You're going to think this is fiction, but it's not.

Last weekend we took my son and a friend on a weekend trip for his birthday. We go on a mini vacation each time one of the kids turns 13. It's a little bit of one-on-one time for the child, and they've all been great successes. This was our final 13th birthday trip, and it was wild.

We loaded up and drove 3 hours and 18 minutes to our destination, St. Louis, Missouri.

Upon arrival at our hotel, we plopped everything down and decided to go check out the scenery.

My husband suddenly called out:

Hold on! Let's hang up some of our clothes so they won't be wrinkly!

This one little decision would end up being a huge part of the story.

I wasn't paying attention as he unzipped the bag until I heard:

OHMYYYYYYYGOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!

I looked up quickly to see a tiny midnight black head and two shiny green eyes staring at me. Our cat, Kiwi, was lounging in the suitcase!

My eyes grew wide, and my hands immediately went to my mouth, covering a scream.

I screeched:

HOW?!

My husband stared at me. All he could get out was:

I don't know.

The next thing to come to mind was:

This place isn't pet-friendly!

To which my husband fired back:

NO SHIT!

At this point, I came to my senses and ran to my cat to make sure she was ok. She had just spent THREE HOURS in a suitcase. She never made a sound, didn't meow, didn't scratch.

She was panting just a little but immediately jumped out. I hastily poured water from the bathroom faucet into the closest thing I could find, the soap dish. She drank from it rapidly while staring at me curiously.

My son, his friend, and I stayed with the cat to observe her health while my husband went to the nearest CVS to purchase a litter box and food, which he would have to smuggle in.

He returned with a disposable baking pan (litter box), kitty litter, and food.

A husband at fault

After some research, we discovered the hotel was, in fact, pet-friendly, so that was a bit of a relief.

But how did this happen?

I had packed our suitcase the night before, checked for a cat (because I've always been terrified that this would happen), found it to be cat-free, zipped it up, and went about my business.

My husband decided at the last minute to add something to the bag. Moments before we left, he unzipped it, walked away, and came right back to toss his item in. She must've crawled in during that time.

How did he not see her? I'll never know.

He doesn't have an answer for me.

A picture of health

We got home yesterday, and I took her for a quick check-up today just to ease our minds. She's absolutely fine.

In truth, I think she really enjoyed St. Louis.

I have the pictures to prove it.

Doesn't this sort of thing only happen on TV?

It's a hilarious story, but it could've quickly turned bad had we not opened the suitcase upon arrival.

Thank goodness we did.

Kiwi is now renamed: Kiwi the Adventure Cat.

Check your suitcases, dear friends.

Don't be like my husband.

Don't pack your pets.