Free An Accidental Mother by Katherine Anne Kindred

drink!”
    â€œWe’re almost there!” I tried to reassure her. “We’ll get you something at the store.”
    Michael remained silent, probably worried that any complaining could jeopardize the mission.
    Shortly thereafter the four of us stood in front of a row of cages labeled “Teddy Bear Hamsters.” The holy grail of the day, they were filled with snuggling, furry creatures. As we all leaned closer to peer into the cages,a friendly young girl named Jessica approached, offering her help.
    â€œWe’d like to buy a hamster.”
    Jessica looked down at Michael and Elizabeth and, to our surprise, hesitated. Sorting through her key chain, she selected a key and stuck it into the lock of the hamster cage. She looked over at us and asked clearly, “You do know that hamsters bite, don’t you?”
    â€œYeah, I had hamsters,” said Jim. “I was bitten once or twice.”
    â€œI won’t even pick them up by hand,” she replied. “Have you considered a rat?” She stuck her hand into the cage and scooped one of the hamsters into a small plastic container—obviously so she would not be
bitten
. Jim reached out and took the hamster from her, holding it in his big, manly hands while the creature squirmed and wiggled to get away.
    Then Jessica began to educate us on the subject of rats. She explained that comparing domesticated rats to wild rats was like comparing a dog to a wolf. Rats,we soon learned, are the smartest rodent of all (except perhaps for squirrels) and can even be taught to come when they are called. They can also be trained to do a variety of tricks and to play games such as hide-and-seek, and they can be litter trained. Soon the hamster was returned to its home and she was leading us to the rat cage. Reaching in with her bare hands, she pushed aside the pile of aspen shavings and picked up the lone gray baby rat.
    â€œThey don’t bite,” she reminded us and, gently tipping up the rat’s nose, ran her finger across his little rat lips and teeth to prove that she was telling the truth. She handed the rat to Michael, not Jim. “They don’t bite, and they’re very social.”
    Soon we came to understand that the term “social,” when used in regard to rats, had two meanings. First, they are very friendly to people and will bond with humans in a manner much like a canine. Second, they are not happy being isolated; it is best to have more than one rat.
    Michael looked up at us with his big blue eyes, andI realized that he had been extraordinarily patient throughout the day. “Can I
please
have a rat?” he begged, his hands cupped around the small gray critter, whose nose and whiskers poked out between his fingers. The little black eyes seemed to look right at me, waiting along with Michael for my answer.
    Not wanting the newest family member to be lonely, I turned to Jim. “And one for Elizabeth, too?”
    â€œOkay,” he said.
    You’d think that would have been the end of it, but remember, we’d driven fifteen miles to this store because it had plenty of
hamsters
, not rats. It seemed we were holding the only baby rat in the building. Jessica brought over a little carton and put the rat inside, handing it to Michael. We asked him to hold it carefully, and both children peeked through the tiny slats to make sure the rat was really in the box.
    While Michael and Elizabeth wandered into the next aisle to pick out a rat house, we turned to Jessica. “Would you mind calling the store closest to our house? We were looking at hamsters there this morning,but we’d like to make sure they have baby rats before we drive all the way back toward home.”
    â€œSure,” she replied. “But make sure you get another male.” She explained that a female rat can give birth to as many as twelve babies every twenty-five days. Unless we wanted our own breeding operation it was imperative