“Daddy, can we keep it?”

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here is a story about how the simplest of questions can sometimes have the toughest answers to hear.

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“Daddy, can we keep it?”

Elliot opened his eyes and blinked a few times, staring up at the ceiling.  He was hearing the strangest noise.  There was no way the noise he heard could possibly be coming from what makes that kind of noise.  He was convinced he was still sleeping.  It was the only logical explanation.

Lifting his head up and looking down at the tiny space between he and Penny, he saw the little noise maker – that tiny little black kitten with the white paws which lived under the green dumpster behind the Psychic Shoppe down on the boardwalk.

At least that’s where Penny had seen it a few times, but apparently the little kitty also snuck into hotel rooms sometimes, wrapped up in a towel.  He slowly sat up, seeing Penny sprawled out on her tummy with her arms and legs stretched out.  This was always a sign that Penny didn’t get good sleep or that she was really upset about something when she went to sleep.

He carefully stood up, turning back to see that Penny was wearing nothing but her diaper.  She had gone to sleep in a t-shirt.

He walked over and looked in the bathroom, seeing a wet diaper laying on the floor and her wet t-shirt dangling off the edge of the sink counter.  He picked up the diaper, balling it up and throwing it away and he draped the wet t-shirt over the shower curtain rod.  Beginning to piece together what had happened after he went to sleep last night, he walked back out to the bed and placed his hand on her diapered bottom.  She hadn’t wet herself yet.

Then, he picked up the swaddled kitten.

“Well, good morning to you,” Elliot whispered to the kitten as he picked up the ice bucket lid to see a puddle of water and half a pint of milk.  “Well, aren’t you lucky?”

Elliot smiled as he set the milk pint on the dresser top and picked up the ice bucket, emptying the water in the bathroom sink before carrying the swaddled kitty down the hall to the ice machine.

“I supposed Penelope has given you a name all ready?” he asked the kitten who stretched its limbs and yawned back up at him.  “No, I’m certain that’s not your name.”

The kitten was slowly waking up, but got a rather abrupt jolt from the noise of the ice machine.  Its eyes became huge and it stared at the ice falling into the bucket as if it had never seen such a crazy thing before.

“You are definitely cute.  That’s for sure,” Elliot said with a grin as he picked up the ice bucket and walked back to the room.

Setting the kitty down on the dresser top, he started the coffee maker.  The noise startled the little thing just the same as the ice machine did.  And as water began trickling down into the coffee pot, the kitty crawled out of the towel it was in and walked up to the coffee maker, pawing at the glass and trying to get at the trickling black water which was filling it.

Elliot grinned from ear to ear while watching it.  He filled Penny’s morning bottle with apple juice and set it in the ice to chill for a bit.  He wouldn’t wake her up just yet, especially since their day was about to get drastically different.  It was raining outside with a rate of downpour which looked like the BeachTown would be in for a day of heavy flooding.  Her written schedule would have to change.

Filling a coffee mug with the milk, Elliot picked up the kitty and carried it out to the balcony.  He set the kitty down on the table along with the mug of milk.  It began lapping up the milk as Elliot looked out to the ocean, seeing the choppy ocean bring even more water towards the Beach Town.

His dilemma was how to answer the question he knew Penny would ask as soon as she woke up, but how to explain to her that it was Tuesday morning and they were leaving on Saturday was the toughest part.  If Penny became close to this animal, she would have a horrible bit of heartbreak when she had to say goodbye to it Saturday morning.

He also didn’t know how to tell her that he was somewhat allergic to certain types of cats.  Since he had handled the cat all ready, it seemed fine, but only time would tell.  He needed time to figure how to explain all of this to Penny without breaking her little heart.

Little did he realize, Penny was stirring awake inside and his time to think was almost over.

Penny awoke gently but abruptly, taking a moment to collect her foggy head.  She sat up and draped her baby blanket around her shoulders, looking for Elliot and for the kitty.  Her attention was drawn to the TV dresser as she heard the coffee maker completing its brew.  She saw the nipple of her morning bottle sticking up out of the ice bucket and, smiling behind her pacifier, she crawled off the bed and over to dresser.

Elliot was standing on the balcony, leaning up against the railing as the kitty had found a way to get its front paws up and into the coffee mug, thus making it easier to get to the milk at the bottom.

This wasn’t quite the way she had planned to introduce the kitty to Elliot, but it warranted a priceless picture or two.  She took a few snapshots with her pink camera and then tossed it to the playpen bed before she poured his mug of coffee and mixed in the sugar and cream as he liked it before waddling to the balcony door.

It was little things, like making him a cup of coffee, which gave her the ability to nurture him just a bit, like he did for her all the time.  And it seemed that all was going well, so far, with the kitty.

But she had a burning question to ask him and as she cautiously slid the balcony door open, she stepped out, walking up to him and setting the coffee on the balcony railing and asking him the question he knew was coming.

“Daddy,” Penny asked in a small morning voice while getting right to the current matter of her little heart.  “Can we keep it, just for the week?”

Elliot looked in her eyes and knew the answer had all ready been made. 

“Yes, Penny,” he said, softly.  “But Saturday morning is going to be devastating for you when you have to say goodbye to it.  Are you going to be able to handle that?”

“I don’t know,” Penny replied, picking up the kitty.  “I’ll let you know Saturday morning.”

She took her right hand out from underneath the baby blanket draped over her frame and handed him her morning bottle.  He smiled, took the bottle and embraced her, kissing her on the forehead.

She was happy he said yes and he could feel her heavily beating heart.  What a traumatic experience it must’ve been for her to await his answer.  The kitten between them began purring.  It seemed as though it was happy with Elliot’s answer as well.

Sitting down on the lounge chair, Elliot helped Penny down to a seat on his lap and then a cradle in his arms.  The morning breeze wasn’t too chilly, but left a slight nip in the air.  Their balcony was perfect for watching sunrises over the ocean and because of this; the early morning was bitter cold from shade.  Cloudy as it was and rainy as it was, the beauty of the day wasn’t absent.

Removing her pacifier with his pinky, he touched the nipple of the bottle to her bottom lip.

“Open,” he said softly as she parted her lips and took the nipple in her mouth.  “That’s a good girl.”

A day which may well have started off very rough and upsetting for Penny had instead been made memorable.  And though it was raining heavily, Penny wasn’t cold nor was she sad for the things they wouldn’t be able to do until all the raindrops had fallen.

His hand slipped inside the swaddling blanket and onto her diapered bottom.  She smiled shyly for a moment.  And he smiled back at her.  The reason for her sudden wake-up this morning had finally been discovered.

They both knew that a pet wouldn’t go over well with Elliot’s landlord.  And it was heartbreaking to know that she had all ready grown attached to the kitty, knowing she would have to say goodbye to it in a few short days.

But for now, they had a rainy day to plan together and a little kitty that needed to be shown something it may never have known before … love.  And Penny, with her Daddy by her side, had more love to share in her little heart than the kitty would ever need.

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The Adventures of Penny