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“Beans hurt her eye the other day and she has to have antibiotic drops, so we didn’t include them today. She should be totally fine in about a week, though. Why?” Kenna asked. “Do you know someone who might be interested?”

“Yeah…” CJ answered slowly. “Maybe me.”

“What? Really? They both took to you right away; this could be the perfect match. And I know two dogs can be a lot, but I can help, if you’ll let me.”

CJ looked at her glowing face, at the happy smile, and her heart was overflowing, a lovely, gentle heat spreading through her chest.

My girl.

My kitten .

“It seems like this is the week for me to fall in love,” she said, her gaze locked on Kenna’s.

“CJ…Oh! Do you mean…?”

“Yeah, I do. And I know it’s fast, and this is really the most lesbian thing that’s ever happened to me, but yeah. I am totally in love with these two babies. And Kenna… I’m in love with you. I think I always have been.”

“Oh!” Kenna burst into tears and threw her arms around CJ’s neck while Chonk wagged furiously and Beans whimpered and squirmed at the excitement in the air.

“Is this too much? Too fast?” CJ had to ask.

Kenna gripped her neck tighter. “No, not at all.” She pulled back to gaze into CJ’s eyes, hers brimming with tears. “I love you, too. I do. And I don’t care how fast this may seem to anyone else. You’re my person , CJ.”

“And you’re mine, baby. Come here and kiss me, since I have my hands full of dogs.”

Kenna leaned in and CJ kissed her, trying to convey everything she was feeling with her lips on Kenna’s. And of course Chonk tried to join in. They both laughed as CJ gently pushed Chonk’s head away.

“This kiss was not meant for dogs,” CJ told the excited pittie, but the dog didn’t seem to mind.

She leaned in and kissed Kenna again, smiling against her lips, pulling back to murmur, “I love you, Kenna.”

“I love you,” her girl answered.

They kissed each other over and over while Chonk and Beans wagged like crazy, happy to be involved in whatever was happening. Finally Chonk wiggled her way in between them, and they laughed as the dog tried to kiss both their faces, then to lick little Bean’s tiny face.

“When can I take these two home with me?” CJ asked.

“Well, we can’t release them until Bean’s eye is all better, so maybe a few more days? A week at most.”

“I really don’t want to wait, but I get it. And in that case, I’m taking my kitten home with me now, if that’s allowed.”

“Oh, yes, please.”

They smiled at each other, joy radiating between them.

“Take me home, Daddy,” Kenna asked.

“Nothing would make me happier.”

They got into CJ’s big shower together to clean up, and Kenna was glad to rinse off the grime of the day. CJ gave her hair a thorough washing, and it felt so good. She always felt so spoiled by her.

Once they’d dried off, they both changed into warm terrycloth robes, and even though they were tired after the long day at the rescue, CJ asked her to come into the kitten room with her.

“Did you get me more stuffies?” Kenna asked.

“Not yet. But I did get you something else.”

She led Kenna by the hand to the bench at the end of the bed and motioned for her to sit. Kenna watched as CJ went to the tall dresser and pulled a velvet bag from the top drawer.

“CJ? What is that?”

CJ knelt in front of her, gazing into her eyes, and hers were gleaming in the lamplight, that lovely brown and gold Kenna loved so much. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but her heart beat faster.

“Baby,” CJ said, taking her hand. “I don’t think I can express how much our time together has meant to me. When I told you today that I love you, I meant it, and it runs so damn deep in my soul. So deep that I need you to be mine. Truly mine. And I need to be yours.”

She lifted Kenna’s hand to kiss it, something that always sent a long, warm shiver of pleasure through her, but this time there was a heat that warmed her up from the inside.

“Kenna Claire Lawson, I need you to be mine. I need you to be my kitten. To belong to me in every way. And I need to be your Daddy. I need it to be more than just a name we use when we’re in a scene. I want to fulfill that role. To care for you in every way. To care for my kitten.”

Stunned by her words, Kenna watched with tears in her eyes as CJ pulled a pair of pale-pink kitten ears from the velvet bag, along with a patent leather collar in a matching shade of pink.

“Will you be mine, Kenna girl?”

“Oh, yes!” she answered breathlessly, her heart beating a thousand miles an hour, her chest bursting with love and adoration for this woman who somehow made everything right in her world. “I want that more than anything.”

Tears slipped down her cheek as CJ lifted her hair to buckle the pretty collar around her neck, and Kenna’s hand went to it, needing to assure herself it was real.

“Oh! It has a bell on it. I love it so much. I love you so much, Daddy.”

CJ gathered her in her arms and kissed her, her soft lips incredibly gentle. Kenna sank into her kiss, as she always did, and the world ceased to exist in those moments. It was just the two of them: kitten and Daddy. The Daddy she was always meant to have.

CJ’s hands went into her hair, then cupped Kenna’s cheeks as she pulled back to gaze into her eyes.

“I love you, my baby. My kitten. My girl. I wish I’d figured this out years ago.”

“I’ve thought that, too. But maybe we had to grow up a bit and become the people we are now. I don’t know… does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does. We had to be ready for each other. We had to have some life lived behind us before we found each other again. But I have no doubts. In fact… how would you feel about us moving in together? I know I’m a full package now, with the dogs coming home next week.

And we can live here, but I feel like you’d want to be at your house, because it means so much to you.

Or we can wait if this is all too fast?—”

Kenna put her finger over CJ’s lips, stopping her. “It’s not too fast,” she said, laughing through her tears. “Nothing would make me happier.”

CJ pulled her into her arms and held her so tight she could barely breathe, but she didn’t care.

“Baby,” CJ started, her breath hitching. “Kenna girl, you make me so damn happy. I want this with you. I want it to be forever. I feel like this is what we were meant for.”

“We were. This was meant to be. You and me, and our little family,” Kenna agreed with a sniff, trying to stop crying. But she was too happy to hold in her tears.

CJ leaned in to brush another kiss across her lips, then her cheek. Then she murmured, “We’ll save the ears for the next time you go kitten for me. I know we’re both worn out tonight, but soon, my kitten. My love.”

“I can’t wait, Daddy,” Kenna agreed. “But we have all the time in the world, don’t we?”

She felt the truth of her own words as she said them, and her heart felt as if a thousand stars were lighting it up, filling her with joy.

That night they climbed into bed and curled around each other, and their kisses were gentle, full of emotion.

There would be time for everything else later.

Cuddling each other to sleep felt exactly right.

Kenna felt so safe in CJ’s arms, so safe in the love they’d pledged to each other, she slept the deepest sleep and dreamed of the future they’d planned together.

They’d spent the week preparing CJ’s place for the dogs, since they’d decided to wait until she was able to find a renter before moving in with Kenna.

They’d shopped for dog beds, toys, harnesses and leashes, food and water bowls, and Kenna had advised her on the best food for each of them.

This was the day CJ got to bring them home, and she felt like this was the first big step in creating their new life together.

Even though CJ had been the one to decide to adopt Chonk and Beans, she knew Kenna was just as excited as she was. They’d taken to referring to Bean as “Les Beans”, which they both thought was hysterical, and Kenna assured her Beans wouldn’t mind.

Kenna had just gotten out of the shower and CJ had a light breakfast ready for her: croissants from the corner bakery and some yogurt and fruit. Kenna came to sit at the kitchen table and they ate and sipped their coffee.

“Are you excited to bring the babies home?” Kenna asked.

“I really am. It’ll be nice to have some more life in the house again, you know?

I’ve really missed Deacon. I don’t think I realized how much until I met Chonk and Beans.

I don’t think I realized that my life had become a little empty until I saw you again.

I mean, I have great friends, and I see my brothers once in a while, but this is different. Having you in my life is different.”

“It is for me, too. I don’t have close family, and I have my friends from work, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a relationship. And none have ever felt this right.”

CJ took Kenna’s hand in hers and lifted it to brush a kiss across her knuckles. “For me, too, baby.”

“CJ? I just can’t wait to live together, to really begin a life together. Nothing has ever felt so right to me. And I want to thank you for… just being you. For creating this family with me. It means everything.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, baby. This was both of us. We both had to be open to it. And it wasn’t coincidence that we have so much in common, that we want the same kind of life. Meant to be, right, my love?” CJ said, squeezing Kenna’s hand.

Kenna’s smile was brilliant, her green eyes sparkling in the morning light.

“Yes, all of it. The dogs, too. I just can’t imagine anything feeling more perfect. More complete.”

“I love you so much, kitten.”

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

“Come on, baby. Let’s go get our kids.”

“Let’s do it,” Kenna agreed, getting to her feet.

CJ came around the table to take her girl in her arms; she had to hug her tight, to let her know through touch how much she meant to her, how much all of it meant to her.

Being together, moving in together, adopting their dogs.

She’d never really dreamed she’d have this life.

She’d never dared to. Not until Kenna came back into her life.

Now everything had changed. Every dream she’d ever had was coming to life, and it was all because of Kenna. Her kitten. Her lovely girl.

This was what was meant to be, her and Kenna, Chonk and Les Beans. It was perfect, their little family. And the future had never looked so bright.

THE END