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“AAHHH!!!” Emil squealed. “Look at him, Mickey! Isn’t he cute!!”
Michele sighed. “Emil, that’s not one of the shelter dogs, you can’t- never mind.” He slapped his forehead; Emil had already run over to the dog, a hulking German Shepherd, smiled a dazzling smile at the tall woman standing next to him and promptly proceeded to pet the poor animal to within an inch of its life, grinning like a complete idiot.
While Emil had been fussing over the dog, and Michele had been staring at the same wall of leaflets for fifteen minutes, the line had inched ever closer, and Michele was startled out of his daydream by the woman at the desk.
“Next, please!”
Michele turned to Emil. “Put him down, it’s our turn!”
Emil pouted. “But he's such a good boy…”
“He might be, but remember why we’re here? We’re gonna get one of our own.” Michele stepped forward to face the woman at the desk.
“Hello! You two must be Emil and Michele? It’s great to hear you’re interested in adopting a dog, the home visit has been done, hasn’t it?” The two men nodded.
“Yep!” Emil beamed. “I’m so excited!”
The receptionist smiled gently. “Well, that’s certainly good. If you’d like to come this way, a colleague will come and take you to see the dogs we think will be a good match.” She pointed to a young woman, small with wavy ginger hair in a high ponytail. The girl waved enthusiastically in response.
The girl was named Lizzie, as she cheerfully introduced herself, and was volunteering at the shelter while studying abroad. She brought them to the first kennel, stopping at the information card in front of the door.
“Okay, so this is Ziggy, he's about 1 to 3 years old, we're not entirely sure how old he actually is,” she pointed at the dog in the kennel, who had come up to the door to see what was going on. “He's a husky, very high energy and loves exploring, generally very polite but can be excitable around other dogs.”
Emil bounced in place. “He's so lovely!! Can we play with him a little?”
Lizzie grinned. “Of course, but just to warn you, he's not a fan of cuddles or loads of attention, so be careful.” She unlocked the kennel door, producing a lead from her pocket. “Ziggy, you've got visitors!”
The dog leapt up at her, and Michele was silently impressed at how the tiny Lizzie was able to take the weight of the enormous husky. “Hey sweetie, you ready for a walk?”
She clipped the lead to his collar, before straightening up. “Would you two like to do the honours? We're going to the field at the back so he can have a bit of a run.” Emil beamed.
“Yes!” He took the lead from Lizzie's outstretched hand. Ziggy zipped off, Emil managing to keep up behind him. Michele hung back to chat with Lizzie.
“Do you have much experience with dogs at all?” Lizzie questioned. “Ideally, we'd like Ziggy to go to a home with experience of the husky breed, as well as experience with dogs in general, as he still needs a lot of further training with basic obedience and impulse control.”
Michele shook his head. “No, my sister had a cat growing up, but Emil grew up with a schnauzer.”
Lizzie considered that for a second. “Hmm, okay.”
“Is Ziggy good with children? Emil has quite a few nieces and nephews, and we babysit for our neighbours so they're around quite a lot.” Michele asked.
“He's not particularly, and he's not great around other dogs either, or cats. I'm not so sure Ziggy will be a good match for you too, but there are a few other dogs we can look at.”
Emil came jogging back over, still clutching Ziggy's lead. “You were right about him being active! Wow!” Michele kissed his cheek and hugged him gently.
“So what did you think?”
Emil considered for a second. “I'm not sure he's right for us? Like he's lovely, but I'm not so sure he's the one if you get me?”
“Lizzie was actually just saying that he's not great with kids and needs a lot of training, and with the Novák kids and your nieces and nephews, I don't think Ziggy's the dog for us.”
“Yeah…” Emil trailed off. “Oh well, there's more dogs here! We'll find one!”
“Don't be upset if we don't find one today,” Michele warned. “This stuff takes time.”
Emil drooped slightly. “I know…”
Lizzie returned, a different lead in hand. “I'm sorry he didn't work out, guys! Are you ready for the next one?”
Emil's face lit up. “Lead the way, Lizzie!”
“So,” Lizzie stopped in front of another kennel. “This is Tilly, she's eight months old, and a fox terrier cross. She's shy at first, but lovely once you get to know her, good with children aged two and over, and is almost completely house trained. Want to have a run around?”
Emil nodded, as Lizzie once again opened the door, cheerfully petting the dog and securing the lead. “Let's go!”
Michele ended up walking Tilly to the field, as the dog raced ahead, pulling on her lead.
Lizzie smiled. “They get on well, it looks like. What do you guys do, anyway? I'm curious.”
Emil beamed. “I'm a competitive figure skater, and Mickey was as well, but he's retired now. He choreographs for the junior skaters at the rink.”
“Nice!” Lizzie looked genuinely impressed. “I've never really been into sports myself, but that's awesome. Must take a lot of dedication, huh?”
“Yeah, it does.” Emil nodded, before looking into the distance. “Hey, they're back sooner than I thought!”
Michele jogged up, panting. “I'm not sure she's the right one… she's way too energetic, plus she tried to chew my trousers.”
Lizzie shrugged. “Fair enough, you've definitely got to be sure she's right for you and your situation, would you like to see some more?”
The two men nodded. “Yeah, we would,” Michele replied.
They had seen roughly about six dogs by the time they had reached their third hour at the shelter, and Emil was beginning to lose hope. Not that he would admit it of course, but there was a faint sense of worry that they would never find a dog for them.
Chewy was too big.
Gwyn was too possessive.
Grayson needed to be around other dogs.
Dexter had a liver condition that meant he needed constant care - which didn’t work with international travel.
Lizzie thought for a second, before perking up again. “I've got it! I think we have the perfect dog for you two.” She began to run, leaving Emil and Michele to sprint after her.
They arrived in front of a final kennel, both men doubling over from exertion, as Lizzie unlocked the door. “This is Roley, she's about 4, we're not entirely sure what breed but there's golden retriever in there at least, she's good with other dogs and children and is very sweet natured.” She grinned. “Wanna take her out?”
Emil nodded, the smile threatening to blind anyone who passed. “Definitely!”
They reached the field, as they had done so many times before, but this time there was something different in the air; maybe Roley was the dog for them? As soon as Lizzie had taken her off the lead, both she and Emil had raced off, chasing each other merrily, frisbee flying all over the small grassy park.
Roley panted, long pink tongue hanging out of her mouth, as she flopped down by Michele's feet. He leant down, stroking the top of her head as Emil cuddled and petted her all over, looking at Michele with a look in his eyes, wide blue irises looking beseechingly upwards.
Fuck. Michele's fallen a little bit in love with this dog; and a lot in love with Emil. He didn't think that was possible, at least not any more than he already was. Lizzie smiled gently at him.
“I think you've found the one.”
Michele glanced down fondly. “I think we have.”
After all the introductions, Michele and Emil didn't actually take Roley home until three days later; they still had to get her adoption finalised and buy the last few supplies they still needed.
The day rolled around, and Emil couldn't stop grinning the entire day; not when they arrived at the shelter, not when Lizzie walked them to Roley's kennel, not when they clipped her lead to her collar, not even when he fell asleep in the backseat of the car, Roley curled up beside him as Michele drove them home.
Whatever happened, whatever things life threw at them, Michele knew this dog would be happy, healthy, and most of all; loved.