He's not allowed to go behind the house anymore.

The other day, Kai was working on his math in the computer room when he heard a loud mewing sound. He walked outside, and sure enough, there was a kitten waiting to be adopted and also to adopt us and follow us everywhere and decide to move in with us.

The only thing is that Chinua and I are very allergic to cats, so we can't have a cat. Can't have one, end of story. ​

But I also can't turn a hungry baby animal away, so we fed the cat and started making calls to see if anyone wanted a kitten in this town which is ​overly populated with stray animals. No one did. We put the kitten to bed in our studio (the little room we rent behind the kitchen) and hoped for something the next day. I said, "What's with all the baby animals all the time?"

The next afternoon, my landlady came over. Her sister had told her about the kitten and that I wanted to know if she wanted it. ​"You can't have a cat," my landlady said. "Because you have a baby."

"I don't want a cat," I said. "But wait, what?"

It's a thing here, I guess. You can't have a cat if you have a baby. Sometimes I wonder if people think I showed up here newly born with all these kids and no idea of how to take care of a baby. I need a lot of help! I may look like I have had babies before, but actually, all these children appeared here on this planet two days ago with me, and I don't know how to take care of a baby!​

​But my landlady means well. And I don't want a cat, so I just agreed and held it out to her. And she took it! (It was the friendliest little kitten ever. She'll make a great pet.)

Whew. I breathed a sigh of relief. Mission accomplished.

Until today, when Kai (once again, Kai) went outside and heard a puppy crying behind our house. A PUPPY! ​

Photo by Kai

What is happening?​ More baby animals? Baby animals kill me, because I look at this puppy with its wobbly legs that barely hold him up and I see a canine version of Isaac. It smites me. The puppy is now sleeping in the studio with a nice full tummy.

They say that after a long time away, the days just before a daddy comes home are hard. They don't usually say that animals start falling out of the sky. ​At least, they haven't said that anywhere when I've been nearby.