“I adopted him.” Dean was still grinning. “I went to the shelter just to have a look and he was perfect.”
“He is!” I agreed, lifting the dog out of his box. He promptly proceeded to lick my hands. “Aren’t you just the cutest?” I nearly cooed. He was so warm. “Can I really keep him?” I asked, turning to Dean with a smile, feeling like a kid again. My man had brought me a dog! “Can I call him George?”
Dean laughed. “Anything but that, please!”
“Anything?” I raised an eyebrow at him while holding the dog to my chest and petting him. Oh, how I loved that dog smell and the feel of fur beneath my fingers. I’d missed it more than I realized.
“Can I call him Captain Stinkyfeet? Officer Dogbreath?”
Dean scoffed, even though he was still smiling. “You're watching too many cartoons.”
“Please, there's no such thing as too many cartoons. Besides, you knew what you were getting into.”
Dean's smile softened. “Yeah, I did.” He took a deep breath. “Did you even notice the jewelry box on his collar?”
Jewelry box? I scanned the dog's collar with my eyes, and, indeed, there was a small box attached to it. “More presents?” I asked. And jewelry? Really, what was the occasion?
“Just a small thing.” Dean licked his lips. For some reason, he seemed to be getting just a little bit nervous.
Well, time to find out what this small thing was that he was talking about. “Hold still, doggy.” I detached the black box from the collar and set my new furbaby on the floor where he sniffed my leg as if to determine whether it was edible. Oh God, we needed dog food. I looked at Dean. “Do we have anything to eat for him?”
“I bought some stuff. It's still in the car.” He glanced at the front door, then back at me. “Don't you want to open the box first?”
Right, the box. I'd nearly forgotten about it. But now that I looked at it again, I noticed that it was the perfect size for a ring.
Oh!
Was this…?
My heart started pounding as I opened the box.
It was empty.
“Uh...”
My eyes darted to Dean, then back to the empty jewelry box in my hand. “There's nothing in there?” Was Dean trying to pull some really weird prank on me?
But no, he looked just as surprised as me, if not more so. “What?” He stepped up to me and took the box out of my hand. “Oh shit.” His face went pale. Okay, so he wasn't trying to pull some sort of prank on me. His eyes flitted back and forth between the dog and the jewelry box.
Oh no.
Slowly it dawned on me what might have happened.
“Was there supposed to be a ring in there?” I asked, biting my bottom lip. I'd hoped Dean might propose to me someday, but... I'd never expected it to play out like this. I wasn't sure what to think. Did I want to marry Dean? Hell yes, but I also wanted a ring. More specifically, I wanted to know that my new dog hadn't eaten my ring. I was all for letting your pets participate in the ceremony—to a point! Call me old-fashioned, but I'd prefer to know that my engagement ring had not passed my pet's bowels.
Dean gulped. “There was,” he admitted.
Poor Dean. I was sure this scene wasn't playing out like he'd imagined it either.
“Where do you think it went?” I asked. “Do you think...?” I glanced at the dog. We both did.
“I was sure I'd put it in the box,” Dean said. “Oh God...”
I picked the dog up. “Maybe we need to call him the lord of the rings, huh?” I tried to make a joke. Dean's smile seemed forced. Yeah, I didn't think I was being particularly funny either. I kissed the doggy's squishy face. “Did you eat it? Did you eat my engagement ring?” The dog only licked my cheek in response.
I looked back at Dean, who was frantically searching his pockets and then the inside of the large box the dog had come in. “This is so not how I planned this to go,” he muttered.
“Don't worry about that. Do you think it can hurt him? Swallowing the ring, I mean.” The boxer looked healthy enough to me, but you never knew. “I'm going to call Eli,” I decided, handing our puppy to Dean. “Don't let him eat anything else not dog appropriate.”
“Promise.” He held the dog tight as if to make extra sure.
And then, of course, the baby started to cry. “You go to him,” I told Dean while I fiddled with my cell phone. My alpha looked the tiniest bit overwhelmed, but he’d brought this on himself. Honestly, he’d just given me an empty jewelry box!
But as Dean dashed off into the nursery, I had to suppress a laugh at the absurdity of my situation. Honestly, a part of me was loving this. My house certainly didn't feel empty anymore. Smiling to myself, I called my brother.
“Griff?” he answered the phone after a few rings.
“Yeah, hi. What do you think I should do if my dog swallowed my engagement ring?”
“Your what swallowed your what?”
Now I had to laugh. My poor brother was so confused. “Dean adopted a dog,” I explained. “You have to see him! He's the cutest thing!”
“You got a dog? That's great! What kind? What are you naming him? Can I come over?”
“A boxer. He's so small and squishy and warm and...” I stopped, because Eli and I could talk about our dogs all day, but this was not what I'd called for. “You can maybe come over later but right now we're having a bit of an emergency. We think the dog might have swallowed my engagement ring.”
“When did you get engaged?” Eli asked, instead of focusing on the problem. Not that I blamed him. I was giving him a lot to process.
“I didn't,” I said. “Dean doesn't have a ring to propose with right now.”
“Oh. Oh God.” Eli burst out laughing, finally seeing the whole picture. “Sounds like you're off to a great start with this dog.”
“I know, right?” I smiled because my brother's laughter was contagious, and yeah, he was right, this situation was kind of ridiculous. “What do you think we should do?”
“Dogs eat tons of shit they're not supposed to. I'm sure the ring's not going to hurt him, but take him to the vet anyway. It'll probably pass naturally, though.”
Pass naturally... Yay. “Okay, thank you.”
When I got off the phone with my brother, Dean sat on the couch with Bastian in his arms and the boxer on his lap. Part of me was tempted to fetch my camera and take a shot. What could be sexier than a hot alpha cuddling a dog and a baby? More specifically, my dog and my baby.
“What are you smiling at?” Dean asked.
“Nothing. Don't move.” I snapped a picture with my phone. Not as good as a pro camera, but better than nothing. “This one's for the family album.”
Dean grimaced. “Is this a day to remember?”
“Oh, definitely. Bastian's gonna love hearing this story when he grows up.”
“And you'll tell it over and over, won't you?”
I only grinned at him in response.
He sighed. “Okay. Fair enough. What did Eli say?”
“To go to the vet.” I took my furbaby from Dean. “Honestly, I can't believe you're making me rush him to the vet so soon!”
Bastian babbled something incoherent as if to agree with me, then one of his tiny hands reached out to the dog,
“You wanna pet the doggy?” I asked, holding him so Bastian could put his fingers on the soft fur. My son studied this fascinating new creature with big eyes. He had Dean's eyes, which I was glad for. They were so gorgeous and expressive. I was sure I had the cutest baby there ever was. The dog sniffed his arm and Bastian laughed. Aww. Instant friendship. My heart melted a little.
“You picked well,” I told Dean.
“You think so? I'm glad.” He leaned over to kiss my cheek. “I'm sorry I messed up the rest. This was supposed to be special.”
“Oh, it is.”
“If you say so.” Dean allowed himself a smile as he got up from the couch. “I'm going to get my coat and call the vet.”
“Okay.” I set t
he dog down so I could take the baby from Dean. “You like the new doggy?” I asked my son, softly rocking him in my arms. He replied in coos and gurgles and a short giggle. “I'm going to take that as a yes.”
Dean came back into the living room after only a moment—without his coat or his phone. I shot him a questioning look. He didn't respond to it, instead, he simply walked up to me and went down on one knee.
What...?
“You found it?” I asked, when my brain caught on to what was happening. I was getting my proposal after all!
He only grinned and took my hand. “You're not only my best friend, but the love of my life, the father of my child, and the most beautiful, kindest omega I've ever met,” he said, and he looked so sincere I nearly blushed. He truly meant every word he said, I had no doubt about that. “Every day you give me a reason to smile, to laugh, even when things go wrong,” he went on. “You make my life brighter for being in it, and I don't ever want to part from you again. Griffin Stevens, would you do me the honor of marrying me?” In his free hand, he held the ring, the light of the living room reflecting off it in a way that made it shine. It was beautiful.
“Of course I will!” I exclaimed before I could tear up. Him, the dog, the baby—this was everything I'd ever wanted, and to be honest, I still couldn't believe my luck.
Dean slid the ring onto my finger, and then he stood and kissed me, making my whole body tingle with joy.
“Where did you find it?” I asked Dean when we parted, staring at the ring on my finger.
“Coat pocket,” he said sheepishly.
I snorted. “Oh, you.”
“Will you marry me anyway?”
“Are you kidding? I'm glad I'm not the only silly person in this relationship.” I kissed him again. Between us, Bastian laughed, as if amused by his parents’ antics.
I had a feeling he was going to see a lot more of those in the future, and I couldn't have been happier.
About the Author
Ann-Katrin loves to write, read and dream. In her spare time, you can often catch her hunting wild plot bunnies in the fields of her imagination. In her other life, she’s a mother and a translator, but writing about men and the men they fall in love with is so much more fun!
Find her at:
annkatrinbyrde
https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebyrdehouse/
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A Baby for the Firefighter Page 23