Rosemary could hardly believe her luck. It had been a hard couple of days for her, both the best and worst of her entire life. She’d lost her mother, she’d lost her entire family. A kitty monster almost gave her forever sleepies, too! But then the nice mister had chased the kitty monster away and saved her life. Her mother had always told stories about how some humans were good. She’d said that those humans had the bestest housies that were warm and full of the best nummies and toysies and love. This human didn’t seem to just be one of the good ones. Rosemary was pretty sure this human was one of the BESTEST humans, even if he did have a kitty monster in his house!
But the kitty monster hadn’t tried to hurt her, and now the nice human - her new daddy! - was telling her that the kitty wasn’t a monster at all. He was saying that the kitty wanted to be her friend. The kitty had a name, too, just like Rosemary! The kitty’s name was Sasha, and Sasha wanted to be Rosemary’s friend! She’d never had any friends. Maybe the kitty really WAS nice? If daddy gave her a name, she HAD to be nice. She had to be the bestest! Only good fluffies got names. Probably only good kitties got names, too.
So now Rosemary was going back to her daddy’s house to see her new room, to see Sasha, and to see everything her daddy had set up for her. She could hardly wait! Daddy was even letting her sit in his lap on the trip home, just as long as she promised to be brave in the vroomy metal monster, just as long as she didn’t make any scaredy poopies or peepees. Rosemary knew that was an EASY thing to promise, since she hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink since the last time she’d made poopies and peepees. She’d made the biggest promises to be good, and now she was curled up in daddy’s lap, cooing to herself contentedly.
She’d been so sure that her life was over. Her family gone, the promise of safety and love and a nice warm house gone. All that loss over the course of a couple of days had been too much to bear. But now things were really looking up. Maybe Rosemary was going to have the life her mother had always wanted her to have. Maybe she was going to be able to give all the bestest huggies and love. It was all she really wanted out of life.
===
“We’re home,” John announced, lifting Rosemary and holding her in his hand.
“Nyu housie wif nyu daddeh!” Rosemary exclaimed.
“That’s right, girl. Let’s get you inside and see how you like it.”
“Yay!” Rosemary shouted, giggling. “Wosemawy wuv upsies!” She was lifted way up high as John carried her into the house, and she wiggled around excitedly in his hand, burbling to herself.
He wasn’t going to give her a tour of the entire house. Not yet. He didn’t want her spending a lot of time outside of her safe room until he’d read up a lot more on how to take care of fluffies. John knew that they tended to be very fragile and prone to crippling accidents. It didn’t take a lot to kill them. He wasn’t going to be letting her roam the house on her own, no way in hell. So it was important that she liked the safe room, that it had enough in there to keep her happy while he was at work.
John stepped over the baby gate he’d put in place - it would be high enough to keep her inside even when she was fully grown, since fluffies weren’t exactly known for being skilled climbers or jumpers - and stopped just inside the door. He lowered Rosemary to the floor, then sat down on the floor beside her.
“So, what do you think?”
Rosemary looked around. There was SO MUCH to see! There was a big comfy nest in one corner, just like her daddy had promised! It was HUGE now, and she knew that even when she got to be her biggest self that the nest would STILL be big and warm and happy. She’d be able to burrow deep down in the blankets and hide! It would be the bestest nest ever! There was a food bowl and a big water bottle close to the nest, too, so she didn’t have to go far to eat!
The floor was hard, which didn’t feel pretty against her hooves. Rosemary did like the little pfaff, pfaff noises her hooves made as she walked around, though. And there was a big, soft rug covering a large part of the room! THAT felt pretty when she walked on it! She trotted around happily, then plopped down and rolled back and forth, giggling to herself again.
“Wosemawy wuv sof fwoow, daddeh! Feew vewy pwetty!”
John smiled. “I’m glad you like it. Did you see your toys?”
Rosemary hadn’t even been paying attention. The nest and the rug had captured all of her attention. She looked over and saw the toys. The BEST toys! There were a couple of small foam balls, maybe a quarter of her size. She could roll them around and around and around! AND BLOCKS! There were three little stackable blocks, plus three more, which made…more than three blocks! All for her! Rosemary trotted over and kicked her ball, then chased it as it rolled. It was SO MUCH to take in. SO MUCH to love! Here was a nice, safe place where she could run and play!
“Wosemawy wuv nyu housie,” she said, running over to John and stretching out her front hooves, indicating that she wanted him to pick her up again. “Fank yu, daddeh. Daddeh am bestest daddeh evah!”
John picked her up and stroked her soft fluff. “This is just to start with, until I figure out what’s best for you. I’ve got a lot to learn.”
“Daddeh am smawty hoomin, daddeh wiww do bestest evah, fowevah. Wosemawy knu daddeh am do bestest.”
“Thank you, sweetie.” He pointed to the litterbox. “And you’ll do all your poopies and peepees in there, right?”
She nodded. “Wosemawy NEVAH do bad poopies aw bad peepees, always do gud poopies an’ gud peepees in da wittah-box! Nevah on daddeh fwoow. Wosemawy nu wan be bad fwuffy EVAH.”
“That’s good to hear. If you keep behaving the way you’ve behaved so far, everything’s going to be great. You know if you’re bad that I [i]will[/i punish you, right?”
She looked up at him, a touch of fear in her eyes. “Daddeh wiww huwt Wosemawy?”
“If you’re bad you’ll get the sorry stick. I hope I never have to use it on you. But I want you to know that I do have it, just in case. I have a sorry box, too.”
“Daddeh pwease nu huwt Wosemawy,” she whispered. “Pwease nevah huwt. Wosemawy am be bestest fwuffy fo daddeh. Nu wan huwties.”
John lifted her off his lap and held her against his chest. He stroked her fluff gently and spoke in a low, reassuring voice. “I don’t want to. I hope I never have to. Just keep being the best fluffy and everything will be great, okay?”
“Otay, daddeh,” she whispered, trying her best to hug him with her tiny legs. She couldn’t wait until she was bigger so she could give him the biggest huggies! Once she could give him the biggest huggies and all the love, then he’d never doubt that she was the best fluffy, and he’d never ever have to hurt her.
John felt a nudge against his leg, followed by a very soft meow. “Oh, there you are,” he said. “Rosemary, Sasha’s here to see you.” He’d known that two feet of baby gate weren’t going to pose even a slight obstacle for the cat.
Rosemary froze. She stared down at the kitty monster, completely unable to speak. Every instinct told her that this kitty monster was going to kill her the way the other one had killed her family. Kitties were monsters, and that’s just how it was. As she watched, Sasha walked over to the middle of the carpet and rolled over on her back, exposing her belly. She looked over, locking eyes with Rosemary, and meowed another tiny meow.
“Wha…wha am kitteh munstah doin, daddeh?”
“Sasha’s not a monster, Rosemary. What she’s doing right there, well…she’s showing you her belly. That’s showing you that she’s not a threat to you, that she doesn’t want to hurt you. But it’s showing you that she trusts you, too. She wants you to feel comfortable around her.”
“Sossa no huwt Wosemawy?”
John shook his head. “No, sweetie. Sasha won’t hurt you.” Well, I’m pretty sure she won’t hurt you, anyway. But I’m going to be right here in case I’m reading the situation wrong. If she does, I’ll stop her before she can do anything.
Rosemary took a deep breath. “Pwease wet Wosemawy down on fwoow, daddeh.”
John set the fluffy down on the floor without saying a word, curious to see what was going to happen. A little worried. Rosemary trotted over to the cat, who looked down at her without budging. The fluffy stared up at the tabby.
“Hewwo, Sossa. You unnastan Wosemawy?”
John stifled a laugh. “No, sweetie. She can’t speak English like we do.” He couldn’t help himself and a chuckle slipped out.
Rosemary cocked her head at Sasha. “Kitteh wan be fwiend wif Wosemawy?” The cat didn’t answer, but she didn’t attack Rosemary. The fluffy figured if the cat hadn’t attacked her by now then she probably wasn’t going to. Rosemary stepped forward and nuzzled her face against Sasha’s side. “Sossa sof and fwuffy. Wawm.”
Sasha didn’t move, but she responded by starting to purr very loudly.
Rosemary took a step back, startled. “Daddeh, why Sossa make wumbwe noisies?”
This time John couldn’t help himself, and he laughed. “It means she’s happy, Rosemary. It’s called purring, and cats do it when they’re happy.”
“Wosemawy make Sossa su happies?”
“It looks like it.”
“Den Wosemawy wuv Sossa!” she exclaimed, moving forward again and nuzzling Sasha. Sasha carefully rolled over, making sure she didn’t crush the Rosemary. Then she wrapped her legs around the little fluffy and started carefully grooming her, licking her mane and her back.
“DADDEH!” Rosemary shouted. “WAT SOSSA DOIN NAO? FEEW WEIWD!”
“She’s bathing you, sweetie. She’s cleaning you! It’s what they do to their babies, or their siblings. Or they just do it when they really like another animal.”
“Feew weiwd,” she said, then giggled. “Sossa! Sossa, wicky-cweanies feew su weiwd! Am su wuff!”
“If it starts to hurt, just pull away from her and she’ll stop, okay? She does it to me, too.”
“Otay, daddeh. Wosemawy wet Sossa cwean fo nao. Wan make Sossa su happies.”
John stood up. “I’ll go get you some food. You haven’t eaten in forever. I’m surprised you haven’t complained about it yet.”
“Wosemawy haf wowstest tummeh huwties, but nu wan say anyfing.”
“Oh, no, Rosemary. Please always tell me when you’re hungry.”
“Otay, daddeh. Wiww pway wif Sossa untiw daddeh haf nummies.”
As he came back with the soft kibble, John heard Rosemary shrieking. He started to run, assuming the worst, but stopped at the door as he saw what was going on, and as Rosemary started giggling again. The shriek wasn’t one of fear or pain - it was one of joy.
Rosemary was kicking the ball, which was rolling across the carpet. Sasha was running after it, picking it up in her mouth, and bringing it back for Rosemary to kick again.
“DADDEH!” Rosemary shouted excitedly. “WOSEMAWY PWAY WIF SOSSA! SOSSA WUV PWAY WIF WOSEMAWY!”
He couldn’t believe it. Sasha had never fetched anything for him. But here she was, fetching a little foam ball for a fluffy that wasn’t even as big as a guinea pig. Sasha looked up at him and let out a happy little meow.
“Well, it looks like I don’t have anything to worry about. Now you’ve got a friend who will play with you while I’m at work.” He set the food dish down by her water bottle.
“Wha…wha am wowk? Daddeh gu way?” Rosemary looked like she was about to cry. “Pwease nu gu way, daddeh. Wosemawy nee daddeh.”
“I’ll have to do it, sweetie. Work is a place I go almost every day. If I didn’t go to work, I wouldn’t be able to afford this house for you. I wouldn’t be able to afford your toys or your nummies.”
“Oh.” The fluffy looked dejected, but sighed and nodded. “Daddeh haf gu to wowk. Wosemawy nu wike, but unnastan. Daddeh do wha daddeh haf to.”
“I promise I’ll always come back home to you. Now eat up and I’ll let you play with Sasha for a while. Tonight, I’ve got a very special dinner planned.”
Rosemary perked up. “Wha speshuw nummies, daddeh?”
“It’s a secret. Now eat up.”
“Otay, daddeh!” Rosemary dug into her kibble, babbling to herself between bites about secret special nummies.
===
Rosemary was completely exhausted before it was even time for dinner. She played with Sasha nonstop for two hours. They played fetch for a while, until Rosemary discovered a new game - she could chase Sasha around the room, running in circles. The cat was way too fast to be caught, especially with Rosemary giggling and yelling at her the entire time.
“WOSEMAWY CATCHOO, SOSSA!” she shouted. “CATCHOO! NU CAN WUN FOWEVAH!”
John heard the shouting from down the hall and had to come investigate. He watched as the two of them ran in circles for a good ten minutes. Finally Sasha let the fluffy catch her. She rolled over on her side and let Rosemary nestle into the fluff on her belly. He heard purring, but he couldn’t understand Rosemary’s muffled words as the little fluffy talked directly into the cat’s fur. Eventually they both fell asleep, Sasha curled protectively around the fluffy.
This is just stupid amounts of cute, he thought to himself. This is just absolutely fucking ridiculous.
===
They both slept for hours. He knew Sasha would sleep the day away in a heartbeat anyway, but he figured that Rosemary was probably exhausted from all of her sadness and anguish. He’d done a little more research while they slept, and he’d found that Rebekah was totally right - fluffies could die of a broken heart, and emotional trauma was particularly draining for them.
Rosemary woke up a little bit before dinnertime, and she yelled for John.
“DADDEH! WOSEMAWY NU SWEEPIES! WAN MAKE DADDEH PWOUD! WOSEMAWY MAKE GUD POOPIES NAO!”
Oh my god, why?
“You don’t have to tell me every time you make poopies and peepees, Rosemary! Daddy doesn’t need to know!”
“BUT WOSEMAWY WAN MAKE DADDEH PWOUD! DADDEH COME SEE WOSEMAWY MAKE GUD POOPIES!”
“Oh fuck no, absolutely not,” he called out. “I am absolutely not going to watch you take a shit.”
“OTAY DADDEH! WOSEMAWY MAKE POOPIES ANYWAY!”
Maybe this will be the weirdest thing she ever says to me. Maybe this is it. Deep down, though, he knew it wouldn’t be. Not at all.
He waited a bit and listened as she had a one-sided conversation with Sasha about how proud she was going to make her daddy, about how she was going to make sure she was the best fluffy ever. After a bit, he wandered into the safe room and announced that it was almost time for dinner.
“YAY DADDEH! SPESHUW NUMMIES FO WOSEMAWY, PWEASE?”
“Yes, special nummies for you. I need to check something first, okay?”
“Otay, daddeh.”
John reached down, lifted Rosemary, and placed her on the dresser. He didn’t want to do it, but he’d read that some fluffies had disastrously messy shit, and that sometimes it stuck to their fluff. Usually it was an issue with ferals who had bad diets, but it could happen to any fluffy. If he was going to sit her on the dining room table, even with a blanket there, he didn’t want her to be tracking shit around. He lifted her tail to inspect her fluff.
“Daddeh?” Rosemary asked, a concerned tone in her voice. “Wh…why daddeh wook at Wosemawy poopie pwace an’ speshuw pwace?”
Oh, hey. Looks like it CAN get more uncomfortable.
“I’m just checking to make sure there’s no poop left on your fluff. We have to keep you clean so you don’t track any poop anywhere, okay?”
“O…otay. Is otay if daddeh wook.” She didn’t sound completely convinced, but she didn’t try to pull away. He finished his inspection in just a few seconds - no poop anywhere, surprisingly - and picked her back up again.
“Good job, Rosemary. No poop anywhere except in your litterbox! I’m proud of you.”
She beamed at him, her eyes full of joy. “AM WOSEMAWY GUD FWUFFY?”
“You are a VERY good fluffy! How would you like to sit on the couch and watch TV while I cook dinner?”
“YAY! WOSEMAWY WUV TEE-BEE! WUV DADDEH! DADDEH AM BESTEST DADDEH EVAH!”
===
John set Rosemary down on a small blanket on the dining room table. “Now sweetie, you need to understand that the food we’re having tonight, it’s not going to be something we eat all the time, okay? We’ll have it sometimes, but not every night. If you’re a really good fluffy for a lot of days un a row, we’ll celebrate by eating this special food, okay?”
Rosemary nodded. “Unnastan, daddeh. Am onwee speshuw nummies.” Then a thought hit her, and she froze. No, no. There’s no way her daddy could be making her sketties. Her mother had told her about the legendary food, the best food in the entire world. There was no better food than sketties. She never, ever thought she’d see it, much less eat it. No. It couldn’t be sketties.
“Good.” He set a small saucer of water on the table in front of her, then set a small plate in front of her. The plate was loaded with…
“DADDEH DADDEH DADDEH DADDEH AM DIS SKETTIES? AM DIS SKETTIES? SMEWW SU SU SU SU PWETTY!” She was absolutely beside herself. She was spinning around in circles, making her self dizzy until she toppled backwards into her blanket.
John laughed. He’d cut the noodles into smaller pieces for her so that she could eat it more easily. It was a small portion for a small fluffy. A little sauce, a couple of bits of meat trimmed off of meatballs. “Yes, sweetie. This is spaghetti.”
“SKETTIES! SKETTIES SKETTIES SKETTIES!” She hopped back up and leaned down, sniffing the food. “DADDEH? AM OTAY FO WOSEMAWY NUM DEM SKETTIES NAO?”
“Yes, of course. You can eat.”
She tore into her meal with gusto. John sat across from her and ate his spaghetti a little less messily. After every couple of bites Rosemary would pause to shout about what a great daddy he was, how he was the best daddy in the entire world for giving her the best food in the entire world. He chuckled to himself, amazed at the overwhelming reaction.
As she ate, he thought to himself. John was pretty sure he’d done the right thing by adopting her. He knew that raising her was going to be challenging, that it was going to be hard sometimes. But deep down he thought he could do it. He was sure that everything was going to work out just fine.
He had no idea what was in store for him.
