“I don’t think I am,” Roman taunted.
“Not even a hint?” Ezra pouted. “How will I properly plan and research if I don’t know where we’re going?”
“One hint,” Roman conceded. “It’s the one place you can go to Mars without actually leaving Earth.”
Ezra’s smile was wide. “That’s a very good hint.”
Roman shook his head because he should have made it harder. “Too good of a hint for a smarty pants like you. Now, will you give me a kiss, cutie?”
“For good luck?” Ezra asked, still smirking.
“Yes, for good luck.”
Ezra went up to his tiptoes. Roman held him close and kissed his husband with all of the love and tenderness he felt for the man who’d transformed his life and his home. They kissed until both were breathless and dizzy. Meanwhile, their guests hooted and clapped their appreciation, Jay the loudest among them.
“Tighter,” Ezra said once they’d parted, still flush-faced and recovering from their passions.
“Always.”
Four Months Later
Nugget
Ezra’s birthday was coming up, and Roman intended to make good on the promise he’d made to his husband months ago. He would have liked for it to have been a surprise, but Ezra was adamant about wanting to help pick out the newest addition to their family. So, after brunch at Ezra’s Place one Saturday morning in the fall, they went together to the Louisiana SPCA to see what animals, specifically canines, were in need of good homes.
“I’m so excited,” Ezra said as Roman opened the door to the shelter. They were immediately hit with the odors of animal fur, feces, and urine. Ezra was wearing his nose plugs already and had his headphones draped around his neck in preparation for the cacophony of barking that surely awaited them.
“I am too, babe,” Roman said and he was, but his experience with dogs was limited to avoiding them at his friends’ houses. He only hoped that, like children, it would be easy for him to love his own.
A staffer named Danita greeted them at reception, having been appointed by the shelter to show them the array of dogs available for adoption. Danita led them into a long, narrow kennel where both the smell and noise intensified. Ezra slipped on his noise-cancelling headphones, but his smile did not falter in the least as Roman ushered him ahead, having resolved already to take a backseat in the selection process. Roman kept up polite conversation with Danita while Ezra only had eyes for the dogs.
“Is this your first pet?” Danita asked, perhaps picking up on Roman’s hesitancy to engage with the animals.
“Yes, for both of us.”
“Do you live in an apartment?”
“A townhouse with a private, walled-in yard.”
“That’s wonderful. Most of our dogs right now are on the larger side. They’ll need the exercise that regular walks and a yard can provide.”
“We’re trying to stay on the smaller side of breeds,” Roman said, though when he looked around, it seemed as if what Danita had said was accurate.
The dogs, probably sensing Ezra was a soft touch, pressed their noses right up to the chain-link kennel doors and clamored for his attention, proffering wet noses and slurping tongues for any morsel of attention. Ezra pet and cooed over all of them in turn.
“Ezra, don’t get too close,” Roman called as a warning. Ezra glanced back and lifted one of his cans so he could hear him. “Careful with your fingers, babe. Some of them might bite.”
“We’ve got a pretty good lot right now,” Danita assured him. “Unfortunately, the ones who bite don’t make it to the adoption stage.”
Roman frowned at that sad fact, then glanced up to find Ezra laughing in front of one of the stalls.
“Roman,” Ezra called and motioned them over. “Come look at this one.”
Roman eyed the dog, then the description of the dog, then Ezra’s delighted face, and frowned. “Babe, that’s not a small dog. And it’s a puppy, which means it’s going to get bigger.”
Ezra tilted his head and assessed the animal who was eagerly lapping at his fingers. “Not too much bigger,” Ezra said as if he knew the animal’s projected growth chart. Roman glanced over at Danita for affirmation but she only smiled and gave a small shrug.
“And it’s a pit bull,” Roman said. He knew it was unfair to discriminate against the breed, but he couldn’t handle even the possibility that a dog might turn vicious and attack his sweet, unsuspecting husband.
