Smooch awoke in her bed as the warm and welcoming morning sun shone through her window, wondering for a moment if everything that had happened last night could have all been just a wonderful dream. The cornfield, her slow dance with Colby surrounded by lightning bugs, their passionate kiss… everything about it almost seemed too good to be true. But there was no mistaking it; she could still practically taste the flavor of his lips on hers as she recalled every detail of yesterday.
The middle-aged terrier mom held her pillow over her face as she lay under her covers, squealing into it and frantically kicking her legs with glee much more reminiscent of a lovestruck teenager. This was a wonderful feeling to experience again, and she wanted it to last forever. And yet… she still felt a slight pang of guilt in her heart. She knew full well in her heart that Kernel was gone forever, and was never going to come back. And yet, understandably, she still loved her late husband just the same as she ever had. That would never change. While she wasn’t about to just give up on this feeling of love that had come back into her life, she hoped that if Kernel really was watching over her from beyond, that he’d have it in his heart to forgive her.
All she knew was that she didn’t want to lose this, now or ever.
When Smooch entered the hallway, she was greeted with the alluring sounds and smells of brewing coffee and sizzling omelets. She stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, silently watching Colby for a few seconds as he flipped the omelet over in the cast iron pan. Her eyes couldn’t help but wander a bit down the yellow Labrador’s somewhat average but well-toned figure as he stood at the stove, privately taking in the appealing sight of his haunches.
“Good morning, Smooch. Sleep well?” he asked without turning his head, nearly giving the captivated dog a heart-attack. But she played it cool, casually faking a yawn as she entered the kitchen.
“Very well, though I admit it was a bit hard for me to fall asleep at first, given, uh… everythin’ that happened last night,” she bashfully hinted, standing beside him as she started idly doing the dishes.
“Oh, really? What happened last night? I must’ve missed it.” Colby replied, trying - and failing - to hide the smirk on his face as he carefully flipped the omelet in the pan again.
“W-wha-” Smooch’s heart dropped, wondering for a second if maybe she did dream the whole thing after all.
“I’m kidding, Smooch,” Colby chuckled, and was promptly met with a slap on his chest from the flustered terrier. “Last night was… unforgettable.”
“Oh, was it really?” Smooch gave him a coy look as she turned the water off and placed her paws on her hips; if Colby was in the mood for jokes, then two could play at that game. Smooch gave Colby a playful grin. “I dunno, it was alright, I guess. Maybe I need you to refresh my memory a bit.”
He turned to her, leaning down slightly and giving her a slow kiss on her fuzzy blue lips with his paws lifting her up by her jawline in exactly the same way he had done the night before. Her heart fluttered in her chest as their heads tilted and their lips made contact.
“Now I remember,” she hummed happily as their kiss broke, more than ready for another. “Yep, that was unforgettable alright.”
“...NO. WAY.”
Startled, Colby and Smooch turned their heads to find Scooch standing at the kitchen entryway and dropping his stuffed chicken, his jaw practically on the floor.
“Is Colby gonna be my step-dad?!”
“N-now hold yer horses, Scooch, I wouldn’t go around sayin’ that just yet…” Smooch said as she attempted to calm her son, hoping he wouldn’t take it badly.
“But… we are ‘together’, though… r-right?” Colby asked Smooch for clarification, to which she nodded back with a smile. Colby breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to her son and kneeling down to his level. “Listen, I- I hope this doesn’t upset you, Scooch. I’m not trying to-”
“Are you kidding?! This is literally the best day ever! Aaah!” Scooch began excitedly kicking his legs as he spun around in circles where he stood.
“Thanks, little buddy. It’s good to know I have your seal of approval,” Colby chuckled softly, ruffling the spiky tuft of hair on the small blue terrier’s head.
“I can’t wait to tell Tag!” Scooch shouted, running out the door without another word.
“Well I guess now it’s only a matter of time before all of Pawston knows,” Smooch laughed softly, shaking her head.
“Eh, I say let ‘em know.” Colby returned to Smooch, wrapping his paws around her waist and holding her close to him before dipping her back slightly and giving her another enthusiastic kiss. “I’d gladly let the whole world know how good I feel right now!”
Later that day, Colby sat with Smooch on the park bench as he casually watched the adorable puppies and their caring parents happily playing together on the playground. He slowly closed his eyes, looking inwards to his inner self in deep meditation as the green-birds’ songs being carried on the warm spring air met his ears. The birds, the gentle wind blowing through the leafy trees, the joyful laughter of the many happy dogs around him - they were like the soundtrack of life. Of peace. Of safety. And he cherished every second of it.
His paw twitched when it felt Smooch’s paw gently clasp into his, accepting its warmth as his fingers interlocked with hers. There was something surreal about the sensation of her touch, a certain tranquility that he never thought he’d feel again until now.
The yellow Labrador suddenly opened his emerald eyes when he felt a tennis ball roll gently into his foot; as he bent down to pick it up, he was greeted by a playful little blue puppy excitedly wagging her rear end and panting heavily as if expecting him to throw it. Colby looked and looked at the tennis ball in his paw for a few seconds, then back down at the puppy. Then back to the tennis ball.
“I’m thinkin’ this here pup’s wantin’ you to throw it, Colby.”
Something about the ball was… enticing. Captivating, even. With a few blinks and a shake of his head, Colby gently tossed the ball for the little puppy to chase after, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his paws over his mouth as he was suddenly deep in thought.
‘What is happening to me?’ he thought to himself, salivating.
He took out the blue ball he’d gotten yesterday and looked down at it in his paw, slowly raising it up to his mouth. This felt incredibly strange to even think of doing, but it was just too tempting to resist. After some cautious hesitation, he placed it between his teeth and slowly bit down, causing it to let out a high-pitched squeak. His tail wagged, and he bit down again. And again. With each squeak of the ball in his mouth now covered in his saliva, all his troubles seemed to melt away more and more. Colby finally understood. This was what it truly meant to be a dog.
This was heaven.
“Havin’ fun, huh? Mind if I join ya?” Smooch took out the ball he’d given her yesterday and smirked in amusement at Colby’s funny behavior towards his own, as if it were the first time he’d ever even chewed on one in his life.
As their relationship grew over the following weeks, Colby and Smooch both slowly began to learn more and more about each other with each passing day. Colby learned that Smooch could be rather stubborn and dogmatic at times, often stating that because she was a mom that she “knew everything” - and although Smooch insisted she was only kidding around, sometimes Colby still got the impression that Smooch truly believed it herself. At the same time, Smooch learned that Colby had a bad habit of fidgeting and picking at the fur on his tail and often seemed to be nervous about something without a clear reason, frequently looking up at the sky as if it were falling - much like the bedtime story she would often read to her son about a certain paranoid little chicken. He was also relatively quiet at times, always conveniently tiptoeing around the subject of his history whenever it arose in conversation. But despite each of the other’s flaws, neither of them minded much.
While Smooch was on-duty, Colby and her son Scooch would typically make the time to spend some of every day together, and Scooch - as well as his best friend and crush, Tag - would teach Colby about the seemingly-innocuous little things about living in Pawston that still confused him. Scooch showed him just how addicting chewing on a bone could be, rubbing his back on carpets and rugs, and the joys of digging in dirt with his paws. He even started to learn from Tag how to have fun by playing dog games, such as catching a frisbee in his mouth and chasing the green birds all around town. They also went to watch fetchball games at Pawston Stadium together - once they taught Colby what fetchball was.
One sunny Saturday afternoon during the monthly community picnic, nearly every dog in town was enjoying a buffet of burgers, watermelons, and a wide variety of other summertime foods; all except for Tag and Scooch, who were at the farthest corner of the park and having fun working on improving Tag’s race car.
That was, until a small yellow dachshund and a big green sheepdog approached them.
“Do you ever think you’re gonna beat Wind Swiftly, Tag?” Frank, the little dog, teased with a mocking snicker as he rested his paws on one of the tires. “You’ll never be faster than Sam Whippet if you can’t even beat her!”
“Do you ever mind your own business, Frank?” Tag quietly grumbled in annoyance as she tightened a bolt on the engine, trying her best to ignore him.
“I just don’t see what the point is of trying so hard,” Frank continued, the sound of his snide voice only making Tag grip her wrench tighter, “Soon you’ll have so many losses they’ll probably call you ‘Tag the Travesty’.
“Yeah! And Scooch the, uh… um… Scooch the Something!” The dopey green dog added, far too dumb to know what the word ‘travesty’ meant or even realize that Frank was actually trying to insult them.
“Beans, that doesn’t even- you can’t just-” Frank quietly grumbled under his breath, giving up quickly on trying to help Beans understand before turning back to the two. “Ugh, anyway, if you ask me-”
“Hey Scooch, Tag, I brought you both a burger and some lemonade,” Colby interrupted as he approached the younger dogs while carefully balancing a paper plate and a plastic cup in each paw. He glanced over to the other two dogs with a polite smile on his face, particularly the scrawny yellow dog that he recalled having called him a ‘pickle-head’. “You two look kind of familiar, are you their friends?”
“...Uh, yeah. Sure,” Frank nonchalantly backed away, urgently pushing Beans towards the rest of the picnic. “Let’s get outta here, Beans, I’m hungry for some of that potato salad.”
“Alright then, have a nice day!” Colby replied with a friendly tone as they widened the distance between them. “Oh, and by the way…”
Frank looked back at Colby, whose face quickly went from a pleasant smile to an intense scowl.
“...They didn’t ask.”
Needless to say, Frank got the message.
“Thanks, Colby,” Scooch said as the older labrador finally handed them their food and drinks.
“I hope they weren’t picking on you too hard,” Colby looked back at the two as they ran in the opposite direction. “You can always let me know if they’re bothering you again.”
“Frank and Beans aren’t all that bad really, they’re okay sometimes,” Tag replied before taking a drink of the lemonade.
“Yeah, they’re more like a minor annoyance than anything else. Like a tick that gets under your fur,” Scooch added before taking a bite of his burger.
“Well, still… there’s few things I hate more than a bully, and believe me when I say that… I’ve met some of the worst kind.” Colby’s fur on the back of his neck stood up slightly. “So if it ever gets worse… let me know.”
They nodded, and the three stood by her car for a moment as Tag and Scooch both took a big bite of their burgers. Although she was playing it cool, Colby could tell that what Frank said really got to Tag in particular.
“And Tag?”
She swallowed, looking back up at him as she took another quick sip of lemonade.
“You’ll be a great racer someday, even better than this ‘Sam’ guy I keep hearing about. You’re destined for great things. I just know it.’
Tag dropped her cup and plate onto the grass, tears welling up in her eyes as she gave Colby the tightest hug she possibly could. He hesitated for a moment before gently returning her embrace, though it didn’t last long as Colby started to feel a painful headache suddenly swelling up.
“Ah…” He winced as he held his paw to his forehead, stepping dizzily back from the two pups as an intense sensation of vertigo washed over him.
“Are you okay, Colby?” Scooch asked, a slight look of concern on his face as he swallowed the rest of his burger.
“Y-yeah, yeah… just a little headache, that’s all. You two just have fun working on your race car, I’ll go get you another lemonade, Tag.” Colby noted the spilled cup on the ground as he patted their heads before returning back to the picnic, already feeling his headache beginning to fade away.
‘That was… weird…' Colby thought, though with his headache and light-headedness now gone, he simply put it out of his mind.
Several days after, Colby and Smooch were going for a leisurely walk through Pawston together when Colby suddenly turned his head towards a quaint little store with many unique-looking hats displayed in the window. He reached behind his back and pulled out a business card he’d been holding on to for some time, recognizing the fancy signage on it - ‘Lydia’s Lids’.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot I had this. I kinda wanna check it out.” Colby remembered how cool and interesting that poodle’s marble-drop hat was, wondering if he might be able to find an equally interesting hat for himself to wear.
“Sure, let’s go!” Smooch said with a smile as she grabbed his paw and they went inside.
They were greeted by rows upon rows of hats of all shapes, sizes, colors, materials, and even some with their own tastes and smells. Lydia was certainly… imaginative, with all the different varieties of hats she’d apparently invented. One hat was a stack of three blobby goldfish, one of which squirted water out of its mouth. On another shelf was a hat tall enough for a full-sized adult dog to fit inside, and across from it was a gigantic teacup hat with hot, aromatic Earl Grey tea still inside.
“Hello again!” Lady Lydia suddenly appeared behind the two as they browsed the shelves, startling both of them. “Do you like my hats?”
“These are definitely… something.” Colby laughed casually, though a little on-edge by how quietly she had snuck up on him. He was surprised that he hadn’t gotten even a whiff of her strong rose perfume until now; if he didn’t know any better, to him it was almost like she had somehow teleported behind them. “If I’m being honest, these hats are definitely a bit bizarre. But they’re actually pretty cool, in their own way.”
“Honesty is a virtue, indeed. You needn’t worry about me taking any offense if you don’t like this hat or that, I know my hats are not for every dog.” Lady Lydia replied slowly and eloquently with a smile on her face. “But what I do know is that every dog deserves a hat! So go ahead and look around, just let me know if you have any questions or if you want to take a hat home with you!”
“Thanks, I will.” Colby nodded as he turned back to look at the hats displayed on the shelves, each one more strange and perplexing than the last.
“Wow, this place is amazin’,” Smooch whispered once Lady Lydia had left them to browse through more hats. “This is actually the first time I’ve been in here, myself. I’ve already got my police cap though, wearin’ anything else just don’t feel quite natural now.”
“That makes sense. But I think a hat’ll be a nice change of pace for me, it’ll be like my birthday present to myself,” Colby said as he tried on a hat that was its own miniature ecosystem with exotic plants growing inside it.
‘Oh shoot, his birthday is comin’ around soon, ain’t it?’ Smooch thought, silently berating herself for having almost forgotten. ‘Was it June… third? No, the first. I still have some time.’
While making their way through the shelves, Smooch served as Colby’s second-opinion as he tried on nearly anything and everything, a few standing out but ultimately deciding they weren’t suited for him. As much as he loved the marble drop hat, it just didn’t seem practical to ever use - it was too much of a hassle for him to put up with for more than a minute, and it apparently required a lot of skilled balancing on his part just to keep the contraption functioning. One came close, a simple black flat-cap of all things seemed to compliment him better than most of the other more wacky ones he’d tried on. That was, until Colby finally spotted it - a plain dark brown cowboy hat, with no extra fancy doohickeys or thingamabobs attached whatsoever. Colby put it on his head, feeling it slide down comfortably over the curvature of his canine cranium.
“Y’know, I always felt like I had a little ‘country’ in me,” Colby said, tipping it forward slightly to give himself a more authentic Western vibe. “How do I look? Probably pretty ridiculous, huh?”
Smooch blushed a little, secretly thinking that he looked even more attractive with it on than he already did.
“You look rugged and strong, I like it. I really like it. So if you like it too, then I think this might be the one.”
“Heh. Well thank ya kindly, ma’am.” Colby smirked as he did a deepened impression of a smooth-talking cowboy, a slight growl in his voice as he spoke quieter. “Come sundown, I reckon I could learn ya a thing or two about ridin’ more than just horses.”
“C-Colby!” Smooch’s eyes widened and she gasped in a hush, giving his chest a stern but playful slap as she pulled the brim over his eyes to keep him from seeing just how red her face was. “Down, boy!”
“Sorry, sorry,” Colby chuckled as his voice returned to normal, taking the hat off and using it to cover their mouths. “I guess I went a little too far with that joke there, didn’t I? It’s just… we’ve been dating for almost a month now. And staying at your house every night, seeing your face every morning when I wake up, let’s just say… that sleeping bag in the living room is starting to feel a little lonely, if you know what I mean.”
More than anything, Smooch wanted to just give in to her urges and give Colby what he wanted right here in the store. But as hot as he made her feel, it still wasn’t the proper moment. This was a big step to take in any relationship, and shouldn’t ever be taken lightly.
“L-look, Colby… I do want to, believe me. But it… it still just feels too soon for me right now. Just give me a little more time, okay… please?” Smooch smiled sadly, hating to turn him down - if anything, she might’ve wanted it even more than he did.
“Hey, it’s okay, Smooch, really. I can be patient, no pressure. Things are a little complicated. But anyway, uh… yeah. Just… something to consider.” He chuckled awkwardly, understanding that it was probably best to wait, but still feeling admittedly a little disappointed that she’d turned his proposition down.
Smooch leaned in behind the cowboy hat Colby was still holding to obstruct their mouths from any passersby, giving him a quick but passionate kiss.
“Someday. When the time is right.”
Some days later, Colby furrowed his brow as he connected the tubes between the three small glass tankards, hoping he was at least somewhat doing this right. After some thorough exploring around the Pawston hedge maze over the last few days, he’d eventually happened upon a hidden cave behind a wall - a perfect spot where he could safely practice this alone in secret.
"I think this is where that goes… right?” he pondered, having had no prior experience in this kind of thing before. All he generally knew was that if he heated corn meal with sugar, yeast, and water in some specific way, he’d eventually be able to get the desired product he was hoping for.
“I hope this turns out well… Smooch is gonna love this,” he said to himself, pouring the mixtures into the containers and heating the bottom of the pasty corn mixture with the makeshift campfire he’d made.
“Well… maybe.”
Later that week, the Pooches received some unexpected visitors when the doorbell suddenly rang out of the blue.
“Huh, I wonder who that is,” Smooch questioned aloud as she got up from the couch and approached the door while Colby and Scooch were busy playing their third round of Treat Peak in a row in the living room. “I don’t remember orderin’ anythi-”
When she opened the door, her stomach twisted into knots. It was two elderly blue terriers - Kernel’s parents.
“Grandmaw! Grandpaw!” Scooch gasped and excitedly ran over to his grandparents as soon as he caught their scent with his sensitive nose, jumping up into his grandfather’s arms.
“O-oh, Maisie and Husk. It’s so nice to see you again.” Smooch grinned anxiously, wishing they’d have given her any kind of heads-up that they were coming. “We weren’t expectin’ any company though, what’re you doin’ all the way out here in Pawston?”
“What, are we not allowed to come and visit our daughter-in-law and our grandson every once in a while?” Maisie said with a smile as she gave her grandson a kiss on the cheek. “You may not be our kin by blood, but you’re like a daughter to us too, ya know.”
Husk, however, was more focused on the unfamiliar - and surprisingly young - yellow Labrador sitting comfortably in the living room. His deep and grizzly voice sounded cold and distant as he finally spoke.
“Who’s that?”
“Th-this is-” Smooch said as she opened her mouth, but felt that anything she said would only do more harm than good.
“I’m Colby. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.” Colby approached Husk, respectfully holding out his paw to shake. However, he was met not with a shake, but with a bitter scowl from the old blue canine.
“And you’re Smooch’s… what, exactly? What makes you so special?”
“Well we’ve been dating for about a month now, so I guess I’d say I’m… her boyfriend,” Colby replied.
Husk turned back to Smooch, a stern look of betrayal and disbelief on his face as he opened his mouth to speak. But rather than say anything, he simply closed his mouth again and shook his head disapprovingly before turning with a bitter grumble and walking out of the doorway.
“Grandpaw?” Scooch asked, wondering why he suddenly seemed so upset.
“Husk! C’mon, now! Don’t be like that!” Maisie sighed as she turned to her husband, who was getting back into their car and driving away. She looked to Colby, gently setting Scooch down onto the floor. “Don’t take it personal, hun. Husk is… well, we’re both still comin’ to terms with everythin' that’s happened. I’m still plenty heartbroken myself, but…”
She turned to her daughter-in-law.
“I’m happy for you, Smooch. It’s good yer finally movin’ forward.”
Maisie and Smooch shared a solemn look of understanding, but Colby still wasn’t quite satisfied. He didn’t want his existence in Smooch’s life to be a burden or an insult to anyone else. Without a word, he immediately ran out the door and gave chase to Husk’s car, leaving the other three behind in a blur.
It wasn’t long before he closed the distance between himself and Husk, soon running at full-speed alongside the vehicle with no sign of stopping or even tiring.
“Consarnit, just leave me alone, boy!” Husk gritted his teeth as he noticed Colby in his peripheral vision, pressing down harder on the pedal. But Colby wasn’t quick to give up, somehow managing to keep his pace with Husk’s speed. Sensing his legs were gradually losing strength, Colby crouched down to gain propulsion before successfully jumping into the backseat of the vehicle.
“You got a screw loose or somethin’, whelp?” Husk said sharply as he took a sharp turn around the corner of the intersection. “How are you so dang fast, you got some Greyhound in ya? Go on, git!”
“Not until we talk. Please.” Colby gripped the seat in front of him, refusing to let go.
Husk grunted something under his breath, pulling over to the curb just outside of town and slamming the brake grumpily.
“Fine. Ya got one minute. Then you gotta skedaddle, son.”
“Look, I… I know how hard it is for you,” Colby said as he placed his paw on Husk’s shoulder from behind in empathy.
“Please, you don’t know bull ‘bout how hard it is to lose yer child,” Husk scoffed as he brushed the paw away, wiping the gathering moisture from his eyes.
“...Try me.”
Husk looked back, surprised to find Colby’s eyes suddenly red with tears as he sniffled.
“I know exactly just how fucking hard it is. I lost everyone I ever cared about. So I know... I know.” Colby’s stare into Husk’s eyes was like an abyss - without any words exchanged between them, Husk could see without a hint of doubt the tremendous amount of pain that Colby had suffered through. The kind of haunted eyes that not even the greatest of actors could pull off.
“Alright, I… I reckon I’ll take your word for it. But-”
“Please, let me finish.” Colby’s aura had completely changed - in this moment, he was no longer the Colby that anyone in town knew. He was stoic, emotionless, and stern; in a strange way, the stubborn old Husk suddenly felt humbled and meek - as though he were being lectured by his elder. There was a faint shimmer in Colby’s emerald eyes as Husk immediately sensed the air-pressure drastically increase in his creaky old joints. “I want to make this perfectly clear, I am not trying to replace your son. I may still be new to the Pooch family, but I’ll do whatever I can to keep Kernel’s memory alive. In the end, all I want is to make Smooch happy. Even happier than she makes me, which is way more than I deserve. And I want to make Scooch happy too. He’s a good boy. No, a great boy. So let me ask you. Do you really want him to be fatherless forever?”
Husk was silent for some time until the air-pressure died down and he finally let out a long, drawn-out sigh of remorseful submission.
“No… no, I don’t. I just… I miss my boy every day, y’know? Ain’t hardly a minute goes by when I ain’t reminded of him by one thang or another. Sometimes I think, ‘I should go visit my son today, see what he’s up to.’ But then I remember. And here I am, a grumpy ol’ good-for-nothin that’s long been gray in the muzzle.” Husk’s voice quivered as he lowered his head and began to weep. “It just… ain’t fair. It should’a been me what gone first, Colby. It should’a been me.”
After a moment of silence, Colby finally spoke once more.
“Trust me, I wake up thinking that exact same thing every morning. It’s like a nightmare you can’t wake up from.” Colby crawled over the car seat, sitting beside Husk as he wiped his own tears. “But little by little, I’ve been starting to feel a bit better with each passing day. And I have your daughter-in-law and grandson to thank for that. They… they saved my life.”
Husk whimpered quietly, refusing to let anyone see him cry as he quickly wiped his eyes as well.
“Well… I still ain’t gotta like ya, but… maybe you ain’t all bad. Fer a city boy.” Husk finally found it within himself to let out a soft chuckle. “But my Kernel loved Smooch with all his heart. So lemme ask you a question...”
He turned to Colby, who was looking back at him attentively.
“…How much of yer heart is in this? ‘Cause if you ain’t willin’ to die fer those two, well you might as well pack yer bags and get outta Dodge. That’s how much my boy loved them, so you better love them just as much as he did. I won’t accept anythin’ less outta you.”
“I… yes, I do love them both. With all my heart.” As the words came out of his mouth, Colby’s face unknowingly turned a soft shade of pink. “But I still haven’t said those specific words to them yet, exactly… it’s still a bit soon-”
“But would you die for them?” Husk glared into Colby’s soul, with only one possible answer to appease him.
“...Yes. They’re all I have.” Colby looked back at Husk with a steadfast and resolute determination in his eyes. “They saved my life, and I intend to spend the rest of it with them.”
“Then I ‘spose that’ll have to do.” Husk held out his paw, finally willing to shake Colby’s. “I’ll hold you to that, y’hear? Shake on it.”
Colby nodded, taking his paw and shaking it firmly.
“You have my word.”
“Alright then, that settles it. Water under the bridge, an’ all that. I s’pose we should head on back, I ain’t gettin’ any younger.” Husk put the car into ‘drive’ again, turning the corner of the block back towards Smooch’s home. “Speakin’ of which, now that I think about it, ain’t you a bit… young? You can’t be older than 30, so what’re you doin’ goin’ after an older gal like Smooch for?”
“I’m 26 actually, going on 27 in a few days.” Colby replied, his brow lowering a little as he gave the old dog the side-eye. “And Smooch and I just get each other, I don’t know what else to tell you. Is that a problem?”
“Not a problem, per se, you’re both mature adults so ya have the right, but…” Husk cleared his throat. “Well, some dogs might have questions about ‘ulterior motives’ an’ all.”
“Well that’s not true, I feel nothing but genuine love for her. As for my age, let’s just say…” Colby turned away as they approached the house, thinking back on his life.
“...I’m an old soul.”
Finally, it was the day before Colby’s 27th birthday, and Smooch was still at a loss for what to get him. He never talked much about himself, so it was rather difficult for her to get any good ideas for his present. She wanted to get him something meaningful, but what sort of real meaning could anything have when Colby was so often deflective when it came to his personal life? The more she thought about it, the more disheartening it was to her that he was still so secretive about his past - he never talked about his old friends, his family, his old job… nothing. In her head, she set a goal of getting him to be more open with her, but for now she still put all of her focus on what to get Colby for his birthday.
She pulled out her cell-bone to look up gift ideas, when she suddenly realized something: Colby still didn’t even have a cell-bone. It would definitely work as a good gift, but it still didn’t seem like it would be enough. Something was still missing.
“...A party!”
And Smooch knew that if there was one dog in town who knew how to throw a good party, it was…
“Cheddar Biscuit!”
“Woah!” The little white beagador stumbled from the tight-rope she was balancing her unicycle on, landing on her feet on the soft grass a mere three feet below with a light thud.
“Sergeant Pooch?” Cheddar asked, wondering why her neighbor seemed to be in such a hurry. “I’m not in any trouble, am I? I have a permit to practice clowning here-”
“Don’t worry, this ain’t about that.” Smooch took off her police hat, hoping to make herself seem more approachable. She was aware that she could seem a little more unintentionally intimidating while in uniform. “Sorry for startlin’ you, Cheddar, but actually I was hopin’ to ask you a favor. I need some help organizin’ a party for tomorrow.”
“O-oh. Tomorrow?” Cheddar’s eyebrows furrowed a little. “That’s kind of short-notice, Ms. Pooch, I don’t know if-”
“Please, Cheddar? I want Colby’s first birthday in Pawston to be a good one.”
“Colby?” Cheddar asked, her tone suddenly shifting as she suddenly felt a strange pain in her chest. She began juggling three rubber balls in her paws.
“Yeah, I wanna do somethin’ to make it real special for him. So the favor I wanted to ask is… will you help me plan everythin’?” Smooch’s pupils got bigger as she gave Cheddar a pleading face.
“Am I… invited to this party?” Cheddar asked quietly, hoping to get another chance to interact with that green-eyed Lab again.
“Well of course, Cheddar! Bring the whole Barker bunch!” Smooch said with a smile, patting Cheddar Biscuit’s shoulder.
Cheddar took a breath and closed her eyes, calmly gathering her thoughts as she carefully considered her options. Then, like a switch being turned on, she was back to her usual cheery self again.
“Alright then, let’s get this party started!”
