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Gene never had a reason to celebrate Valentine's Day, somehow always finding himself single each time the holiday rolled around.
He scoffed at friends making elaborate plans for their loves, making comments about how it was nothing but a marketing ploy for Hallmark. Secretly, he wished he could make those stupid plans, too, but he’d never admit that.
When Babe blew into his life like a summer squall, he assumed they would also be over by the following year’s day of love and romance. Hell he didn’t even think they would make it to Thanksgiving, but they did, and then they made through Christmas and New Years and he suddenly was staring down at a Valentine’s Day to share with someone.
The only issue was, he had no idea what he was supposed to do. In theory, he knew how to celebrate it; that he could get flowers, some chocolate, and a fancy dinner. That wasn’t him though, and it certainly wasn’t Babe. The fanciest they got was going to the good Thai place instead of ordering it take-out and a movie afterward.
He did want to make it special, though. Being with Babe made him want to do something special. Something they hadn’t done before, maybe, or something Babe would especially love to do, or something they’d talk about years later. Gene sighed. Why did it have to be so complicated?
Suddenly and completely out of the blue, an idea hit him, and he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it sooner. Gene shook his head in disbelief, still annoyed with his previous lack of ideas. In any case, he started to make a plan. He needed to make some calls.
A few hours later found him with a plan in place and he arrived at his main location, feeling giddy with anticipation, but he was also a bit nervous about whether Babe would really appreciate his idea.
“Hello! Welcome to the Greater Philadelphia Animal League!” The cheerful young blonde woman at the welcome desk greeted Gene, flashing him a broad smile and showing her small gap between her white front teeth. Gene gave her an awkwardly small smile as he approached.
“I’m looking to adopt today,” he said, drumming his knuckles on the desk nervously. She smiled at him in a reassuring way.
“That’s wonderful! Are we looking for a dog or a cat?” She asked, coming around the desk to lead Gene to the kennel area.
“Dogs. Puppies, if you have any?” He asked hopefully, clutching his hands as he followed her. She smiled and nodded, gesturing for him in the direction of the dog side.
“So are we looking for a Valentine’s day gift? Hoping to woo a lucky lady?” She asked in a teasing tone and Gene almost flushed.
“Yes, but um, boyfriend actually,” he said, a little bit embarrassed.
“Awww, it’s still adorable. A furry friend helps all romance.” She unlocked the door and he was suddenly assaulted with the sound of dozens of barking dogs.
“Take a look around, see who you click with best. I’ll be out front,” she said and left Gene to cruise by rows and rows of dogs. Gene felt a bit overwhelmed by all of the dogs behind the bars and he had to shake the feeling of wanting them all. That was simply impossible, but he couldn’t help feeling bad as he passed each face looking up at him pleadingly with big, round eyes.
He stopped in front of a cage at the end of a row where a little mutt was sitting patiently, tongue out and tail wagging. He crouched down in front of the cage and the dog approaches as well, sticking its nose through the chainlink. Gene smiled and rubbed the snout in front of him. The dog yipped in appreciation, clearly enjoying the affection he got and Gene knew he had just found the little fellow he had been looking for.
“You wanna come home, bud?” He asked and the dog opened its mouth to pant, giving the appearance of smiling.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Alright, be right back.” He got up, hurrying back to the reception room and found the desk once more the girl stood behind, typing on her mobile phone. She smiled when he came to a stop in front of her.
“Find somebody?” She asked, but it sounded as if she already knew the answer and she walked around the desk before Gene even had a chance to answer.
So he nodded in reply and they went back to the kennel area.
“Where is the lucky pup at?” She asked happily.
“Uh back here,” he replied and led her to the cage with his little hound, who got up when they approached its kennel.
“Looks like it’s your lucky day, Peachy girl,” she said to the dog. He hadn’t even bothered to look at her name before, he realized, and caught up on that. Mixed breed, female, 2 years old, named Peach.
“Alright, come with me and we’ll get you two set to go,” she said, handing Gene the leash and gesturing towards the door.
They entered a small office off the main entrance and she gathered the necessary paperwork for Gene to sign so he could take Peach home, who sat beside him, wagging her tail in anticipation.
“She has been fixed, chipped, and all her shots are up to date,” the girl explained as Gene tackled the documents in front of him. He couldn’t wait to take her home now and after giving all the papers a second look, he pushed them over the table into the hands of the blonde girl.
She skimmed over them, nodding in approval. “Alright well, you’re all good to go. It’s been a pleasure having Peach here, you’re getting a great dog,” she said with her broad smile. Gene thanked her in all earnestly and after the girl gave Peach a pet on the head, they said their good-byes.
Exiting the building, Gene let out a laugh. He seriously just bought his boyfriend a dog as a Valentine’s gift. Shit, he really did that. Never had he thought he would be the type, but apparently love makes you do crazy things, indeed.
“Alright little lady, we got one stop to make and then it will almost be time to meet your new daddy,” he told Peach, occupying his passenger seat. “You really are a good girl, aren’t you?” Peach panted and Gene took it as an agreement.
After stopping for his second gift, he finally pulled into a space in front of his building.
“Alright, welcome home darlin’,” he said, unleashing the new member of the little family he and Babe were building into his apartment. He had gotten all the necessary supplies before going to the shelter, so he went and found her new dishes to feed her before that evening.
“Well, get comfortable, sniff all you’d like. Got some things to get ready,” he explained to Peach, kneeling in front of her and scratching her behind her ears. That earned him a few tail wags and a kiss to the face. Laughing as he stood, he watched Peach stomp into the living room sniffing the whole way.
He decided on Babe’s favorite homemade meal for their evening and had no trouble getting it off Anne. Thankfully, Babe had a rather simple palate and would tell anyone who asked that his favorite meal was his ma’s spaghetti and meatballs. She always made large batches of that at one time, and they usually were able to get a container of it for their meal. Gene couldn’t deny the spaghetti was indeed some of the best he’d ever had.
As the sauce warmed in the pot and water boiled for the pasta, he set the living room coffee table with plates and had to swat at Peach’s nose a few times as she tried to get in on the action. He already loved her walking around in his home, her paws making soft clicking noises whenever she made a step.
Gene decided against candles because Babe seemed to be a disaster magnet, especially when it came to fire, so instead he opted to turn the lights low and hang some Christmas lights in the room for the romantic glow he was going for.
When the food was ready and the room was set, he finally took a look at himself in his bathroom mirror.
“Oh lordy,” he muttered the phrase he had picked up from Babe at himself, helplessly running his fingers through his already mussed up strands. The way he was looking was definitely not adequate for the evening he had planned. Gene checked the time to make sure he had enough of it to take a shower and make himself look decent. He realized in horror he did have to hurry a lot to be presentable when Babe would arrive, so he wasted no time to lose his clothes and got under the spray of water.
Halfway through what was already a marathon shower, there was a knock at the door that nearly made him slip and bust his ass.
“One second!” He called, shutting the water off and hurrying out into the open without bothering to snatch a towel. He quickly grabbed Peach, right as she looked like she was about to start barking and would ruin all his surprises that way. While he sprinted into his bedroom, he left a trail of water behind him and scolded himself for not drying himself off before. Quickly, Gene threw on his clothes, before he shut the dog in his room and took a deep breath.
Finally, he collected himself enough to answer the door. Babe was behind it, smirking.
“Ya know, answering the door naked would probably have been the best present you could get me,” he said suggestively, as he pulled Gene into a kiss.
Gene always got so lost in the feeling of kissing Babe, how his lips were soft and pliable under his, but yet he often led their kiss, his tongue invading Gene’s mouth as if it was searching for something. Babe’s fingers grasped onto the hair at the back of his head which sent a shiver down his spine. It was intoxicating to Gene, more potent than any liquor he could consume.
Gene was the one to break them apart, causing a whine from deep in Babe’s throat. He hated disappointing him, but he knew it would be short-lived when he saw the setup.
“Oh my god,” Babe said in amazement, looking over Gene’s shoulder into the living room. Gene just shrugged, but on the inside he leaped for joy, happy that Babe seemed to like it.
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said with a shy smile, feeling a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Babe’s answering smile was bright enough to light the whole city and for that alone, the effort had been worth it.
“Is that my ma’s spaghetti?” Babe asked excitedly and Gene laughed as he nodded.
“God, I really fuckin’ love you, you know that?”
Gene couldn’t help himself, he had to kiss Babe again for saying that. He pulled him close, capturing his lips with his own and they both smiled into the kiss this time.
“So, I did all this, what’d you get me?” Gene teased as they went over to the table and sat down.
Babe waggled his eyebrows. “It’s in my backpack,” he said with a wink and Gene swallowed hard around the cheap cabernet he picked out as an afterthought.
They were midway through dinner when his plans were thwarted. Some scratching at the bedroom door was unmistakably audible and when there was a faint bark, his surprise was suddenly ruined.
He fleetingly hoped that maybe Babe hadn’t heard it, but of course, he had. His eyes were wide and trained on the hallway.
“Gene. What was that noise?” Babe asked seriously.
“Uh…” he was definitely at a loss since he couldn’t lie because it was obvious what the sounds had been.
“Because to me,” Babe continued, “it sounded like a dog barked in your room. Gene, is there a dog in your room?” He asked, eyes still glued on the direction the noise had come from.
“... Yes. Yes, there is,” Gene finally admitted. “Can you, like, take the plates to the kitchen? She was already sniffing at them before you got here.” Before he had even finished talking, he noticed how Babe’s eyes lit up.
“She?” He asked, with all the excitement of a little boy on Christmas.
Gene smiled and went to retrieve Peach from her holding cell. She was sniffing under the door when he approached it, her nose barely visible.
“Ok darlin’, go meet your daddy!” He said as he opened the door to let Peach loose into the apartment once more. She scooted out of the room and not even a second later Gene heard a joyous squeal. He followed Peach to the living room and saw Babe on his back, Peach standing over him, licking his face. He grinned at the sight, never seeing Babe that happy before.
“Oh my god, Gene,” was all Babe said as he sat up with Peach still in his lap, bathing his face in sloppy dog kisses. Gene could not miss the tears of joy forming in the corners of Babe’s eyes.
“What’s her name?” Babe asked, scratching behind her ears and dropping kisses onto her forehead.
“It’s Peach, but they said you can change it to whatever you want,” Gene explained, sitting down on the floor next to them.
“Nah, I like Peach, pretty Princess Peach.” He said the second part more to the dog herself than to Gene, but that was okay for him. He smiled at the sight, relieved and excited that it was a good call.
“Ya know, she is already used to my apartment, so…” Gene began, reaching over to the drawer of the end table, where he had stashed his other gift. He heard Babe’s breath hitch as he handed him the small box.
“Move in with me?” He asked as Babe pulled out the duplicate key to his own. Peach escaped just in time before risking being crushed by Babe, who threw himself into Gene’s arms, kissing him soundly and passionately.
“You mean it? You want me to move in?” Babe asked, his voice fond but also with a hint of disbelief, as if he thought this was just a dream. Gene nodded slowly.
“Then of fuckin’ course, I’ll move in. Now it’s you, me, and Princess Peach against the world!” He said with a laugh and Gene couldn’t help but join in, pulling him close for another hug.
After all, Gene finally had a reason to celebrate Valentine’s Day.