Alfie and George

Chapter Nineteen

It never rains but it pours. My very first owner, Margaret, used to say that a lot. I didn’t always understand what it meant but I think I do now. After family day I spent quite a lot of time fretting. I worried about all my families, including Tasha, who had been in floods of tears after mediation had gone horribly wrong. She was now talking about taking Dave to the cleaners — wherever that was — and saying that her parents were going to pay her legal bills so she could do so. She was refusing to hand over the money for the house sale, which the solicitor held in an account, until it was all settled, and things had turned a bit nasty. Jonathan said that if Dave came near her he would get involved, but thankfully Tasha hadn’t told her ex where she was living and anyway, she said, he was too lazy to do anything. It was all in the hands of the law now and Tasha was refusing to speak to him, or have anything to do with him apart from through solicitors. It was a bit complicated for me to follow, being a cat, but I was trying. Oh, and he’d still only made half-hearted attempts to see Elijah which upset everyone. We all loved Elijah and I couldn’t understand any father who didn’t want to see his child as much as possible. Look at me and George.

It was also literally pouring. As George and I sat on the windowsill watching the rain drip down the pane, I was worrying about everyone and everything.

I was feeling helpless and hopeless. I couldn’t help Tasha, but actually knowing that she had this solicitor person as well as Claire and Jonathan made me feel better. I couldn’t seem to help Matt and Polly, who seemed to be barely speaking whenever I saw them. I couldn’t help Franceska and Tomasz, who were going to be apart. Aleksy and little Tomasz were so excited for their holiday but I worried that it meant Franceska might never come back! I couldn’t imagine losing them from my life. And it seemed I couldn’t help Claire and Jonathan, who only the previous night had had a massive row.

‘Did you have to say that to the social worker?’ Claire had shouted the previous evening as we sat in the living room.

‘I only said there was no history of criminal activity or insanity in my family …’ Jonathan tried not to smile.‘It was a joke!’

‘Then you said you weren’t sure about my mother! Did you really think that was funny?’

‘Well, your mother can come across as a bit bonkers.’ He laughed.

‘This is just a big joke to you, isn’t it, us getting a child, a sibling for Summer, another child for us to parent? I can’t believe you sometimes.’

‘Of course not, it was just a stupid joke, Claire. The social worker needs to know we have a sense of humour, surely?’

‘Well, you’re not funny.’

Claire had slept in the spare room, the room that Tash had only recently vacated. I know she cried herself to sleep too, because I slept with her, leaving George for the first time since he’d moved in, although I did check him regularly, which of course meant I was feeling a little sleep deprived myself.

The atmosphere had been strained here all day, a bit like at Polly and Matt’s. So far, Claire was refusing all of Jonathan’s efforts to make up and when they left for work and to take Summer to nursery it was a relief to have that atmosphere out of the house along with them.

‘What is wrong with people?’ George asked me, chasing a raindrop with his paw and bringing me back to the present.

‘Oh dear, where do I start?’ I began to tell him all I knew. As I started feeling more and more fearful, I tried to downplay the situation for George’s sake. Yes, he needed to know how humans worked, especially if he was going to take after me, but he was still so young — I had to protect him. As I was thinking of how I was going to fix each of my humans, from Tash, who had suddenly gone from the top of my worry list almost to the bottom, to Matt and Polly, Franceska and Tomasz and now Claire and Jonathan, George jumped down from the windowsill and ran off. I pulled myself from my reverie and went to find him.

When George had first come to live here, Claire was pretty careful about where he was allowed to go. All the bedroom doors were kept closed, as was the bathroom and the downstairs loo, so he was basically confined to the kitchen/dining room and living room. Despite the stair gate, he could get up the stairs, but once he was there he was confined to the landing. Now that he was bigger, however, they didn’t bother to close the doors, the argument being he knew what he was doing (he didn’t) and he was still never left alone (he was). But he had more freedom and now I had to locate him, with so many more places he could be.

He wasn’t in the kitchen. I knew he hadn’t gone outside or I would have heard the cat flap, so I did a quick look around the utility room, especially the washing machine, before heading upstairs.

‘George,’ I called out loudly, but there was no answer. I tried to stem my growing panic as I checked the bedrooms, telling myself that he couldn’t be far, he was just a kitten after all … The bathroom door was closed, as was the door to Jonathan and Claire’s en suite, so at least I didn’t have to worry about him having fallen into the loo again. But still, I couldn’t help but panic. I knew he was here but because I couldn’t see him there was this irrational worry that I couldn’t quite keep away. I went back into the spare room.

‘George,’ I shouted again. I heard a little muffled sound. I traced it to the wardrobe where Claire kept some of her clothes, and saw that the door was a tiny bit ajar. I hit at it with my paw until it opened a bit more and I saw George lying on one of Claire’s jumpers which were piled up on the bottom of the wardrobe.

‘George, I was worried! I’ve been calling you. Why didn’t you answer me?’

‘But, Dad, if I answered you it wouldn’t be hide and seek would it?’

‘Hide and seek?’

‘Yes, the children taught me the other day, it’s so much fun. One person seeks and the others hide.’

‘Yes, thank you, I do know how to play, but the point is that we weren’t playing hide and seek, I was sitting on the windowsill with you one minute and the next you were gone.’

‘Oh, maybe I should have told you.’ George had confusion in his beautiful eyes. ‘Right, now why don’t you hide?’ He didn’t seem contrite or even aware of the worry he caused me.

‘I don’t really feel like it.’ I was still busy fretting over my families, and now that I’d found George, I had to calm myself down again.

‘Please, Dad, it’s the best game ever!’ His eyes were wide with hope and I couldn’t help but smile. I remembered when Aleksy had first played the game with me — it had been such fun. How could I disappoint? Besides, it was raining outside, so there was nothing else we could do.

‘OK, you count to ten and I’ll hide.’

‘But I don’t know how to count!’

‘OK, well just give me a bit of time then.’ I wasn’t sure if I could count either. It wasn’t the most useful skill for a cat, after all.

I went to Summer’s room and decided to climb into her toy box, which was overflowing with her collection of soft toys. By my reckoning, if it took George ages to find me, I would at least be comfortable.

I woke some time later to George licking my head. I opened my eyes and stretched.‘Sorry, I fell asleep.’

‘Wow, you are really good at hiding!’ he exclaimed.‘My turn, my turn.’ He ran off. I felt a bit better for my catnap, but I didn’t rush as I climbed out of the toy box. I could hear George running down the stairs, so I waited a bit on the landing. I noticed that the rain had slowed and I jumped up onto the landing windowsill to see a glimmer of blue sky peeking through the clouds. I wondered if we could go out in a bit — it would be good to get some exercise and perhaps we could pop in to see Matt … Suddenly, there was a loud bang, which made me jump.

‘Yowl,’ I heard George cry. Honestly, I really must stop getting so distracted, what kind of parent was I? I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. I stopped when I saw that one of the cupboards was open, its contents over the floor, and George was poking out of a plastic bag, tangled up in the handle.

‘George, what have you done?’ I asked, using my paw to get the bag off him.‘Bags are dangerous, you must be careful,’ I chastised. Although of course there was a big hole, which was how he’d got in, so I didn’t really need to be too worried. And us cats did like bags, I used to climb into Margaret’s shopping bags all the time when I was little.

‘I was just trying to move it and I fell into it,’ he replied. Honestly this kitten was getting a bit too defiant.‘But I like it!’

‘Not the point. What is this mess?’ I asked, surveying the packets and boxes scattered across the floor.

‘I managed to open that cupboard, which I thought was quite clever, and I wanted to hide but to make it really good hiding I decided to take everything out and hide right at the back, but then I didn’t know how to get it back in …’

‘Oh, George.’ I started trying to figure out how to get things back in the cupboard before realising that I had no chance, so I left it like it was, knowing I would probably be the one who got told off. I wasn’t best pleased with George but I was also cross with Claire and Jonathan. They had put those funny childproof things on most of the cupboards to stop Summer, so why hadn’t they done this one? Honestly, parenting was going downhill these days.

I was exhausted after my attempts to tidy up, but George was hopping around wanting to play. He had far too much energy, so I decided that we would brave the outside. I led him out through the cat flap.

‘It’s wet!’ he screeched as he stood in a puddle and a big fat raindrop plopped onto his head.

‘OK, look, we’ll go and see Matt, come on, I’ll take you the back way.’ I led him over and under fences in the direction of Polly and Matt’s house. Luckily it was a dog-free route. Although George still didn’t like the rain I was hoping that the exercise would wear him out a bit. He was one exhausting kitten at times.

We let ourselves in through the cat flap, and as we both dripped a bit onto the kitchen floor, Matt appeared, talking on the phone. He smiled at us.

‘Polly, calm down. I’ve said it’s OK. I’ll pick the kids up, get them ready for bed and if they’re not too tired they can stay up and see you when you get home.’ He listened for a bit. ‘OK, love you.’ He put the phone down and then looked at us.

‘You guys are pretty damp. Stay in here until you dry off.’ He put the kettle on and I shook my fur. George went and lay in the warmest spot he could find.‘Right, well, nice to see you boys. This being at home on my own is a bit dull, to be honest. Don’t know how Polly did it, but she never seemed to complain … I miss going to work though, I miss the pressure as well as the actual job.’ I went to him and rubbed his leg, but carefully, so he didn’t get too wet.‘Thanks, Alfie. Anyway, I’m trying to make the best of it. I love spending more time with the kids, I really do enjoy that, and it’s nice because I’m seeing them do things I’ve never been around for before. But the school gate is a bit scary, all those women. And in this day and age it still is mainly women, I’m not even being sexist. I got asked to go for coffee today but I was too afraid so I made an excuse. If I’m not careful they’ll draft me onto the PTA!’

‘Miaow?’ I had no idea what he was talking about, none whatsoever.

‘I really do need to get a job. I mean, I might have got the hang of being a househusband, nearly, but it’s just not me, and I miss Polly. I miss us being together and not arguing. I honestly think if I had a job then we wouldn’t argue as much.’

He sat down with his tea and George started chasing his shadow across the kitchen floor.

‘If only life were that simple, eh, Alfie?’ Matt said, looking at George. I purred my agreement. If only I had just my shadow to worry about, but no, I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Or the weight of Edgar Road at least.

We stayed with Matt until he had to leave to go to the supermarket before picking the kids up. George was very entertaining, being a bit of an exhibitionist, showing Matt how he could jump onto counters and climb up the kitchen blinds — which very nearly didn’t end well. But at least he made us both laugh. It was nice to see Matt smile; now I understood why people watched funny cat videos on the internet for hours, it was better than catnip for lifting a mood. I was so pleased when we left; Matt was smiling, he looked smart and the house was spotless. Maybe he was turning a corner, and it seemed we had definitely cheered him up.

As we left, we bumped into Tiger at the front of the house. The rain had stopped and the sun was almost shining.

‘Hey, guys, how are you?’ she asked, giving George a big nuzzle.

‘Exhausted and in need of a nap,’ I said. I really was. I also wanted time to think about my humans, but with George it was impossible.

‘But I want to play!’ George said. He was still far too full of energy.

‘Hey, Alfie, I can watch him. I’ll take him to the park or something and bring him home after?’ Tiger looked hopeful. An offer of babysitting? How could I refuse, especially as I knew Tiger would never let anything happen to George.

‘You’re on. Now, George, be good for Tiger and I’ll see you later.’ I nuzzled him goodbye and headed home for a well-earned rest.

I enjoyed my nap but I didn’t relax fully while George was out. I knew he was safe with Tiger but still … He hadn’t been out without me before. When I heard the cat flap bang, I rushed to the back door. I put my head through, and saw Tiger sitting with George in front of the cat flap. I grinned; he looked so cute. They looked cute together, in fact: my best friend and my kitten.

‘Hi, Alfie,’ Tiger said.

‘Has he been good?’ I asked.

‘Good as gold. We’ve had so much fun,’ Tiger replied.

‘Oh, Dad, I love the park! We climbed a tree and teased a chubby dog. It was great!’ George was full of enthusiasm and I was both relieved that he was all right and thrilled to see how happy he was.

‘Right, come on in, it’s teatime. Thanks, Tiger, thank you so much.’

‘Can Tiger-Mum come home with us?’ George asked. My heart melted and I looked at Tiger and could see she felt emotional too.

‘I’m afraid not, she has to get home now, but you’ll see her soon. Thanks again, Tiger.’

‘My pleasure. Any time you need some time to yourself, I’m there,’ Tiger replied, then bade us goodbye. I stood back so George could hop through the cat flap.

‘I missed you,’ I said, and I really had. It was strange — I did need time to myself every now and then, but when I had it, I missed him. Was that parenthood? I guessed it must be because I was pretty sure I had heard my humans saying something similar.

‘Me too, Dad. What’s for tea?’

Later that evening I lay snuggled up in the armchair, with George curled up next to me. It was dark outside; Jonathan was watching the news on TV and Claire came in to join him. I felt nervous; they had been perfectly civil to each other while Summer was around, but now she was in bed, I was unsure how the land lay.

‘Hi,’ Jonathan said.‘Are you OK?’

‘Yes, I just spoke to Tash.’ Claire sat down.‘It looks as if it’s all being sorted. I think Dave has had some kind of wake-up call. She’s not sure, but he has apologised and said he does want to be a good dad to Elijah. They’re going to meet up this weekend, with his mum, and she seems hopeful.’

‘She won’t take him back will she?’ Jonathan looked concerned and I sincerely hoped not.

‘No, I think the way he acted, cheating, moving out, not to mention the lying and the way he behaved since, means she’ll never fully trust him again, but Tash is a good mum and she wants what’s best for her child. At the moment that means having his dad around, no matter how useless he is.’

‘I agree, although I’m not Dave’s biggest fan. But I am Elijah’s, of course.’ Jonathan touched Claire’s arm.

‘Jonathan, we have our own issues to deal with, I know that, and we need to figure them out, so this weekend I want to go and see Mum and Dad with Summer, and I want you to come.’

‘OK, what’s brought this on?’

‘I’m not going to pretend. I could do with a change of scene, but also … Dad is a social worker, you know that, and he’s going to help us with the adoption — just explain how it works and what we need to do, if we decide to push forward with it. I thought it might help you to speak more to him about it.’

‘You mean your dad is going to talk me into it?’ Jonathan bristled.

‘No, I told him that I found it all a bit confusing and I explained how you felt, and he said perhaps if he talked us through the process, and all the options available to us, then maybe we’d stop arguing and come to a decision we were both happy with.’ I was proud of how reasonable Claire sounded.

‘Right …’ Jonathan still sounded doubtful.

‘Look, I know how single-minded I get, so does Dad. I wanted us to get married when we did, I wanted Summer when we did, I know how I am and, well, I think Dad is probably more likely to be on your side than mine.’

‘It’s not about sides, you know that. I just don’t know if I can do this.’ Jonathan sounded sad rather than angry.‘I wish I had your belief, I really do.’

‘And that’s what this weekend is about. Having a chat, a change of scene and then hopefully we can make a decision together. Besides, Mum and Dad are dying to see Sum.’

‘Blimey, you sound more reasonable than I’ve ever heard you,’ Jonathan said.

‘That’s my dad. He kind of gave me a bit of a talking-to. Anyway, can we go?’

‘What about Alfie and George?’

‘Frankie said they could both go and stay with them. We can drop them off on the way and either pick them up on our way home or Tomasz will drop them back here. The boys want to spend time with Alfie, and George, of course, before they go on their holiday.’

Wow, I was going to spend the weekend with my Polish family, which was great, and George was going to have his very first weekend away. And we’d see Dustbin! I was already excited.

‘You’ve got it all sorted then.’ I saw Jonathan raise his eyebrows.

‘Sorry, I know, I’m so bossy. But you kind of knew that when you married me.’

‘True, I did. Look, Claire, about the adoption—’

‘I know you’re worried you won’t be able to love a child that you didn’t make.’

‘Yes, that’s it.’

‘But I think you can.’

I felt a tingling in my fur. I looked at George, curled up next to me. I couldn’t love him any more than I did, yet I didn’t make him. I looked at Jonathan and Claire, who appeared to be deep in thought. I had adopted George, hadn’t I? Yes, it had been an enforced adoption at first, but still … And now I would be distraught without him; I loved him so much. I needed Jonathan to understand this. Surely that was the answer. He had to see that, if I could love George, he could love an adopted child. I just wasn’t sure how I could make him see that — at least, not yet.