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‘It’s my fault,’ Claire was saying, ‘I shouldn’t have been so stupid.’

‘Claire, calm down, you’re not stupid,’ Sylvie said, hugging Claire. Polly had our cat carrier in her arms, which she put down on the floor.

‘Claire, of course kids leave chocolate lying around at Christmas, it happens, and I’ll get him straight to the vet, honestly, it could have happened at our house.’

I wondered what was going on but Pickles was lying on the floor, a snorting noise coming out of his mouth, his eyes were droopy, he had a sort of white foam and he didn’t look like his normal self at all. I felt panic in the tips of my fur. What was wrong with Pickles? He hadn’t even moved since I got home. George was sitting watching with a horrified look on his face. I turned to him.

‘What happened?’ I asked, as Polly grabbed Pickles and managed to get him into our carrier.

‘It wasn’t my fault,’ George said, eyes wide.

‘I’m sure it wasn’t. But what wasn’t?’

‘Pickles ate some chocolate coins that he found in the living room, where the kids had them, and apparently dogs are allergic to chocolate so now he has to go to the vet, but he just said how much he liked them, even the foil they were wrapped in.’

‘He ate the foil?’

‘Some of it. Dad, I told him not to eat them but he didn’t listen.’

‘Did you tell him that cats never eat chocolate?’

‘No, I didn’t think of that. I’ll tell him that later, if he’s alright. Do you think he’ll be alright? Oh, Dad, he has to be alright.’

‘He’s going to the vet, he’ll be in good hands, like Harold was at the hospital. I’m sure he’ll be fine.’ I wasn’t sure at all, I thought, as I watched Polly lift him gently into the car carrier.

‘I realised that I love him, Dad,’ George said, his eyes sad.

‘We all do, son, we all do.’

I put all thoughts of my plan aside as I tried to console George. He wasn’t going anywhere until he knew that Pickles was alright, he was more fond of the puppy than he let on. He also felt guilty and no matter how many times I told him it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t believe me.

‘And Hana had only just left, you see I was saying goodbye to her at the back door and I came back in and he was already eating them. I only turned my back for a minute.’

‘George, Pickles eats anything and everything, there is just no stopping him.’ It was true, even I wouldn’t want to come between that dog and his food. Or anyone else’s food for that matter.

While we waited for news, Claire was beside herself, as were we all. It was as if we all blamed ourselves, although I wasn’t there I still felt as if I was responsible in some way. We fretted and paced around, restless, hoping that the poor pup would be alright. George lay down eventually, but I knew he wasn’t able to sleep, so I lay next to him nuzzling him, trying to offer some comfort.

Finally, Polly rang with the news that Pickles was going to be alright, although he was still a bit sick. Pickles was going to stay with the vet for a while, for something called observation, and then he’d be home before we knew it. Claire was relieved, although no one blamed her for it, she blamed herself, a bit like George. Claire cried while I comforted her, it hadn’t been fun that was for sure.

But when we knew that Pickles was going to be alright, I persuaded George to go and visit Harold and Snowball.

‘Are you going to come with me?’

‘No, son, I’m exhausted and need to rest,’ I said. I had a plan in place that Dustbin had come up with about the notebook, but for now I had another plan, one of my own. I was hoping the more George and Snowball bonded, the easier it would be when I told him how I felt about her. That was my biggest wish right now. Of course I had to tell Snowball too but I thought that it was almost understood between us already, without us having to say anything. But George was the one whose feelings I had to consider most at the moment, I was a parent after all and his feelings were more important than my own.

When George came home that evening, I had slept, and thought, slept and thought some more. Because of everything going around my brain, I was still tired though.

‘How were Harold and Snowball?’ I asked.

‘I forgot that Harold was at his senior centre this afternoon so I only just saw him when he came home. He was talking about his lonely club again. He’s got ten people so far on his list who don’t really have family around, and he’s very sad about it. As am I. But I told Snowball that you had a plan coming soon.’

‘I do, George, I do.’

‘And on the way home I stopped at Polly’s and Pickles is back, he said they made him be sick, but that he’s fine now although quite hungry.’

‘Ah, that puppy is always hungry.’

‘I know but he wasn’t bothered by it. He said it was another adventure. But I did tell him that cats would never eat chocolate or foil, and he said he had taken that onboard now. But he also said there was a lot of information in being a cat, so he wasn’t sure how much he could retain.’

‘That sounds like Pickles.’

‘I love him, Dad, but at the end of the day he’s only a dog after all.’

I went into the living room where Summer was crying. Jonathan had just got home from work and was scratching his head as if he was confused. I wished he’d scratch my head as much as he did his own, I love a good head scratch.

‘Summer, what’s wrong?’ Claire asked.

‘Henry and Martha said we had nearly killed Pickles and they’re really mad at us,’ Toby explained.

‘They were our chocolate coins,’ Summer said hiccuping the words out.

‘I know, and now we know about Pickles and the fact he can’t eat chocolate maybe we can be more careful about leaving it lying around. It shouldn’t really have been in the living room anyway,’ Claire said gently, hugging Summer. ‘But it was a mistake that’s all and Pickles is fine. Let’s go to Polly and Matt’s now and sort it out.’

‘But what if they shout at us?’ Toby asked.

‘They must have been very worried but, Toby, Summer, this could have happened to anyone, so let’s go and I’m sure it’ll be fine.’

‘We’ll all go,’ Jonathan said. ‘As a family.’ And off they went.

‘It seems everyone feels guilty about Pickles,’ George said when we were alone.

‘That’s what we do when we love someone, we blame ourselves if anything happens.’

‘I know, you always do with me don’t you?’

‘Yes, George, I do.’

‘But I’m perfect so you really don’t need to,’ he finished.

Chapter Thirty

[Ęŕđňčíęŕ: img_31]

It was time to put everything aside and get yet another plan put into action, before Christmas was upon us. After Pickles’ scare, friendships between the children had been fixed and were as strong as ever, and their excitement levels had been turned up several notches. Apart from Tommy. I could tell Tommy was feeling a bit like the odd one out. Too old for the younger ones, and excluded from the exclusive Aleksy and Connie club. Franceska told Claire that she was worried he was a bit lonely. He had loads of friends but when he was with us, he wasn’t really there. Claire suggested that Tommy should be allowed to invite a friend to our next family day which was coming up and that turned out to be a brilliant idea as Tommy leapt at it. Franceska said she hadn’t before thought of it, as the family day was just that but our family expanded all the time. We’d added Sylvie, Connie, Hana, Marcus and Harold after all. So, this seemed like the opportune time to try to get Harold’s idea to Claire.

In fact the next family day was a mini Christmas Day because Connie was spending actual Christmas in Japan. I thought that although she would be missed, it would be nice for Tommy to have his brother back for Christmas. And although Sylvie had been panicking a bit, having never spent Christmas without Connie, she had Marcus and all of us to get her through it.

I discussed the plan at length with George, and to a lesser extent with Snowball and we decided that the next time Claire went to Harold’s we would follow her there. That would be the time to get her to see the notebook. We had come up with a rough idea of how we would do it, but we also recognised the need for us to play it by ear a bit. As with most plans, they should never be too rigid. Luckily we didn’t have too long to wait, Claire went to Harold’s most days, so today we went with her. Claire was taking him his lunch. She was also taking Pickles who seemed to come everywhere, no one wanted to let him out of their sight since the chocolate incident. Harold always had somewhere to eat, Sylvie’s, ours or Matt and Polly’s, but since having Snowball he preferred to eat at home. She really had done a great job keeping him company, but I could see where Harold was coming from with his lunch club because he always had somewhere to go, or people going to see him. He was one of the lucky ones.

‘Hi, Claire and Pickles,’ Harold said as he answered the door. He was looking quite healthy these days. The right medication coupled with Snowball also seemed to have given him a new lease of life. ‘And hello, Alfie and George. Snowball’s in the kitchen,’ he said. We all followed him through, including Pickles. I realised I hadn’t quite factored Pickles into my plan but hopefully he wouldn’t ruin it.

‘Do you want some soup now? I can warm it up for you,’ Claire said.

‘Oh I don’t want to put you to any trouble,’ Harold said.

‘Don’t be silly, I was hoping you might invite me to join you for lunch,’ Claire suggested. She was so good, she always made it sound like he was doing her a favour when really we all knew it was the other way round.

‘Of course, I’d love that. I’ll set the table.’

‘Woof!’ Pickles tried to jump up onto the chair where Harold was laying cutlery out. He was old fashioned like that. In fact, his late wife, Marcus’s mum, always liked things done properly. Harold used table mats, and napkins and everything. We all sat there as Claire warmed up the soup on the stove, buttered thick slices of bread, and dished everything up.

‘Pickles come here,’ I hissed. I needed to keep him under control.

‘You know, I can help you with your Christmas shopping if you like,’ Claire offered.

‘That’s kind of you. Jonathan said your best skill is shopping,’ Harold said.

‘I’ll kill him,’ Claire laughed.

‘But seriously, I want to get something special for Marcus and Sylvie, and young Connie. And the rest of you. I’ve put you all through a lot this year.’

‘Oh Harold, don’t think of it like that, they love you, we love you.’

‘I know, but I was in hospital for a long time and you all must have been exhausted visiting me.’

‘Well you know, I’ll help choose for your family, but with our family we decided to do Secret Santa, not the kids, but they get loads anyway, but the adults will pick one person and you have to buy something for five pounds.’

‘That sounds sensible, if you’re sure. I mean I’m not a rich man but I saved quite a bit of my pension while I was in hospital.’ He grinned.

‘No, concentrate on your immediate family, we don’t need anything but your company. Although this time next year you’ll have another little one to add to your list.’

‘I can’t believe it, Grandpa Harold,’ he chuckled. ‘Now I do need to get a present for Snowball and George and Alfie, of course,’ he said.

‘Woof.’

‘Yes and you too Pickles,’ he added with a grin.

I led my troops into the kitchen and Pickles waddled in after us.

‘Right, the notebook is on the arm of the chair, so my plan is that we knock it off, make a lot of noise, make sure one of us keeps a paw on it until Claire comes up to it to see what’s going on.’

‘Harold might get to it first,’ Snowball said.

‘What is this plan?’ Pickles asked.

‘Don’t worry about it, Pickles,’ Snowball said, as George shot him a withering look.

‘Claire is much faster than Harold,’ I reassured. ‘She’ll be over with us before Harold can even get off the chair.’

‘It’s a good plan,’ George said.

‘And for once one that can’t end up with any of us in danger,’ Snowball added. I narrowed my eyes at her, she was one cheeky cat.

‘But what is the plan?’ Pickles asked again.

I took the lead as I went into the living room, with them hot on my paws. I jumped up onto the armchair and then onto the arm where the notebook lay. I lifted a paw and knocked it off. George immediately pounced but somehow managed to slide it under the sofa.

‘Meow,’ I said. Both Harold and Claire looked over at us, but the notebook couldn’t be seen. I jumped down and the three of us set about trying to catch the notebook with our paws to get it out, but we seemed to only knock it further.

‘What are they doing?’ Claire asked.

‘Right,’ I hissed quietly. ‘George, you’re the smallest, you have to hook it and bring it out, after all you can get under the sofa.’ I held my breath, but finally the notebook emerged, followed by George who was covered in dust. He sneezed. We had done it though, now we had the notebook,I put my paw on it.

‘YOWL,’ I shouted.

‘MEOW,’ George said at the top of his lungs.

‘YELP,’ Snowball called out but her voice was far too sweet to be alarming.

‘Woof, woof, woof,’ Pickles joined in as he ran around in circles.

‘What?’ Harold asked as we kept making as much noise as we could. As I thought, Claire ran over to us.

‘What’s all the noise for?’ she asked. I looked down at the notebook then back up at her.

‘Meow,’ I said more quietly.

‘What’s this?’ She picked the book up. As I planned, Harold had stood up.

‘That’s mine,’ he snapped.

‘OK, but why did the cats have it?’ Claire asked, as it fell open at the place where he kept his pen.

‘Don’t look’ Harold shouted.

‘Have you been writing poetry or something?’ Claire asked.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, I just—’

‘MEOW,’ George shouted really loudly and jumped on Claire’s foot.

‘Ow. I think he wants me to read it,’ she said.

‘No!’ Harold said.

‘Meow,’ the three of us said in unison.

‘Why don’t you want me to see it?’ Claire asked. ‘Of course I won’t look if you don’t want me to.’ She handed the notebook back to Harold. I couldn’t believe it, we hadn’t factored in the fact that Claire wasn’t an intrusive person.

‘MEOW!’ I shouted.

‘It’s just silly ramblings of an old man.’ Harold blushed and looked at his feet. George jumped up on his lap and purred into his neck.

‘You’re not silly,’ Claire said quietly. She reached over and squeezed Harold’s hand which was shaking.

‘Here,’ was all he said, as he passed the notebook over to her.

We had succeeded, and Claire started reading as we all sat there hopefully. I noticed how Harold’s hand still shook gently as he tried to eat his soup, and kept shooting glances at Claire. He was nervous, but he shouldn’t have been.

‘Wow,’ Claire said as she finished. ‘Harold, this is such a brilliant idea, why didn’t you tell me?’

‘You really think so?’ he asked. ‘I thought perhaps people would think me silly. I know I’m a foolish old man but being in hospital was a real eye-opener.’

‘Goodness no, you’re right we don’t think enough about all the lonely people … Oh my goodness and you’ve even made a list of names.’

‘It’s the ones from the senior centre, they really do get very lonely and you know they don’t have anyone to bring them a hot meal. It made me realise how lucky I was when I started going there and then in hospital, I had the most visitors but some people didn’t have any which is why Georgebecame so important to them. I keep meaning to take him back in but of course I need help and I didn’t think any of you would approve.’

‘Firstly, I will help you take George to the hospital, as it’s Christmas we can take biscuits and chocolates for the patients, it’ll be a lovely thing to do and I only wish I’d thought of it.’ Claire took Harold’s hand and I saw that he had tears in his eyes. ‘And as for your genius idea of the Sunday Lunch Club, how about we make it our project. We’ll work together and get it off the ground straight away.’

‘You mean it?’

‘Yes, we’re going to have Christmas lunch at the restaurant again this year, it’s so much easier with all of us and we can easily fit in extra people, especially if they have nowhere to go. We can easily organise that. And then for the long term I will get a few people on the street together,with you as well and we’ll get families to take someone in. Perhaps not every week, because that might be a bit much, but say twice a month to start with? Jon and I will definitely open our house to someone, as will Polly and Matt, Frankie and Tomasz will too, I am sure, then there are others.’

‘You think we can make this work?’

‘Yes, we’ll start with your ten and who knows, we might get more people willing to help out as well.’

‘Oh Claire, I can’t tell you this means to me.’

‘Meow,’ George said.

‘And George. You know we both felt that we needed to do something about people being lonely. I was so lonely not that long back, you know when Marcus and I fell out and I was a bitter old man, but look at me now … It was George’s idea as much as mine though.’

George purred.

‘You should say that at our meeting, Harold, because it’s perfect and yes look at you now. You’ve got a son, a nearly-daughter-in-law, a granddaughter and a new grandbaby on the way, not to mention all of us.’

‘And Snowball, George and Alfie, and of course Hana too.’

‘Woof,’ Pickles said.

‘You’re a dog, Pickles,’ Claire said petting him. ‘I always include the animals when I say us,’ she laughed. ‘You know I was lonely too when I first met Alfie, a long time ago, sometimes it feels like another lifetime, but I do remember how it felt and I wouldn’t want anyone to feel that way.’

‘Me either, which is why I so desperately wanted to do this.’ Harold had tears falling from his eyes.

‘We’ll make a brilliant team.’ Claire hugged him.

‘Meow.’ I jumped on Claire’s lap. Yes we would, Harold, Claire, George, Snowball and I. We would be the best team ever. And Pickles, he was part of our team of course.

Chapter Thirty-One

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We all turned up at Sylvie’s house the usual chaotic mass of people. The kids were excited because it wasn’t quite Christmas but it was close, Pickles was excited because since the chocolate incident he was back to usual. Jonathan had bottles in his hands, as did Matt, and Tomasz and Franceska turned up with food. It was so familiar. When Marcus came in with Harold and Snowball in tow, I realised that it was all as it should be. Apart from the fact that George and Hana had disappeared. Maybe this was my chance to find out what was really going on.

As everyone settled down to eat, I turned to Snowball.

‘We need to go and find out if Hana and George are together, once and for all,’ I said, sounding every inch the parent.

‘How?’ she asked.

‘We need to spy on them and before you say it, I know it’s an invasion of privacy but I really want to know.’

‘Why don’t you just ask him, Alfie?’ Pickles said. I hadn’t realised he’d been listening but I should have, as we were near the food bowls.

‘I’ve tried, believe me I have. Follow me.’ I headed upstairs and crept along the corridor to Connie’s room. In there, curled up on the bed were George and Hana, looking very cosy.

‘Right, keep quiet,’ I commanded.

‘There they are,’ Pickles shouted, blowing our cover immediately. They sprung up as Pickles waddled over to them, his tail wagging.

‘What are you doing here?’ George asked.

‘I could ask you the same, young man,’ I replied.

‘We were just having some time alone, Alfie, we weren’t doing anything wrong,’ Hana said sweetly, her eyes wide with worry.

‘Of course you weren’t,’ Snowball said, shooting me a glance which meant I would be in trouble later.

‘They were spying on you because they want to know if you are boyfriend and girlfriend,’ Pickles explained. That dog was as subtle as a sledgehammer, as he spilt all my sleuthing beans.

‘Why didn’t you just ask?’ George said.

‘That’s what I said.’ Pickles sounded pleased with himself.

‘I did, I’ve been asking you ever since we came back from holiday. I even tried to see for myself but I fell in a bush …’ Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.

‘I am fed up of you invading my privacy,’ George stormed. But then Hana laughed and Snowball laughed.

‘Oh George, don’t be cross. Firstly it’s nearly Christmas, and secondly, at least you have a dad who loves you,’ Hana said. ‘Put him out of his misery.’

‘Yes, put me out of my misery,’ I reiterated. ‘Please.’

‘OK. I love Hana, but we’re young and we don’t want to rush anything. So yes, she is my girlfriend but we’re taking it slowly.’

‘We’re being sensible, like Aleksy and Connie,’ Hana explained. ‘We’re young and we have plenty of lives left in us.’

‘Oh boy, I couldn’t love the both of you anymore,’ I said, leaping on the bed and nuzzling them both.

‘Ahh, get off,’ George said, but he was grinning.

‘What about me?’ We all laughed as Pickles jumped up onto the bed with us and licked us all.

Downstairs everyone was chatty. Food was eaten, we were given a few treats. Sylvie was smiling but in that way when someone is putting on a brave face and I knew she was going to miss Connie.

‘So are you excited about Japan?’ Matt asked her. She shot a worried look at her mum who just smiled.

‘I am, I’m nervous about flying on my own. It’s a long flight.’

‘But they’re going to take good care of you, I’ve made sure of that,’ Sylvie reassured. ‘And think you can watch whatever films you want without me telling you they’re not appropriate.’ She laughed a little and I was so proud of her.

‘We’ll all miss you,’ Claire said. ‘But imagine it will be such an adventure. And you can tell us everything when you get back.’

‘I want to go to Japan,’ Summer shouted.

‘Do you know where Japan is?’ Jonathan asked.

‘No, but I want to go anyway.’

‘Room in your suitcase, Connie?’ Jonathan said, and everyone laughed.

‘I couldn’t be doing with it myself. All that flying in a big tin can, people everywhere and then all that funny food,’ Harold said.

‘Harold, I grew up there, the food is normal to me,’ Connie pointed out.

‘That might as well be, if I was you I’d pack some bread, and some tea, in case you need to be reminded of home. I’ll miss you, lass,’ he said, softly. Connie ran and threw her arms around him.

‘And I’ll miss you too, Grandpa.’

‘Grandpa?’ Harold had actual tears in his eyes.

‘You a bit emotional, Dad?’ Marcus asked.

‘Not at all just allergic to dust.’

We all knew there wasn’t a spec of dust in Sylvie’s house.

Aleksy and Connie went to the garden, and I followed them, but tried not to be obvious. I had asked Snowball to keep Pickles busy and she was, bless her, watching him chasing his tail, and asking him to do it again so she could do so. I wasn’t sure if she would get bored first or Pickles so dizzy he’d fall over.

‘I wanted to give you my Christmas present before you went,’ Aleksy said, shyly. His cheeks were red as he handed over a bag.

‘Oh Aleksy, I was going to give yours to your mum so it would be under your tree on Christmas morning.’

‘And I’d love that but I wanted you to have this. We put a lot of thought into it,’ he mumbled, looking at his trainers.

‘Who’s we?’

‘I mean me, of course. Go on, open it.’

Connie pulled out a book, then a charm which Aleksy said was a St Christopher for keeping her safe on her travels. I have to admit I felt a little emotional. Then she pulled out a box. As she opened it she gasped. I shuffled nearer, so I could see. It was a silver chain with a letter‘C’ attached.

‘It’s the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever received, Aleksy, thank you.’ She put the necklace on and kissed him. I knew I shouldn’t be watching but hey, Aleksy was one of my first prot?g?s, and my boy had done well. I was proud of him.

‘I love you, Connie and I want you to have a lovely Christmas. But don’t forget about me,’ he said.

‘Don’t be silly, as if I could ever forget about you. And I’ll bring you back something cool from Japan.’ She paused. ‘Make sure my mum’s OK won’t you? I know she’s got Marcus and the baby bump but we’ve never been apart at Christmas before.’

‘I will, I’ll take care of her too. We all will, and when you come back we’ll all be together again and soon the new baby. We could be the babysitters for them.’

‘I’d like that, thanks Aleksy.’

My heart was fit to burst.

Everyone burst into the back garden.

‘Are we interrupting?’ Polly asked.

‘No,’ Aleksy said. Connie blushed.

‘We just thought that it would be nice to have a photo, you know all of us, the whole family.’

We were organised, the humans gathered us up in their arms– Pickles by Henry, Toby insisted on holding George, Snowball sat on Harold’s lap, he’d been placed on a garden chair and Claire had me in her arms. Hana of course was with Connie. Marcus set up a tripod and a camera which he put on a timer.

‘Say “cheese”,’ he said.

‘Cheese,’ everyone said.

At the mention of his favourite food, Pickles jumped out of Toby’s arms and landed on Snowball, who was on Harold, Snowball squealed and then jumped, but was luckily caught by Sylvie. Everyone turned their heads just as the camera went off.

‘Perhaps next time we should say a non-food related item,’ Polly suggested.

That night, Snowball, George, Hana– who had decided she would brave the cold to hang out – and I sat in our back garden.

‘It’s been eventful again, hasn’t it?’ I said.

‘It’s been such a crazy time for me,’ Snowball said.

‘We are happy and sad, aren’t we?’ Hana pointed out. ‘That seems to be how life works. We get happy, we get sad, and so on.’

‘You’re very smart, Hana,’ George said. ‘Almost as smart as me.’

Snowball and I tried very hard not to look at each other.

‘But look at us, we have each other,’ I said. ‘And we have so many people we love around us.’

‘Too many sometimes,’ George said.

‘No, son,’ I replied. ‘There will never be too many, because our hearts are so big we can love and love.’

‘And that’s what life should be about,’ Snowball finished. We all watched the stars through the black sky in silence and I knew that at that moment we were all thinking about how lucky we were.

Chapter Thirty-Two

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‘So you want us to have an old person?’ Vic Goodwin, Salmon’s owner and the self-appointed head of the Edgar Road neighbourhood watch – along with his wife Heather, asked.

‘Not exactly,’ Claire replied. We had gathered some of our neighbours and friends in our living room. The Goodwins, Tiger’s, or should I say Oliver’s family, the Barkers, my main family and a family who lived next door to Harold that I wasn’t familiar with. Harold had bravely invited themto come, although Claire was with him, as was Snowball. The children were all upstairs being looked after by Aleksy, Connie and Tommy.

‘It was George’s idea,’ Polly said, with a giggle. I raised my whiskers. They weren’t helping matters at all. I nudged George and told him to nudge Harold.

‘You mean to tell me this was a cat’s idea?’ Heather Goodwin asked. The new couple, Carol and Steve, looked incredibly confused. The fact they hadn’t run for the door was surprising, although in fairness, Tomasz, who was a big man, was pretty much stretched across it. We were all trapped.

‘Oh dear Lord,’ Jonathan said, rolling his eyes and glancing over at Matt who seemed to be finding it all terribly amusing.

George nudged Harold. He blushed, but cleared his voice.

‘George inspired me,’ he said. ‘I know most of you know about my hospital time, and the fact that before my son and I sorted out a few differences last year I was on my own a lot.’ Marcus went over and patted his dad on the shoulder. ‘I’ve seen a lot of loneliness lately and I’m not happy about it,’ Harold continued.

‘It’s a crying shame,’ Mrs Barker said. ‘No one should be lonely.’ She had a tear in her eye. I went to rub against her leg and she looked at me gratefully.

‘It is, and once a week I go to the senior centre which is a lifeline for us oldies, not so much for me because I am well looked after, but some there don’t have anyone else. And in hospital some of the patients didn’t have any visitors at all. So, Claire and I are going to go in once a week and see people, take them a cake, a smile, a newspaper and have a chat. It’s like George did when I was in hospital.’ Harold was on his best behaviour. He was also wearing his best suit because he told George he wanted everyone to take him seriously.

‘I am so confused,’ Steve said, glancing at the door.

‘Never mind,’ Tomasz told him, ‘in about an hour it might all become clear. If not, there’s lots of beer in the fridge.’ This made him look even more confused, so Jonathan went to the kitchen and returned with a bottle for him.

‘You see,’ Matt said, deciding to take control a bit. ‘Harold made a list of people who really are struggling with loneliness. Do you want to carry on explaining?’ Matt said, as he got him back on track.

‘Claire and I thought we’d launch a Sunday Lunch Club. We’d ask you, and perhaps you can ask your friends, if they would be able to host someone for lunch once or twice a month. At least they’ll have somewhere to go, something to look forward to and a home-cooked meal, because some of them don’t even have that,’ Harold explained.

‘I can’t bear it, it’s so sad,’ Polly said.

‘Right does that make sense?’ Jonathan asked. He hated how these meetings could drag on and I know he was keen to sit down in front of the TV.

‘What has it got to do with the hospital?’ Vic asked.

‘Nothing really, but that was where the idea originated. As Harold said, he and I will be doing some hospital visiting, but really we’re looking for ten families at first to host Sunday lunch. What we can do is match you up with someone who is on their own, but you’d have to go and collect them and drive them home after as well,’ Claire explained.

‘So we do get an old person?’ Vic asked, for the second time. I raised my whiskers, he was no spring kitten himself.

‘Yes, you do. Now who is in?’ Jonathan asked with a sigh.

‘Of course,’ Mr Barker said. ‘We’d be happy, we don’t go far ourselves most weekends, and we always have a nice Sunday roast, so we could easily have someone every week if they like.’

‘We couldn’t do every week,’ Steve said. ‘We go and see our kids you see, they live the other side of London, but definitely once a month to start with, then maybe more.’

‘We’re in,’ Franceska said.

‘I don’t have a choice,’ Jonathan mumbled but he winked to show he was joking.

When everyone in the room agreed to be a part of it, they also started suggesting other people who may help out too.

‘I know, I shall make a spreadsheet,’ Vic said.

‘What’s that?’ Harold looked terrified.

‘Come to mine, and I’ll show you, we can make a spreadsheet of families who can host and then match them with people who need company, highly technical and very efficient,’ Vic said, sounding efficient.

‘Sounds perfect, Vic,’ Claire said, giving his shoulder a pat.

We knew, as they carried on chatting, that we’d done it. If Vic and his spreadsheet were involved then it was now a reality. The Goodwins might be busybodies but their hearts were in the right places. I was very fond of them now, deep down.

I felt emotional as George and I went to see what the children were up to. We found them all in Summer’s room, and Pickles dressed up as a ballerina. It wasn’t pretty.

‘What is going on?’ I asked.

‘I’m a girl. I like being a girl. I think I might be a girl rather than a cat from now on,’ Pickles said, twirling inelegantly around.

Oh boy, I thought, but we couldn’t help but grin.

Later that night when everyone had left, I led George out into the garden. It was time for a dad to kitten chat. I felt nervous but determined. There was really just one piece of the puzzle left.

‘George, you know that Snowball is here to stay, now?’

‘Oh yes, Harold loves her. And although she’s still missing her family, she seems to be settling in quite well too. Dad, I’m sorry I was so mean when she first came, but you know, with your history I felt as if she was going to replace Tiger.’

‘No one can ever replace Tiger, George, you really need to understand that,’ I said, fiercely, looking at the dark night and hoping to see the brightest star, which was always her.

‘I know that now but you know I really like Snowball. She’s very cool and funny, and sometimes I feel guilty about how much I like her, because of my mum.’

‘But she would want you to like Snowball. Tiger was the best of cats, she wouldn’t want you not to be friends with Snowball because of her.’

‘I know that, but it’s not always rational, feelings I mean.’

‘No, they certainly aren’t. But, George, you know I loved Snowball very much before and in my heart she isn’t replacing Tiger, but I have to tell you that I still love her.’ I held my breath as I waited for his response.

‘I know, I can see it. I’m not silly like Pickles you know.’

‘How do you feel about that?’

‘I feel the same as I feel about my friendship with Snowball. I feel that it’s right, and good, but I also sometimes worry that wherever Tiger mum is she’ll think we’ve forgotten her.’

‘I know, I feel that too. But we will never forget her, the two of us will keep her memory alive, along with our other friends. But you know without Tiger I’ve been a bit lonely. Not in the way that Harold’s friends are, who don’t have anyone, but just you know in that way.’

‘That bit of your heart way, you mean?’

‘Exactly that. When did you get so wise?’ I laughed.

‘I had the best parents to teach me,’ George said and we nuzzled.

‘So I have your blessing, with Snowball I mean?’I asked.

‘Yes, you do. I might find it hard, I can’t pretend otherwise, but I want you to be happy and I think that’s what Tiger would have wanted too.’ Just then we looked up and saw the brightest star in the sky and it seemed to be winking at us. We blinked back.

Chapter Thirty-Three

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‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year,’ George said, in his sing-song voice. He was incredibly excited because it was Christmas Day. Our favourite day.

‘It is son. Happy Christmas.’ We nuzzled.

It was early, of course, because our children woke at the crack of dawn, or so it seemed, to see if Santa had been. He had. As George and I watched them open presents, squealing excitedly about what they’d got, we felt warm and fuzzy. This was family at its best and it was also the scene that made it absolutely crystal clear how lucky we all were. We had so much, and it also made me spare a thought for those who didn’t have as much, or anything close. We had to remember Christmas was about giving, receiving, and also being mindful of everyone else. What saddened me about the world sometimes is how people don’t value people enough, or cats for that matter. Anyway, enough of my sad thoughts, because no one should be miserable on Christmas Day.

The run-up had been hectic, as it always is, although in a different way this year. Harold’s Sunday Lunch Club was up and running, although it was very early days, and today we had five people dining with us who would otherwise be on their own for Christmas. And not only that, there would be no turkey for them if they didn’t join us. I, for one, found that unimaginable because that was my favourite thing about Christmas. George also quite liked Brussels sprouts but I didn’t quite understand that.

The Goodwins and the Barkers were having Christmas Day together, and they had invited three other people, which was kind of them. In the new year, the regular Sunday lunches would start properly, and Harold was very proud of himself. As was I. And of George, who inspired this whole thing. Claire was working with the Goodwins as well, to try to get more people involved. They were starting with Edgar Road, because it is a very long road, they felt they should be able to get many people to sign up. With the combined forces, I couldn’t see how it would fail. Claire had the charm, Vic would talk until people agreed to anything and Heather never took no for an answer. We all had high hopes.

There had been the usual pre-Christmas fun of course. The nativity play which Toby, Henry, Summer and Martha were all in. It was pretty uneventful compared to last year when we put George in the manger as baby Jesus. People are still talking about that, and oh how I’d enjoyed it but we were absolutely banned from going this year. Claire even locked the cat/dog flap, she wasn’t taking any chances as we were trapped in the house.

The Christmas tree had also managed to survive relatively unscathed, as George didn’t climb it this year. He said he had grown out of that, but the same couldn’t be said for Matt and Polly’s because George taught Pickles to try to climb it instead. Pickles had gone back to trying to be a cat having abandoned trying to be a girl, and George showed that despite his maturity and his discovery of his purpose in life he could still be naughty. It didn’t end well. Polly was furious as decorations scattered, the tree almost landed on Pickles, who thankfully escaped unhurt. We were all cross with George and even he realised he’d pushed it too far. He promised to act as a more responsible older cousin to Pickles but I wasn’t holding out much hope on that. Thankfully Polly had the sense to ban putting presents around the tree, in case Pickles ate them and we had adopted that policy at our house as well.

I had been spending more time with Snowball and my other Edgar Road friends, now we had a little less going on. Snowball and I were back to being a couple, and although at times I did feel guilty about Tiger, I knew, deep down, she would want me to be happy. And I was happy. Some days I woke up and wondered how I was so happy, because since losing Tiger, I’d been far more down than even I realised, but it was as if I now had a new lease of life.

It was as if I was on life four of my nine lives. I had rediscovered a spring in my paws, which I never thought I would have again, and I felt invincible. I still thought of Tiger every day, and George and talked about her all the time, but it was finally time for me to move on, and as it was with Snowball, my first love, it made sense. If that made sense. But I wasn’t replacing Tiger. I hadn’t gone out looking for a new cat. I was back in love with someone I loved before.

George pretty much accepted it with good grace. He and Hana were closer than ever now he had stopped going to the hospital, but he also visited Snowball and Harold a lot. He sometimes would have a teenage strop and tell me that I better not ask him to call Snowball mum, but as I explained that would never happen, he was silenced. And he did really like her, they were pretty good friends actually.

So as we approached the end of the year, it was happy families, and love and laughter filled our lives once more. As did the fact we were helping people who might be lonely. What I loved about all our friends and family was that we all knew how much we had, so we were willing to make the lives of others better. And that is what life should be about. Sadly I know it’s not, but it should be. That’s how it would be if cats ruled the whole world.

The streets were pretty empty as a convoy of adults, children, cats and a dog made their way down the street on Christmas Day to go to Franceska and Tomasz’s restaurant, so we only received the odd strange glance. Marcus had gone to pick up some of our new guests and Harold, as it was bitingly cold and too far for them to walk. Matt had also gone to pick up a couple of others as they couldn’t all fit into one car. The children chattered excitedly, no longer fighting over Pickles’ lead; that particular novelty had worn off a bit, and also they had all insisted on carrying one of their new toys with them. I couldn’t wait. Not only was I spending Christmas Day with my favourite humans, George, Snowball, Hana and Pickles, I was also going to see Dustbin and Ally. Not to mention my turkey dinner. I really couldn’t wait for that.

The restaurant was warm, welcoming, with lights twinkling everywhere. Frankie greeted us all with hugs and kisses, Tomasz was cooking, and Sylvie and Claire went to help him. Jonathan organised the children, while Franceska poured drinks. Tommy and Aleksy played a game on a tablet; rare for the brothers to share a moment together. I knew Aleksy was missing Connie, but it was nice to see them hanging out, and I hoped it would bring them closer together.

We cats skipped happily out the back to wish Dustbin a Happy Christmas.

‘Well I never, it’s Snowball.’ Dustbin raised his whiskers in greeting. ‘How lovely to see you after all this time.’

‘Remember, George, I told you that I ran away once and Dustbin literally saved my life,’ Snowball explained.

‘Yes, but that was down to Alfie, really,’ Dustbin said. We all spared a thought for our old memories.

‘Isn’t it great us all being here together?’ Dustbin said as he introduced Snowball and Hana to Ally.

‘Hana, come outside,’ George coaxed, she was still stood just inside the door.

‘But it’s so cold on my paws,’ Hana replied, tentatively lifting a paw out. ‘Brurrgh,’ she said, shivering. We all smiled at her fondly.

I went back inside when I heard Matt and Marcus arrive, as did George and Hana. Snowball stayed outside to catch up with Dustbin and Ally.

Harold proudly led our new friends, Les, Mary, Val, Jack and Alan in. I felt so proud and sad at the same time. I still couldn’t quite come to terms with the idea that people were alone at Christmas.

‘Thanks so much for having us,’ Mary said, she was quiet and a little nervous. Our families had decided that they would share the old people, although Claire said we shouldn’t say it like that, you know what Jonathan was like. However, this way us, Polly, Matt, Franceska, Tomasz, Sylvie and Marcus would make sure they were looked after and we’d somehow ended up with an extra person too, but it didn’t matter because we had enough love to go round. George and I enjoyed the extra fuss we got when we saw them also.

I went to greet them all by rubbing their legs, but Alan looked a bit shocked. He wasn’t a cat person, and didn’t make a fuss of us, but George and I had decided that we’d soon convert him.

‘You are all so welcome,’ Franceska said, ‘now can I get you drinks. We’ve got Prosecco?’

‘Oh I’ve never had it,’ Val said. ‘But I wouldn’t say no.’ She grinned. She had never had children and her husband died a few years ago, so she’d been on her own ever since.

‘I think I might rather a sherry?’ Mary said, sounding a little uncertain. I guessed we were overwhelming all together, and they weren’t used to us yet.

‘Meow.’ I tried to reassure them all.

‘I’d love a beer,’ Jack said.

‘We’ve got sherry, beer, wine or Prosecco, you’re welcome to whatever you want,’ Jonathan said, as he took orders.

‘And can I take your coats?’ Franceska asked, as they finally shrugged off their coats. Matt and Harold led them to the table.

‘Take a seat,’ Harold said. He was definitely enjoying taking charge.

‘Is there anywhere we should sit?’ Val asked.

‘Wherever you like,’ Harold replied. I watched as they levered themselves into chairs, just as drinks were delivered to them, and the children came over.

‘We wish you a Merry Christmas,’ Summer and Martha sang. They were so angelic, I wondered what they’d been bribed with. Aleksy, and Tommy shook everyone’s hands like the polite older children they were growing into and Toby and Henry introduced them to Pickles. Although our guests were still a little bewildered, it wasn’t long before they started to relax. Our families had that effect on people.

Sylvie sat down with them. She didn’t have a big pregnancy belly yet but she tired easily and had to take care of herself and the unborn baby. We didn’t know what we were having yet but we were all very excited about it. Especially Hana, who was looking forward to having new life in their house.

‘So, I hope you’re going to enjoy today.’ She smiled. ‘It’s a little crazy when we’re all together.’ That was an understatement.

‘I just never saw a family who went to a restaurant and took their pets,’ Alan said, nervously. ‘But I’m so happy to be here, I can’t remember the last time I had a home-cooked Christmas meal.’

‘Oh Alan.’ Sylvie who was emotional, hugged him which seemed to shock him even more. ‘I’m sorry,’ she added as she wiped tears from her face. ‘But my little girl, who is fifteen and not so little, is in Japan with my ex-husband. It’s my first ever Christmas without her and I miss her so much.’ Her tears streamed down her cheeks and Hana jumped to comfort her as did Marcus. ‘Oh it’s fine, she’ll be fine and so will I but I feel so strange without her. You know this morning, we would always wake up on Christmas morning and open her stocking. I wish she was here, that’s all. Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise, it’s not easy, Sylvie,’ Harold said, squeezing her hand.

‘Thanks, Harold, right it’s Christmas, I will make sure we all have fun.’ She wiped her tears away and then went to see if she could help anyone.

‘I don’t know if I explained to all of you,’ Harold continued, taking his role of organiser of this wonderful thing very seriously. ‘But this is Tomasz and Franceska’s restaurant and they never open on Christmas, so it’s more like going to someone’s home. And the cats, well what can Isay, they come everywhere with us more or less. I can highly recommend getting a cat if you’re lonely by the way, it worked wonders for me.’

‘Meow.’ Snowball appeared and jumped on Harold’s lap. ‘But at our age, what if anything happened to us and we left them?’ Val asked.

‘You can rehome an older cat,’ Harold explained. Goodness at this rate they would all have cats by the end of this meal. Although possibly not Alan.

‘Ahh, no, Pickles, stop, Pickles,’ Henry started shouting. We all looked over.

‘What’s going on?’ Polly asked, appearing from the kitchen.

‘Pickles just ate a Christmas cracker toy,’ Henry explained as he tried to fish it out of Pickles’ mouth. Polly grabbed him, and managed to get it.

‘How on earth did he get that?’ Matt asked, scratching his head. We hadn’t pulled any crackers yet. The children all shrugged innocently.

‘Let’s do Secret Santa now,’ Marcus suggested, cleverly changing the subject.

All the adults exchanged gifts and the younger children all helped deliver them. Summer wanted to deliver a gift when it was Martha’s turn and although Martha was pretty laid-back, she got cross, and then Pickles barked.

‘Summer, you all take turns remember,’ Claire said.

‘She never likes to take turns,’ Toby explained. ‘But, Summer, as it’s Christmas, you can have my turn,’ he added.

‘Yay!’ Summer hugged Toby and I felt a pang. My children were growing up to be like us too.

‘Also, and I won’t have any arguing, you will all take home some leftover food please, it will help me out,’ Tomasz stated, as he prepared to go and put the finishing touches to dinner. I know he meant our new guests, as we all had plenty, but it had been decided before to cook extra food andsend it home with our guests, by letting them think it was just leftovers and we needed them to help eat it up. That was Harold’s idea too. He said like him, a lot of them were too proud to admit being lonely, or to needing help. I had learnt, through Harold, to understand that. I was quite a proud cat myself, after all.

Lunch was wonderful. We cats all ate together. Pickles was kept away, because we all know about his strict diet, and I did feel a bit sorry for him. However, he was given some turkey so it wasn’t all bad. As we ate, I enjoyed listening to the low hum of happy human conversation and laughter. Crackers were pulled, hats put on, drinks refreshed – Mary was a little tipsy, her cheeks flushed and she giggled like a young girl. The rest of our new friends were all relaxing, as they were made to feel part of the family. The children were behaving again, all getting along, under the watchful eyes of Aleksy and Tommy, and everyone was having a lovely time which was all that mattered. It was all that ever mattered to me, to see my friends and families happy.

It was all any cat could ever want.

Later, as the clearing up was underway, we all headed to see Dustbin for the last time before it was time to leave. I told George we should take Pickles with us, too, after all it was Christmas, and as the adults had begun to unwind– with the help of a few drinks – they weren’t quite so vigilant with him.

‘You can come too this time,’ I said, and he happily waddled after us.

‘Hello again, Pickles,’ Dustbin said, having met him when he broke out of home and we were on the recreation ground for Tiger’s anniversary. We introduced him to Ally.

‘You’re a funny looking dog, if you don’t mind me saying,’ Ally said as Pickles licked her.

‘He does that, he licks everything,’ George explained, and Pickles licked the window nearest to him to illustrate the point.

‘I don’t exactly mind you saying,’ Pickles replied. ‘But I am more cat than dog now, surely?’ he added. ‘After all I’ve been practising for such a long time.’

‘You’re probably about as much cat as you’re ever going to be,’ George said and I nudged him.

‘Yay! I knew I could do it,’ Pickles replied. ‘It was nice to see you but I’ve got to go inside now, Summer has dropped a lot of food and it needs clearing up.’ He waddled back to eat the scraps.

‘He’ll never really be a cat will he?’ George said.

‘It’s unfortunate but a lesson of life, there’s no dog or human as clever as a cat,’ I pointed out. ‘But don’t tell Pickles that.’

‘So another year drawing to a close,’ Dustbin said.

‘And it’s been eventful,’ I added. ‘What with Pickles’ arrival, then Harold, George and his job, and Snowball.’ I grinned over at her. I still felt a flutter in my heart every time I saw her and I could barely believe that she was back with us. Back in my life.

‘I was so upset that my family moved away, and that I had to be rehomed but it’s worked out pretty well,’ Snowball said.

‘Definitely for us,’ George said sweetly.

‘And I met Ally,’ Dustbin said. ‘Which made me see what all the fuss is about.’ He looked down and I knew this was an emotional time for him.

‘And I am still here,’ Hana announced, putting a paw out to join us and shivering. George nuzzled her.

‘We are so lucky to have each other aren’t we?’ he said.

‘We are and if we learnt anything this year it’s the importance of love, of helping people and of friendship. Being a friend is the best thing ever.’

‘I like friendship,’ Hana said. ‘I never had cat friends before I met you guys and I am so lucky to have you.’

‘For me to have met friends again, old and new, when I could have been so lonely is a miracle,’ Snowball added.

‘And I love all my friends, old and new, human and cat. It’s part of my job after all,’ George added seriously.

‘Well I for one am glad I met you all,’ Ally said. ‘I can’t believe how much friendship has changed my life for the better. Being a friend is the best thing ever!’

‘Let’s toast to friendship,’ George said, raising his paw. He’d got that from the humans who did it all the time with drinks. We all put our paws up, feeling the warmth despite the freezing cold.

‘And it’s easy to be a friend when you’ve got a friend called Alfie,’ Dustbin finished.