Weds Briefs

It's that time of the week again to Flash.  Here is my continuing saga of Tom and Ben.

This week's prompt are, "Anything you want, you got it..." or use: ferry, head, position, or "May I ask what you think..." or use an animal of some kind or use an accident or "When he/she said... I thought I would..."

Tom and Ben had discussed many things during the course of their relationship. 

They’d both decided they’d rather live in a bucolic setting like Lancaster, Pennsylvania than in a big city.  They picked out the home they lived in together along with all the decisions about the furnishings and wall colors.  Neither of them wanted children, but they never spoke about getting any animals.  Ben had grown up with a menagerie of animals and Tom had tropical fish.   

Here they were taking care of a lady’s cat while she was recuperating at the hospital.

Andy was a shy tawny colored cat; they’d had a heck of a time getting him out of the basement, where he’d been hiding.

“Did he come out yet?” Ben had been patiently trying to coax the reluctant cat to come up with food, to no avail.

“Come here, Ben,”  Tom whispered to his husband and beckoned him with a wave of his hand to come toward the kitchen.

No sooner had Ben left the food out in the kitchen, along with a bowl of water, and left the room than the cat slowly ventured out of his hiding spot. 

“Do you think he knows where the litter box is?”  Tom asked him.  Ben had gone to the pet store yesterday after Tom had called him to tell him they’d be having a guest. 

“The man at the store said all you need to do is show them where it is and make sure they can get to it and the cat will do the rest.   So far he’s been using it.”

“Good, good.”  Tom was watching Andy eating the dried kibble Ben had poured in his bowl.   “He didn’t seem to want to sleep in the bed.”  

Ben went all out and, besides getting him food, bowls, and a litter box and litter, he’d gotten a cat bed and some toys.  

“I think he’s scared of being in a strange place.  You know how it is.  Not being comfortable in unfamiliar surrounding,  Ben said.

“Well, you certainly went all out to welcome him.  You do know this is temporary.”

Ben sighed.  “I know.  I just wanted to make sure Andy felt at home here until his owner can take him back, that’s all.”   Ben caressed Tom’s face with his hand and kissed him on the lips.

“What’s that for?”  Tom asked him.

“That is for being such a caring man and helping that lady out.”

“I couldn’t do it without you, honey.”   Tom returned the kiss.   He suddenly felt something pressing against his leg. He looked down and saw Andy rubbing his body against him.  “Well, will you look at that?  Hello, Andy.”    He bent down and carefully petted the affectionate cat.

“I guess he’s trying to say thank you.”   Ben slowly bent down and held his hand out; Andy sniffed at it and rubbed his head against Ben’s hand.

“I guess he’s saying the same thing to you.”

“When do you think the lady will be out of the hospital?”  Ben asked as he continued to pet Andy.

“I’m not sure.  I gave the lady my card so she could call me.  I guess I should phone the hospital and see what her condition is.”  Tom did just that.

Ben had made some coffee for himself and Tom and was sitting at the kitchen table looking out at their beautiful backyard when Tom came into the room.  “Well, what did they say?”

“They said she is doing very well.  They want to keep her overnight for observation”

The phone rang; Tom was closest so he answered it.  “Oh hello, yes, it’s Tom.  Uh huh, yes, he’s doing very well.  The question is how are you doing?”  

Ben could tell by the tone of the conversation it was Andy’s owner.

“Yes, well, there’s no rush.  Like I said, Andy’s doing fine and we can hold onto him for you as long as you need us to.”  Tom hung up the phone and turned to Ben.  “The lady, her name is Sharon Tucker. Her home isn’t livable and she’s going to be staying with her sister.   She has two dogs, she isn’t sure if she can take Andy there or not.   She asked if we could keep him a while until she gets herself settled somewhere.”

“So you mean we’re going to have this fella…” Ben bent down and picked up Andy, who’d been rubbing against his leg.  “For a while longer?”

“Look, Ben, I know we never discussed taking in an animal, but you know how spur of the moment this all was.”

“Hey, hey, Tom. It’s okay.  Do I look like I’m mad?  I just never thought about having a cat before. But you know, he’s kinda rubbing off on me…literally.”  They both laughed as Andy rubbed against’ Ben’s chin. 

Tom watched with a smile on his face, but in the back of his mind he had a kind of sadness inside.  ‘What’s going to happen when we have to return Andy to his owner?”

TBC

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