The joy at seeing everyone smiling and laughing as the day progressed made warm fuzzy feelings assault my chest. My dad had went back to prepping dinner, and despite all of us offering to help, he just chuckled and waved us off. He said that the magic came from him doing everything himself, and my mom just sighed and shook her head.
"That doesn't even make sense..." She said, then paused, and stared at my elven lover, my kitsune lover, and then at me. "Actually... nevermind. Come kids, I can show you something that I think you'll all like."
"Oh boy..." I muttered, wondering just what she was about to show us. Knowing her, it's probably going to be something that is going to embarrass me.
My girls giggled at my thoughts, and they felt way too eager for the chance to see that as they followed behind my mom eagerly. I sighed as I followed in step behind them, and followed them to the end of the hall where all of the bedrooms were located. My mom stopped in front of the spare bedroom the house had, and opened it. As she did, the sounds of small noises caught my attention, as well as my girls as both of their ears began to twitch. The sounds were soft and cute meows, which caused my girls to squeal as they ran inside behind my mom.
As I made it to the door of the room, I too had to fight the urge to squeal like the girls did. The room was full of knick knacks and boxes, as well as a spare bed, a dresser that we've had ever since I was a kid, and other odds and ends that my parents never threw away. However, it was what was in the right corner of the room that caught my eye, where my girls where already at, kneeling down and making cute cooing noises.
"OH MY GOD! THEY'RE SO CUTE!" Nadia squealed as she began gushing over the kittens in the corner of room.
"I think I'm in love all over again." Liz said, sending me an apologetic thought as she began gently rubbing one of the kitten's heads with her finger.
I laughed as I walked over and knelt down beside them. There was a large cat bed padded by a soft and silky looking blanket, in which laid the mother of the kittens. She was currently cleaning one of her kittens as it snuggled into her. There were 4 kittens in total, and Liz and Nadia were currently rubbing the heads of the two of them. However, when I looked closer... I saw that there were actually 5 kittens, and my mom was currently holding that one as she held a tiny bottle to its mouth. I scooted closer to her.
"Is this one sick or something?" I asked, and my mom shook her head, then stopped, and shrugged.
"I don't know, but Clover won't take care of him. She doesn't clean him, doesn't nurse him, and even swats and hisses at him. She's just rejecting him." She said, and I instantly felt bad for the little guy.
He was insanely cute. He was a grey color but had spots of black and brown on his face, as well as an equally varied color pattern on his tail. Even as a kitten, he had decently lengthy fur, but it obviously wasn't as long as his mother's, Clover, as my mom had mentioned. I don't know how any creature could resist loving on something this fucking cute, but I guess that was the difference between myself and a cat.
"That's awful... he seems like such a good boy." Liz said, as she reached over and rubbed his little head, causing him to let go of the bottle and squeak.
"Poor baby." Nadia said, similarly reaching over to stroke his fur.
When she stopped, though, he began crying and squeaking up a storm. I actually couldn't believe what I was seeing as the little kitten began pawing at the air towards my redhead, who looked at the kitten with building affection. She reached out again, and this kitten wrapped his tiny arms around her wrist, and began licking her fingers. I actually thought I saw the onset of tears appearing in her eyes.
"Oh my, I think he likes you, Nadia." My mom said with a soft smile, and then held the kitten out to her, and she didn't hesitate to take the little guy from her, and bring him to her chest.
"Hi baby... you're so small and cute, aren't you?" Nadia said, cooing at the kitten as it rubbed it's head against her ample chest.
The kitten wasn't very old by any means, but it was old enough that it's eyes with opened, if heavily slanted. I'd wager at least a couple of weeks, but I also didn't know for sure. I knew fuck all about that kinda thing, I just loved animals. They were so cute and innocent, and were usually only as bad as their owners or masters. Nadia smiled as she rubbed his tiny head.
"How dare your mother not take care of you. You're such a sweet little boy, aren't you?" She said sweetly.
"You know..." My mom said, looking at the scene with a smile, before looking at me, "I can't realistically keep all of these kittens. I have been talking to a few friends at work that would love to take one of them. You three... wouldn't want to take one with you by chance, would you?"
The question made me pause. My initial thought was, hell yes. I haven't had an animal in so long, since I lived my mom and dad, and seeing the look in Nadia's eyes as my mom asked that question made me want to say yes immediately. I think I already knew which one we would take. I loved animals, and all we needed was to buy the necessary supplies. Litter box, cat food, and so on. The issue was that it wasn't my home, it was Liz's. Particularly, her parents home, and it was a big thing to ask for-
"We'd love to!" Liz abruptly said, cutting off my thoughts as she reached over and began stroking underneath the kitten's chin, "He's so cute, and I don't think we'd be able to tear Nadi away from him at this point."
From looking at Nadia's face, I couldn't deny that, and the bond told me just as much. The amount of care and affection she felt for this little bundle of fur already was... very cute, and very much like her. Her eyes watered at Liz's words, and love for the kitten in her arms surged. It was hard not to love something as cute as he was.
"Really??" Nadia exclaimed, a wide smile appearing on her face as she looked down and smiled as the kitten in her arms, "What do you think little baby? Can I be your mama?"
The question to the kitten was said with such warmth and conviction that it made my eyes sting. I had not paid it much mind, but when kids, or in this case, this little kitten was involved, the bond showed me that Nadia had very strong motherly instincts. And right now, those instincts were telling her to love, take care of, and cherish the little bundle of fur in her arms.
The kitten actually rubbed his face into her chest, and I felt a small pang of jealousy at that, wishing I was in his shoes at the moment... or his paws? Regardless, it was damned adorable, and when he began purring, I knew it was game over for my kitsune. Her eyes teared up as it seemed like he was actually answering her, giving his ascent to her question, and I honestly couldn't refute that. Being a kitsune did give her a deeper connection to nature and whatnot, and it wouldn't be odd for it to also give her a deeper connection to animals in the same sense.
"I think I'm actually going to die." She mumbled as she kissed him on his tiny head several times.
Such a wholesome sight had my insides feeling like jelly, and they got even squishier when Liz bent over to place a kiss on his head as well.
"Are you opposed to two mamas?" Liz asked, and the kitten responded with a small squeak before rubbing his nose on her cheek.
Her eyes actually opened a bit wider for a second, before water collected in hers as well. She didn't full on cry like Nadia did, but it was a touching moment for her. I reached over and used a finger to stroke his chin, and he actually leaned into my touch, and rubbed his chin along my finger. I guess we were all going to die from cuteness overload today, aren't we?
"I guess that means I'm your dad now, huh?" I asked, causing him to squeak again.
"That sounds like a yes to me!" My mom said, looking positively vibrant, "I'm telling you, despite what people think, I know they understand us. They just choose to ignore most of the time, and instead not knocking my damn cup of coffee off of the counter, they do it anyways to see how I'll react."
That actually caused the rest of us to burst out laughing, before turning back to look at our new little man.
"What should we name him?" I asked, causing Liz and Nadia to pause, and then get lost in thought for a moment.
"I'm... not sure." Nadia admited, and Liz nodded.
"Babe, you should choose a name." Liz said, and that brought up a little short.
I, like most men, was not good with names. I was really hoping that they had an idea, but when I felt the bond, they were genuinely unsure, but it was also a bit mischievous in how strongly they wanted me to pick a name for him. It actually made me sigh out loud, before I thought about it for while.
I thought about several names, both good and not good for an animal. Some were cute, some were cool, and some were just out there. I briefly thought about just saying something stupid like, "Steve," but I don't think that would be very well received. He was so cute and fluffy that I felt he deserved a good name. I sent several ideas of names through the bond that I was having, and while a lot of them were well received, we all also acknowledged that none of them felt...
"Oh! I like that!" Nadia said, as a random name went through my head based on a video game.
"That is nice. It's cool and cute." Liz added, and I blinked.
"Huh. Really?" I asked, and they both nodded at me.
"Um... what is going on?" My mom asked, and I looked at her confused face, and then let out a small chuckle.
"I'll tell you in a bit." I told her, realizing that I completely neglected to tell her about my ability to bond with my girls on the level that we had.
"Do you like the name, Arty?" Nadia asked and she stroked the kitten's back, and he squeaked, and buried his face deeper into Nadia's glorious chest.
"I think that's a yes." Liz laughed, and also began to pet our little guy.
I was surprised how well it actually fit. I was just thinking of random names, my brain flipping through different pieces of literature and media until it landed on one that I actually paused on, mainly because of how much I liked the name, and how much I enjoyed the fight against this boss. The boss in question was Artorias the Abysswatcher from the first Dark Souls game in the DLC. Once I began to play around with that name in my head, I found that I actually quite liked it, and my girls definitely seemed to agree. The shortened name was cute, but it was cool as hell, at least in my opinion, considering who it was based off of.
"Arty it is." I said, and my girls smiled as they cooed and talked to Arty like one would talk to an infant.
While they did that, I briefly explained to my mom about our bond, and subsequent mental connection from that bond. To her credit, she just nodded, and even if her eyes were slightly wider, she accepted it easily enough.
"I guess that doesn't make any more or any less sense than everything else you've told me." She said, making me chuckle.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." I grinned, and she smiled as she looked over at my girls gushing over Arty.
"I know he'll be well taken care of. He should be able to eat actual food in a couple of weeks. Despite being neglected, he's a fighter." She said, and I looked on with silent affection in my heart watching how caring the girls were towards the newest member of our family.
As I was sitting there, the smell of food wafted through the air, coming through the open window in the bedroom. I stood, and walked over to the window, and peered outside. There was my dad, with a dopey grin on his face as he stood in front of the grill out back, turning over and the steaks he had prepared. It smelled so fucking good.
"I'm going to go and see if your father needs help." My mom said, and abruptly stood back up, with more of a spring in her step than ever before, and hummed a happy tune as she strolled out of the room.
"Liz... thank you. My mom looks happier than she has in a long time." I told her, and that made her smile at me as she stood up, walked up to me, and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
"She's wonderful, Sid. She deserves this..." She said, and then gave me a cute little smile that melted my insides, "Also... I really think you having a younger sibling we could all dote on sounds nice."
I wrapped her in a hug, trying not to cry and failing spectacularly. I never even considered that possibility, or how it would make me feel, but now that I was, I had to admit that it did sound nice. Like... really nice.
"I love you." I mumbled into her hair, and she rubbed her cheek into my chest.
"I love you too." She replied.
A soft pair of lips met my cheek, and I turned my head to the side to see Nadia standing there with a smile. Then I let out a small laugh at the adorable bundle of fur that had found its current home, nestled into Nadia's cleavage. He had good taste, if anything, as it was definitely a wonderful place to rest your head.
"He looks comfortable." I grinned, also just admiring Nadia's perky tits.
My gaze and my thoughts made Nadia giggle, before she leaned forward and planted a kiss of her own on my lips.
"Don't forget that I love you too." She said softly, and I reached up and began to rub one of her adorable fox ears, making her body shutter.
"How could I ever forget the love of my gorgeous fox?" I said, leaning in and kissing her again, "Love you too."
Both girls nuzzled themselves into my neck, and we just stood there for a time, basking in the sense of family, as well as just the wonderful peace and quiet that being so far up north was providing. Soon though, as the smells of the steaks, as well as more food that wormed its way inside from the kitchen reached our senses, my stomach rumbled. The girls let out small giggles, but that stopped pretty quickly as Nadia's stomach also growled, causing her face to immediately turn a cute shade of pink. I smirked at her while Liz covered her mouth to try and hide her laughter.
"Okay... maybe I'm pretty hungry too." Nadia said, and Arty squeaked from in between her breasts.
"Didn't you just eat little baby?" Liz asked as she stroked his head.
"He's a growing boy." I said in his defense.
"Mama will give you whatever you want, yes I will." Nadia said she took him out of her shirt, held him up to her face, and began to rub their noses together.
The sight was just too fucking cute. Plus... yeah I probably would too. How could you not? Together, we all walked out of the bedroom, and made our way to the kitchen. My stomach rumbled again, as we made it to the kitchen, and it was so loud that my mom turned from the stove, and have me a playful smile.
"Do you kids want to help? We're gonna eat outside, and I need help bringing this all out there when it's done." She said, gesturing to the various pots and pans she was monitoring on the stove.
"I'll set the table. It's the picnic table I saw outside, right?" Liz asked, and my mom nodded, and pointed to a cupboard next to her, and the drawer underneath it.
"Plates, bowls, and cups are up there, and the silverware is in the drawer." She said, and Liz nodded as she got to her task.
"I can grab the condiments and stuff from the fridge." Nadia said, and my mom smiled.
"I made some fresh lemonade if you want to grab that too. Oh, and grab the salt and pepper." My mom said, and Nadia beamed as she also got to work, quite eager to do so.
"Anything for me to do?" I asked, and my mom gave a movement of her shoulder that beckoned me over.
"Help me with this? And then help me bring it out?" She asked me.
"Of course." I replied, and she smiled at me.
"Oh! Are you making dessert later?" Nadia suddenly asked, causing us to turn around and look at her.
I can say with complete fucking confidence that if Heinz used the image I was currently seeing of Nadia holding a bottle of steak sauce while bent over the counter towards us, their sales would skyrocket, because damn she was sexy. The cute little kitten nestled into her chest only helped matters in that regard. And it was her chest, so obviously I vehemently approved. My mom didn't have the internal battle that I was currently having with my libido, so she answered immediately.
"I will later, yes. Would you like to help me, dear?" My mom asked, and Nadia's smile showed her perfect white teeth.
"Yes! I saw all of the ingredients you had on the counter," She said, pointing a thumb towards where there were numerous boxes for cakes and brownies, as well as raw ingredients like brown sugar, a bunch of different nuts, and chocolate chips, "I think we can make something pretty amazing with that."
Her enthusiasm was infectious, and my mom looked so carefree and happy right now that I actually just felt complete. Yeah, I had a lot I needed to do and figure out after this weekend, for right now, I pushed all of that aside, and just focused on what was right here in front of me. Two outstanding women, my amazing parents, and now, we even had a cat. How can life get better?
My stomach informing me of how it wanted to devour everything in sight made me think of another good thing to add to that list.
"I'm fucking starving."