CoffeeFlower - The Nature of Children

[troublewillfindme]

Tanya and her husband debate.

She’s not entirely sure why she was given this posting in the first place. She’s a battlefield strategist, not a scientist. She likes General Hayden, yes, and the rest of the staff. She just wonders if she wouldn’t be better used as something –anything– more suited to her skillset than a liaison.

She pinches the bridge of her nose; at least the so-called coffee shop has a respectable selection of teas.

She stares at her laptop, attempting to find something meaningful to write in the report. The farther from the field she has moved, the more onerous paperwork has become. She minimizes the window, resolved to take a break to clear head, and finds herself distracted by the image that greets her: Cecily sitting on John’s shoulders outside of her parents’ place in Pilsen, bundled in her winter best.

She’ll be glad to be back with them on Friday night, even if it means sitting through tourist traffic.

Her phone buzzes, snapping her from her thoughts.

John’s caller ID photo smiles up at her; she hadn’t realized she’d been at it so long. “Miláčku?”

“Maminka!” A happy voice chirps.

“Cecilka, zlatíčko! Where’s Daddy?”

“He’s coming. He made Nahý angry again.”

Tanya shakes her head; she can’t imagine the cause of tonight’s skirmish.

“Were you a good girl for him?”

Her daughter giggles. “Yes, Maminka. Oh, wait---”

There is the sound of something on the other end and Cecily’s voice is somehow distant, but now distinctly joined by another. “Tanya?”

“John? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. More importantly, the kids are too. How ---”

“Kids?” 

“Cess, Libuše, Nahý ---”

“John --- Libuše, Nahý, and the others are cats. And not even our cats.”

“Nahý sleeps in Cess’s bed. Libuše sleeps on you when you’re home, and on me when you aren’t. They’re certainly ours.”

She sighs, exasperated, though it’s more by her absence around the house than by her husband’s incomprehensible insistence that the four cats who happen to hang around are somehow theirs.

“Are you alright? Cess mentioned something about Nahý being upset.”

“He jumped into the tub again.”

“With Cess?”

“And started trying to groom her. As she was taking a bath.”

Tanya laughs. The cats aren’t theirs and certainly aren’t hers, but the persnickety sphinx had taken a shine to her daughter. He’d curled up at the floor of her crib when they’d first brought her home, and slept at the foot of her bed ever since she’d outgrown that.

He’d even taught her to meow, a fact which still occasionally gives her pause.

“What happened?”

“I went to take him out, and he took offense. I’ve got a nice chunk missing from one of my sleeves.”

“I don’t know why he gets so upset with you. He lets me take him out of the tub every time. Did you scare him?”

“It’s because he’s your cat,” her husband insists. “He lets me stay because you like me.”

She shakes her head, though the gesture is lost over the phone.

“Look, I’m just finishing up, and I’m about to head back to my place. I’ll Skype you when I’m there?” 

“We’ll see you soon. Be safe getting back.”

She hangs up, and begins to gather up her things. She doesn’t know where John gets these crazy ideas.