"Darling…"
Jennifer rolled over in her sleep.
"Darling…"
She frowned slightly. Someone was calling her; it sounded like Jonathan. But Jonathan wasn't in her dream…
"Darling, wake up."
Jonathan leant over his Sleeping Beauty and kissed her cheek. "It's time to get up."
Jennifer's eyes opened slowly and she found herself staring at Jonathan. She smiled, and he grinned back.
"It's time to get up," he repeated, and Jennifer kissed him in response.
"Max is taking the puppy to the vet now."
"Oh," said Jennifer and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. From outside, they heard a bark.
"Speak of the devil," Jonathan said, and went to open the door. Immediately, the puppy trotted in and jumped onto the bed.
"Good morning," Jennifer said, patting him.
"It's a good thing we bathed him last night. We don't want mud all over the place," said Jonathan, joining her on the bed again to pat him.
They both looked up as there was a knock at the door. Max stood there, balancing a breakfast tray. "Mr and Mrs H, I'm sorry but I gotta take the dog now. Here's your breakfast," he added, and Jonathan took it.
"Thanks Max," he said, and Jennifer handed him the puppy. He barked.
"We'll be back soon," Max told them and left, closing the door behind him.
Jonathan turned to Jennifer and pulled her close. "So, what shall we do today?" he asked her.
"Darling, there are lots of things to do!" she exclaimed, surprised that he'd forgotten. "I've got to finish that piece before next week, and there's the shopping we have to do because now Max isn't here—"
Jonathan interrupted her list with a kiss. "Or, we could just forget all that," he murmured against her neck.
Jennifer considered, catching on with his train of thought immediately. "Well…I suppose my story isn't due till Tuesday. And we don't need to eat until lunchtime," she said.
"You forgot the most important thing," he said.
"What's that?"
"We're alone," he answered and kissed her again.
H2H
The front door opened.
"Hello?" Max called.
Jonathan and Jennifer ran in from the kitchen.
"Max! How did it go?" Jennifer asked, taking the puppy from him.
"The puppy doesn't have any micro-chip so if you can't find the owner, you can keep him," Max answered.
"Great! Who did you take him to?" Jennifer asked.
"Just the local vet."
"Well, I suppose we'd better start putting the flyers up," said Jonathan.
"You made them already?" Max asked, incredulously.
"Of course, Max. Come and see them," he said, and led the way into the kitchen. A pile of papers sat on the table. Max picked one up and examined it.
"This looks pretty good," he said. "Now, what's for lunch?" he asked, turning back to the Harts. They glanced at each other slightly sheepishly.
"Well, we were a little busy this morning and we, er… misplaced the shopping list," Jonathan explained.
"Aw Mr H, I'm hungry," said Max.
"Well, we are too, Max. Tell you what: we'll go out and put the flyers up while you go shopping, and we'll all have a late lunch," Jennifer said.
Max sighed and opened the back door. "OK Mrs H. Just don't complain to me when you get hunger pains," said Max and exited. Jennifer turned to Jonathan.
"Oh dear."
"He'll be fine," Jonathan said, dismissively. "Besides, I'd rather go without lunch than without you."
H2H
Five days later…
Jennifer sat with the dog, rolling a ball to him as Jonathan watched them from the couch. Max came in.
"Mr H, here's your drink," he said, and handed Jonathan a mug.
"Thanks Max."
"Mrs H, do you want one?" Max asked Jennifer.
"Yes please Max," answered Jennifer, not looking up from the puppy.
Max watched her playing with the dog for a moment, then sighed.
"Coming up," he said, a little coldly, and went back into the kitchen.
Jennifer looked up at his tone to see the kitchen door swing shut. She looked over at Jonathan in surprise, and he raised his eyebrows at her.
"Darling," she said, coming over to sit next to him, "do you think Max is upset with me because I'm paying so much attention to the puppy?"
"Yes, I do," he answered.
Jennifer thought for a moment. "Are you jealous?" she asked, looking at him worriedly. Jonathan fought a smile at her anxious expression. "Is this a serious love affair?" he asked.
Jennifer smiled at him, her forehead relaxing. "Well, I'm a very old-fashioned girl. I can only handle one love affair at a time," she said, and leant forward to kiss him. "But darling, do you really think Max will be upset if we adopt this puppy? I mean, it's been a week already, and no one's come to collect the dog."
"No, I think he'll warm up soon enough. Besides," Jonathan said, going over to pick the puppy up, "Max knows how much you love animals. Sooner or later, we probably would've gotten a dog, anyway." He sat down next to Jennifer with the puppy.
"We need to get a vet so that we can get him micro-chipped. And we need a collar," she said.
"But before we get a collar, we have to name him," Jonathan said.
"Oh, dear. I don't have any ideas, do you?" Jennifer asked.
Jonathan thought for a moment. "Hey, I've got one," he said, "we found him on the freeway. So why don't we call him that?"
"Freeway?" Jennifer repeated. She looked down at the puppy. "What do you think, Freeway?" she asked him.
He barked and wagged his tail. The Harts laughed.
"I think he likes it," said Jonathan.
"OK, then. Freeway it is. Max!" Jennifer called.
Max pushed open the kitchen door. "Yes, Mrs H?"
"We're adopting the puppy," said Jennifer, holding Freeway up. "No one's come to collect him, and we can't leave him all alone by himself."
Max came over and sat on the couch, his expression careful.
"We're naming him Freeway because we found him on the freeway," Jennifer continued, "and we'll go and get him micro-chipped tomorrow. So, what do you think?"
Max stared at them, then slowly stood up. Freeway barked.
"Well… good for you two."
Jennifer and Jonathan stared at Max as he went over to the kitchen door again, then suddenly, he turned around. "But I ain't feeding him, bathing him, walking him or doing anything for him! You want a dog, you're getting one—without any help from me!" Max said, and the door swung shut behind him.
There was a long pause.
"Was it something I said?" Jennifer asked, her eyes still on the spot where Max had just disappeared.
Jonathan looked at her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, darling. I'm sure he'll cool off," he reassured her.
"But I can't have Max hating me forever!" Jennifer said, turning to look at him. "Jonathan, what will I do?"
"Well, maybe we'll give it a few days. Max is going to have to get used to us having divided attention from now on. But we'll have to make sure we don't ignore him completely, which may be hard with a new addition to the family," Jonathan said.
Jennifer nodded, but didn't look convinced.
"Don't worry," he said, and pulled her against his chest. "Max will get used to it," Jonathan said, and kissed her forehead.
H2H