Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“I like this place,” Poe said softly to Edgar, looking around. Then he shoved his phone in his back pocket and turned to leave.
“Poe.”
He looked over his shoulder, eyebrows raised.
“Are you shoplifting that kitten?”
“No,” Poe said. “He wants to come with me.” Poe was glaring, but he pulled his jacket close. Something about it hurt Edgar’s heart.
“Do you want to adopt him?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe. What would I have to do?”
They’d never had pets growing up, though Edgar, Poe, and Allie had all loved animals. When they’d beg for pets, their father would always tell them that cats were unreliable sociopaths, dogs were pathetic brownnosers, and their mother was allergic. But Cameron and Antoine had always had cats, rabbits, dogs, and sometimes lizards around the house. Their father had been a veterinarian and also an epic softy, and Poe would pick a different animal each time to cuddle with every time they’d go over.
“You just have to fill out a form and promise that you can care for the animal.” He slid the form across the desk to Poe.
“Um. Allie?” Poe drawled.
“Yeah?”
“Uh. Can I have a kitten at your house?”
“Will you take one hundred percent responsibility for it no matter what?”
“Yeah.”
“Like, I want to experience all the cute advantages of the kitten and none of the work or annoyance.”
“I understand.”
“That means that if the kitten wakes the baby, you’re responsible for the kitten and the now-awake baby. Any consequences of this creature’s behavior are on you.”
“Yeah, I got it,” he said, nostrils flaring.
“Then, okay,” she said. She peered at the tiny white head sticking out of Poe’s pocket. “It really is adorable.”
“There’s just one thing,” Edgar said. “Kittens really need a friend. They’re much easier to manage when they can get attention, support, and comfort from another kitten. So you could take Cormac—”
“You want me to adopt two of them?”
He eyed the floor where Cormac and Mingus Fitzwilliam were twining around his ankles. “Yeah. Except then Mingus would be left behind…”
“You want me to adopt three tiny white kittens? What the hell am I gonna do with three of them?”
“What were you gonna do with only one—crown a new Highlander?”
Poe glared. “What is that, a Scottish thing?”
“Maybe y’all should think about the logistics for a few days?” Edgar asked. “Buy a litter box and cat food, and get some old towels to make them a bed. Maybe make a vet appointment and—”
“Whatever, just give ’em to me.” Poe scooped up Cormac and Mingus before Edgar could, tucking them back into his inner coat pockets. “Allie?”
“Same rules apply,” was all she said. She looked like she needed a nap.
Poe pulled a ballpoint pen out of a different pocket and filled out the form in handwriting Edgar could only decipher because he’d grown up reading it.
“I’ll get all their stuff. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, but don’t you want a box to carry—”
“I’ve got it. They like it in there.” Grudgingly, Poe held open his jacket, revealing three slowly breathing pockets.
“That’s adorable,” Edgar said. “But what if they wake up before you get home? It’s safer for them if you carry them in a box.”
For a moment, it looked like Poe might concede. Then he pushed the form back across the counter to Edgar with one finger, zipped up his coat, and left, bell echoing in his wake.
“Well, he’s just a little ray of sunshine, isn’t he?” Allie said flatly.
“Can he talk to animals in addition to seeing the future?” Edgar mused. “Not like he’d have told us. Maybe he’s been communing with gators and crows and freaking earthworms this whole time.”
Allie laughed. “Poe in conversation with an earthworm.”
“Right? He’d be like, Don’t let these fuckheads step on you. Their puddle is your pool.”
“What does it feel like to get cut in half and then grown into another one of yourself? Can you think for both of you then?” Allie said in a good imitation of Poe’s flat, aggressive tone.
“Whatever, he better not let anything happen to those kittens.”
“He won’t. Poe’s…Poe, but he’d never hurt a helpless animal.”
“I know he wouldn’t on purpose. But he just adopted three animals and left with them in his pockets. And I let him.”
Edgar knew he shouldn’t’ve, but the truth was, even after he’d been gone for so long, Edgar still trusted his brother in his deepest, unwavering places.
Allie said, “When you don’t let Poe have his way, he takes it anyhow.”
That was also true.
“Yeah. He should really go to therapy.”
“We all should.”
“Yeah. That’s probably true.”
“I have.” Allie said it casually, but Edgar could tell it was important.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I started when I got pregnant. There’s a lot of stuff to think through when you go from being someone’s kid to suddenly being someone’s parent. Especially since our parents were…uh…”
“Yeah,” Edgar agreed. “Has it helped you?”
“Oh good lord, yes.” She put Smoosh down on their back on the changing mat. “When I told my therapist that Poe can see the future and has been lying about seeing ghosts this whole time?”