"And a sweater," Luke said. "My boyfriend's dog has to have a sweater."
Hearing her father call Cy his boyfriend made Faith giggle. It also made Cy smile, so he hugged the little dog against his chest. As if that was exactly what she'd been waiting for, the pale mass of hair reached up and began to lick the underside of Cy's chin as quickly as she could. Her tail was wagging and the dog acted like she couldn't be happier.
"I have a feeling we don't need to see any of the others," Violet said. "I mean, unless you want a different dog, Faith?"
Faith shook her head. "Nope. I like this one. Maybe, when we get home, I can tell Zeke to come over so we can teach her how to play with the ball?"
"Of course," Luke assured her. "We didn't make an entire dog yard just for her to poop."
That was when Cy finally looked up, his eyes landing right on me. "You really wouldn't hate me having a dog?" he asked.
"Babe," I breathed as I squatted down beside him, "if you want to have a tiny little purse dog, then I intend to have a lot of fun dressing her up. I dunno, like some Tiffany's collar or something."
"Lucy," Cy said. "I think that's what I'll name her, because she deserves to have diamonds."
"Yes!" Faith breathed. "That means we're getting two dogs!"
Violet palmed the back of her head. "Well, when you have a family as big as ours, I think that one just wouldn't be enough."
Chapter Eleven
Once my little girl saw Cy turn stupid over the white dog, she decided that she didn't need to see any others. We let the receptionist know that we wanted to adopt both of them, and her only question was if we realized how much that would cost. Ash wrote a check, the receptionist gave us a pair of those cheap slip leads, and we were allowed to walk right out the front door with the dogs.
This time, Cy sat beside me while Ash crawled in the back to play with Faith's puppy. The three-month-old puppy was a little nervous and confused, but she seemed to like all the attention. Both Ash and Violet reached over to pet her, and my daughter was already trying to pick out a good name. Cy, however, said nothing. He had the sweetest smile on his face as he looked at his new dog though.
I didn't bother to ask if anybody else agreed. I just turned the truck deeper into town and headed to the big box pet store that I knew would still be open. I was pretty sure that they had both a vet and a groomer in there as well. We were going to need dog food, dog bowls, dog toys, and every other dog-related thing we could think of. Plus a sweater.
The moment we pulled up, it was Violet who pulled out her phone to let Cessily and Darnell know that we were going to be out late and that we had a surprise. Considering that she also snapped a picture of both Faith and Cy carrying their pets, I didn't think surprise was quite the right word. I just didn't know that shopping for two new pets was going to be a two-hour ordeal.
So, Cy headed to the vet first, clearly worried about the supposed allergies his dog had. Violet broke off and went to the groomers area. Since we didn't have an appointment, we had to leave both dogs with the vet, but they promised to squeeze them in and then would take them to the groomer for a bath, as soon as they had all of their shots and check-ups. Naturally, Ash made it very clear that no expense should be spared.
It took three carts to carry the mass of stuff we bought. The best part, though, was when I found a little pink cashmere sweater. I didn't even ask. I just slipped it into the cart, knowing that once Cy saw it, it would definitely go on his dog. The hardest part was picking out colors for them. Having seen the sweater, Ash convinced Cy that his dog needed a pink collar. Surprisingly, it wasn't a hard sell. Cy thought that pink was the perfect color for her.
It was Faith who became the picky one. There weren't any lilac collars, so she couldn't decide what color would be right for her little puppy - never mind that her puppy wasn't going to stay little for very long. I suggested black, but she said that would make her look like a boy. Purple, blue, green, yellow, and just about every other color was brought up, but Faith was worried that they might clash with her coat.
In the end, Violet found an elegant leather collar with rainbow-colored rhinestones. The leather was a reddish-brown color, and the rhinestones were big enough to draw a lot of attention. I wanted to say no because I knew it wouldn't last very long, but Violet shot me a warning look that kept my mouth closed. When Faith said it was perfect, I was glad I had.
By the time we managed to check out, the groomer was just finishing up with the dogs. Faith's was listed as "new puppy," but Cy had decided that Lucy really was the perfect name for his dog. And when I saw the clean version of her? He was right. The dingy and stinky mutt that had been sitting in the pound looked nothing like the gorgeous white dog she was now after she had a fresh haircut and bath.
In all honesty, I couldn't decide which of them was cuter - and I didn't mean the dogs. Of course, my daughter had a special place in my heart, but seeing Cy turn into a big mush because of a seven-pound puff of fur? There was something so tender about the way he looked at his new pet. Watching this big, strong man be so careful with such a tiny and delicate thing made my heart do funny things in my chest.
Even better, Darnell was just as bad. The moment we got home, he squealed like a little girl and wanted to hold one of the dogs. Cy was faster, so Darnell ended up hugging and kissing on little Lucy. Cy, Darnell, and Faith made a trip outside to show the dogs where they were supposed to potty, and the rest of us got to work unpacking the bags of stuff.
It was entirely likely that we went overboard. The strange thing was that I hadn't complained at all. It still felt weird to have Ash or Violet spend so much money on something for me or Faith, but I was starting to figure out why. They liked to see their friends smile. Money didn't really mean much to them, except for the joy it could bring to the people they cared about. In other words, buying stuff for these dogs was worth it to them - so they'd bought a lot of stuff.
That night, the house was filled with high-pitched yelps and barks. Lucy just had a high voice, but Faith's puppy was still a baby. Between the two of them, doggy playtime was earsplitting. So I decided to head out to the shop and get to work on a little project.
I was barely at my workbench before the barn door opened behind me and Ash slipped in. "Don't tell me you're trying to hide from us," he said.
I just laughed and shook my head. "No, actually. I had an idea for something that Cy might like."
Ash made his way over to my side. "Gonna share?"
"Well, Lucy isn't a big dog, and Cy once admitted that he slept with Emilio." I looked over to meet Ash's eyes. "There's no way she's going to be able to get on and off the bed on her own, but I could build a set of puppy stairs that might help her."
"You know we can buy those things," he pointed out.
I just shrugged. "Yeah, but it would be more fun to make them. Wanna help?"
