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Mia sat down next to her friend, and stroked Silky gently. She was very well-named– her fur was beautifully soft and smooth. She wasn’t asleep, but her pretty blue eyes were half-closed, as though she was tired. She probably was, Mia thought.

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“Three kittens to find homes for,” her mum sighed. She looked thoughtfully at Mia’s mum. “I don’t suppose…”

Mia saw her mum smile, and glance over at her, raising her eyebrows. Emily’s mum glanced at her too, and nodded understandingly. Mia could tell exactly what Mum meant –Maybe, but I’m not sure about Mia.

She gave Silky one last gentle stroke. It was odd to think that there were tiny kittens squirming around inside her.

“Mum, I’ve got loads of homework,” she pointed out, getting to her feet. “We’d better go.” They didn’t really need to leave that minute, but she didn’t want her mum and Emily’s exchanging any more of those secret looks.

The subject didn’t go away, though. Dad was full of questions at dinner time, wanting to know when the kittens would arrive, and what Silky had looked like.

“Silky’s such a sweet cat,” he said, looking at Mia. “She’ll have cute kittens, Mia, don’t you think?”

Mia nodded.“But they won’t be as gorgeous as Sandy,” she said, eyeing her dad firmly. “We’ll never find another cat like him.”

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He shook his head, with a sigh.“No, I suppose not. But different can be good too, you know, Mia.”

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When she went up to bed that night, Mia lay there for ages, hugging Sandy’s blanket and thinking. She’d never actually had a kitten of her own. Sandy had been older than she was, he was about two when she was born. Gran had a lovely photo of him that she kept in her little living room, one that Mum and Dad had sent her when she still lived in her old house, before she came to live with them all a few years later. It was a photo of Mia as a baby, sitting up in her bouncy chair, and reaching out a fat little hand for Sandy’s tail as he strolled past.

Mum had photos of Sandy as a kitten, too, in her photo album. He’d been super cute – with round green eyes that looked too big for his little whiskery face, and apricot pink pads to his paws. They were darker by the time Mia knew him, from going outside and roughening them up. But he was still beautiful, and his eyes were like emeralds.

Mia gulped, and buried her face in the blanket. It still smelled of him. She really wanted to be excited for Emily, but even the thought of kittens made her miss Sandy so much. She wasn’t sure she could bear to see them for real.

Chapter Three [Êàðòèíêà: i_002.jpg]

“I wonder if there’s any news yet!” Emily said excitedly, as they put on their coats at the end of school. “Mum’s picking us up today – I can’t wait to ask her. Silky’s been a bit shy and weird all weekend, then she went off and snuggled herself up in the hall cupboard this morning.I’m sure that means she’s ‘nesting’, getting ready for her kittens to come.”

It was Monday, two weeks since Emily had found out Silky was having kittens, and she had been getting more and more impatient every day.

Mia smiled. Even though the thought of kittens made her miss Sandy, she could see how happy Emily was. They hurried out into the playground, looking eagerly for Emily’s mum. But she wasn’t there – instead, Mia’s gran was waving at them from by the gate.

“Gran! What are you doing here?” Mia called in surprise.

Gran smiled.“Silky’s having her kittens! Your mum didn’t want to leave her on her own, Emily, so she called me. My legs aren’t so bad today, so I was glad to come out for a walk.”

“She’s having them right now?” Emily squealed in delight, whirling her schoolbag around. “Ooooh, how many are there?”

“Four so far, apparently, and your mum thought that might be it, but she wasn’t quite sure.”

“Four kittens!” Emily said blissfully, and even Mia felt her stomach squirm with excitement. “Can Mia come in and see them, Mrs Lovett?” Emily asked Mia’s gran.

“Better not today,” Gran said thoughtfully. “They’ve only just been born, and Silky will be tired and very protective of her new babies, I should think. She won’t want lots of visitors. You can tell Mia about them tomorrow.”

Emily walked home so fast she was practically running, and she dashed in at her gate with a wave, leaving Mia and her gran to walk on to their house.

“You’re looking serious, Mia,” Gran commented. “Aren’t you excited about the kittens?”

Mia was silent for a moment. The walk home and Emily’s happy chattering about Silky’s babies had brought back that strange, miserable feeling again, even worse than before. It seemed so unfair that Emily should have her beautiful Silky and four lovely little kittens, too. She wasn’t jealous of Emily, exactly – just sad.