Alfie And George

Chapter Thirty-four

When Toby had to leave, he said he didn’t want to go, and nor did anyone want to say goodbye. Although he was still shy and uncertain, he had enjoyed being with us, I could tell. I found it hard to accept that a boy who was five years old had to come and live with a new family. It was part of life that I would always find upsetting, confusing and just wrong. But then I also knew, watching how Claire, Jonathan and Summer were with him, that if he had to go to a new home, ours was the best.

Marie took Claire and Jonathan aside and said the visit had gone very well and so they would be increasing the time Toby spent with us until it was decided he could come and live here, which she hoped would be sooner rather than later. Claire looked relieved and Jonathan beamed, proving us right, he could love a child that wasn’t biologically his. His eyes were already full of love. After Toby left, with many hugs and kisses and promises that he could come back soon, we were all emotionally drained.

‘So Toby’s going to come and live with us?’ George asked when I was trying to settle him in bed.

‘Yes. Claire will be his mummy and Jonathan will be his daddy.’

‘Like you and Tiger are to me?’

‘Yes, just like that.’

‘Because I love you, Dad, and I love Tiger-Mum too.’ I kissed him goodnight: there was only so much emotion one cat could take in a day and I had reached my happiness limit.

‘Jonathan, I didn’t want him to go,’ Claire said when we were alone later, after Summer and George were fast asleep.

‘Me neither, I almost couldn’t bear it. You were right. The minute I saw him, I knew he was my son. I don’t understand it but I looked into his eyes and I loved him. Right away, I loved him.’ Jonathan was crying again — this was a regular occurrence today.

‘Oh, Jon, I love you so much and Toby will be the luckiest boy having you as a father.’

‘He deserves it after what he’s been through.’

‘Jon, don’t talk about that, let’s look to the future.’

‘Can’t wait to take him to the football.’ Jonathan tried to laugh.

‘Summer might want to go too,’ Claire pointed out.

‘Of course. I’m not being sexist, I’ll take them both. But I think you’re right, you know, it feels as if our family is complete now. Us, Summer, Alfie, George and now Toby. It feels right. It feels really wonderful, in fact.’

‘I know exactly how you feel. I’m just so happy right now. I can’t wait to have that lovely little boy living here.’

‘It might be hard at first, he’s going to need a lot of time and attention and we need to make sure Summer doesn’t feel left out.’ Jonathan was always the voice of reason.

‘I know, Jon, and that’s why I’m taking a year off work, remember. I’ll have time to give them both the attention they need. Nothing worthwhile is easy but we are going to do this and we’re going to do it really, really well.’

‘Maybe I should listen to you more in future,’ Jonathan laughed.

‘Finally! It’s about time you realised that. But seriously, Jon, we’re going to be all right.’

‘No, Claire, we’re going to be more than all right.’

I checked on George, who was snoring gently, before I got ready to go out. I went past the living room, where Claire and Jonathan were snuggled on the sofa, and left the house. There was someone I needed to see. I had taught my humans a lot, and of course my plan had ultimately worked, despite it going terribly wrong, but they had taught me a great deal too. Seeing my families pulling together, all of the parents reaffirming their love, or looking for new love, had opened my eyes. Being a parent, whether of a child or a kitten, gave you a different perspective. Love and parenting worked in so many different ways. For example my first human, Margaret, didn’t have human children, she had Agnes and then me, we were her babies and she parented us brilliantly. She showered us with love and affection, not to mention pilchards. And it was the same with Claire and Jonathan before Summer came along. You were parents to your pets, your pets were parents to you. There were no rules when you loved — you just took care of each other.

That was what I had learnt. I had also discovered that nothing is forever, so you need to snatch whatever happiness you can, when you can. You need to hold tight to what’s important to you and nurture and cherish it. You need to appreciate everyone you love every single day. Everyone had learnt something when George was missing, and I wondered if perhaps I had learnt the most.

It wasn’t late, but I gently bumped the cat flap and waited in the back garden. After a few moments, Tiger emerged. The sky was dark blue, the moon bright and round; stars sparkled at us, it was a beautiful night. We sat on the back step, the place where our plan had gone wrong, looking up at the moon together, sitting side by side in silence.

‘How did today go?’ she finally asked, flicking her whiskers at me.

‘Wonderful, brilliant, it couldn’t have gone better if I’d planned it myself. Toby is a lovely little boy. I feel sad he doesn’t have a forever family already, but we’re also so lucky that we’re going to be it for him. You’ll love him too!’

‘Another kitten to worry about,’ Tiger grinned.‘Although perhaps it’s time to hang up your hat when it comes to plans to fix things.’

‘As if I will ever do that! Anyway, I don’t think he’s as naughty as George, or as bossy as Summer, but yes, of course I’ll worry about him, and love him, and do all I can to take care of him.’

‘Because that’s the kind of cat you are.’

‘It is. But I also need to appreciate those who help me, with George and my families, a bit more than I do at the moment,’ I said. My thoughts were clear but I was finding it hard to articulate them.

‘Anyone in particular?’ Tiger asked.

‘You know who I mean, Tiger. You. You’ve always been there for me, even after that business with Snowball you still were my best friend, and now you’re my co-parent.’

‘I’ve never heard of a co-parent,’ she said. She looked slightly embarrassed, probably because I had alluded to the time she told me she was in love with me.

‘You know I’ve learnt that love comes in all shapes and sizes. I think with Snowball it was young love, my first ever romance, I suppose, but we didn’t have too many responsibilities back then. I’ll always miss her a bit but life is different now and I wouldn’t change it for all the pilchards in the world.’

‘You wouldn’t?’

‘Tiger, what I’m trying to say, which I’m not doing very well, is that you’ve been by my side when it matters and I want us to be like that for a very, very long time.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Our relationship — we’re best friends, we’re parents and we love each other. All that teasing about us being an old married couple, well, I see it now. Maybe not the passion of youth but a more mature kind where we love each other properly.’ I felt so flustered by this conversation.

‘So you think we’re like an old married couple?’ Tiger asked, her voice slightly mocking.

‘Yes, well, less of the old, but a married couple who have the utmost respect for each other, who both love George in a way where he will always come first, but also a couple who have fun, who laugh with each other, and have deep, deep feelings of love for each other — that’s how I feel, Tiger. And vanity aside, none of us are getting any younger, it’s about time I saw what was right in front of my face.’

‘Me.’

‘You.’

‘Oh, Alfie, I never thought you’d say this, I mean, I never dreamed after Snowball …’

‘Shush. Some things take longer to figure out. Like with Toby, that’s not an overnight thing and we aren’t either.’

‘But … we’re rock solid?’ Tiger asked. Her eyes were full of everything I loved about her: warmth, fun, friendship, beauty. I had taken her for granted for so long but now my eyes had definitely been opened.

‘Unbreakable. Like the best things in life, we’ve been worth waiting for, and now, Tiger, my love, the wait is over.’

‘I’ve loved you for so long, Alfie.’

‘I know, and I’m sorry it hasn’t been plain sailing, but now I can return that love. And I know one little kitten who will be incredibly happy.’

As we both looked at the moon, my heart was full — of my families, of my cat friends, of Tiger and, most of all, of our kitten, George.