[ side by side verse ]

[triedinception]

Eames wasn't old enough to entirely understand that his mother was putting all of her effort into him and his siblings. All he knew was that once, he'd had a father; the scent still very bright in his mind of how his father had smelled, and memories of orange tabby ears like his own.

When he was very young, they had gone away, and he'd been left with his siblings and his mother to fill that gap. He hadn't really managed it, still too young to understand what he'd lost. But he looked at other families, with their fathers and mothers (or fathers and fathers, mothers and mothers) and felt a pull in his tiny heart.

It was why he'd taken to being the smiling, friendly, outgoing kitten that he was.

So his mother had dropped them off at their pre-school, along with William and Sammy, and he had been playing with them, with the string they all brought because that was their favorite toy and it suited their mother, pleased she could entertain them with simple things and not fancy toys, when he heard the door open. Usually the Eames siblings were last to arrive on any given day, so that was unusual and he looked up towards the door, small ears perking.