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Elsa had been one of the shelter’s longest residents, having lost one of her legs after she’d been caught in a trap. She was a sweet thing who adored Lexi and thought getting to greet her in the morning was the best thing ever.
Elsa was usually a little dirty — she could never stop diving into the ocean, then rolling around on the sand after — but this morning her fur was pristine. And there was a cute pink bow clipped onto her head.
“Who’s an even prettier girl this morning?”
Elsa barked, she was!
There was movement by the door as another dog came in, a mongrel who looked to be a mix between a shepherd and a corgi. Bagel — so named because he had been found in a bagel store feasting on their goods — was an old dog with renal failure.
He had such a nice nature despite having led a horrible life to date that Lexi took him home so he could live out the rest of his time with dignity and grace. And Bagel seemed to appreciate this too as he followed the two of them around like a lovesick puppy and cried if he couldn’t be with at least one of them at all times.
Bagel padded in slowly, but with all the enthusiasm of a youngster. He wore a blue bow around his neck that he proudly displayed to her.
“What is this you guys?”
They answered her but of course, she didn’t actually understand what they were saying.
Bonnie and Clyde, a pair of Chihuahua siblings that had terrible dental problems caused by years of malnutrition, appeared next, yapping with excitement, both newly shampooed and wearing bows too. Lexi giggled, not understanding what was happening but loving it, anyway.
Then Bud came into the room, his eyes bright and happy. He wore the biggest blue bow of all as he pranced over to her lifting each paw carefully, like a show horse. It was clearly practiced and something he took great pride in.
In his mouth, he carried a small Tiffany jewelry box so delicately that his teeth barely touched it.
“Oh.” Lexi gasped. Butterflies danced in her stomach as a grin as big as Texas sprang onto her face.
And finally, Kane appeared in the door himself. He was topless, wearing the usual boxers that he slept in with a matching bow to Bud’s. In his arms, he held onto the two cats they had also adopted: Spike and Einstein.
Spike was blind while Einstein suffered with Irritable Bowel Syndrome that could only be treated with a specialist diet. They, too, wore those bows.
Seeing all of his loved ones in the one room had set Kane’s heart a flutter. Until now, he’d not known what it was to love this deeply.
Lexi opened her mouth to ask him a question, but he shushed her.
“Wait, please. One second. We’ve been working on this for days.”
Setting the cats onto the bed, he turned to the dogs.
“OK. Guys, are you ready? Line up.”
Bagel took front position straight away and sat smartly. Elsa quickly followed suit beside him. Bonnie and Clyde however were their usual over-excitable selves and bouncing around. Seeing Kane struggle to herd the two, Bud gently nudged Bonnie into place. He barked, ordering her to sit still. Obediently — she had a thing for Bud — her rump landed on the floor. With the others in position, Clyde followed suit until the five formed a row by the bed.
Lexi clapped her hands together, delighted with the effort but Kane wasn’t done.
“Good… now bow.”
Bud placed the jewelry box carefully onto the bed then went down first, lowering his head to the floor, stretching out his two front paws in front of him. The others quickly followed, though with nowhere near as much grace.
“Oh my gosh! You guys are amazing!”
Her excitement took the dogs over the edge. Immediately there was chaos as everyone scrambled onto the bed for their morning love fest.
Lexi spoke to Kane over the tops of their heads. “You must have spent so long getting them to do that.”
Kane winked at Bud, who was sitting up now, pink tongue hanging out of his mouth.
“I had help.”
He reached for the box and flipped it open. Inside sat a platinum diamond ring that took her breath away.
