Well, it has been a long time since our Christmas troubles. We are all healed now which means the wedding is on once again. Sky was determined we could not get married until Tracy was able to attend also. She was hurt worse than anyone. Chung and Mandar’s doctor had made it into the cellar of the clinic in time before the explosion, but were unable to get out until the debris had been removed from the entrance.

As for Walter, well, we do not know what happened to him, he just disappeared. But that has happened before and he has managed to return. But why did he disappear this time? He must have been hurt and staying behind would have been the best thing to do. Even Crandall did not understand it, and they were such good friends. Crandall and his family are now settled in the US. But he did say that he would help us anytime we might need him.

True to his word, Mandar “adopted” Kristina, along with Angel, Tracy, Crystal and Astrid, all of our girls who have no family. He just bubbled over with joy at the thought of having so many “daughters”. I am sure we will be seeing Mandar a lot more from now on. He and Baldwin had a long talk about the mistakes we have been making lately. One thing we must learn is not to spread our team too thinly at any time.

That is when an enemy could strike, like this last time. I still feel so bad about that one, especially since Sephira was killed. I almost thought of giving up my position on the Investigators and let Rock take over. But I was voted down on that idea and Baldwin would not accept my resignation anyway.

When our doctor, Saranna came back after Christmas, she brought 2 friends of hers along who wanted to join our team. They are both nurses which would be a real bonus for us. They passed our tests quite easily, though they could use a bit more practice in fighting. Crystal and Kristina are tasked with teaching them. Sky also helped for a while, but now she has been busy with wedding preparations.

The big day is tomorrow, Mandar will be coming later today, and we have a big surprise for him. Sky and Kristina were out yesterday in town, with Muffin, MC and Storm, checking out the street cats to see if they could find one suitable for Mandar. They came back in the afternoon with a beautiful little female cat, orange in color with longer type fur, though not a true longhair.

MC and Storm rescued her from 3 male street cats who had her cornered. Did the fur fly! They had those 3 cats running very quickly! Poor little thing, she was dirty, skinny and with tangled fur. She claims to be 6 months old. And, like our 3 cats, she can communicate with us, just what Mandar wants. Today that little cat looks so different being clean and fur nicely brushed.

She endured the bath because she wanted to be pretty for her new human. Meowy?=Is he real nice, like you? “Yes, little one, he is very nice,” I told her, “you will love him, and he will love you.” When Mandar showed up, Sky had him sit down and she covered his eyes while Kristina brought in the cat. She then set her on Mandar’s lap and Sky removed her hands. Mandar sat there and stared at the orange cat.

“Can you talk, little cat?” he asked. Meowy.=Yep, me talk, not so good like Muffin. She began to purr loudly. Mandar picked her up and hugged her. “You are my little cat now,” he said, “and I am going to take very good care of you. You need to eat more and gain some weight.” Meowy.=Me street cat, other cats not let eat much.

“Oh my, that is not good,” he said, “but now you do not need to worry about that. You and I will get along nicely.” Meowy.=You nice human, me know. He chuckled. “She is our present to you,” said Sky and Kristina, “you two need each other.” “I agree,” said Mandar. The weather was beautiful the next day for our wedding, which was outside. Everything went well and we were soon enjoying a huge picnic for our reception, surrounded by a small army of security guards.

Sky, Crystal and Angel disappeared for a while, then Annelie made an announcement introducing my new wife, or should I say, wives. There were 3 of them, identical looking. I knew who they were, Sky, Crystal and Angel. I never realized until then how much Angel looked like Sky and Crystal. But when dressed the same, and their hair the same, with same makeup, they could be triplets.

Annelie said she did some checking and found out their 3 mothers were sisters, triplets, which is why these 3 cousins look so much alike, though perhaps not quite identical. Rock did not want to try and pick them out however, neither did Baldwin or Mandar. It was up to me. I had no difficulty, however, and picked Sky correctly. “Good thing,” she said and giggled. That giggle, right from the first day…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.