Penguin's Christmas Gift - 1. Penguin's Christmas Gift

The little tuxedo cat swayed as his moving perch strode along the snowy ground. He swiveled an ear and sat up, his yellow eyes wide with attention. The faint noise was louder now. He launched into the air, coming to an abrupt halt as he met the end of the leash. He fishtailed wildly until he felt slack, then took off in the direction of the creek that ran through the park.

He heard shouting behind him, then the dull thud of footsteps running in fresh snow. He ran full out until he reached the top of the bank, then hesitated as he scanned for the safest way down. He found it and easily made his way down to the partially frozen water. He stopped underneath the pedestrian bridge and chirped a response to the plaintive cries that were now coming from right beside him.

He trotted out from under the bridge and sat on the bank, howling. He knew the humans weren’t far behind.

“Penguin! What the hell are you doing?” Sean peered down the bank in consternation. Penguin looked up at him, blinking. He chirped again, then trotted under the bridge and back out again, pacing in a circle.

“Has he ever done anything like this before?” Daniel set a squirming Caitlyn down. The four-year-old immediately jumped onto the sled her godfather had been dragging behind him.

“Let’s go, babe!” She wiggled her butt, trying to make the sled go.

Daniel chuckled. There was no doubt she was her daddy’s girl.

“No, never.” Sean whistled sharply, his signal for the cat to return to his shoulder. Penguin howled again and repeated his pattern of pacing.

“I don’t think he’s going to come up on his own, sweetheart.”

“Danny! I want to go sledding! Can you run with me again?” Caitlyn wailed.

“You need to be patient, sweetie, while Uncle Sean rescues Penguin.”

“Remind me again whose bright idea taking a cat sledding was?” Sean grumbled as he slid his way down the embankment. As he approached Penguin, his foot slipped into the icy water, causing him to yell.

“Be careful! You’re not that far from where I broke my wrist.”

“I know!” Sean frowned as he neared the little cat. Penguin trotted away as Sean reached for him and he stepped on the trailing leash, ending the cat’s escapade. Sean gathered him in his arms, but Penguin squirmed away and ran under the bridge. He sat about ten feet away and howled again before digging in a small alcove.

Sean followed Penguin, pausing when he heard a faint cry. He and the tuxedo cat looked at each other, then at the alcove. The crying continued. Sean dashed over to his cat, then started digging through the pile of wet, dirty leaves covering the small alcove. After a minute he reached his goal; a damp, shivering, ginger kitten peered at him fearfully with wide crusty eyes. Penguin head-butted Sean’s leg and started for the kitten. Sean gently backed him away.

“Sorry, Pen, but he looks like he might be sick. I don’t want you to catch anything. Let’s get him to the vet.” Sean gently scooped the sickly kitten into his hands and tucked it into his jacket. Penguin leapt onto his shoulder.

“Sean! Are you ok? What’s going on?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Pen found a kitten. He must have heard it crying.”

“Oh my God! How are you going to get back up here?”

“I have no idea.”

“We can haul him up on a sled,” a man said, standing in the crowd that had gathered around them.

“Good idea.” Daniel threw down Caitlyn’s sled, holding onto the long rope used to pull it.

“Get on the sled and we’ll haul you up.”

Sean leaned his shoulder close to the embankment. “Go see Caty, Pen. We’ll be right up.”

Penguin jumped onto the snowy slope and skittered into the little girl’s arms. Sean grabbed onto the sled’s handle with one hand and cradled the kitten with the other. Daniel and three other men hauled Sean to the top of the bank. Caitlyn ran over to him.

“I wanna see the kitty!”

Sean opened his jacket slightly and two green eyes peered out.

“He’s so cute!” Caitlyn gushed, jumping up, trying to pet the kitty.

Daniel scooped her up. “Easy, sweetie. The kitty is sick. We need to get it to a kitty doctor.”

“But I wanna pet it!” she whined.

Daniel set her down on the sled and Penguin hopped on next to her. “We don’t have time to argue. We need to go, now.”

Sean and Daniel thanked the men who helped them, then set off at an easy jog to their car. The kitten was wheezing and shivering uncontrollably. Sean shook his head sadly. He feared that his hero cat was too late.

“It’s a good thing you found him when you did. He wouldn’t have lasted much longer in those conditions,” the vet said. “It’s times like this when I wish these guys could talk. I wonder how he ended up there?”

“Me, too. I guess being a soft touch paid off. I thought it was nuts to bring Penguin sledding, but Caitlyn insisted. Thank goodness she did.” Sean stroked the sleeping kitten gently. “So he’s not contagious?”

“No. He has pneumonia, but he’s not contagious.”

“That will make Penguin happy. I had to put him in his cat carrier to keep him away from the kitten.”

“Well, a little TLC will go a long way for this fellow.” The vet handed Sean a sheet with instructions for the care of the kitten and a bottle of antibiotics.

“What do I owe you?”

“This one’s on the house.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind paying for the little guy.”

“I’m sure. I’ve never heard such a remarkable story. You don’t have to pay a dime for any of his treatment for the pneumonia. In fact, I’ll even throw in his shots and neutering if he survives.”

Sean shook the vet’s hand and pulled him into a brief embrace. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“I know you’ll give him the best care possible.”

Sean nodded as he placed the bundled up kitten into a cardboard cat carrier. “I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how he is.”

After dropping Caitlyn off at Robbie and Siobhan’s, Sean and Daniel headed home. As soon as the door was open, Penguin leapt off Sean’s shoulder, yowling. Timmy, Daniel’s gray tabby cat, came running and head-butted Penguin in concern. Pen ran after Sean, who took the cat carrier to his and Daniel’s bedroom. Timmy trotted after him. Sean set the kitten down amongst a pile of blankets and Penguin immediately curled up around the kitten, licking its head. Timmy curled up on the other side of the ginger cat, forming a kitty circle around the little ball of fluff.

Daniel entered the room carrying two hot water bottles. “I guess we don’t need these.” He chuckled.

Sean wrapped his arms around Daniel and kissed him. “I could use a little warming up.”

Daniel smiled as he kissed him back. “Our bed is currently occupied.”

“I was thinking more like the shower.”

“I like the way you think.” Daniel set the water bottles down and followed his husband into the bathroom.

Sean exited the bathroom an hour later, giggling as Daniel tried to remove the towel wrapped around his waist. He turned abruptly, embracing his dark-haired husband. “You are insatiable.”

Daniel grinned and kissed him. “Yup.” He reached for the towel again and Sean stepped backwards.

“I need to check on the kitten. We’re supposed to feed him every hour.” Sean sat on the edge of the bed and peered at the trio of cats. The kitten’s sides moved in and out in slow rhythm with his breath. Sean breathed a sigh of relief. He would have been mortified if the little animal had passed away while he was making love to Daniel.

“How is he?” Daniel asked as he handed Sean a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt.

“Still alive.” Sean quickly dressed, then went into the kitchen to prepare the kitten’s food and medicine.

Penguin and Timmy watched anxiously as Sean fed their charge. The kitten didn’t eat much before falling back asleep. The two adult cats immediately surrounded him again.

Sean put his arm around Daniel. “Let’s go to the living room. I think these two have it under control for now.”

They watched a movie, pausing every hour to check on the kitten. Daniel prepared their own dinner while Sean fed the animals. At bedtime, they settled in on either side of the cats. Sean set the alarm and they took turns getting up every hour to check on the sick animal.

When the alarm went off at eight o’clock, Sean stretched and yawned. The smell of coffee and bacon permeated the air. He looked at the pile of cats next to him and was greeted by three sets of bright eyes blinking at him. He smiled and petted the kitten, who purred happily. His breathing was improved since he was wheezing less.

Sean headed into the bathroom, then the kitchen. “Breakfast smells wonderful, sweetheart,” he said, kissing Daniel.

“Thanks. I thought we could use a good meal this morning.” He handed Sean a cup of coffee.

“The kitten’s awake.”

“Yeah, he looks a lot better.”

“Maybe he’ll actually make it.”

“I hope so.”

Sean prepared food for the kitten and returned to the bedroom. The kitten was still awake and meowed, purring as soon as he saw him. Sean smiled as he fed the little cat. Penguin sat and stared the entire time the kitten was eating. As soon as the kitten was done, he curled back around him. Sean petted all three cats as the sated kitten fell asleep.

Daniel sat on the bed behind Sean and wrapped his arms around his middle. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Caitlyn seemed pretty taken with him and Christmas is a week away. How would Robbie and Siobhan feel about an addition to their family?”

“That’s a great idea. I’ll call Robbie now.” Daniel pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Sean reached to pet the kitten and Penguin flattened his ears and hissed at him, laying over the ginger cat protectively. “Holy shit!” He snatched his hand back and looked at Daniel in open-mouthed shock.

Daniel set the phone down. “I guess I don’t need to make that call after all.”

Sean chuckled. “Yeah. How do you feel about an addition to our family?”

“I don’t think we have a choice!”

Sean reached his hand out to the agitated tuxedo cat. “Don’t worry, Pen. I won’t take away your baby. He’s here to stay.”

Penguin head-butted Sean’s hand and purred happily as he cleaned the kitten’s face.

“So what should we name him?” Sean took Daniel’s hand.

“How about Nick? Like Saint Nick since Christmas is so close?”

Sean drew his husband close and kissed the side of his head. “Perfect.”