Chapter 318: The Christmas Gift, Lily's Longing
A short cry escaped Lily, more breath than voice. "...My god."
Mr. Evans crouched too. He didn't know the breed. They'd never kept a cat.
His knowledge of cats ran to the fat orange thing the corner bakery kept and the long-haired gray creature next door that dozed on the windowsill year round.
But this one, he could tell, was not a cat that turned up on a street corner.
He glanced into the basket. A card lay pressed into the corner of the velvet. He reached for it, but Lily's hand was quicker and already had it out.
He said nothing and rose slowly.
He looked at the side of his daughter's face, his younger girl crouched on the step, one hand clutching the card, the other already in the basket, a fingertip rubbing lightly at the kitten's head.
The kitten didn't shy off and didn't lean in. It only turned its head a little to let her finger trail behind its ear.
The look on Lily's face, he saw it. The gladness of a gift received, the settling of something coming to rest.