Chapter Text
“We’re only looking, right Jere?” Cassandra said as she stepped up and over the curb to enter the tiny pet shop.
“Yes, honey, you told me five times in the car,” Jeremiah replied dutifully to his girlfriend, who was holding the door open expectantly.
He brushed past her as she rolled her eyes at him and he immediately made a beeline for the puppies in the back.
Cass groaned and went over to a large fish tank and watched the colorful schools of fish swim. She walked past hamster cages, rats, mice, and moved into the bird section. Jeremiah was still somewhere in the back. She took her time knowing that he could spend the entire visit in a puppy pile if he had his druthers. When she made her way to the puppy enclosure, he was nowhere to be found. She shrugged and kept looking around, giving the puppies a pat on the head and continuing on. Next to the puppies was a small cage full of orange and white cats. She looked at the kittens with interest, but reminded herself, they were just looking. If Jere caught her even looking at the cats like she might want one, he would never let her forget it.
She finally found him in the reptile section looking at a couple frogs. He walked over to her when he saw her.
“So how many frogs do you have in your pocket,” she asked. He threw up his hands as if she was going to check.
“I’ve been good, I just said hi to the puppies and that snake in the corner. I completely ignored the kittens this time.”
“How many puppy bites do you have?” she said, giving him a critical look.
He smiled and showed her the wet spots on his shirt. “They’re teething. I’m a good chew toy, what can I say?”
Cassandra laughed, and then looked over his shoulder to a large aquarium.
“You ready to go?” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist. She shook her head and took a step closer.
“Those are just turtles,” he started to say, but then noticed that Cass was completely fascinated, watching them swim. She knelt next to their tank and he could see the smile on her face.
“Babe, let’s go get coffee,” he said, knowing she was completely ignoring him in favor of watching the turtles. She stood up in front of him and put on hand on his arm. She gave him her biggest, sweetest look. She didn’t have to say a word, he knew exactly what she wanted.He immediately started shaking his head.
“What did you drill into my head over and over?” he said, laughing as she started pouting.
“But Jere, look at them, look at their little red ears!”
Jeremiah crossed his arms in front of his chest, pretending to consider, but he could tell that the turtles had charmed Cass, and when she got her mind set on something, it was only a matter of time.
And that was how Jeremiah and Cassandra ended up taking home a large tank, habitat, heat lamp and two red ear sliders. As he carried the heavy boxes out the door, he gave the puppy cage a forlorn look. But he wouldn’t stay sad, because Cassandra was beaming, practically bouncing on the drive home as she peered into the small box that housed their new pets and excitedly pulling up websites on how to care for them.
Jeremiah wasn’t even mad at how damn expensive everything was. He got over how complicated their tank was to set up and maintain. Or the fact that Cass’s turtles immediately retreated into their shells whenever he came around.
So they weren’t dogs, they didn’t lick his hand or ask to be taken on walks or cuddle with you at night. But they sure made Cass happy.
He watched her laughing at Zippy and Speedy and smiled, thinking to himself, “The things we do for love.”