Toby nodded. Shock graced his face, as if he’d never seen anything like it before. He probably hadn’t. Neither had George, who was now playing with the wrapping paper that Summer discarded as if it was the best present in the world and as if he hadn’t just nearly ruined our beautiful tree. I turned my head to Claire. She had tears in her eyes as she pulled out her phone and took pictures of the children, my kitten and Jonathan by the Christmas tree. I felt emotional as well as I went and rubbed against her legs.
‘Oh, Alfie, this is the best Christmas ever,’ Claire said as she picked me up. I blinked at her and purred my agreement.
‘I really need coffee,’ Jonathan said, as the children took a break from present-opening.
‘Mummy, Daddy, I love Peppa Pig,’ Summer announced as she played with her Peppa Pig playhouse. Toby was playing with a remote control car, exclaiming that it was the best present in the whole world. Jonathan went and put his arm around Claire.
‘This is such a whirl, I’m exhausted. But I’ll make us coffee and then I’ll give you your gift.’ He kissed her.
‘What about George and Alfie? Can we give them their presents first?’ Claire said.
‘Oh yes, come on, boys, we’ve got a special Christmas breakfast for you.’
I really hoped it was pilchards.
As George and I tucked into our pilchards – they were big juicy ones from the fishmonger – we enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet.
‘This Christmas business is quite overwhelming,’ George said. ‘All that stuff everywhere. Although I really like the paper and the boxes.’
‘I know, and we are the lucky ones, George, look at us, fish for breakfast, a stocking full of toys and cat treats for us to enjoy later, a loving family and not to mention that after a big lunch we will get some yummy turkey. Honestly, you will see what a lucky kitten you are this Christmas.’
‘Of course I’m lucky, I’ve got you.’ George nuzzled me and I grinned. I was the lucky one actually.
I had an idea. ‘George, would you like to give me a Christmas present?’ I asked.
‘Course I would. Dad,’ he replied, sweetly.
‘Please, no more climbing the Christmas tree.’ I had my paws crossed.
‘Oh, I can do that. I promise I won’t climb it ever again. It was too scary when I thought I might fall down.’
Breakfast was a distant but lovely memory by the time we went outside for a breath of air and also in the hope that we would see Tiger, my cat girlfriend, who George thought of as his mum. It was becoming parents to George that had brought us together, and we were very happy in our roles and our relationship. I had been madly in love once, with a cat called Snowball who lived next door. At that time Tiger and I were only friends. But when Snowball moved away, leaving me heartbroken, Tiger did all she could to help me and when George was adopted as my kitten, she took on a motherly role, which made me see her in a different light. I was an older and, I liked to think, wiser cat by then, and so a relationship with Tiger was what I needed. We had been friends for a long time, she kept my paws firmly on the ground and I made her more adventurous. We complemented each other and being parents to George, who liked to get himself into scrapes, was definitely a bonding experience. He kept us both on our paws.
The cold nipped at us as soon as we entered the garden, but we kept going. The sky was thick and grey, it was early still. I could tell that it was going to be a crisp winter’s day, there was a little frost sticking on the grass, which made walking quite uncomfortable, cold and wet. We didn’t hang around, as we ran to Tiger’s.
We lurked at her back door, under a bush, out of sight of her humans in case they came out. They didn’t mind George but they didn’t like me being around. I couldn’t think why; most people seemed to think I was quite a charming cat. Before long I heard the clang of the cat flap and Tiger emerged.
‘Tiger mum!’ George bounded up to her and they nose-kissed. It always melted my heart to see the love between them, I was a softy when it came to those I loved, humans and cats alike.
‘Happy Christmas,’ I said, trying to keep my emotions in check.
‘To you both too,’ Tiger replied. ‘Gosh, you are early though, I had barely woken up. Anyway, George, how is your first Christmas so far?’ she asked with a swish of her tail.
‘Well, Santa brought me wrapping paper and we got pilchards for breakfast so so far it’s the best day ever!’ George’s enthusiasm was so refreshing; I know it taught me a lot. I loved the way that he made me see things through his eyes, as if I was seeing them for the first time. That was the joy of kittens and children if you paid enough attention to them.
‘And he jumped on the Christmas tree and nearly sent it flying,’ I added. George conveniently left that out.
‘Oh, George,’ Tiger said, but she didn’t sound cross, she was amused. I was the disciplinarian in this parenting duo.
‘How is your day so far, Tiger?’ I asked.
‘It’s barely started! But you know, my family have a very quiet Christmas. We haven’t exchanged gifts yet, although I get one of those cat stockings every year so, surprise! Thankfully they are cooking a proper Christmas dinner but really Christmas is for the kids, isn’t it?’ She nuzzled George.
‘It is, you should see Toby, he’s so happy now. I think he was so scared by the whole thing, I don’t think he’d had very good Christmases before, which is really upsetting, but he’s playing with his toys and he’s having a lovely time now.’
George was playing with a leaf which was wet as the frost had melted and drops kept falling onto his head. We laughed as he tried to brush the water away, indignantly, with his paws.
‘And Summer?’
‘Summer is Summer. She’s obsessed with this pig called Peppa, and she’s got toys, games and all sorts. She’s still our little ray of sunshine. They’re all happy, which makes me happy.’ I snuggled into Tiger and grinned. Life was good right now, and Christmas was just the icing on the (fish) cake. I was always conscious of the fact that me and all my families had been through tough and challenging times, so when things were good I had learnt to appreciate them. I was an optimistic cat but even I knew the good times didn’t always last. In fact they rarely did.
‘Well, long may it last,’ Tiger said, echoing my thoughts. ‘Are you seeing your other families today?’ I swished my tail; I had told Tiger, but she had a terrible memory.
I had three families altogether. Claire and Jonathan’s was my main home, but also on Edgar Road lived Polly and Matt, Henry and Martha. Franceska, big Tomasz, Aleksy and little Tomasz (who now insisted on being called Tommy) lived a few streets away but I had met them on Edgar Road when I first moved here and they moved from Poland. Aleksy, being the oldest of the children, was my first child friend – he and I are still best friends actually.
‘Well Polly and Matt have gone to Manchester to spend Christmas with their parents and Tomasz and Franceska have gone to Poland. It’s very exciting for them; their first Christmas back there since they moved to England. I miss them but they’ll all be back before New Year. We’re all going to be together on New Year’s Eve in fact.’
‘Does that mean you get turkey again?’ Tiger’s eyes were wide with envy.
‘I hope so!’ I grinned. I hadn’t thought of that.
‘And have you heard from Tasha?’
‘We Skyped her yesterday.’ I was a cat of the computer age after all. Although it was Claire who’d actually called her on the computer, I’d sat on her lap so I could see her and Elijah.
Tasha was Claire’s best friend and one of mine. Her son Elijah was almost the same age as Summer. She had gone through a bad break-up with Elijah’s dad and lived on Edgar Road for a while, becoming another family for us. Then Claire