All This Time

a cat's tale

Steve didn't have any particular expectations for what would happen when he arrived home, but finding Diana standing next to the counter, frowning down at a book with something very small and very fuzzy clutched to her chest, was not it. He paused in the doorway, trying to figure out if somehow he'd stepped into the wrong apartment, but no, that was definitely Diana and she was definitely holding something that could probably be considered a future nuisance.

"Steve!" Diana exclaimed upon seeing him. She turned around to face him, almost in relief, as she held up the book. "Do you know why this book is saying to litter? I thought mankind did not like litter."

Steve stared down at the small and fuzzy thing in Diana's arm, tucked almost entirely out of sight, though probably not on purpose.

The thing stared back.

Closing the door behind him, Steve joined her in the kitchen to try and get a better look at the thing that had better not be a cat. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

To Steve's chagrin, Diana set down the book and lifted up the small and fuzzy thing so he could see it better. A cat. Definitely a cat. A very small, eyes-barely-opened cat with patchy black fur and a tiny pink nose. When it opened its mouth, it let out the most pathetic mewl Steve had ever heard and he knew—was absolutely certain—that this cat would not be leaving their apartment.

"I found him." Steve had figured as much, but Diana was happy to recount the full story: how she'd heard something outside her office and upon further investigation, she'd found the kitten all alone and crying. "I could not leave him, so I brought him home."

"Right."

There was a moment of silence as Steve looked at the kitten and wondered how on earth he was going to teach Diana how to take care of a cat when she had only just grasped the function of their gas stove.

"Are you upset?" She tucked the kitten back under her arm and looked at him worriedly. "I did not mean to take him, I promise, but I could not leave him all alone. I waited all day for his mother to return, but she did not so I thought we could give him a warm home for the night, and then—"

"I'm not upset, Diana," Steve said softly, stepping forward and wrapping his arm around her waist. Two pairs of dark eyes looked up at him. "I'll admit, a cat was not what I was expecting to come home to, but I'm not upset."

"You were quiet," Diana noted, slowly pulling the kitten back up to where Steve could see it better. "When you are upset, you get quiet."

"Oh, angel," Steve murmured. He pressed a warm kiss to the side of her head and pulled her closer. "I was thinking. After all, a cat is a bit more work than the gas stove."

Diana frowned and looked down at the kitten.

"But he is so small and the stove is so big."

Steve laughed and in Diana's hand, the kitten jumped. He lowered his voice and scratched the kitten's chin to apologise, keeping his eyes on Diana.

"They are telling you to get a cat litter," he said, nodding to the book she'd left sitting on the countertop. "It's where cats go to the bathroom. I'll take you to get one in the morning but until then, he can use newspapers."

"So cats litter but mankind does not?" Diana asked. Steve smiled and shook his head, not bothering to answer when he saw the twinkle in her eye. "You are certain you're not upset? We can give him to the neighbours if you are."

"I'm not upset," Steve promised. He spared a glance down at the kitten then looked back up at Diana. "As long as I get to name him, that is."

Diana agreed.