"He's so adorable," I hear someone say. It's a soft sweet voice that sounds a little like Brook. I step out on the porch and spot her on the sidewalk. She's crouched down next to a little girl and a tiny black dog that's jumping around and licking Brook's face.
I go out to the sidewalk. "What's going on?"
Brook stands up and turns to me. "Dean, come see the puppy! It's so cute!"
"Yeah, I'm not really into puppies."
"Are you allergic?"
"No, I'm just not a dog person. I'll go wait inside."
"Dean, please." She picks up the dog. "Just come over and pet it."
Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm heading down the sidewalk to Brook. How does she get me to do this shit? When I tell someone no, I mean it. But that doesn't seem to work with Brook.
"His name is Sprinkles,” the little girl says, petting the dog as Brook holds him. I don't recognize the girl as belonging to any of the neighbors.
"You live around here?" I ask.
"My grandma does. She lives there." She points to the house two doors down. I've seen the old lady, but only once. She moved in last summer.
"You shouldn't be out here alone," I tell the girl. "It's not safe."
"I'm not alone. I have Sprinkles.” She smiles at the dog, petting his floppy ears. That dog's not going to protect her. She needs to be with an adult.
"Her dad's on the porch," Brook says to me, like she knew what I was thinking. "She just came out here so I could pet the dog."
I look back and see a man coming down the porch steps. "Honey, it's time to come in," he yells.
"Okay!" she yells back.
"You want to pet him before they go?" Brook asks, holding the dog up to me.
He's looking at me with big black eyes, panting, his tongue hanging out. I admit he's cute but I'm still not a dog guy. They're too damn expensive.
"Aww, he likes you," Brook says as I pet the dog. He's trying to wiggle out of Brook's arms to get to me. "You want to hold him?"
"She needs to take him back," I say, nodding towards the girl's dad who's still waiting by the house.
Brook turns to the girl, leaning down to give her the dog. "Thanks for letting me pet him."
The girl smiles and takes off with the dog.
"Isn't she adorable?" Brook says as we watch the girl run up to her dad. He takes her hand and they go inside.
That's something I'll never have. A kid. A family. I'm reminded of it every time I see a parent with their kid. Sometimes I wish Icouldhave that life, but it's too risky. It's safer to be alone.
"We should go," I say to Brook. "Jake's waiting."
She turns to me. "Is everything okay with you two? I felt like I walked into something."
"We had a disagreement. We're good now."
We walk back to the house. We go inside and see Jake in the kitchen, holding a spoon and the jar of peanut butter.
"What took so long?" he asks.
"We had to pet the puppy," Brook says. "The neighbor girl was out with this adorable little black lab."
