The 37 Days of Gusmas Title: Rage the Kitten Grows Up, Parts 15-23 Author: Rebel Prompts: Cooking, Hanukkah, Lights, Candle image, Ghosts of Christmas past, Shopping, Christmas is for children, Blizzard image, Blue Christmas image Notes: Part 1 is here, and the rest of the parts are linked from there so you can follow along from the beginning.
15.
Rage woke up just the way he went to sleep: alone. He didn't like that, but it wasn't the first time it had happened. Usually it meant there would be a nice person in the kitchen making food, but when he went downstairs, he was still alone.
He sat on the counter, contemplating the empty room. He walked all over the house, and it was still empty. And he was still hungry.
The refrigerator sat there, implacable and impenetrable, like always. The specially designed trash can, the same. There were no lovely smells of cooking, and there was no Justin.
16.
Melanie stood behind Gus, gently guiding his hand to the first candle. It flared up at the same moment her daughter burst into tears.
Lindsay laughed, and bounced her. "It's time to smile, Jenny," she said softly. "It's the miracle of the lights."
After dinner, Melanie was just finishing the dishes when Lindsay came into the kitchen. "I finally got them to sleep."
Mel punched the start button on the dishwasher. "And I finally got the dishes done." She smiled at Lindsay. "And now we'll celebrate the first night of Hanukkah sitting in front of Ben and Michael's Christmas tree."
16.
Candles flickered and tree lights sparkled. Lindsay curled into Melanie's side, hands sliding into her hair, foreheads touching.
"See?" Lindsay said. "The perfect blended holiday celebration."
Melanie laughed and nipped at Lindsay's finger. "I haven't decided if they're going to grow up hopelessly confused or on some whole new plane of cultural evolution."
"I wish you didn't have to go." Lindsay's voice whispered against Melanie's ear.
"I wish I didn't either." Mel's hand stroked Lindsay's hair. "But I've noticed that when I don't work, no one gives me money." She nuzzled Lindsay's neck. "Let's not think about it right now."
17.
The candles were burning low when Lindsay's cell phone rang in the other room.
She ignored it. The lights were so soft, and Melanie's arms were so warm… and they hadn't been alone since they'd landed in Pittsburgh.
Ignoring the phone worked as a strategy only until Melanie's jeans started ringing.
Mel dug her cell phone out of her pocket, and then frowned. "It's Michael," she said, and flipped it open. "Yeah?"
Lindsay watched her face, and what she saw wasn't reassuring. "What?" she asked. "What is it, Mel?"
"It's Justin," Mel answered, her face pale. "There's been an accident…"
18.
It had been all day. Rage couldn't understand why no one had fed him, or cleaned his boxes. He couldn't understand why Justin wasn't there. It was like the bad time last Christmas, when he was in the veterinary place after he tasted the lights on the sparkly tree. He hunched down and shivered, thinking about it, even though the computerized heating system kept all the rooms nice and warm.
"Mew," he said sadly. "Meeewwww."
His ears slanted forward when he heard a car in the driveway. But he could tell from the sound it wasn't Justin's car, or Brian's.
19.
The door opened, and Michael stepped inside. "Here, kitty kitty kitty," he said. "Rage!"
"Just go into the kitchen," said a female voice. "He'll come when he hears you opening the refrigerator."
The two people went into the kitchen, and Rage quietly followed.
"Well, hello, kitty," Michael said. Then he looked at Lindsay. "How did you know that? You guys don't even have a cat."
She shrugged. "I'm a lesbian. We know these things."
Michael reached into the grocery bag, and pulled out a can of cat food. "I wonder if they have such a thing as a can opener?"
20.
Lindsay found the can opener. "I'm glad the kids were asleep when you called," she said softly. "I hope by the time they wake up, we have good news." She shook her head. "Gus has been so excited about Hanukkah and Christmas, and seeing his father…"
Michael scooped the food into Rage's bowl, and set it on the floor while Lindsay re-filled his water bowl. "God, poor Brian. I can't fucking believe…"
"I know." Her voice was strained, and Rage listened very hard to see if they were talking about his Justin. But they didn't mention his name, not once.
21.
Rage ate the inferior grocery store brand of cat food, because with these two in charge, it was hard to know when his next meal was coming.
"I'll go clean his boxes," the woman said.
Michael threw the empty can into the trash, and sat at the table, watching Rage eat. When the cat was entirely finished, he sat at Michael's feet, cleaning his face with his paw.
"Justin's in the hospital," Michael told him.
Rage narrowed his eyes and stared. His Justin? In the bad place?
"Meeeereeewwww," he said, angrily. "Meeerrreeewww."
Michael nodded sadly. "I know, Rage. I know."
22.
All the next day, no one came. Rage watched the snow falling and falling outside the window, too sad to even shred the leather sofa.
He was half asleep on Justin's pillow when the one with the bouncy hair came. Rage held himself very tense when she tried to put him in his box, because he thought they were going to the bad veterinary place.
"We have to go," Daphne said to him. "There's a bad storm coming. I don't want you snowed in out here." Her voice caught. "Justin wouldn't want that. So I'm bringing you to the loft."
23.
Brian stood just inside the loft. He hadn't slept in four days. He wasn't sure he was awake now.
And he had no fucking idea why he was there, except that Daphne had said something about getting a few hours sleep. That she'd sit there until he was back.
Brian didn't turn on the lights, just peeled off his dirty clothes and crawled under the duvet. Fucking holiday spirit, fucking lights and trees and presents. Fuck everything and everyone that wasn't Justin awake and next to him.