Chapter 38
Allie looked happy as a clam surrounded by her friends and family at her birthday dinner. She had invited my family as well, a sweet gesture considering she didn’t know them very well but still wanted them to be included, though Luca was feeling under the weather and wasn’t able to attend.
We worked our way through a seemingly endless round of appetizers, and Allie opened her gifts, her smile bright and her birthday crown sparkling. I was still learning her, but she seemed happy with the emerald stud earrings I’d bought for her. I’d been torn on getting her birthstone or something red, but there would be plenty of time to fill out her jewelry collection. Nicky, to no one’s surprise, got her a stack of books, and my parents had given her a jewelry box with her name engraved on the lid.
My phone buzzed with a text and I discreetly checked the message.
Toe Beans Rescue:
SOS - emergency foster placement needed
Litter of three mixed breeds, two days old, healthy condition. No mother.
Seeking placement tonight. Shelter is at capacity. No local volunteers are available.
“Puppies?” Allie asked, peering over my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to snoop. Your face got super serious and I was worried. Are you gonna go get them?”
“I’m not going to leave my mate’s birthday.”
“The hell you’re not. Let’s go together right now.”
“Allie, we really don’t have to.”
“How far away is the shelter?”
“An hour.”
“And what time do they close?”
I sighed. “An hour.”
“Well, then, we don’t really have a choice, do we?” She tapped her fork on her glass, drawing everyone’s attention. “I just wanted to thank all of you for celebrating my birthday with me. Sidney and I are going to have to scoot out early because there’s a litter of tiny baby puppies desperately needing a foster home. I promise I’ll send pictures to everyone once we have them, but the shelter closes really soon so we can’t stay any later unfortunately.”
“Girl, go,” Luna insisted. “I’ve got your portion covered anyway. Keep us posted.”
I still couldn’t quite believe what had happened as Allie was tugging me toward the door.
I typed back a hasty note to the rescue.
Sidney:
Sidney Marino en route for pickup and fostering
ETA one hour
Allie was bouncing in her seat as we pulled out of the parking lot.
“You really didn’t have to give up your party for this. There probably would’ve been someone else to handle it.”
“But I want us to be the ones to handle it. I want the whole foster baby experience. I’ll do anything you need to help, but those babies need us, and I am more than happy to cut my birthday short.”
She really was the sweetest. Ideal mates might only be proven for biological compatibility, but I had to admit it had pretty good taste in picking me a mate who would toss aside her plans to make life better for some motherless pups.
“Do we get to name them?”
“We do. That’s the foster’s privilege. I do have to warn you, though, not all fosters go smoothly and sometimes being a foster parent is completely heartbreaking. We’re lucky this litter doesn’t have any known health concerns, but that’s definitely not the case with all of them.”
“All those babies deserve love, for however long they’re going to be around. Will I sob like a baby if we ever lose one? Absolutely yes, but I hope I’m the kind of person who can focus on the big picture and keep going to help more babies. But don’t make me think about it too hard right now; otherwise I’ll cry.” She blinked rapidly, staring up at the ceiling of the car.
I had lost a few pups in my years as a foster. It was devastating every time, and whether I’d had them for hours or weeks didn’t matter. Each one of those little lives slammed a paw print onto my heart the moment I saw them. If Allie wanted to embroil herself in the world of unbridled joy and heartache that came with fostering, I would be incredibly grateful to share it with her.
“Is it too early for me to name them? I don’t even know what they look like.”
“Honestly, they mostly look like beans when they’re this young. A lot of them will grow into their coloring, but you’ll have a good idea what those will be right from the start. If you want to name them now, you can think of something suitable.”
“Do I have to know anything specific for all of this?”
I let out a quiet laugh. “You need to know a lot of specifics for this. I can teach you everything you need to know though. You’ll pick it up quickly.”
“I hope so. I don’t want to disappoint the babies.”
I slipped my fingers into hers. If we weren’t already bonded, that statement alone would have convinced me I needed to wife this woman.
The staffer who greeted us at the shelter looked exhausted. “Thank you so much for coming. Someone brought them in this afternoon, and their mom was hit by a car. We don’t have the resources to take care of ones this young right now.”
Allie gasped softly at the revelation of what happened to the mother. It was an all too common fate for strays, but we would do our best to make sure her babies thrived and found loving homes so they would never have to know the street the way she had.
Upon first inspection, the babies seemed pretty healthy, though two of them did have fleas, so we would have to deal with that immediately once we got them home. We got them bundled into a travel box with warm, soft blankets and made the trip back to the house. Allie stared lovingly at them the entire trip.
It was a good first litter for her to start with for fostering. They were different enough to be able to tell apart—one brown, two black, with one of the black babies having a white sock.
“I think I like B names. Banjo, Biscuit, and Boo. What do you think?”
“I think those are perfect.”
She watched, absolutely fascinated, as we did flea baths on all of the babies. I showed her how to do the soap ring around their neck so the fleas didn’t climb onto their faces, and she towel-dried them so tenderly once they were clean. I showed her how to feed them, how to weigh them before and after each meal to ensure they were growing, and where I charted that information. She absorbed it all like a sponge and took to puppy care like a fish to water.
“How long until they’re able to be adopted?”
“About eight weeks.”
“How are they real?”
They were so little you could barely tell they were dogs except for the adorable tiny peeps they made.
“Pretty cute, right?” I kissed her temple and got a bottle to feed the second baby.
“God, I feel like my ovaries are going off like fireworks watching you feed that teensy baby. How am I supposed to cope when you’re being so impossibly gentle with it and making those cooing sounds at it?!”
“Better figure out a coping mechanism because I have to do this every two hours for a while.”
She made the cutest growly snarl like she couldn’t contain herself and wedged up against my side to watch the pup eat. “This is literally the best birthday present possible. I’ve been absolutely itching for more puppies, and these sweet little bundles needing us on my birthday is a stroke of luck from the universe. This is way more fun than a birthday party.” Allie made another excitable sound. “I can’t believe they’re here.”
“I’m glad you’re so into them. Passion helps a lot when you’re running on minimal sleep.”
“Have you been able to take a lot more fosters since you stopped heat helping?”
“Way more.” I nodded. “Now that I don’t have to take off a couple weeks for client heats every month or so, I can have a steady stream of fosters.”
“And the clinic is gonna let you bring them in?”
“While they’re still at the bottle-every-two-hours phase, yeah.”
“I wonder if my work would let me?”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask. When they get a bit older, they won’t need to be fed quite so often and they could do with the socialization. They’re great for workplace morale if you needed something extra to pitch them for.”
“I’m totally going to ask. Can I feed one?”
“Sure. Just let me finish with this one and I’ll grab you a bottle.”
Allie stroked a fingertip down the puppy’s back. “Their mouths are like a suction cup. I’m so glad you’re here to help them, but I’m super sad they lost their mom.”
“You and me, both. It’s better for pups and fosters to have the mom, but we’re going to do our best for these babies and make sure they get a good start to life since their mom can’t be with them.”
I guided her through feeding the third pup and Allie started crying out of nowhere.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I brushed her tears away and kissed her temple.
“They’re too precious. I can’t help it.”
“I’m never going to ask you to help it. It’s sweet that you already love them so much.”
“How am I supposed to get anything done with my day, knowing they’re here?”
“Don’t look at me,” I said. “I have zero objections to you spending all your free time with the puppies.”
She sniffled. “Little angels. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
“Anytime, kitten.”