Begin Again | ongoing

thirty

The rain rears its ugly head again before they reach Sunny's childhood home, but not so badly that they have to pull over again. In the time it takes to dash from the driveway to the front door, though, they're both soaked to the bone. Sunny's shivering and chattering, her elbows held tight against her ribs and her chin dipped to her chest to keep at least some part of her body dry.

"Good god, you're like a pair of drowned rats," Martha says as she shoos them into the kitchen and shuts out the rain, almost trapping the end of Ursula's tail in the door when she darts in from the cold. "Oh you silly old bat," she says to the cat, "what on earth are you doing out there in this weather?"

Ursula does not reply. She stands angrily in the hallway, shaking each paw individually before sitting down to ferociously lick her tail as though that will dry her off. Kiki, the striking Bengal cat with the swinging belly, struts past to show off her dry and silky coat, stretching out next to Ursula in the middle of the hall.

"Where's Britney?" Sunny asks as she unfolds a tea towel to dry her hair.

"In your room. That's her favourite place at the moment, and the others don't seem to bother her there. It's like they know not to mess with you when it comes to that kitten," Martha says with a small smile. She flips on the kettle on autopilot and takes out three mugs, making coffee three different ways. "She's always in there when it's raining. The poor little mite absolutely hates any kind of inclement weather."

Sunny takes to the stairs, her long legs easily climb them two at a time until she reaches her bedroom and pushes open the door to see a blob of black fluff curled up in the middle of her duvet. At the sound of the door's creaky hinges, Britney lifts her sleepy head and blinks yellow eyes at Sunny. She stretches out her front paws and yawns, flopping onto her side before she slowly rolls over and exposes her ridiculously soft belly.

"Hey there, cutie," Sunny coos, carefully perching on the edge of her bed to stroke Britney's tummy. In this light she looks pure black, but Sunny knows that the moment the sun comes out, her fur will be streaked with silver-grey. She flexes her claws and a low purr rumbles her little body, impressively loud for such a little scrap of a cat. Sunny strokes her silky hair and her bushy tail before scooping Britney into her arms, cradling her like a baby. Britney makes no effort to move – she knows she's safe with Sunny, so she curls up against her chest, her chin resting in the crook of Sunny's elbow.

Viv's eyes light up at the sight of the pair of them when Sunny comes back into the kitchen, nuzzling Britney's head with her nose. She smells so good, like fresh laundry and a hint of Sylvia's perfume and the sweet warmth of a fluffy kitten.

"I hope you realise this is the closest you'll ever get to a grandchild," Sunny says, pulling her chair out with her foot and sitting next to Viv, whose hand goes straight to Britney's back.

"That's quite all right." Martha chuckles and sets the three mugs on the table. "You know I'm not one of those mothers who wants nothing more than to be a granny. If I was, I might've had a few more kids to boost the odds, and I wouldn't have left it until I was nearly forty to start reproducing."

"And you got it so right the first time, there was no need to try again," Sunny says. Laughing to herself, Martha ruffles Sunny's hair and shakes her head.

Viv grins and slings an arm around Sunny's shoulders and says, "Why mess with perfection, eh?" before kissing her cheek.

Sunny blushes, her cheek heating up against Viv's lips. As though in protest at the thought, Britney stands on Sunny's lap, stretching every inch of her body right down to the tip of her tail, and saunters over to Viv's lap. She curls up like she has found her home and her purring intensifies when Viv strokes her.