Nox

Nox joined our family about four months ago.  He is an orange tabby cat who was saved at the age of four weeks outside of a diner.  His savior was a family with four children, three large dogs, and several cats who couldn't walk away from a feline in need.   After having him checked by a vet, the knights-in-shining-armor put the word out at the hospital where Scott works that there was a cat needing a home.  All Scott had to hear was that dynamics of the family temporarily housing the kitty and he was all in.  If this cat could be happy with all the action at their home, surely he would also love it here.

We did discuss it, but it didn't really seem like we needed to talk about too much.  I mean - this cat was already in a crazy house and happy -- why not bring him here?  Plus, he was orange, the very color of cat Scott himself always wanted to have.  (He was trying to replace his beloved childhood cat, Kellogg.  But, really, that is another story.)  We sneakily assembled all the cat necessities and drove the children to a nearby town to meet up with our new family addition.  However, our new cat deduced  something was up and went into hiding. After waiting for three hours, we finally signaled defeat and headed home.  The family who was sending him our way said they would meet up with us as soon as they could locate him.  This beginning should have clued us in that this was no ordinary cat.

We did finally confess to the children what was going on.  They had, after all, been riding around in the van since just after worship with no explanation.  They certainly weren't complaining and there was a palpable air of excitement.  They had all been pleading for a cat for months, but I kept saying no.  The news that we were actually in the process of adopting a cat was followed by an eruption of joy, the likes of which usually greets us when we let the kiddos learn that another baby is on the way. And so, the children were  thrilled when Scott received a call that our cat was successfully located and on his way to our hometown.  Scott made arrangements to go meet up with the family and the children did their happy dance all over the house.

 

We decided on the name Nox as a way to pay homage to one of our favorite book series, Harry Potter.  For those interested, nox is the spell used to extinguish the wand light.  It just seemed like a perfect name for a small, orange cat.  And he was indeed small.  Just over five weeks, he quickly snuggled into Shelby's lap and began to nurse on her finger tips.  And while it was a fun thing to have occur during the day, a 3:30 am fingertip nursing was not at all what any of us wanted to experience.  So, Nox found himself sleeping in the book nook at night while the rest of us curled up in our beds with the doors solidly shut against him.

During the day, Nox became a source of laughter and exercise for Keats and Aidan.  The boys would run up and down the hall while Nox chased after them, playfully batting at their tushies. I couldn't walk into a room without tripping over some new string and button toy ingeniously crafted just for Nox's enjoyment.  And the sounds of his nursing to sleep when we had finally managed to exhaust him were comically loud.   Scott and I congratulated ourselves on such a fine decision.  And thus began what was promising to be a beautiful relationship.  

Or so we thought.