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"Nice place," Ilya observed as he and Shane walked the winding footpath to Troy and Harris's new country home. Shane nodded. The modern farmhouse, set back from the nearest road and surrounded by a cluster of beech trees, looked so peaceful. Or at least, it had looked peaceful until Anya sprinted up the path, barking at the top of her lungs.
“Do you think they know we’ve arrived?” Shane asked sarcastically, as he slipped his hand into Ilya’s.
“Yes,” Ilya said, squeezing. “I think everyone in Ottawa knows we have arrived.”
Shane snorted and was about to respond when the front door swung open.
"Welcome to Château de Troy et Harris!" Harris bellowed from the open doorway.
Anya ran to him immediately, standing up on her hind legs and resting her little paws on Harris’s leg. Harris and Troy had watched Anya over the summer while Ilya and Shane were in Ibiza. Anya adored them and, according to the hundreds of photos Troy had sent Ilya during their honeymoon, Anya adored Chiron as well.
Shane dropped Ilya’s hand and rushed to the front door to keep Anya from tackling Harris.
“Sorry,” Shane said as he reached Anya and tugged a bit on her collar. “I didn’t think she would rush you like that.”
Harris didn’t seem to mind though, and dropped into a squat to better rub Anya’s floppy ears. “All good, Shane. Miss Anya is allowed to tackle me anytime. Isn’t that right, girl?”
Anya panted and wagged her tail happily in response.
“Hey guys,” Troy said, waving a bit stiffly behind Harris. He seemed to be wearing a black Centaurs hoodie, but inexplicably, he had it on backwards.
“Did you forget how to dress yourself, Troy?” Ilya teased as he arrived at the front door.
Troy looked down at his hood, as if he had forgotten he was wearing anything unusual. “Oh, this is for carrying my kitten around.”
“Your what?” Shane asked, immediately turning to face Troy.
“My kitten, Juno,” Troy said with a smile. “She likes to stay near me, but is too small to keep up when I’m walking around - so I started carrying her around in my hood.”
“Can I see?”
Troy leaned his chest forward and pulled down the hood just enough so that Shane could see the tiny black kitten curled up inside. As Shane got closer, Juno raised her head and peered up at him through a pair of bright green eyes.
Well, isn’t that super fucking adorable.
“She’s beautiful,” Shane said, unable to take his eyes away from her. It had been way too long since he’d had the chance to be around a cat.
Ilya moved to stand behind him and rested his chin on Shane’s shoulder as looked into Troy’s hood. “That is very cute, Barrett.”
“Wait until you see the others!” Harris said.
“There are more?!” Shane couldn’t hide his excitement.
“Yup,” Troy started “We found them behind -”
But Troy was interrupted by a loud hiss from Juno.
Ilya, who’d made the mistake of reaching his hand into Troy’s hood, yelped and pulled his hand back.
“Your kitten scratched me!” Ilya held up his hand, showing them the short red scratch on his palm.
“Good, girl," Troy cooed at Juno, causing Shane to snicker.
“Don’t feel bad,” Harris said sympathetically. “Juno doesn’t like anyone but Troy. She won’t let me anywhere near her - or Troy for that matter. She’s pretty possessive.”
Harris chuckled to himself before continuing, "Do you need a bandaid, Roz?"
"Yes, maybe." Ilya glared between his hand and Troy’s hood.
"Alright, c'mon," Harris said, leading them inside. "Ilya, follow me."
Ilya gave Shane a dramatic wave. "Stay safe, moy kotenok. Do not let these scary beasts harm you."
"I think I can manage," Shane replied, suppressing a smile.
Once his ridiculous husband disappeared down the hallway, the foyer fell silent. Troy was always a bit awkward when Harris left his side.
“Do you… um… want to see the other kittens?” Troy asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.
There was literally nothing Shane wanted more.
“Yes, absolutely.”
Troy led Shane to a spacious living room with hardwood floors and soft, sage green walls. Chiron lay curled on the floor near one of the couches. Three small kittens, one white and two gray, rested against his stomach while a fourth ginger cat scaled the side of Chrion's large body. Anya sat nearby with her head quirked to the side, eyes following the progress of the ginger kitten with curiosity.
“Holy shit, that’s cute."
“Right?” Troy replied with a small smile.
He walked over to the giant pile of fluff and paws, and scooped up one of the gray kittens. "Wanna hold one? This guy here is pretty chill."
Shane lowered himself to the carpet, resting his back against the couch and stretching his legs out in front of him.
"Come here, little guy. I'm ready for you.”
As soon as Shane cradled the kitten to his chest, he tucked his tiny head under Shane’s chin and raised one of his fuzzy white claws to grasp at the neckline of Shane’s t-shirt. Shane’s heart melted.
I really need a cat.
Troy sat down on the other couch and pulled Juno onto his lap, where she curled into a little ball. A little ball with two angry green eyes glaring directly at Shane. Harris wasn't kidding about Juno being possessive.
"So how come you guys have five kittens in your house?" Shane asked as he stroked the head of the cat in his arms.
"We found them behind a dumpster in the arena parking lot a few days ago. They were all dirty and wet and cold. Probably from all the rain we've been having. We couldn't find their mom anywhere and I couldn’t just leave them there."
Troy sounded a bit distraught. It was pretty cute how much he'd come to love animals. And a little strange, if Shane was being honest. Until a few months ago, Shane had thought of Troy as a cold-hearted bully and now he was watching him tear-up over stray kittens. Strange, but nice.
"Anyway," Troy continued. "Harris had an apple crate and a spare blanket in the back of his truck, so we brought them home."
"That was good of you."
Troy blushed and ducked his head - a move Shane was very familiar with. He decided to have mercy on him and change the topic.
"So, what are their names?"
"Well, we've only really named Juno. We need to find other homes for the rest. If we gave them all real names, it would be too hard for Harris to let them go."
Based on the way Troy was looking at Juno, Shane suspected Troy was the one who would actually struggle to let go of the other cats, but he decided he could keep that observation to himself.
"We've just been identifying them by their looks. You're holding Socks. We call the others Gray, Ginger, and Snow."
As if summoned awake by his name, Socks began squeaking in Shane’s arms. Shane tilted his head to the side to get a better look at the kitten's face.
"What's wrong, Socks?"
Shane tried scratching between his ears, but he continued to cry. Troy reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out a little plastic tube, and tossed it to Shane.
"Try that. The kitties love the wet treats."
Shane inspected the tube. Feline Fancies Creamy Treats. Made with real fish flavor!
He moved Socks to his lap for feeding, but Socks immediately rolled onto his back, exposing his white belly. Shane laughed and cautiously stroked his soft underfur. A shiver rolled through Sock's body and he curled all four of his tiny paws inward. Shane couldn’t take it and let out an audible “Aww.”
Okay, it's settled. I'm adopting this cat.
Then Shane ripped open the treat and all hell broke loose.
Socks immediately rolled himself upright, placing two of his paws on Shane’s lap and the others on his chest so he could reach the food. The other kittens jolted at the sound of the ripping tube and stampeded towards him, squeaking and meowing the whole way.
“You’re in trouble now,” Troy chuckled. “They must have smelled the treat.”
Ginger and Snow jumped on the couch and moved to perch on Shane’s shoulders, while Gray stood directly beside him, front paws digging into Shane’s hip. All of the kittens stretched their necks to get closer to the treat. Anya and Chiron wisely chose to observe the chaos from a safe distance.
“Oh my God,” Shane laughed, as the kittens continued their unrelenting attack. “Don’t worry, mes chatons, there is enough for everyone.”
Shane could feel himself grinning from ear to ear as he fed the swarm of kittens.
Sadly, once the food was gone Gray and Ginger lost interest in Shane. Ginger launched herself off of Shane’s shoulders, landing on his knees with claws out.
“Oww, Ginger! Watch it!”
Ginger, of course, didn't listen. They remained crouched on Shane’s knees as they attempted to stare down Anya. Gray was also observing Anya, but seemed more wary, opting to watch while standing safely behind Shane’s feet.
Socks and Snow took a bit longer to realize the treats were truly gone. Once Socks accepted that no more treats were forthcoming, he belly flopped onto Shane’s lap and purred loudly. Snow, however, was not satisfied with the lack of treats and began licking at the side of Shane’s face instead.
“Hey,” Shane said, reaching to grab Snow from his shoulder. They were so tiny that he could wrap one of his hands most of the way around their chest.
Shane held Snow directly in front of his face. “No licking. It's not hygienic.”
Snow responded by licking his nose. Shane couldn’t help but giggle, as he moved Snow out of reach of his face. “Oh, come on! That’s so disrespectful.”
“You know,” Troy said. “Snow is best friends with Socks. She’d probably love to cuddle in your lap with him.”
Shane gently lay Snow in his lap beside Socks. The two immediately curled into each other like two interlocking spirals. After a few moments, Anya decided to join the cuddle pile, sitting beside Shane and resting her nose on his hip.
“Snow looks a lot like the cat my Sobo had when I was kid,” Shane mused.
Troy looked at him with a bit of confusion. “Sobo is what I called my grandmother on my mom’s side.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” Troy nodded as he continued to pet Juno who had fallen asleep in his lap.
Shane enjoyed the warmth of Snow and Socks in his lap. The feel of their tiny bodies vibrating as they purred against him. They were so cute together. Only a monster would separate them.
Ok, I need to adopt both of these cats. Now, I just need to get Ilya on board.
“Uh oh, Hollander,” Ilya said with a smile, as he and Harris entered the room. “Looks like the kittens got you after all.”
Shane turned his head to look at them. “All patched up, Ilya?”
“Yup,” said Harris, raising Ilya’s hand to show off the Hello Kitty bandaid stretched across his palm. Why did Troy and Harris even have children's bandaids?
Ilya moved to sit behind Shane on the couch, his legs on either side of Shane’s torso, while Harris took a seat next to Troy “Well, don’t you five look like a cozy family.”
Ilya’s body twitched against Shane and his head snapped up. “Oh no, it's happening again.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Roz,” Harris said with a mischievous grin.
“This is a set up to get us to adopt more of your rescues!” Ilya hurled the accusation as if Anya wasn’t one of the best things to ever happen to them.
“Maybe.”
“Well it worked.” Shane tilted his head back to look up at Ilya. “I’m already in love with these two and I want to adopt them. They’re a bonded pair. They need to stay together.”
As Ilya looked between Shane and the two napping kittens on his lap, his eyes began to soften and his mouth relaxed into its usual crooked smile. “Okay, if that is what you want, sweetheart.”
Ilya bent to kiss Shane’s forehead, before he added, “But you need to teach them to like me.”
“Maybe. If you’re good,” Shane responded, leading Ilya to waggle his eyebrows.
“What are you gonna name them?” Troy asked from across the room.
“I think this white one is going to be Yuki, named after my Sobo’s cat, and this one seems like a -” Shane took a moment to stare at Socks, trying to get a feel for the right name. “Felix. I think he’s a Felix.”
Ilya nodded approvingly. “Yuki and Felix Hollander. That is very cute, Shane. Good choices.”
“I think you mean Yuki and Felix Hollander-Rozanov,” Shane corrected, just to watch Ilya’s expression turn sappy.
Ilya draped an arm over Shane’s shoulder, extending a cautious hand towards the resting kittens. Yuki perked her head up and immediately started nuzzling against Ilya’s hand.
“Hello, Yuki. Hello, Felix.”
“Welcome to the family,” Shane whispered.