Morning came early, as it always does in summer. The sun gets up, and I’m up with it which isn’t to my tastes.
Hot Dog is asleep still. I can see her front legs twitching as she lays in her bed. I smile, look as my normally skittish Siamese cat, Haupia, is cuddling up to her. Fern and Mint are still in their terrarium, fluff-piled with a huggy friend.
Coconut, my Ragdoll cat, is awake and awaiting food. Because of course he is.
“And this is why you’re fat, cat.”
I make a quick trip to the bathroom, open up the cat food and portion it out. Then a scoop of kibble for Hot Dog. And finally micro-kibble mixed with some nutrigel for the little ones. They’ll all eat when they eat.
My phone’s notifications come to life when the alarm goes off, turning off “sleep mode.” Last night was awkward, and I hope Hot Dog isn’t mad at me. The fluffs have been really good so far, and anger isn’t something that can be disciplined away. Or hugged away either, really. She’s smarter than the other two, for better or worse.
I must’ve been worried about it, since I’m pretty sure I dreamed about it during the night. Plus dreamed about Napoleon and Hippolyta. And about flying around Ka’ahumanu Avenue like Superman. Because that’s what you do in dreams, I suppose. Not that I normally remember them, and its not like I can really remember what happened anyhow.
Like an addict needing a morning hit, my hands reach for the laptop. Then stop. Its too early to start messing with stuff, and the girls will be waking up soon as the temperature begins to rise. Almost on queue I hear Hot Dog yawn, smacking her lips.
“Good morning, Hot Dog.”
“…mownin’ daddeh…” she mumbles out, still half asleep. The brown fluff shakes her head a little, waking up, and heads to the litter box. A moment passes and she comes back out, holding one leg up for upsies. I pick her up, cuddling her close, smiling as she nuzzles into me. One of the best parts of the day, really.
“Sowwy Howt Dog was madsies wast dawk time,” she said, breaking the silence. “Had heawt hurwties.”
“Its okay, Hot Dog.”
“Yu is gud daddeh.”
I nuzzle her on the head, kissing her snoot. She giggles a little bit.
“Yu maked Howt Dog’s not fwuff, daddeh?”
“Yep,” I replied. Funny. I never told her about me coming up with that, and she never asked before. “Took me a while to do it since I don’t remember how to sew very well.”
“Howt Dog mabbeh hab idea… can daddeh hewp make?”
I look at her. Now this was a first.
“Of course,” I said, grabbing my tablet and stylus. “Tell me all about it…”
