Creme de la Creme a la Martin
By now, all three kittens had include one another in their game of chase, but a sharper corner with Jane’s tiredness had made her bump her little head into the table and caused a table lamps candle, thankfully not lit, to thump on her head, adding to the initial pain of the bump of wood.
“Ow! Now that hurt! Mama! Mama!” She squealed out just as Steve made his way into the room, tutting and coming to Jane to scoop her up, “Jane, darling. Jane, you must stop this. This is really not lady-like.” Jane huffs in his arms as he fixes her bow again back to the way Madame had it before, “And Dustin, well, such behavior is unbecoming of a gentleman.”
Dustin glared at the floor, “Well she started it!”
Jane turned her nose up and closed her eyes, “Ladies do not start fights.” She recited her teachings.
Max grinned, “But we can finish them!” Steve could only shake his head in laughter at his wild childs antics as he then fixes the bow on Max’s head. Dustin sticks his tongue out at the ginger and Steve tuts, “Now, Dustin, don’t be rude.” Dustin peers his identical brown eyes up at Steve, “But Mama, we were just practicing biting and clawing!”
Steve finishes by finally adjusting the bow tie around Dustin’s neck. “Aristocats do not practice biting and clawing and things like that - - it’s just horrible!”
Max, from where she was sitting got excited, “But someday! We might meet a tuff alley cat!” She puffed her fluffy ginger tail out and started hissing, making Jane and Dustin laugh at the little bits of spit that sprayed on them.
Steve laughs and wipes her mouth with a nearby napkin, “Now, that’s enough of that.” He spoke as he smooths her tail back down. He puffed his chest out in pride at his kittens and kissed them each on the head. “Now, let's work on our self improvement. You all want to grow up to be fine ladies and gentlemen, yes? Now Maxine, you go on and start on your painting, dear.” Steve spoke with a sense of authority over his children.
“Yes, Mama.” She walked away with little hissing sounds, Steve could only shake his head lightly, he felt Jane grab for his attention, “Mama? May we please watch Max paint her picture before we begin our music lesson? Please?” She asked sweetly, Dustin begging just as hard with his eyes beside her. Steve smiled and nodded, patting both of their heads, “Yes, but remember, we must stay quiet.” The two brunettes nodded their head and focused on Maxine as she began to paint.
It only took a few moments, Dustin having to dodge a few drops of paint, glaring pointedly at Max when he saw the green glob of paint. Her family watched closely as she focused on the painting, “ And...Ah...Aha! Done!” She preened proudly at her mother as he looked at the painting, but it was Jane who figured it out.
She squealed out, “It’s Martin!” she fell to the floor laughing. Dustin laughed just as loudly beside her, “Old squarehead martin!” The two kittens were laughing their hearts out.
Steve covered his mouth to muffle his laughter, “ “Old Squarehead”? Now, Dustin, that is not kind. You know Martin is very fond of us all and takes very good care of us.”
But what they didn’t know was that Martin was putting heavy sleeping tablets made for cat hybrids that he picked up earlier. He poured the whole bottle just to ensure it knocked out Steven and the kittens long enough to get them to an abandoned location of his choosing.
Unbeknownst to them, the kittens and their mother continued their lessons after their fit of laughter, “Now, let us leave Maxine to her painting. Come my little doves, run along to the piano, go on.” The two made their way into their positions at the piano, Dustin at his seat in front of the keys, Jane pulling him down by his tail so she could go up first to get to her seat better, soon Jane sat on the tall stool, shimmying to get herself seated properly.
She fixed herself and was ready, but waited for Dustin to finish cracking his knuckles with a pursed lip, “I’m ready missttroo.” She spoke loudly. Dustin smirked and ran his fingers up the keys to hit Jane's tail from the inside where her tail had been resting.
She gasped and lifted her tail up to examine it before huffing at him and calling out, “Mama! He did it again!” Dustin rolled his eyes and propped his head up with a hand, arm pressing on a key or two, “Tattletale!” He whispered loudly to her.
Steve pursed his lips as he spoke, “Now Dustin. Now, please, darling, settle down, and play your pretty little song?”
Dustin nodded and made himself comfortable, “Yes mama.”
He lightly pressed a few keys to begin the starting rhythm, then Jane began to sing.
“Doe me so doe doe so me doe
Every truly cultured music student knows
You must learn your scales and your arpeggios”
Steve looks at her with raised eyebrows to remind her as she takes a breath before singing again,
“And the music ringing from your chest and not your nose
While you sing your scales and your arpeggios”
Steve nods approvingly and closes his eyes to appreciate the sounds of the song, he can remember from the beat that it’s now Dustin’s turn to begin his verse.
“If you're faithful to your daily practicing
You will find your progress is encouraging
Doe me so me doe me so me fa la so it goes
When you sing your scales and your arpeggios” He finishes his verse with an eyebrow wiggle to
Jane who laughs and rolls her eyes, readying herself to begin her verse again.
“Doe me so doe - -”
She was cut off by the different music that he was playing, Dustin began going off into his own world in the middle of practice, adding more difficult notes to his music, Jane just waited with big eyes after getting over her initial annoyance as she saw his fingers fly across the keys.
Surprising her siblings, Maxine jumps up beside Dustin and begins playing her own notes two tones lower than her brother. Steve, not wanting his youngest girl to feel left out, winked at her and counted off from three with one hand as they began singing.
“Doe me so doe doe so me doe
Doe me so doe doe so me doe
Though at first it seems as though it doesn't show
Like a tree, ability will root and grow”
His voice was considerably lower than Jane’s squeakier demeanor, but the smoothness of his singing and french accent made it all mend together. Maxines voice, higher than her mothers, but lower than Jane’s began to join in.
“If you’re smart you’ll learn by heart
What every artist knows!”
Max broke off for a moment when Dustin shoved her to shove him back, but joined in before the end.
“When you sing your scales.”
They all took a deep breath
“And your arpe - e - e - gios!”
Steve, being more experienced in the singing department, held the notes longer at the end, watching as her more rambunctious duo fought with music, hands flying across two keys at a time until they eventually bump heads.
At this moment Martin walks into the room with four large cups of warm milk on a platter with four different bowls of fruit. Oranges for Steve, Blueberries for Maxine, Grapes for Dustin, and Strawberries for Jane. He placed it on the small dining table arranged for the house cats, humming rock-a-bye-baby as he did so, arranging each dish and cup to its respective seat and taking the platter under his arm.
Steve made eye contact with Martin and smiled as a thank you for the milk and snacks as he ushered the children to their food, being sure to clean Maxine and Dustins hand to be sure that they didn’t transfer the chemical into their foods or their mouths.
Martin waited as they all settled themselves with a napkin across each lap, when Steve turned and smiled back at him again and nodded, he did the same in return and announced their meal for the day, “Ahem, your favorite dishes and drinks prepared in a very special way. It’s creme de la creme a la Martin. Sleep well. I-I mean eat well. Yes of course.” His voice slowly died off as he exited the room. The cats all thought it was suspicious for a moment, but blew it off since they believed it to just be a slip of tongue.
In the middle of their meal, they were approached by their favorite mouse-hybrid, Will, he came from the crack in the wall. “Ahem, good evening Steve, hello kittens, do you mind if I eat with you?” Steve nodded immediately, helping Will up to the table to sit in his lap since his stature was significantly smaller than theirs and let him dunk his little crackers into his bowl.
They talked for a long while until they all began to feel increasingly sleepy and Steve directed his kittens into their room after they finished their snack, saying farewell to Will, but none of them noticed that Will had fainted after stepping into his small home in the attic, face first onto his bed and into a deep slumber.
The kittens and Steve fell into a similar slumber in the bed Madame had made for them to cuddle together. None of them noticed the large figure waiting by the door for them to sleep, nor the different tastes in their drinks.