I text again.
Me: SUNSET
Me: GO
Me: UNLEASH THE BEAST
Finn: Hang on, he’s tangled in the leash.
Oh my fucking God. Get it together, man!
Finn: Okay. Okay. RELEASED.
And then, like a miracle, he appears. The cute, adorable goldendoodle puppy bounds across the grass like a teddy bear on a sugar rush, ears flopping, tail wagging like he’s never known sadness.
“Oh my God!” Julia gasps when she spots him running toward us. “Look at that puppy, Ace!”
And since he’s the best dog in the whole damn world, heliterally runs straight to Julia’s feet. We don’t share DNA, but he’s clearly my son.
She crouches down and picks him up, snuggling him into the crook of her neck.
“He doesn’t have a collar,” I say, eyes wide like I didn’t orchestrate this entire thing. “I wonder if he’s lost, Jules…”
“Aw.” She cuddles him closer. “Are you lost? Did you lose your mommy or daddy?”
Technically, he just found his mommy and daddy, and I’ve been training him for this moment by having my mom put articles of clothing I’ve been stealing from Julia’s closet with him every night since I got him from Felicia and stashed him at my parents’ place.
The puppy immediately launches himself at her and starts licking her face with joyful abandon. She laughs so hard she falls onto the grass, and he climbs on top of her like he’s found his soul mate.
I kneel beside them and point out his tag-less neck again. “He doesn’t have a collar or tag.” I make a show of standing to my feet and looking around the park. “And I don’t see anyone looking for him.”
“Aw, poor baby,” Julia says, rubbing his fluffy head. “We can’t just leave him, Ace.”
“No,” I agree solemnly. “Wedefinitelycan’t leave him.”
“Someone must be missing him.”
“Or…” I say, voice low, heart racing, “maybe he was meant to find us.”
She looks up at me slowly. “Are you saying this is fate?”
Yes. Yes, Julia Brooks. I am.
“I mean, if wehadto take him, we’d have to co-parent. Like…full joint custody.”
“I think I could handle that,” she says, smiling. “He’s literally perfect, but surely this is someone’s dog, Ace. I mean, what are theodds that a puppy just finds its way into Central Park without an owner?”
“I’ll check shelters tomorrow, just in case he’s lost or someone’s looking for him.”
“Good idea.” Julia nods, still cuddling our furbaby son to her chest. “And what if we don’t find anyone?”
Internally, I’m screaming in excitement. Externally, I say, “Well…then I guess we need to give him a name.”
Her answering smile is blinding. I casually pretend I’m chill, while internally, I’m thinking,this is it.
Thisis one of the moments Julia will remember when she tells our future children how she fell in love with me.
Tuesday, July 22nd
