Kitten Cookies

Doris looked to Garcia, wondering how this could have gotten so wildly out of hand. There wasn’t even that many kittens and yet the entire kitchen was a disaster! The two older cats sighed and just smiled at each other. “Well, time to get to work.” Doris said with a chuckle.

“Now that the gremlins are gone, it should be much easier.” Garcia added, moving to help clean up. It hadn’t been that long ago that this kitchen had been totally spotless. But then the gremlin hoard had happened. Looking back, they wondered if it really had been such a good idea to invite all the kittens over. They’d all had so much fun though that it was hard to say it really had been a bad idea. The clean up though, was a rather impressively large job.

It had all started with just one kitten. Chere had called her grandmother, asking if Garcia and Aevus could watch Muddy while his parents tried to get some baking done for Honey’s party. That hadn’t been too bad. But then Muddy had seemed bored so they had invited little Cy over as well. Unfortunately though, with Cy came the whole crew of Bean, Potato, Talia and Bali.

So then they needed something to do to occupy all the young ones. Garcia had brought up the idea of letting the kittens learn to bake something simple to bring to the party. Of course, that was a lot of kittens to watch by herself in the kitchen – Aevus wasn’t comfortable with doing much cooking – so the older cat had enlisted the help of her friend Doris.

It seemed Garcia wasn’t the only one kittensitting though and with Doris came little Zesty, much to Muddy’s glee. He immediately drew the young mothcat into the realm of chaos. If that was all that the group had been, maybe they would have been fine. But there was one more kitten who accidentally joined the group – Kidd had somehow heard there was a kitten party going on and badgered their parents until they agreed to let the crimson kitten join in. From there on out…… Disaster.

From the very start, the kittens seemed more interested in causing trouble than actually learning to bake. Garcia and Doris tried to keep them on track but it was hard when there was constantly a food fight on the verge of breaking out. More than once, Kidd and Muddy ended up on the floor, wrestling with each other and needing to be separated. Somehow they always ended up back together, causing mischief.

Sadly poor little Zesty seemed to be their favorite target. Flour fell on his head, milk containers spilled over the counter onto him, eggs were dropped on his back… The young cat squealed with each incident until he was hiding practically under Garcia’s belly, refusing to come out where the others might get him.

Bali seemed less interested in baking and more interested in just shoving as many berries in their mouth as possible. They babbled happily to themselves, repeating words over and over again. They paused only long enough to offer some berries to Potato who had come up to sniff the bowl curiously. Gleefully, Potato set to work helping Bali polish off as many berries as possible.

Cy came and went around the two older mothcats, occasionally paying attention but mostly just gathering up supplies for their attacks on the others. They favored the bombs away method of causing problems, taking something up high, only to release it and giggle as it crashed down on someone.

Talia bounced from counter to counter, giggling as his paws left snowy white paw prints all over thanks to the flour that coated him. He was practically pure white from the amount of flour on him. Muddy and Kidd had tried using him for target practice at first but gave up when they realized he was enjoying the mess they were inadvertently helping him make.

Bean was the only one – Other than Zesty – who consistently stayed close to the adults. Of course, Garcia was pretty sure that was more because Bean liked her thick fur than because he was actually interested in baking. He watched them a little bit but mostly he snuggled into her thick curly fur, making Garcia laugh any time he found a ticklish spot.

With so many kittens running wild and causing problems, it was no surprise that the kitchen quickly looked like the aftermath of a hurricane. Somehow, despite it all, they did manage to actually make the berry filled treats they were trying to show the kittens. Granted, there was significantly less berries than they had planned…… Still, all the kittens seemed to be having fun so the older two called it a success.

Even Zesty had relaxed and enjoyed the baking a little, albeit from the safety of underneath Garcia where he was protected from most of Kidd and Muddy’s attempts. Doris tried to keep the two mothkittens occupied and away from Garcia, letting her show the young mothcat a couple little tips.

With the treats finally in the oven though, Garcia and Doris tried to corral the kittens into helping them clean up the mess. Zesty was the only one who didn’t actively hinder their progress though. The rest of the kittens seemed to take the fact that baking was done as a signal to cause an even bigger mess! Eventually, the two older mothcats gave up and sent the kittens out of the kitchen, ordering them to go find Aevus and tell him about the treats.

With the kittens gone, the two older cats could focus on cleaning up the kitchen. They hadn’t been cleaning for long when they realized that not all the kittens had left. Zesty was still in the doorway, looking nervous. The two older mothcats shared a look, knowing what he was worried about. With a smile, Garcia invited him back in, letting the young mothcat scamper back to her side. Together, the trio worked to clean up the kitchen.

Aevus on the other hand, was silently cursing his wife. What was he supposed to do with so many filthy kittens? They were getting all his books dirty! He tried to keep the kittens from touching the books only to find that as soon as he stopped one, another was touching a different book. Suddenly he had an idea. He gave up on trying to shoo the kittens away and simply went to his favorite chair.

Picking up a book of Aldoran fairy tales, he began reading. His smooth deep voice caught the attention of Muddy first, familiar with his grandfather’s story voice. He zipped over to claim a spot on Aevus’s lap, looking up at the dark mothcat eagerly as he read.

Kidd was the next to come over, since their partner in crime was no longer aiding them. They tugged hard on Muddy’s tail but all they got was a hiss and a wave for them to go away. Growling in annoyance, they gave up and settled beside Muddy, quickly falling under the spell of Aevus’s voice.

Cy and Talia stopped wrestling as they realized things were calming down. They glanced at each other then shrugged and came over to find themselves spots to sit. They listened attentively, becoming enraptured with the story.

Bali and Potato, having found Aevus’s candy dish, gathered up an armful before coming over to sit at his feet. With food to keep them occupied, they were content to sit and listen to the story.

Bean forced his way between Aevus and the chair, sneezing a little as the older mothcat’s cloudy mane got in his nose. He refused to move though, even when Aevus tried to gently shoo him to a more comfortable spot. Eventually Aevus gave up and let the bumblebun stay snuggled in the awkward spot, an occasional sneeze interrupting the story.

It was there that Garcia, Doris, and Zesty found the rest of the kittens when they returned from cleaning up the kitchen. Zesty bounded over to find a spot of his own, listening eagerly as Aevus started the next story in the book. Muddy slid down off his grandfather to curl up with the young mothcat comfortably. Kidd simply took advantage of Muddy’s absence to stretch out over Aevus’s lap.

Slowly the number of kittens began decreasing as parents arrived to take their little ones home. They all needed a good bath before going to the party but that wasn’t a fight Garcia or Doris felt like getting into with the kittens. Their parents could handle that part. They had kept them busy all afternoon while the majority of the party was being set up.

Eventually it was just the three older mothcat left, much to their relief. Doris sighed and rose to her paws as Aevus closed the book. “Well, it was certainly an exciting afternoon.” Doris said with a chuckle.

Garcia nodded, looking down at her stained fur. “Exciting is one way to put it.” She shook her head, smiling. “We should get cleaned up though. See you later at the party?” She asked, glancing at Doris.

The tall mothcat nodded as she sauntered towards the door. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Have to show off what the kittens made, don’t we?” She asked with a laugh. “Goodbye!”

Garcis and Aevus waved as the other mothcat left, leaving them alone in the peace of the library. Aevus looked around the reading nook and shook his head. “You go get washed up. I’m going to clean up here. Such messy kittens…” He tried to sound upset but really he just sounded fond of all the young ones. Garcis kissed his cheek before disappearing to wash up. Aevus hummed as he cleaned up the library, waiting for Garcia to return so they could head to the party.