A Patchwork Fantasy Snippet full of paws and parenting.
In which two fathers find a pet for their son.
- Follow this podcast on Tumblr or Twitter!
- Check out the music used in this episode at purple-planet.com.
- Penny for a tale? You can tip your storyteller on Ko-fi!
- Read the full transcript below:
Transcript
[Soft, mysterious music]
Laura: Hi, you can call me Laura. This is Patchwork Fairy Tales and you’ve just stumbled upon a Patchwork Fantasy Snippet. If you want to read as well as listen, check out the transcript linked in the description.
[Music fades]
“I really hope this works…”
Victor squeezed his husband’s hand for a moment. “Even if it doesn’t, it’ll still help. Look how excited he is.”
Kai was hurrying along in front of them, jumping over bollards and benches instead of walking around them. He was only eight, but already so strong, and fast. It wasn’t even close to full moon yet.
“Yeah,” Hasan smiled. “I mean, it’s not like we can back out now.”
“Come on,” Kai groaned at them, bouncing on the balls of his feet at the entrance of the building.
“No,” Victor muttered. “We really can’t.”
It took Kai all of three seconds to grab them both by the hand and drag them inside. They had been to the shelter so many times he knew the way by heart now. It has been so disappointing on him, the long wait. Victor found himself crossing his fingers and wishing extra hard while they were being shown into the meeting room. This dog had sounded perfect on the phone, but—
All his concerns were interrupted by the absolute joy of gasp escaping from Kai’s lungs at the sight of the husky.
“Easy now,” Hasan warned him. “Listen to the handlers, okay?”
“Yes, Dad.” Kai was already beaming up at the guy currently employed in scratching the large pup behind her ear.
“Kai, little dude,” he grinned. “Come say hi! Can you believe someone brought this girl back because they thought she was too much work?”
Victor could hear the slight hitch of indignation in Hasan’s breath at that, and didn’t quite manage to hide his smile. To be completely honest, he had never been worried about whether having a dog would be good for Kai, not once they had found the right one. But he had been concerned about his husband. Hasan had never been a dog person. It had been a very steep learning curve for him since Kai’s seventh birthday. But right now, Victor was watching him slowly crouch down to take a look at the dog that their son was already crawling towards on all fours.
The husky cocked her head to the side and looked at Kai. “Give her a little time,” the guy warned him. “She’s—” But at that moment the husky left his side, went over to Kai, and promptly pushed her nose in his face.
The joyful noise Kai made wasn’t quite human and the yellow glint of happiness in his eyes as he looked back at his parents certainly wasn’t, but the shelter attendants were too busy being pleasantly surprised to notice.
The young woman that had shown them in was clearly a little worried still, though. “Are you sure you’re up for taking in a husky?” she asked Victor in a low voice. “They need a lot of exercise, you’ll need to run with them every day. And they get pretty big.”
“Dad, look!” Kai cried in the background, stroking the puppy through her thick fur. “Her eyes are blue.”
“I see,” Hasan’s smiling reply came. “She’s beautiful.”
“Yeah,” Victor muttered, with a bit of a lump in his throat. A handful of a dog. Someone to be with Kai when the moon was full. Someone to run with him that wouldn’t get tired. Someone to play with him that wouldn’t pull a muscle in the first three minutes. Someone to keep him company until they’d manage to find some other people that were like Kai. People that could teach him. “No, we know,” he assured her. “Big, strong, energetic, stubborn, loud, and lots of shedding. That’s what we’re signing up for.”
“Dad.” Kai would have sounded demanding if it hadn’t been for the enthusiasm shining on his face. “Come meet Blue!”
“Coming,” Victor laughed, and he walked over to take his rightful place, crouching on the floor, with his husband, their werewolf son, and their new dog.
[Soft, mysterious music returns]
Laura: Thank you for listening, I hope you liked this snippet of patchwork fantasy. Transcripts, easy streaming, and all the information about this podcast and all my other creations can be found on laurasimons.com.
There’s another tale to tell some other day, but until then: remember to guard your name, and be safe.
[Music fades]
Copyright Laura Simons, please do not copy my stories without my permission, lest you insult the fae.