“No, it’s an American Staffordshire and terrier mix,” Ezra corrected, reading from the laminated flyer.
Roman glanced again at Danita who was still trying very hard to look innocent. “The truth is that we have to make a lot of educated guesses about our strays,” she said. “This little guy was born at the shelter as part of a litter. His mother was aggressive and had to be put down, but he and his sisters and brothers have been nothing but sweethearts. And only this pup is left to be adopted.”
“And why’s that?” Roman asked, still suspicious there was something she wasn’t telling him.
“Well, he is a big boy,” she said cautiously. “Or at least, it looks like he will be.”
“He’s so sweet,” Ezra chirped. “Nugget,” he said, reading from the sign again. “A perfect name for a perfect little puppy.”
Roman wished to reiterate that even at four months old, Nugget was far from little. The dog, who clearly knew how to highlight his charms, wagged his tail enthusiastically and started whining to be let out of his enclosure.
“Why don’t we take him out and let the three of you get acquainted?” Danita suggested.
Roman supposed that might at least allow him to better assess the dog’s temperament and if necessary, reject him as an option. Danita slipped the leash around Nugget’s neck while the dog, now free, immediately took to jumping on Ezra who only laughed and encouraged the animal’s boisterous affection.
“Nugget,” Roman said sternly, and the dog immediately laid down his ears and backed off to a standing position. Well, Roman could work with that.
“He already knows his name,” Ezra said, appealing to Roman with his big, brown eyes.
“He’s a very clever boy,” Danita said with a smirk.
Roman chose to reserve judgment on the dog’s intellect.
Danita handed Ezra the lead and they left the kennel area to enter into a small room with rubber flooring and a few toys littered about. The noise of barking subsided inside the room, as did the smell. Ezra went back to loving on Nugget, now on his knees so that the two were nearly at eye-level. The proximity of Ezra’s face to the animal’s teeth and jaws made Roman nervous, and it wasn’t just the dog’s breed. Danita offered Ezra a tennis ball, and they played a game of fetch in the small room. After a few rounds, Nugget ambled over to Roman and lay down at his feet, then rolled onto his back and bared his tummy.
“Look, he trusts you already,” Danita said.
“Or he wants his belly scratched,” Ezra said and did so with enthusiasm. Roman could admit the dog was a tiny bit cute with a sandy coloring and white socks. His square-faced jaw reminded him of some of the defensive linemen he’d faced off with on the football field, which he supposed would be good for intimidating strangers when Ezra took him for walks. And if the animal turned out to be a decent guard dog, Roman might not worry as much about Ezra being home alone all day long.
Soon enough, Nugget had his square head planted in Ezra’s lap, tongue lolling and back leg rabbiting from the vigorous belly rub. “Oh, I love him already,” Ezra said with sudden exuberance and impulsively threw his arms around the dog’s broad shoulders. Roman tensed for aggression on the animal’s part, but the dog only licked Ezra’s cheek more furiously. “Did you know that when you cuddle with your dog, it stimulates the brain's production of Oxytocin in both of you. It’s the same hormone that is released when a mother breastfeeds her baby, and it’s associated with feelings of trust, empathy, and strong bond formation.”
“I knew that,” Danita said smugly.
Roman smiled fondly at his husband, who’d been researching dogs nonstop ever since Roman had announced he was ready to adopt.
“Are you sure he’s the one you want, babe? Do you want to look at any others?” Roman made the appeal even while knowing it was futile.
Ezra’s grip tightened around the dog’s thick neck as he buried his face into its fur. “No, I love this one. I want Nugget to be ours.”
“We have a 72-hour trial period where you can take him home and see if he’s a good fit. If not, you can bring him back and select another animal with no penalty,” Danita said. Clearly, she thought this match was already in the bag.
“Can we adopt him, Roman? Pretty please?”
Ezra batted his long eyelashes and peered up at Roman like a Kewpie doll. To believe he had the ability to resist Ezra’s charms was a foolish notion indeed. Meanwhile, the dog’s expression mirrored that of his new master, one of hopeful longing, as if knowing his own fate rested in Roman’s hands.
Roman glanced over at Danita who only nodded and said, “I’ll get the paperwork ready.”
* * *
“That’s a big dog,”Jay said upon meeting the newest addition to their household, an animal who, only moments ago, had been barking ferociously at the front door. But once Roman told Nugget to heel, the dog did so immediately. Ezra said it must have something to do with his deep, stern voice, but Roman knew that it was because Ezra was a complete pushover while Roman was disciplined and consistent. But other than Ezra sneaking Nugget table scraps and allowing him up on his favorite chair when Roman wasn’t around, Nugget behaved rather well. So really, it was Ezra behaving badly, not the dog.
“Meet Nugget,” Roman said. “Ezra’s early birthday present.”
“Roman, you big softie.” Jay chuckled and reached down to scratch Nugget between his ears.
“More like sucker,” Roman said, but couldn’t resist patting Nugget’s head because he was a very good boy.
“Ezra picked this one out, didn’t he?” Jay asked, knowing Roman’s wariness of dogs.
