order. Jon decides he can’t part with this one, and turns toward Elias.
“Did you find one?”
“His name is Prince Fluffy Sox III, and he was first in line for the throne, but his evil uncle tricked him and brought him out of the cat kingdom and threw him on the side of the road and some nice people found him, but they couldn’t keep him so now he’s here and he’s coming home with us!”
“I’m glad you were able to bond with him, then,” says Elias. Jon beams. Elias gives him a faux-shy look. “What would you think of going home with two kittens today, darling? Do you think that would be okay?”
“Two?” Jon gasps, looking down to the fluffy little calico Elias has been cozied up with for the better part of an hour. “Is she nice?”
“She’s very nice,” says daddy. “And I do rather think she is of noble heritage as well. Come meet her.”
Jon stands carefully, so as not to jostle Fluffy too much, or step on any other cats. He makes his way across the room and puts his hand out for her to sniff. She does so, and paps his hand before submitting herself to scritches.
“What’s her name?”
“This is Lady Slippers of Farondel.”
“That’s right next to cat kingdom!” Jon gasps. “They’re neighbours!”
“They were!” Elias says with the same level of enthusiasm. Jon wiggles in excitement.
“Lady Slippers,” he says, very seriously addressing the calico. “Did you ever visit the Purr Palace?” She meows in response and Jon nods sagely. He offers Prince Fluffy Sox to her. “This is the prince. He’s coming home with all of us, and I think you two will get along.” The two cats sniff at each other, and seemingly approve. Fluffy meows in annoyance at the way Jon is holding him, so Jon quickly cradles him back in his arms.
“Here,” says Elias. “Do you think you can carry both?”
“I can try!” says Jon with a thrill of excitement. Daddy carefully deposits Lady Slippers into his arms, and the two cats chat a bit to each other before settling in Jon’s arms. Jon looks up proudly, only to frown cartoonishly when he sees Elias is filming again. “Daddy, you can’t take pictures and videos all the time, you have to live in the moment!”
“I want to capture some moments, too, button. Give us a smile, won’t you?” Jon pouts as hard as he can, making Elias laugh. “Come on, aren’t you excited about the kitties?” Jon looks down at the two cats tangled up in his arms. He looks up and smiles at the camera, showing off the gap where he lost a tooth last week.
“I’m excited!”
“Good!” says daddy, “Then let’s go finish up the paperwork and take them home!”
“Okay!” Jon makes sure to carry them securely out of the kitty room. He’s reluctant to hand them off to the lady to check over them before they go, but he knows that there are proper ways of things that need to be followed.
They finally get the bureaucracy all squared away and everyone out to the car. The cats seem a bit anxious on the car ride home, so Jon makes it his goal to comfort them by holding conversation in their native tongue. The car is just full of meowing at a certain point before Elias turns on the radio and Jon gets distracted listening to the lyrics.
Jon helps Elias get the cats set up in their special room. He sits in there while they explore their new surroundings, but after a while, daddy calls him to come have lunch. He goes, scarfs down his food, and tears back through the house to get back to the kitties, lest they feel lonely. They’re both cuddled up on a pet bed and sound asleep. Jon doesn’t want to disturb them, so he tip toes back out of the room. Elias is there in the hallway.
“Thank you for the kitties, daddy.” Jon says, hushed just in case it wakes them. Elias opens his arms for a hug, which Jon gladly takes.
“You’ll always be my number one kitten.” He promises, and Jon tucks his face into his chest. He’s never been happier than when Elias is holding him close like this.