Blood Song

I spent the rest of the time watching the two of them interact. The last few days had dramatically changed their relationship. I had never really considered it weird how they had apparently bonded almost immediately, but I had endured a few interrogations with Mum in my hotel room, and it had been explained to me that this was actually all pretty sudden. I had experienced a few misgivings, but watching those two and the easy way they had of interacting, as if they'd been together for years, those few doubts evaporated. Angus and Rebecca belonged together. They knew it, and they obviously had decided to ignore any imposed artificial constructs around the progression of a relationship. Who says you have to know someone for a number of months before you could even say that you liked them? As if there was a formula that you had to follow. It made no sense to me.

Mina greeted us at the door with feigned indifference.

"You've been feeding her too much, Angus. Look at the state of her. She can barely lift her belly off the floor!" I reprimanded Angus. He glanced sideways at Rebecca, and they exchanged a grimace.

"What?" I could tell something was off by the whole secret glance, make-a-face thing they were doing.

"I'm going to make supper. I'll leave you two to catch up." Major hint from Angus.

"Coffee?" I asked hopefully. He grinned at me, and escaped to the kitchen.

"Spit it out," I suggested to Rebecca. She sighed and nodded.

"You'd better sit," she said. "It's kind of a long story."

"Really? I've been away for four days. What have you guys been doing? And why is my cat fat?"

Rebecca

I tried to explain that Mina wasn't actually fat, but that she had probably been eating a lot over the past three days, and hadn't had time to digest it yet.

"What do you mean by 'probably'?" he wanted to know, eyeing me with deep suspicion.

I tucked my legs under me on the big leather sofa and leaned back. I wondered how I was going to be able to explain the past few days, the mad hectic pace of it all. It was like we had lived a crazy dream in fast forward, and now I would have to try and relate it all in real time. I decided to start with the kitten.

"Mina's been at the vet for a couple of days, which is why she looks a bit plump," I began hesitantly. "We had to go up to the estate again, and it was the safest place for her to be while we were away," I explained in a rush, and his frown lifted.