Alfie And George

Chapter Eleven

George had officially been with us for just over a week, and what an exhausting week it had been. I was suffering from sleep deprivation — George still woke most nights — and constant worry. Looking after him had taken its toll on me. This parenting lark wasn’t as easy as I had always assumed. I know humans moan about how hard it is, but I had just assumed that was because they weren’t cats. It seems I was wrong.

The whole house was besotted with George, myself included. Us grown-ups would marvel at the way he would lie on his back and play with his paws, like Summer used to do when she was a baby. It made us all smile. Or the way he would nestle into Jonathan’s neck while he watched TV, his gentle purring making his fur tremble slightly. Or when he lay on the sofa, asleep on his back, and Claire stroked him — he would put his paws over his head, stretching out to be stroked even more. It was the sweetest thing ever.

After the linen cupboard incident I barely let him out of my sight. I needed to teach him how to fend for himself, which he definitely needed. Despite my lesson on the importance of staying out of cupboards, I had to drag him out of a kitchen cupboard the following day. He said he wanted to explore, which I understood, but I seemed to be constantly warning him of the dangers. And suddenly dangers were everywhere. I wasn’t sure if I could kitten-proof the house, let alone the world — an even more terrifying thought.

He had also been pinching my food; I caught him with his nose in my tuna, and, well, let’s just say I’m not used to sharing. But I couldn’t bring myself to get angry with him, not when he looked at me with those cute eyes, that smile and his little whiskers. I was putty in his paws. I found telling him off difficult already, but I knew I had to, because that was a part of parenting.

I was proud of him at the same time; he was doing so well using the litter tray, there had only been one terrible incident when he had done his business in Jonathan’s slipper. Jonathan acted as if someone had committed murder — they were Italian leather slippers, apparently — and Claire had to pacify him for ages. When we were alone, I explained to George that Jonathan had always been a bit hot-headed and his bark was worse than his bite — excuse the dog reference, which was another thing I had to teach George all about. Although he still couldn’t go out, I needed to prepare him for when he did. We spent our evenings before bedtime having lessons about life. I was taking my parental responsibilities very seriously. George had a lot to learn and teaching him was really taking my mind off Snowball. By the end of the day I was often so tired that, once I had settled George into bed for the night, I fell straight into a deep, dreamless sleep myself.

After me sleeping in his bed the first night, we both now slept in mine, which was a bit bigger and more comfortable for the two of us. Claire thought it was adorable and took photos to put on something called Facebook. As George nestled into me, the warmth of him was undoubtedly comforting. It reminded me of when I used to sleep next to Agnes, back in another of my nine lives. I was still unsure that Claire had been sane, getting George and thrusting me into the role of parent, but on the plus side I had no time to indulge in my heartbreak anymore.

I’d hardly been out, but I had managed to snatch some time with Tiger, who was keeping me abreast of any cat news in the neighbourhood. We were still no clearer on the cat pictures, but apparently she had seen another one on the way to the park the other day. It was getting more and more mysterious.

I missed seeing my other friends and planned on spending some time with them the following day. As Summer and Claire would be at home, I was hoping it would be OK to leave George for a little while. I also hadn’t been to Polly and Matt’s, although I had seen Polly and the kids at our house — Martha was just as obsessed with George as Summer was. Henry wasn’t as interested, so he and I watched TV together while they played, treating George like one of their cuddly toys. George loved it — he didn’t mind even being manhandled. I hadn’t seen Matt, who was busy job hunting, though I worried about him, of course. Polly seemed OK, albeit not quite her usual self, but I was trying to keep that worry on the back burner for now.

Early evening, I was in the garden. Claire had left the cat flap open for me as she was taking George into the bathroom with her while she bathed Summer. I remember when Summer first arrived, Claire had moaned to Jonathan that she didn’t have any time to herself — even going to the loo and showering had become a luxury. I had thought she was exaggerating. Well, guess what, she wasn’t — as I was quickly finding out. So I decided to make the most of this rare time alone. The cool breeze of the summer evening felt wonderful on my fur and I enjoyed it thoroughly before reluctantly returning inside. I wanted to make sure George ate a good tea and cleaned himself before bedtime … I realised there was so much to do as I ran upstairs, just in time to hear a disturbing noise.

‘YOWL!’ I heard his little voice cry out.

‘Deorge, Deorge,’ Summer cried. I panicked and ran to the bathroom door, bashing against it until Claire finally opened it.

George was sitting on the bath mat, dripping wet, and Summer was standing up in the bath. Claire was trying not to laugh. I allowed myself to breathe again.

‘Oh, Alfie, George fell into the toilet. I didn’t realise he could jump up that high but he must have climbed up onto the loo seat while I was washing Summer and then fallen in,’ she explained.

Of course he could jump up, I thought, he was a clever kitten.

‘Right, now, Sum, I’ll get you out of the bath and then pop George in, we don’t want him smelling of toilet cleaner.’ As Claire wrapped Summer in a towel and gently bathed George, he looked far from happy. I gave him a knowing look; tonight our lesson would be about water.

By the time George had recovered and dried off, it was teatime. Jonathan had come home from work and was soon laughing at George’s antics, which was lovely to hear — he hadn’t been laughing much lately, although I hadn’t had a chance to get to the bottom of that yet. Claire told him that they had to make sure the loo lids were always down now, which was a relief; there were so many hazards to think about when you had a kitten. Anyway, Jonathan was smiling as he changed his clothes; he was going to Matt’s house for a boys’ night while Polly was coming here. Franceska was joining us too, so I was excited. Normally I would move between the two houses for boys’ night and girls’ night, but as George needed me I would be with the ladies tonight. Hopefully I’d pick up some new information about everything that was going on around here.

‘Don’t want go bed!’ Summer shouted as Jonathan tried to coax her upstairs.

‘If you come to bed now I’ll read whatever story you want, but if not then no story,’ he said. I watched her face as she weighed up the situation. Summer didn’t like to concede anything, so it was hard to tell which way it would go.

’K,’ she said in the end.‘But only if Deorge comes.’ I felt a little stab of jealousy at all the attention George was getting, but I adored him too much to really mind. I had had a lot of attention in my day after all. Perhaps it was time to step aside for the lad.

‘Magic touch,’ said Jonathan as he picked George up.‘But, Claire, couldn’t you have named the kitten something Sum could actually say,’ he said, laughing as Summer kept saying ‘Deorge’ over and over.

‘Right, George,’ I said later, when the living room was empty, with Summer asleep upstairs and Jonathan gone. ‘Are you ready to go to bed yet?’

‘No. I want to see the others.’

‘OK, you can stay up a bit later tonight, but you must tell me when you’re tired. And we need to talk about water. And the hazards of the toilet.’

‘I didn’t like it much,’ George admitted.

‘No, us cats should avoid water if we can, apart from drinking it of course.’ I went on to tell him about my past experiences. I had once nearly drowned, after all, and I didn’t want George to be in any danger. They say cats have nine lives, and I reckon I’ve used up about three or four of mine, but I didn’t want to take any more chances and I didn’t want my little boy to either.

The doorbell interrupted our discussion and I ran to the door with George on my heels. As Claire opened it, and Polly and Franceska came in, with wine and hugs, I felt happy. We followed them into the kitchen where Claire poured wine and I drank some water before settling on Franceska’s lap. Polly scooped up George and he purred as she cuddled him.

‘So, I have big news,’ Polly announced.

‘Not another baby?’ Franceska asked. I shot a worried look at Claire but she didn’t appear upset.

‘No, don’t be daft. It’s more complicated — Matt lost his job.’

‘Oh no, Pol, I am so sorry,’ Claire said.

‘Now I feel the stupid,’ Franceska said. Her English was brilliant but when she got upset or stressed her accent became stronger and she sometimes put words in the wrong places.

‘No, honestly, I’m used to the idea now. ’

‘But I’ve seen you loads lately and you didn’t say anything.’ Claire sounded worried.

‘I think I wanted us both to get our heads around it a bit before we told anyone. He’s talking to Jon about it tonight. But anyway, he went to work and they simply told everyone it was closing down — the company’s gone bust. They’re sorting out packages now but Matt says he’ll be lucky to get a couple of months’ pay. But the thing is, just before we found out, DF Design offered me a job.’

‘Wow, Polly, that’s great.’ Claire smiled at her.

‘Yes, well, I turned it down at first because I didn’t want to work full time because of the kids, but things have obviously changed. It’s a rolling six-month contract, and it doesn’t pay as much as Matt earned, but we can manage, at least until Matt gets another job.’

‘It all sounds complicated,’ Franceska said.‘But you OK?’

‘Yes, the main thing is that we’ll be fine — financially anyway. But the thing is, Matt and I are arguing because he’s miserable about not working. He says he doesn’t want to be a househusband but I don’t even know if that’s the real issue.’

‘Oh God, Pol, it could be the role reversal … I shudder to think how Jonathan would cope with that. If I told him I was going to work and he was staying at home, he’d wonder what the hell he was supposed to do. He thinks Summer and the house get sorted by magic. Anyway, at least the kids are a bit bigger now.’

‘Yes, Henry’s at school and Martha will be soon,’ Franceska added.

‘I know, I know, but I’ll miss them, and the idea of working full time, well, let’s be honest — I was a model before so I’ve never actually had a nine to five. Now I will, five days a week, and Matt will be at home, making packed lunches and cleaning the house. Well, hopefully cleaning the house!’ They all laughed.

‘Is he taking it that badly?’ Claire asked.

‘I keep telling him that it’s only until he finds another job, which will hopefully be sooner than he thinks. Then goodness knows what I’ll do if he gets a job, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’ She sighed. ‘Right, enough about me, what’s going on with you two?’

‘Well, we’re well underway with the adoption process,’ Claire told them.

‘Claire, that is the biggest news! Why you haven’t told us?’ Franceska asked, giving her a hug and nearly sending me flying off her lap.

‘I was waiting for tonight. It’s a long process, and Jonathan still isn’t exactly keen … I’ll keep you posted but having George has made me want a sibling for Summer even more. She thinks that Alfie and George are her brothers and she talks about them at nursery as if they’re human!’

‘That’s so cute, although perhaps a bit worrying when they find out she’s talking about cats,’ Polly pointed out.

Franceska then told the other two that they were now ready to open a second restaurant. Tomasz had a partner, a friend from Poland who had moved here a while ago, and they were expanding the business together. The restaurant was really popular so it made sense, although I worried that big Tomasz worked too hard already. I didn’t want him to be too busy for his family.

‘I’m worried that we’ll see less of him, but he assures me that he’s going to put managers in so he can concentrate on the food side and not have to be there quite so often. Well, we are hoping,’ Franceska said. I knew that Tomasz found it hard to let go and delegate to others — his wife had worried about that since he had opened his first restaurant.

I looked at George, who was fast asleep on Polly’s lap, then at my three human women. They were all so strong and had come a long way since I had first met them. Claire with her broken heart, Polly with her post-natal depression after giving birth to Henry, and Franceska struggling to settle into a foreign country. But I knew that it wasn’t plain sailing and once again it felt as if issues were mounting up for each of them. Changes were happening and change always threatened to cause problems, I knew that. I just hoped we would all be able to keep it together, and that my families would weather the storm I had a horrible feeling might be brewing.