I stood huddled next to my mother, standing under an awning beside a closed café, trying to keep out of the rain. I stamped my tiny pink rain boots in a puddle impatiently. I had no idea what was going on.
"Mommy? Where's daddy?" I asked curiously. She crouched down to meet her honey eyes with mine.
"He'll be back soon sweetheart. He's got a surprise for you," she said with a wink. I grew more impatient by the minute. The rain grew weary, and I started to blink with sleepy eyes. My mother picked me up, rubbing my back. She smelled like honeysuckle as golden as her eyes. It was one of my fondest memories.
After an endless hour of waiting, a silhouette appeared at the end of the block. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. My face brightened when I saw my father, and raced in the light drizzle to attack his legs with my tiny hugs. He laughed and patted me on the head. I was confused. He normally picked me up and twirled me around. But my attention was averted when the right side of his trench coat began to wriggle, and I jumped when the khaki colored fabric sneezed. My father crouched down and unbuttoned his coat. A yellow ball of fur lunged playfully out of it, wildly licking my face with hot puppy breath, thumping his tail on my legs.
"Is he ours Daddy?" I asked with wide eyes.
"Tell you what, if you come up with a reaaaaally good name for him, he's all yours." I smiled from ear to ear.
"You mean it?" I stood there for a few minutes wracking my four-year-old brain. "How about pumpkin?"
My father looked over at mother who nodded. "Pumpkin it is!" I clutched my new puppy in one arm, and walked hand in hand with my mother back to our car. As we drove, a mist began to creep along the road. In the woods I saw a flash of blonde and blue for a second, resembling a young boy. But instead of lingering on it, I fell asleep with my cheek pressed against the window, and pumpkin snoring in my lap.