The Ace's Place

My collar turned up against the harsh wind and the rain pelted me as I walked from my point A to my point B. I had arrived at my destination. It was small, at least on the outside. Once a cheerful yellow; it was now faded to a gray color, although it still tried its best to be cheerful. The place I called home had a small black kitten with a white spot between its ears waiting for me on the top step. She was one of our four cats. She circled my legs at least six times before I could get my key out of my pocket. Then a dozen more before the door opened. I heard the faint noise of happy barking coming from within. I knew the two dogs waiting inside were as excited to see me.

I let Tuff inside and continued to the second floor. The first floor had a kitchen, bathroom, three rooms that are supposed to be bedrooms, and a living room. The second floor had a bathroom and a large open space we had created for the animals. The spoiled things even had a smaller bedroom for our pet’s beds, toys, and food.

I walked into the open space and was immediately smothered in a hug. I laughed as she almost tackled me back down the stairs. She let go and I set to the task of saying hello to the animals and feeding them. It was my job as only one cat was hers...I had brought in the others from the street. Once they were all eating like they hadn’t eaten in years, I flopped on the couch while taking off my wet flannel.

She grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and covered the both of us as I snuggled closer for warmth. She always knew if I was having a bad day and she always knew exactly the right way to fix everything. She unpaused the movie she had in and we watched in a happy, comfortable silence. Once the animals finished eating and joined us, we made room, even though we didn’t all really fit. The twins Tuff, and her brother Fluff, settled behind us on the back of the couch. Fluff was the opposite of Tuff, white with black between his ears. Kevin, our tabby, ’her’ only animal, settled on her lap. Science, our loud-mouthed orange cat scurried after him and settled on my lap with a loud meow. Our handsome mutts settled one on one side of her and one on the other side of me. Our brown dog Matt was with her. His huge head took up the part of her lap that didn’t have Kevin, while the black dog Max did the same to me.

We were the picture of a happy family. Hallmark would’ve paid for that photo. We stayed that way for about an hour until our company arrived. Matt and Max jumped down almost in synchrony to protect the rest of us. They had almost made it to the front door when Adam and Evelyn walked in without a single knock.

We didn’t move, and within a minute the other couple had situated themselves on the other couch. It was one of the three other pieces of furniture in the otherwise open space. The other two were the table between the couches and the tv. They were quickly joined by the two dogs, who were vigorously sniffing them from head to toe hoping for a treat. Once the dogs gave up their quest; Eve and Adam reached underneath the couch and pulled out a board game.

We voted on Mad Gab, and as usual, we destroyed them, winning four games out of five. Soon enough, they admitted defeat for the final time. They said goodnight and walked downstairs to their bedroom. One of the others was ours, and the third was a library as well as a game room. We tried to play a game against each other, but it wasn’t as fun, so we soon put it away and headed downstairs.

She needed to shower, and I did too, but I hadn’t eaten yet. I let her get the hot water while I warmed up dinner. She had made it for me while I was at work since today was her day off. As my food warmed up, I put the blanket in the dryer for her so she would be warm when she got out. Our heater was broken and it was cold and damp from the rain. I had finished eating and was grabbing the blanket out of the dryer when I heard the water shut off. I grabbed the blanket and ran to the bathroom door. When she opened it she found herself enveloped in a toasty, fuzzy, blanket. She was laughing so hard as I ran with her hugged in my arms, that she was completely out of breath when I pushed her onto the bed.

Once I had tucked her in so tight she couldn’t get cold, and she had finally regained even breathing, I got my shower. By the time I had come out, she was asleep. She had put in my favorite movie in our 1999 tv, and the title screen was showing up as I got into bed. I pushed play and snuggled into my own blanket as the theme played in the background.