Balderdash: Culpable

After dinner, I found myself in Emmanuel’s room browsing the adoption website for a new member of our family. He was so excited he couldn’t stop bouncing himself on the bed. I have to admit, I was pretty excited too. None of the foster homes I lived in ever had pets. I suppose taking care of someone else’s children was enough of an adventure.

When I pulled up the list of dogs, Emmanuel rushed beside me, crowding my space. There weren’t as many puppies as I imagined there would be. “Ooh! Let’s get a pug!”

Emmanuel laughed. “Her face is smashed in!”

I popped him–playfully, of course. There were a variety of breeds, including foxes. I’ll never understand why they think it’s safe to adopt a fox. I don’t care how domesticated they are. They definitely won’t come live in this house.

“The spotty one! I want the spotty one!”

I laughed. “He’s a Dalmatian, silly.”

“Can we get him pleeeease, mom?”

The foxes weren’t welcome, Rotwielers may get us in trouble with the neighbors, and the others were just not cute. I could have gone for the Shiba, but we’ve already established this was not my dog, so the Dalmatian it is.

My cute little guy pounced on me and filled my heart with joy. “THANKS, MOM! I LOVE YOU!”

I’m glad he’s going to have this experience. At first, I was concerned about how big the dog would get, but I think it’s perfect. Emmanuel and his new friend will grow up together. Besides, it’s not like he’ll have a sibling to grow with. At least not right now. He’ll be a teenager by then.

Within the hour, a man in a suit from the adoption agency arrived with our new family member in a carrier. I don’t know about Emmanuel, but the pomp and circumstance made it feel so special. Who knew adopting a dog was so official?

He was the cutest little thing! Emmanuel practically knocked me down to meet the puppy.

The adoption man bent down to say goodbye. “Ok, Kudos. This is your new home! I’m sure these nice people will take good care of you.”

He introduced himself while my son was being hypnotized by his new best friend. The man said that he would stick around for a bit while we get introduced. He said sometimes the initial meetings don’t go well, or the dog isn’t a good fit and he has to take them back. I suppose it is difficult to tell whether you’ll like it from a picture on the Internet. Kind of like online dating.

“He likes me, mom! He likes me!”

Who wouldn’t like my son? He’s freakin adorable, and so is his dog. Two cute little dudes. I left him to get acquainted with Kudos just to make sure this was his final decision.

My brother joined us. “Oh! We have company. Hi, I’m Antoine. Who are you?”

“He’s the guy from the adoption agency.”

He looked at me like I had three heads. “Adoption?”

“Dog adoption, doofus!”

As if he didn’t see the puppy when he sat down. He will troll me every chance he gets!

“Oh. I didn’t know you were getting the dog so soon, Dre.”

“Why not? It’s what he wants.”

He snorted. “You give that boy everything he wants. You keep that up, he’ll be running this house!”

I sucked my teeth. “He’s a good kid, Toine! There’s nothing wrong with rewards every now and then.”

He laughed. “Yeah, that’s true, but he gets rewards like it’s going out of style!”

I threatened him with my fist. “I can’t wait ’til you have kids! A little girl who has you wrapped around her finger! You let me raise my son!”

Cute giggles erupted from us. “He’s licking me!”

They were so cute together! My brother can act like I’m spoiling my son if he wants to. I think the puppy is exactly what he needs. Not only will it give him another friend, but also it will teach him responsibility.

After watching Emmanuel and Kudos play, I told the adoption man it was safe to say we’ll take the dog. I paid him the money, he gave us a dog bowl and bed and went on his merry way. Good thing Emmanuel had already done his homework because there was no way I would have been able to tear him away from the dog.

“Mom! Can I take him to dad’s house?”

Of course, he would want to show off to Zayne. I don’t know how he feels about animals, and it was getting late. He was probably at work anyway. I put the kibosh on that and gave him some instructions–and warnings–before I went to bed.

“I know, mom, I know! I’ll take him outside and feed him and do everything! I got this!”

Uh huh…

I said goodnight to my sweet boy and went to bed. My first instinct was to stay up and make sure he did everything he was supposed to do, but I shouldn’t be a helicopter mom. He’s getting older, and he’ll never be responsible for anything with me hanging around all the time. I hoped that when I woke up, everything would be in order.

“Go pee, Kudos!”

“Oh no! You’re supposed to go in the grass!”

“Kudos? Where are you?”

“Kudos?”
*barking*
*gasp*
“Kudos! No! You’re not supposed to be in there!”

“This is my room. You can stay in here with me. I hope you like your bed. I love you, Kudos! Goodnight!”