Zuma wasn't sure what woke him. He lay snuggled against his Mommy listening to his heartbeat. Unfortunately, his full bladder wouldn't let him fall back asleep. This was not fair, he thought grumpily. Last night was sooo long, he needed his beauty sleep like Daddy teased Mommy about. Didn't they know it was hard to be so cute?
Giving in to the inevitable he slid off the couch and snarled when his paws hit the floor. Uncle McGee said he was fixing his paws but they were still sore. Zuma glared at the offending socks. He had even deigned to wear frilly white socks for goodness sakes. Zuma looked at Mommy and considered waking him to carry the pup; but Daddy said Mommy was hurt too and needed to sleep. Mommy did look tired and hurt when Daddy and grandpa put he and Zuma to sleep on the couch. Zuma would just have to tough it out. He hated leaving Mommy alone, though.
Rocky! Zuma thought. He limped over to where Rocky lay on the coffee table. "Would you watch Mommy and keep him company for me?" He listened for any negative response. "Thanks, Rocky! I need to find Daddy." Grasping Rocky, he struggled back to the couch and managed to push Rocky up beside Mommy. "Keep a good watch on him, please."
Zuma limped from the foyer to the kitchen where he could hear Daddy and grandDaddy talking. He didn't like sore paws a bit, he thought grumpily. "Daddy, I need you to pick me up!" Zuma barked. Daddy and grandpa looked at him but didn't make a move.
"Morning, Zuma. Come here, boy." Grandpa said.
Didn't they understand? His paws were sore. Zuma was not a happy pup. He started to call his Daddy again but his full bladder was really full and he tried to shuffle his back legs together.
"Leroy, I think he needs to go…NOW."
Zuma loved grandpa. He at least listened when Zuma told him what he needed. Grandpa was laughing now as Daddy jumped up and hurried to lift Zuma and carry him outback. Now that his needs were being seen to, Zuma felt a bit guilty. Daddy and Mommy did their best and he really did love them. Daddy didn't yell at him, even times like now when Zuma accidently wet on Daddy's hand. "Sorry, Daddy, I couldn't hold it anymore," Zuma whined his apology as he emptied his bladder in relief.
"It's okay, Zuma, everyone has accidents." Daddy went and rinsed his hand under the garden faucet. He wiped his hand on a garden rag. "You were such a good boy last night. I was very proud of how you took care of Tony."
Zuma loved to hear Daddy talk about Mommy. Daddy's eyes always smiled when Mommy was mentioned. The grass was softer to walk on and Zuma soon found a spot for his 'morning constitutional' as Grandpa called it.
"I can't believe how close I came to losing both of you." Daddy said. "Then Tony had to deal with the whole Mabus issue. He likes to put on a tough veneer, but now he has us."
"Yes, he does." Zuma agreed.
"All finished?" Daddy asked.
Zuma cocked his head and considered. Was his bladder totally emptied? He squatted and tried to go again. Nope! He was done. "All finished, Daddy. Pick me up, please." Zuma walked over and placed a paw on Daddy's leg and Daddy obediently picked him up.
"Do you know Tony and I got married two weeks ago this morning? Based on what Pitt said, he can't go upstairs for a while."
What? Zuma perked his ears up. Mommy couldn't go upstairs and sleep in Zuma's bed with Daddy and Zuma. This would not do and he told Daddy so.
"I don't want to sleep without him." Jethro admitted.
Zuma stared at Daddy. He did not like sleeping in his bed alone. He liked when he and Mommy and Daddy cuddled up together. Daddy had better fix this. The pup wasn't sure how Daddy could but he knew it was Daddy's job to fix it.
"There's a lot to do today. Best get started." Daddy said carrying him back inside. "Dad, if we're going to get this done, I should go pick some things up." Daddy sat Zuma down by his food bowl. Breakfast! Zuma realized how hungry he was and tore into his food keeping one ear on the conversation as he ate.
"I'll go ahead and show the boys where we're going to put things." Jackson stated.
"I'll take Zuma with me. That way no one trips."
That sounded good. Zuma loved to take trips. Especially in the pouch Uncle Fornell had brought him. It was so warm and he could hear Mommy's heartbeat and smell him. Zuma also loved being able to look out and see things that were usually so high above him. Finishing his breakfast, he limped over to his carrier and laid down. Daddy came and picked Zuma up. Zuma readied himself to go in his carrier.
"Wait, Daddy. My carrier. Stop." Zuma wiggled. Once down he limped back to his carrier and sat down on it. Daddy picked him up again and started to put him in his stroller. Zuma stretched out all four paws and stiffened his body. He didn't want the stroller. Yeah, the stroller was nice for taking walks with Mommy and Daddy. He and Rocky could just talk and chew and listen to Daddy and Mommy but he couldn't hear their heartbeats. Grandpa was laughing again; as Zuma limped back to his carrier. This was NOT funny. Zuma gripped his carrier between his teeth. It wasn't usually this hard to make Daddy understand.
Daddy picked up the carrier and Zuma. Zuma sighed in relief. Finally. He crawled into the pouch and turned to look out; but wait, Daddy was putting him in the stroller. "Daddy," Zuma barked grumpily. "I do not want the stroller. My paws are sore, I'm tired, and I want to listen to your heartbeat. Now put me on like Mommy does."
It felt like forever but eventually Daddy strapped Zuma to his chest tightly. "About time." Zuma muttered and turned around to look out. He barked good-bye at Grandpa. It would be a relief when Mommy was better. It was much easier to make him understand. There was a bit of an issue at the car when Daddy went to lift him out of the carrier, just as Zuma got comfortable. A few choice words were snarled at him and finally Daddy got into the car. This was great. Zuma could look out over the dash. He was so busy looking around, he wasn't really paying attention to what Daddy was saying about Uncle Fornell but Daddy's chest was rumbling comfortingly. What was that? There was a squealing noise even louder than Auntie Abby. Why were they stopping? It was getting louder. Zuma ducked into his carrier to get away from it. He could hear Daddy talking to a stranger. Then the stranger called his name.
Zuma popped up to see who was talking to him. The stranger looked nice. "Hi, I'm Agent Zuma." Zuma barked. He used one of his paws to help steady himself while he studies the man in uniform. He had a badge, too. Not as nice as the one Uncle Leon gave Zuma of course.
"You're a hero then." The officer held his hand out and let Zuma sniff. When the pup nudged him, the stranger gave Zuma a good ear scratch and then gently shook his paw. "Do you mind?" The cop produced a smart phone. Zuma considered. He really didn't want a picture of himself in frilly socks, but the man had been very nice and treated him like a hero. Zuma held still and looked cute.
"Could I hold you, Agent Zuma?"
Zuma thought for a minute. He was really comfortable in the pouch but he looked at Daddy and Daddy was smiling. "Fine. Just for a few minutes." Zuma agreed. The stranger held him very nicely and told him how good a boy that was. It took away some of Zuma's grumpiness. The stranger shook his paw carefully and Daddy took more pictures. Then the man handed the pup back to Daddy and Zuma crawled into his carrier happily.
Wow, he and Daddy had a lot to do. They stopped at the grocery store first. The grocery store was okay. Zuma wasn't overly excited. There was nothing to eat or play with there. Of course, Daddy stopped at the back and pointed to a large red thing. He promised Zuma that when he was older; Daddy would buy one and cook it just for him. Zuma wasn't really excited. It didn't look as tasty as his puppy food or treats.
Daddy picked up a few treats for Mommy and some drinks and things for company. Zuma loved company. Uncle McGee was so good at scratching and he was caring for Zuma's paws. Zuma liked Auntie Abby when she wasn't so loud. Victoria was a strange creature. She didn't move a lot but she waved to him a lot. He liked talking to her. Zuma realized he owed her a favor. Her Daddy had loaned him the socks that kept Uncle McGee from using that horrendous yellow stuff. Daddy stopped in the baby food aisle. There were socks hanging up. Daddy held one down to look at.
"Daddy, they are ugly. I am not wearing those. Even these frilly things are better." Zuma was relieved when Daddy agreed and hung them back up. Whew! The grocery store was really tiring though. There were a lot of boys and girls who wanted to meet him like the stranger earlier. Zuma didn't know how he felt about so many people wanting to shake his paw or scratch his ears or pet his head. He thought about saying no but he looked at his Daddy who had a play smile on and he was pretending to be nice. Well, if Daddy could do it, so could Zuma. The pup straightened up in his carrier and put on a cute face. This was going to be a long day.
The next stop was the pet store. Zuma liked it. There were bags of food everywhere. Zuma couldn't look fast enough. All around the store were toys and bones and toys and food and toys and brushes. Those Zuma growled at.
"Aren't you so cute? Agent Zuma, are you?" Zuma obligingly talked with the lady telling her about the take-down and Mommy being hurt. He explained that they were running errands and he really needed some more treats, please. He was relieved to see Daddy pick up a couple boxes. At the counter, the nice lady hooked something to his carrier. It looked like the car the man from earlier had driven. Zuma pounced it and it squeaked. Zuma loved it and told the lady so. He thanked her very politely. Once in the car, Zuma curled into his pouch with his new friend. Each time it squealed he could hear Daddy mutter. He knew Daddy liked his toy, too.
When the car stopped again Zuma picked out eager to show Mommy his new toy. It was just more buildings. He slumped back into his pouch. He's let Daddy do the shopping here. He had a new toy to play with. Rocky was going to be so surprised. Zuma was starting to wish Rocky was with him. Rocky always knew when his teeth were itchy and he never complained and he let Zuma cuddle him when Rocky got tired. Zuma heard another woman call his name and really thought about not answering. Being adorable was hard work. With a sigh, Zuma popped his head up.
There on the table were socks. Zuma looked at his frilly paw. There were a lot of socks with thrills. Daddy had a picture of Victoria on his phone and was pointing to the socks. Victoria seemed to like the frilly ones. Zuma struggled to get out and down. The lady was laughing and motioning to Daddy. Zuma looked over the socks. Victoria would like the white with red, he decided picking them up and handing them to Daddy. There were a pair of pink with a lot of pouf. He looked at his frilly socks deciding she would like those, also. So he added them to the socks in Daddy's hand. He looked at the others and just prayed Daddy wasn't buying any more for him.
Daddy picked him up and the lady took the socks for Victoria. They walked to another table. Zuma shouted in excitement. Now they were talking. The pup wiggled in delight. There were socks that looked like Mommy's walking shoes. There were socks with trains. He helped Daddy pick out several pair. Superman! Zuma couldn't restrain his excitement. He told the lady about watching Superman with Mommy and how he was a hero. Just like Zuma. But Daddy was reaching for him to lift him. Zuma evaded him and lunged for the Superman socks. Daddy couldn't actually be planning to leave without them.
Zuma was shocked. Daddy was telling him to drop them. "Daddy, I want Superman socks to wear when Mommy and I watch Superman." He still told him to drop them. "Daddy. I need Superman socks they are what heroes wear. If Mommy were here, he would buy them." Zuma insisted. "No. I want these socks. If you have enough, put a pair of those back and get these ones. Put back the Washington Nationals. Grandpa can come pack for them later." Zuma pouted and fussed and held them tight. Finally, Daddy sighed and picked him up taking them to the counter. Zuma almost danced on the counter as he watched the lady put his Superman socks in the bag. Of course, he didn't. It wouldn't be cool. Agents and heroes had an image to maintain.
Daddy helped him back in his carrier but Zuma hurried to be sure Daddy didn't forget the bag. He rode to the car happily. His head laying on the frilly socks. Heroes didn't wear frilly socks. He daydreamed about the adventures he and Rocky would have wearing his Superman socks. Once in the car, he curled down in the pouch. He missed Rocky. Rocky was probably missing Zuma, too. The raccoon liked to nap with Zuma hugging him. When the car stopped, Zuma curled tighter. He was too tired, uh, too busy to shop anymore. There were too many people. Besides, Daddy had got his treats and his Superman socks. What else could Daddy need to buy? Zuma decided to let Daddy do the talking.
Wait, that laugh. That was Mommy's laugh. Zuma hurried to push his new toy away. The pup wiggled and crawled up to look out. It was Mommy. Zuma couldn't contain his excitement. Mommy was looking at the socks. "Hi, Mommy. Daddy and I went shopping and bought treats and bought socks." Daddy lifted Zuma out and put him on the couch. Zuma nosed through the socks scattered on Tony's lap before latching on to the superman ones. Picking them up gently he pushed them into Tony's hand. "See Mommy, Daddy got me Superman socks. Put them on me please." Zuma barked.
"Do you want your superman socks put on? Is that it?" Tony gathered the socks up and put them in their bag. "Tell you what. Uncle McGee is coming to check your paws. We'll tell him to put these on you."
Tony tried to take them but Zuma shook his head. "No, Mommy. Don't put them away. I need to wear them now."
Tony scooped the pup up and cuddled him. "As soon as uncle Tim comes." Zuma gave in. He put his socks on Mommy's lap and Zuma concentrated on giving him kisses. "You'll never guess what I found bedside me when I woke up." Mommy said to him holding up Rocky. "Did you leave him here to take care of me? You're such a good boy, aren't you?"
"Rocky. I have so much to tell you. Daddy and I went shopping." Zuma accepted his raccoon and settled down to chew on Rocky's tail while telling him about the grocery store and pet store and his Superman socks. Rocky was as excited as Zuma was when the pup told him about the adventures they would have. Rocky was so tired that he fell asleep while Zuma was telling him about his…yawn… Superman socks.