“Those are adorable. I’ll ask you who’s who once I’ve gotten to know them a little bit.”
“Take your time.” Susan lingered in the doorway, watching as Marin lowered herself to the floor, maybe to answer questions, maybe to supervise Marin. Maybe both.
A black-and-white puppy launched itself into Marin’s lap with a yip and grabbed a mouthful of her hair, then tugged. “Ouch,” she laughed. “Here, let’s chew on this instead.” She offered the puppy a stuffed duck, which it immediately chomped down on.
“That’s Ash,” Susan said. “He’s the biggest in the litter. The boldest too.”
“Hi, Ash.” Marin squeaked the duck for him, and the puppy snatched it from her hand, biting her fingers in the process. “You’re a handful, aren’t you?”
“He’s also one of the puppies who’s already spoken for,” Susan said, voicing it as a warning when Marin wouldn’t have chosen this puppy anyway. He was too brash for her taste. Ash liked to be the center of attention, and she’d had enough of those types in her life already.
Marin shifted her focus to the rest of the litter. A black-and-white puppy nipped at her sock, tail wagging, while several others lunged for her face, licking her cheeks and biting her hair. She laughed, a little bit caught off guard by how exuberant—and mouthy—they were. Was she cut out for a puppy?
Because now that she was paying attention, there were pee pads all over the floor to contain messes. At least Marin hadn’t sat in a wet spot, and thank goodness she’d changed into jeans after class. But the longer she watched them play, the more she knew this was the right decision. She’d always wanted a puppy. She’d begged for one when she was a little girl, but her parents had said no.
As the youngest of five, Marin heard that word a lot while she was growing up. She’d been an afterthought, a later-in-life “oops,” and so she’d been expected to go with the flow. With older siblings always being shuttled from one activity to another, no one had time to caterto Marin’s whims. She’d worn her older sisters’ hand-me-downs and lost herself in books while she sat through their lessons and games.
There had been perks to being the youngest, of course. Marin’s parents had been less strict with her when it came to curfews or what TV shows she was allowed to watch. They simply hadn’t had time to micromanage her the way they had with her older siblings. Still, she’d internalized from an early age that she should put her own wants and needs aside and go along with what everyone else wanted, but now ... now it was finally her turn.
She picked up another toy and tossed it to a nearby puppy, laughing as several of them bowled each other over in their quest to get it. Her gaze caught on a small black puppy playing quietly in the back corner of the kitchen. “Hey, puppy,” she called. Immediately, the puppies nearest to her barreled into her again. The black puppy lifted its head and looked at her.
“Hi there,” Marin said, making eye contact. “Want to come over and say hello?”
“That’s Ember,” Susan told her, reminding Marin of her presence. “She’s a little bit shyer than the other puppies.”
“I see that. Hi, Ember.” Marin waved at the puppy, feeling rather inept at how she was supposed to attract a shy puppy’s attention.
“Try using a higher tone of voice, like ‘Here, puppy, puppy, puppy!’” Susan called. Immediately, most of the puppies piled in her direction. The little black puppy trotted over, hanging behind her siblings.
“Here, puppy!” Marin said, making her voice high pitched and silly. “Puppy, puppy, puppy!” They bounded toward her, lunging across her lap in a whirl of tongues and paws and wagging tails. They were adorable. Little Ember still hung back, but she was close enough now that Marin could reach out to her. She scratched the puppy under her chin, feeling a burst of warmth in her chest when Ember’s tail began to wag. “What a pretty name you have, Ember.”
“She’s the runt of the litter,” Susan said. “We almost lost her that first week. She wasn’t getting enough milk. The other puppies were pushing her out of the way, so I had to supplement her to get her back on track. I sat up with her one night, hand-feeding her until she was strong enough to rejoin the litter. I wasn’t sure she would make it, but I saw a spark in her ... an ember, I guess you could say, just waiting to burst into flame. She’s still the smallest and quietest puppy, but I think she’ll really blossom once she’s away from her siblings.”
“I bet she will.” Marin had been taken with Ember from the moment she noticed her, and the feeling was stronger now. Marin knew a thing or two about being the smallest, about blossoming away from her siblings, about an ember smoldering until it had the strength to blaze. “You’re a very pretty girl, Ember.”
The puppy looked up at her and wagged again, and then she crawled into Marin’s lap. Her little body was so warm, and her fur was so soft. Marin stroked her, laughing as the puppy rolled upside down and grabbed at Marin’s hair with her mouth.
“Incidentally, Ember is one of the two puppies who’s still available.”
I’ll take her.Marin bit back the words. She was a statistician, after all. She needed all the data before she made a decision. “Who is the other available puppy?”
“Blaze.” Susan pointed to a black puppy with a white stripe down the middle of its forehead. “He seems to be a bit more rambunctious than Ember, but really, it’s hard to say at this age how their personalities will develop.”
“Hi, Blaze.” Marin waved a toy in his direction, and the puppy bounded over. Meanwhile, Ember was still upside down in Marin’s lap, mouthing at a stuffed pig Marin had given her. Her feet were disproportionately big for her body, and it was adorable.
Blaze came over to grab the toy she’d offered, and Marin spent a few minutes getting to know the two available puppies. They were both sweet, but her heart had already decided. Every time she lookedat Ember, she felt a tug of affection telling her this was the puppy she wanted.
“I’d like to adopt Ember,” she told Susan.
“Are you sure?” Susan asked. “We have adult dogs available too. You don’t seem to have much experience with dogs, and puppies are a lot of work. She won’t stay this small or this cute for long. None of them will.”
“I know that, and Iaminexperienced with dogs, but I’ve waited a long time to be in a position where I can bring an animal into my life. I promise you, I don’t make commitments lightly. I’m prepared to give her everything she needs, no matter how challenging it is.”
“Your application says you’re a professor at the university. Young puppies can’t stay home alone for very long. She’ll need to go out every few hours.”
“I’m only teaching two classes this semester, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, I live near the campus, so I’m sure I could hire a student to watch her while I’m working if she needs extra attention at first.”
Susan nodded, seemingly pleased with that answer. “And how will you handle her exercise needs while you’re living in an apartment?”
