Chapter 39 #2
“This has more reasons why we’re the best for Hugo.
There’s stuff all about my mum and me, and pictures of our fences, and our house, and where Hugo will sleep in my room.
My sister Bella doesn’t live with me, but she’ll love him too when she comes over.
My gramps is going to build him a kennel, and Mum says he can come on the couch if there’s a rug on it.
My last school report is there too so you can see I’m responsible and kind and clever enough to look after Hugo properly. ”
“I’m sure you are, but it’s a good idea to bring this to show us,” Tess says.
“And I know he’s an old dog, but he’ll have the best life with us,” Cami says solemnly. “I’ll walk him every day and teach him to play soccer with me and Bella in the park. I think he’ll like that.”
“I think he will too,” Tess says. “I’ll take this folder over to the office now and put it with your application.”
“Thank you,” Cami says, and holds out her hand.
Tess shakes it with great seriousness, then goes to the office with the folder.
Cami turns back to Hugo. His tail wags faster now, and he licks Cami’s fingers through the bars. “I’ll see you Tuesday, Hugo,” Cami says. “Then you’ll be coming home with us forever.”
As they walk back to the car, Danika squeezes Cami’s hand. “Don’t get your hopes up too much, sweetie. They have to make sure Hugo goes to the best possible home.”
“That’s with us,” Cami says with confidence.
Danika can only hope that’s true.
As arranged, Shirley comes around when Cami’s at school to make suggestions for changes to the house so that Danika gets the best price.
“Clean out the clutter,” she says. “All your treasures and knick-knacks. Cami’s room too.
Box them up and put them in the garage, or better still, put them in our garage.
You want a clean and streamlined look when people come through.
Maybe paint Cami’s room a more neutral colour. Not everyone likes baby blue.”
Danika nods. Her mother is a force and a half, but she knows her stuff.
Danika follows her around, making notes.
Empty out the cupboards to make them look bigger.
Get rid of all the kitchen junk she never uses.
Fresh paint on the front door, and her dad will give the garden a tidy up and trim the hedges.
Thirty minutes later, Shirley says, “Well, it’s not bad at all, Dani. If you get onto it, we’ll be listing it in two weeks. Now, we haven’t discussed where you’re going to move.”
The million-dollar question, and Danika has absolutely no idea.
“Do you want to stay around here?” her mum presses. “Or maybe you’re thinking of a move closer to Melbourne proper?” She tilts her head. “Closer to St Kilda, maybe?”
“We’re not at that stage yet. Maybe we never will be.”
Her mum makes a rude noise. “I think you’re closer than you’re letting on.
From the numbers you’ve given me about what you need to pay into the trust, and what I expect you to get for this house, I think you’ll be able to afford a two-bedroom house, or a small three-bedroom on a busier street if you want to stay around here.
Bigger, if you don’t mind a bit of a mortgage. ”
“I really don’t know,” Danika says. “It has to have a yard of course. Even if we don’t get Hugo, there’ll be another dog. And I’d prefer a quiet street.”
Shirley nods. “Buy the worst house on the best street. Still good advice. If you’re considering other areas, I can make enquiries. I know agents in most places. I can ask them what’s off-list, or coming up for sale.”
“Thank you.” Danika puts the kettle on and pulls mugs from the cupboard.
“If the house sells quickly, you and Cami can always move in with us until you find somewhere,” her mum says. “So don’t stress about that. We’ll be your built-in-babysitters while you jaunt off for overnights in St Kilda.”
Danika stares down at the counter. She’s closer to forty than thirty. Well and truly grown, but she’s still uncomfortable talking about her sex life with her parents.
“I’ll get painting quotes,” she says instead. “And start packing away the clutter.”
“Have a garage sale,” her mum says. “Cami will love it, especially if you tell her the money will go toward dog food.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Kim calls. “Have you heard yet? Bella’s on tenterhooks. She thinks of Hugo as her doggo as well as Cami’s. She’s asking every five minutes if I’ve heard, so I said I’d call you.”
“That makes two of them,” Danika says. To Cami, she says, “It’s Kim.” She walks a few paces away and sits on the couch. “Nothing yet,” she says to Kim. “The shelter closed ten minutes ago.”
“They’re probably doing all the end-of-day stuff,” Kim says. “Just because it’s closed to the public, doesn’t mean it’s closed closed.”
Danika looks over to where Cami has stuck a sign on the wall. Hugos bed here it says in ungrammatical printing. A space in the pantry has another sign about his food storage, and a pile of old blankets—and a couple of not-so-old ones—are earmarked for him as well.
Danika hates to think of Cami’s misery if they don’t get Hugo.
“Next Monday is a public holiday,” Kim says. “What do you think about a camping trip to Johanna Beach, before it gets impossibly cold?”
“I’d love that.” Danika glances at Cami, who’s staring at Disney Channel pretending not to listen. “But if we have Hugo, we’ll need to let him settle in here.”
“Good point,” Kim says. “If so, Bella and I could come around.”
“Of course. We’ll look forward to that.” She lowers her voice. “That will be the highlight of my week.”
“More than Hugo?” Kim teases.
“Maybe.”
Her phone beeps with an incoming call. The shelter. “Have to go,” she says to Kim. “It’s them. I’ll call you back.” She hangs up and answers the call. “Hi, this is Danika.”
Cami bounds across and leaps onto the couch, pressing close.
Danika lifts an arm and Cami snuggles underneath.
“Danika, this is Tess from the RSPCA in Oakleigh.”
“Hi, Tess. Do you have news for us?” She peeps at Cami. She has her eyes scrunched shut, and her wiry body is wound as tight as a spring.
“I do,” Tess said. “And I begged to make this call to you. Volunteers normally don’t.
But the shelter has decided that you and Cami are the best family Hugo could have.
He’s had his vet checks and vaccinations, and apart from being a little underweight, he’s healthy. You can come down and collect him—”
Cami gasps and her eyes shine. “Now? Please can we come now?”
“I’m sorry,” Tess says. “We’re closed for the day now. We open at eight tomorrow.”
Cami coughs dramatically and falls back on the couch, her hand over her eyes. “I don’t feel well. I’m not well enough to go to school tomorrow.”
Danika laughs. “You are so not sick. But just this once, I think that’s okay.” To Tess, she says, “Cami and I will be there at eight.”
“Perfect,” Tess says. “It was an easy decision for us. Hugo was obviously so comfortable with you both, particularly Cami. But Cami’s letter was the best. There were a few damp eyes as we read it. I think Hugo is a very lucky dog.”
“We’re very lucky people,” Danika says.
Cami bounces to a sitting position and holds out her hand. “Can I talk to Tess?”
Danika hands over the phone.
“Thank you very much, Tess,” Cami says. “We’ll look after Hugo very well and love him so very much.”
“That is the best news,” Tess says. “Maybe you’ll send us photos from time to time for our webpage. We love the success stories.”
“We’ll do that,” Danika says.
She ends the call. “We can’t pick up Hugo until tomorrow, but we’ve got a bit of shopping to do before then: a bed, collar, leash, food, bowls—”
“Some toys and treats.” Cami hugs herself and spins in a circle. “Can we go now?”
“Go get ready,” Danika says. “And you can call Kim and tell her and Bella the news when we’re in the car.”
Bella and Kim are delighted. They make arrangements to come over the next day to meet Hugo after school.
“And stay for dinner,” Danika adds. “Stay over, if you want, although I realise that might not work, being a school day.”
“Yeah!” Cami shouts, and over the phone comes Bella’s answering shriek.
“I guess we’re staying,” Kim says. “We have our sleepover early.”
The call ends and Danika concentrates on driving. Is this our new normal? Kim and Bella in all aspects of our lives? Sharing the important things, the joyful things? Almost like a family.
A family. She’d had her family once, before it was torn apart with Chris’s death, but there was still Cami, her parents. And now, it’s more. Bigger. A loving family of four: her, Kim, Cami, and Bella. Four people bound together by love and blood.
There are her parents, too, her brother in Perth, and Kim’s parents.
There’s still so much to sort out, but Danika feels in her bones they’ll work out. Money, the trust, the house. Their future.
“We’re here!” Cami’s shout brings her out of her introspection, and for the next forty minutes, she lets a delighted small girl drag her around the pet superstore, picking out a collar, harness, leash and all the paraphernalia apparently necessary for modern dog ownership.
Three hundred dollars later, and with the car boot nearly full, they drive away.
Tess is waiting for them at eight the next morning. With a smile, she holds out her hand to Cami, who takes it. Danika takes Cami’s other hand, and together they walk to the outside run.
Hugo is sitting in the shade, his eyes fixed on the gate.
When they appear, he runs over, and when he sees Cami, he jumps up at the gate and wags his tail so fast you could beat eggs with it.
Tess opens the gate and stands back. Cami goes in and flops to the ground. Hugo crawls into her lap and Cami hugs him hard.
“You’re coming to live with us now, Hugo, forever and ever.”
Danika swallows hard. Love, in all its forms, is all around them this week, and Hugo is now a part of their family. She glances at Tess, who is looking at Cami and Hugo.
She must sense Danika’s gaze, as she meets her eyes. “I never get tired of this part. When an animal goes to a new home, and it’s so very obvious that animal is going to be loved and cared for. It’s not always the case, unfortunately.”
Cami puts on Hugo’s new harness and lead, and together they walk out of the run. There’s paperwork, of course, an appointment for a check in a month’s time, and the complimentary bag of dog food to be loaded into the RAV.
They forgot to buy a car harness for Hugo, but Tess lends them one and asks they drop it back when they’ve got one.
Danika looks at Cami and Hugo in the mirror. They’re sitting close together, Cami pointing out to him all the places they’ll go. Hugo leans against her, and the trust between them already makes Danika’s eyes go misty.
Kim and Bella arrive straight from school.
Bella walks in and goes to sit by Cami on the couch, letting Hugo come up to greet her when he’s ready.
It’s a mature response, and Danika realises Kim has told her what to do.
But soon, the girls are out in the garden, throwing a ball for their dog, who looks at them with a WTF expression. He’s obviously not a retriever.
Kim comes up to Danika and wraps her arms around her. “It’s good to see you. Extra special, because it’s the middle of the week.”
Danika kisses her, a gentle kiss she pours her heart and soul into. Family. Kim is my family now. Even if their romantic relationship fizzles, she knows Kim will always be there for her, and Cami.
“And you’re staying over,” she says when they break the kiss. “In my bed, unless you want to sleep on the couch.”
“Nope. Start as we mean to go on,” Kim says. “Bella understands.”
Danika leans into her for a few moments more. Family. The word thrums in her heart again, and thoughts of things not said push into her mind. It’s too early to say them, but they are there, nebulous and tentative, but maybe soon, they will coalesce into something that can be spoken.
The girls and Hugo come in, and Danika kisses Kim once more then moves away. “Are you here for snacks?” she asks the girls.
Cami nods. “Can we have the hot chilli dip and crackers?”
“Sure.” She gets the dip out of the fridge.
“What’s for dinner?” Bella asks.
“Veggie fried rice.” She spies Bella about to offer Hugo a cracker and dip. “Please don’t give that to Hugo; it might make him sick.”
“And we’re not going to feed him people-food,” Cami adds. “Not unless it’s in his bowl.”
“Okay,” Bella says. “Sorry.”
Dinner goes quickly, and then the girls and Hugo go off to Cami’s room. Danika pours her and Kim a glass of wine, and they sit on the couch, which is already covered in dog hairs.
Danika picks them off, but it’s a losing battle.
They talk about their day, wrangle gently over what to watch on TV before settling on an older series with Gillian Anderson that neither of them has seen. They finish their wine and switch to water.
After two episodes of Gillian, Danika gets up to check on the girls. She returns with a smile and beckons Kim to follow her.
The door to Cami’s room is ajar. Bella and Cami lie face to face on Cami’s bed, Hugo sprawled between them. All three are sound asleep.
“Guess I could have saved the hundred bucks on a bed for that dog,” Danika says.
“We could do the same,” Kim says. She runs a hand down Danika’s side, brushing over the edge of her breast, the indent of her waist, to cup her hip.
“What, fall asleep with a dog between us? Some chaperone that would be.”
“Go to bed,” Kim says.
And instantly, the air between them charges like an electrical storm, and their eyes meet.
Without a word, they go to Danika’s room, and undress in the dim light.
On the bed, their mouths and bodies meet and merge, soft words are spoken, their gentle caresses become more demanding, until they both reach their peaks.
Danika drifts in the afterglow of lovemaking, spooning Kim, her arm around her waist.
This is my family. This is my love.