Page 132 of Papa's Bébé
Tracker?Millie had a tracker?
Millie:You got it, Tera-d. Stego is over and out.
Huh?
Maya:Are you guys sure about this? I don’t want you to be in danger or to get into trouble.
Millie:Of course I’m sure, Bronte-B. Can’t let those puppies be exploited by the evil man.
Maya:Um, right. What’s with the names?
Livvy:Millie thinks we need code names and if you haven’t realized it, she loves dinosaurs. I’m a teradactyl, you’re a brontosaurus and she’s a stegosaurus.
Ahh,right.
There was a knock on her door. Crap. “Yes?”
Maya:Got to go. Matthieu is knocking on my bedroom door.
Millie:Over and out, Bronte-B.
Um.Sure.
“Can you come out, please,” Matthieu said through the door. “I’d like to talk to you.”
Crap. That was the last thing she wanted to do. But she guessed she couldn’t put this conversation off any longer.
“Sure.”
She climbed off the bed and checked her appearance in the mirror. Urgh, she looked like crap. She attempted to tame her hair, but it was like it had a mind of its own.
Opening the door, she stepped into the living room. Matthieu was sitting on the sofa with Princess Priss on his lap. She was purring loudly.
She’d never slept on Maya’s lap like that. Normally, she jump into her lap, claw Maya’s thighs until they felt like pin cushions, then climb off with her tail in the air and a superior look on her face.
“She never purrs like that for me,” she said as she sat down on the other end of the couch, next to Dougie. He was lying on his back with his feet in the air.
Gummy was standing on a side table, staring out into the backyard, on chicken duty.
She wished that Tank and Big B would join them. Maya glanced over at the spare bedroom door that was open slightly.
“You’ve been keeping the door open more,” Matthieu commented.
“I thought it might help Tank feel more like he belonged here if the door was open. I don’t know if that’s true, though. Or I’m just making things worse. I feel like I’m failing him so badly.”
Her shoulders slumped and ridiculously she felt like crying.
What was wrong with her?
Suddenly, she found herself pulled onto her feet and pressed against a firm chest. Then she was being slowly rocked back and forth.
“In no way have you failed him. Remember, you’ve given him a loving home where he’s safe and he has a protective friend.”
“But what kind of life is it where he faces the same four walls all the time? He’s so depressed. Even when he goes outside, he seems so sad. I was thinking that maybe I should take him on a car ride. However, I’ve never been able to get him into the car. He’s too heavy for me to lift.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he told her. “Together.”
She should pull out of his hold. It wasn’t right to lean on him like this. But it felt so good. She felt so secure and warm. And it was nice just to have someone to lean on. To feel like she was part of a team.
