" So....." Emma said as she looked sheepishly at the water. " We're gonna be spending our Christmas on a boat, I presume?"
Mia looked over the edge. " With all types of sea creatures, yes."
Annie was already taking out gifts from a trunk. Mia and Emma gaped.
" Wha...... Annieeeeeeeeeeeee!" Emma cried. " What are you doing?!"
" Taking the gifts out. Why?"
Mia sputtered. " When.... how.... why....."
Blackie hopped onto Mia's shoulder. " Well at least she remembered. Who knows what would have happened, me, on Christmas, with no gifts!"
Mia stared at the cat. " If you're this sassy now I hate to think how sassy you see grandma at the wedding."
Blackie liked a paw. " My dear hooman." He said. " Food will not serve itself."
Mia rolled her eyes. " We're talking about Christmas and you want DINNER?!"
Blackie rolled his eyes. " Unlike you foolish humans, I have DIGNATY."
Emma bit her lip from laughing too hard, though she was giggling.
Blackie smirked. " See? Even the painter agrees."
Mia groaned. " Fine. Where's your food?"
Blackie hopped off Mia's shoulder and went under the deck. Confused, Emma and Mia followed.
Blackie led them through a corridor, and stopped at a closet. He pulled on it, and Mia did a double take.
Their was a closet full. Of. Tuna.
All types of tuna!
Emma and Mia stood in front of the closet, their mouths agape in disbelief. Cans of tuna lined the shelves, stacked high and organized like a gourmet grocery store. The scent of the sea wafted out as Blackie stood proudly beside his treasure.
"Blackie, how on Earth did you manage to get all this tuna on a boat?" Emma asked, still trying to wrap her head around it.
Blackie flicked his tail nonchalantly. "A feline has its ways, my dear human"
" Let me guess." Mia said with a fond smile. " You used my credit card and went on a shopping spree at three in the morning?"
"Precisely," Blackie replied, puffing out his chest. "But enough about me! It's Christmas, and I have a feast to prepare! Now, help me gather some of this before it all mysteriously disappears!"
"Are you seriously going to eat all this tuna on Christmas?" Emma asked, chuckling as she grabbed a few cans.
"Of course! It's a delicacy," Blackie said matter-of-factly. "Besides, if I don't eat it, who will? You humans are too busy with your holiday festivities to appreciate true gourmet cuisine."
Mia rolled her eyes again. "You know, Blackie, it might be nice if you actually shared some of that with us. I mean, we're the ones who brought you along on this trip."
"Ah, yes, but you see, sharing is a complex social construct. It requires a level of sacrifice that I, as a dignified cat, simply can't abide," he said, eyeing the tuna greedily.
Emma laughed, shaking her head. "Well, if you promise to share a little, I might just save you a piece of my Christmas cookie later."
"Deal!" Blackie exclaimed, pawing at a can as if it were a prize.
"Okay, okay, let's get this tuna back to the deck," Mia said, starting to load the cans into her arms. "Annie will wonder what we're doing down here."
As they returned to the deck, they found Annie sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by the gifts she had unpacked. "Finally! I thought you two had gone overboard or something!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Check this out!"
