Chapter 96

Kiki woke in her apartment the next morning with Prissy rubbing against her shoulder, trying to wake her. It was their usual morning routine. Prissy heard the alarm, Kiki hit the snooze, and Prissy went to work. This morning, the cat didn't need the alarm. The rays of sunshine glaring through the windows was enough.
As she began to gain consciousness, memories of the day before rushed to her mind. The memory of spending a would-be Christmas with Taren and his family. The memory of Abby opening her gifts, of sled riding with her and Taren. Kiki's fear when Abby nearly froze, and the relief when she recovered.
Prissy meowed loudly in her ear as she nuzzled against Kiki's arm again, determined to wake her this time. She knew Prissy really must have missed her.
"Okay, I'm getting up." Kiki sat up on the edge of the bed and Prissy nuzzled against her, wanting to be petted. "You don't seem to know that I haven't gone back to work yet, do you?"
Prissy looked up at her as if Kiki had lost her mind, and then mewed loudly.
A smile spread across her face. "Yes, I missed you, too." Kiki laid back down and tucked Prissy under her arm, attempting to go back to sleep.
But Prissy wouldn't have it. She wiggled and pushed until she had freed herself from Kiki's grasp and began mewing in her ear again.
"Prissy, this is the first chance I've had to sleep in since I got out of the hospital." Kiki turned over and dragged the pillow over her head. "Let me sleep."
Kiki felt Prissy's soft muzzle against her hand- and then a sharp pain as she bit down on her hand.
"Ow!" Kiki sat straight up. "What did you do that for?"
The cat looked indignant, as if to say that if she had gotten out of bed when she was supposed to, that she wouldn't have had to resort to such extreme measures.
Luckily, Prissy hadn't drawn blood. She had just given her a love bite, or so Kiki told herself.
Kiki sat up and looked down at the cat. "Okay! I'm up!"
Prissy rubbed against her, satisfied. Then she scampered off toward the kitchen.
Kiki looked out the big picture window and, luckily, it had stopped snowing, leaving the ground covered in a pristine white blanket. As she got out of bed and slipped into her robe, memories of the past few days came to her again. Kiki thought that it was really nice of Taren and Evelyn to invite her to celebrate with them, and she looked forward to seeing them again. She found that she missed Taren already.
As she browsed through the cabinets looking for something to eat, thoughts of Taren rushed to her mind. She pulled the box of oatmeal from the shelf and saw a bag of chocolate chips, along with a small can of sweetened condensed milk on the shelf, too, among other things. Whoever had stocked her apartment really did a good job.
As she measured and poured water into the pan, preparing to make the oatmeal, she couldn't get Taren out of her mind. His bulging muscles that played under his T-shirt, his blue eyes, his dark blond hair with perpetual streaks, even in the winter- but what she liked about him most of all was who he was on the inside. She wished that there was something she could do in order to repay his and his mother's kindness.
Then she thought of the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in the cabinet. Just those ingredients--along with a pinch of salt--was enough to make a batch of fudge. It would be a small token of her appreciation, but it would also be a good excuse to see Taren again.
She finished making the oatmeal and, while it was cooling, she got out another pan and dumped in the bag of chocolate chips, the sweetened condensed milk, and a dash of salt. Once it had melted into a creamy consistency, she poured it into a square glass dish that she had sprayed with butter flavored cooking spray and slid it into the refrigerator to cool.
Pleased with herself, she ate her oatmeal and went back into the bedroom. Prissy had already fallen back to sleep on the bed.
"Traitor," she teased. Prissy slowly looked up, her eyes droopy as if Kiki had just woken her up. "Yeah, well, that's what you get." Kiki chuckled as she climbed back into bed beside her cat and curled up on her side.
***
After a short nap, she woke feeling rested. After she showered, she dressed in blue jeans and a white sweater, and a white crocheted hat to match, along with a pair of brown boots that fit her pretty well. Whoever had bought the clothes for her must have talked to Jocelyn. She was the only one who would have known her sizes.
She quickly made the bed, momentarily disturbing Prissy, who was already making herself at home in their new apartment. Next, she did the dishes and looked around the apartment. She was so lucky that Mr. White had agreed to let her stay until she found another place.
She sighed, making a mental note to go by her house to see what she could salvage, if anything. Also, she would need to coordinate with her parents to have a cleanup crew come over, and estimates to have the house repaired, if it was even salvageable. It may just have to be bulldozed to the ground. She sighed. The thought of doing that to her childhood home made her heart sink. But she quickly pushed the thought aside, making a mental note to swing by the house after she took Taren the fudge.
In the kitchen, she cut the fudge into tiny squares and set them in a plastic covered opaque Christmas container that she found in the cabinet. Even though it wasn't much, she still wanted it to be a surprise. She could never repay his and his mother's kindness, but she thought it would be a good start.
Once everything was ready, she slid on her coat and grabbed her purse and keys, and, of course, the fudge.
"I'm putting you on guard, attack cat," she said to Prissy, stretched out lazily on the bed. Kiki laughed. "Yeah, some guard cat you are." Kiki gave her coat one last pet. Prissy looked up at her, indignant, as if she had just disturbed her. "I'll be back soon." Prissy rose from her perch and rubbed against Kiki's hand, and then curled up once again on the bed.