Chapter 22

That Saturday was the last intermediate training class for the dog's, and they passed with flying colors again. Afterwards they were meeting the potential volunteer vet at Safe Haven. The director told them to go ahead and bring the dogs with them given the topic of the meeting. When they arrived, they buzzed the doorbell to be let inside.

Shane still on a high from the dog's intermediate graduation, "I told you they'd come in top dog again Oliver. They're just that smart." Oliver rolled his eyes glad the vet drove up at that point.

Staff came to let them in and taking them back to the director's office. Halfway there they heard a boy yell "Gryffin, Raven!" When Shane turned and saw Nathan, she released the dog's leash to let them greet him. The dogs were licking him while he tried to hug them. His mother followed slowly behind him confused.

"Nathan it's good to see you again." Shane said.

"Mom, this is the guy that has a cow named after him." Nathan said.

"Otherwise known as Oliver O'Toole." Oliver introduced himself, Shane, and the vet. "We're friends with Norman and Rita. We met Nathan the first night he stayed at their place."

"Shane helped pick out my clothes mom." Nathan said still petting the dogs.

Shane turned to Nathan's mom, "It's nice to meet you. We're here for a meeting with the director. If you're not in the middle of anything, it would be a huge help if Nathan could play with the dogs while we're in the meeting."

Nathan looked pleadingly at his mom, "Can I mom?"

"No problem. Come find us when you finish."

Watching them walk off, the vet turned to Oliver raising an eyebrow. "A cow?"

Oliver laughed. "It's a long story."

"Probably an interesting one." He responded. They walked off towards the director's office. After meeting with her and reviewing the information they had collected thus far, the director took the vet on a tour of the facility. Even though he had recently retired from working full time, he kept part ownership of his previous practice and could still use the practice if needed for non-profit work.

After wrapping up the meeting they went to find Nathan and his mom. Nathan was introducing Gryffin and Raven to a couple other children in the playroom.

Seeing Shane and Oliver return, his mom approached them, "He's so shy I hadn't been able to get him to talk to the other kids yet. It looks like the dogs broke the ice."

"They had a lot of fun playing with him at Norman and Rita's. He was great with them."

"They are the sweetest couple. I'll always be grateful for what great care they took of Nathan this week."

Oliver watched Shane watching the kids, "They are great people." They stayed talking for a while letting the kids play with the dogs before saying good-bye.

Watching them go, Nathan and his mom stood next to the director, "That was really nice of them to stay so the kids could play."

"They're an amazing couple. Their Foundation did all the upgrades on the children's playground. You'd never know that he's incredibly wealthy. They're both extremely down to earth and still work at the post office in the Dead Letter Office."

On the way home Shane asked, "I didn't know if you had anything you needed to do or if you'd have time to start decorating for Christmas this evening?"

"Nothing pressing." He smiled delighted to see her getting ready for the holiday after not celebrating Christmas for years.

Shane said seriously, "I just realized when we went through premarital counseling there was one thing we never discussed. It could potentially be a serious deal breaker Oliver."

Oliver looked concerned, "Excuse me?"

"Christmas trees. Real tree or fake tree?" Shane asked smirking.

Oliver smiled. "You had me scared for a moment. I love the smell of a real tree, but I hate the mess. A fake tree is easier to take care of but doesn't have the authenticity. I'm always conflicted. It's a major decision."

"Somehow your answer doesn't surprise me." Shane said wryly. "So, what do you usually do?"

Oliver turned serious, "When I was younger, I did purchase a small fake tree but as I got older usually got a real one. When I was with Holly, I let her decide. What about you?"

Shane was surprised he mentioned Holly. He usually avoided the topic. "Remember I rarely celebrated Christmas until I met you. It wasn't a decision that came up often. Do you have a Christmas tree?"

"I still have the small one. It's not particularly festive possibly a bit sad." Oliver smiled thinking of how Shane would react when she saw the tree.

Arriving home Oliver helped Shane pull out Christmas decorations from the garage and attic. When they opened the little tree box, he pulled it out in the garage. Shane tried not to laugh, "Oliver, it's tiny, it's missing bits and it makes Charlie Brown's tree look like the most beautiful thing in the world. You said sad but I think the word you were looking for was pitiful."

"It is indeed pitiful. You can see why I usually got a real one."

"I can look up Christmas tree lots and we could pick one up after church tomorrow."

"Where would you like to put one up? We'd need to determine what size we should get."

"What about in the living room? We spend most of our evenings there."

They went through the rest of the decorations in the garage to see what they had between the two of them. After not celebrating Christmas for years before meeting Oliver, Shane only started accumulating decorations after arriving at the DLO. Focusing on the outside of the house they put a few things out on the porch and went through some of the lights to see if they were working, she helped Oliver string them along the edge of the porch. They brought the rest of the boxes inside and left them next to the fireplace until they sorted out the tree.