Just another Monday, just another week, just another year....these were the thoughts that was going through Emily's head while she was working in the garden.
The garden of the house she inherited from her parents after their death. The house that did not feel like hers, the house that felt empty, partly because she was staying in it alone and partly because she missed her parent's laughter and voices.
It has been a difficult 3 months for her and even though it had never bothered her to be alone, it suddenly started to dawn on her that she now really was ALONE. Yes, she had a lot of friends, but they were all busy with their own lives and families and children. She had nobody she could call her own, not even a child or parents or a pet.
Self-pity was never something she engaged in. Her father taught her, you may feel sorry for yourself 10 minutes a day and then you lift your head and carry on - but today was different, she just could not see the reason for staying positive, for moving forward.
She was a strong successful women with her own business and well known in the community. She went on a few dates with businessmen that moved in her circles, but they bored her or there were the ones that she knew were only there for the ride or for the idea of her money. She learned over the years to guard herself, build the walls a bit higher and be dependent on herself.
Nobody has every filled that terrible void she had in her heart. The void she buried away very deep .
She was startled when she saw something move in the garden and heard the leaves rustling - who was there, how could they get in with the gate being locked and the high walls? And then she saw it... Behind the tree was a black and white cat, scratching in the soil.
Emily moved closer, very slowly, just to see to her amazement that the cat was busy giving birth - it was a tiny and scared and dirty little creature, she was not able to run away, because her mother instinct had taken over and she had to now concentrate on the kittens that were about to be born. She just laid there, looking at Emily, looking at her with an expression of please help me, do not hurt me.
What do I do? How do I help this obviously underfed scared feline? Emily just sat there as quiet as she could and watched the miracle unfold in front of her eyes.
After 2 hours there were 4 kittens, very small and not looking healthy at all.
Emily ran into the house and grabbed a blanket and wrapped them tightly together with the mom and rushed them to the vet.
The vet was new in town and even though she heard good thing about him, she never met him, because she did not have any pets of her own. He will just have to do, she thought to herself. The 5 minutes she waited in the waiting room felt like an hour with the mother cat squirming and trying to get away and the kittens crying non-stop.
And then in a split second Emily's whole life changed - now in hind sight she can still remember his smell, his penetrating blue eyes, his beautiful hands, his presence.
At that moment in time she knew this was the man that would fill the void, the man that would cherish her, the man that would grow old with her and will be the father of her children.
"Would you like to say anything before I cover up the grave honey?" She heard her husband's voice coming from far away and while wiping the tears from her face she smiled and nodded her head.
"Fate, you have given me the best 18 years of your life, you came into it so unexpectedly , you were the reason I met the love of my life, you gave me a reason to love and laugh every day - even when you were getting older you still managed to give us so much love and joy. If it wasn't for you, I would have never met Peter. For that I will always be thankful. Thank you that you have showed me that even if you are broken and hurt, you can stand up again and love and trust with all your heart. You will be missed."
Peter took Emily's hand and led her back towards the house, the house that was now a home, kissing the top of her head, wrapping her in his arms.
She knew that one day she will have another pet and hopefully love him as much as she did Fate, but for now she just wanted to mourn the loss of the feline that meant so much to her.
The cat that pitched up on a dark and dreary day and changed everything....
