Hey Bulldog

Theo saw the text message flash up on his screen from the corner of his eye and grinned. Was he a stickler for a schedule? Yup. He was the guy at the dentist’s fifteen minutes earlier – just in case – the professor you could rely on to be sitting there on the edge of his desk in the front of the classroom when the students scrambled in five minutes late to first class, the husband bang on time for their little 101 Dalmatians trip giving his wife shit for not getting herself down to the car faster (like Bo was gonna give her any choice in the matter). Both babies and fate couldn’t give a damn about schedules though. Hazel was proof of that.

Planning at least meant that they were gonna have the dog settled before Bo arrived. They wouldn’t end up caught in the nightmare of trying to potty train a kid and a dog all at the same time. It had been bad enough with Hazel. Those explosive accidents that would catch you unaware, that feeling of warmth running down your arm or spreading over the thigh of your jeans as you tried to comfort the toddler who was already sobbing about it. Not something they’d been anticipating heading back to quite so soon, but ‘let’s start trying’ had become ‘oh my God, we’re having a baby’ pretty much on the first go.

There were months before Bo was going to arrive – if the baby stayed on that medically set out schedule – still, Gabe seemed to cast one last wary look back at Freyja as he disappeared through that glass door. That was a man without kids, unaware that when the pin was really pulled, he’d know about it, maybe with the shriek of those first sharp contractions or a spreading wet patch in the night that they couldn’t blame on their two year old. After Hazel had used her mom’s boss as a teething ring Theo doubted he’d wanna be around one of their kids again, not until they were old enough to discuss politics or ethics, or whatever it was that floated that man’s boat.

What floated his was right there, as resplendent as it was possible to get in elasticated pants. As beautiful as the day he’d met her, the day she’d hurried into Di Marco’s with her dress soaked and her hair hanging in wet strings around a face that was never anything but stunning. You could take his hearing but it wasn’t going to change what he saw, what he felt when her Freyja’s arms slipped around him and Bo nudged against his hips. Theo hummed happily into that kiss, his grin broad as he drew back an inch. ”He’s lucky it was a finger and not a pair of those fancy shoes, which reminds me, maybe we should put ours away, stop the temptation.” Like it was guaranteed they were getting a puppy. He hadn’t managed to spend as long around Grim as he should’ve been able to, not long enough to know half these things. They grew out of the chewing stage right? Just like kids?

More questions to ask at the shelter, added to the long list in his head that was probably gonna vanish the minute the cute! was right there in their faces. Theo closed the passenger door, trotted around to the other side to get in. His seat belt clipped, the mirrors checked and he was pulling back out onto the road to merge with traffic. If the cars behind him were gonna get pissed at his steady roll at 5 miles an hour under the limit they were gonna have to get over it – there were precious loads on board. His brows furrowed faintly as he glanced at Freyja. His grin twitched back. ”Ye of little faith,” he joked, clucking his tongue. ”We’re gonna find the perfect dog. Just old enough that we’re not gonna have to go cleaning up accidents in the middle of the night.” Potty trained … puppy trained? … ready to slip right into their slightly chaotic household. It took him a moment to squint back over as Freyja took his hand. ”How big are we talking?” he asked, like it had just hit.

By the time they got to the shelter he was picturing something between Scooby and Scrappy Doo. Big enough to maybe put the fear of God into anyone that tried to come at Hazel, small enough that he wasn’t gonna have to wrestle for a spot on the couch. Just the right size.

He’d been about ready to walk in, hands spread like he could somehow map out the right dog with them. Defined with those broad palms and long fingers, the ones laced with his wife’s as they strolled into the shelter and Freyja, in her no nonsense, no hesitation leapt right into it. ”Hey. Not quite a first timer,” he explained as the red head looked at him with amusement in her eyes. Oh yeah, she could definitely tell which one of them had done this before, and who wore the pants (elasticated or not) in this marriage.

Rhiannon grinned at the couple, her eyes ticking from the obviously pregnant woman up to her … but mutt. He was mock scowling down at her, hazel eyes narrowed but a hand finding the small of the woman’s back in a sign of tenderness that she didn’t need her senses to read. ”I’m pretty sure we’ve got something he can handle. Why don’t you come on through? We can talk while you take a look.” She stepped out from behind the counter where she’d been updating the vaccination record of a couple of Great Dane puppies. Hmm, they had said big.

Crossing to the door that led back towards the kennels that stretched out in rows behind the squat central part of the building, Rhi held it open for them, surreptitiously studying the couple. She’d spent years keeping her abilities locked down, but at times like this she allowed herself a feel and what radiated from the couple was reassuring. ”Young or old? You probably know, but most big breeds aren’t particularly long lived.” A warning now was always a thousand times easier than someone bringing back a dog that wasn’t quite what they wanted later.

Phew, a question he could answer at least. Theo nodded, trying for sage but probably just coming off as worried. ”We were thinking about the younger end, a dog that could grow up with our kids. We’re expecting our second …” As if most of that wasn’t kinda obvious. ”Hi buddy!” Maybe he’d not grown up with dogs like Freyja had, but how could you look at a dog tumbling forward on oversized paws like the one in the closest kennel to the door and not smile. Theo bent, fingers going straight through the wire for the dog to lick.

Tagged: FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 1158

Like your husband? Theo grinned at the unspoken retort. Super menacin’ was not his go to, although he’d had students startle at his sudden appearance before and – there went the smile for just a moment before he pushed it back, like a dip in the power grid dimming a light for just long enough for you to question whether it had happened or not – people saw what they wanted to see. A tall guy, broad shoulders, solid (he wasn’t about to crow about a six pack or biceps big enough to strangle an anaconda, he’d leave that to Frank), a little intimidating under the right circumstances. You scraped the surface though and he was like one of those labs, bouncy and friendly, the loyalist goof you could ask for, with the added bonus of an every ready stream of tears (happy, sad and for every emotion in between). The dog wasn’t gonna have that problem at least.

Theo guessed you couldn’t walk in and ask for a mean looking dog without looking sus but hey, he was a dog buying virgin, what did he know? He coulda bristled at the observation but it was pretty much bang on the money and Theo was pretty sure the woman behind the counter would be able to tell. Maybe the staff at shelters were like the animals themselves, they could smell inexperience. It was a sixth sense that probably helped them play matchmaker between the animals and the new owners.

What kind of pet parents did they look like? Hazel eyes narrowed down at his wife for a moment before Theo took that silent request and dipped his head. ”He can definitely handle whatever’s thrown at him,” he promised. ”He’s got plenty of experience that way.” Thanks to the woman he loved keeping him on his toes. Theo growled lightly but pressed his mouth to Freyja’s, his palm coming up to graze over the sphere keeping the next Damasca to wrap him around their little finger safe.

This dog was going to do that for Hazel. A set of eyes to watch when they couldn’t, a set of teeth sharp enough to have any fool or threat shrieking and running away from their daughter. Grim might not have looked it by the time they’d met but Theo knew he’d have done the same for Freyja, even if it was on doddery old legs. They wanted Hazel and Bo to have more time than just a few years with a dog, they wanted them to grow with them, to have those formative years with a protective little buddy. Theo’s heart ached just a little for what Freyja’d had as they were lead through to the back.

One single crate in and that heart ache sharpened. All it took was a nose pressed to the wire and he was kinda smitten. He heard Freyja talking above him, caught the woman’s laughter. ”Breed-ist?” he echoed, looking up at Freyja and grinning. ”She means we’re not fussy, we’re gonna be happy with whatever kind of dog we get … as long as they’re on the large, young side.” Although he imagined that might get struck off the list with the right sort of dog.

Rhiannon winged a brow but returned Freyja’s smile. She inclined her head, happy to let those good first impressions carry on growing. These were the sort of people who’d walk out of here with a dog that really needed a home and not just some pretty pedigree who’d spend no more than a few days here before someone snatched them up. ”You’re definitely ticking all my boxes,” she said, appreciating that they obviously knew their stuff. She’d seen that glimmer when the woman had spoken of her old dog and she knew they would do this right.

He wasn’t sure when Freyja, or the woman, had drifted away. The puppy was nuzzling at his fingers, sharp little teeth latching onto his knuckles like he was teething – like Hazel had done to Gabriel. ”You gonna do that to all my shoes, buddy?” he asked. Pulling back suddenly, the puppy tilted its head, looking out past him just as Freyja said Great Danes, and a little more. ”You probably shouldn’t have heard that.” Theo told the puppy. He covered the little guys floppy ears for a moment before he scrambled up. ”Like how big?” The question trailed out as he eased in. One hand settled on Freyja’s side, his brows knotting as he looked over his shoulder at the pamphlet hanging there. Two of them. That he hadn’t quite been expecting.

Bingo. Rhi had to fight to hide her grin as the woman looked down at the two puppies, gambling over one another with those outsized paws they’d definitely grow into pressed against the wire, seeking out more affection. ”Pure breed Great Danes. They were strays though. Either the mother abandoned them or, more likely, she was killed after she had them. They were a little skinny when they came in, could still do with a little more feeding up, but … they’re healthy, no genetic issues flagging up so far.” Her eyes slid to the husband, her smile pure butter wouldn’t melt. ”How big’s your home? They’ll likely get between two and a half and three feet tall. Definitely big fuckin’ dogs, but as gentle as they come.”

The breath puffed out of Theo as it had Freyja as she’d levered her way up, his mouth opening, then closing. They’d wanted big. Dogs like this most people would take one look at and would then back off on the woah. He probably shouldn’t have been imagining it but he could see Bo, looking just like Freyja probably had at that age, rampaging through the house on a puppy’s – well, maybe not by then – back. Oh boy. ”You think they’d fit in Hazel’s bed?” he asked with a grin, slanting it at Freyja. By the time they were full grown Hazel would probably have just enough room to breathe with both of them in her room. Guardians the size of small ponies.

Tagged: FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 1017

If the wife wouldn’t have warned the husband then Rhiannon would’ve made sure she did. That bob of the man’s Adam’s apple beneath the scruff of beard was exactly why. She wasn’t one of those rehomers who would do anything to get an animal adopted. Too many were underhanded and then wondered why they ended up with so many animals coming back to them again, the attempt to find them a forever home failing miserably. ”Not too much to handle if you’re prepared for it, and it seems like your wife is at least,” she joked. They were prepared, and keen, and it seemed, ready to leap into this after asking all the right questions instead of just saying they wanted something cute. Instagram ready dogs that people didn’t want to do the dirty work with.

Theo tipped his head back, hazel eyes catching the woman’s eyes before he glanced up at the concrete ceiling of the kennel block. Mentally he cursed, that little frill flitting through his stomach. Like horses in comparison to Grim, who’d been kinda … middle sized? … just enough to curl up on the bed with him and Freyja, to be the perfect companion to his mistress in his latter days, to the bump carrying a daughter Freyja might have had to raise alone. He looked back down, letting out a long whistle but grinning at Rhiannon all the same. ”Both of us are, even if it means I’m not the giant in the house anymore.” Hazel would have the big dog – dogs – she needed and that was all that mattered. If he ended up having to pick up dinosaur sized poop when he ended up being the one walking them, so be it.

One arm ended up around Freyja, the other hand poked fingers through the fence to scritch at those eager noses. He didn’t catch the exchange between his wife and the woman, the suddenly silence that seemed to hang. Small kissy noises rolled out of him, leaving the dogs practically wriggling with delight.

Rhi’s eyes ticked from the husband, and suddenly back to the wife. Her eyelids fluttered twice at that voice in her head before she could stop herself, her throat going tight. Revelations hadn’t always worked out for her well before. ”Poor babies indeed,” Rhi croaked. Her gaze was almost flicker fast as the husband looked back up and narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between the two of them as though he’d finally caught a hint of something. ”A … good healthy weight should be manageable pretty fast. Are you both … psychic?” she asked haltingly. It wasn’t like it mattered a bit with the puppies, but now a door had been thrown open and she knew all too well that there was no slamming it after the dog had bolted so to speak.

The smile curved Theo’s lips as he dipped his head down to his wife’s shoulder, giving it a peck before that grin sizzled back into place. ”Just my wife … I’m guessing I missed a … psychic something while I was getting bewitched into this.” He huffed a breath out through his nose. ”At this rate we’ll have to just upholster the whole house and call it a puppy pile.” A family, spreading like the limbs of a tree. First shoots rising off of those old branches, the roots strong enough to feel like they could withstand no matter what came at them. They were survivors, every single one of them and their kids were going to be just the same.

He stepped back as Rhi eased forward, pulling the keys out of her pocket already. She didn’t need to feel the emotions rolling off of the woman to know that the puppies were as good as rehomed. One glance at the two of them and the dogs and she’d known in the very pit of her stomach. ”Absolutely. Just down at the end of this hallway. There’s an outdoor run for the dogs. It’ll be good for them to stretch their legs anyway. Go on through…” She lifted her chin towards the doorway at the end as she carefully crowded the space as she opened the door. The puppies went to bound past her, she caught the first, but the second was already making a beeline for his new owners, prancing around the woman’s legs. There was still the home check to do, the paperwork to be signed off on, but this was as close to a done deal as she’d seen almost in an instant since she’d come here. Rhi bent, scooping up the better behaved puppy, herding the family down towards the end of the hallway where the dogs could frolic outside and charm their new owners a little more.

Tagged: FREYJA DAMASCA * Word Count: 799