Story #3 – The Puppy

Now in Michigan

Wow what a trip. We travelled 819 miles all the way across Iowa, into Illinois having to travel through the big city of Chicago, which Richard dreaded as he did not like driving through such a large city with the toll roads and all the darn traffic. We then touched Indiana and finally up into Michigan. Richard’s stress level was on high with the screaming kids that would not sit still in the back and the multiple stops they had to make as someone always had to go the bathroom and always at a different time than the other one!  Through all this, they finally made it! The base was situated in a nice little town with a beautiful shoreline of Lake Huron.  Driving into town they had the feeling of something totally different from the last two places they had been stationed. As they drove further in, they were surrounded by water and lovely green forests. They had to look twice at the map to make sure they were in the right place. They finally spotted the base and made their way to the security gate as Richard pulled out his ID card for them. The two gentlemen at the gate stood to attention and saluted him as he was a man of authority and they needed to make sure they greeted him properly.  They were exceedingly kind and directed us to our housing unit with extremely specific directions to make sure we found it okay (and perhaps to make sure Richard did not come back on them for bad directions).  It was a nice new brick townhome with a community park just across the street for the kids.  As they started the daunting task of unloading the car, they were greeted by a neighbor from one of the other townhomes nearby and shortly after another couple from the other side came out to greet them and welcome them to the neighborhood also.  It was already shaping up to be a much better place to live than the last experiences.

As they settled into the new place and new neighborhood, Richard was still on a mission to get Kiara to at least like him! Richard trained dogs professionally so did not really care to have a pet of his own to have to take care of.  The kids and his wife, however had a completely different idea.  They hounded him daily it seemed with pictures of animals that were up for adoption or talked about the neighbor’s dogs they had played with.  One day as Richard was tired from a long day at work, one of his fellow officers stopped him and asked if he wanted to go for a beer. Well Richard was exhausted from the day and all he really wanted was to go home to his wife and kids but thought he should make the effort to at least be friendly since he was new in the area.  As they sat at the bar, the conversation turned towards a conversation about their families, and this gentleman, Robert was his name, preceded to tell Richard about his dog and the new puppies they have now. Oh no, Richard thought, more talk about dogs!  As he listened to him talk about how well-mannered the mother of the pups was, he started to form an idea.  What if he were to come home with one of the puppies?  He knew that his wife, Tristan, and especially Kiara (who loved every type of animal) would be so excited and delighted with him for bringing it home and it being his idea.  He had to sit on it for a bit because he knew he would end up with the task of training the darn thing but of course they finished their beer and off they went to see the puppies.

Richard pulled up in his pickup trying to be as quiet as possible as he really wanted to walk in and catch them by surprise.  He had the cute little black and white puppy in a box and he was even already kind of smitten with how cute the darn little thing was sitting upright wagging his tail just looking up at him with those big brown eyes.  He grabbed the puppy and tried hiding it buried in his jacket as he slowly opened the front door just barely peaking his head around the corner.  He made it in the door without anyone seeing or hearing him, and he could hear voices in the kitchen and knew they were all in the one room.  He was trying to remove his military boots quietly but the puppy kept licking him and it was all he could do to try and keep him quiet.  He kept trying to move his face away as the puppy continuously licked him and it thought he wanted play, so it instantly started jumping on him and out came the barking! He glared at the pup as sounds were coming from the kitchen as they all rushed to the front door following the sounds of the barks!  There were screams of happiness all around as they all kneeled on the ground for the puppy to come to each and every one of them with wet kisses and a big wagging tail to let them all know how happy he was to be with them! Claire gave Richard a great big hug and thanked him for coming to his senses about having a pet!  After they had all had their playtime with the puppy, Claire told both the kids to thank their father.  Tristan ran into his arms and gave him a great big hug and thanked him over and over.  Kiara stood and watched Tristan and as her father slowly released Tristan, she walked over to him and he kneeled on the ground so he could be at her level. Kiara slowly made her way over to his reached-out arms and went right into them and wrapped her little arms around his neck and she whispered, “thank you daddy!”

Next onto more adventures with puppy Pepper and Kiara!