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“Are they always this possessive? Literally, I can’t do a thing without her right next to me, watching every little thing I do. I put away the dishes and she walks back and forth with me the couple of steps from the dishwasher to the cabinet, watches me take things out of the refrigerator to prepare, not just her meals but mine too. And the bathroom? Does—”
“Yes, he does. It’s crowded when all three of us get in there.”
“She’s not yet socialized, so we’ll have to watch their reactions, but she’s completely well, had all her shots, and a course of precautionary treatments. Healthy as an ox, they say. Her coat has become so shiny since I last saw her. She’s healing fast.”
“And she’s fixed, right?” Lydia had to ask just to be sure. Their Venom wasn’t.
“Oh, yes. No worries there. We don’t need to give Venom any consternation over that. I’m sure you guys are not in the mood for babies.”
Lydia laughed to herself. She decided to wait to tell Sally the news.
It was a warm day, lots of sun and puffy clouds, so the heat level wasn’t oppressive. Venom was standing by the front door when Sally drove up in her brand new SUV. He started to squeal when he saw a large Dobie sitting next to her in the passenger seat. She sat tall and straight, her eyes keenly focused on him as well.
Sally got out, came over to the passenger door, attached the leash, and took the dog out, walking her up to the front door.
Venom went berserk, howling, turning in circles, alerting to her presence, and checking Harper and Lydia’s expressions. They stood back, Harper sipping on a whiskey, and watched the drama unfold.
“Should we put a leash on him?” Lydia asked.
“It’s his house. He deserves to be free, as long as he doesn’t abuse the honor. Let’s see how he reacts first.”
For a few seconds, both dogs stared at one another through the glass, neither moving a muscle, and then Lydia opened the door and let Sally and the dog enter.
Venom was squealing, sniffing her all over. Sally had a good grip on the leash, so the dog stood erect and accepted his investigation. Venum gruffed and showed a few of his top teeth by rolling back his upper lip, but the dog didn’t flinch, just slowly turned her head to face him nose-to-nose.
She was nearly his size.
Then Venom did the typical behavior he always did when he wanted to run or play. He leaned over onto his front legs with his butt in the air, wagging his stub of a tail, and barked. She stepped back and then whined. On the leash, she did a complete dancing turn while Venom watched her. He leaned forward and barked softly, and she squealed. While Venom was sniffing her nose and face, he noted some scars over her eye and on her snout. He licked them gently.
It brought everyone to tears.
Sally kept the leash firm.
“What’s her name?” Harper asked.
“Medusa,” answered Sally. “Right, girl? You’re Medusa.”
The dog stoically peered up at her.
“But I’ll call her Maddie. I just thought Medusa would be a good compliment to Venom. Snakes and all,” giggled Sally.
Lydia hadn’t seen her so happy.
“Well, let’s see if they can be good neighbors. Does she know her name yet?” asked Harper.
“We’re working on it.”
“Hey, Maddie, want to go outside?” Harper said, kneeling down and extending the back of his hand.
Venom reacted immediately, barking, twirling, running over to the back door in anticipation of a run. Maddie licked Harper’s hand and allowed him to pet the top of her head. “You’re such a good girl. You have a wonderful mama.”
Sally followed Harper over to the door, while he opened it and let Venom out. Venom didn’t run down through the rows of plants and flowers but stayed back on the deck, still presenting his play stance for her, butt in the air again, and waited.
“You want to go play, Maddie?” Sally asked her.
She squealed and pulled against the leash. Sally made her sit first. She detached the leash and spoke softly, “Okay, girl. Go outside. Play with Venom.”
That’s all it took. Medusa shot out of the room and nearly hurdled the back deck in one lurch. Her strong legs took her down the garden pathway, right behind Venom. The two barked, barking at the plants and at each other, danced, and began to wrestle, stop, wrestle again, and then took turns chasing each other.
