Alfie and George

Chapter Thirty-three

It was over six months since George had gone missing. He was big now, and never got into any trouble. Pah, who am I kidding? He was always up to something. Luckily he had grown out of hide and seek — I think being trapped in Henrietta’s house for so long had put him off hiding. The local paper had called her a mad cat woman — I have to admit, I actually felt a bit sorry for her. She was actually a woman who loved cats, although of course that didn’t mean she could just nick us off the street. Anyway, despite his ordeal, George still loved playing with bags, boxes and curtains, jumping up and climbing. I was forever telling him off but I had learnt that was an important job for any parent, cat or human.

However, I also made sure he knew he was loved. I was always on hand with a nuzzle whenever he needed one — or if I’m honest, whenever I did. Making sure George knew how loved he was was my most important job. It was so funny, how reluctant I had been when he first arrived, how I wanted to be alone with my heartbreak, but Claire had obviously known what she was doing.

I was teaching George how important us cats actually were in the lives of our humans. He did get a bit carried away, telling me that his latest goal was to make Summer less bossy. I wished him luck with that; it was too ambitious a plan, even for me. And for him, I thought, as I watched her still insisting that he pretend to be her baby. But the boy was taking after me, and although there was no blood shared, I could never love anyone more. A chip off the old block, he was eagerly lapping up information and charming all the neighbourhood cats, even Salmon; he pretty much had us all wrapped round his little paws.

Tiger had become such a great surrogate mum to George too. We spent so much more time together and although she was still sarcastic, judgmental and a little scathing of my more sentimental side, she took George under her paw as if he was her own. We were quite a team, the three of us. We had a bond I knew no one could ever take away from us, and we spent more time together than ever. Even Claire and Jonathan had noticed the time we spent together, calling Tiger and I an ‘old married couple’. They thought it was funny. I did not. There was nothing old about me.

And our other cat friends were all part of our lives in a way they hadn’t been before. Losing George and Pinkie had bonded us in a way that took us all by surprise. The cats of Edgar Road were a force to be reckoned with, and not to mention Dustbin, whose friendship I valued highly.

My families were all doing well again, and I had my paws crossed that it stayed that way. I didn’t for one minute think that it would — after all, it never did — but I had learnt to enjoy the good times and only worry about the bad when they actually came.

Tash was now a fully-fledged resident of Edgar Road and George and I visited her flat regularly. She was seeing Max and apparently their status was ‘in a relationship’. She was cautious, but happy. And though it hadn’t been plain sailing, they weren’t friends, Tash and Dave had reached a level of agreement over Elijah which, according to Tash, was the most she could hope for. And lovely Elijah was so laid back and happy; he was getting big but he was the loveliest boy. The adults joked that he and Summer would get married one day but to be honest I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, Summer would run rings around him. He’d be totally henpecked — I had learnt what that phrase meant from my holiday in the country and my rescue mission. Of course, I loved Summer and I loved her bossiness, I just didn’t wish it on anyone else.

I had been to stay with my Polish family, with George as well, because Claire and Jonathan had had something important to do. They were much happier now and Aleksy told me he was no longer worried about his parents. Big Tomasz was busy, and they were planning on opening their third restaurant, but they had put such a good formula in place that he didn’t have to actually be working all the time. He was the brains behind the food, his business partner looked after the business side, and they had good chefs and managers working for them. They were even talking about moving to a bigger home, so the boys, who were growing so fast, would have more space. I could see their point but I worried that I would miss Dustbin. George and I loved hanging out with him. He’d declared that George was a very good hunter, which I didn’t approve of; but I couldn’t really stop him, it was natural for most cats and I knew I was an anomaly. But I enjoyed spending time with Dustbin, who was one of the wisest cats I knew; even if they moved, I would find a way to see him, I knew the way to his home by now. Franceska was saying how wonderful it would be if they could live on Edgar Road again, although they hadn’t seriously looked at anything at this stage. Jonathan joked that they were turning into ‘The Waltons’, although I didn’t know what he meant. I would love to have them back on our street — I would have another home to visit regularly and I would feel like a proper doorstep cat again. You could never have too many homes.

I’d tried explaining this to George when I’d settled him back home. He had been a little traumatised by his ordeal but mainly because of the noise of the other cats.

‘This is your home,’ I’d said.‘Always remember that.’

‘But what about Matt and Polly’s?’

‘Well, yes, that’s your home too.’

‘And Franceska and Tomasz.’

‘Yes, that’s your home too, but nowhere else.’ I was getting a bit frustrated.

‘Tash?’

‘OK, George, what I am trying to say is that these are your homes, all the ones you mentioned. But the easiest way to look at it is that your home is wherever I am.’ He seemed to accept that.

It had taken a while, but Polly and Matt had ironed their issues out. They both worked now and they both loved their jobs, but they made their family life work too and had employed a nanny, who the others shared sometimes. Lucy, the nanny, was so nice and we all liked her. Polly and Matt also made sure they spent time together once a week. They were all lovey-dovey like they used to be. Polly looked so much like her old self, beautiful and happy. Matt was relaxed and he enjoyed the time he spent at home — even the tidying. They were planning a big family holiday, but I was pretty sure that George and I weren’t going to be invited. Martha was getting bigger, as was Henry. He now refused to play with Martha and Summer and was relieved when Aleksy and little Tomasz returned from Poland and he had boys to play with again.

Claire, Jonathan and Summer were all great too. George and Summer were so close, and I liked that, because I wanted her to have that relationship the way I did with Aleksy. We both loved all the children but we did have an extra closeness with those two, because I felt as if I had grown up with Aleksy and Summer was growing up with George. Summer had turned three recently and we’d had a lovely family party, and it was then that Claire and Jonathan told us their big news. It hadn’t happened overnight, but it didn’t matter, because today was a big day. Everything was about to change yet again, only this time I hoped it was going to change for the better.

We were all very nervous and excited at the same time. My stomach fluttered. We were all looking our best: Jonathan wore a pair of smart trousers and a shirt; Claire was wearing a pretty floral dress; and Summer was wearing a princess costume that she’d got for her birthday, which she insisted was her best outfit ever. To be honest, she barely took it off, but she did look very cute. I had made sure George groomed himself thoroughly and I had done the same. We both looked incredibly handsome, even if I did say so myself.

We all waited, fidgeting and not quite knowing what to do with ourselves. Time crawled by so slowly, which it always did when you were waiting for something.

Claire and Jonathan had met him, of course — our potential adoptee. They’d had lots of visits and trips with him, but now he was coming to our house to see if we were all going to live together. He couldn’t move straight in, he had to be happy here, but why wouldn’t he be? Our home was so full of love it radiated out of every room. He would fit right in, once he had time to get used to it. Just like me, and like George.

I stretched as the doorbell went.

‘Oh goodness, they’re here. Do I look OK?’ Claire patted her hair and looked flustered. Claire’s mood had been so great lately, she was so happy and excited about the future. She kept saying that this was fate and she knew it was meant to be. And I think Jonathan believed her, finally.

‘You look lovely,’ Jonathan said, taking her hand. I could see he was sweating a bit as they made their way to the front door.

‘Me too!’ Summer shouted as she followed them, George and myself on her heels.

Jonathan opened the door, and in walked a lady holding the hand of a boy about Henry’s age. He looked terrified, and clutched the lady’s hand tightly. My heart went out to him; if anyone needed a cat it was this boy, I could immediately tell.

‘Hi, Marie,’ Claire said, shaking hands with the lady.

‘Hi, guys, Summer,’ Marie said.

Claire knelt down on the floor.‘Hello, Toby, welcome to our house,’ she said gently. The boy looked at her and smiled uncertainly.

‘Toby.’ Summer jumped forward and smiled at him.‘I’m a princess.’

‘Hi, Summer.’ He seemed a bit more at ease with her, but still shuffled from foot to foot. I watched Claire kneeling before him, with Summer next to her. Jonathan hung back slightly.

I decided to introduce myself. He must have been feeling so mixed up, and he was so young to have to handle such emotions. I lost my first home when I was too young to fully understand and it had been the hardest time of my life. I wanted him to know I knew how he felt, in my own way.

‘Miaow,’ I said, rubbing his legs.

‘A cat!’ he exclaimed, and sat down on the floor to stroke me. Claire followed suit as did Summer. George joined us.

‘Another cat!’ Toby said, even happier to see George, who crawled into his lap. This boy was all right, he clearly loved cats. Summer giggled, and Toby looked at her and giggled too. I felt choked up as I saw Claire’s eyes fill with tears. We were both thinking the same thing, I was pretty sure. This is our boy.

We all played on the floor for a while. Marie the social worker hung back but Jonathan still seemed rooted to the spot. I decided to go and give him a little nudge.

‘Who’s hungry?’ he asked finally, looking at me and then at them.

‘Me!’ Summer shouted.

‘Toby?’ Jonathan asked. Toby nodded shyly. We all looked at Jonathan. He had tears in his eyes, which was rare, and his voice was choked. I was so proud of all of them, but especially him, at that moment.

He reached out his hand to Toby. Toby looked at it for a few seconds, but then he put his hand into Jonathan’s. Jonathan pulled him gently to his feet and held onto that little hand so tightly.

‘Come on, son,’ he said.