The Astonishing Thing by Sandi Ward

Author:Sandi Ward [Ward, Sandi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

18

Lonely Hearts

I take a nap under Finn’s crib while I think about the night Father went out and brought Jenny home. I’m not sure how to feel about Father bringing another human female here. Now that Mother has left our family, I expect he needs a new mate.

While I am happy for him to complete this natural process, it makes me sad too. Because it is another reminder that Mother is off with a new family somewhere else.

But if it isn’t Jenny, then who?

Of course, the answer has been right under my nose all along.

A few weeks later, Mary cuts strings of red hearts out of construction paper and hangs them in the dining room. She is having a party for her girlfriends. She is calling it the “anti-Valentine’s” party for lonely hearts. She tells Jimmy that all of the boys in her grade are big, fat losers and so the girls must find their own fun.

Jimmy finds this enormously entertaining. He even helps Mary decorate. They bake heart-shaped butter cookies, with cookie cutters that Mahmee has brought over for the occasion. And yes, I get a pat of butter in my dish.

Father walks into the dining room and admires Mary’s work, the long strings of hanging hearts, with a wistful look on his face. I don’t know if he is thinking about the past, or the future, but he stands and daydreams for a little while. I leave him alone.

The day before the party, Charlotte comes for her appointment. She admires Mary’s handiwork with the decorations in the dining room. Mary offers her a cookie before sealing the rest up in a big, plastic bowl for the party.

As Charlotte and Father walk upstairs, Father tells her that Finn is sleeping. Charlotte says that it’s okay as she nibbles on her cookie and wipes crumbs from her mouth. She suggests that she just work with Father instead. They sit right on Finn’s rug like they usually do and talk quietly.

Charlotte sits opposite Father with her legs crossed and shows him many hand signals. Sometimes he doesn’t get it quite right, so she takes his hand in both of hers and manipulates his fingers to correct him.

I see that Charlotte likes working with Father. She often touches him when I’m not sure it’s really necessary.

But maybe she’s just a touchy person.

Father and Charlotte seem to be having a nice time, and I am in a good mood too, so I get up to rub my head on Father’s knee. Charlotte scratches between my ears and asks Father if he thinks I wouldn’t mind being picked up.

Mind? I never mind.

Father puts his big hands under me, picks me up, and places me in Charlotte’s lap. He knows I’ll be good. I am a floppy, friendly, lazy cat, just like Mother always said. I never scratch the humans. Charlotte’s lap is just fine.

It’s different from Mother’s lap. Not better. Not worse. Just different.

I roll over, right in her lap. I stretch out my legs and arch my back while Charlotte strokes my soft belly.

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