Del and Beau

"Are you ready for another foster?"

"No, nope, nada, not ready, don't ask!"

"I have a beautiful tomcat who is lovely and warm and needs cuddling," Betsy said, hoping to spark Del's interest and seriously considering adopting him.

"I can't do it again. So many of them…so many I had to take to the vet to be put down. My heart is cracked."

Beau will heal your heart, I promise. Just come and meet him," Betsy hoped she sounded reassuring, not cajoling.

Del went to Betsy's, but her stomach was in knots. Her last foster cat, Riley, had colon cancer, and she had to decide whether to euthanize him.

Riley came to her as an abused guy, spitting and snarling until she rubbed that spot on his neck between the shoulder blades. He stopped squirming and hissing, as if considering his options. Del spoke quietly to him the entire time, in a low, sing-song voice. He curled into her lap, and that was that!

For eight years, they slept together, and he greeted her with friendly chirps when she came home from work. Then the fun began as he picked out special toys from his basket while she prepared his dinner. He ate eagerly, like big males do, acting as if he were starving. Afterwards, he waited patiently while she had her dinner and read her mail, but if she took too long, his large paw would gently dig into her thigh with one claw as he chirped at her.

It had been eleven months since she retrieved his ashes from the pet crematorium; she placed the small box in an honored spot among her plants under the window, where he loved to look out.

"Hiya, come on in." Betsy led Del into her kitchen, where a tea kettle was whistling. "Some Rooibos tea?" Del nodded in agreement and sat down. She was inhaling the scent of the tea when a fluttering feeling washed over her.

Turning, she realized the reason for that feeling. Beau's eyes were fixed on her, large green eyes with frosted eyebrows, a blend of brown and cream. She gasped, startled; Beau jumped into her lap, staring up at her. She scratched his broad, smoky gray forehead, and a low growl rumbled in his throat. He stood on his hind legs and rubbed his face against her cheek and nose.

"He found his person!" Betsy was grinning as she placed the tea in front of Del. "Want to know his story?" An hour later, Del was loading the seventeen-pound long-haired male into her car. Betsy placed a litter box, a cat bed, and a few catnip toys, along with a case of canned food from the holistic pet store, into the back. As Del drove, she kept her index finger inside his carrier to calm him.

Arriving home, she lugged the carrier inside to her laundry room and opened the door. Out pranced Beau, owning her house. He sauntered down the hall and into the bedroom, testing out the bed, then sniffed around in her closet. She could see him from the laundry room where she was preparing the litter box. He sniffed the air and stared at her. "That's right, big boy, here's your potty room. Come on." Beau trotted to her and arched his back as she scratched above his bushy, but crooked tail.

As promised, Betsy visited the next week and wasn't surprised to find Beau curled up on deceased Riley's window couch, sleeping. He greeted her with a chirp when she spoke, then closed his left eye, followed by his right, and rolled upside down to soak up the sun. Del gasped, thinking, He is so like Riley, I can't help but love him.

"What is it?" Betsy asked.

"Riley used to do that, exactly like Beau just did."

"Sunning upside down?"

"No, closing first the left, then the right eye. THEN rolling upside down to sun." Del's eyes filled with tears at the sight. "It's as if Riley has come back in Beau."

Copyright © 7/18/25 by Andrea O. Corwin

I am grateful you read my work! 😃 If you liked it, please like it ♡, drop a comment, and subscribe for free. - - Andi