Early present

Christmas came a little early for my kids this year. It came around two weeks ago, of it's own volition and it hasn't left yet.
It could be the left over ham it keeps getting. It could be the overly large doggy bed MacDaddy set out for it (I won't tell you about the heating pad he almost bought it, no I won't), it just might be that it likes knowing that anytime time the kids see him they make haste and much kerfuffle to see that it's loved and cared for, it may be that he finally trusts us. It just may be that mama has a small, teeny tiny, soft spot for the darn cat, but that may also be exaggerating.

Meet Presley. 

 Now Presley isn't our cat. We didn't even name him. We are renting, we are not allowed to have cats. This has been a great reason to tell my sweet girl that while she may love kitties dearly, she must love them from afar.

But Presley comes from a shady home (a few doors down), allowed to come and go as he pleased, not treated entirely well, but he wasn't starving obviously. However his owners moved and he did not. This is no surprise. But being the independent type, he's managed just fine on his own.

He's extremely active and not one to cuddle. However after a week of visiting with the kids, he's allowed them to hold him at will and no one's been scratched. He even manages to purr, a lot.

And this particular photo was taken during a 25 minute session of little G snuggling with the cat on the doggy bed. A cat that doesn't really trust people or like snuggling, so far as we knew. And I didn't know Little G was capable of being so still and so sweet for so long. This melts me. It also made me put little G in the shower once he came inside.

Now it may be the darn cat has wormed it way in, it may be this generous time of year, but each of us in our way; from MacDaddy checking to make sure Presley's not too cold in the early morning, to mama giving it ham (ham!), to the kids trying to sneak it in the house and baby G excitedly giving it gentle pats, that this cat may have found exactly where it needs to be.