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“It would be irresponsible to bring more kittens into the world, what with all the poor cats waiting in shelters.” Also somehow I felt that my familiar duties would extend to playing nanny too, and my life was already complicated enough without having to be responsible for other living things—especially small and delicate living things.

“Wait. Are you saying—?” Merlin arched his back up and let out a terrible hiss. He even went so far as to take a swipe at me.

“You want to alter my privates? I thought such tales of human barbarism were but mere myths, made up to scare young witches at bedtime. But you… My own familiar? Please tell me you were joking!” He swooned and fell over onto his side, pumping his legs as if running in a dream. Apparently thisis what a panic attack looked like on him.

Oops.I kept forgetting just how differently humans and cats viewed the world when it came to certain matters. Honestly, I should’ve known better on this one.

The coffee finished brewing, and I had to use a spoon to fish out the long, striped cat hair that had landed in my brew. I never should have initiated this conversation without a full cup of caffeine already buzzing through my system.

Unfortunately, since I’d started on this topic, I now needed to finish it. “It’s a minimally invasive surgery, especially for male cats.”

Merlin popped back onto his feet, but his hackles were still raised.“If it’s such an easy surgery, then why don’t you have it?”

“It’s not exactly the same for humans. Besides, I may want kids one day.”

Merlin became Halloween cat again. Yup, I definitely wasn’t winning any points with him this morning. “And you don’t think Luna and I would like to pass our love down to the next generation? Besides, if you’ll recall, I’m the last living descendant of the original Merlin. I can’t let such an important magical bloodline die with me.”

“But what about the shelter cats?” I whimpered pathetically.

“Look, heart to heart here. Luna has already lost her magic. Don’t take motherhood away from her, too.”

I raised an eyebrow, then took a careful sip from my mug. And still wound up with cat hair in my mouth.Gross!

The cat sighed.“Again your sense of morality confounds me. Still, if the shelter cats are so important to you, we’ll find a way to help them. There’s plenty of room in Nocturna. You get them here, and I can get them there.”

“You promise?” I took another swig of my morning java.

“If that’s what it takes to maintain peace in my home while also keeping my privates intact, then I agree.” He came to the edge of the counter with his tail raised amicably, and I patted him softly on the head.

“Thank you. While we’re talking openly about this, I do think you and Luna should wait to start your family.”

“Why? We’re already a bonded pair. Cats don’t need a piece of paper telling us what we know to be true in our hearts.”

“Be that as it may, we’re kind of dealing with a lot right now. With the ghost. And we both know Dash will be back before too long. It just doesn’t seem like the right time to bring a child—or, um, litter—into the world.”

“Fair point. Now are you done with this strange heart to heart? Because I am very, very done.”

I flushed.“Yes, sorry.”

“I mean, you didn’t even ask about the ghost. After all the work we put in. You went straight to talking about my privates.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Now can we please stop talking about your privates?”

He shrugged.“If you don’t want to talk about something, then don’t start the conversation.”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. Now tell me about the ghost,” I practically begged.

Merlin arched his back again, but this time in a stretch. He then jumped over to the table and waited for me to join him.“Well…” he began.

16

I hated when Merlin drew things out like this.“Well, what? Did we catch our ghost?” I demanded, and then realized something else strange about that morning. “Hey, where’s Luna by the way?”

I almost never saw the cats apart from one another. Each morning when I woke up, they were together and basking in the glow of their new love.

Merlin sniffed at the air before responding to my questions.“Luna is out on a morning stroll. She said she needed some time to herself. From the smell of it, she’s about two blocks out and making her return to us now.”

Time to herself? Hmm. Did this mean trouble in paradise? The cats had already gone from lovers to bitter rivals and back to lovers again. I was beginning to think I had the Ross and Rachel of felines on my hands. They better not plan on taking a break any time soon, because I was so not prepared to deal with that!

I kept this all to myself, of course. Merlin and I had just been discussing family planning, and that hadn’t gone over well. At all. I needed to resist the urge to play the role of therapist here. Those two were far more experienced in matters of the heart than I was, anyway.