Max Is Home!

Yes, you read it correctly. I'm very excited, and a little nervous, but mostly excited to have Max back in my home. We went over to the apartment building for our regular, daily visit, but it was anything but normal. One of the neighbors (actually, she's the one who called back in November, to tell me Max had been found) came over to deliver a message to me from the maintainence man. He has been a special friend to Max, as well as many others in the building. Anyway, he had given her a message to tell me. I don't know when this occurred, but he saw a little boy (about 12 years old or so) getting ready to hit Max with a big rock. Of course, he yelled for him to stop, and went to inform his mother, only to discover they don't speak English. He told a friend who does speak Spanish and English to talk to them, but he doesn't know if she did.
Now my first reaction was to bundle Max up and bring him home, but I have a tendancy to over react. I called Dave over for her to repeat the message to him, and Dave's reaction was the same. So I stayed behind with Max, while Dave went to get the pet taxi. I called Sis JoAnn to explain the situation to her. I was nervous about the call, because I was worried that she'd be as sad as I was when I gave Max up. I also worried that She'd think I was implying that she wasn't taking proper care of him, when in fact, I know she was. She told me her feelings weren't hurt at all, and that I should do what I feel is best. She also said she appreciated me letting her know so she wouldn't wonder where he was.
When we got Max into the carrier, and were headed home, the nervousness really hit me. I was so afraid my other cats wouldn't accept him back. We walked in, and I put the carrier down, and let them smell it (and him). Then I held my breath, and opened the door. I expected him to run for cover, and hide for the rest of the day, but he didn't. He simply walked through the house, refamiliarizing himself with the smells and sounds. The other cats have been sniffing him, and one little face off with Morty occurred, but all in all, it's gone surprisingly well. In fact, he's now laying in one of our back porch chairs, napping. It's as if he'd never left. So far, he hasn't begged to go out. I'm praying he never will, but I know that if he does, we'll have to let him. Since he's become an outdoor cat, it would be cruel to cage him in. Please pray Dave and I will know the right time to do this. If we let Max out, and he runs away, I'll be devistated.