"You do know a few people," Rob pointed out as he came over. He must have overheard and now he was making a list of who they knew. "Mitch and Rico, Lara, Noreen, the Hayes's, Mrs. Del Rio."
"You know Mrs. Del Rio. 'Nuff said," Devina told them.
"A reference from her would work?" Julian asked.
"Sure will. Let me call her up," Devina said and went out front again to sit at her desk. "What's your name?"
"Julian Brenner," he said as he followed her and left Danny in Rob's care. He overheard Devina talking to Mrs. Del Rio at length, laughing it up with her. Once she was done, she got down to the paperwork, handing Julian a clipboard and made a copy of his ID.
While Julian filled out forms, the dog was let out of the cage and put on a leash, so Danny could get introduced to him.
"This is Lenny. Say hi to him," Devina said to Danny.
"We're going to take him home and he's going to be your dog. Do you think you can take care of him?" Julian asked.
"Yes," Danny said but he looked overwhelmed by the awesome responsibility.
"Don't worry. Julian and I will help," Rob told him.
"Yes, we will. Do you want to say hi to Lenny?" Julian asked and took him closer to the tiny dog.
Danny crouched in front of the dog, who rose up to rest his front paws on Danny's knees.
"Hi, Lenny. I'm Danny. I'm gonna be your friend," he whispered to the little dog and Julian wanted to cry.
Rob was right next to him and he nudged Julian with his shoulder. "Love at first sight," he said.
Julian could only nod. Seeing Danny already smitten with that little dog and having Rob beside him combined to choke him up with emotion. Though he couldn't speak, Julian knew he had to hold it together.
As they watched Danny with the dog and waited for Devina to print up some paperwork and instructions, Rob shook his head. "I can't believe it. Do we really get to take him home?" he asked like he was the kid.
"It looks like it," Julian told him with an amused smile. He expected a lot more red tape, but he wasn't going to question the shelter's methods if it got them Lenny to take home right away.
"We'll have to do some shopping," Rob said.
"There is a pet store not too far from here," Julian said after looking it up on his phone.
"Oh and they let you bring dogs inside a pet store, right?" Rob asked. "This will be great."
"I get the distinct impression that you wanted a dog when you were a kid," Julian said to him.
"Yeah, but we never had one. My mom was afraid of them." Rob looked so sad, and it wasn't about not having a dog. Julian had noticed that his expression turned sad any time he mentioned his mom.
The shopping trip was a big hit with Danny, especially the toys they got for Lenny. They grabbed lunch on the go, and Danny let Lenny eat some dry dog food from his hand. That made Julian worry, but Danny laughed and looked so happy.
Back in the car, Rob got to hold Lenny in the back seat. They didn't want to put him in the crate they got.
Danny leaned over from his car seat and kissed the dog on the head. "That's like Julian kissing my head." He pointed to his own head then turned to Rob. "You can kiss Lenny too," Danny said generously.
"Oh, I can," Rob said then he did. "He's nice and soft."
As soon as they got home, Julian went straight to his office to attend to business, and Rob and Danny took Lenny for his first walk. Julian wished he could go with them, but he had work to catch up on.
"What did I miss?" Julian asked when Rob came into the office after their walk.
"Danny is watching Lenny drinking his water. He can't get enough of that dog. I took pictures of their first walk," Rob told him then he came around to his side of the desk and showed him his phone. "Here's Lenny sniffing your car. I think he wanted to pee on a tire or two, but we didn't let him. Here's Danny making a face while Lenny does his business."
As Rob kept showing him more and more pictures from just one short walk, Julian had to ask, "How many did you take?"
"I couldn't help it," Rob said then he showed him some more. "Here is a picture of Danny and Lenny and here is Lenny and Danny."
"You covered all the bases," Julian told him while being very aware of Rob leaning over him, their heads close as they looked at the rest of the photos.
"I'll upload them for you," Rob said, finally reaching the end.
"Thank you," Julian said as Rob left to go check on Danny and his new friend.
Now that Rob wasn't standing so close to him, Julian let out a long breath. What he was feeling wasn't relief though. It was more like regret. He could breathe easier now, but he would rather still be in that moment of tension, not breathing, so close to Rob that his scent and his body heat were inescapable.
