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“Did whoever have you before have a baby and then drop you off here?” I pet her head, scratch behind her ear, and then nuzzle her. “That won’t happen with us,” I tell her. “You’re going to have a big family. You can swim every day, run in the sand, chase a ball, and have a best friend in Beau.”
I know it’s probably wrong for me to talk to her like she’s already mine, but I’m unwilling to leave her. This is a sign. From whom or what, I don’t know, but it has to be.
Peyton returns an hour later. “Let’s go.”
I don’t move. “Is she coming with us?”
My wife keeps her expression stoic. “You’re looking at our first child,” she tells me.
A smile spreads across my face. I pump my arm in the air, startling the pup. “Look at that, you’re coming home with us.”
“First stop is the pet store. We need everything.”
I scoop the pup in my arms and take her over to Peyton, who dotes on her. “Please don’t steal my husband.”
Moving the dog slightly out of the way, I lean down and kiss Peyton. “I love you. Thank you.”
“You better be right about this, Westbury.”
“Oh, I am.”
We thank the woman as we leave. Peyton climbs in and takes the puppy from me, while I slip onto the driver’s seat. On our way to the pet store, I say, “She needs a name.”
“She does. I say we post her photo online and let your fans decide on what her name should be.”
“Oh, this ought to be fun.”
“Famous last words, Westbury.”
At the stoplight, I look over at Peyton and our new puppy. Peyton’s loving her, just like I knew she would. Now, all we need is for tomorrow to be just as good as today.
13
PEYTON
Noah’s on the floor with Stevie Nicks, playing with her tug toy. It’s her name for now until something else sparks interest. I like it though. It’s not Stevie, but Stevie Nicks and she seems to respond well to it.
Night one was interesting, and I think it is somehow preparing us for when we are parents. I know a puppy and a baby aren’t even close in how they’re going to react, but I imagine the crying at night and wanting to be held are somewhat similar.
We bought training books and a DVD, which we watched as soon as we arrived home with the multiple hundreds of dollars we spent at the store on dog-related items. Stevie Nicks is already expensive. Who knew dogs needed beds in every room of the house? I didn’t and neither did the clerk at the store who asked why we have so many beds in our cart. I looked from the clerk to my husband and shook my head. With what we paid for everything we bought for her, she’s pricey. But she’s worth it. Noah’s in love with her, and she seems smitten with him.
Noah’s watching me, waiting. Using our puppy as a distraction until the timer goes off. He looks at his phone and then me. I don’t want to know how many minutes are left until I can look at the stick. The pit I feel in my stomach right now doesn’t feel all that great. I’ve never been this nervous before. Not even when I propositioned Noah on prom night. That was easy compared to waiting.
“Time,” he says as he stands. “Come on.”
“You go look and tell me.”
“As fun as that sounds, no.” He tugs on my hand and pulls me up. “Come, Stevie Nicks,” he says as we walk down the hall. She doesn’t know what that means yet, but she follows us, nipping at Noah’s heels as we walk. He calls them love bites.
We go into the bathroom. The culprit for our stress during the last four minutes rests on the countertop, with the news we’ve been waiting a week for.
“How are we both going to look?”
“We’ll close our eyes. I’ll hold it up and we’ll count to three, then open them.”
“Okay.” I stand next to him with my eyes closed.
Noah stands behind me, wrapping his arms around me. I sag into his chest, needing to feel him this close. “No matter what, our journey isn’t over,” he says.
