Page 73 of My Little Doe
“Do you have milk and a bottle?” I asked him.
“Luckily for you, I do. Otherwise, you would be heading to Baton Rouge,” he said.
“How or… why do you have milk?” I asked.
“Let’s just say I’m like the bayou vet,” he said, flashing me a smile, the same one Quinn had.
He stepped forward, handed me the kitten, and then turned around and headed for a barn. I stood there in front of the truck, my thumb rubbing her little head. Quinn followed behind him, both of them saying things that I couldn’t hear.
Within a few minutes, both of them appeared back out of the barn, walking my way. Quinn had a paper bag in his hand, and his uncle had another bag in his.
“Let’s get her fed now, and then you will follow the instructions I wrote on the bag. Mix the bottle and feed every three hours, even during the night. Think you can handle that?” he said.
“Yep, I got it,” I said.
I took the bottle from him and pushed it to her mouth. She didn’t move much at first, but as it started dripping into her mouth, she started to move her mouth and tongue. It wasn’t vigorous, but she started to suck on the bottle slowly. It took her several minutes before she finally got the hang of it. It took several more minutes before she stopped sucking and spat it out.
“Now, you will also need to take a wet washcloth and wipe her butt to stimulate her to pee and poop until she does it on her own,” he said.
“Okay, anything else?” I asked.
“In a few weeks, you can get a little box and start training her to go in there,” he said.
“Perfect. Appreciate you,” I said, flashing him a smile.
“Thank you, uncle,” Quinn said.
We both got in the truck and headed back home. He kept the music turned up, avoiding conversation with me. I welcomed the silence. I gently petted her as we moved down the road.
Once we got back to the house, I went inside, but Quinn stayed outside. I grabbed a little blanket and went to my chair and held her close to me. I picked up the book that I’d been reading. I was at the good part, right where the couple decides they actually do like each other. With that always came the fun chapters.
Several hours later, the kitty started to root on my chest. As I stood up, Quinn walked back inside with the bags from his uncle and placed them on the counter. I went to the counter, grabbed the bottle, and walked to the sink. I made her a bottle and fed her. She fed much better this time than she did earlier.
“Where were you gonna go earlier?” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“When you decided to take off running and then found this little… pussy,” he said.
“She is a kitten… She is Lucy,” I said.
“You…namedit?” he said.
“Of course, she needed a name.”
“Oh Lord…” he groaned.
“What did you mean earlier?”
“When exactly?”
“Well, there are a lot of things I have questions about… about the plaything?”
“Damn it, Zay, why do you want to do that?” he said.
“Yes, I want to do this. You keep being vague, saying half things. You said I’m not captive, but you wouldn’t let me leave earlier,” I said.
“I didn’t hold you down,” he said.
