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Again, Gus barked

The

type of bark that had Nash knowing this wasn’t about Gus being his typical pain-in-the-ass self and waking Nash up for no reason Nash’s body was heavy and desperate for more sleep, and his eyes hurt He ran his hands over his face Maybe Gus had eaten so to deal with that shit—literally—Nash slid out of bed then headed for the living roo ho out

When he o steps down the hallway, Gus barked again

“What?” Nash asked, glancing over his shoulder before snorting to himself It wasn’t like Gus could answer At that stupidity, Nash’s an to wake up, and Gus trotted off in the other direction down the hallway

Nash sighed and followed At the very end of the hallas a small laundry room Gus sat down and shoved his head between the wall and the dryer Growing curious, Nash sidled up next to him and peered into the space

“Hell no!” Wide awake now, Nash gave Gus a shove to the side, not believing his eyes

A gray-and-white cat lay on her side Not my cat Blood covered the space Notdown to one knee With a steady push, Nash shoved the dryer over and discovered a cat that didn’t belong to him had taken his favorite T-shirt and birthed three kittens on it “My goddarowled

Gus stuck his face under Nash’s arood look at the kittens

The kittens were screeching The cat was not et attacked, but the cat layNo flicker of movement

Gus whined

“Yeah, yeah, I know” Nash leaned in, squinting his eyes, and saw“You’re forgiven for wakingthe contents onto the floor He gently pulled out his now-ruined shirt and scooped up the cat and her kittens, placing them in the basket

He threw on one of his dirty T-shirts and jeans fro out the door within minutes Once outside, he placed the basket on the floor of the passenger seat, and Gus took the seat, obviously not wanting to be left behind

Nash was on the road in seconds and found the eency vet clinic phone number on his cell

Leah, the veterinarian who cared for the s “It’s Nash Blackshaw,” he said “I’ave birth to three kittens So”