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I turned to look back at her, but she just kept climbing like a champ.“I thought you were tired, too?”

Her ears perked up.“I am, but I still want to go with you, Mommy. I missed you while Nan and I were away.”

Why couldn’t my cat ever be this nice?

Even though she was nice and even though she was tired, I still couldn’t take any chances when it came to the kittens. I scooped Paisley into my arms and entered Octo-Cat’s bedroom.

Paisley let out a sharp bark and squirmed furiously in my arms.“Oh, my! Puppies! Cat puppies!”

“Don’t be so insulting.” Octo-Cat sniffed derisively. “These are kittens. Notcat puppies,you simpleton.”

Paisley didn’t so much as whimper at the insult. She was far too excited to care. “Please set me down, Mommy!” she begged. “I want to go say hi!”

The moment I did, she bounded over to the line of kitty cadets and squealed happily as she licked the insides of each young feline’s ears.

They giggled and fell to their sides.

“Can’t you see I’m leading a class here?” Octo-Cat seethed, his tail twitching aggressively.

“Yes. And your class is about to take a field trip. Nan wants to meet them.”

“Then have her come up here? It’s best we don’t disturb their environment. Otherwise it could undo all their training.”

If only.With any luck they’d forget operative 038 forever.

I sucked air through my teeth and shook my head.“No can do, Mr. Kitty. Nan is stuck downstairs, so we’re bringing the babies to her.”

“How many times have I told you not to call me that?” Octo-Cat sighed heavily as the two of us watched Paisley cuddle and lick the mass of kittens. It’s official; they’re ruined now.

“Mommy?” one of the kitties asked the others as she cuddled up to the doting Chihuahua.

“Mommy!” the rest cheered in response.

Octo-Cat gasped.

I chuckled.

Paisley trotted over to us with the kittens ambling behind.“Mommy,” she addressed me, “the cat puppies are calling for you.”

I bent down to scratch between her ears.“Actually, I think they’re calling foryou. They’ve decided you’re their mommy.”

“Me? A mommy? Oh my love!” Paisley’s dark eyes welled with tears. In just a few more weeks, the kittens would probably all be larger than Paisley, but she would now forever be their mother—I had no doubt about that.

“Mommy,” the kittens cooed, and then turning to Octo-Cat, “Daddy!”

“Octavius,”Paisley warbled, still crying tears of joy.“We have puppies together. Does that mean we should get married?”

“I’m ready to go now, Angela,” Octo-Cat informed me, turning to face the door, his voice devoid of any emotion—the poor guy had clearly had his fill of insanity for one day.

“Paisley, can you watch them for a minute? I’ll be right back.”

“Yes, Mommy.” She returned to her litter and started a game of chase. She’d gone from zero to sixty mighty fast upon meeting the kitties.

“Hey, now you’re Grand-Mommy!” she pointed out just as I was shutting the door behind Octo-Cat.

Oh, great. I wasn’t ready to marry and have my own kids, but somehow I’d become a grandma anyway.Wonderful.

Brushing that thought aside, I went to retrieve the cat carrier from storage. I needed some way to get the kittens downstairs, and it just didn’t feel right putting them back in that bloody, battered box.

Paisley spoke calmly to her litter as I loaded them into the carrier, making the task a piece of cake.

Once downstairs, I set the carrier beside Nan on the couch and opened the wire mesh door.

“This is Nan. She’sGreat Nanto you,” the proud doggie mother informed them. “Be careful not to fall or jump off the couch. We Chihuahuas are a fragile breed.”

Just as I was wondering whether Paisley understood that these were not her actual babies, Nan caught sight of the kittens for the first time and gasped with delight.

“Where did you come from?” she squealed in the high-pitched voice she normally reserved only for Paisley.

I caught Nan up on the particulars while she petted and cuddled the babies.

“How horrible! What kind of monster would abandon such sweet babies?” she asked once I’d finished.

I shook my head, still at a loss.“I’m less concerned with why someone would leave them here than with where the blood came from.”

“Blood?”Paisley barked.“Are my cat puppies hurt? We need to go to the vet right now!”

Not only was the little dog proving to be quite the helicopter parent, but she also had a really good idea. I would have chastised myself for not thinking of it earlier, but we’d only found them very recently and have been very busy trying to figure out where they came from, get them food, and make sure they stayed out of trouble.

“We should go to the vet,” I agreed with a nod. “They don’t seem hurt, but it’s better to know for sure.”

“Let’s go now. I need to make sure my puppies are okay!” Paisley whined and gave out another round of licks. For whatever reason, the Chihuahua seemed to think that inner-ear kisses could solve anything. If I wasn’t careful, she’d sneak up on me and push her warm, wet tongue into my ear, too.