Page 70 of Eternally Yours
I give her a stiff nod as my trembling hands reach for the top, lifting it up slowly.
I wasn’t mistaken.
My breath catches in my throat. I try to swallow it down, to gain control of my emotions, but nothing’s helping. All I can do is stare at its crystal blue eyes as mine begin to sting. Minnie takes the lid from my hands, removing it completely, and watches me tentatively.
I rest my elbows on my knees and rub at my jaw with one hand, sniffling a little. “Fuck...” I say quietly, dragging my hand down my mouth.
Don’t cry, man. You got this. But I don’t, I really don’t.
Both my hands come up now over the whole length of my face. “Fuck. Shit. Babe.” I choke on the words, losing the battle against my tears as they start pooling in my hands.
I haven’t cried in years, I never expected to do it in front of my girlfriend so early on, but there was no way I could hold it together in this moment.
My girl, fuck, she’s perfect. Woman of my dreams.
“Oh, baby,” Cecilia whispers as she crawls her way between my legs, moving the box back a bit. I wipe away the tears with the palms of my hands and take deep breaths, trying to regain a semblance of control.
I take my woman into my arms and kiss her like our lives depend on it. “I fucking love you, Minnie.”
“I love you too, Silas.” She pulls away and smiles, passing her fingers through my hair. “I think we should take him out now.”
“Yeah.” I deposit my perfect girlfriend beside me on the couch and bend down to pick up the little guy. A beautiful beige and white Alaskan Klee Kai with piercing blue eyes. He looks so much like Griffin, you’d think it was the same dog.
He has a little blue bandana around his neck with two white stripes and a red one in the middle, our jersey colors. He also has a round dog tag around his neck with a griffin engraved into it.Jesus, she really put a lot of thought into this.
“When you told me about Griffin and why you never got another pup, I could tell it was something you missed. And since I’m around now, I can take care of him when you’re away,” she says, giving the boy little scratches behind the ear as he tries to nibble her arm.
I bring him to my chest and stroke his soft fur. “How did you do it?”
“Well, after our first supper with your parents, the idea popped into my head. I asked your mom what breed Griffin was, and from there I searched around to see if there were any for sale. I ended up finding someone a few towns over who just had a litter the month before.” Cecilia smiles as she continues to play with the little furball.
“The pups weren’t ready yet, but she let me see them and pick one out. Since they were technically ready for the beginning of December, I asked her to hold on to him until Christmas. And this morning, Emma went to pick him up for me and kept him in the condo until just now.” She looks up at me with a smirk.
“It’s why I was smiling in the car earlier today when you asked. She was sending me pictures of her and our little baby fooling around, but I couldn’t tell you that.” She grins wholeheartedly down at the pup, already in love with him. “But you should know, he’s extra special.” She gazes at me once more with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Yeah?”
“Mhm, look at his tag.”
I pick it up and twirl it around. On the back are our phone numbers and his date of birth. A date I’ll never forget. “It’s the day we met,” I say, clearing my throat.
A blinding smile stretches her perfect lips as she nods. “He was born the same day. Our little love baby. What do you want to name him? The guy who made the tag said I could bring it back to get his name engraved once we had it picked out.”
I look down at the amazing gift the love of my life gave me and think of a name, something meaningful. Something that will forever remind us of the day that changed both our lives for the better.
“Milo,” I say, looking back to Cecilia. “Let’s call him Milo, short for Milano.” The restaurant where our story began.
“It’s perfect,” she whispers sweetly.
I lean in and kiss her lips. In the matter of three months, she’s become the most important person in my life, and I hope that never changes. Our family is just starting to flourish, and I can’t wait to watch it grow.
“Perfect like you.”
Chapter twenty-three
Silas
Girlfriend stealing dog, I have my eye out for you.
