valentine

No, not a typo. My Valentine's Day present from my husband arrived a little early, and that has become her name.

See the heart on her side?

The surprise gift was revealed rather unexpectedly this morning, when the phone showed an unfamiliar number on caller ID. 

"I'm calling about the application you put in for a kitten?"

I nearly told them they must have the wrong number until my husband intercepted the phone with a sheepish look on his face.

It took a while for the shock to wear off, since my husband has sworn many, many times that we are done with cats. Terzo and Secondo have been begging for years, to little avail. About a month ago, they were joking that since Primo would be leaving for college soon, perhaps my husband would relent as a replacement for Primo. 

"But to really replace him, the cat would have to be grumpy. And hate us."

I pointed out that was not a good argument to convince their father of the merits of getting a cat.

When the news broke today, no one was more excited than Terzo, except possibly Secondo. Both of them came to help make sure she is the right cat. Both of them are in love.

Dusty is just downright confused. We have her in a bathroom for the next couple of days, to get her acclimated to us and get the two of them used to being in the same house together. I anticipate that Dusty will be spending a lot of time just like this, waiting to find out what is behind that door.