When she first approached me in the bar that night, I had to admit that I was more than a little surprised. I narrowed my eyes threatenly, clearly showing her I wanted absolutely no part of her. At first, her eyes widened nervously, then she seemed to realize that I probably wouldn’t dare to hurt her and became more confident. In a few minutes, she slipped into the chair next to mine, watching me with wide eyes. Finally, I spun and glared directly at her.

“What the hell do you want?”

She jumped a little, clearly not expecting to be yelled at. She toyed with a lock of her red fur.

“I was just curious. We don’t get many new faces in here and I wanted to see who you were before anyone else did.” She rolled her eyes a little bit. “And wouldn’t it be like Ionia to pounce on the first fresh face she saw in here. Little tramp.”

I scowled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about nor do I very much care.”

Her pretty face screwed up in a frown. “You don’t have to be so mean about it. I just thought that you’d like some company.” She watched me with wide eyes for a second, then pushed a paw down into my lap. “Some female company.”

I jumped and pulled away. “No thanks.”

I waited for her to leave, but she didn’t. She continued to twist her wild, yet sophisticated, red fur around into near knots. I stared back at her for a while, hoping she’d get the hint. She didn’t.

“You can leave now.”

“I’d much rather stay here,” she replied. “You’re interesting.”

I laughed. “I’m interesting? You don’t know one thing about me. Not one. How can that be interesting?”

“That’s why. ‘cause I don’t know. That’s why it’s so interesting.”

“My dear girl, you need help if you think I’m fascinating.”

“I resent that,” she replied with a smile. “And besides, why do you think that you’re not interesting? It’s not everyday that a strong, handsome tom such as yourself strolls into this bar. I think that’s thrilling.”

“You need to get out more.”

“Not when toms like you come around here.”

I sighed. “What do you want to know?”

“For starters, what’s your name? I can’t really can’t talk to someone unless I know their name.”

“Yes, but you’ll put your paw on their-”

“Mister! Language, please.” She fluffed out the fur around her head. “There are ladies present.”

“Ladies?”

She frowned. “Yes. Now, what is your name?”

“Macavity.”

She blinked, then smiled. “Cool.” We sat in silence for a few minutes before she jutted her lip forward in a pout.

“What’s wrong now?”

“You didn’t even ask my name,” she pouted. She cast her eyes down at the floor. “You probably don’t even care.”

“Fine. What’s your name?”

She smiled winningly. “Bombalurina.”

I couldn’t take this any more. I had a mate; I didn’t to be messing around with this fluff headed queen. “If you’ll excuse me-”

I cut myself off when her eyes widened further, this time in fright. She seemed to be silently pleading with me not to go away just yet. I hesitated, then sat back down. She leaned in close. I could see the flecks of green in her eyes this close.

“Please don’t leave us here.”

“What?” I glanced around, feeling that I had missed something. “Us?”

Bombalurina nodded, glancing around herself. “Yes, us. Please take us with you and don’t leave us here if you have any sympathy.”

“Hold on.” I held up a paw. “Who makes up the other part of us?”

“My sister. Just, please.” She started to twist her fur again, unaware that she was knotting it. “He’ll hurt us if you don’t.”

I met her eyes. “Who? Who will hurt you?”

“The tom that owns this dump.” She glanced around again, her eyes fixing on an overweight, greasy tom standing in the corner. He was laughing and joking with some younger looking queens. “He thinks I’m not doing my job right and...” She trailed off, biting her lip nervously.

“What’s your job?” I heard my voice soften sympathetically.

“I... I’m one of the girls. You know...” She looked acutely uncomfortable.

“Why doesn’t he think that you’re not doing your job?”

“Because... my sister’s to young to work, and too little and scared anyway, for her meals and keep here, so I do her portion of the work. Now he wants her to start, too, because he thinks she’s old enough to do things like... that. But, she’s not! Heavyside, she’s still a kitten! So, I won’t let him let her work. I’d rather die than she her do that kind of work.” Her eyes hardened, then softened in defeat. “Then, he upped my work load and I... I can’t handle it anymore.”

I watched the overweight tom angrily. I hated toms like that. How dare he take advantage of such a young queen? And how could the Everlasting Cat allow such scumbags to roam the earth? I turned back to her.

“What makes you think I’ll help you?”

She shrugged nervously, her eyes dropping to the floor. “Nothing. I just thought you might.” She sighed and slid closer. “I could pay you if you did. Not with money or anything, but I could.” Bombalurina’s paw traced up her thigh. “I know ways to repay people for their help.”

I pushed her away gently, noticing the look of relief in her eyes. Cursing myself inwardly, because I’d probably regret doing this at some point in my life, I nodded.

“I’ll help you. Go find your sister and I’ll help get you out of here.”

She planted a quick kiss on my cheek and scurried away. I would’ve been happy to see her so relieved had I not noticed the tom in the corner stand and begin to approach.

~*~

The fight was over in a matter of minutes. As I had started to lead Bombalurina and an even younger queen, clearly still a kitten, out, the tom has jumped and attacked us.

I didn’t even know what was happening until it was over. All at once, I was standing over his dead body, panting and bloody. The kitten was screaming hysterically behind me, but then again the ringing in my head was loud enough to rival it. The few patrons that had gotten to their feet to jump in and stop the fight had backed off and slunk back to their seats.

Ignoring the kitten’s screams, I grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and hurried them out the door. Bombalurina stumbled once, glancing back at the body with a look of terror and, oddly enough, happiness.

She was still screaming about a block away. Frustrated, I set her down on the ground and with a solid hit, sent her sprawling to the ground. She yelped in terror and covered her eyes.

“Shut up already! You’re safe! No one’s going to hurt you!”

Her mouth clamped shut and I could see her body shaking from trying to hold back her terrified screams. Bombalurina stood.

“Don’t hurt her! She terrified and you’re only scaring her worse!”

I shook my head- I’d actually struck a queen, a kitten nonetheless- and turned as Bombalurina ran to comfort the little kitten.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, not looking at either of them. “Could you just make her stop? My nerves can’t take it.”

“Demi?” I heard her whisper. “It’s all right. He didn’t mean to hurt you, doll. No one’s ever going to hurt you again. I promise. I’ll die myself before I let anyone touch you.” She stroked the kitten’s head. “OK?”

I finally turned around again to find that the kitten had crawled into Bombalurina’s lap. She was watching me nervously, not quite daring to move as long as I was watching her. I approached them, much to the kitten’s horror, and knelt down in front of them. Bombalurina’s eyes softened and she offered me a slight smile.

“It’s all right. Your sister’s right. I won’t hurt you.” She didn’t respond; only her eyes showed any sign of life. They burned with a hot fire of hate on the inside. “Why don’t you tell me your name? Mine’s Macavity.”

She opened her mouth and closed it again, not quite sure if she wanted to even talk to me. After glancing down at the ground, she mumbled: “Demeter.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

She stared at me for a moment, then wrenched free of Bombalurina with a cry.

“You killed Daddy!” she screamed and ran to hide behind rubbish in the alley. She stumbled and I saw Bombalurina wince out of the corner of my eye. I spun to face her. She cringed back.

“Her father? Your father?”

Bombalurina began to sob. “I know how it looks! But, don’t hate me! He wasn’t my father or hers! He’s our stepfather! My mother married him right before she died! He... he...” She fell forward, burying her face in her arms.

I touched her shoulder gently. “He what?”

Her faced turned upwards, lit with fury and hatred. “He raped me! There, I finally said it! He raped me!” She jerked her face away from mine. “He said I wasn’t good enough for anyone unless he taught me and I if I didn’t want to... well, it didn’t matter if I didn’t want to. He’d force himself on me anyway. He’d hit me and force me to give in to him. I always took it, though, because he said that if I refused, he’d simply move onto Demeter. He said she needed an education, too.” Her paws clenched. “I hated him and I’m glad he’s dead!”

I hesitated before touching her cheek to wipe away her tears. I didn’t honestly know how to react to this new information. I’d heard of things like, but I’d never witnessed a victim of it.

And the worst part of everything was that I was attracted to her. But, I couldn’t be! I loved my mate! I loved Griddlebone and I couldn’t be attracted to another queen! I couldn’t- but I was.

I wanted to comfort her. I wanted to stop her tears form falling. She seemed like a kitten and my fatherly instincts told me to embrace her and rid her of her pain and suffering. But, she’d take that the wrong way. She’d think that I wanted more than I really did. Or did I want that? Did I really want someone besides my loving, beautiful mate?

She didn’t let me decide. I found her in my arms the moment I touched her, kissing me desperately and savagely. I wondered what Demeter would see if she dared to look out here. I wanted to tell Bombalurina to stop; to tell about my mate; to warn her about Demeter, but I couldn’t fight the embrace of her body.

She didn’t care who saw; she probably never would. So, instead of fighting her off, I sunk back against the ground and returned her hungry kisses.

~*~

Later that afternoon, we arrived back at my warehouse. It looked so good to me; my home. My life was here, not anywhere else. From the distance, I could see my step children, my beautiful step children, playing with some of the kittens that had come to the warehouse with their parents. My mother and Ira were out front, keeping an eye on the mischievous kittens. They were deep in conversation- did my mother seem to be laughing and giggling like a teenager?- when we arrived. When they noticed me, Grizabella got to her feet and hurried over.

“Macavity,” she said, hugging me tightly. “Are you all right? I never meant for you to-”

I pushed her back gently. “I’m fine.”

She studied me for a moment, as though she doubted me, then noticed Bombalurina and Demeter.

“Who are these?”

“This is Bombalurina and this is Demeter. They needed help and I brought them back here.”

“I’m sure they did,” my mother said coldly, eyeing the red furred queen with distrust. “Why you don’t go and find the a place to sleep and I’ll go and find Griddlebone for you. She’ll be so happy that you’re home and relieved that you’re all right.”

I nodded and started forward. Bombalurina grabbed hold of Demeter’s paw and pulled her along after her. I caught the little gold and black queen eyeing the other kittens longingly. She seemed to want to stay and play with them, and I would’ve let her, only Bombalurina seemed desperate to get away from my mother.

I knew exactly which room to settle them into. A small stray family had stayed there about a month before moving on for something new. There were more than enough pillows and blankets for their family, so Bombalurina and Demeter would have a comfortable room in there. They’d be warm and comfortable.

As we approached the room, I felt Bombalurina grab onto my arm. I turned to face her.

“We need to talk after I put Demeter to sleep.”

I nodded. Everlasting Cat, I was already regretting taking them in.

Once they were settled into the room, which wasn’t hard considering they had no belongings with them, Bombalurina cuddled up against her sister on one of the cushions. Demeter purred softly when she did and rolled over to lick at her sister’s cheek. Bombalurina batted at her ears lightly, making the little kitten giggle and thrash her own paws at the older queen. I sighed, thinking of Griddlebone and her kittens.

Demeter flopped back over, her face turning dark as she watched me. Tucking her legs up to her chest- in a fetal position- she watched me warily as her eye lid started to droop. Bombalurina draped an arm over her side and Demeter nestled close to her. After a few minutes, the gold and black kitten had slipped into a light sleep.

Bombalurina slipped away from the kitten as though she had done this hundreds or thousands of times before. She was careful not to bump or jostle the sleeping kitten. Her face and eyes were dead serious when she looked at me.

“Who is Griddlebone?”

Oh, God. Why did she have to ask? Why did she have to bring my mate up? I had felt content and happy watching Bombalurina and Demeter; I felt as though we were ourselves a family. With Bombalurina and I as the parents of the sleeping Demeter. I couldn’t tell why, but the thought was comforting.

“She’s my mate.”

She rubbed her head. I could tell that while she was putting Demeter to sleep, she had been thinking the same thing as I had. The perfect little family.

“You mean to say that you’re not available?”

“No,” I swallowed. I felt like a jerk.

“Then why did you make love to me?”

I bit my lower lip. Stop it, I thought. Stop doing this! “I don’t know. I couldn’t stop myself, I suppose. I...”

“When we were... you know... did you love me? You said that you did...”

I jumped. I couldn’t love her at all. Yes, I had said that, but why? I loved Griddlebone.

But, I did love her. I loved Bombalurina, too. Not in the same way as I loved Griddlebone- not by a long shot- but it still felt like love to me. I hung my head.

“I think I do, but... we could never do what we had done again. Never, Bomba. I love Griddlebone and she’s pregnant with my kittens and I couldn’t betray her like that.”

“But you could lie to me and make me believe I stood a chance?”

“Don’t say that.”

Bombalurina nodded. “I understand, Macavity.” I looked up sharply, expecting to see a sarcastic look on her face. Instead, she only looked saddened. “I feel the same way about you. Only there’s no one else in my life. I want to be with you and... I think that if I can’t have you, I don’t want to be here. I couldn’t stand it.”

“You’d die if you left. The streets is no place for a young queen and a kitten.”

“I know, but I’d die here, too. Looking at you everyday and knowing that I couldn’t have you for my own. It would kill me, Macavity.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you making me choose?”

“Yes, I guess I am.”

“Don’t make me do that.”

She shook her head. “I know what we could do instead.”

“What?”

“I’d be willing to stay here if you would just be with me when you could.”

I swallowed. “You mean, on the side? Like my mistress?”

“That sounds dirty. Don’t say it like that. You could just ‘visit’ me whenever Griddlebone was asleep or wasn’t around.”

“But what if someone found out? What if Griddlebone learned about us?”

She nestled her head against my shoulder. “We can keep it a secret, love. Demeter probably knows, but she won’t tell if I asked not to . She’s a good kid and she’d do whatever I asked her to.”

I considered this. “Are you sure? I couldn’t love you the way you need to be loved and I wouldn’t always be there for you. And you couldn’t be seen in public. And if some other tom loved you, you’d feel tied to me.”

She shrugged. “They can love me; doesn’t mean I’ll love them.”

“So, you’re sure you’d be willing to do that just to be with me?”

“Positive.”

I leaned over and kissed her quickly. “I have to go now. My mate is probably worried and I don’t want to arouse suspicions.”

Bombalurina giggled. “You sound like a criminal.”

“That’s because I am.”

~*~

Griddlebone snuggled against me, content. Her stomach was full and round with our kittens, so she couldn’t do as much as I would like to do. But that was all right. Although I missed her- Heavyside, I missed her-, I had Bombalurina, so I was satisfied. And poor Griddlebone didn’t know any better and thought I was suffering alone while she finished her pregnancy. If only she knew.

“I wonder how many we’ll have.”
“Huh?”

“Kittens, Macavity. I said I wondered how many kittens we’ll have together.”

“Does it matter? As long as they’re healthy?”

Her face fell. “No, I guess not. I was just wondering.”

“Sorry.”

She put her head back against my chest. I noticed the hurt look on her face and kicked myself for it. I should end it with Bombalurina and concentrate on my mate. I loved her and I was hurting her. How did I get myself into these messes?

“I’m sure that they’ll be beautiful anyway. How couldn’t they be? Look at their mother,” I murmured, stroking her cheek.

She watched me closely for a moment then rested her head back down. She breathed deeply. Contentedly.

“I love you,” she murmured before drifting into sleep. I bit my lip.

“I love you, too.”