Page 6 of Merry with a Single Dad

I chewed on my lip. “That is true and a very good point. But sometimes, male dogs don’t take that into consideration. They were playing, and I suppose Luke just wanted to send the message that he’s in charge tonight.”

Hudson considered my words. I knew the look on his face well enough by now to know that he was digesting new information and trying to make sense of it. There was no point in lying to him or making something up. That usually led to more questions, so I chose to go with the most innocent explanation I could think of at the moment.

After careful deliberation, Hudson’s lips curled up into a smile, and he simply said, “Okay.”

“If you see him do that again, do your best to get his attention and tell him no.”

“I can pull him off like Dad did.”

“Yes,” I said, considering his height, weight, and age. He was big enough to handle the situation. “Just be very careful.”

“I will,” he said.

Chris looked at me and winked, telling me I had done a successful job stepping in where he wasn’t quite sure how to maneuver. “He’s too rambunctious,” he said with a sigh.

I snorted before suggesting, “Maybe you should have gotten a cat.”

“I’m allergic.”

“You are? I didn’t know that.” Chris nodded. We were still in that glorious stage of learning new things about one another every now and again. “You could have gotten a hairless cat. They’re hypoallergenic.”

“They’re ugly,” Chris said.

“Even ugly animals need love,” I said.

“Hy-po-al-ler-gen-ic,” Hudson repeated the word using all six syllables.

“It means they’re less likely to affect you if you have allergies, like your dad.”

“His are bad!” Hudson said.

“What about a fish?” I suggested.

“We’ve already tried that,” Chris said. “Three times.”

“Dad always kills them.”

“I don’t kill them on purpose,” Chris said, making a slicing movement across his throat. “They just die.”

“Well, hmm,” I considered for a moment before suggesting, “A tortoise?”

“A tortoise can live for 100 years!” Hudson said.

“That’s right,” I said, high-fiving him. “You’re such a smart boy.”

He grinned, extremely pleased with his factoid.

“And they’re very calm,” I said.

“We don’t need another animal,” Chris said. “We already have three dogs between the two of us. And mine is a hellion.”

We all looked at Luke who was still sulking in his dog bed.

“It’s your own fault,” Chris said to him.

Hudson looked up at Chris and asked, “How long is he going to be in time-out?”

Chris and I laughed at the adorable connection he made.

---