efe24af1849d5822a0fb0e585c983840

“Humans are like that,” said Harriet. “Sometimes when they’re very happy they cry, and sometimes when they’re very sad they laugh. To be honest it’s very hard to determine what they’re really feeling just based on their facial expressions.”

“At least cats don’t have facial expressions,” Brutus grumbled. “Makes things a hell of a lot easier if you ask me.”

“Nobody is asking you, Brutus,” said Harriet, a little snappishly I thought. Obviously he hadn’t agreed to marry her fast enough to her liking. It seemed to me that the wedding was off before it even got started.

“I’m just saying—”

“I know what you’re saying and I’m not even remotely interested.”

“Cats do have facial expressions, though,” said Dooley. He then did something to his face. I think.

“I don’t see any difference,” said Brutus. “You just pulled the same face twice, Dooley.”

“No, I didn’t,” Dooley insisted. “Look, this is me happy. And this is me sad. See?”

“No, frankly I don’t,” Brutus said. “It’s the same face.”

“I have to agree with Brutus, Dooley,” I said. “It is the same face.”

“No, it isn’t. Look, this is me angry—and this is me relieved.”

“Still the same face,” Brutus said.

“But how is that possible? I felt my facial muscles work hard to show you that face.”

“You may think your facial muscles are working hard,” I explained, “but in actual fact they’re not doing a single thing. And that’s because we don’t have those same kinds of facial muscles humans have. They can display an entire range of emotions. We can’t.”

“I don’t get it,” said Dooley, and a hint of sadness now did reflect on his face. But that was just because I know him so well, and I can tell immediately if he’s happy or sad.

“So when are we finally going to eat?” asked Brutus.

“We’re going to a sushi place,” Harriet announced. “So yay, fish for us.”

“Sushi at a wedding? That’s unusual,” I said.

“No, it’s not. Humans love sushi,” said Harriet. “In fact if they could they’d eat sushi all day, every day.”

“No, they wouldn’t. Not all humans like sushi. It’s an acquired taste.”

“Well, it’s a taste I certainly have no trouble acquiring,” she said, effectively closing down the argument. “In fact I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Just then, the wedding officiator suddenly and without warning broke into song.

“Love me tender, love me sweet,” he crooned, a captive audience all joining in on cue.

“Humans,” said Harriet with an eyeroll. “They’re all nuts.”

The ceremony ended and our humans started filing out of the small room, music now blasting from the speakers.

“So are you sure that Odelia isn’t dying?” asked Dooley, shouting to make himself heard over the noise. He still wasn’t fully satisfied that those tears on our human’s face weren’t tears of sadness but tears of joy.

“I’m absolutely sure, Dooley,” I said as we hopped down from our makeshift perch on those chairs Gran had supplied us with, and started to follow in our humans’ wake.

Once outside, they set foot for the nearby restaurant, and so we followed right on their heels. Traffic was heavy, and the noise from the street was deafening. People were everywhere, and so were cars and neon lights. It certainly was very different from the kinds of wedding scenes I’d seen multiple times in the kinds of romantic movies Odelia and Chase like to watch of an evening. But then where else than in Vegas can you have a wedding where the bride’s prompter is a cat, right? I don’t think I’d have been able to pull off that little stunt in front of Father Reilly’s congregation.

“So where are we going?” asked Dooley.

“To the restaurant, I hope.”

“Weddings do make you hungry, don’t they, Max?”

“And thirsty.”

“And thirsty.”

We had to hurry to keep up with our humans, and before long we arrived at the restaurant where the big post-wedding feast was scheduled to take place.

Chase’s granddad was also present, and his mom and aunt. Chase’s granddad looks exactly like Santa Claus, with a full white beard and jolly apple-cheeked face. He even has the booming laughter part down pat, and he was laughing loudly now, presumably also happy that we were about to put our paws under the table for the happy meal.

The ma?tre d’, if he was surprised to see four cats form an integral part of the company of diners, held his poker face perfectly in place. But then of course he probably had ample opportunity to practice, Vegas being the kind of town where a poker face comes in handy.

When we first arrived in town, Odelia had taken us to the casino at the hotel where we all stayed, and I’d frankly been impressed with the sheer magnitude of the operation. She’d also taken us for a limo ride along the Strip, joined by the entire wedding party, and I must say the sights and sounds of Vegas had greatly impressed me. Though to be absolutely honest I could readily understand why I didn’t see any cats or pets around: cats are not that crazy about bright lights and lots of noise. In fact we were all happy when we finally arrived in our room at the hotel and could take a load off our paws.