“Can I play with the puppies?” I ask, unable to contain my excitement.
“Of course,” he says. “Let me pick up a few that need cuddles, and I’ll set you up in one of the rooms. There’s balls there youcan toss to them, dog toys to wrestle with them, but they’ll happily fall asleep in your arms too.”
“Best day ever,” I declare.
Skylar raises his brow at me to remind me not to bring home a new pet, while I refuse to look in his direction. He’s the one who brought up kids to Koen. How do we know we can handle children if we haven’t had a pet together yet?
I think it makes complete sense.
Now, to choose a puppy. My ass can happily take the pain of being punished. It’s been awhile since I’ve been spanked anyway. I’m due.
The three of us split up, with the promise that the photographer would check in on each of us later. A volunteer leads me to a room, explaining that when the weather is warmer, there’s a large, grassy area with shade for the dogs to play in.
“The snow messes all of that up, huh?” I ask, stepping into a rectangular room.
“It can,” she agrees. The girl appears to be in her mid-twenties, her eyes bright with happiness. It’s nice to see people who are so excited about volunteering with animals. “Fritz will be right back. There’s a basket full of toys for you there too.”
“I’m very capable of entertaining myself with toys,” I grin. “You’ll find me playing with whatever is in there until he’s back.”
The girl grins back at me before closing the door, while I stake out a place on the floor to sit. The shelter is definitely trying their best to take care of their animals, and I take a photo of myself on the ground with my bucket full of toys to share to social media later.
I’ll make sure to tag my location and suggest people support their local animal shelters. It’s not a smart decision for me to broadcast my location while I’m still at it, which is why I’m waiting.
I could adopt a pet in any manner of ways, but I am in love with the work Fritz is doing.
I begin going through the toys in front of me after I put my phone away. I test the bounce of each ball, and get lost in playing with things until the door reopens. Glancing up, I grin as Fritz walks with another volunteer. There are three puppies in their arms and one is a golden retriever.
“If you could name one thing you needed for the shelter that costs money, what would it be?” I ask.
“One thing? Ah, to fix the plumbing in the back rooms,” he says. “The pipes are threatening to freeze on me from how cold it is.”
“Get me a quote, please. I’d like to fix them.”
Fritz turns pale and I get up quickly to take the puppies from his arms. Shit, I thought he was going to drop them.
“You’re not serious,” he rasps.
“Of course I am,” I reply. “Hi, sweet babies. Do you have names? You’re both so pretty. Ooh. And there’s another too. Let’s get comfortable so we can play, huh? I know, I’m excited too.”
The volunteer beside Fritz is amused as she waits for me to sit back down and then places the gorgeous golden retriever in my lap.
“People usually rename when they adopt, but this is Daisy, Trudy, and Magic Nugget,” she explains.
At my horrified face that the cute little golden puppy is named Magic Nugget, she giggles.
“She didn’t have a name when we got here,” she explains. “Magic Nugget kind of stuck.”
“Oh that’s terrible,” l gasp. “She’s so pretty.”
“She’s also trouble,” Fritz says, shrugging.
“The best things in life are,” I shrug. “I’m trouble, so maybe that’s what I’ll call her.”
“I have a feeling I should not be encouraging this,” Fritz murmurs. “I also will take you up on your kind offer to fix our plumbing. I’ll be back with what they quoted me. It’s in one of the piles in my office.”
He needs a secretary.I hate there’s probably not enough money for that, but at least I can fix one of the more pressing issues.
“Hi. I know. I’m having a very boring conversation,” I croon to the black lab trying to knock over the basket beside me. “How dare I. Let me give you all my attention now.”
