This is why I love my husband so much. Last night, he allowed Wasabe to sit on his lap and pet him a couple times, but I knew he was keeping his distance so he didn't become attached. I wrote him this morning to let him know how much I appreciated him "allowing" me to have this strange kitty stay in our house. My e-mail to him:

"I just wanted to thank you again for not being a jerk with the whole Wasabe thing. To be honest, if you had no problem keeping him he'd be ours in a heartbeat but I do understand that we can't at this point in time. I just really appreciate you being willing to go along with this, knowing how I feel about animals. I will hate to see him go, but as long as Martha and Bill keep him I know I'll be able to see him basically whenever I want. Anyway, thanks again for not throwing him out last night. You're a good man."

And here is his response. The 5th sentence made my jaw drop and if possible, made me love him even more.

"He must have slept on my chair all night. When I went in my office to get a
piece of paper he wouldn't leave me alone. I wish we could keep him too, but
we just can't have five cats. The house is barely big enough for four. If
Bill & Martha don't want him, then maybe, but I doubt it. We can't afford to
take him to the vet right now, and that needs to happen before he would become a permanent resident, nor can we afford the extra food or litter."

It sounds pretty negative, but you have no idea how BIG it is for him to have said "If Bill & Martha don't want him, then maybe..."

I doubt it'll come to that. Like I said, they lost a kitty in November and are set to lose another one any day now so it's not like they'd have more than they know what to do with. I have a feeling they'll be able to keep him, but after Josh said what he did in his e-mail, I felt confident enough to tell him that if they couldn't or wouldn't keep him, I'd like to take him back in - even just "temporarily" () - while we work on another option for him/her. Martha does a lot of rescue work, but it's on her own. For animals she can't keep, she usually ends up taking them to the shelter. I can't have that, they don't screen adopters nearly well enough, so even if we can't keep him/her permanently I can at least look into actual rescue organizations around here.

Anyway, just thought I'd update you all. I don't know whether to pray things work out and Bill and Martha keep him or if I want him! He's such a sweetie. I guess, just pray for whatever would be best for this little sweetheart.