The Modern Fairy Tale Town Book 3: Secrets of Storybrooke

Chapter 4: Good Company

Ben had brought the kitten that Amalie suggested he bond with back home to get to know better even though Moe was a bit wary about having a kitten loose in the house even if Ben promised to take good care of the kitten such as feeding him, cleaning up after him, caring for him, and doing anything else he could to be a proper pet owner. Moe was still unsure even after all of that, though he hated to say no right away especially since Ben was happy for the first time in a long while since his father left town to go and look for Baelfire AKA Neal.

"Wait 'til you taste this. It's a secret recipe I just invented." Ben told the kitten as he was cooking a treat for the kitten as the dishes were clattering and the telephone was ringing.

"What on earth..." Moe murmured before he noticed the mess that Ben had made as the boy was setting a handful of bowls on the counter. "My goodness! Benjamin! Don't you think a tin of kitty chow would have sufficed?

"Nonsense. He'll love this." Ben insisted.

"Now, young man, I really think we should've waited until your parents--" Moe began to tell his grandson until he suddenly stepped on an egg that cracked under his foot, causing him to grimace and grit his teeth. "Ew... Oh, goodness... Ben, you're a teenager now, practically an adult."

"Oh, it's good to keep in touch with your inner child once in a while, don't you think, Grandpa?" Ben defended. "Oh, I think the phone is ringing. You wanna answer it while I feed the cat?" he then suggested.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Moe rolled his eyes slightly as he left to answer the phone as Rumple was on the other line.

"Okay, I read somewhere online that cats can have cooked eggs," Ben said before he knelt down, taking out a bowl with cooked eggs for the orange kitten. "I did my best, but... I'm not much of a cook honestly. Mwah! Chef's kiss." he then added before kissing his fingertips with a smile.

The kitten looked curious at the bowl of eggs before he soon started to eat them as Ben smiled warmly.

"Benjamin! It's your father!" Moe soon called out from the other room.

"Yeah! Wait 'til I tell him!" Ben beamed as he ran into the other room to talk with his father. "He's gonna be so excited."

"Oh, yes, sir. I do assure you everything is absolutely hunky... Erm... Everything's fine here," Moe said nervously on the phone, fearing what would probably happen if Ben got hurt or lost. "Uh, here is now."

Ben soon thanked his maternal grandfather and took the phone to catch up with his father for a few moments. Moe sighed to himself as he soon went into the kitchen and looked over at the kitten who seemed to be harmless for the most part so far, though the kitchen was a total mess since they didn't have any cat food for the kitten. He just hoped that this kitten madness wouldn't last forever, but it seemed like fate had a cruel way of knocking on his door all of a sudden.

"Isn't he cute?" Ben smiled as he soon came back into the kitchen to see his grandfather and kitten together. "I've got great news. Dad just said I could keep him. I'm sure we're all gonna be one big happy family together."

Moe soon looked a bit frustrated and overwhelmed as he wasn't sure how this was going to work out until a certain company would come back from New York.

Soon, back in New York, the group was walking about together. Dee Dee and Henry were close with Neal, walking and talking whilst Rumple and Emma trailed behind.

"So, uh...You like pizza?" Neal soon asked Henry as he tried to bond with him since they were father and son.

"Yeah. L-Let me guess; you're gonna tell me the best pizza's in New York and I gotta try it, right?" Henry replied.