Weds Brief

Here is this week's Weds Brief.    Find out what Tom and Ben did at the Animal Rescue center
This week's prompts:  

"Love makes the world go round" or use hearts or Cupid or "If ever I would leave you..." or "I give to you and you give to me.... true love..." (that's an old Dean Martin song btw lol) or anything having to do with Valentine's day and candy!

Ben and Tom didn’t know just how hard it was going to be to pick out a cat.  There were far too many at the shelter to choose from.  It was sad that all these cats didn’t have homes.   At least they were going to give one kitten a new home.  

The rescue center was divided into two separate sections; one side housed the dogs and puppies and the other cats and kittens.  Ben and Tom were directed to where the cats were housed.

“Would you like to take the kittens out?”  a worker at the rescue center asked them.  Ben noticed her name tag said Cora on it.

“We don’t know which one we want,” Ben told her

“I think we’ll just walk around a bit and keep looking, if that’s okay,”   Tom said.

“Of course.  Do you know if you want a kitten or an adult?”

Tom and Ben looked at one another.  “Gee, we didn’t really think about it.  Did you want to get a kitten or a cat, Tom?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, one thing I can tell you is that the adults are harder to find homes for.  Most people come in here looking for the kittens—they think they’re so adorable—and the older cats stay here a lot longer. They’re just harder to place.”

“What happens if you can’t find them homes? I mean you don’t…”  Ben whispered the rest. “Kill them.”   He dreaded saying it, but he had to ask.

“Oh no,” Cora said, aghast. “We’re a no-kill shelter.”

Ben and Tom took a collective sigh of relief. 

“How about I show you where the older kitties are?”

“Sure,”  they both said. 

Tom and Ben were separately inspecting each of the felines.  Some of the cats were fast asleep and weren’t budging, no matter what either man said or how many times they wiggled their fingers in the cages to pet them. 

Ben headed over to the last cage at the end of the line. “Hey, Tom? Come here.”

Tom stood by his side and they looked at this beautiful Tortoise shell-colored cat.   “Isn’t…”He looked over at the cat’s information card that was in a holder on the front of the cage.  “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Yeah, she’s got some interesting coloring on her.”

“I see you’re admiring our tortie. She came in here a few weeks ago.  She’s four years old. She was found on the side of the road.  She had been starving and was very dehydrated.  We nursed her back to health and thought someone would have adopted her by now.  But, so far, no takers.”

“Can we see her?”

“Of course.”  Cora carefully took the cat out of the cage and handed her over to Ben. 

“She’s purring.” Ben held her against his chest and petted the side of her head.

Tom joined in and the cat rubbed against Tom’s hand.  She looked at both of them with these intense green eyes.  Ben handed her over to Tom and the cat took to him like they were two long-lost friends meeting each other again after a long absence.    “Ha, ha, stop that.” 

“What?”  Ben asked, amused.  It was an interesting sight to see his big strong firefighter husband holding a cat.

“She’s rubbing her whiskers against my chin and it’s tickling me.” 

Cora had left them for a couple of minutes and had joined them once again.  She had a Cheshire cat grin on her face.  “I take it you’ve made a decision?”

Ben didn’t even hesitate.  “We’ll take her.”   He looked at Tom, who was busy getting gentle head bumps and being rubbed on.

After the paperwork and adoption fee had been paid, and a cat carrier bought, they were all ready to take the cat home.

“Are you going to keep the name she came with?” Cora asked as she gave them information on the care of the cat and a number for the vet the center used.

“She came with a name?”  Ben didn’t recall seeing one on her information card.

“Someone here named her Diamond, but I don’t know if that fits her.”

“I don’t know, I guess we’ll have to think about it.  I’m just glad we were able to pick a cat.”

Cora laughed.

“What?” Both men looked at her inquisitively.

“You both have a lot to learn about cats. You didn’t so much as pick her as she picked you.  You don’t own a cat, they own you.”

They stopped off at the local Petco and got everything they needed for their new family member.  

“Do you want to put the litter box in the basement?” Tom asked Ben.

“Yeah, I think that would be the best decision.  It says this litter is flushable and we have the half bath down there. Let’s put it in that bathroom.  Make cleanup easier.”

Valentine’s Day was a few days later and they still hadn’t thought up a name that fit the cat.  They didn’t like diamond. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Tom.”  It was lucky that Tom had off that day. Ben did have some listings he had to show, but he didn’t have to go in until the afternoon.   He’d be home in the evening.  In time to ‘celebrate’, which meant Tom would cook them dinner and they’d be enjoying chocolates and a movie in front of the fireplace.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart.”  Their lips touched as their arms circled around their backs and they held each other tight. They didn’t know how long the embrace lasted until they felt someone rubbing against their legs.  They both looked down and their kitty was looking up at them curiously.

“Come here you.”  Ben picked her up and she joined in a group hug between the three of them.  

“I’ll give her breakfast then make ours.  Did you want French toast or omelets?”

“Hey, I just thought of a name for our newest addition,”  Ben said

“What?”Tom asked.

“We’ll name her Love.”  

 TBC

My fellow flashers: 

Nephylim     f/f

Tali Spencer     m/m

Cia Nordwell     m/m

Elyzabeth VaLey     m/f

MA Church     m/m

MC Houle     m/m

Julie Lynn Hayes  m/m

Victoria Adams      m/f