The Cat Who Came for Christmas--for cat people

Three, almost four, weeks ago, we returned home from an evening of grieving relatives, one of whom was staying at our house. Sitting out on the patio late night, I heard what I thought was a baby crying, so I went out the gate, and it was a kitten--about four or five months old. It came in to the courtyard and was friendly. Against our better judgment and my cousin's beer intake, we fed it. She continued to show intermittently and never seemed hungry, a little Calico, with a split black and white face, one white ear and one orange, her body black, white and orange. We saw her at our neighbor's house one day, and she'd been working us both for food Elusive during the day, I got up at 5 a.m. this morning to wait for her. She showed as soon as I stepped out on the patio. My husband really likes the little cat, but we didn't know if she had any diseases, so he worked a deal with a friend from college who is a vet. We took her in at 7 a.m. this morning to be spayed, tested and vaccinated. She doesn't have any parasites, feline leuk, or any other maladies, and she is already spayed! They had to sedate her, so I brought her home and wouldn't turn her outside to be confused and maybe hit by a car.
She slept in our (large) bathroom all day because we already have two cats. The other neighbors came over tonight, and they love the little one too, and since she has clearance, they are going to adopt her. She doesn't even want or try to go outside. A total lap cat. She just jumped from person to person and purred, after her day of capture, the vet and bathroom isolation.
We called all the local animal places, and the cost for what was done today was incredible. Our friend charged us $25. Thanks to contacts, this little one now has a good home. It is too risky to take a potential danger into your own home without tests.
I'm gonna miss her, but I am so happy too. I am going out of town tomorrow, or I'd probably have kept her. They are unable to leave town, and are so thrilled with their Christmas cat They call her Patches, but I call her Penelope