We're in Trouble! So True.

My three guys kissed me and headed out the door as I was getting ready for work. Just a couple minutes later, though, Vince was back inside.

“Shelly, we have a problem,” he said. “Come see.”

I followed him to the front door. My first thought was a flat tire. But I poked my head out the door and saw a scruffy, sweet little kitten.

She mewed and ran up to me, then followed Vince as he walked back to the car. I had to pet her. No way around it. She needed me to.

I thought, “Maybe if she’s still here when we get home tonight …”

Then I realized the loose dogs – most of which belong to people who think it’s OK for them to run around the neighborhood – would eat her before the afternoon.

“A cat’s not in the budget,” Vince said as he drove away, but he’d also said I could put her in the bathroom if necessary this morning. A.J., our 4-year-old, yelled hopefully, “Let’s keep her, Mom!”

I brought her in to play while I got ready for work. She purred. She pounced. She rubbed up against me. She chased a string.

I called my mom, hoping she’d want the kitten. No such luck. She hasn’t recovered from losing her cat a couple years ago.

Vince called twice and e-mailed once by 10 a.m. wondering what I was going to do about the cat. I said I’d get some kitty litter and a small bag of food just for the moment while we figured it out, which I did at lunchtime. I cleaned her up, too, and she rolled around the floor, sat on my shoulder and attacked a jingle bell and shoestring I gave her.

Vince watched, but he wouldn’t touch her while I was there.

But after I left, she won his heart. How? She attacked a bug.

That must mean she’s a keeper! So he’s going to pick the boys up from day care early and go buy cat toys … although he still won’t touch her until she’s been to the vet!