Stella's Story

Chapter 4 - Kittens?!

After breakfast, I took a long nap in the cat house. After that, I decided to check on Liliana. I jumped out and walked up the stairs. Once I got up to the next level, I saw Tucker sitting in the doorway.
Right as I was about to say hi, I noticed that he looked upset. Oh? I wandered over to him and say down next to him. We sat there in silence for a couple of seconds. Then I looked in the direction he was looking in. It was Liliana's box. It was tipped over on its side. Oh no... I got up and walked over to the box. I had to walk around to see the inside. Oh my-. She was missing.
But there lied a litter of kittens. They saw me and meowed for me like I was their mother. I looked in awe and looked back at Tucker, who was no staring at the ground, motionless. I faced the kittens and counted them. Seven. Seven abandoned kittens.
They all looked like their mother, except one. One little oddball. All the kittens were a golden color, except for this one. This one was a pure black. Pure black? Who was the father? I didn't have time to answer that question.
I carfully flipped the box right side up, and slowly pushes it over to Tucker. He looked depressed. I didn't know what to say, so I rubbed up against him to comfort him. All he did was sigh. Poor guy, his sister was missing, and his nephews and nieces were left to live on their own.
I decided to take matters into my own hands. I would take care of the kittens! But how...?
I pushed the box over to the top of the stairs. How is this going to work? I thought to myself for a while, and then came up with an idea. Carry all the kittens! That did seem like a hard task, but it was easier than I thought. I carried two in my mouth, and the other five on my back.
I had to go really slow so that the kittens on my back wouldn't fall off. Once I got halfway down the stairs, I noticed Carol leaving a room, which looked like a bedroom. I cried for help to get her attention. She did hear me, so she turned around and gasped at what she saw. She rushed over and carefully took the kittens off my back and out of my mouth.
Carol looked very suprised. "These... Theses kittens... They look like Lilia- Liliana! Oh my! Is she alright?!" I couldn't speak to her, because she wouldn't understand me, so I just looked down, now knowing what to say.
She ran up the stairs past me with the kittens while calling for Liliana. I hoped back upstairs and lead her over to Tucker, who hasn't mover at all. I meowed and stood in the doorway. She saw me and rushed to our sides.
Carol looked like she was about to cry. She fell to her knees. She wasn't happy with this. I wasn't either. The kittens looked hungry and were crying. Carol silently got up and went down to the kitchen, probably to fetch the kittens some milk. But something caught the corner of my eye. Carol forgot the black kitten. I walked over to the crying kitten and picked it up.
I felt like he was my own for some odd reason. It was probably because he was different from his litter... Just like me...
I decided to call him Pepper. Pepper was a cute name for a black cat. I trotted over to the stairs, but Tucker stopped me. "Are you sure you know what you are doing?" He asked. I want quite sure. It got silent until the kitten's cry broke the silence.
I put Pepper down and answered him. "No, but would you like to raise him with me?". Silence. "Look, I know you're upset, but sitting here doing nothing isn't going to help, so would you like to, or not.". Silence again. "...I would love to." He smiled, but he didn't look up or move.
He brightened up a little bit. That made me feel good. Right as I ducked in to pick Pepper up again, I told him this. "Oh, I uhh... I thought of a name for him. Pepper." Then I picked Pepper up and ran off to give Pepper to Carol for her to feed him.