A Shift in the Universe Christian Mitchell Copyright 2004
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
In Los Angeles we celebrated Fourth of July at Tyler's house. His family hosted a barbecue every year in honor of Independence Day. Like years of the past, family and friends gathered to have fun and enjoy each other's company.
As time passed Kyle and I started to organize and pack our belongings to move into our apartment. My parents purchased a few pieces of furniture as a gift to us. Kyle's parents supplied the kitchen necessities. We pretty much had everything we needed to feel at home in our new apartment. The remaining items left to buy were groceries, toiletry supplies such as towels and new bedding for our bed.
Kyle and I met Mr. Fredrickson to obtain the keys to the apartment. Tyler and Paul helped us move in on July Fifteenth. Once we had carried in the last load of stuff we ordered pizza and sat in the living room. Then we spent the rest of the night talking and making fun of each other.
When Kyle and I were finally alone we unpacked a few boxes of personal items. Yet, we were too exhausted from all the day's work to do much more. We dragged ourselves to the bedroom and lay on top of the unmade bed. Kyle nestled up next to me and wrapped his arms around me.
"The phone and cable are supposed to be turned on tomorrow," Kyle informed me as he made himself more comfortable.
"Good," I muttered.
Kyle grabbed one of the pillows and placed it under his head. "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you more," I replied with a kiss.
Within minutes Kyle was asleep and quietly snoring in my ear. I hugged his arms closer to my body and fell asleep as well.
The following morning Kyle started to unpack boxes while he waited for the cable guy to show up at the apartment. I drove to the grocery store to buy food.
In the past if I had to go to the grocery store I quickly walked around and grabbed all the items that my mother needed. This was the first time that I actually purchased food for myself. It was a cart full of stuff that Kyle and I wanted for our apartment. It made me feel sort of more responsible and mature.
When I returned home I was pleased to see that Kyle had unpacked most of all the stuff. He had already put most of our clothes away and had made the bed as well.
"Your mother called," he said.
"She called your cell? Or is the phone service connected?"
"The apartment," he answered. "We have our very own telephone number now."
"You've reached the voicemail of Mr. and Mr. Anderson. Please leave your message after the tone," I teased.
"Or Mr. and Mr. Levine," Kyle smiled.
"So what did my mother say?"
"She's going to come by around six o'clock with your dad and Vanessa."
"For dinner?" I panicked. "I don't think I'm ready to cook dinner for other people. If I do, I know they won't eat it."
"No," Kyle laughed. "She said they wanted to drop off a few things. And I guess Vanessa has a housewarming gift for us."
"She's so happy I'm finally out of the house that she's rewarding me."
"Yeah, right," Kyle chuckled. "She'll probably be over here a lot."
"Okay, let's finish cleaning this apartment before they get here. I'm sure my mother thinks we won't be unpacked for weeks."
"Well, then she should be pleasantly surprised when she gets here," Kyle replied. "It won't take long to have everything in its place."
"You're right," I observed. "Let's arrange the furniture then take all of these boxes to the trash."
By the time we had cleaned and arranged the apartment we had one hour before my family arrived. We curled up on the sofa together and watched a rerun of the X-Files.
Shortly after six o'clock the telephone rang. It was my father telling me that they were standing at the main building entrance. I entered the code to allow them entry into the lobby. A couple minutes later there was a knock on the door.
Kyle let them in. "Hello."
My mother placed a box on the floor next to the television. Then my father walked in with two boxes and a plastic bag.
She crossed the room toward me. "Okay, I don't want to alarm the two of you."
"Where's Vanessa?" I asked.
"She's bringing your gift upstairs."
My dad wiped his brow and put his hands on his hips. "Your mother wanted to warn you first before Vanessa came up."
"First of all, it wasn't my idea," she said. "But Vanessa was adamant about it being the perfect gift for the two of you."
"You make it sound like she's bringing us a box of road kill," I smiled.
"Well, it's not dead," she replied.
I jumped up from the sofa and walked toward the door. "What? Are you kidding?"
"Um, I'm afraid not," my father responded.
Kyle joined me at the door. We leaned out into the hallway, but we did not see Vanessa walking toward the apartment. I turned around and faced my parents. "What did she get us?"
"We promised we wouldn't say anything since it's supposed to be a surprise," my father responded.
"Well, I'm surprised already," Kyle smiled. "And I can act surprised when she gets here, if you really want to warn us first."
"No," my mother laughed. "You boys will have to wait."
"Yeah," I agreed and turned back toward the door. I could hear the sound of plastic bags being carried in the hallway. "Besides, here she comes."
Vanessa walked in. I immediately noticed the small kitten wrapped in her arms that she was holding against her chest. It looked like a tiger but it was gray with a patch of white on its neck.
Kyle's face morphed into shock. "Holy shit!"
"Happy housewarming!" Vanessa beamed as she handed the kitten to Kyle.
"Oh, my God," I mumbled. "I can't believe you got us a cat!"
"Well, I was going to get you a dog, but mom and dad thought that it might be too much to handle. Plus I didn't know if you'd really want one since that dog bit you when you were a kid."
"Hey, that dog didn't like me," I quickly responded.
Dad added," walking the dog and such while getting started with college probably isn't a good idea at the moment."
"Remember, I said it wasn't my idea," my mother reminded us. "And it didn't seem like Mr. Fredrickson was fond of dogs when I asked him about pets."
"Mom wanted me to get you a stupid mirror to hang on the wall," Vanessa complained. "I thought this would be much better."
"It wasn't just an ordinary mirror," my mother protested. "It was a very nice framed mirror that would look lovely on your living room wall."
Kyle handed the kitten to me. The poor thing seemed frightened. Yet, it looked up at me and meowed, as if to say hello.
"Hey," I smiled. "Hey, little kitty."
Kyle started to pet its head and scratch under its chin. Then he turned to Vanessa and gave her hug. "Thank you, Vanessa! That was very sweet of you."
"You're welcome," she smiled.
"Yes, thank you," I said.
"I have everything it needs," she replied and quickly walked out into the hallway. She returned with two large Pet Smart bags. "The litter, food, toys and a litter box."
"Well, you certainly come prepared," Kyle laughed.
"Do you like it?" Vanessa asked with excitement.
"Yes," I answered. "I wasn't expecting an animal. A plant, maybe. But a cat is a nice surprise."
"If it doesn't work out we can take it in," my mother said.
"What do you think, Kyle?"
"Oh, hell no," he smiled. "I think we should keep it."
"So do I." As soon as I placed the kitten on the floor it immediately attacked one of the Pet Smart bags.
"See, it feels at home already."
"Vanessa, shut the door," mother instructed. "We don't want to lose it within the first five minutes of being here."
"What are we going to name it?" Kyle asked.
"I don't know," I replied. "Have any ideas, Vanessa?"
"I tried to figure out a combination of your names, but all I could really come up with is Lycus. L, y, c, u, s."
"Well, that makes sense," Kyle replied. "I kind of like it, actually."
"It's original," I said.
Kyle agreed. "Tiger or Fluffy or something would be too obvious."
"Then it's settled," I smiled. "The little baby kitten is going to be named Lycus."
"Or does that make us seem kind of pathetic?" he asked.
"Oh, please!" my mother exclaimed. "Don't worry about what people may think about your cat's name. Good Lord, it's only an animal!"
Kyle and I gave my family a quick tour of how we had set the apartment up. Vanessa and Kyle sat on the floor and played with Lycus for about ten minutes. Then we left the cat alone so that we could have dinner at a restaurant on Beverly Boulevard.