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We moved into this new place not long ago. Me, my Papa Wade and my Papa Logan. It’s a lot nicer than when I lived in the void with my old Papa, he was a bit meh, my current Papa’s are super exciting to live with. So much goes on in this new world and exploring it when we go for walks is awesome. There’s even more dogs to play with here, so many new smells and things to climb on.
We go on so many adventures too. All of Papa Wade’s friends love it when I go to the St. Margaret's bar where Papa Wade gets most of his work. Sometimes Papa Logan will come too but not a lot, he came from a different place just like I did and he’s still getting used to being here.
We used to live with an older lady called Blind Al, she was super nice to me and we used to share biscuits in the morning before my Papa’s woke up. I miss her but she still comes over every week for dinner and we get to go on walks sometimes too, still sneaking me biscuits even when Papa Wade catches her and tells her off.
I have a super fluffy bed at this new place which I spend a lot of time in but today Papa Logan has been on the couch all day so of course I had to climb up (be picked up after many failed attempts) and cuddle with him. He was watching some show called Friends which has a super catchy theme tune at the beginning which Papa Logan clapped too along with the song. He looked at me and told me to never tell Papa Wade that.
After a couple hours of cuddling with Papa Logan and sleeping through most of the episodes, I noticed him halfway through a bottle of foul smelling stuff and he was crying too. He noticed me looking at him and said he was okay, just sometimes grown ups don’t know how to deal with things sometimes and that the stuff he was drinking made him feel better even if it was only temporary.
Hours later Papa Logan had finished the bottle and it was now lying empty on the floor, he stopped crying a while ago but still had tear streaks running down his face. I tried to comfort him as much as I could by licking the tears off his face and cuddling up to him but he was barely responding to me being there. I wanted Papa Wade to come home, he’d know what to do.
Papa Wade always made Papa Logan smile. I remember when I first met them that they weren’t too fond of each other but they grew to love each other so much. They would hold hands on our 4am walks when neither of them could sleep, they’d chase each other and playflight around the apartment and they’d cook the most amazing meals together.
“Well hello pumpkin, have I played with time travel again or are you exactly how I left you?”
Papa Wade was back! He knew exactly what to do to make Papa Logan happy again. They cuddled together on the couch with me to the side of Papa Logan, not wanting to interfere but not wanting to leave them alone completely.
They spoke for a while, Papa Logan crying into Papa Wade’s shoulder, soft spoken words of raw emotion and encouragement and love. Eventually Papa Logan's tears dried and the pair stood up. Papa Wade put on some music and they swayed and danced to the music. I stayed laying on the couch watching them.
Eventually the pair left to go to bed, Papa Wade gave me a quick kiss on the head and thanked me for keeping Papa Logan company today. I followed them as I had another bed in their room as well as in the living room. This one wasn’t as fluffy but the material was super soft. Papa Wade got changed into some unicorn shorts and Papa Logan rolled his eyes at the fashion choice.
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I awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, that meant sneaky biscuit time from Papa Logan, who noticed Blind Al trying to sneak me biscuits when we lived with her. He never told her off, I think despite his grumpy man exterior he has a soft spot for me. He’ll always let me cuddle with him on the couch and insists on me wearing a raincoat when we go on walks and the weather is a bit shit. Papa Wade doesn't know about sneaky biscuit time and I intend to keep it that way so Papa Logan doesn’t get in trouble.
When I walked into the kitchen I could hear them talking about going to buy a car from Uncle Peter today. He always had treats for me stashed in a small bag in his pockets and I always managed to leave seeing him with my hair in a mohawk. Personally I thought it looked better than being in a mess all around my face and ears.
Leaving the apartment to go for a walk to Uncle Peters, I chose my bedazzled lead this time. Papa Wade had built up quite the collection of leads for me over the past 6 months. Papa Logan didn't believe I cared but was soon proved wrong as I chose a different lead every time we left the house. The bedazzled one was Uncle Peter's favourite so I had to choose this one.
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“Hey Sugar bear.” Wade yelled across the parking lot as we arrived.
It didn't take long for us to do the walk, less time that it used to take when we lived with Blind Al. When we got a bit closer to Uncle Peter, Papa Wade let me off my bedazzled lead so I could run up and jump up into his arms.
“Hey guys, was wondering when you’d show up” Uncle Peter smiled and got out the bag of treats he kept for me.
We began the walk to see the new car. I overheard them talking last night that it was the same type of car my old papa had. I remember it had plenty of seats for me to clamber my way through to find the perfect seat to sleep on as we were driving through the void.
Partway across the parking lot Uncle Peter passed me to Papa Logan as he needed to check his phone and would need to get the keys out of his pocket at some point to give to my Papas. Papa Wade has sped off in front of us, he was super excited to be getting a car. As we walked Uncle Peter was monologuing about how he was super happy for my Papa’s to be together and how he was so proud of the little family they created together.
“HEY!!” A shout from Papa Wade came from round the corner.
Papa Logan started running towards the sound, me still in his arms. As we turned round the corner I could see Papa Wade on the ground and there was a group of people with wooden bats surrounding him.
Papa Wade passed me to Uncle Peter who was told to stay back. We took off round the corner and hid behind a nearby car. Far enough away that we wouldn’t be spotted if any of the men came looking for us but near enough so that we could hear if anything was going wrong.
I could hear the harsh words being said and the commotion that followed. I heard a loud thwack and the sounds of metal and flesh meeting. After a couple minutes we heard a gunshot and I broke free of Uncle Peter's hold on me.
Running round the corner I took in the scene before me. Two guys had a pool of blood coming out of their stomach. Another guy had his head smashed inwards, lumps and blood surrounding his body. The one nearest to Papa Wade had a hole through his head. As I ran towards Papa Wade I stopped near one of the bodies and pissed on their face, just to add insult to injury, then carried on making my way towards my Papa.
“You really did a number on these guys wow.” Uncle Peter exclaimed at the scene before him before throwing the keys to Papa Wade and telling us to get out of here before the police arrived. Papa Logan immediately took the keys and started walking towards our new car and told Uncle Peter about how he’ll maybe see him on Saturday when the big group meet tends to happen. Papa Wade smiled at hearing his partner say that as Papa Logan doesn’t usually come to these big group gatherings like me and Papa Wade do. Everyone gives me loads of treats and cuddles.
Papa Wade skipped towards the new Honda Odyssey and opened the driver's door to Papa Logan. I hopped in first so I could get a first sniff around the new car and sat on the passenger seat and watched as Papa Logan got into the driver's seat and started the car whilst Papa Wade slid over the bonnet to come with me. He picked me up as he sat down so I could snuggle into his jacket and doze off as we drove out the parking lot.
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I awoke as we got onto a bumpy gravel road, being jostled about in the warm comfort of Papa Wade’s jacket. I couldn't have been asleep for that long but long enough for the concrete city we lived in to turn into trees lining the streets instead of houses.
“This is the place you wanted to go bub?” asked Papa Logan.
“Yup, barely any people here pumpkin, it’s super chill.” responded Papa Wade.
As we pulled into a parking space, Papa Logan was first out of the car. I hopped out of Papa Wade’s jacket and down through the open door. New smells and sights immediately hit my nose.
I briefly heard the car boot open but was way too preoccupied with all the space to run around in, and all the creatures to chase. Seeing a squirrel run across the parking lot from one tree to the next I took off in chase.
After about 10 minutes of chasing around various squirrels and pigeons in the car park I heard Papa Logan yell after Papa Wade. They were chasing each other towards a nearby tree line so I made my way over to where Papa Logan was. Now at the base of a tree looking upwards, I saw Papa Wade decently high up in the tree, high enough that Papa Logan couldn’t reach him even with his claws extended.
It wasn't long before Papa Wade got bored / didn't know how long the individual tree would last against an increasingly frustrated Papa Logan so he took off through the tree line until he reached the end.
“Superhero pose.” Papa Wade said, barely above a whisper to himself as he launched himself out of the tree.
Once Papa Logan had caught up to Papa Wade, he held the keys above his head and they kissed in the setting sunlight.
“I love you Lo.” whispered Papa Wade to his partner, foreheads resting together.
“I love you too bub. Let’s go home.” Papa Logan said, placing a kiss on Papa Wade’s forehead as they separated.
Being picked up by Papa Wade, I licked his face to show my gratitude to him for bringing all three of us together to form our own family. A family I couldn't have even imagined after spending so much time in the void.