Theo the Holiday Hero

     We make a decision this year.

    Wait until next year to replace the Christmas tree. Even though it needed replacing. Even though I'd planned to replace it. 

    What changed our minds? 

    Sienna and Michelangelo. Two nine month old rapscallion kittens who took one look at the Christmas tree and decided, there and then, that they like Mohammad, were destined to conquer the mountain or . . . ahem, the tree. Which meant climbing it to the very top. 

    Michelangelo (Mico for short) put himself in charge of the mission. A secret mission. Even Theo didn't know what they were planning.  Or did he?

    We have one photo of them together meowing together. Or plotting?

    Three days before Christmas. We should have been suspicious, but  all we knew was that Mico was spending a lot of time under the tree. How were we to know he was doing valuable reconassance work that would be needed for later on? 

    We hardly noticed because Sienna was doing her bit. Distraction. Being cute. Prancing around. Wanting to be petted. Purring. We fell for it.

    Two days before Christmas. We're watching TV. It is close to ten o'clock. From the corner of my eye, I see the tree sway this way and that. The angel on top seems to be doing some kind of weird dance. Then suddenly she is not upright, but hanging on for dear life about to fall down, down, down. 

    I jump up out of my seat. "What's going on over there?" 

    Sienna races across the room--a streak of white fur--a mad dash--designed to capture our attention and draw it away from the tree. But we're no dummies.  

    Theo, who is lounging on the couch beside us, and who is unofficially in charge of the rascals (even though in public he is known as the little gangster cat himself) looks up in seeming alarm. 

    By this time, of course, the tree has ceased swaying. 

    "Mico?? Where are you, Mico?"

     Suddenly, Mico appears in front of us. Casual like. Then he begins to groom, which is always the tell-tale sign that something is up. Like . . .  "I'm so busy cleaning my coat, I don't have time to explain where I've been or what I've been doing. And that angel who is hanging down from the tree, well, I have no idea how that happened."

    Theo jumps down and saunters over. He is sniffing. 

    Now Mico looks worried. 

    Then Theo plops himself in front of the tree, in a semi-guard posture.  

    The rest of the evening passes with no incident.

    Christmas Eve. The angel is back in her place on top of the tree. All the calm. All is bright. 

     We are watching It's A Wonderful Life. Theo is beside us, but he seems on high alert. Sienna jumps up and wants to be petted. She is being even more unusually affectionate. Mico is absent. 

     And then . . . several bulbs from the tree crash to the floor. Our poor Christmas tree, which survived Mico's first assault, is now swaying like I've never seen it sway before. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Mico must be half way up the tree now, eager to accomplish his final assault. 

    The angel crash lands on the rug in front of the tree.

    Theo, who is beside us and watching the spectacle with horror written on his little gangster face, leaps across the sofa and over to the tree.

    A fierce "Meow" echoes through the room, directed at Mico.

    I imagine so many things are encapsulated in that Meow: Get down. You're in big trouble. Are you crazy? We meowed about this. If that tree falls . . .

    I hear the biggest kerplunk--the sound of Mico jumping and landing on the hardwood floor. 

    The Christmas tree stops swaying. Somehow it remains upright. Saved by hero cat Theo, who assumed command at just the right time. 

     Christmas Day. All three are up and scampering around. They run down to the tree to see what their presents are. Cat toys and treats abound. All except for Mico. COAL. Ha. Just kidding. 

    As Theo put it, "Mico had to get it out of his system, see? It's his first Christmas. A right of passage, see. I did what I had to do, see?" 

    Yeah. Yeah. We get it. From our house to yours--Happy Holidays!