"What about her?" I asked with a contemplating look while holding kanu.
"I don't know , You told me not to bother her ." Mom said with it with the most unbothered way possible.
"Mom , i told not to bother her but you are ignoring her like she doesn't exist. " I said keeping my voice low .
"And what about you ? Have you even heard her voice since the day she came ?" Mom asked with a raising eyebrow.
Silence..
She was right and she knew it . She shook her head and walked past me towards the room.
I guess it's a pause for now on this conversation. Thanks God.
"Kanu , let's give you a bath !" Or else I would be disowned by my own mother .
I started walking towards my room.
This time careful and not repeating the same mistakes , I knocked the door .
No response...
I knocked again.Then opening the door , scanning the room , she is still lying in the bed .
---
I knocked again. Then, opening the door, scanning the room — she's still lying in bed.
"Kanu, shhh… don't make a noise!"
Naturally, being the rebellious fuzzball she is, Kanaka meows right on cue. Loud. Proud. Like she's announcing her arrival to a red carpet.
I sighed. "Yeah, of course you'd do that."
I tiptoe inside with Kanaka dangling from my arms like a lion on his one of the owned trees in the jungle . She's giving me that look again — the one that says, 'You're embarrassing me in front of the lady.' Rude.
"I know, I know. I want to introduce you to the love of my life — my wife — but she's… resting," I whisper dramatically, gesturing toward the blanket-covered lump that hasn't moved in an hour. Or days. Who knows anymore?
I bend slightly, hold Kanaka like and whisper to her like a shady middleman in a mafia movie,
"That's her ..'"
Kanaka twitches her tail. Her dark yellow eyes lock on to the her . She meows again, softer this time. Almost respectful. Huh. So you do know she's royalty.
Please kanu I am keeping you her but don't disturb her . I gently place her on the bed, next to the pile of soft resentment. Kanaka tiptoes cautiously, then settles near her like a feline bodyguard.
"…and just like that," I murmur, "you've picked your side."
I stare at them for a second. My wife — still silent, still motionless. Kanaka — already nuzzled beside her, purring like she's solved the world's deepest mystery.
Guess I'm the outsider now.
---
Kanaka's already found a home next to her, like she's been here all along. She lets out this soft purr — traitorously loud in the pin-drop silence of the room.
I stare. I fidget. I internally scream.
And then…
Movement.
The blanket shifts — just a twitch, but enough for my overworked imagination to play the background score of a suspense thriller.
Her hand appears. Pale fingers peek out, finding Kanaka's fur. A lazy stroke. A soft sigh.
Okay. That's not nothing.
I clear my throat like some gentleman making an announcement but more softer and gently
"Ahem. I—uh—I brought her in here Because i really like her company"
No response.
Kanaka purrs louder, like she's mocking me.
I go a inch closer, standing awkwardly at the foot of the bed. "So… good news. She likes you. Bad news: I think I've been replaced."
Still no reply. Just breathing. Barely audible. But she's awake.
I can tell. I feel it.
" If u dont like her here , I can keep her in the living room?" I whisper, half to her, half to my own rising panic.
Finally, finally, her voice — low, sleepy, muffled under the blanket:
"No."