The Goodest Cat Dad

Parenting on his own wasn’t exactly something Alder had ever planned for  his life. Certainly he’d been a loner for quite some time, but he’d  wanted to have you know, a mate who didn’t up and leave him with their  kittens unexpectedly. Not even died, just left.

So of course  their little darling Blossom was going to notice as he paced side to  side and muttered under his breath while Mama continued to not show up.

“Dad?” Blossom asked, wide kitten eyes glimmering up at him sorrowfully. “Dad, where’d Mom go?”

Alder  did his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice as he responded to  his daughter. “Mom… left. I don’t think she’ll be back.”

A frown crossed Blossom’s face. “Are you sure they’re not dead?”

“Positive.”  Alder snorted, his face a scowl. “Absolutely positive. They ran off  like some sorta -” he descended into muttering curses under his breath.

Blossom looked up at him with sad, wide eyes. “So... does that mean you’re the only one left?”

“Sure  looks like it,” he said, softly. “Why don’t you get some sleep? It’s  getting late, kiddo. I think I’m gonna take you out hunting tomorrow,  okay?”

“Okay.” Blossom drooped, and Alder could tell she was  upset about Blizzard leaving them. She was a tough little thing, always  had been, probably always would be. Alder was proud of her. Why couldn’t  Blizzard have felt the same?

There was no sleep coming to Alder  that night as he kept watch over his darling kitten. He kept one eye on  Blossom as she slept, shoulders shaking from the weight of losing a  mother, and his other eye out towards the forest. He hoped beyond all  hope that Blizzard would come to their senses and come back. It was  doubtful though. Blizzard was a stubborn idiot.

*******************

“C’mon dad! Let’s go hunting!”

Alder’s  eye cracked open. It was barely dawn, the warm orange glow illuminating  the den he and Blossom had made in an abandoned twoleg den.

“Blossom, it’s too early for this,” Alder groaned, rolling over. “Five more minutes?”

“No, dad, you promised!” Blossom gave him a pleading look. “Please? I’ll catch a bird this time!”

That  was a tempting prospect. Alder had spent the past two moons after  Blizzard’s disappearance teaching her to hunt, and although Blossom had  caught many other kinds of prey, she still hadn’t caught the bird she so  wanted to catch. Alder wanted to be there for her.

“Okay, okay!”  Tiredly, Alder stumbled to his feet. Blossom had quite a lot of energy,  and it almost took all Alder had to keep up with her as she scampered  out to the woods they’d been living in.

“Now wait here,” said  Blossom softly, her nose pricked in the air. Alder watched as she  assumed a hunting crouch, a rather skillful one thanks to his teaching. A  rush of pride filled his heart as she stalked forwards and leaped into  the bush.

There was a crunch and a snap, and moments later  Blossom came bounding up to Alder with a bird in her teeth. It wasn’t  the cleanest of kills - the little thing was ruffled in all sorts of  places - but she’d caught it!

“Good job, kiddo!” said Alder, beaming. “Your training has paid off.”

Blossom dropped the bird and pranced around, bouncing like the little kitten she really was. “I did! I caught it! I caught it!”

She darted over to rub up against Alder, purring against his chest happily. “You’re the best dad ever!”

A  genuine smile crossed Alder’s face. It had been a while since he’d felt  this happy, after all. Blizzard had certainly made him happy, but they  were long gone.

“And you’re the best daughter I could have ever had,” murmured Alder back, his heart light. “Now come on, let's eat breakfast!”

“Yay!”

***************************

Blossom  was twelve moons old now. Alder had watched her grown from a  rambunctious little kitten dealing with the loss of a mother to a bold  molly with a proud smile and a smirk on her face that mean she owned the  world, or at least the hearts of all the cats who’d tried to pursue her  and failed.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t a part of her life.  Blossom came to him asking for advice and stuck with him. It was strange  for Alder to be such an anchor in another cat’s life, especially since  he’d lived a life on his own for quite some time.

So when one evening Blossom approached him with a worried look, Alder was quick to worry.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

Blossom gave him a peculiar sort of look, shimmery eyes and a slight frown. “Dad, I… I wanna go look for Mom.”

Oh. Spikes of anger shot up through him, but Alder pushed them down. He had to be nice for Blossom after all.

“Why do you want to look for that cat?” he asked, barely hiding the contempt in his voice.

“Maybe  they’ll want to come home if they see how awesome I am?” suggested  Blossom weakly. “Really, I just want to know who my Mom is. Is that too  much to ask?”

Alder considered this statement. He was furious  with Blizzard for taking off like that with no warning, wanted to tear  them a new one and add another scar to that collection. But at the same  time, Blossom had never had the chance to really meet Blizzard.

He  let out a sigh. “Okay. But only if I come with you. I don’t want you  getting hurt, and Blizzard and I are going to have words.”

Blossom nodded. “Thanks, Dad. Should we go tomorrow or say goodbye first?”

“Let’s  say goodbye.” A choice he probably wouldn’t have made before Blossom  and Blizzard, but it was a good one. A very good one. “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Blossom agreed, leaning against Alder. “Tomorrow. And then the quest to find Mom begins.”