With Or Without You (Completed)

Chapter 12

Oliver wiped his hands off on his apron, looking at the plate full of pancakes on the kitchen down. He smiled, pleased.

Then he turned around and put a clean pan on the stove and let it heat up. Scooping up some sugar he disposed them into the pan, with a spoon he then stirred and stirred and stirred, until the sugar melted into a lovely caramel syrup.

He licked his lips while pouring the syrup into a nice glass bowl. Hot and yum! The perfect remedy for his hangover.

But his jaw fell open and nearly touched the ground as he whirled around with the bowl.

There, Meow - Sarah's teenage kitten was tip toeing towards the plate of pancakes, HIS pancakes. Oliver watched wide eyed as the kitten lifted a paw up, ears twitching and tail swaying. Right before the kitten could place his paw down on the nearest pancake and claim it, Oliver yelled, "Stop, right there! It's mine."

Startled, Meow snapped his head to meet Oliver's eyes. Followed a weird stare down session between a human and an animal. It looked like Meow could understand what Oliver said, so he retreated his paw back. Oliver would have sighed in relief if Meow hadn't aimed his paw towards another pancake, right next to the first one.

"NO!" Oliver chastised again. "They are all mine."

He put the glass bowl down next to the stove.

Meow was frozen on spot, his paw still in the air, light blue eyes following Oliver's movements.

With slow steps, Oliver reached the counter. The plan was simple, grab the plate and run to his room. He was hungry and still very much hungover from last nights heavy drinking, and in no mood to share his breakfast with a kitten out of all people.

Oliver reached for the plate, real slow. His eyes, however, were stuck on his furry enemy. Right when he held the plate, he noticed Meow's eyes narrowing.

Oliver clucked his tongue."Why don't you go away and eat your - cat food or whatever it is," he suggested with slight annoyance. "Now... stop being a bad kitty kitty - huh."

Turned out, he said the wrong thing. Meow's eyes were now spitting fire and back bowed up with furs sticking out like soft thorns. The term - 'kitty kitty' just flipped the kitty cat off.

Oliver's breath stuck in his throat, his eyes drifted up to see nails coming out of Meow's paw in a flash. It suspiciously seemed like the kitten had just declared war. Oliver gulped.

And then...

"Arghhhhhhhh...."

Thundering footsteps came from different parts of the house as people came running into the kitchen. It was Brandan who barged in first followed by Sarah and Sammy.

Oliver was still screaming, he had jumped away from Meow and was now standing in a corner, shielding himself with a chopping board in front of his face. There was a claw mark across his cheek, and he was holding his unoccupied hand to his chest.

Brandan and the kids stared at Oliver in surprise first and then in confusion. Brandan was about to ask the obvious but his children beat him to it.

"Uncle Oliver, what happned? Did you slip on the floor while making pancakes?" Sarah asked.

Oliver shrank further back into the wall behind him. His eyes were stuck on Meow who was now busy with one of his pancakes.

"No! It's that devilish kitten." His voice was hushed but urgent. He slowly inched towards the door where others stood.

"What did you do to him?" Brandan asked, frowning.

Oliver snapped his eyes at Brandan. "What did I do!" his voice was incredulous. "It's that mad animal. Brandan, you need to admit Meow to an animal mental facility. He just tried to rip my hand off and look at my face, look at what it did. Man! And look at how he's gulping down all the pancakes I made!"