“Can I finish the rest later?” I ask, not wanting to waste the food, or to act ungrateful when he brought it to me.
“Sure, you did well,” he says, taking the tray from me. I yawn, and he grins. “Don’t go to sleep yet. I have something for you that I think you’re going to like.”
“What?” I ask, wondering what he could be up to now. “Does it require me to leave the room?”
“No,” he says, exiting the door. “Don’t move a muscle.”
When he opens the door about a few minutes later, my jaw drops.
He didn’t?
“Oh my god, Vinnie!”
My mood instantly lifts.
In his hands are three puppies.
Cuteness overload.
A Great Dane, a German shepherd, and what looks like a Neapolitan mastiff.
He places them all on the bed, and I die. In a good way.
I smile.
I pick them up one by one and hug them.
“I remember how happy taking you to the pet store made you,” he says, picking up the mastiff and holding him. “It was the only thing I could think of to try to make you smile again.”
He brought me puppies, to the bed, to make me smile.
My eyes start to well up.
“Fuck, don’t cry,” he says, looking alarmed. He hands me the mastiff as if that will help.
I make a sniffling sound, attempting to curb the tears. “Thank you. Who do they belong to?”
“Well, one belongs to you,” he says, smiling. “If you want one. They’re all boys. I kind of rented them for two days.”
“You rented them?” I ask, laughing. “How did you manage that?”
“I talked them into a two-day trial period,” he admits, shrugging. “And money talks.”
This man.
“I don’t even know what to say,” I whisper, hugging the Great Dane against my chest.
“You don’t need to,” he replies, leaning forward to place a kiss on my lips. “Your smile says enough. Also, you’re cleaning all their shit.”
A therapy dog.
Not really, but the pup is going to distract me from everything else going on. I don’t know if bringing me three was a good idea, although I’m happy he chose three big breeds, because I love big dogs.
“Well,” he says, standing up. “I’ll leave you to it then. I’ll bet the women will be in here soon, wanting a cuddle, they’ve been fussing over them like crazy all morning.” He pauses. “They’re going to fuckin’ baby that puppy so much.”
I was going to too.
He scrubs his hand down his face, but then says, “As long as you’re happy again, I don’t fuckin’ care.”
I wouldn’t be happy again, but I do feel the cloud of misery move away a little. Not because of the puppies, although I’m already in love with all of them, but because of Vinnie himself. He is so good to me, and even though I don’t have a father anymore, I do have him, and that’s something to be joyful about.
He leaves the room, and I lie back, three adorable puppies jumping all over me.
And I smile again.
* * *
“You know,” I say to Faye, watching the pups play with Clover on the grass. “They’re all pretty cute, aren’t they? And Clover loves them. The compound is big enough for them all, don’t you think? And I’m sure we could use the extra guards.”
Faye raises an eyebrow and says, “Not very subtle, are you?”
“The only way I’m going to get my way in this situation is to get the queen and the princess on my side.”
She throws her head back and laughs at that. “So what are you suggesting exactly?”
“We could raise them all here. One could be Clover’s, one could be mine, and one could be yours . . . if you wanted one.”
Faye stays quiet for a moment, but then says, “I call the shepherd.”
I grin, pressing my fingers together like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. “Colt is mine.” Colt was the harlequin Great Dane that had grown attached to me over the last few days.
“You named him Colt after Lana’s character?” Faye asks, laughing even harder than before, tears forming in her hazel eyes. “Basically you named the dog after Tracker’s alter ego.”
“It suits him,” I say, lifting my shoulders in a shrug. “He’s going to be as big as a horse too, so it goes.”
When Clover picks up the Neo and says, “Mom can we keep this one?” Faye and I share a scheming glance. Yes, our plan was going to work out just fine.