Never Let Me Go (Brock Lesnar)

Chapter Sixteen

           After the interview, we headed home. Olivia had called and informed me that one of Ajay's friends had been dropped off for the afternoon and that he wanted to stay and play. I told her that was fine as it gave me time to catch up on housework and whatnot.

          I was standing over the sink, washing dishes when I heard a faint noise from outside. I paused, trying to listen closely.

           "Case, I think-" Brock started into the kitchen before I shushed him.

           "Listen..." After a second or two, it happened again. "What is that?"

           His eyebrows furrowed as he opened the patio door. "It's coming from under the deck..." He stepped off the porch and took out his phone allowing the flashlight to come on. He knelt and flashed the light under the deck. He shook his head. "Case, you've got to see this..."

           I was a little concerned so I knelt beside him and took a look. "Oh my gosh! Kittens!" I squealed quietly as three pairs of scared eyes looked back at me. Once I realized there was no momma around, my mommy instincts took over as they whimpered. "Oh, what's the matter, babies? Did the big scary man bother you?"

          "Big scary man? Really?" Brock acted offended.

           I glanced at him. "Back up, I'm gonna see if I can get them out."

           He did as I stuck my hand underneath the deck. "Case, if they bite you and have some disease-"

           "Oh, hush. They're just scared." I felt fur as I gently pushed one toward me. "Well, aren't you just precious?" It was a girl, she was white with blue eyes. Once I held her, the other two came crawling out. One was black and the other gray. "Where is your momma? You seem hungry..." They were calling for her and it made me sad. "Go warm me some milk real quick. They need to eat."

           He didn't move. "Are you serious? Casey, their cats. Not humans. I'm sure their momma is around here somewhere. She probably went to get her something to eat. Something had to move them here."

           I rolled my eyes and scooped all of them up in my arms. "The big scary man won't feed you, will he? He's a little moody today." I felt a little silly for talking to them, but I was raised with cats. My family took in strays all the time and we usually ended up with kittens every summer.

           I held them close to me as I grabbed the milk with one hand, poured in into a bowl, and warmed it in the microwave. I dug around in the cabinet for a minute until I found a pack of medicine droppers that I used with the younger kids. I washed them out and took the warmed milk from the microwave before sitting on the floor. "Are you gonna help me or not?"

           Brock didn't seem too happy about it but he did as I asked. I handed him a dropper and sat the black kitten in his lap. He began feeding it against his will but eventually, he warmed up to it. "You want to keep them, don't you?"

           I smiled to myself as I held a dropper in each hand and watched both kittens suckle. "Maybe... But I know you don't like cats so I'll ask Olivia if she knows anybody that wants them."

           "Casey, if you want to keep them, we will."

           I looked up in surprise. "What did you say?"

           "You heard me... I know you and I know you aren't going to put them back and hope that their momma shows. I also know that even if we did give them away, you'd worry about them and worry causes stress. So, we'll keep them."