My Boys

It's not at all unusual for me to see a few raised eyebrows when I make reference to "my sons" or "my boys."  Most people know that I'm a single mom with a little boy, but those plural nouns often throw people for a loop.  However, even when I was pregnant with Kaleb, I already had one fuzzy child—my big orange cat, Morris.

In 2002, I was married and living in PPV military housing in a little town in Northern San Diego County called Ramona, California.  One day while I was home alone, there was an unexpected knock at the door.  I opened the door, and there stood a sleep-deprived Navy wife with a Radio Flyer wagon containing a basket of mewling orange furballs and several dozen cans of kitten formula.  She told me that her cat had had these kittens and had taken off and not returned.  She had been trying to take care of all 6 kittens herself, but was finding it impossible to keep up with them and her own children.  She was looking for families to adopt the kittens.  I had always wanted an orange cat—it seemed a redheaded woman should have one—so I agreed to take one.  We already had 3 cats, and I knew my then-husband would be none too happy when he came home....but he was rarely very happy anyway.

By the time I became pregnant with Kaleb, Morris was 6 years old and had grown to be a pretty big cat.  Even though he was fully grown, though, he still hadn't realized that he wasn't still a baby.  I'm not sure he had even realized that he was a cat.  Because he'd spent nearly all of his life as my only child, I worried about whether he would cause problems once I had a new baby around the house.

As it turns out, though, Morris is an unbelievably tolerant cat.  In the 3+ years since Kaleb was born, Morris has endured being bumped out of bed at all hours of the night, being pokes and prodded and pulled and tackled by his "younger brother," and being occasionally ignored when he wanted attention but Kaleb had a more genuine need.  And he's taken it all like a champ.

But I can't help but laugh, sometimes, at just how much Morris and Kaleb act like brothers.  When Kaleb was still in a crib, there were mornings when I'd find Morris asleep at the foot of Kaleb's bed.  Now, they argue over who will sit where in the living room.  Kaleb whines when Morris plays with his toys or blocks Kaleb's view out the window.  When Kaleb is playing contentedly, Morris will intentionally lie down on the floor on top of Kaleb's toys.  My boys even have the same color hair.  Today, they were playing on the living room floor, and it was too cute to not take a picture.

My boys.