Here's Your Kitty, or "The Perks of a Family Guild"

Six in the morning, the phone rings. We ignore it. Two minutes later, it rings again. Husband rolls out of bed and heads into the next room.

I hear him go "Oh, okay" and worry it's something about my dad, who's been having trouble with his diabetes. I wait for husband to come into the bedroom and tell me Dad had to be rushed to the hospital.

The office door opens and shuts with a squeak.

I wait for it to open again, but it doesn't, so I go to find out. Husband is fiddling with wires behind his new computer.

"Honey?" I ask, nervous.

"That was Z. He found my cat."

I turn to make sure our cat is still behind me, and Tiger looks as sleepily befuddled as I feel. Z is my brother-in-law-in-law and lives six states away.

"The spirit beast," husband clarifies.

My eyes get big and my mouth goes "Oh." I'm too tired to feel silly for thinking Z wanted to give us a real cat.

"You can go back to sleep."

I go back to bed, but sleep takes a few minutes because it fights with my excitement to know if husband gets Loque'nahak or not.

I wake up at 9 and hit the snooze four times. I get up at 10, kiss sleeping husband's forehead, and ask "Did you get your cat?"

Husband rolls over and smiles. "Yes."

Thank you, Z.