The day after Christmas, Mom was reading the newspaper, minding her own business, with Cici on her lap. Cici is the Manx-mix momcat with a four-pack of kittens that Mom and Cliff rescued. When she was still in momcat mode, Cici was a little standoffish, but ever since she was spayed she has become a major lovebug and lap fungus.

Anyway, so Cici is stretched out on Mom’s lap. One of the kittens, Cookie I believe, comes along and catches a glimpse of her mom’s belly. Perhaps in a fit of Christmas nostalgia, Cookie decides it’s time for some mom milk, so she heads in to try and suckle. The other three (Cream, Caramel, Cashew—we can only tell them apart by their tails/lack thereof and their collars) think that’s a wonderful idea, and they converge on the site. These are 14-week-old kittens, and have grown quite a bit since their last gathering at the milk bar, so they’re having a tough time getting themselves all arranged. Meanwhile, Cici, who weaned these critters weeks ago, is having none of this, but doesn’t want to leave her happy lap spot, so she starts to squirm around.  Somewhere underneath this feline circus is Mom.