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After a while, he sighs and looks directly in my eyes. “It feels good to open up, Angel. I feel…shit I feel so good.”
“You can open up to me anytime, Jake. I’ll always be here.”
“Always,” he repeats. “That sounds perfect.”
We hug in silence until he’s ready for us to get out and face the world. He stretches and helps me out.
“Anyway, I was supposed to get something from my car,” he chuckles. It makes me scoff a laugh too. He sniffs and runs a hand over his face. His eyes are red from crying, but they’re not as haunted as they used to be. “I’ll be back.”
He comes back with a large cardboard box that he awkwardly holds.
“What the hell is this?” I giggle.
“Your birthday present,” he answers as he puts the box on the floor. “I never got to give it to you, and eighteen is quite a big one.”
We both look at the box and he huffs. “I just wish I could have given it to you all those months ago. Chris had to keep it and I’m not sure how this is going to go down.”
Just as he finishes his sentence, the box barks.
Wait.
The box…
Woof! Woof!
“Jake,” I say with excitement as I get off my bed. “Why is the box barking?”
Except I know why the box is barking.
“I think you know why,” he smiles. He gives me a peck on the forehead.
“I do, I do, I do!” I shriek jumping on the spot.
“Open it, then! Before that thing dies in there.”
I run to the box and open it with both arms, making myself wince in the process.
“Be careful,” he scolds me. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
“I won’t!” I argue back as the small head of a German Shepherd puppy appears. It has a grey eye and a brown one.
“Oh my Goooosh,” I melt as it jumps in my arms.
It’s a puppy, but I can see it’s a few months old. It must have been a baby on my birthday.
“Jake…I can’t believe this! Why?!”
“Back in January you were living on your own. I was worried for you, and German Shepherds are great guard dogs.”
“This is amazing, I can’t believe it!” I repeat. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“A girl, of course. Do you think I’d let another male live so close to you.” I pause for a second thinking he’s serious, until I see the pinch at the corner of his lips, indicating the joke.
“You’re insane,” I explode laughing. “Mom is going to be so happy!”
“That one reminded me of us,” he says as he comes closer. “Look at her eyes, the exact balance of light and dark. If that’s not us, I don’t know what is.”
I nod in agreement, but I’m barely listening anymore. The puppy jumps from my arms and goes to Jake.
