We’ve added a lot of animals and even built another barn since we got married, and I usually wake up to feed them far earlier than this.
“Took care of it. Don’t worry.”
I spit into the sink and rinse my mouth before wiping it with a towel. “So where are we going?”
“Let me surprise you for once,” he says, kissing me softly, but it quickly turns heated. I’m about to say fuck it and pick him up to bring him back to bed before I hear a little knock on the door.
“Stop kissing, Grandpas! It’s time to go.”
I chuckle, and then Chance leads us out to our cars, driving us to the outskirts of town. I don’t know where the hell we’re going until I see a sign—Always and Forever Animal Shelter.
“Animal Shelter? Are we getting another donkey?” I ask with a grin.
“I was thinking maybe a puppy, but who knows?”
My eyes light up. I’ve wanted an inside dog for a while now, and this is my present? “Really?”
He shrugs. “It’s time.”
I agree. When we park, I feel like a little kid as we meet with the shelter’s head volunteer, and she leads us through all the individual dog houses that seem more like their own little cabins. They have beds and chairs, a spot for them to live their little lives as they wait for a home.
“This one, Grandpa!” My granddaughter giggles as a small terrier jumps up and down at her ankles.
“He’s pretty cute,” I say, leaning down to pet the dog, whose name is posted on the outside of the doghouse. Pete.
“I love him,” she says, letting the dog lick her face. I pick Pete up and ask if we can hang out with him for a bit as we visit the other dogs. The woman says it’s fine, and by the end of our visit, we’re adopting Pete, but we also may have grabbed Sally, an older gray cat, and a beautiful mini Australian shepherd named Winter.
Chance is thrilled, and the rest of our day is spent getting our new family members settled into their new home.
My husband is even more excited than I am, I think.
“Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” I say with a smile, leaning in to kiss my husband.
“You think we can top this next year?” he asks, a playful glint in his eyes.
I toss my head back and laugh. “We’re going to need a bigger house.”
But every year with him does seem to get truly better and better. So I have no doubt.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Trigger Warning—Loss of a pet
I hope you all enjoyed this novella. I had so much fun writing it and am so excited to get back to Oakley’s Crew! Book Three will be Gabe and Book Four will be Cameron and Luke. Book Five and the last one of the series will be my very first MMM book, and I cannot wait. I hope you all will enjoy Jackson, Asher, and Thatcher’s story because I cannot wait to write it!
Thank you all so much for always being there to support me! It means the world to me.
So that bonus scene just kind of popped into my head this morning, and I had to write it. As some of you may know, we lost our beloved cat, Monroe, in August of this year, and it was a pain like none other. I’m not sure I’ve ever cried that hard in my life, and it really felt like there was this empty hole in all our hearts.
Last month, I saw this local shelter that I follow on Facebook showing off these new light houses—doghouses that are like little cabins, and my family and I decided to go check it out. They have a large one for cats that has a great big loft and different sections. It’s beautiful, you all. This shelter gives these animals ahome and dignity and lots of love before they find their forever homes.
And while we were there, we met the sweetest little calico cat and fell in love. Two weeks later, after she was spayed and had all her vaccinations, we brought her home to live with us. I’m forever grateful to that shelter for helping us heal.
So I wanted to mention them here and put their website for you all to see the homes they’ve made on their property. If you can afford to give anything to them, the holidays are especially tough, and they prepare a holiday meal for the animals. So they could really use it!
If not, that’s okay too! I just wanted you all to be able to see it!
