Page 35 of A Brother At My Back

I lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug and said, “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t be. Can’t say how I would feel until it happened, but I promise I’ll never hurt you, or smack you around.” I reached up and traced a thumb along her cheek. “What I will promise is to listen to you and talk it out. I can’t and won’t make decisions for you, Girl. That’s not something you should ever sign up for again.”

“I won’t, believe me, but Nik, I am signing up for taking your feelings, thoughts, and the like into consideration when making my decisions. That’s part of a relationship, isn’t it? Doing things with your partner in mind?”

“Ah yeah, that’s what I reckon.”

She laid her head back down and cuddled up to me again. I held her tight and Max stretched between us and reached out a paw, putting it on my stomach. Then her claws came out and she dug in.

“Ay!” I cried and tried not to jerk. “Crazy cat!” She let up and looked at me, green eyes full of feline judgment and I had to smirk. It was like she had spoken, and I was listening. It was a good talk, and I felt better about things and suddenly felt far more tired than I had a moment before.

“So are we okay then?” Tiffany asked, voice small, and I stroked my fingers along her silky skin beneath her tank, along the top of her stubbies.

“We were never not okay, Wahine. Go back to sleep, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said and sounded relieved. I could feel good about that, at least. I kissed the top of her head and tried to put thoughts about her going to work that night out of my head. It was easier than I thought, surprising enough. When she fell asleep this time, I went with her and I think we both slept pretty hard.

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