1.14 - Lord Richie and His Peasants

A week had passed since the family moved. The apartment still looked very bare and the severe lack of cat didn't help in making it feel any more homely. 

But Kerry would survive it, even though she really loved Richie, that jerk of a cat.

Ruby on the other hand was much more affected. She had a special bond with him ever since she was born, or maybe even earlier when Ruby was still in Kerry's womb and Richie would lie on the pregnant belly and purr to the unborn baby. 

 And so Kerry had been secretly searching pet adoption sites to surprise her daughters. The family was in need of a new cat or two.

Two littermates were up for adoption, one boy and one girl, just over a year old. 

 Kerry was more than happy that her own kids were old enough to use the bathroom by themselves and not in the mood to train any kittens to use the litter box. Two young adult cats were perfect.

She made another call and hoped that her kids would like the surprise.

When the animal shelter employee arrived Kerry sent her daughters to their room and told them to wait a minute until she called them.

Then she led them to the living room, covering their eyes with her hands.

"Alright girls, you can open your eyes now!"

"Ooooh," the kids gasped in unison, "Aww..." 

"Mom, we keep them?! Ooh, what are their names?"

"You can choose their new names! Each of you gets to name one cat, does that sound fair? Look, the one with grey patches is a girl, and this one is a boy..."

"Your name is Lion!" Jade picked up the big cream-and-white boy, "Because you look like a lion! Roar!"

 

Ruby looked at her mom with puppy eyes. "I don't want a new cat... I want Richie back." 

"I know, honey. But I already explained it to you, Richie belongs to our old home."

"They're cute," Ruby said with no expression.

Kerry sighed. "Try to give these two as much love as you gave to Richie, okay?"

Ruby hesitated, but then she bent down and scratched the smaller calico cat between her ears. "Hm. Lion... Richie... Well, then I have to call you Nel. Nelly? Yeah, you're Nelly now."

"I don't get it," Jade said.

"Yeah, cause you're a baby."

It's probably a good sign Ruby is bickering with her sister again, Kerry thought. Maybe she is slowly getting over Richie.

***

♪ Hello? Is it me you're looking for? ♪

Down on the first floor of the apartment building Richie finally arrived at his destination. He had followed his family's scent through the urban jungle, but now that the scent was at its strongest, it was suddenly mixed with another one: a feline one! Has he been replaced already?

He lifted his head and, sure enough, there were two young cats walking around not far from him, one female and one male. Littermates, no doubt.

Richie took a step back. He had imagined them to look different. His wise and experience nose had immediately detected Lion's permanent state of anxiety but his looks were that of a big and strong tomcat. 

Richie had to raise all of his hairs to make up for his senior stature. Lion's ears almost retracted back into his skull in response.

The intimidation tactic worked. Just as I expected, nervous and feeble-minded, Richie thought.

But he didn't come here to impress skittish kitties. 

"I will deal with you later," he hissed in their direction and continued his journey upstairs where he knew his family was.

"Let me in, unfaithful humans!" Richie yelled.

A deafening scream of excitement went through the entire apartment complex. Whoever had wanted to take a nap today just had their plans ruined.

"MOM! MOM! MOM! Richie is here!!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs when she opened the door.

"WHAT ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT?" Kerry yelled.

"RICHIE IS BACK!"

Oh no, now the kid is hallucinating, Kerry thought as she walked towards the screaming.

"Wait- hold on, you're right! That IS Richie! How did you get here? How did you find us?"

***

A quick 16-hour-nap later Richie met up with the two new cats to make sure they knew their place. 

"Very well," Richie started his speech. "I have decided, in my endless generosity, to grant you permission to live in this house, for I won't live forever and will need an heir. 

However, there are some rules you must follow.

Rule number one: All sleeping places with my markings belong to me. That means you are not allowed to rest there. Have I made myself clear?"

"But all comfy places have your markings!" Nelly meowed.

"Yes, you understand quickly. Good. Now to rule number two..."

Several hours passed. All three cats were still sitting in the same spot, staring at each other. 

"Rule number eighty-seven-", Richie meowed for the eighty-seventh time before being rudely interrupted.

"Oooo naptime!" Lion yawned and curled up into a ball.

"Excuse me? I'm not done yet," Richie hissed "Hey, teach your brother some manners!" he meowed towards Nelly, but Nelly only twitched her tail in annoyance.

Richie shook his head. "Young cats and their attention spans these days, tsk. Fine, you are dismissed then," he said and turned his back to the newcomers. 

***Author's note: I just moved them to this apartment but I'm going to move them out again as soon as I have any cash at all. I love the Bridgeport apartments for regular play but taking screenshots in them is hell. Every time I move the camera for a close-up screenshot I land on a different floor or outside the building. So don't get too used to the new home, I'll probably get out of there before Ruby's birthday.