I never had animals growing up. Life had always been so busy for my mom and dad that having animals was never in the cards. So this, it’s a new experience for me.
Kendall grew up with dogs, her dad always having them, she was used to the taking care of them and the puppy stages.
“Another early morning?” I ask from the doorway and she looks over, appearing as though she is half asleep.
“I didn’t want him to wake you up.”
“Babe.” I chuckle. “You do realize that you being in here with him only makes him more active. He gets excited when he sees you. Then he’s up whining and barking.”
“He was barking before I came in.”
“Yeah, because he knew if he did it long enough you’d come running.” I move in to sit on the floor next to her. “You need to stop rushing in because he says so.”
“I hate to hear him whine, it’s so sad,” she adds, ruffling the hair on his head.
“Is this what it will be like when we have kids?”
She nods. “You’ll probably just have to put me a bed in the nursery next to the crib. I’m sure that’s where I’ll be all the time anyway.”
I wrap my arm around her and pull her in, as I reach out and attempt to pull the toy away from Oscar. He leaps for it and ends up in my lap, making Kendall laugh.
We spend the next hour playing with him and wearing him out. And when he is laying down after a big yawn, I am then able to convince her to come back to bed.
EPILOGUE
Aaron
“She get everything moved in?”I spin around to find my dad walking across the lawn in my direction. He is holding his mug of coffee on his way to the barn.
“Yeah.” I nod, looking back to Oscar who at the moment is chasing his own tail. My dad looks down and chuckles.
“Your mother couldn’t be more happy,” he says and I look up just in time to catch the tail end of him grinning at the furball. “Kendall has definitely got herself a fan in your mother. Kendall this, and Kendall that. Had a conversation with Joan yesterday and brought you up. Joan of course made a tsking sound and damn momma went back. I’d imagine that friendship has finally come to an end.”
“But was it ever really a true friendship in the first place?”
“More of a nuisance.” He nods. “Every time she’d call your mother would try to find ways to avoid answering it at all.”
“Never liked that woman,” I confess. “The date with Chelsea was more to please Mom.”
“I know.” He gives me that look. “But you know now that your mother only wanted you to be happy. Are you happy?”
“Very.” Seems weird having this kind of conversation with my father. We’ve never been the heart-to-heart kind. Never had these relationship, life and love, kind of conversations. It is nice.
“So your mother and I have been talking.” He sips his coffee. “I think it’s time maybe I start stepping back a little. She wants to travel more and, it sounds nice.”
I arch my brow at him and he grins.
“It’ll be an adjustment I know. I’ve never been good at letting go, but I know you’re ready. I know that I don’t have to worry, and I know that the success of our company means as much to you as it does me.”
“So does this mean you’re gonna be calling and testing me every hour for updates. Sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off and something hits you and you make those last minutes phone calls that piss off the flight attendants.”
“No.” His reply is nowhere close to reassuring. And my facial expression must say it all because he starts to laugh. “I told you that it will be an adjustment. You’ll have to take it easy on me. But I’ll get there.”
“I’ll just ignore the harassing calls,” I tell him as Oscar starts to jump at my leg.
“You got a strong woman by your side, you’ll need that. She understands the sacrifices a business owner has to make.”
“She does,” I say with a nod. “Never thought her and I would get to the place we are now though. She fought me the entire way.”
