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‘Honestly, anything’s better than having to listen to GrandCat Alfie’s “when I was a young Cat… stories”.’

‘Oy,’ I said, affronted. My stories were incredibly entertaining if I did say so myself. I also tried to ignore the fact that Snowball was laughing.

‘The prize is some ribbon,’ Snowball said, diffusing the situation. She had found some that Claire had left on the kitchen table. It wasn’t around a present, so as far as I was concerned, it was fair game. Holly’s eyes lit up.

‘We are playing whether you like it or not,’ I said, trying to sound authoritative. After all, I was in charge. Wasn’t I?

It turned out to be one of my better ideas. The running wore the kittens out a bit, the questions tested their brainpower and helped to educate them; although when I asked about the main job of a cat and Santa answered ‘causing trouble’, I had to stop and give a slight lecture. The good news was that they all played well, enjoyed sharing the ribbon, and finally, they curled up and fell asleep, albeit on Claire’s favourite blanket that Santa had dragged from upstairs. On the whole, I was a brilliant kitten sitter, if I did say so myself.

’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, nothing was stirring, not even a mouse. Actually, only some of that was true. It was early evening, and it was Christmas Eve, true. There were no mice to be seen – true – but only because we were a house full of cats. We were at Hana’s house, under strict instructions to stay there and keep out of trouble, while the adults did the last minute wrapping up and the children ran riot with the kittens before they went off to a carol service, which us cats weren’t invited to. If I heard it once I heard a million times; that I was in charge, and responsible for making sure that all of the cats and kittens stayed in the house until the adults got back. Of course, as the oldest, I was always in charge, but I also passed on some of the responsibility to Snowball who pointed out that she and Hana were far better at keeping an eye on the kittens than George and myself were. She kept reminding me of the last time I looked after them and temporarily lost them when her back was turned, but I didn’t lose them. I just misplaced them for a bit. It’s certainly not the same.

Anyway, we were all at Hana’s house, and while the humans were there, it was difficult to keep track of them all so I was actually glad when they left the house, and it was just us cats. Everyone was excited, as was usual on Christmas Eve. The children were beside themselves, knowing that Santa was visiting that night, the adults were excited because the children were and the kittens were excited because not only was it their first Christmas but also their first birthday – which meant that George and Hana were excited because it was their babies birthday and their first year as parents. And I was excited for everyone because that’s the kind of cat I am. But there was so much to celebrate, and we all felt it in our hearts.

When the front door closed and all our humans had gone, I breathed a sigh of relief. I never thought I would say; that being left with the kittens was going to be more peaceful but after all the singing, shouting, cheers and running around, it really was calmer with just us cats. But then we all know what hard work humans can be, right?

‘Um Dad,’ George said as he joined me.

‘Yes, son.’

‘Can we sneak out for a minute to remember Tiger Mum?’ It was our Christmas eve tradition. We both missed Tiger’s namesake, Tiger who was my girlfriend, and George’s mum until she passed away. We both loved her very much, still do. What I have learnt in my life is that grief is one of the worst things that can happen to us, if not the worst, but you find a way to carry on. Love never dies, that is another lesson I have learnt. I can love Snowball but that doesn’t diminish how much love I have for Tiger. Life is complex and the rules aren’t always so easy to follow; if there even are any. But love is our greatest gift and if we have lost someone we love, at least we will always have that love, even if we don’t always have them.

George and I stood outside and looked up at the darkening sky. There was one star already and we both spoke to it as if Tiger was sitting on it, which wouldn’t surprise me because she was such a star. George told her all about the kittens and Hana and how having her as his Tiger Mum had helped him so much with the kittens. He said he hoped she looked down on them and how much he wished she could have met them. We snuggled up together as we remembered how much we love her – it was so sad, I felt it in my bones, but it was also happy because we had so much to be grateful for.

‘We better go in, lad,’ I said, although my voice broke.

‘OK, Dad, let’s go and see what my kittens are up to.’ We nuzzled again before we headed back inside. I was looking forward to a nice peaceful family time.