I first spotted that orange little kitten while I was out for a walk, but Mrs. Clarke had organised a round of DuckDuckGoose and I never got a chance to get any nearer.
The kitten was ginger, just like Lenny. Im not sure if kittens even have eyelashes, but Lenny does have a few.
Mum used to say the sunshine had kissed him, and shed kiss Lenny herself before she passed away. Since then nobodys kissed him. Dads always too busy, and for some reason Grandma Ethel never seems to like Lenny at all.
If the sunshine really did kiss him, does that make him a sort of sunshinechild? I keep wondering whether that ginger kitten ever got a sunshine kiss too. Do kittens even have eyelashes? All those thoughts flutter around Lennys head during naptime.
Liam, why arent you asleep? Mrs. Clarke tucks his blanket tighter. Close your eyes, love.
He obeys, but sleep just wont come. He lies there listening as Mrs. Clarke whispers in the staffroom:
How long is this going to go on? One assistant for two groups with the number of children we have its ridiculous. Who would take a job like that for the pay?
Thank goodness Anna left, another voice says. She was terrible with the kids; wed be better off without a nanny.
Should we keep a nanny at all? Well never solve this, Mrs. Clarke replies, and the room quiets down.
Lenny was scared of the former nanny, Anna Valentina, and he wasnt the only one. Shed shout at the children, and if they refused the porridge with lumps shed jam a spoon down their throats so hard their tongues hurt. One day she slammed the spoon onto Lennys tongue and he vomited right onto the table. He was terrified, but Mrs. Clarke washed him up and changed his clothes, and she told Anna she must stop. Someone complained, and Anna never came back to the nursery.
During the evening walk Lenny tried again to catch a glimpse of the kitten, but all he saw was a flash of orange tail disappearing behind the shrubbery near the gazebo. Then Dad showed up.
Since Mum died, Dad barely talks to Lenny and barely notices him. He just drops Lenny off after nursery and sends him off to the playroom. One day Lenny overheard Grandma Ethel snapping at Dad:
Simon, Ive told you a hundred times youre raising a child that isnt yours. He doesnt look like you, do you see that?
Mom, he looks like Nadine, Lenny whispered.
He doesnt look much like Nadine either. So why not do a DNA test? Its easier than pretending this is your own child.
Ive been looking after him for four years now, almost five, Dad replied. Whats the point of a pretend family?
Ethels voice was always harsh, and Lenny had grown used to it, so he barely paid attention.
The next morning a new nanny arrived nothing like the old one. Lenny felt it straight away. She didnt shout, she didnt scold; she spoke quietly to the children and they actually ate their food.
Lenny was curious. He set his spoon down and stared at her. She knelt and said, Hey there! Whats your name? Lenny, right? Im Irene Smith. Why arent you eating?
I dont like porridge with lumps, he muttered.
Lenny, Ill let you in on a secret I dont like those lumps either, and I never force the kids to eat them. You can just leave them on your plate. Then well see who has the most left over.
That sounded like a game, so Lenny started hunting for lumps in his bowl. To his surprise there were barely any, and while he was searching hed almost finished the porridge without noticing. Irene praised him, calling him a great boy. No one had ever praised Lenny before, and it made his heart jump.
From then on he loved going to nursery even more. Irene helped the head teacher with everything, and the children quickly grew to love her.
One day Mrs. Clarke asked Irene to look after the kids during nap time while she stepped into the office to see the headmistress. The children were breathing softly, but Lenny still couldnt fall asleep.
Lenny, why are you still awake? Irene stroked his head.
Do you know my mum is up in the sky? Lenny whispered.
Irenes throat caught. Shed always liked that quiet, slightly gloomy orange boy. Shed noticed that Lenny was being shuffled between his alwaysrushing dad and a grumpy old ladyGrandma Ethelwhile his mother never showed up.
No, I didnt know, she said gently. And you know what? The sunshine kissed me too.
I saw that, she smiled.
Do kittens have eyelashes? Lenny asked.
Probably, Irene replied. Why do you ask?
He told her, in a hushed voice, about the ginger kitten living in the bushes, about how perhaps the sunshine had kissed the kitten too, making it Lennys brother. He wanted a brother, even if it was just a kitten, because nobody else was kissing him now.
Can kittens kiss kids? he asked, eyes welling.
Irene brushed his spiky orange hair, nodded and said, Yes, Lenny, kittens can kiss. Their tongues are a bit rough though. Now try to get some sleep, okay?
Rough? Lenny repeated, amazed, and drifted off almost immediately.
Later, the head teacher whispered to Irene about Lennys background: his mother had been in a childrens home, shed died recently, and his stepgrandmother never accepted his stepmother. Everyone kept telling his dad that the boy wasnt his. Lenny was a clean, wellkept kid who had stopped smiling, even though he used to shine like the sun because of his mum.
A few weeks later Lenny didnt turn up at nursery. Hed caught a nasty virus that was sweeping through the town despite it being almost summer. He stayed away for a week, then two.
Lenny wont be coming back, Mrs. Clarke told Irene. His dad had taken the boy to a foster home, paperwork flying everywhere.
Into a foster home? With a living dad and a grandma? Irene gasped.
Yes, the headmistress said. They did a DNA test and found the boy wasnt his fathers. After five years of caring for him, they decided to send him away.
Irene walked home in a daze, the image of that orange boy flashing in her mind: Do kittens have eyelashes?
Suddenly, a bright orange ball rolled out from behind the nursery fence and tumbled at her feet. She scrambled it up, and realized it was a kittenan orange one, exactly the one Lenny had talked about. It was scruffy but cleanable, and, as it turned out, kittens dont have eyelashes.
That night, when her husband, Paul, came home from work, the clean, wellfed kitten ran straight to him.
Looks like weve got a new family member! Ir, will it ruin the sofa? he joked, noticing her worried look.
Are you serious? Im just wondering if its a stray, she replied.
They talked for hours about the past, about the mum, the job, the doctors. She wasnt sure about anything, except that Lenny didnt belong in a childrens home, just like the kitten shouldnt be left on the street.
Soon the paperwork started: adoption forms, school applications, psychologist reports. Thanks to a generous salary, a spacious flat, and a supportive headmistress, things finally fell into place.
Two years later, Lenny was ready for his first day of primary school. His mum, dad, two grandmothers, granddad and his little sister were all there to see him off. And at home, the orange kittennow his faithful companionwaited, ready for another day of adventures together.
