Warmth Part 2

This is part 2 of 4 of Warmth.

VII

A little while later, we hit a snag that put a strain on our relationship. It wasn’t sudden, it was gradual, so much so that I’d have a tough time pinning down when it even started, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d say it began around the first week of October.

Pine started having subtle changes in his demeanor. He seemed to get a little less touchy-feely, which was a shock since “touchy-feely” was basically Pine in a nutshell. He was less physical with me and less willing to let me touch him freely. Instead of smiling or rubbing against me, he’d start to heat up and act annoyed when I’d kiss his face. The touching and nuzzling went from incessant to rare. There was one day when he refused to let me put his hair up, even when he was brushing it out of his face and eyes every few seconds.

He also got weirdly possessive and territorial. One time I sat on the couch, right next to his spot and he narrowed his eyes at me. He wasn’t even on the couch himself, he just stood by it and glowered at me. Experimentally I inched closer to his spot and he growled a little. I scooted to the other side of the couch after that.

Another time I caught him with the candle, and when I made a move to take it from him he snarled at me. I raised my hands and backed away slowly in shock. He had never done anything like that before. Despite how much he loved that thing, he’d always give it to me willingly.

He started retreating back into his shell a bit. His face got less expressive and he went back to using the poker face as his default. I had known him long enough to be able to guess what he was feeling from his body language, but it was still unnerving. Whenever emotion did show, it seemed to flare up. When he got bored, he didn’t just sulk, he fumed. When he greeted me on weekday evenings, he’d use a bone-crushing hug and not care if his fingernails dug down a little. Several times when I’d try to get up in the morning, he would hold on to my arms and whine when I attempted to pull away.

I was starting to get really worried. Things were taking a turn, but my pride stopped me from being honest with myself about it. I tried to brush away my concerns, discounting the changes as something temporary and insignificant. That got more and more difficult as things became more strained between us.

By the time it had been happening for a full week, it had started to take a toll on me. I’d feel drained and weak during the day and restless when the sun went down. I’d wake up over and over during the night and have trouble getting back to sleep. Probably a hundred times I wished more than anything that I could talk to Pine, simply ask what was bothering him so I’d know how to fix things. It made me feel useless.

Even with all that, I still avoided asking James for help. The first time I asked him for advice, it had turned out that I had overreacted to the situation. Things would have gotten better on their own if I had just been more patient. I didn’t want to make that same mistake and tried my hardest to ignore my panic and not worry so much.

That mentality stopped after one particular event made me drop everything and admit defeat.

Pine woke me up in the wee hours of a Friday morning by having one of his night terrors. That had been his third one, so I accepted that it would be a recurring problem with him. Just like the previous two times, I woke him up and hugged him tightly.

This time, though, Pine squirmed in my grasp after a few minutes. I responded by strengthening my hold and he began to struggle more against me. By the time he lowered his hands to paw at me and scratch me with his nails I let go and he slinked away. My heart sank as I saw him crawl over to the wall and just sit there facing it. He was still freaking out, sweating and hyperventilating into his hands, but he had rejected my attempts to comfort him.

All I could do was watch him have his episode alone, rocking in place slightly. When he let me hold him, it took about fifteen minutes for him to calm down, but on his own he was there for almost an hour, shuddering and weeping quietly. By the time he was finished, I had thrown all pride, self-respect, and dignity out the window. I needed to fix what was wrong and I couldn’t do it alone.

He slowly rose and got back onto the bed. I gently got closer to him and just lightly lay my hand on his body. He didn’t protest, so I held there. He curled himself up into a fetal position for a while before slowly drifting off.

I didn’t follow. I couldn’t; I was too wired. All I did was lay next to him, not moving a muscle until well after the sun rose. That was one of the Fridays I didn’t have work, so I didn’t have anywhere to be. I was still and quiet as the hours rolled by.

At around nine in the morning, Pine woke up. As he did so I gently removed my hands, not wanting to intrude any further. When he sat up, blinking tiredly, I wanted so badly to give him a kiss, but I held myself back.

Instead I just got up and handed him some clothes. Once he had dressed and eaten breakfast, he went off to his spot on the couch as I went to the other side of the house and got out my phone.

I got sent to voicemail the first time I tried calling James, but when I hung up and tried calling him again he answered.

“Hey, man.”

I smiled weakly. “Hi. Sorry to call you all of a sudden, but I really need your help with something.”

James grunted. “Finally. Something has been eating away at you all week and I was starting to think I’d have to do something about it myself.”

I sighed. “Am I that transparent?”

He chuckled once. “Absolutely, but never mind that. What’s going on?”

I described all the changes in Pine over the past days to him: the moodiness, possessiveness, how he got territorial and vindictive, and how he stepped away from any contact with me. Only when I had said it all at once did it really sink in how bad I had let it get.

There was a strange silence coming from James’ end. I heard his breath hitch, like he had started saying something but stopped himself.

“James, what’s on your mind?”

He paused. “Well…”

“Well, what?” I asked sharply.

“I mean…I think I might have some idea what’s going on, but I might just be way off.”

“I don’t care. I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Tell me.” The insistence in my voice startled me a little.

He took a deep breath in, then out before answering me.

“Zach, what you’re describing sounds an awful lot like the list of reasons why it’s best to neuter your dogs. Intact dogs are moodier, more territorial, and less focused. When the urges spike, they can even run away just to find something to mate with. It’s a stretch, but it sounds like Pine is going through something similar.”

I think I was too numb at that point to feel shocked, so I just started pondering what James had said. I had never thought of Pine as a sexual being before, but physically he was a college age male, possibly still a teenager. Hormones are some powerful things, and I knew from past experience that sexual confusion was a b***h and a half.

“Please keep in mind that I could be misinterpreting the situation,” he reminded me. “This could be something else entirely.”

“Well, let’s say it’s not. What should I do about it?”

He laughed without humor. “I can’t answer that. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you don’t wanna castrate Pine, and I don’t have any other advice to give you.”

I pursed my lips. “Thanks anyway. I know that you don’t think you helped much, but I’m grateful.”

“If my hunch is right, you don’t need to overthink this too much. For dogs, sex isn’t about romance, it’s about physical release and gender roles. Intact males just want to dominate and feel powerful.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I promised him.

“I just hope you can fix this. Pine’s a good boy.” I could tell that he was trying to lighten the mood and I forced a chuckle.

“I hope I can fix this, too. Thanks again for listening.”

He said goodbye and hung up.

I stood there for a few minutes, not even lowering the phone from my ear. Eventually I walked to the den and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what Pine was doing.

Pine was on the couch, not curled up on his side like he usually was, but on his stomach. He wasn’t still, though. He was moving forward and backward, grinding his body into the leather. After a few seconds of confusion, it dawned on me that he was trying to stimulate himself.

Without warning I burst out laughing. Maybe it was from the image of Pine, fully clothed and dry humping a couch, maybe it was stress from the past week manifesting itself in a weird way, maybe I just thought that if I didn’t laugh I’d cry, but once I got going I couldn’t stop. I was in tears. I couldn’t breathe properly. My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground, rolling around in hysterics. For what had to be three or four minutes I laughed harder than I had laughed in a very long time. Eventually the peals had subsided enough that I could sit myself up.

I saw that Pine was eyeing me curiously. I just grinned. This was a problem that had a very simple solution. Pine was just a normal guy with needs, after all, and the tried and true method I would use had never let me down before.

Still chuckling lightly, I grabbed Pine by the wrist and led him to our room. I stripped Pine down completely before leaving to find some lotion. When I got back, all it took was massaging some into his hand and guiding that hand to the right place for him to get the picture and move on his own. I sat down on the bed next to him and sighed in relief. Here I was thinking that Pine was mad at me or hated me and it was just some urges flaring up that he didn’t understand.

It then occurred to me what exactly Pine was up to just a few feet away and I decided that it would be better if I gave him some privacy. I rose to leave, but when I glanced over at Pine my blood turned to ice and I couldn’t move.

Pine was staring at me. It wasn’t like he normally looked at me, though. There was something different in his eyes. Something hungry. Slowly he stood up, never once pausing in his motions or looking away. He now stood in front of me. The hunger in his gaze started to intensify.

Before I could do anything, he lunged forward. He knocked me on the bed and got on top of me, using his hands to pin down my arms.

 

VIII

For a split second, my mind simply refused to acknowledge the situation. It was so surreal that my brain wouldn’t accept it, but in the space of a single heartbeat, everything went back into sharp focus.

I freaked out. I screamed at the top of my lungs and used all my strength to wrench his body off of mine. I heard him fall off the bed and hit the ground as I desperately scrambled to the door. Once I was through, I slammed the door behind me and leaned against it, reeling.

I slowly sank down until I was sitting with my back touching the door. I tried my best to calm myself, get my bearings, and try to process what had just happened.

I knew that Pine was going through some sexual frustration, and for whatever reason all of the pent-up urges turned their attention to me back there. My first thought was that Pine was sexually attracted to me, but I was able to shoot down that idea without much effort. First of all, I’d seen Pine humping a couch a few minutes ago. He wasn’t exactly discerning. Also, I was not unexperienced in this field. I had gotten intimate with a couple girlfriends in the past. I knew what lust and desire looked like on a person, and whatever Pine was feeling when he looked at me just then wasn’t it.

Intact males just want to dominate and feel powerful, James had told me. I relaxed a little. Most likely he just got in the mood and saw me as a warm body in the room, something he could dominate.

After my pulse slowed down a little bit, I became aware of a noise coming from directly behind me. Pine was scratching the door with his nails. I’d only heard that sound once before and it was on the other side of that door the first night he was here.

I thought about how violent my reaction was, how I cried out and flung him halfway across the room. I got to my feet. Before I would leave and let him finish his business, I wanted to make sure he wasn’t hurt.

The instant I opened the bedroom door, Pine lowered his hands and took a step back. His head was down so I couldn’t see his face, but his posture and body language told me he was upset. Gently, I grabbed his chin and raised his head so I could look at him. What I saw made my heart shatter.

Pine had the most anguished, horrified look I had ever seen on anyone. He looked more sad and scared than I even thought possible. Just looking at him made me want to cry myself.

Pine wasn’t very expressive. Usually it wasn’t easy to look at his face and tell what he was feeling, but at that one moment he was wearing his heart on his sleeve and I could tell exactly what he was thinking.

He thought that he had gone too far with me. When he pinned me down a few minutes ago he had been acting purely on instinct, but my reaction was a harsh reminder of reality. He was terrified that I hated him now or was even scared of him.

On his face I noticed something shine in the light. I looked closer and saw that he was crying.

I like to think that normally, I’m a pretty logical person. When things get intense, I may panic and fret, but always try to act rationally. Seeing Pine cry made all rationality leave my body in an instant. Looking back, I know that what I did next was unnecessary, but at the time, all I could focus on, all I could think about, the only reason for my life’s existence, was getting that look off his face.

I did the only thing I could think of. I got back on the bed.

For a few horrifying, heartbreaking moments, Pine didn’t do anything. He just stood there, looking completely broken. Then he got the message and sat on the bed next to me.

He got on top of me again, except this time he was more hesitant and gentle. Only after he started moving against me, undulating his body, did my panic subside enough for me to actually think about what I had just agreed to.

I couldn’t say that I was too thrilled about the prospect, but at that point I figured that my feelings on the matter were irrelevant. He was fully in motion, further along than he was when I had pushed him off the last time. Pine looked so haunted when he thought that he had hurt me. If I panicked, if I pushed him away again, there was a chance that I would lose him completely.

I raised my head to look at him and saw that hunger creep back into his eyes. I won’t deny that it made me nervous, but at that moment I steeled my will. Pine had thought he crossed a line with me. If this would prove to him that that line didn’t exist, so be it. I took a deep breath before I lay my head back down and let him use me.

Pine got bolder, more forward when he started forming a clearer idea of what it was he wanted. He kept grinding against me but started pulling off my clothes while he was doing it. That wasn’t necessary for what he ended up doing, but I let him follow his instincts. When I was bare, he began moving in earnest.

It wasn’t long before Pine was completely down for the count. He had no idea what he was doing; nothing he did to me was any fancier than what he had done to the couch, but he was so wet behind the ears that it didn’t matter. Within ten minutes, he had been squeezed and drained and wrung out until there was absolutely nothing left.

When it was all over his body gave out and he collapsed on top of me, panting in exhaustion. His sweaty chest was against mine and I could feel his heart frantically pounding against his rib cage. I just lay there, patiently waiting for his body to climb back down.

Eventually his heart rate slowed enough that I could check and see if he was okay. I nudged him and he raised his head up to look at me blearily. I saw in his face that he was back to normal. All the hunger had left his eyes and was replaced with simple tiredness.

He was at the perfect height for it, so I kissed his forehead. He responded by lightly nuzzling the hollow of my throat. They were simple gestures of affection we had done hundreds of times, but the exchange made me warm and happy in a way I hadn’t felt in days.

I rolled him off of my body so he could lay down on the bed next to me. He was snoring within seconds, and I felt fatigue flood myself as well. The week had been a stressful one. I hadn’t been sleeping much, only getting a few hours of rest the night before. Besides, I was so used to having Pine with me when I slept that seeing him on the bed next to me had a sort of Pavlov’s-dogs effect. My body told me in no uncertain terms that it was time to sleep.

It was the middle of the day. The lights were on and I was on top of two layers of sweaty bedsheets, but within moments I had drifted off, falling into a deep, dreamless slumber.

 

I woke up slowly, gradually, sensations fading in bit by bit. The first thing I remember doing was looking at the window. The natural light coming through between the blinds told me that it was likely afternoon, which meant we had been out for a few hours.

The next thing I remember is noticing in surprise that Pine and I were in the standard spooning position, even though we hadn’t fallen asleep that way. I wanted to laugh. I guess it was just a habit at that point.

Part of me, a big part of me, wanted to stay, to remain on the bed with Pine in my arms for as long as possible. However, the rational, logical part of me, the part I was so quick to ignore earlier, told me that we had been in a stupor long enough.

I got out of bed and stood up. I then grabbed Pine’s wrist and pulled until he was standing in front of me, yawning and rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

I looked at him and looked behind him at the bed, which told the whole story. I sighed before leading Pine to the bathroom. I turned the water on hot, warmer than when I usually bathed Pine. I told him to stay before I got back to our room and scooped up all the bedding. It wasn’t until after I had walked to the laundry room, put the sheets in the wash, and walked back to the bathroom that I realized with a start that we were both naked.

Pine’s nudity I was used to; I saw it all the time, but before then I took steps to never expose myself to him completely. Whatever purpose that modesty had served, it seemed to no longer have any point to it. I just shrugged and got us in the shower.

After letting the water wash over both of us for a bit I got Pine soaped up. I didn’t use a washcloth and instead used my hands so I could feel when he was clean. After his hair was washed, I patted him on the back and sent him to towel himself off so I could finish up on my own.

Once I was clean and felt more like myself again, I turned off the water and dried myself. It wasn’t until after we had both gotten dressed that I was hit with a powerful wave of hunger. All of a sudden, I felt like I hadn’t eaten in days. I looked at Pine. He was horrible at letting me know when he needed something, but if I was famished he had to be even worse.

I went out and came back a few minutes later with enough burgers and fries to feed at least six people. We both feasted; it was a rare occasion when I ate just as hungrily as he did. In no time at all the food was gone and we were wallowing in satisfaction.

It was then that it occurred to me that what we had just done was sort of like the morning after. It didn’t feel like it, though, and that had little to do with what time of day it was.

I fixed my gaze on Pine, who was sitting and playing with his hair like he would any other day. There was nothing romantic or emotional about what had happened in his eyes. To Pine it was completely physical, an itch that I helped him scratch. Because of that he had no reason for it to color his perception of me. He went right back to treating me with the same affection he always did.

I was happy about that. I liked what we had going and didn’t want it to change. I was glad Pine saw it the same way.

The rest of the evening was quiet. I did laundry and read a book while Pine sculpted something. After a bit I walked over to check in on him.

I could tell that he was sculpting a bed with two people in it. When I got closer I saw that it was our bed and the two people were us. We were just sleeping, spooning like we always did. I looked at Pine to see him grinning. It wasn’t that little half smile he’d had before. It was full on and it was wonderful.

I came at him so fast that I managed to catch him off-guard. I assaulted him with a barrage of scratching and kissing that had us on the floor. When we were rolling around, Pine made a noise that gave me pause. It was quiet and extremely brief, but the sound was unmistakable.

Pine had let out a little laugh.

I tried to make him do it again. I scratched his favorite spot on his back until his eyes rolled back into his head, but to no avail. Oh, well. I had heard it once and figured that was enough for the time being. I looked at him, and he was panting and sated from all the contact. I realized then how much I had missed showing affection to Pine. I had gone almost week without it. I sat him up and held his chin so I could look in his eyes.

“I love you.”

A few seconds later I realized that that was the first time I’d ever said those words aloud to him. I’m sure I’d felt that way for a while but I hadn’t felt the need to verbalize it before then.

I enjoyed how saying that made me feel. I liked the way those words tasted. I said them again.

“I love you.” I kissed the tip of his nose.

“I love you.” I kissed his cheek.

“I love you.” I cupped his face, kissed his forehead, and pulled him close to me. He nuzzled my ear.

I could have died right then and there with absolutely no regrets. At that moment, everything in my world was perfect.

It was late when we went to bed that night. I lay there with Pine in my arms and wondered what I had done to deserve so much happiness. My eyes were closed and I let my other senses explore. I could hear him breathing lightly. I smelled the shampoo in his hair. Most of all I just felt Pine’s warmth.

It wasn’t lost on me just how strange the relationship we had was. I didn’t think anyone would understand it and I didn’t expect them to. Even so I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t give it up for anything.

For the first time in days I fell asleep with no worries clouding my mind.

 

IX

It was my hunger that woke me up. When I checked my phone, I was shocked to see that it was 3 PM. Even considering that we went to sleep late, that would mean we had slept for about fourteen hours. Damn. I guess the events had tired us out more than I had thought.

I got Pine up and fed him what would normally be lunch. I was on my laptop a few hours later and looked at the date. I thought back and realized that tomorrow would be one month to the day since I had found Pine up in the mountains.

I didn’t know Pine’s date of birth. Odds were I never would, but I see that day as something really special. I think I’ve grown to regard that date as the equivalent of his birthday. It had been a month, but considering how eventful that month had been, I wanted to do something. Not to mention, I’d finally gotten Pine back. He was right back to his old self now that his hormones stopped taking over. I knew that he would appreciate anything I did, but I wanted to make it special anyway. It’s likely that the reason for that was it would at least make me happy.

I made a few calls that evening. The first one was to James.

He skipped the greetings. “How’s Pine?”

“He’s going to be okay.”

I could tell that James wanted to press further and ask more questions, but thankfully he didn’t. As much as I liked James, I was perfectly happy to keep the previous day’s events to myself.

I told him that I wanted to do some things alone the next day and didn’t want to leave Pine all by himself. I asked him if he would take Pine to the dog park with Flag and Comet. He said he’d love to.

I made a few other calls and set up an appointment the following afternoon. I had my work cut out for me.

The next day I set an alarm, just in case, but we both awoke at a reasonable hour. At around 10:00, James arrived with his dogs. Before Pine could barrel towards Comet at full speed, I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him to face me.

“Listen, Pine. You’re gonna go to the dog park without me today. Have fun but do what James says and behave yourself.” Pine still had very little ability to understand words, but he seemed to pick up on tones okay. I think he got the message.

After Pine had left I went to my car and got started on the errands I had to complete before evening. I returned an hour later to an empty house.

I wanted to make Pine’s favorite food for dinner, but it was kind of hard to tell what his favorite food was because I had never seen him reject anything. Even so, I decided that out of all the things I’d made, Pine had the best reaction to the spaghetti with meat sauce.

Every so often I’d make a big batch of meat sauce, enough so that I would have leftovers. It was back during that first week that I had heated up some of a previous batch and gave it to him. It was the only food where I actually got the impression that Pine was tasting it instead of just stuffing it in his mouth as quickly as possible. He also liked the smell a lot.

The sauce is very time consuming to make, but most of the time is spent leaving it on low heat and letting it simmer. After I had finished all my prep work and put it in the fridge, I set out to finish my to-do list for the day. I had already told James to just take Pine back to his place when he was done at the dog park, let him and Comet have all the fun they wanted, and I’d call James when I got back home so he could drop off Pine.

I’m glad I had planned that, because the two stops I took had me out for almost four hours. When I got back I put the ingredients into a big pot and turned on the heat. When James came back with Pine I thanked him.

“It’s no trouble at all. Pine’s a lot of fun. I’m starting to think that Comet sees him as her boyfriend, though.”

I laughed, and a thought occurred to me. “Hey, wanna come over for dinner later? There’s more than enough food.”

He grinned. “If you’re serving up whatever it is I’m smelling right now, sure.”

I told him to come back at 6 PM.

After James left, I went to the kitchen to stir the pot. I saw that Pine was hovering near the burner, deeply drinking in the scent of the sauce cooking. He seemed to enjoy it almost as much as he liked that candle he was named after.

The time leading up to dinner was peaceful. I gave the two of us a shower but we both spent a majority of the time relaxing. Pine was on the kitchen floor, right next to the pot bubbling on the stove. I prepared a big pot of spaghetti and heated up some bread. By the time James arrived the stage had been set.

Before I started dinner, in my head I thanked God for bringing Pine into my life. Maybe it was coincidence that I had found Pine, but I think we had met for a reason.

I served both me and Pine before scooting my chair over next to his. I grabbed a bite from his plate with a fork and fed it to him. I then ate some from my plate. I repeated the two actions until both plates were empty. Afterwards I realized that I had invited James for dinner and spent the first ten minutes of the meal ignoring him. When I turned to him I saw that he was smirking.

“What’s that look for?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just thinking about how adorable you two are, like a mother feeding a baby.”

I glared at him and he laughed. I gave Pine a piece of bread to nibble on and turned so I could talk to James properly.

He grabbed some bread of his own and used it to mop up the sauce on his plate.

“I have to say, Zach, I understand why he likes this stuff so much. You’re a pretty good cook.”

I snorted. “Yeah, I wish. I still can’t get this sauce right, and I’ve been trying for years.”

His mouth was full of bread, so he just looked at me quizzically.

“This is just my attempt to recreate the sauce my mom makes. She says she doesn’t use a recipe and I’ve seen her make it so many times, but I can’t replicate it.”

He swallowed. “Well, if it’s even better than this I’ll have to try it someday.” He glanced at Pine, then back to me. “And if she’s even half the mom you are to Pine, you’re a lucky man.”

I decided to take that as a compliment but kept up appearances by giving him the stink-eye again.

His expression became more solemn. “All joking aside, you’re, like, weirdly good with him.”

“Well, I’ve had some help along the way.”

He laughed sarcastically. “Hardly. It’s easy to imagine Pine as just a dog in the body of a human, but there’s more to it than that. There’s some nuance to him that you need to learn with time and you met that challenge like a champ.”

I winced at the compliment. “I’m just playing it by ear. In all honesty, I don’t think I deserve him.”

He leaned forward, his face the most serious I’d ever seen it.

“Zach, you’re gonna need to stop with the self-deprecation. It’s annoying and not true.”

My face burned, and I knew I was turning red.

He smiled and got back to his playful nature. “You’re a good guy, really. You just think too much.”

I swallowed, trying to fend off the embarrassment. I turned to Pine, who was done with his bread. I had two more things to give to him and now seemed like an appropriate time. I got up and asked James to keep Pine busy for a few minutes. I came back after a brief moment with two items. I got Pine’s attention and looked him square in the eye.

“Pine, you probably don’t care about this, but I found you up in the woods exactly one month ago. You’ve been a blessing in my life since then and I wanted to thank you for that.”

I gave him the first item, which was a crucifix necklace. It was the same one I would wear in my teenage years, so it had sentimental value to me. It just had one change: the word PINE was now engraved on it.

James whistled. “Is that why you were for gone so long today?”

I nodded. “I’ve got a coworker named Mitch who’s pretty crafty. He helped me out.”

Mitch was in the same department as I was, and we were closer to what one would call “friends” than I was with most of my other coworkers. He was always interested in crafting and making new things. I had called him up yesterday and asked him to help me engrave a necklace. He invited me over to his house and we spent a couple hours in his garage figuring it out. I could tell that Mitch didn’t see it as an inconvenience. He was just interested in the challenge. He hadn’t even asked me what the necklace was for.

I put the necklace on Pine and smiled. It was a happy moment, at least until James interjected.

“You do realize that you basically just gave him a collar, right?”

That had legitimately never crossed my mind. I felt myself turn red again and James burst out laughing.

I smiled sheepishly, trying to push down the discomfort. I gave Pine the second gift, which was a set of simple sculpting tools. I thought that I would have to demonstrate to Pine what they were for, but he got a gleam in his eye when he held one in his hand. He got up and carried them all to his spot on the counter and started trying the tools against the clay.

James rose. “Well, I think it’s time for me to take my leave.” We said our goodbyes and he left.

I walked over to Pine, seeing him wearing the necklace and using the tools. Contentment filled me.

I got the candle, lit it and set it down next to him before leaving him to his work.

 

The first half of October was tumultuous, but the second half was peaceful. Pine was enjoying his gifts. I’ll fully admit that the necklace was mostly for me and not for him. I even tried my best to prepare myself for him not wanting to wear it, but to my surprise he almost never took it off.

I think he wore it because that meant he would always have something to put in his hands. It became one of his playthings, like his hair or my entire body. He even wore it to bed, and I’d have to take it off myself before he had a shower. He seemed to love it, and I’d like to think that that was at least partly because it was a gift from me.

He had much more utility from the sculpting tools I’d given him, though. Back when he was using only his hands, there wasn’t much detail he could make, but with the tools he could make very fine textures. It also meant that he wouldn’t get his hands as dirty, which was definitely a plus from my point of view.

What’s funny is that when I bought the tools, I didn’t know what most of them were for. There were wire loops and rakes and pieces of wood and so many other things. I just bought it because I assumed that Pine would be able to figure it out, and I was right. As a sculptor he was self-taught and a quick learner.

He also got deeply into his work. The first night he had the tools, I had to drag him away from them so he could go to bed. I’m sure that if I hadn’t done that he would have stayed there until he passed out in his chair. He could sit there sculpting with that candle burning next to him for hours.

He started getting really good, improving his technique and making things that matched reality. One time he made Comet’s head and it matched so well that it was actually sort of creepy. The texture was right and the shape was spot on. The only thing that looked wrong were the eyes, which were the right shape but looked dead without any pupils on them. Still, it was a really close match, and James agreed when I sent him a picture of it.

The main thing I remember when I look back to the last part of October was the weather starting to cool. I had noticed that Pine seemed to get cold easily but that wasn’t something I could fully appreciate until the temperature started dipping down. He hated the cold with a passion.

On those mornings where the temperature got down to the thirties he would flat-out refuse to get out of bed. He would just lay there, curled up into a ball with the blankets wrapped around him until I had to drag him out of bed. He actually got into the habit of carrying the bedding around with him, just walking around the house with a blanket around himself. He looked kind of pathetic. In order to avoid cranking up my heating bill, I bought him a thick blue anorak, something that would be overkill for literally anyone else. Thankfully he could actually function normally around the house, and even go outside occasionally while he was wearing it.

The fireplace became his favorite thing in the house at that time. Once I’d get a blaze going, he’d be laying in front of it, so happy he looked like he would melt down into the carpet. That fireplace also worked as a powerful sedative for Pine. Nearly every night I had a fire going, by the end of it I’d find him passed out in front of the hearth, and when I say passed out I mean out cold. I’d taken to just slinging him over my shoulder and carrying him to our bed. He’d be so far gone he wouldn’t even notice.

As dramatic as he tended to be about the cold, his reaction never made sense to me. That was because no matter how cold he acted like he was, his entire body would always be warm to the touch. That was something that I exploited shamelessly. He was a godsend at night. I’d push my body against his and go to sleep nice and warm. I owned an electric blanket that I had used prior to meeting Pine and it went unused for that entire fall and winter.

It wasn’t just that, though. Unlike Pine’s, when my body got cold, it stayed cold. Instead of bundling up, though, I’d taken to just using Pine’s body to warm my own. We did an awful lot of cuddling. Actually, scratch that, cuddling isn’t the right word for it; I used Pine as a heating pad, but he didn’t mind.

Both Pine and I were indoor people, so the cold didn’t change our lifestyles much. The rest of October was pretty quiet.

That Halloween I did something that I still think is genius and refuse to apologize for. I went to one of the pop-up Halloween stores and bought a simple, two-piece costume: dog ears and a matching tail. They looked like they belonged to a wolf or a husky. After an early dinner on the 31^st, I attached the ears to Pine and clipped the tail to his belt, on the side so it would be visible from the front.

The entire evening the two of us just sat next to each other on the porch. I’d scratch him and let him touch and nuzzle me like normal, even when I was giving out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Several of the kids would ask who Pine was, or what his costume was supposed to be, and I would always respond the same way.

“He’s just my dog.”

The children thought it was delightful and some of them even petted Pine, which he absolutely loved. Most of the parents that were walking with them weren’t as enchanted. I’d been living in that neighborhood for two years, after I moved out of my first apartment in West Virginia. Most of my neighbors knew me by sight but didn’t really talk with me, which I wasn’t unhappy about. I also knew that some of my closer neighbors were aware that a younger man had been living in my house with me for a while at that point, but they didn’t know what our relationship was. I knew what I would have guessed if I were in their shoes.

Because of that, most of the adults didn’t know what to make of the display. Some of them gave us strange looks. Not enough that I thought they’d do anything, but definitely enough for me to find it hilarious. Normally I would be the one feeling uncomfortable during interactions, but it was fun to be on the other side of that, if for only one night.

I was genuinely disappointed when the deluge of visitors slowed to a trickle. After things had been quiet for a while, I left the bowl of candy on my porch just in case and got us both inside.

 

X

It was on the first Saturday in November that an intense storm hit my area, likely the last time before the rain was replaced with snow. Before that Pine didn’t have much experience with rain. I was curious to see what his reaction to thunder and lightning would be. James told me that most dogs didn’t handle sounds like fireworks and thunder very well. Pine was pretty calm most of the time, but I knew from his nightmares that he had some demons. Thankfully his reaction to close thunder was pretty mild. He’d jump a little bit and get startled, but he didn’t freak out like when he had a night terror.

The storm was a decent one though. It never made the power go out, but there was strong wind and the rain came down in sheets. It also made me realize that it had been almost a full year since I’d last cleaned out my gutters. As unappealing as it was, I knew I had to do it. I didn’t technically own the house, I was renting it, and I didn’t want there to be any water damage.

The next afternoon I set out to do it and just get it over with. Pine followed me out and watched what I was doing at first, but after a few minutes he got bored and cold enough to go back inside.

I had been up there for a while and was cleaning out the gutters at the back of the house when I needed to climb back down to get something. My shoes were wet, the ladder was metal and I wasn’t paying attention. When I took my first step on it, it was like the ladder fell away and I slipped.

I don’t remember falling, the very next sensation I was aware of was feeling like somebody had hit my left arm with a baseball bat. Almost the instant after I felt my head hit the ground hard.

It’s kind of hard to describe what happened next. I didn’t feel too much pain, and I didn’t lose consciousness, at least not for long. After what felt like only a few seconds of black I was in gray instead. I’m pretty sure I was semiconscious, but I wasn’t really able to get up or do much. I remember a few sensations from that period of time. I remember looking up at the sky. I remember hearing the birds. I remember feeling a strange sensation on my thigh, but nothing was continuous. Things faded in and out of the fog. I was only vaguely aware of what was happening until I heard the screaming.

I could tell that it was Pine screaming. It was an intense sound. All I wanted to do was go to Pine and help him calm down, but I was barely aware of where I was, let alone where he would be. I recall walking somewhere when it was happening, but after that it felt more like I was being carried away.

It felt like it only took a little while for me to regain my senses. When I fully came to I was in a hospital. I was walking through it, but I was being helped by someone, a man I didn’t know. I asked what was going on and he said my arm was broken. I was led to a hospital bed and was laid down on it. There were exams and x-rays, and the doctor told me that I had fractured my humerus and sustained a light concussion. I didn’t need a cast, they gave me a brace and a sling that attached to my neck so that less weight was put on the bone. I was in some pain, but nothing unbearable. Mostly I was just confused.

From the moment I was coherent I wondered how I had gotten to the hospital. I asked the doctor and he said that an ambulance was called to my house by James Velasquez. I wasn’t sure how James could have even known about my injury. I had fallen in my backyard and he was about a mile away as the crow flies. I decided to save those questions for James, though.

It wasn’t long before I was allowed visitors. The first one I saw was Pine. I thought he was jumping in the air for a split second before I saw James behind him, wrapping his arms around Pine to hold him back. Pine was putting up quite the struggle. His arms were pinned to his sides but his legs were kicking frantically. He was losing his mind from the looks of it.

I had no time to ask James anything. He left the room so we could be alone and I spent the next ten minutes trying to calm down Pine. My hospital bed was raised up so I was in a sitting position and I used my right hand to reach out to him. Pine was crying more than I had ever seen from him before.

He cried very strangely. He didn’t wail, didn’t sob or whimper. He didn’t even breathe all that heavily. He was tightly controlling his breathing as well as trying to keep still, and I could see how much tension that put on his muscles. There were only two things that indicated he was crying. The first one was the tears, which came out of his eyes like water from a faucet. The second was the shuddering. It was so strong it would sometimes vibrate his whole entire body. Pine made crying look physically painful. It reminded me of the panic attacks he would have at night, like he was trying as hard as he could to be quiet.

Looking at him, I could tell that he must have been at it for quite a while. His eyes were red and puffy. His hair was messed up, like he’d been balling it up with his fists over and over. He had red, blotchy patches on his face and neck. He just sat there, crying his eyes out, not bothering to wipe anything leaking out of his eyes, nose, or mouth.

Over and over again, I felt my heart break. What I hated more than anything else was that I was the one who did this to him. I was careless and was paying the price for it. I had made Pine cry. Again. All I wanted was to hold him in my arms, but I couldn’t. I just stroked his cheek and repeated the same phrases over and over. It’s okay. I love you. I’m sorry.

Eventually, after a hellish nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, Pine regained his composure. He proceeded to hold my hand with both of his and rub it against his face like he was a cat. I called out to James that he could come in and he walked through the door.

“What happened? How did you know I broke my arm?”

He smiled weakly. “It was all Pine’s doing.”

I raised my eyebrows and he explained.

“I was just at my home, minding my own business, when I heard pounding at the front door. I unlocked and opened it to see Pine. He was sweating, panting, and freaking out.”

My jaw dropped. “He ran to your house?”

He nodded. “Yep. And from the looks of it, he didn’t pace himself, either.”

I looked over at Pine in disbelief. We had driven over to James’ multiple times before this, but I never thought he was paying attention to the route we were taking, let alone enough to remember it. He also apparently ran the whole time. It was probably about a mile and a half altogether. He must have heard, seen, or sensed my fall and went out to check on me. I’m assuming he came out right after it happened and I was still unconscious, so he panicked when I was unresponsive. I guess that James was the only other person Pine could turn to.

I was stunned. Often Pine would surprise me by showing off his animalistic side, but all of those actions were remarkably, unmistakably human.

James continued. “I had no idea what was going on, but I figured that only one thing would have put him in that state, so I got him in my car and drove to your house. When I saw you, I called for an ambulance.”

He paused for a second to take a deep breath.

“You weren’t unconscious, but you weren’t coherent, either. I kept trying to talk to you, but you wouldn’t respond. When the paramedics came, one of them helped you up and you walked with them to the ambulance. I had to keep Pine from running after you and he screamed like he was being boiled alive.”

That was what I had heard back there. Pine really was crying out like I’d heard.

“I almost couldn’t hold Pine back,” James said. “I had to hold him down so hard I found these later.”

He walked over and lifted Pine’s shirt. There were bruises on his sides. James apologized and I told him that he didn’t need to.

“I drove him to the hospital with me. He started crying an hour ago.”

I winced. “I’m really sorry.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. I’m just happy that you’re gonna be okay.”

I looked over at Pine again. He now only held my hand with one of his own. The other one was clutching his necklace like it was a rosary. I felt myself choke up but pushed down the tears as best as I could before I turned back to James.

“Thank you so much for all you did today. I’m really thankful to have you as a friend.”

He nodded sagely.

“I’m sorry to say this, but can you leave the room for a bit? I’ll meet you out there in a minute, I just want to talk to Pine alone first.”

He nodded again. “Take your time,” he said, before leaving.

I turned to Pine. I felt myself tear up again, but I desperately pushed the feelings back down.

“Pine?”

He looked at me with those piercing eyes of his.

I knew he didn’t understand words, so I put everything I could into my tone.

“You’ve had a rotten day. That’s my fault, and I’m sorry about that. But I want you to know something.”

I grabbed him and pulled him closer.

“I’m not going anywhere. There’s no need to worry. I’ll keep coming back for you. Every single time. No matter what I have to do to get to you, no matter what it takes, I will always come back, because I love you, Pine. Don’t ever forget that.”

I felt a few tears by the time I was finished. I knew that I’d done my job right when Pine smiled and nodded at me, but then I wondered if I’d done my job too well when he started crying again.

I cursed under my breath. “No, Pine, please, don’t cry…” I scooted over, a bit of pain flaring up in my arm. I patted the spot on the bed next to me.

“Come here.”

He crawled onto the bed barely big enough for one person and I grabbed his head with my free hand. I pulled him close and put him right against my chest, his ear near my heart. He calmed down after a few minutes.

I signed myself out of the hospital soon after and rode home in James’ car. Since I got up from my bed Pine refused to let go of me. He didn’t let go of my right arm, even when I needed to use my hand to do things. James thought it was hysterical.

On the way home, I pulled out my cell phone. I winced when I saw that I had several texts, missed calls, and voicemails, all from my mother’s phone. They were all sent out around the same time. I suddenly remembered the odd sensation on my thigh I had felt when I was out and was treated to the mental image of myself laying on the grass, barely conscious as my phone was blowing up in my pocket. Without looking at any of them I called her. I started talking the instant I heard her pick up.

“Mom, I’m fine.”

“What happened to you?”

Mom had done stuff like this a few times before, been able to sense when something bad happened to me. I had asked her about it in the past and she says she just gets feelings sometimes. I had heard a theory that all mothers form a sort of sixth sense involving their children, and I had no trouble believing that that was true.

“I fell off my roof and broke my arm, but I’ll be fine. Doc says it will heal in about a month.”

“Gimme a second, sweetie, I’m getting your father.”

A few moments later they were both on speakerphone and I gave them the abbreviated story. I left out the part involving Pine and said one of my neighbors saw me and called 911.

By the time I was done we had arrived at my house. I told them to hold on for a minute as I said goodbye to James and walked in with Pine still latched onto me. Once I was sitting down I spent the next ten minutes answering questions, mostly from Mom. She’s a worrier like me, though not nearly as bad. Even still, she always had my well-being on her mind.

I felt guilty for most of the phone call. I realized that I hadn’t called or texted either of my parents in a while. I had been so occupied with Pine that I forgot about it. I felt bad because I had usually made it a point to keep up communications with them since I’d moved out.

I was an only child and spent much of my childhood without friends my age, so for much of my life they were the only ones I would have to turn to. We had our disagreements, arguments, and even fights, but I never doubted how much they loved me and cared about me. When I went to college I had met so many people who didn’t have good relationships with their parents They became estranged or just drifted apart. I had realized then that I was lucky to have the bond with them that I had and vowed not to take it for granted.

I continued answering their questions. Most of them were standard until my Dad asked one that gave me pause.

“Will you still be able to come home for Thanksgiving?”

I would always drive down to my childhood home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I never thought that the broken arm would keep me, but I did have Pine living with me now.

I turned and looked at him, holding me like I was his most prized possession. He had completely worn himself out that day. I knew how much he loved me, but the day’s events made me worried that he was psychologically dependent on me, like I was his whole world. I remembered his screams of pure agony when he saw his whole world being carried away in an ambulance.

I wanted Pine to get more used to the idea of me being gone, knowing I would always come back. It would make it so that he wouldn’t tear himself apart whenever something happened to me. I figured that having him spend a few days without me there would help with that. Besides, given how clingy Pine had been ever since I left the hospital, I had a feeling that I would need a break from him soon enough.

“Zach?” I was interrupted from my thoughts by my father’s voice.

“What? Oh, sorry, Dad. I spaced out for a second there. Yes, I will absolutely be coming for Thanksgiving.”

I suspected that they knew I was thinking about something in particular, but they didn’t press the issue. After we talked for a few more minutes we said our goodbyes. I made sure to tell them both that I loved them before I hung up.

The next call I made was to James.

“Did you break your other arm?” he asked jokingly.

I rolled my eyes. “Ha-ha. No, I called to ask about something. I’m going home for Thanksgiving and I’ll be out of town for a few days. I was wondering if Pine could stay with you then.”

“That’d be fine. I don’t have any plans for Thanksgiving.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Thanks. You’re a life-saver.”

“No, it’ll be fun. I’ll talk to you later.”

I said goodbye and hung up.

I slumped back into my chair and looked at Pine. He looked so happy, so content just being in my presence. That day I had found out just what lengths Pine would go to for me. I didn’t feel like I had earned so much commitment and affection. I wasn’t anything special. I was just me.

Still, I was the one Pine had imprinted himself on. I couldn’t change that fact even if I wanted to, so I needed to do what I could to make it up to him. I pulled him closer so I could kiss his forehead and tell him that I loved him.

Afterwards, I pulled out my phone so I could order some pizza. I didn’t want to cook anything and felt I had an excuse to indulge, as long as Pine could do it with me.

 

XI

The healing process wasn’t painful, just a little inconvenient. I’m right handed, so I wasn’t too limited by the brace, though I had never realized just how much I used my left hand as well. I was told to spend as much time as possible with the collar and cuff and to only take off the brace when I needed to shower. Whenever I did I would look at the gigantic bruise around my bicep area, watching it change colors over time.

I spent the first few days relaxing in bed, Pine right next to me. I think on some level he thought that if he let me out of his sight I would go off and injure myself again, because he was near me almost all the time. Ever since we left the hospital, one of the things liked doing was laying his head against my chest so he could hear my heart beating.

Sleeping with the brace on was fine, just awkward. The first night I tried keeping my left arm out of the way and wrapping my right arm around Pine from underneath. That was a terrible mistake; when I woke up my arm was so asleep I couldn’t feel anything. The sensation of only having about one half of an arm total was a horrifying experience. When I managed to get out of bed I literally slammed my right arm against the wall until I was feeling things in it again. I opted to just lightly lay my braced arm on Pine after that.

Those days were quiet and lethargic. For hours upon hours I’d lay in bed, reading a book or using my laptop. Pine was always by my side, aiding my recovery with his presence.

I returned to work a week later, and things were back to normal for the most part. I’d work and cook, Pine would sculpt, and we settled back into the routine.

It was at about that time when Pine started getting moody again. One of the colder mornings when I tried to pull him out of bed he snapped at me, hitting my hands and snarling. When he went for six hours straight without trying to touch me I knew that it was happening again. Thankfully I had prepared for it, making use of a purchase I had made the previous month.

I had purchased a small sexual aid on the internet, which was one of the most bizarrely uncomfortable experiences I’d had in a while. When it got to my doorstep I hid it away in my dresser and tried to forget about it.

I didn’t even like the idea of having that thing in my house, but I got my money’s worth. Pine wasn’t picky. Whenever his hormones flared up, I would just strip him bare and leave him alone with the item. After thirty minutes or so he’d be completely satisfied, happily passed out on some furniture or even the floor. Pine’s libido never gave me any problems after that.

Our lives continued as normal in the days approaching Thanksgiving, and I prepared for Pine to spend two nights at somebody else’s house. I packed some clothes, his toiletries, and anything else I thought he’d need. I showered him twice beforehand so hopefully James wouldn’t have to do it himself during those three days.

When I dropped Pine off I made it a point to thank James for being so supportive. Unlike me, he had other friends and I knew that he was expending a large amount of his time and energy on me and my problems. He told me not to worry about it, but I could tell that he appreciated it more than he let on.

Before I left I held Pine in my right arm and kissed the tip of his nose. I told him to be good and I would be back soon.

I began the drive down to Alabama. I didn’t make the trip very often, considering how long it took. From start to finish it would take about ten hours, and that was if I didn’t run into traffic.

I didn’t really mind. Like hiking it gave me some time alone with my thoughts. The day I had found Pine was during one of the last times of the year before it got too cold for me to hike, so I hadn’t had some me-time in quite a while.

One of the things I thought about during that time was whether I was doing the right thing by keeping Pine and not filing a police report about it. I knew that Pine was happy with me, but I wasn’t sure if I was doing what was best for him. While slim, the chance was there that he had a happier life with somebody else before I had come into the picture. That person might be out there, not knowing if Pine was alive or dead.

I’m ashamed to admit that I pushed down that thought. As selfish as it was, I didn’t want that to be true. I didn’t like the thought of Pine loving somebody else more than he loved me. I also knew that if that situation occurred, I would lose Pine. I did what I could to shove the idea away. It’s likely not the case anyway, I told myself. I shouldn’t worry so much about it.

One thing I resolved to do was tell my Mom and Dad about Pine when I was visiting them. I couldn’t really say why I felt the need to keep it from them, but I had to come clean about it sooner or later. I knew I didn’t have much willpower, but I promised myself up and down that I would tell them before I left.

I was glad when I arrived and was able to escape all the things I had lodged in my head. I got a warm welcome when I got to my childhood house and felt at home in no time.

Southern parents have a reputation for being very firm but also powerfully nurturing and loving towards their children. It’s not really a common practice anymore, but when I was growing up spanking was something almost all parents did to keep their children in line. I had some friends whose mothers hit them with a wooden spoon whenever they did or said something stupid. I could see why many parents didn’t like the idea, but some families just worked in different ways. I personally didn’t get any physical corrections from my parents, but tough love was a practice they used without reservation.

My parents were hard on me growing up, always keeping on my back and making sure I didn’t get complacent or lazy. It drove me nuts at the time but looking back I knew they did it because they loved me and wanted to see me successful. Once I grew up they chilled a bit and I started to see them as friends as well as parents.

Mom is the sweetest and also toughest person I knew. I was taller than her by the time I was fifteen, but even when I had six inches on her she could still tower over me when she wanted to. I was her only child, so she always took the time to show me how much I meant to her. I realized later that a lot of the tricks I would use on Pine, grabbing his face, kissing his forehead, letting him hear my heartbeat, were all things my mom would do to make me feel special when I was little.

My father was more indirect, quieter and more reserved. He was a huge man, six-five and bulky. If he got angry he would be terrifying, but I could count the number of times I’d ever seen him lose his temper on one hand. Mostly he was like a big teddy bear. He was soft-spoken and preferred to let his presence do the talking for him. He wasn’t as hands-on with his affection as Mom was, but when I was a child and he had me in his arms, I’d feel like he could protect me from anything.

I outgrew the need to be held and nurtured eventually, but they showed their love to me in other ways during my adolescence. During those years I was a bit of a crybaby, but they were always there to offer comfort without judgement.

When I got back we spent most of that Wednesday evening catching up. I didn’t have much to report. Most of my life for the past few months had revolved around Pine, and despite my conviction in the car I still shied away from breaching that subject. I was feeling really comfortable and I didn’t want to do anything to ruin that.

It wasn’t until Thanksgiving dinner that I allowed myself to think about it again. The problem was the more I thought about it the more nervous I became. I came to the same realization I came to when I was getting ready to tell James about Pine; that there was no way to explain the situation in a way that didn’t sound strange at best and unsettling at worst. Because of this I decided to use the same strategy I had used on James. I was happy to do it because it also meant that I could postpone coming completely clean with them.

“Mom, Dad?”

They both turned to look at me.

“Yes, sweetie?” Mom asked.

“A couple months ago, I acquired a new housemate. His name is Pine. He’s like a brother to me now, and I was wondering if he could come here with me for Christmas. He doesn’t have any family to go back to.”

Mom smiled, but I could tell that she had concerns.

“You got a housemate? Why are we just hearing about this now?”

I swallowed. “I just...I kept forgetting to tell you, that’s all.”

Mom sighed. “That’s not true, is it?”

I felt my face heat up. It was foolish of me to think I could ever successfully lie to them.

Dad cut in. “If he’s a friend of yours he’s welcome here, it’s just a lot to drop on us at once.”

I took a deep breath and cleared my throat. “Thanks, and I’m sorry about that. It’s just kind of a weird situation. I promise that it’ll be clearer when you get to know him.”

That seemed to be the end of that. They didn’t mention it again for the rest of the day. Normally I’d stay with them for the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I cut my visit short and left Friday morning. I’m grateful they didn’t ask me why.

I had texted James a few times during my visit, just to check in, but I did what I could to not breathe down his neck. When I got home I was still mostly in the dark about how things went.

I didn’t even need to call Pine’s name. Seconds after I walked in he came running. He slowed down when he approached, mindful of my arm. He hugged me from the side and nuzzled me continuously. I ruffled his hair.

“I missed you too, sweetie.” I hadn’t called him that before, but I wanted to try it out after a few days with Mom. It didn’t really have the same ring to it when I said it.

It was the evening, and James made dinner for all of us so he could tell me about Pine’s stay.

“It was just like any other dog-sitting job. He was antsy at the beginning but got more comfortable by the first night. He slept on one couch with Comet and I slept on the other one with Flag nearby.”

I smiled at the image of that.

“There was only one spot of trouble, last night.”

My blood turned to ice as he continued.

“I woke up to Comet whining. She was trying to wake up Pine from one of those night terrors you told me about. Comet handled it, though. He hugged her and she just stayed still the entire time licking his face.”

I tried to steady my breathing. “How long did it take for Pine to calm down?”

He shrugged. “Maybe half an hour. It’s not like I timed it or anything.”

Okay, so Comet had made a difference. That was good. I knew that this would be a good place for Pine to stay, though I wished I could have been there with him.

When we were leaving, James said he’d be happy to look after Pine in the future.

“Just not for Christmas, though. I’m flying to my sister’s place.”

“No, that’s fine. Pine’s coming to Alabama with me for Christmas, anyway.”

James grinned. “Taking him to meet the parents, eh? That’s a big step. You sure you’re ready?”

I returned the smile. “Please shut up,” I told him before leaving.

Author's Note

Be honest.