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Mami looked at me, then at the bin at my feet. "What's going on?""Mami," I started saying, but then the mamacat peeked out of the bin as if she wanted to see who was talking. Beli and Juli saw the cat at the same time. Their reactions couldn't have been more different. Julieta screamed like a banshee, and Beli exclaimed, "Un gatito? Ay, qué cute!" and walked briskly to me, her scarf trailing behind her. When she saw what was in the tub, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands."Six gatitos!" she mumbled."Gatitos?" my mom shrieked. "Mami, for the love of summer, what do you mean?""Shhh," I said, not necessarily shushing my mom and my sister, but calming the mamacat, whose back was bristled up, prepared to attack these loud, menacing humans. When I didn't reply, Mami came over and looked down at the kittens. Melting snow was already pooling at her feet. Mami was speechless. She just looked at me."I found them in the shed," I said, standing between the cats and my mom. "What was I supposed to do?"My heart pounded in my ears, and my throat felt so tight I couldn't breathe right."Ay, mi amor," Mami sighed, plopping on the sofa in the living room. She put her hands through her long hair that was wet and plastered on her head. "Cats? Six of them!""I hate cats!" said Julieta. "They're like vampires with their claws and fangs. And all the hair!""They're tiny," I said in an even tinier voice.Beli was kneeling next to the tub, petting the mamacat's head. This was progress. My mom hardly ever said no to my sister, but to Beli? Anything my grandma said was the law."Let me explain," I said in the calmest voice I could manage.
