That evening began quietly. I was folding laundry when suddenly Lili’s voice rang out from the living room:
— Mom! She has something in her mouth again!
— Who? — I froze mid-step.
— Marsa! A puppy! Another one!
I ran to the window and couldn’t believe my eyes: my tabby cat was walking across the yard, carrying a tiny black bundle in her teeth. In the corner of the room, in a woven basket, already lay four just like it — tiny, their eyes tightly shut, with warm, velvety sides.
Marsa carefully placed the new one next to them, gently licked it, and curled herself around them as if protecting them from the whole world.