The Latte Cat family loved to look their best.
"I love your outfits!" the villagers would say when they saw the Latte Cat family walking down the cobblestone paths between the shops at the market.
Matteo the Latte Cat father loved shopping.
Whenever the family went shopping, Matteo would point out new clothes.
"That would look wonderful on you," he would say to one of the others. "Would you like to try it on?" And he was right every time.
On the way home, Matteo would carry all the bags, beaming with pleasure.
One day, Daniela the Latte Cat mother noticed something as she looked through the family's shopping bags at home.
"Matteo, there's nothing for you," said Daniela.
You see, Matteo loved nothing more than to see his family happy, so he would think so much about choosing things the others would like that he forgot to buy anything for himself!
"I want to buy Dad some presents too," said Monica the Latte Cat girl.
"Me too," said her mother. "One thing we can give him is gloves. He and I were holding hands earlier and his hands were cold as ice."
Monica grabbed her favourite notebook so they could write down all their ideas.
"We must give him some delicious sweets too!" said Monica excitedly. She loved to eat, and had a wonderful diary full of photos she had taken of delicious food.
The next day, Daniela invited Matteo to go shopping with her.
"I'd like to buy some gloves for someone very special to me," she said. "Can you look at all the gloves in the shop and tell me which ones you like best?"
"Leave it to me!" said Matteo. He looked at each pair closely, trying to choose just the right pair.
"Which ones would you choose for yourself?" asked Daniela.
"Let's see," replied Matteo. He looked at all the pairs and chose a pair of woollen gloves that looked very warm indeed.
"Thank you!" said Daniela. "They'll look perfect on him!"
Seeing Daniela smiling made Matteo happy too.
When they arrived home, Monica was preparing for a party. There were all kinds of delicious sweets laid out ready to eat.
Matteo didn't remember any party. "What's the occasion?" he asked.
"It's for you!" said Daniela. "We wanted to thank you for all the times you've chosen nice things for us. In fact, remember I said that I was choosing the gloves for someone special? It's you!"
Matteo couldn't believe his ears.
"Oh, my!" he said. "Thank you so much! They'll be perfect for when I'm riding my motorbike on a cold day."
Daniela and Monica were very happy. Now she knew how Matteo felt!
"Let's all take a photo together!" said Monica, running to get her camera.
Matteo put on his lovely new gloves for the photo, and they all stood next to Monica's delicious sweets.
Click! went the camera. "I'm going to put it in my notebook!" said Monica.
The surprise had been a big success!
The End
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