Aaron was having a wonderful Saturday. The sun was shining, the air smelled sweet, and most importantly, he had Keeley's undivided attention. Well, sort of. It was the most attentive she had been since he was reborn.
She asked him questions, went off on tangents while talking just like she used to, and even laughed! It was the first time she did that in his presence since the Millenium Falcon sonnet.
Aiden deserved a bonus for presenting this idea; it was working splendidly already.
One thing that dampened his spirits slightly was the twinge of regret that accompanied noticing her colorful outfit. Never in either of his lives had he seen her dress so casually and based on their conversation, he realized that was likely his fault.
When they were first hanging out and eventually dating, she dressed up because she wanted to look good for him. Later, when she joined high society by taking on the position of Mrs. Hale, he was always on her case about looking the part.
It wasn't done with malicious intent. He just wanted her to fit in with them because he knew those socialites could be vicious and didn't want her to be bullied.
Aaron had wanted her to be able to stand tall and proud. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.
Keeley suppressed herself so much when they were together. Seeing the changes she had made in her life since he wasn't an active part of it had proved that to him.
Aaron had a lot of time to think when he was apart from her those five years. It was how he came to the conclusion that they didn't need to be part of high society to be together.
This time he would meet her in the middle so she could live life the way she wanted. Pigtails, cheap jewelry, and all.
When they arrived at the animal shelter, he could almost imagine her pulling him by the hand with a huge grin on her face like she used to and pointing out all the animals she liked. Almost. Instead he found her looking at him expectantly twenty feet ahead because he wasn't moving.
He hurried to catch up. A wall of smells assaulted his nostrils as they opened the front door that seemed to mostly consistent of urine and cleaning products. He knew this place would be dirty!
"Come on, cats are this way," Keeley said from up ahead after reading a sign.
The cats were set up in little rooms that held five to ten apiece. Visitors were allowed to move from room to room as long as they sanitized their hands between each one.
The first room they passed held kittens and Keeley's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Without even consulting him, she pushed the door open eagerly and sat cross-legged on the ground. Four kittens swarmed her on the spot.
"Who's the cute kitty? You're the cute kitty!" she cooed in a baby voice.
Aaron was a bit taken aback since he'd never seen her interact with a baby anything before. She certainly seemed to be enjoying herself, fawning over each one that came near.
"Aaron, try petting one!"
He was slightly startled. Her tone and expression took him back to their college days. Her eyes weren't filled with adoration but she was encouraging him to branch out of his comfort zone just like always.
"…I don't know how."
She snorted, covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry. Start at the top of their heads and stroke down their backs along their fur growth. If you go the other way they won't like it."
She demonstrated with a tiny solid gray kitten in front of her. Aaron hesitantly joined her on the ground and copied her movements with a white kitten that had gray patches. It began shaking.
"What's it doing?" he asked a bit nervously. "Did I hurt it?"
"It's purring, you idiot! It means that it likes it."
"So it's the feline equivalent of a dog wagging its tail," he surmised.
"How do you know about tail wagging but not purring? Did you live under a rock?" she asked in disbelief.
He shrugged. "I don't exactly have much experience with animals, you know. I've heard of purring in theory…"
The little white and gray kitten fell asleep on Aaron's leg and he felt it start to go a bit numb but couldn't move the thing off because Keeley was watching.
The gray one she was petting earlier had migrated its way onto her arm. It climbed up the back of her shirt and was now perched on the arm that was outstretched like a falconer waiting for a bird to land.
She thought it was delightful based on her bright smile. "Hey Aaron, take a picture of this!"
Her hand groped in her pocket for her phone but he said, "My phone has a better camera. I'll send it to you."
What he really wanted was a picture of her beaming. It would make a much better phone background than the default nature photo.
Keeley shot a dazzling smile at the camera as the kitten remained in its birdlike position and he snapped the photo. Beautiful.
"So, do you want a kitten?" she asked as the one on her arm began making its way toward the top of her head.
He wanted to laugh. She looked perfectly comfortable with what was happening but there was no way Aaron could deal with that sort of thing.
"They seem a bit energetic for me."
"Ah, that makes sense. You know, I've heard that kittens do best with a buddy anyway. You're at work most of the day so you'd probably be better off with an older cat that's okay with a bit of solitude…"
She went on about the kinds of traits he might want to look for in a cat for the next five minutes. The whole time he simple gazed at her with a soft expression, enjoying listening to her talk.
Eventually Keeley decided they should go look at other cats and bid the kittens farewell. As they moved from room to room she asked him more questions about what he wanted.
"Do you know what color or coat pattern you want? Boy or girl? Do you want a cuddler or a cat that mostly wants to do its own thing? Playful or sleeps all day?"
Aaron didn't have an appearance or gender preference but since he wasn't home most of the time, an independent and peaceful cat might be best. He told her so and she zipped off to find a shelter employee to ask about cats with those specifications.