The Iron Woman

A little kitty

I went upstairs. No one was in the living room but I heard the sink running in the kitchen. I walked around the corner to see Morgan sitting on the kitchen counter washing something.

"Morgan Stark! Are you washing dishes?"

She jumped a bit. "Yes, ma'am."

"Wow. That's really responsible. Here let me help you."

"No that's okay. I'd rather do them myself."

"Alright, then I'll dry."

"It's okay I got it."

I walked towards the kitchen.

"Wait!"

"What are you hiding?"

I walked into the kitchen to see a small kitten looking quite frightened as Morgan scrubbed it softly.

"Morgan! Is that a cat?"

"I'm sorry Maya! The poor thing was on the sidewalk and looked miserable. He looked like he was hurt so I took him home to wash him up."

I looked at it closely. Then I really started to freak out.

"Morgan that's a leopard! We can't keep it! You have to take it back to where you found it."

"But Maya! What if it's hurt?"

"Then we'll take it to the vet! Then it goes back!"

"But Maya!"

"No buts Morgan! Those things are dangerous."

"Stop judging it! It might be a nice kitty."

"Morgan it's not a kitty! It's a 200-pound dangerous wild animal that can not live in a house with us!"

Morgan started to tear up. "He just needs a home."

"I'm sorry Morgan, but it just can't live here."

Morgan finished scrubbing off the cat and then wrapped him in a warm washcloth as he was no bigger than my palm. The cat licked her hand gently and snuggled into the washcloth. I walked out to the car and Morgan followed.

(Timeskip)
I got registered and sat down. I refused to look at the poor creature. The more I looked at it the more I wanted to keep it, but a large cat like that can't live in a house. It needs to be in the wild. I would help it if it needed to be helped, but keeping it wasn't an option. The vet walked out.

"Ms. Stark?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Follow me please."

Morgan carries the kitten and we walked to the room. We sat down and the vet stood at her computer.

"Alrighty. What brings you here?"

"My little sister here brought home this kitten. I think it's a leopard, I want to make sure it's alright and has a proper home."

"Alright, I see you've given it a bath?"

"Yes, ma'am," Morgan spoke up shyly.

"Okay, sweetie. What sort of soap did you use?"

"Just some regular dawn dish soap."

"Perfect."

She typed for a second before looking at me.

"Alright hon, I'm going to run a few tests and make sure it's healthy. After that, I'll come back and tell you what your options are."

"Okay. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure."

Morgan gently hands her the kitten and she takes it off for testing. Just after the door closes Morgan tears up a bit.

"I hope it's okay."

"Me too."

After about thirty minutes she came back in with the kitten.

"Some good and bad news. Which one would you like first?"

"Good news," Morgan said.

"This cat is actually not a leopard. It's a Bengal cat. A sort of miniature leopard. They don't get very big and they're perfectly legal in California. It's basically a normal house cat."

Morgan sat up and smiled.

"Bad news, this cat is only a few days old and it hasn't been treated very well. It seems that the previous owner hasn't taken care of him as they should have. They're in the process of being reported. The poor thing has a broken paw and hasn't eaten very much food. Though with a little TLC he should be alright."

I nodded.

"So the question remains, would you like to keep him?"

Without hesitating, I answered. "Yes."

The vet smiled. "What would you like to name him?"

Morgan smiles. "Loki!"

"No," I said.

"Capsicle."

"No."

"Iron kitty."

"How about Simba?"

"T'challa?"

"Simba."

"Sirius Black!"

"No."

"Fine. Simba."

"Alright, I'll get the papers."

I nodded. The vet handed Morgan the cat and walked out. The smile on her face was the biggest I'd ever seen. She played with the kitten as it grabbed her pinky finger with its tiny little paws.