It was a sunny day on May 14, 2015, my mom’s birthday, there was an event at my school to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. My mom and I planned on going to the Idaho Humane Society before the fiesta started. While we had joked about maybe getting another cat and were prepared for it, the idea wasn’t certain. Right as I walked in, my eyes locked on the gorgeous tuxedo kitten in the center of the cat room. I had immediately scooped her up into my arms for a close embrace; she was so small and warm. Her beautiful soft fur brushed against my skin, it felt so perfect. That is the moment I knew she was the one.
     

Her name was Delilah, a cute but unfitting name. She was in the same enclosure as her two brothers, Elliot and Samson. Her brothers had chewed on her whiskers, leaving them very short. As we cuddled and played with her, we knew she had to be ours. At the same time a kind man dressed in camouflage was falling in love with Delilah’s brother, Elliot. Samson and Delilah were almost identical with white chins, chests, and paws, while Elliot was all black. One difference between Samson and Delilah is that she had a little squiggle in the white marking between her chest and belly. My mom and I continue to talk about it and kind of tease her just because it’s so cute, but whether she understands or not she always expresses annoyance when we do this. She has an extremely expressive face for a cat, always making adorable quirky glares, smirks, and other silly faces. Her brothers were quite close and cuddly with each other, but Delilah was independent and feisty. I continue to wonder if she remembers or misses them.
    

When we adopted her, it was obvious she had a sassy personality which some could credit to her fancy tuxedo coat. Though I do feel like this has developed into a bossy and individualistic temperament. She has the typical cat way of wanting everything to go her way and on her terms. For example we’ll take her outside occasionally, but she continues to believe that we should let her out when she wants no matter what. While sometimes her crying meows and delicate ankle caresses of persuasion can be annoying, they always make me smile or giggle. I love her so much as a cat, but I feel like we would far from get along if she was human.
    

We asked the attendant to give us the adoption papers; she would be ours. My mom and I were both radiantly excited, but a bit sad that we’d have to wait until tomorrow to take her home as she hadn’t been spayed. We came back to the fiesta still pumped for our new family member. Then a friend asked, “Did you get a new kitty?” in a silly tone. The answer was yes, we had gotten a new kitty.
    

To this day one of her nicknames is “kitty” or “kitten.” Whenever I call her one of these names it makes me remember adopting her and how small she used to be. I partially miss how tiny she used to be; we even had to put a collar with a bell on her since she’d explore the house and we couldn’t find her sometimes! Even though she’s not as small as she used to be, she still acts like a baby. I love to play and cuddle with her, treat her as my royal highness. There will never be a day she isn’t our family’s kitten in the heart.
    

The wait until the next day was intense, I remember having a talk with each of our cats over the topic. But I made sure to talk most to one cat in particular, Vincent. Vincent is my personal cat, my love. He is a complicated being though, we were hoping he’d enjoy the new kitten. We were wanting them to have a close bond, as he was about a year old and she was 2 months they could grow up together. Vincent always tried to play with the senior kitties and the thought was he’d play with her instead. But would they love each other?
     

Finally it was morning, we could go get our new kitten. Before we left I set up a baby gate on a small room, so she could slowly adjust to the house and other cats. I brought a skunk plush toy for her too, thinking maybe it’d help if she missed her brothers. We got there a bit early, so we had to wait awhile. Eventually we could go in, both of us were ecstatic about the event. The nice attendant handed us our sleepy kitten, she was so cute!
      

Although the kitten was mostly a birthday present for my mom, she was driving and I got the honors of holding the crate. She started meowing out of confusion, so I opened the door. Instead of cuddling the whole skunk plush, she came out and cuddled me the whole ride! I was so in love already, she has always been such a precious love. Since she was so woozy and tired after a recent surgery, I began worrying that maybe Vincent would play too rough with or hurt her… He was a pretty small cat, but much bigger than her and much stronger too.
     

Once we got home, we put her in the baby gated room and let her adjust. Then after awhile, we brought Vincent to the other side of the baby gate. You could instantly see it in his eyes… He was overjoyed. Delilah, who we renamed Veronica, on the other hand was not so overjoyed. Right away this tiny little kitten was making some ferocious growls. Vincent really didn’t care though, he knew she’d come around somehow. We were scared we'd have to take her back, if she didn't like him.
     

But those worries were swept away, because after the mild conflict they became best buddies! Vincent was actually a lot like a mother to her, he still is. Always watching out for her, cuddling with, and bathing her. I find it quite humorous that I was worried they wouldn’t get along, because they truly have the closest bond I’ve ever seen between two cats. In fact, I remember how badly my mom and I wished that two of our cats would cuddle with each other. It is one of the most adorable things to watch, it is clear how much they love each other.
     

My favorite situation is when the two, Vincent and Veronica, cuddle me at the same time. The feeling just washes away any worries for me, it’s magical. I haven’t experienced in quite awhile, since getting my dog. While Veri loves the new dog, they even cuddle everyday while I’m at school. Vincent doesn’t trust him enough to sleep near him, so now I just get cuddles from Veronica and Angelo, my dog. I hope that eventually Vincent seeing how much she trusts him, while allow him to have that same trust and bond. This does make me sad at times, but it’s hard to be down with such a sweet cat sleeping on you.
      

She does often have disagreements with our other female cat, Coco, this has escalated since the loss of our first male cat, Sky. This is the area which has changed since getting her, at first the girls got along just fine... It breaks my heart to see them fight, I hate it so much and it feels like the boiling fear and upsetting feelings rush over my body. Occasionally they’ll cross paths smoothly, which makes me hopeful and happy. Maybe soon they’ll dismiss each other again, time will tell.
      

As she’s gotten older, she’s started sleeping in stranger ways. Like the other night, she was using my ankle as a pillow while totally outstretched oh her back with her feet dangling from the edge of the bed. This is one of the many examples of how trusting and confident she is with her safety, she has absolutely no fears. In addition to funky sleeping positions, she also enjoys climbing up trees, going on the neighbor’s roof, and carelessly approaching strangers. I’m the total opposite of this especially with the people trusting part, I often struggle to approach and trust people. Seeing her do it with such ease and modelesque stride has surely inspired me and taught me that I have less to fear in this big world.
     

Although she’s a cat, to me she’s so much more than just a pet. She’s always there for me to talk to and whenever I’m sick or sad, she comes over to love on me and be petted. I appreciate how much comfort she brings to me, just by being there. If I’m ever getting frustrated with something, she struts into the room. I truly believe that she knows when her cuteness is needed and she just loves to provide it. She does have quite a few stereotypical cat traits that many people dislike, but they'd likely change their mind after knowing a cat, especially Veronica.
   

Overall it’s really hard to imagine life without her now, she's helped so much with our system and stress levels. The bond she’s formed with both my dog and cat, it's the sweetest thing to watch and has She makes my heart fill with love and joy, I wish I could hug her all the time. She doesn’t feel the same however, hugging is left to be done only on her terms. She is the ruler of the house, choosing whenever things happen or don’t. She has her quirks and is extremely sassy but these things just make her cuter, she really is a phenomenal cat and indeed our queen.