A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I set up booths to sign books and sell pottery at a festival. I didn’t expect to meet any kittens, but as I arranged my books and signs on the table, I noticed the lady at the booth next to us was carefully placing the tiny inhabitants of her cat carrier into a pen.

I already have ten cats of my own at home, which I promise isn’t quite as crazy as it sounds. They are spread into different groups in various areas across our property— one with our son in his apartment, three outdoors, the other six in two different large spaces in our house. (Okay, yeah, it may be as crazy as it sounds, but we love it!) Anyway, the point is we certainly weren’t on the lookout for any more feline family members.

But then, I saw this little face…

Her name was Pickle. Yep, Pickle.

Oh, I’ll have to change that name as soon as I get her home, was my first thought, followed quickly by Nope, nope, nope. No new kittens.

We were there for several hours, and in between chatting with readers and signing books, I kept sneaking a peek at the pen next door. Until, finally, during a lull in the crowd, I stepped over to their cage and asked the kind rescue lady to let me hold the tiny gray ball of fluff. I knew better… I really did.

I watched her all day and had to snap another picture when I found her completely relaxed during all the chaos, loud music, and chatty people.

At the end of the day, I packed up to go and sadly had to leave Pickle behind with her siblings. Only one had been adopted, but Pickle and her brother and sister were heading back to their foster mom’s house.

My friends couldn’t believe I wasn’t taking the cute gray kitten home right then and there. Out loud, I kept repeating, “I can’t take any more cats,” though my heart was saying Come on, one more little kitty can’t hurt. You already have ten. What’s one more?

Over the next several days, I couldn’t get Pickle out of my mind. My husband had seen the pictures I’d taken, and we had lots of conversations carefully weighing the pros and cons of adopting another cat. We finally decided that we’d fill out the online application with Fur Babies Rescue, and it wasn’t long before we had an appointment scheduled to visit Pickle and her siblings at their foster mom’s home.

We already had an idea that we’d be adopting two. Little kittens need a playmate. Our youngest, Rosey, is three years old, and she’d grown up without another kitten companion. She spends her days with Tom and Chloe who are ten year old siblings. They are patient with her, but not always as energetic.

At the foster mom’s house, we played with all the kittens, but figured we’d be adopting Pickle and her sister, Sandy. The foster mom had another little male kitten join their group, so the brother, Skip, would have a playmate when we took both sisters away. When we went home that night, we had lots to talk about- feeding schedules, where to keep the kittens for a while, getting updated shots for our older cats, and how in the world to integrate everyone in our house… the conversation went late into the evening, and we were still figuring out everything the next morning.

Finally, we decided to just go for it. We knew that the kittens would be at PetSupermarket in Hickory, so we headed to the store as soon as they opened. We watched a few customers ooh and ahh over the kittens. The girls finally passed out together, while their brother curled up with the other little male kitten. We met a woman that was enamored with the other male kitten, and she seemed like she might be adopting both boys, so we were happy that Skip would have a home and a playmate to grow up with.

Soon after that, we were packing the girls up in a carrier to bring them to our house.

It didn’t take them long to make themselves at home. We decided to keep them in a large pen in our great room so that they’d have a safe place to stay while Rosey, Tom, and Chloe could check them out. They also had plenty of room to play in my office at times throughout the day.

We decided to name them Nixie and Fenn, after the sisters in my new book, Varlandria.

That evening we found out from the foster mom that the little male kitten had been adopted, but the lady had decided she couldn’t take two. Skip had been left in a pen with two other kittens at the store, so he’d have a chance of adoption.

So… that next morning, I popped in to the store to visit Skip and see how he was doing.

You know what happened next, right?

We adopted Skip, too, and brought him home to his sisters. The other main character in my book is Fenn’s best friend, Christopher, so of course we had to change Skip’s name.

Now Fenn, Nixie, and Christopher are happy and living their best lives. We’re working on integration with the cat crew, but taking it slow. There’s a lot less hissing now, so that’s progress.

We’re taking it all day by day for now. They are growing like crazy and are so fun to watch. My husband said it best the other day during playtime, “Watching these kittens is pure, unadulterated joy.”

Our home and hearts are full.