The last time I saw Charlie, he disappeared into the distance. He looked back at me with a contemptuous gaze as if to say, "what do you want from me!"

Well, I suppose I didn't want anything really. Although a wee sign of affection would have been all right.

In the end, I didn't give it much thought, because as usual I was running out of time. For a start, the kids needed to be summoned for their breakfast, which was no mean feat. To get them to eat it though was quite another, but somehow, this morning all three of them behaved. Well, the usual bickering didn't stop, but to my amazement they settled down, and tugged into their cereal.

"Mum, have you seen Charlie?" Thomas asked, always the worrier. "Yes, Darling, I did. Now hurry up and finish your breakfast. We need to go. Can't be late for school."

Five minutes later they scrambled out into the hall, where their school bags were lying in a heap. I could hear Jamie humming away in the bath room upstairs. "Taking the kids to school. Back in ten minutes." I yelled, hoping he'd hear me. I thought I heard a "Yo," but I couldn't be sure. Anyway, I didn't have time to wait for an answer, and I hurried to get the three kids settled in the back of the car.

As I backed the car out of the driveway, Charlie made an appearance in my thoughts, yet again. It occurred to me that he hadn't eaten all that well as of late, and I didn't like the way he'd wondered off this morning with that haughty look of his. Or may be it hadn't been haughty at all. Was he trying to tell me something? Oh, I worried too much. It was only, that we all loved him so much. Charlie, our old cat. I vowed that I'd call him when I came back from bringing the kids to school.

Jamie was about to leave as I came back home. He gave me a peck with a "see you later, Sweetie," and I waved him off.

Now, it was time to try and get Charlie. I called and called his name, but not a sign of him. I sighed, went into the kitchen that looked as if the Third World War had broken out. I sighed again. Every morning was the same, but no matter, I loved my family, and it had been my choice not to work. This was damn hard work anyway, but I wouldn't be without it.

As I started to bring the dirty dishes over to the sink, I could feel something soft brushing against my feet, and when I looked down, there was Charlie. He purred, when I picked him up, and he put his cheek against mine while I spoke to him in a soft voice. I could feel that he'd become rather thin, and decided to take him to the vet right away.

Once there, we were lucky that there was nobody else, so we could go in right away. He looked Charlie over without any comments while I held my breath.

"As you know Mrs Harrison, Charlie is not a young chick. He's in good health though for his age, so I'll suggest we put him on this special feed, which will be so much easier for him to digest. I'm quite confident that he'll have a few more good years in him."

As I drove back home, I could hear Charlie purring in his carrier, and I smiled while my eyes filled with happy tears.