Page 3 of Mommy

“I’ll get my things.” I murmur, and listen to them telling me to get home safe.

Take care.

Text me, when you’re there.

My bag waits for me in my locker, and I pull the huge crewneck over my sweatshirt to keep away the cold I know comes with the darkness.

At the front desk of the shelter, I stop one last time. Turning to look down the hallway that leads to the courtyard, I check for Liam and Shelly. When I see neither of them, I slip away through a different door.

I sneak down the dark hallway, kennels lined up on one side of me.

The dogs inside are mostly sleeping, but not all of them. Some are watching me with glowing eyes as I quietly make my way to the very last kennel in the row.

None of the dogs bark at me. They’ve seen me do this more times than I can count and by now, they’ve gotten used to me.

They know my scent, the rhythm of my breaths and the staccato of my light steps on the tiled floor.

The last kennel is larger than the others and I smile as I see Viv surrounded by a pile of puppies.

Her splotchy white fur is unmistakable even in the darkness.

Taking my bag with me, I slip into her kennel. If I leave it out here, the odds of Shelly seeing it and finding me when she’s checking on the dogs before she closes the shelter, are too high.

I don’t want her to find me.

The floor is hard beneath me despite the big mattress I laid out for Viv and her puppies.

If I’m lucky, they will all snuggle in close to me before the cold creeps in through the walls. Otherwise, the crewneck won’t keep it off me long.

But I don’t care that this is not nearly as comfortable as a bed, and I don’t care that it will be cold.

Anything, to keep me from having to go home.

Chapter three

Ivory

I wake because there is noise coming from near the entrance, rumbling rolls down the hallway and fills the kennels.

As expected Viv has curled up to me while I was sleeping and with her, the whole family has snuggled up close to my body. The pups are still asleep and so is Viv, she’s not usually up early so I’m the only one greeting Shelly with open eyes when she stops in front of the kennel.

“You know you’re not supposed to sleep in here,” she says with a sigh, but offers me a steaming cup anyway.

I try an apologetic smile and shrug.

“Sorry,” I murmur. And I really mean it. I know that I shouldn’t be sleeping here. I know that I shouldn’t, not because she doesn’t want me to be with the dogs but because if something happens to me while I’m here at night, she would be held responsible.

Grabbing my bag, I leave the pile of dogs behind. I meet Shelly in the hallway a moment later.

She’s doing the early morning chores, checking in on every kennel and I set my tea aside to help her. Placing all the clean metal bowls next to each other, I start putting kibble into each one, measuring out the right amount for every dog.

“You didn’t want to go home, Sweetie?” Shelly asks without looking up from where she’s refilling the water bowls.

I haven’t told her what home looks like for me, but I guess one can only choose to sleep on the bare mattress in a kennel a certain number of times before their colleagues get suspicious about the reason why.

She’s never pried about my reason why, and all I told her was that I don’t always like being at home and that I’d rather stay with the dogs.

Her small hand lands softly on my shoulder, squeezing it.