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When Don came through the front door, he stopped short at the sight of a cat sitting on the small table in the foyer, looking smug and proprietary, as though it were quite confident that it belonged there. It twitched its whiskers at him and said, “Mrow.”
“Ah – hello,” Don said to it. He’d only been away for five days on a location shoot, and he was sure there hadn’t been a cat in the house when he’d left. This one was a motley of orange, black, and white, and was currently blocking him from hanging up his hat and overcoat in the closet.
“Hello, dear!” Kathy called from the sitting room.
“Hello, dear!” Cosmo echoed.
Don cast another look at the cat. It blinked wide green eyes back at him, and did not move. Don gave up, and took his overcoat and hat into the sitting room with him.
“Hello, dears,” he said to Kathy and Cosmo, dropping his armload on the chair, and moved around the couch to give them each an affectionate peck on the cheek in greeting. “Any particular news or bulletins to share, such as, oh, say – regarding the fearsome beast in the front hall?”
“Oh, so you’ve met Mr. Muffins!” said Kathy, beaming. “He showed up on set the other day, and no one could find out where he’d come from. So Cosmo volunteered to bring him home. Isn’t he the sweetest?”
Cosmo raised his eyebrows at Don innocently. Mr. Muffins himself sauntered into the sitting room, and proceeded to curl himself shamelessly around Cosmo’s legs.
“Sweet, hmm?” Don said skeptically. “Sounds like he moved right on in. He was certainly guarding the closet like Cerberus himself.”
“Don’t think he’d appreciate so canine a comparison,” Cosmo said, grinning at Don and reaching down to scratch the top of Mr. Muffins’ head.
“Oh, Don,” Kathy said, and gave him her sweetest smile, the one that melted his heart every time. “We’ve missed you.”
“We have indeed,” Cosmo agreed softly.
“So you haven’t replaced me with this fuzzy intruder?” Don said, allowing Kathy to draw him onto the sofa between them and kiss him gently. Cosmo followed suit, which was equally pleasing.
“Well, we’ll have to see if you can purr in bed as well as he can,” Cosmo quipped, and Don gave him an indignant look as Kathy smothered a laugh against his collar.
“Is the houseguest intending to stay long?” Don said, eyeing Mr. Muffins who was currently shamelessly licking his privates in the exact center of their imported Indian rug.
“Ask us again in the morning,” Cosmo said, sliding gracefully from the couch to his knees.
Kathy giggled again, and kissed his neck.
“All right,” Don said agreeably, only a little breathless. “But I tell you now, our bed isn’t big enough for the four of us!”
~~~
Don awoke to find Mr. Muffins crouched on his chest, purring. It was – rather pleasant, actually.
“Hello, dear,” Don said cautiously, and held his hand out for Mr. Muffins to inspect. He deigned to sniff Don’s fingers, and proceeded to purr even more loudly. The rumble almost reached the decibel levels of Cosmo’s snoring.
“He likes you,” Kathy mumbled, her face half-buried in Cosmo’s chest.
“Hmm,” said Don. “I guess he can stay. For a bit.”
“I expect he says the same about you,” Cosmo said, yawning, and turned his head to give Don’s shoulder a sleepy kiss. “Seems like the bed’s big enough after all, hmm?”
Tentatively, Don pet the top of the cat’s soft head, who then nudged his cheek happily against Don’s fingers.
“Seems so,” Don said.
“Mrow,” said Mr. Muffins smugly.