Cupcakes and Tattoos

Chapter 8

"I'm sorry about the weird smell. Volunteers come in every morning and evening to clean out the dirty stuff and replace it with fresh stuff. They manage to do all this overnight. It will be good as new when we are done." Callie said as Arizona wandered around the room wide eyed. Please be okay with this. She was having a hard time reading the blonde. Except for the bright look in her eyes, Arizona's facial expression seemed indifferent.

"We?"

"Yeah, I signed us up for today. I hope that's okay?"
Arizona turned to make eye contact with the nervous looking brunette who was still standing in the doorway. She wanted to keep Callie waiting in suspense, but couldn't control her smile any longer. Callie swore the smile that slowly spread across the blonde's face was magical. "Calliope! Of course it's okay! This is so cool. What is this place?" Arizona stopped at one cage and stuck her fingers between the bars. "Hey little guys! You are so cute and soft! Are you hungry? Do you want that stinky box out of there? Don't worry, I'll take care of you!" She cooed.

Callie's heart swelled as she watched Arizona move from cage to cage greeting each inhabitant individually with a smile and a pat on the head. She couldn't began to describe the relief she felt when she saw that magic smile. "It's called Eva's Friends and it's an animal sanctuary, rescue, and adoption center. We also do low cost spay and neuter, vaccination clinics, and help people out financially in emergencies. There was a need in this county for help for the animals, especially cats. There were already a ton of dogs rescue groups, but no one wanted to tackle the growing cat and other small animal population. Eva was a huge animal lover and wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up. She used to bring home every sick animal off the street and tried to save them. It was like we lived in a zoo. My parents were horrified, but didn't have the heart to tell her no. We mostly take in cats and kittens off the street. We also have rabbits, birds, a few horses, and even a llama. My favorite part is the special needs cats and older ones no one wants to take care of. We give them a forever home here and they are loved until they are no longer with us. I'll take you to those rooms next." Callie finally paused, a little embarrassed of her rambling.

"Wow that was quite the speech." Arizona laughed. "So what room are we in now?" They were standing in a room of ten cages. Arizona hated to call them cages, they were more like kitty condos. Each one housed a litter of 2-5 kittens. The cacophony of hungry yells and meows was a little harsh on the ears. She had never seen so many kittens one place. It was amazing.

"This is the kitten room. Kittens that graduate from the nursery come in here. When we get the room and cages cleaned up, they get to come out and run around. The public get to come in here and play with them and take them home if they find a match."

"This is really great, Calliope. What an awesome way to honor your sister. Where do you find time to do this?"

"I do more of the financial backing and help with a couple of the major fundraisers every year. My other best friend is a registered veterinary technician and she is the one who runs this place for me. She's one of only two people who get paid, the rest is all volunteers."

"Wow, so you own your own business, you have this place, and you don't seem to be living in a dump. I didn't realize tattooing was so lucrative." Arizona knew from her brother that there really wasn't this much money in tattooing and he was one of the most sought after and well paid artists out there. She wondered where all this money actually came from.

"Ha, yeah, well... I get by alright." Callie wasn't ready to reveal exactly where all the money came from. She felt guilty about always having everything she ever wanted. It was one of the reasons she poured so much of it into charity. She quickly changed the subject. "You ready to get these guys cleaned up and fed? We'll have a kitten rebellion soon if they don't get their food."