Christmas was just around the corner, as the first snow was falling. This year, Stripy and Blacky were going to spend Christmas with Mrs. Shirley, Uncle Shadow, Aunt Susie, and their new little cousins. Uncle Tiger, Aunt Chloe, and Ace would be catching a ride with the Tinch family. Stripy was excited, for he would be spending the holidays with his other Uncle, Aunt, and cousin, too.  

      “Boys, please start packing. We leave tomorrow morning, and you must pack enough for two weeks.” Said Mrs. Pam. 

       “Yes, Mrs. Pam!” The Boys spoke. Stripy helped Blacky pull the suitcases out from under their bed. Stripy and Blacky began packing. They packed their favorite Christmas

sweaters, their favorite PJs, and they packed their ginger-bread men stockings. 

         “Blacky, if you fit our storybook in your suitcase, then I’ll fit our toiletry items.” Stripy insisted. Blacky nodded then grabbed their storybook and placed it neatly into the suitcase. He continued packing his other things. Their storybook was called “The Adventures of Oreo Paws.” 

   “Hey Blacks, I think that we should pack new toothbrushes, because we still have to brush our teeth tonight and tomorrow morning.” Stripy proposed.

“That’s a good idea! If we were to pack our old toothbrushes, then we would have to go through the trouble of opening our suitcase, putting it in there, and zip it up again.” Blacky agreed. Stripy grabbed a big plastic bag. He put new un-opened toothbrushes in there, two toothbrush covers, toothpaste, their vitamins, un-opened soap, and their sponges.

Blacky packed his favorite stuffed animal, then zipped up his suitcase.

       “All done!” Shouted Blacky.

       “Me too!” Stripy announced. As nighttime came, the moonlight crept more and more into Stripy and Blacky’s window. Blacky was all tucked in when Stripy walked out of the darkness, carrying a book. He said,

       “Blacky! I couldn’t find a good book to replace “The Adventures of Oreo Paws,” but I thought, no book is as good as the Bible! I thought I could read a few Christmas verses.” Stripy proposed.

       “That’s a great idea!” Blacky said with a yawn. Stripy began reading.

 “Luke 2. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be-    Blacky began to snore. Stripy closed the book and turned out the light. 

 The next morning, Mrs. Pam woke up the boys.

    “Boys, it’s time to go.” She said, with a soft, warm, tone. Stripy and Blacky made their bed, then they finished getting ready. Uncle Tiger and Aunt Chloe were waiting in the living room with Ace. When the kittens finished eating breakfast, the group headed off to Charlotte, TN. The cat’s luggage was in the back. The drive was long, but they finally arrived. When Blacky exited the car, he had his eyes on the pretty lady sitting on the porch. It was Mrs. Shirley. After gathering their luggage, they headed up to the house. Aunt Susie Pearl opened the door. She was a pretty brown cat with a light purple dress and a white apron. When she saw Mrs. Pam and the cats, she turned and opened the door.

 “Shadow! They’ve arrived! Now please come help them gather their luggage!” she called. Uncle Shadow burst through the door. 

       “Hey, Tiger! And the lovely Chloe.” Said Shadow, shaking paws with Tiger. He took Chloe’s suitcase and helped Mrs. Pam carry hers. Stripy and Blacky raced 

to the top of the porch. They saw Mrs. Shirley and Granny Cat sitting in a rocking chair. Mrs. Shirley was wearing a maroon shawl that matched Granny cat’s shawl. 

       “Hi, Mrs. Shirley! Hi, Granny Cat!” said Blacky, throwing himself into both of their arms. Stripy gave hugs as well.

 “Hello, Stripy and Blacky!” said Mrs. Shirley. She had calm and compassionate eyes. Her smile was humble and warm, and she was filled with joy, knowing that she could spend Christmas with her family and favorite cats.

  “You’ve grown into a fine young man, Stripy.” Said Granny cat. Her paws were curled in, due to the cold weather, her eyes were dull, but filled with humbleness. Her warm smile told Stripy of her kind behavior.

 Stripy and Blacky crept into the house. Mrs. Shirley and Granny Cat followed behind. Aunt Susie had just poured Mrs. Shirley's son, Mr. Ricky, some coffee. He was sitting in a comfortable chair near the fireplace. Uncle Shadow and his adopted brother, Uncle Trouble, were making a warm fire. The room seemed cozy. They smelt a scent of white chili coming from the kitchen.

  “Oh, dear! I forgot! Sally! Please don’t cut up those limes without me!” called Aunt Susie.

       “Yes, mommy!” squeaked a high-pitched voice. A small brown kitten approached the living room. Stripy and Blacky had their gaze on the adorable kitten. 

        “Oh, Stripy, Blacky, this is Sally- our youngest daughter.” Uncle Shadow spoke.

        “Oh, you haven’t met my kittens yet,” said Aunt Susie. “HR, Fluffy, and Beth, please come down here!” Three kittens stepped down the stairs. 

A coal-black kitten stretched out his right paw towards Blacky.

     “Hi, I’m Hiram Richard, but you can call me HR for short.” said HR. He looked like both Blacky and Uncle Shadow. 

       “I’m Elizabeth, the second oldest, but you can call me Beth.” Said Beth. She was wearing a light pink dress, just like her sister. 

        “My name’s Fluffy, the second youngest, but you can call me…Fluffy.” Fluffy giggled. He was just what his name was- fluffy. The kittens gave a light giggle.

     “HR, Fluffy, please show our guests to their room. Girls, you can help me finish preparing lunch.” Aunt Susie commanded. HR and Fluffy gave a happy nod then raced up the stairs. Stripy and Blacky followed.

     “This is one of the four guest rooms.” HR spoke. 

      “Thanks, I’m sure we’ll enjoy it.” Blacky assured. 

       “You’re going to have so much fun with us,” Fluffy spoke, “We get to make presents with wood, plastic, paint, glue, and other materials!” Cousin Ace appeared.

       “Hey, do you bag boys want to show me to my hotel room?” said Ace, with a wink. Ace was a teenage cat. Sixteen years old, in fact. Stripy was eight and Blacky was seven. Aunt Susie’s oldest kittens were six, but the youngest

ones were five. Ace enjoyed playing along with his younger cousins.      

    “Yes, Master Ace!” Fluffy playfully spoke. He saluted him then carried Ace’s bag to another guest room, marching the whole way. Stripy was a responsible kitten. Though he was only eight, he behaved well. He had good manners such as this: Stripy would silently take little sips of his drink and would dab his mouth with his napkin after every bite. 

Stripy silently and maturely opened his suitcase and began unpacking. He grabbed the folded clothes and neatly organized them in the drawers. 

   “Blacky, you best start unpacking,” Stripy spoke, “Lunch will be here before you know it.” 

    Blacky gave a solemn nod, then began unpacking as well. They hung their long-sleeved sweaters in the closet along with their pants. Their other things belonged in the drawers. As soon as Blacky put the last set of clothes in the drawer, he heard-

        “Dinner!” called Aunt Susie. HR had been watching his older cousins unpack, but as soon as his mother called, he

raced down the stairs. Blacky sat his empty suitcase beside Stripy’s suitcase in the closet.

Stripy had been reading a book, but then sat it on the bookshelf where Blacky had placed “The Adventures of Oreo Paws.” Stripy and Blacky dashed down the stairs to see what HR was doing. Stripy sat down at a small table-

     That must be the kitten’s table. Blacky assumed. He crept into the kitchen as quiet as a mouse. He saw Aunt Susie divvying out soup into medium-sized bowls. Her kittens were holding empty bowls and stood in a line. She scooped two scoops into a bowl, then the little kittens came marching into the dining room, where the adults had seated themselves. 

Mrs. Shirley was sitting by both of her children, Mrs. Pam, and Mr. Ricky. The youngest kittens barely reached the table to place the bowl of soup on. The older kittens were about Blacky’s height, so they could easily reach the table. Blacky decided to help his little cousins. He tip-toed into the kitchen, then grabbed a bowl. He marched into the line. When he came to the end of the line, Aunt Susie said quietly,

      “Thank you, Blacky.” Her humble, warm smile and her sleepy young eyes told him that she was very tired. 

      She must have worked hard! 

Thought Blacky.

Blacky sat the bowl of soup on an empty slot on the table then sat down in a chair next to Stripy. The kittens table seemed the perfect size for Blacky. Blacky gazed at the kittens holding little bowls. They carried the bowls to the kitten’s table. Stripy soon noticed that they must get their own bowl. Stripy stood, fixing to go get soup for him and his brother, when Beth turned her gaze to Stripy. 

     “Let us.” Beth spoke, giving Sally a motion to come help her receive two bowls. Sally gave a quiet nod, then headed towards the kitchen. Aunt Susie was pouring her own bowl. When she saw the kittens, she was about to ask what they were doing, when Elizabeth said,

       “Mother, we forgot to serve bowls for the kitten’s table.

Please scoop us two more bowls.” 

“Oh! No wonder there are two kitten bowls left!” Aunt Susie spoke. She quickly scooped enough soup for two more hungry kittens, then gave one to each of her daughters.

      “Oh, Beth, honey, would you please fetch the salt and pepper, then set one on each table? Oh! And do you mind doing the same for the cut limes?” Aunt Susie asked. “Yes, mother.” Beth kindly mumbled. She did as she was told, then sat down. Ace approached the table.

     "Because I'm not eighteen, they kicked me off the adult table again." Ace said, with a mocking tone. The kittens giggled. Uncle Shadow clapped his paws.

     “May I have your attention?” he spoke. “I am about to pray.” Uncle Shadow prayed, and then the family feasted.

       “Hey Blacky! You know what would make your soup Extra good?” asked Sally, who was sitting next to him. 

        “What?” Blacky mewed. 

         “You squeeze one of the limes into your soup, then add the pepper.” She said, squeezing a lime into his bowl. He began grinding pepper into his bowl. Blacky sipped the well-cooked hot soup. It was delicious! The hot soup made Blacky’s mouth water, as the lime flavor sprung to his tastebuds.

The more Blacky sipped the soup, the more it felt like having a party in his mouth!

After all the kittens lapped up every spoonful, the kittens started gathering bowls and carried piles and piles into the kitchen. Stripy and Blacky helped clean, too. After every dish was washed, dried, and put up, Uncle Shadow made an announcement. He stood tall in front of the large table.

      “Now, we shall let the kittens make gifts for each other with the supplies Trouble and I have bought.” He spoke. A few minutes later, HR poked Blacky.

       “Follow us!” he whispered. HR, Elizabeth, Fluffy, and Sally began marching towards a room. Blacky began following, while Stripy tagged along behind him. HR walked into the school room. To the right stood Aunt Susie’s desk, and to the left, four little desks were shoved in the corner for the gift-making. There were two tables. There was cardboard boxes dividing the giant table into eight slots total. On the other table, there was paint, plastic, glue, nails, hammers, cardboard, and ginormous sticks of wood. There were saws. 

       “Why are there saws? I can handle hammers, but SAWS?!” Blacky asked.

“Dad’s going to help us. And the uncles.” Fluffy replied.

       “Well, what did you think? Five through eight-year-olds sawing wood?” HR giggled. Blacky thought of what he could make for his little cousins. He walked over to Fluffy. “Hey Fluffy, you’re pretty close to Sally. What is something that she’s always dreamed of having?” Blacky asked. “Well, she’s always wanted a rocker and bed for her stuffed kitten. Father got a big raise last year and this year, so now we can afford to at least BUILD a rocker. But if you want to sew, then you better ask mom.” Fluffy responded. Blacky gave a thankful nod and began grabbing supplies. Uncle Trouble helped him use the saw for the wood.