the twenty-first century ellinghams

chapter four: the kitten

"the what now?" stevie whispers back.
"the kitten, our kitten actually. well technically not yet, but..."
"david, explain."
"well, it's a really funny story, actually..." he begins.
"oh, i bet it is," she says.
"well, you know linda, linda who does pretty much what i used to do?"
stevie racks her brain for a moment, trying to remember. she vaguely remembers a middle-aged woman with graying blonde hair she met at some point at the great house. but, she couldn't remember if her name was linda or not. "vaguely," she says slowly.
"well, she's very nice and also very talkative. one time i went into her office to ask her a question, and i stayed for almost two hours listening to her talk about her son's college applications. but, anyways, on her desk there was this picture of a cat. and i mentioned how my daughter loves cats." that was very true. ever since she saw a picture of janelle and vi's cat, dana never stopped talking about them. "and linda began to explain how her cat was having kittens, and she wasn't able to keep all of them and..."
"oh, david. you didn't," she says.
"i did," he admits. "they were born about a month ago, so we wouldn't even have one for a few more weeks. linda says that if we want to back out we still can, but if we want to, we need to do it soon. and i think that we shouldn't back out. i think it could be a sort of half christmas, half fifth birthday present for dana. plus, the kittens are adorable. she shows me pictures of them whenever i'm not able to walk past her office door fast enough." stevie considered this for a moment.
"but, i mean... a kitten, david. it's a lot of work," she says.
"we can handle it," he says.
"can we? we're barely home during the day, and a kitten would need a lot of attention. and we haven't even had the kids tested for allergies, and henry is still so little..." david sensing the beginning of a spiral, pulls her a little closer as they dance.
"i know. i hear you, i really do. i've thought about all of this stuff, too. but, just think about it, a little kitten in our house. think about how much dana would love it. that's all i'm asking, right now. just think about it?" he asks. she feels herself relax a little bit, ending the spiral. one of david's many good qualities was his ability to do so, to end the spiral. the way he knew to draw her closer, to grab her hand, or to just give her a look.
     "adorable, you say?" she asks after a moment.
     "the most adorable kittens you've ever seen," he says.
"i'll think about it," she says reluctantly. david's smile grows wide so does her. 'have yourself a merry little christmas' ends and 'what christmas means to me' begins. people begin to dance a little faster, matching the beat. david and she laugh as they clumsily dance, ignoring the glares from some of the stuffier donors next to them.
     "you know with all the chaos tonight, i think i somehow forgot to tell you how beautiful you look. did i forget?" he asks with a wolffish grin. she hmmms dramatically.
     "i think you did," she says, grinning back.
      "well, you look absolutely beautiful. like you always do," he says. "i love you so much."
      "i love you too," she says. he spins her and when they're face-to-face again, he kisses her.

     they dance for hours, so happy and festive stevie doesn't notice the soreness in her feet or how late it was getting. eventually, janelle and vi begin to dance next to them. at some points, david and vi backed off of the dance floor, allowing janelle and stevie to dance together. even mudge and nate came on to the dance floor together for a few songs. everyone laughs to the point they can't breathe. pictures were taken and sent to the group chat. before they knew it, the clock struck eleven, and the party was officially over. stevie and david walked with the others to retrieve their coats, not ready to let go of the evening. when everyone had their costs, they walked to the steps of the great house and waited for their cars. hugs went all around, except for nate of course. mudge's and his car was retrieved first by the valet, and the group waved goodbye as they drove off.
     "we can't let this be the last time we see each other for months. we can't let the next time we see each other be next year's christmas party," stevie says to janelle, as janelle and vi's car approaches.
     "i absolutely agree. we'll figure it out," she says, giving a subtle nod to david. stevie looks to david for an explanation of the look, but he just smiles at her. she eyes them both suspiciously, but says nothing. "this is us," janelle says, now that the car was in front of them. "this was absolutely amazing. merry christmas!" she gets into the driver's seat as vi gets in the passenger.
     "merry christmas!" david and stevie call as they drive off, waving. they stand on the steps for a second, watching the gently falling snow that wasn't sticking to the group just yet.
     "you ready to go back in?" he asks after a moment.
      "yeah," she says with a sigh. he takes her hand, and they walk back inside.

     it's well after midnight before they're finally not needed in the ballroom. between the cleanup, and the checks that needed to be signed, and the people that needed to be thanked, they were busy. they wait on the steps for their car, his arm casually draped on her shoulder, her head on his shoulder.
     "will you drive? i can't feel my feet right now," she says when their car approaches.
     "i'm on it," he says, opening the passenger door for her. she slides in and immediately takes off her heels, wincing at the feeling. but after a moment, the feeling fades and she sighs with relieve. david gets into the driver's seat and begins driving home.