I watched, mesmerized, as Andy made a sort of exhaling motion, forming a blue bubble at his lips! As he breathed it out, I could actually see his little belly shrinking away! I expected the orb to pop at any moment, but he plucked it from his mouth and held it in his hands.

It was what happened then that started to worry me. Andy opened his eyes, took one look at the bubble, and abruptly his whole attitude changed. His tail went rigid, straight out behind him, his already pale face drained of all color, and his mouth hung slack. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

I didn’t know what to do, what the problem was, but I wanted to help. I lightly touched his shoulder. “Andy-“

He shushed me by holding up one of his hands and grunting as he stared at the bubble in his hand. I was surprised when he stuck a finger into the thing, and then pulled off a dollop of blue goo. He sniffed at the blue blob suspiciously, then stuck it in his mouth.

Andy smiled widely and nodded. “Ah, this is yours, most definitely.”

None of that made sense; it had to be some demonic thing. I did my best to look reassured. “Good?”

Andy ignored me, stuffing the somehow still intact bubble into the Tupperware container, popping the lid on, and then fetching himself another one. In the same manner, he exhaled yet another blue bubble before putting it in the second Tupperware. He turned to face me, looking somber once again. “May I store these here, mistress?”

“Of course. But, what’s wrong?” Andy didn’t answer, just looked at me intently.

After a while he smiled, and even I could tell it was forced. He had to be absolutely beside himself if I could see through him, what was going on? “Will you sit and talk with me for a moment?”

I nodded, confused, as he took me by the hand and guided me towards the living room sofa. When he placed a lingering kiss on my knuckles, I didn’t miss him deeply inhaling. Did I have something on my hands? “Andy, I-“

Andy was looking at me intensely; it felt like his feline eyes were boring right through me. “-Tell me about your family.”

I was taken aback. Though I didn’t mind talking about my family, the question seemed completely out of left field. I didn’t know where to start. “Well, my younger sister just got married to a decent guy-“

Andy leaned closer. “-Tell me about your mother, your female ancestors.”

I frowned. “Why? Are you… interested in them?” I felt my heart breaking at the thought, but managed to hold back the swell of emotion for the time being.

Andy took my hand again. He must have sensed my distress, as he kissed it and took a moment to play with my fingers, again forcing himself to smile. “I am devoted to you, my pet. But it’s very important I know. Do you have pictures of them, your female relatives?”

Andy looked so grim, and it was such a contrast to his normal demeanor, I just nodded, dumbstruck. “Yeah. They’re in the guestroom.”

Andy followed me into the guestroom, where I got out a photo album. Most of my pictures were digital, but I was old enough to still have some printed copies. I paged through until I found some from when I was in college. I pointed out one of my mom. “This is my mother, it’s an older photo.”

Andy took the whole album from me and stared at the picture of my mother and old family dog for several seconds. He returned the album to me with a slight frown, but said nothing.

A horrible possibility came to mind. Could he have visited my mom in the past? “Do you… do you know her?”

Andy shook his head and looked me in the eye as he answered. “I do not. Perhaps you resemble your father more closely?”

I shrugged. “I’ve heard that before, hold on.”

I rifled through the pages until I found a picture of my dad next to his mother. I handed the album to Andy. “That’s my dad and grandma. You know, my dad’s mother.” He looked equally intensely at that photo before scowling and shaking his head, returning the album to me.

I put the album away, and when I turned to face Andy, the look in his eyes gave me goosebumps. He took both of my hands firmly in his. “If it is you, my little lark, give me some sign!”

I blinked as I felt a strange sensation, like I needed to burp, like something was stuck. Andy’s eyes seemed so hopeful and desperate, and I was suddenly consumed by a bizarre, frantic feeling in my chest.

I had to let it out, get rid of the electricity running through me, when my phone rang. The urge passed immediately as I quickly dashed to answer it.

It turned out to be some old guy calling with a scam about a free cruise. Irritated, I hung up. But I stared at my phone for a second afterwards. I had that nagging feeling like I’d forgotten to do something. I wasn’t sure what. Probably clean up the dishes from breakfast. I was terrible about that.

When I went looking for Andy in the guestroom, I found he had gone out, onto the balcony, and was smoking. As soon as I opened the door, he fussed. “Don’t come near, my sweet, the vapors are toxic! I’ll return quite shortly, in just a moment.”

I nodded and closed the door, feeling slightly bewildered. Hadn’t I wanted to ask Andy about something? I could tell he was upset, he looked out of sorts, but I couldn’t really remember why.

As I put the dishes away from breakfast, I found I was less and less curious to pester Andy about what was bothering him. Something told me just to let it go, that Andy would tell me in his own time. This time, I had to trust Andy, believe in him. Perhaps he would, in turn, trust and believe in me.

Notes

Wonder what that's all about...

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Credit to The Unforgiven for help with this chapter.