‘I try to tell myself that. But you know what I’m like, I get overwrought; I worry about everything. I’m worried that since we’ve decided to have a baby it’ll consume me until it happens.’ Claire looked pensive. I also felt bothered about it; she was an anxious person and that’s why my getting her and Jonathan together had been a genius move on my part. Jonathan was a complex man – much like myself in many ways – but he treated Claire well. He was old fashioned in some respects and took care of her, at the same time letting her take care of the home, which she seemed to like. I didn’t fully understand it, being a cat, but I was learning. Jonathan was like a strong man who kept Claire from being too nervous and sad and she felt safe with him. He could be grumpy but he had a heart of gold and he was loyal to her. Loyalty is so important, I had discovered.
‘And that’s totally normal, although I really think you need to not let it take over. I mean look at all those unwanted pregnancies. I’m sure it’s because the girls don’t think about babies that they get knocked up.’ Polly laughed.
‘I can’t stop myself now, though.’ Claire smiled. ‘Although you’re right, I do need to relax.’ Claire went to the cupboard and pulled out a biscuit tin that she put on the table.
‘So what does Jonathan think?’ Polly asked, as she munched on a biscuit.
‘He thinks we should just enjoy trying and make the most of it, typical man.’ Claire smiled.
‘Then, try to do that. He’s right.’
‘I know, but unlike me Jon is all huff and puff; he’s got a short temper but then he’s able to let things go easily, he doesn’t stew on things thank goodness. I think he’ll make a good dad.’
Polly reached over and gave Claire’s hand a squeeze.
‘You’ll both make great parents, better than me anyway,’ she said with a sad smile.
‘Come on, Pol, when are you going to forgive yourself?’ Claire asked.
When I first met Polly she was in a bad way. It was discovered that she had post-natal depression which means you are sad after having a baby, and in a way I was responsible for her getting help. Henry was a happy, healthy baby and now he was a very contented little boy but it took a while before Polly got better. When she had baby Martha just over a year ago, she had been terrified that she would feel that way again, but thankfully she didn’t. They are now a happy family and I love having Henry and Martha as my playmates.
‘I don’t think I ever will. I know, deep down, it wasn’t my fault, but because everything was so good with Martha I guess I’ll always feel guilty about Henry. Anyway, that’s just something that I’ll have to accept; but you don’t need to worry about that.’ Polly looked pensive.
‘No, I am going to have enough trouble worrying about not getting pregnant.’ Claire paused. ‘My friend Tasha is having acupuncture.’
‘Ouch.’
‘Well she swears it doesn’t hurt. She and her boyfriend have been trying a while, and I’m kind of toying with giving it a go. It’s just Jon worries that the more I do to get pregnant the more of a state I’ll get into, like a vicious circle.’
‘I agree, and I couldn’t do it, I hate needles.’ Polly shuddered.
Claire poured more coffee and as I slid into a half-dozing state, they chatted about work and the house, the topic of babies safely abandoned.
‘Anyway, lovely, I better go, and make them all some lunch,’ Polly said as they finished their drinks. ‘But remember Franceska and the boys are coming over tomorrow. They want to see Alfie.’
I opened my eyes and miaowed loudly to say I wanted to see them too.
‘I swear that cat understands everything we say,’ Claire said, picking me up so we could both see Polly to the door.
Goodness, I loved my humans but they weren’t always very clever. Of course I could. I understood nearly everything anyway.
Despite Tiger’s best efforts, I was loath to go for our usual morning constitutional in case I missed a minute with Aleksy and little Tomasz. Aleksy was my first child friend ever; I met him when he moved to Edgar Road, and he and I had an unshakable bond as a result. Although I was fond of his younger brother, Tomasz – who confusingly had the same name as his dad – and of course Henry and Martha, Aleksy was my best child friend.
‘We can watch the empty house,’ I suggested to Tiger. It was close enough to Polly’s for me to keep an eye on both, and watch for the arrival of Aleksy. Since the activity on Friday night there had been nothing more happening, which made the empty house even more mysterious. Still no one seemed to live there.
‘Alfie, nothing is happening. I might go and see what the other cats on the street are doing,’ Tiger said huffily. I looked at her, with my most charming expression, but she wouldn’t look at me.
‘Women’, I thought to myself, an expression I had learnt from Jonathan.
‘OK, but we can play later,’ I suggested, still trying to placate her, but she stalked off. I knew she would sulk for a while but then she’d forget to be angry. Tiger didn’t hold grudges; that was why we remained good friends, but she could be temperamental. I had heard Jonathan saying that most women were, and Claire always shouted at him when he said that, so I am pretty sure he is right.
I padded around the front garden of the empty house on my own. The people who lived there previously were a house share; five young professionals – that was how Claire described them. Although they were nice enough they were barely there and had no interest in cats, so I was unfamiliar with the house.
There was no sign of anyone and, apart from the boxes and furniture, the house was still puzzlingly empty. I still hadn’t been able to figure out why they would have moved their stuff in, in the middle of the night, and not themselves. It made no sense. A mystery. I jumped up onto a low windowsill of a front room to make sure, but nothing had changed. As I jumped down I let my mind wander again, thinking about who might soon be living there. I imagined a lovely family, older children maybe, as I didn’t have any of them in my life. Hopefully they would be fish-lovers too (eating not keeping), so I would get plenty of treats. And I prayed that there would be absolutely, definitely no dogs.
I smiled to myself as I left the front garden and walked up the road to Polly’s house. When I first met Polly and Matt they lived in a flat but now they had a house. It was a lovely, cosy home. Polly had put a lot of work into the decor, and there were lots of pictures, photos and vibrant cushions in the living room. It made it very comfortable when I visited, and they even had a cat bed for me. After all, it was my second home.
I stood at the front door. I could have gone around the back to where they had put in a cat flap, but I wanted to greet Aleksy the minute he arrived. My little legs were almost shaking with excitement as I waited. The weather wasn’t too bad; it was warmish and there were glimpses of sun for me to bask in. I also spent a bit of time smelling the flowers that Polly had planted, lots of red, yellow and orange coloured buds. I was careful not to get too close; last year Tiger put her nose into a flower and had been stung by a bee. She had to go to the vet and was in a lot of pain, and then had to have a nasty injection. There was no way I wanted that to happen to me. After carefully sniffing from a safe distance, I lay down in a patch of sunlight, to sunbathe.
‘Alfie,’ a familiar voice said a little while later. I opened my eyes. Aleksy was standing over me, smiling. He looked such a big boy now – he’d recently had his seventh birthday – in his jeans and sweatshirt. He had been in England for three years and although I still knew little about Poland where they had come from,