A stream of pure clear cold water fell over Titus' head, drenching him from head to toe. With his eyes tightly sealed, the kitten endured the cold water as his mother continued to dump buckets of it over him washing every spot of clay on his fur away in the river. "Honestly Titus, this is the third bath you've had today all because the moment I release you, you come back like you hadn't bathed in years."
The night sky was cool and crisp. The crickets sang and the fireflies danced as the streams waters trickled and flowed with lively sounds of its own. A small waterfall that squeezed through the rocks above flowed keeping the stream constant. Feeling and looking like a drenched rat, Titus shook himself allowing water to fly and Cleopatra cringed as sprinkles fell on her like cold rain. With loving eyes that gazed dreamingly on her beloved son, Cleopatra began to hum as she cupped the pure water from the stream and dripped it behind his ears and the back of his small neck, caressing him and cleaning out his fur. Tired from the day's play, the gentle soothing touches of his mother gave him a settled peace as his eyes grew heavy as he sat there on the rock allowing her to clean and message him. Cleopatra added a little more soap to the water surrounding the rock her kitten was planted on preparing him for more scrubbing. Foam and bubbles began to form and the kitten's eyes widened as they floated slowly above his head. He batted a paw at one and it popped in front of his face causing him to blink and silently laugh. More began to rise around him, big ones. One he could see his distorted reflection on till it busted suddenly in mid air. Each bubble captured the light of the moon above them and seem enchanted around him like floating spirits. He continued to bat at them trying to pop them all as his mother struggled to finish his, holding back from leaping off the rock at a floating bubble and scrubbing soap all over his body till he was dressed from head to toe in white foam. The look of happiness and his spirit of a child calmed Cleopatra's heart and she began to sing him a song as he continued to play with the bubbles drifting around him.
"Baby of mine, don't you cry...
Baby of mine by and by...
Rest your head close to my heart
never to part
baby of mine...."
The breeze of the trees in the night's air made a calm sound of a rushing wave causing their own hum in her song as the crickets joined in. Everyone in the tribe, mothers curled tightly with their kittens, slept while something magical was happening in a stream nearby in the woods...
"Baby of mine don't you cry..."
The fireflies then began to dance giving the floating bubbles a new light of white and yellow. Titus' lit glowing eyes were captivated by their glow as they danced around his body like fairies.
Baby of mine by and by."
Cleopatra then lifted her young son up over her head looking in adoration into his eyes as he continued to gaze up around him at the fairies and bubbles around him. "Let those eyes sparkle and shine, never to tear, baby of mine!"
A small yawn and a rub of his eye told Cleopatra alot. She drew him near to her breast in a craddled form and continued, her voice soothing him in the night's air as he began to sleep.
...baby of ... miiiiine.."