Oh, my God. He did it! Ryder gave me a dream worthy proposal.
I hugged my puppy close, not caring about the tears falling from my eyes. “Yes. A million times yes. I can’t believe you. This is perfect. You’re perfect. This little guy, er, he is a boy?” I held him up and confirmed before Ryder answered. “Yes, boy. He’s perfect. Yes, yes. I’m so happy you gave me a proposal I deserve.” I sat the puppy down and leaned in and kissed my fiancée.
We didn’t pull away until a tiny bark interrupted us. Laughing at how adorable it was, I gazed down at my puppy. My heart filled so full to bursting with love and happiness. I wanted to tell Ryder I loved him, but I wanted to wait to say that another time, so I could have another special day.
“What are you going to name him?” Ryder patted the puppy and undid his collar, getting the ring and tag off. He did up the collar again and then picked up the ring, reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold chain. He put the ring on that. “I thought this would be best. With the cast, it won’t fit.”
I nodded. I loved that Ryder thought enough about my condition and that the ring wouldn’t fit. He was always doing little considerate things like that. It was something I hadn’t expected with such an alpha man like Ryder.
“You thought of anything to call him?”
I had no idea. I’d never had a pet. I always wanted one, but with moving about so much with the Army it wasn’t really practical. Looking down at the puppy I noticed he was small, smaller than what I thought the breed should be. “Is he a Labradoodle?”
“He’s a Mini-Labradoodle. I almost got you just a Labradoodle, but I had a feeling this little guy was right up your ally. He’s not a little rat dog. He’ll be a bit bigger than a large house cat. You’re both so little.”
I mock growled at him and the puppy barked and pounced which had me giggling at just how adorable he was. Ryder leaned over and gathered my hair to one side and then put the necklace on me. He kissed my neck and fell back onto the cushions. I held up the necklace and looked at the ring. It’s the same massive diamond and black onyx ring he’d placed on my finger weeks ago and it was stunning.
The little puppy climbed up me and licked my neck. I giggled at the tickle of his fur, wet nose, and tongue. I could already tell he was going to be affectionate and cuddly. “What about Snuggles?”
“Ah, no. I am not telling people I have a dog named Snuggles. I’d do just about anything for you, but not that, and not to mention the dog is a boy, vixen.”
I tried pouting at Ryder, but I could tell he meant it when he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away.
“Fine,” I grumble. “What about Caramelo?”
“He’s a dog not a food.”
“What about Curly or Tiny? You know, ’cause he’s a Mini.” I raised my eyebrows up and down.
“You happy to call that out when you take him for a walk? ‘Tiny, Curly, come here?’ Think about his street cred.”
“Ha, a dog and street cred.” I rolled my eyes and threw up my arms. “Well, you think of a name.”
Ryder moved so he was next to me and I inched closer so I snuggled against him. “Okay, what about…” He picked up the puppy and held him close to his face, studying him. “Buster. Ranger. Fido.”
“No. No way. They’re so plain. Typical dog names.” I turned in his embrace and he put the puppy back on the ground. I tried to think of boy names, or cool dog names, but my mind was blank. “Is this how it’s going to be when we try and name our baby?” When I realized what I said, I froze. We hadn’t really talked or mentioned the baby I carried. I didn’t even know how he felt about having a child so soon. He stroked my cheek and leaned in and brushed his lips over mine.
“I’m smart enough to know that if you go through cooking my child for nine months and then give birth to him, you get the right to name him whatever you want.”
I threw my arms around him and he grunted at the impact of my cast. I still wasn’t used to it. I peppered him with kisses. “Perfect and all mine.” I sighed and unhooked my arms from him. “You name the puppy if I get to name our children then.”
He winked and I groaned as he said, “Children huh? You already planning on us having more?”
Kissing his cheek, I looked around and spotted the puppy not far off the blankets. “Maybe I am. Go get the puppy. Let’s name him first before we even talk more about children.”
I was enjoying the last peace and quiet, it being just me and Divinity in the house, before her friends descended to talk about what she was missing at work, and what was going on with each of them. I was sure the wedding would be discussed too. Divinity had the folder she had started with my Aunts and mother. I was actually surprised we’d lasted over a week without my family or any of her friends visiting. I had told as many as I could that we wanted some quiet relaxing time when we got home, but I never thought people would listen, especially my family. Tyson had gone and picked up the puppy from the breeder and dropped it off for the proposal, but he didn’t stick around for a visit.