Mary woke expectantly, she could hear no sound from the kittens but hurrying to the en suite she could hear rustling coming from within.

There would be no peace for her in the toilet with the kittens so off she scampered to the other bathroom.

On her return she tentatively listened at the door. No sound emerged so she opened the door carefully all prepared to catch a kitten should one be waiting anxiously to escape and explore.

She was right to be so concerned. As she carefully opened the door the kittens burst out but she was ready and caught each of them on their way out, plonking them unceremoniously in the kitty litter which she noticed had been used so neither of them wanted to go.

Well, one had got the idea but not the other, and there were some little deposits and lots of puddles and the whole en suite was a mess, torn paper, box knocked over and comfortably rags dragged out.

She caught them both deftly again, switched off the heater and headed for the sunroom which had been warmed a little by the heater she had just put on which sent its warming waves throughout the house, but she had things to do and she left her tiny little charges mewing in the room with the door firmly closed while she attended to a few things.

First she got their breakfast ready and warmed some milk, returning carefully to the sun room so that they didn't dash out and once they started their food and drink they stopped their pitiful mewing and she felt relieved. Then it was retrieve the litter tray refill it and position it in the sun room for them. She picked them up in turn noticing their fat little tummies, the little girl got the message once again but the little boy kept trying to get off the tray but patiently Mary waited and this time she was successful and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Washing her hands carefully she left them in the still cluttered sun room and started to prepare her own breakfast.

Dashing off to the bedroom she put her dressing gown on as it was freezing outside and she needed to collect the milk.

And so it was that Mary, forgetting the havoc the kittens had created found herself eating her breakfast cosily in the kitchen, this really was a comfortable house, not like the bare looking city unit she rented while she was working.

Determined to enjoy her breakfast before she started the clean up she sat there cosily the heater having warmed the house quite nicely.

Mary was not one for decision making but now she must choose what to do when so she hopped into the bathroom for a warming shower and then changed into some casual clothes ready for the cleaning up from the night before and this morning. She hummed a little tune to herself feeling rather happy with herself and her new kittens, which still bore no names. She hadn't even thought about names, everything had happened so quickly but now she started to think about them as she returned to play with the kittens while they were both awake. She intended to enjoy her little family not spend her time just cleaning up after them and she looked round the room in despair, they had been having a lovely time.

After a while they became bored with her assortment of games and little cuddles and insisted on chasing each other around the room colliding with each other and everything else that lay scattered and disrupted about, having the time of their young lives.

Leaving them to their own devices she gathered cleaning implements and disinfectant for cleaning the ensuite and set about her chores there, first.

Surprisingly she found that she had already become more efficient and the process did not take her long at all.

She had already decided she would need to get two more litter trays so she was not carrying these things around with her and she started to prepare a list of things she needed. She'd go out this afternoon sometime hoping the kittens would be OK until her return.

It had been such a flash decision she had not had time to think much at all.

Back to the little furry creatures who were already getting tired she put herself to work cleaning the sun room. The kittens had a run of new found energy, determined to jump and pull at her mop and disturbing everything else she needed to do.

She found she had accumulated quite an amount of sullied newspapers and unless these kittens learned their lessons well she would soon be running out of neswspaper so down newspaper went on the list and she'd by the biggest paper in town she could find, in fact maybe two.

At last she was done and the kittens curled up sleepily on her lap. It was just so lovely to nurse them, Mary had never ever had such a warm experience and she found it so soothing and absolutely delightful.

Gently she returned her sleeping charges to their bed which she was really glad to have purchased, boxes would have done but these were so much nicer.

She added a few more things to her list and was just about to start cleaning up the kitchen when there was a harsh rap at the door, she held her breathe, surely it would not be that old gypsy hag again who had departed so threateningly.

Hand on her heart she went to the door but she should not have had any concern, it was Jake standing there, looking so young and vital and offering to take her for a ride in the horse and cart.

She almost pulled him inside in her hurry and took him out to the kitchen, explaining about the kittens, it was the first time he had actually been in her home and he wanted to see the kittens straight away.

Explaining they were sleeping she took him out to the sun room urging him to be careful not to let them out.

He laughed and said she was more clucky than a first time Hen, with her new family.

Mary found herself dissolving into laughter too and realized she had gone rather over the top with her new charges.

It wasn't long before they were awake again, the slightest new noise seemed to disturb them and Jake was playing with them happily being an immediate hit with the boy.

"So what are their names then?" he asked and she had to admit they didn't have any.

Just like a male he came up with some really screwball names, chuckling as he brought out each new suggestion, and the two of them dissolved into stitches of laughter.

While they sat and played with the kittens Jake said he'd come to tell her of a local dance, which all the singles would be going to reassuring her she'd be right for one dance, while he eyed off the farmers' daughters. More laughter and he told her the date and said he'd pick her up with some of the other girls so she would be sure of a lift there and back home.

Under the circumstances she felt obliged to accept, not wanting to reveal just how socially incompetent she felt.

At least she could dance, although not particularly well as they had had lessons at school when she was young, the girls being keen and the boys at that age somewhat reluctant.

Jake took his leave saying she'd soon find out that all the men in the town were not elderly giving her a wink as he parted.

If you'd like to see how these short stories, which add together to form a book, started, do use the following link

http://hubpages.com/hub/LIFE-EXCURSIONS--WITH-MARY--selected-short-stories