Page 88 of Gabriel & Skye

“She’s so cute,” Skye says while she places the tiny pup in Trin’s arms.

“Softly, Trin, she’s tiny,” I remind her.

The little dog folds its tiny paws over Trin’s hand, one paw under, and one paw over.

“She’s holding your hand.” Macey smiles as she walks back with the other two little ones under each arm.

“She’s so cute, Daddy! Look!”

“She is, honey.” Admittedly, it appears the pup is holding Trinity’s hand.

Darned cute if you ask me.

I had no idea whether we would get a girl or a boy dog. It just has to feel right.

But when I look down at my daughter holding the girl dog, I know she’s hooked. She’s stroking her head so softly I could melt.

“Good girl,” I say. “She’s so tiny, Trin.”

“Like when I was a baby, Daddy?”

I swallow hard, feeling Skye glance at me in my peripheral.

It takes a second to regain my composure. “Yes, you were very tiny, too,” I say. Nothing could ever beat holding her in my arms for the first time the day she was born, and her laying on my chest. The sadness is; I had no idea what was going to happen and how it would all turn out. It’s best to push that aside for now. I’ve had to work hard on moving past all of that. Even if seeing my daughter every day is a constant reminder. I wouldn’t change things for the world, though.

I’m in a good place now.

“Daddy, I wuv her.”

I chuckle. “Well, have a cuddle with the other two as well, and then if we ask Macey very kindly, maybe we can take one home.” I raise my eyebrow toward Macey and she nods. She wasn’t joking when she said we had the first option. We’ve filled in the paperwork, it’s a matter of which dog is right for us.

Macey said the mom dog came into the rescue and had been in foster care until she’d had the pups and they were old enough to be on their own. They’re four months old now. Macey ended up adopting the birth mom, Molly, which means she’ll be close-by whenever we want to visit. She’s at the groomers this morning while we take a look at her babies.

Trin spends the next five minutes holding each one and playing gently with them.

But I think the clear winner is the girl, because for a pup, she’s very quiet and almost a little shy.

“What do you think?” I ask Trin.

“Daisy!” She beams.

I scrunch my forehead. “Daisy?”

“I think we may have a name,” Macey chuckles.

Skye bends down to give the girl pup another little pat. “She sure is cute. I think Daisy is a great name.”

“And you have daisies on your shirt!” Trinity points out once more.

We all laugh.

“How about we ask Macey if it’s okay to trial her at home and make sure she fits in?”

We all look at Macey, and she smiles. “Fine by me. I’ve got a little starter pack for you with some puppy food and some milk, and her favorite toy.”

“Daisy’s coming home!” Trinity yells with glee.

“Daisy, it is,” I say, walking over to pick up the tiny puppy. She looks up at me with her big brown eyes and I give her a gentle ruffle. “Welcome to the fold, little one.”

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