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It all started one cold December day, when Catnap was sitting on his couch and waiting for his wonderful husband Dogday to bring him breakfast.
They had been officially married for a few months now, and life was going great. They had a wonderful house, they always liked to hang out with their friends(Some of whom were also planning on getting married soon), and of course their wonderful relationship, which never had any major bumps or issues, other than the normal hiccups any marriage has.
Still, Catnap couldn’t help but feel like… something was missing in their lives.
His thoughts were interrupted by Dogday walking in.
“Hey sweetie.” He says, setting the plates and cups down on the table. “Breakfast is ready.”
Catnap smiles. “Thanks sunlight.” He whispers, kissing Dogday on the cheek.
“You’re the best.” he says, picking up his coffee cup and having a sip.
Dogday blushes. “Aww, don’t mention it.” he says, eating some bacon.
After a minute or two of eating and making idle chit chat, Catnap decided to bring up what he had been thinking about before.
“Hey Dogday?”
He asks.
Dogday looks at him. “Hmm?”
Catnap smiles. ‘I’ve been thinking.’ he signs. ‘We’ve been married for a while now, and I can’t help but feel like…’
His tail flicks. ‘Something is missing.’
Dogday tilts his head. “Like what?”
Catnap gently takes his hand.
“Dogday…” he says softly.
“Do… Do you want kids?”
Dogday turns bright red.
“K-KIDS?!”
Catnap giggles. “Yes, kids.” he says.
He sighs softly. ‘I think that… if you were up for it, we could adopt one.’ He says with a smile.
‘I’ve always wanted to be a dad, and I think you’d make a great one too.’
He looks deeply into Dogdays eyes.
“We could be a family…”
Dogday thinks long and hard about this.
There aren’t any reasons they couldn’t have kids, right?
They were happily married, their house was big enough, and Catnap really seemed like he had his heart set on it. And if they adopted, like Catnap said, they wouldn’t have to worry about biological compatibility issues.
(Not like they could reproduce the traditional way anyways, since smiling critters don’t have lower bits.)
He looks back at Catnap, smiling and nodding.
“Okay.” he says. “Let’s do it.”
Catnap squeals in delight, tackle hugging him. “Oh thank you thank you!” He says.
Dogday giggles, hugging back. “You’re welcome!” He says. “You’re the one that came up with the idea!”
Catnap smiles, pulling back and looking into his eyes.
“Oh Dogday, we will be the best family ever.”
~a few days later~
After a train trip into the city and walking for a few miles, Catnap and Dogday found themselves standing outside the Delightful home for orphaned boys and girls.
Catnap was just staring up at the sign in awe.
He hadn’t been here in a very long time…
“It’s just like I remember.”
He says softly.
Dogday gently takes hold of his hand.
“You ready?”
Catnap smiles and nods, squeezing Dogday’s hand as they walked through the big double doors.
Once the two were inside, they were greeted by a young woman with wavy blonde hair wearing a yellow and red dotted dress.
“Hello there sirs!”
She said with a sweet smile. “My name is Delilah, but you can just call me Dee. And I'm the caretaker of this place”
Dogday smiles. “Hi!” He says. “I’m Dogday, and this is my husband, Catnap.”
Catnap gives a small smile and a wave.
Dee smiles. “Nice to meet you!” She says.
She adjusts her hair. “So what brings you to our little slice of paradise? Are you interested in adopting?”
Dogday nods. “Yes.” He says. “My husband and I are wanting to start a family of our own, and we were wondering if you had any puppies or kittens that were available for adoption,” he says.
‘We’ll be happy with either.’
Catnap adds.
The woman smiled gently. “Well, we certainly have plenty of those.” she says.
She points to a door down the hall. “Head to the interview room, and I'll go see if any of them are interested.” She says.
Dogday smiles. “Okay, thank you!” He says, leading Catnap towards the door.
They go into a small room with a table and some chairs, with a small table at the end of the room with a water dispenser and a stack of paper cups, and a small plate of cookies.
Dogday gets a cookie and some water each for him and Catnap, and hands them to him as he sits next to him.
“Thanks.”
Catnap whispers, having a sip of water.
Dogday smiles. “No problem.” He says, munching on his cookie.
After they were done eating and drinking, Dogday got them more water as Dee walked back in.
“Okay gentlemen, are you ready to meet your potential new kid?”
Dogday and Catnap nod.
Dee smiles, clasping her hands together. “Wonderful!” She says.
She looks to the door. “Okay, come on in!”
In walks a little tannish brown spaniel puppy with reddish-auburn ears.
“Dogday, Catnap, this is Samuel.”
Dee says.
She turns to the puppy. “Say hi, Sam!”
Sam smiles, waving at them. “Hi!” He says, his tail wagging.
Dogday smiles. “Hi there little one!”
Catnap waves gently.
Sam sits in the chair opposite Catnap and Dogday.
“Alright, I'll give you guys some time to get to know each other.”
Dee says, slipping out.
“Sam, I’m Dogday, and this is Catnap.” Dogday says, holding Catnap’s hand.
Sam nods. “Cool names!” He says.
Dogday giggles. “Well thank you!” he says.
“So Sam, what’s your favorite color?”
Sam smiles. “My favorite color is purple!”
Dogday’s eyes sparkle. “Mine too!”
He glances at Catnap. “I bet you can tell why.”
Catnap blushes and Sam giggles.
Dogday nudges Catnap. “Okay, now you ask him a question.”
He whispers.
Catnap thinks for a bit before signing,
‘Do you know sign language?’
Sam looked confused for a bit, but then smiled. “Oh yes!” he says. “I’m learning sign language for my friend!”
Catnap smiles. ‘That’s good,’ he signs.
Dogday adjusted his ear. “Does your friend not talk too?”
Sam shrugs. “Only sometimes.” He says. “He’s kinda shy.”
Dogday smiles softly. “Aww, so is Catnap.”
Catnap frowns and elbows him. ‘I am not…’
Dogday giggles. “Are too.”
Catnap rolls his eyes.
Dogday then asked Sam what his favorite food was, and the two got into a deep conversation about grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese and cheese tortillas, and Catnap was kinda left listening on the sidelines.
While the two dogs were chatting, Catnap noticed something else.
There was a young ragdoll kitten peeking out from behind the door.
Catnap smiles, waving a bit.
But the kitten gets scared, hiding behind the door.
Catnap frowns, feeling guilty.
Then he hears something.
“Theodore!”
It was Dee’s voice, from out in the hallway.
“What are you doing out here?” she says. “Playtime isn’t over yet.”
A very small voice says, “i-I'm sorry… wanted to follow Sam…”
Dee sighs. “Well I'm sorry, Theo, but you know the rules.” She says gently. “Only one child is allowed to be interviewed at a time.”
Catnap gets up, walking over to the door.
There he spots Dee, kneeled down and talking to a small light brown kitten with lavender paws, feet and inner ears.
He taps her on the shoulder, getting her attention.
‘It’s okay.’ Catnap signs. ‘He can come in if he wants to.’
Dee thinks for a minute.
“Alright, I suppose if it's alright with you.”
She looks at the kitten. “Okay Theodore, you can go with mister Catnap.”
The kitten, apparently named Theodore, looks up at Catnap.
When Catnap Looked into Theo’s eyes…
It was like he was looking into his own.
He smiled gently and offered a paw.
Theo smiled a little and took it.
Catnap gently leads him back to the interview room, where Dogday was still chatting with Sam.
He gently clears his throat to get their attention.
The two dogs look at him, Sam smiling. “Oh hi Theo!”
Theo shyly waves with his free hand.
Dogday smiles. “Oh! Are you two friends?”
Sam nods, getting up to hug Theo, who smiles and hugs back.
“Theo is my BEST friend!”
Catnap smiles. ‘Aww, that’s sweet.’
Dogday giggles. “Okay, we can interview both of you.” He says.
Catnap gently guides the kiddos to the interview seat, which was big enough for both of them.
For the rest of the interview, all 4 of them talked about everything and nothing.
They learned Theo’s favorite food was onigiri, that Sam loved to play pretend, that Theo loved to draw, That Sam wanted to be a train engineer when he grew up, and lots of other things.
At the end of the interview, Dee comes back in.
“Alright, time’s up.” She says. “It’s almost time for the kids to have lunch.”
All 4 of them nodded, getting up.
Sam goes to hug Dogday. “Goodbye Mr Dogday!” he says. “I hope I'll see you two again!”
Dogday practically melts, kneeling down to hug him back. “Me too, pup.” He says, his tail wagging like crazy.
Dee puts a hand on her chest. “Aww… that’s precious…”
She whispers.
Theo wanted to hug Catnap, but he was too nervous.
‘G-goodbye.’
He signed quickly before going to hide behind Dee’s long skirt.
Catnap was confused, but waved goodbye and gave Theo a soft smile.
‘So long, little one.’
Dee giggles.
“Okay Theo, Sam, run along to your room now.”
The little boys nodded, going to hold hands as they went off to play.
Dee then sits down in the interview chair. “So, how did it go?”
Catnap and Dogday sit back down. “Oh, it went wonderful.” Dogday says. “Sam is such a great kid.”
Catnap nods. ‘It felt really nice to talk with Theo, y’know?’
Dee smiles. “Well that’s good.” She says. “Are you interested in either one of them?”
The couple both nod.
‘Um, I have a question.’
Catnap signs.
Dee looks at him. “What is it?”
‘What is the adoption process like?’
Dee smiles. “There are three steps to the adoption process, that happen over three days, or on separate days depending on the parent’s schedules.” She says.
“One, you interview them, two, you come back to play and bond with them, and three, you ask them if they want to join your family.”
She smiles. “And if they say yes, then we can get started with the paperwork.”
Catnap gives her a thumbs up. ‘Cool.’ He says.
Dogday nods. “I think I get it.” He says.
“Tomorrow, we’ll come back and play with them, and then the next day, we ask the one we want if they’d like to come home with us?”
Dee nods. “Yep, that’s exactly it.”
Dogday’s tail wags. “Awesome!” He says.
“In that case, are we done here today?”
Dee nods again, getting up. “That’s right.” She says.
“Follow me and I'll lead you out.”
Catnap and Dogday get up, following her to the exit.
“I hope to see you tomorrow!”
She says, waving to them as they walk out.
Dogday and Catnap wave back before happily leaving.
As they made their journey home, they were full of hope and optimism that pretty soon, they’d have a child to call their own.
But one thought plagued at the back of both their minds.
They certainly wanted to adopt one of these sweet little boys… but…
Which one?
~The next day~
After breakfast the next day, Catnap and Dogday excitedly made their way back to the city, going to the orphanage again.
They happily walked in, where they were once again greeted by Delilah.
“Welcome back, you two!” She says. “Did you have a restful evening?”
Dogday smiles and says “yeah!” while Catnap nods.
Dee smiles. “Good!” She says, leading them down the hall. “I assume you’re here to play with the kids you’re interested in, correct?”
The couple nod. “Correct!”
Dee claps her hands. “Wonderful!” she says. “I’ll take you to the playrooms.”
She leads them down the hallway to two rooms next to each other.
“I noticed you were interested in the two boys you interviewed yesterday, and since there are two of you, I figured it’d be best if you played with them one on one.”
She smiles softly.
“Catnap, today you’ll be playing with Sam, and Dogday, you’ll be playing with Theo.”
They both looked confused, shouldn’t they be bonding with the ones they wanted to adopt…?
But then they realized, yeah this was a good idea.
Both parents would need to bond with the child one on one if they wanted to have a healthy adoptive relationship.
“Okay!” Dogday says. “Sounds good!”
Catnap smiles and nods.
They said goodbye to each other, and then Dee led them into the rooms.
Catnap’s room was filled with all sorts of toys, from wooden blocks, to plush toys, to little plastic airplanes. There were even some beanbag chairs and nap mats for if they got tired.
It really was a child’s paradise.
Sam then walks into the room. “Hi mister Catnap!” he says with a wave.
Catnap smiles. ‘Good morning, Sam.’ He says. ‘How are you today?’
Sam smiles. “I’m good!” he says
Catnap sits on one of the bean bags. ‘So, what’d you have for breakfast?’ he asks.
Sam sits on the floor. “Me and Sam had some really yummy waffles!” He said. “They were dripping with butter and syrup!”
Catnap licks his lip. ‘Sounds delicious!’ He says.
Sam nods. “It was!” He says.
He picks up a toy airplane. “So, do you want to play?”
Catnap nods. ‘I’d love to.’
And so they spend hours together, having all sorts of pretend adventures. From building skyscrapers out of blocks, to making their plushies dance together, to flying airplanes all over the room and pretending they were pilots.
Yes, Catnap really liked Sam, he was such a wonderful little ball of energy, and reminded him a lot of Dogday.
And he could tell Sam really liked him as well.
Meanwhile, Dogday had been talking and playing with Theo.
Theo was pretty shy, so Dogday tried to be gentle when talking to him, which Theo appreciated.
“So Theo, how long have you known Sam?”
He gently asks.
Theo smiles a little. ‘Ever since I arrived here.’ He signs. ‘We’ve known each other since we were basically babies.’
Dogday smiles. “Aww, that’s really sweet.” He says.
He scoots a bit closer. “So, I know Sam wants to be a train engineer, but what do you want to be when you grow up?”
Theo thinks a bit before answering.
‘I… I don’t know yet.’ He says. ‘There’s so many things…’
Dogday thinks. “Well, what do you like to do for fun?”
Theo smiles. ‘Umm, I like to draw, read, and nap…’
He thinks for a bit. ‘Oh, and I love to make and eat salmon rice balls.’
Dogday’s eyes widened. “Woah, you know how to make those?”
Theo nods. ‘It’s pretty easy.’ He says. ‘You just put cream cheese, salmon and sushi rice into an egg carton, and you smash it all down into bite size.’ he says.
Dogday was impressive. “Wow, that’s cool.” He says. “Maybe when you grow up, you can be a sushi chef!”
Theo smiles. ‘Yeah, maybe.’
For the rest of the time they had, Dogday bonded with Theo, and Catnap bonded with Sam, growing closer and closer.
But eventually, it had to come to an end, with Delilah coming to get them.
“Okay, that’s all the time we have for today.” She says to Sam and Catnap.
“Aww, do we have to stop?” Sam asks. “We were having so much fun.”
Catnap nods.
Dee giggles sadly. “I’m afraid so.” She says. “It’s almost time for dinner.”
Sam looks to Catnap.
“Well, thank you for playing with me, mister Catnap!”
He says, hugging him around the waist.
Catnap jumps a bit, but happily kneels down to hug him back.
“You’re welcome, Sam.”
Sam’s eyes sparkle. “Woah, you can talk?”
Catnap nods. “Only around people I like.”
He whispers with a smile.
Dee smiles. “Okay Sam, let’s go.”
Sam sadly goes over to her.
“Bye, mister Catnap.”
He says with a wave.
Catnap waves softly.
‘Bye, Sam.’
Once the kids were sent back to their rooms, Dee invites Catnap and Dogday into her office for a mini-discussion, sitting at her desk while they sit in the chairs across from her..
“So, have you two decided on whether you’re adopting or not?”
She asks.
Dogday and Catnap nod. “Absolutely!” Dogday says. “Those two are like mini versions of us!”
Catnap nods. ‘And like I said yesterday, we’ll be happy with either.’ he adds.
It hurt him a bit to sign that…
Dee smiles happily, clapping. “Wonderful!” She says. “Tonight, you should decide for sure which one you want to adopt, then tomorrow, you can come back and ask them to join your family.” she says.
“Sounds good to us!” Dogday says as he smiles and nods, and Catnap smiles and gives her a thumbs up.
After their mini-meeting, Dee then guides them to the door once again, and sends them off with well wishes.
As Catnap and Dogday left, they were silent, stewing in their own thoughts.
The big decision was inevitable and rapidly approaching.
Which one should they adopt?
Both were sweet, happy, smart little boys, and either one of them would make a perfect addition to their little family.
Still, they were both worried that their family might still feel… incomplete.
That night, they had a long talk over which child they wanted to bring into their family, and after much debate and deliberation, they ultimately decided on adopting Sam.
Catnap was sad, but he understood that if they had a more extroverted child, it’d be better for their family and their child’s happiness in the long run.
Besides, he loved Sam dearly, how could he not? He was basically a mini-Dogday.
Even so, Dogday understood his sadness.
~The next day~
Catnap and Dogday wake up that morning, nervous and excited.
“Today’s the day…” he says, taking Catnaps hand.
Catnap nods, squeezing his hand.
‘Yep…’ He says, slowly getting out of bed.
“Let’s go get our son.”
A quick breakfast and a trip into the city later, they once again find themselves back at the orphanage, where they are happily greeted by Delilah.
“Hello once again gentlemen.” She says cheerfully. “Are you here for the last stage of adoption?”
Dogday nods. “Yeah!” he says. “We’re both excited!”
‘And nervous…’ Catnap adds.
Dee smiles gently. “Oh, I'm just as excited as you are!” She says. “And I get it, it’s totally normal to be nervous when making a big decision like this.”
She leads them into her office again. “But, everything will be fine.” She says. “I’ve done this time and time again.”
She sits down, ushering them to do the same, which they do.
Once everyone was sat down, Delilah smiles her same happy smile, before asking,
“So, which one have you decided on adopting?”
Dogday looks Catnap in the eye, both of them nodding, before they look back to Dee.
“We want Sam.”
Dee claps cheerfully. “Wonderful!” she says. “I had a feeling you’d choose him.”
She gets up. “Wait here, I'll go get him for you.”
Once they were alone, Catnap and Dogday felt that same uneasy feeling.
“I… I don’t understand…”
Catnap whispers. “I should be happy that we’re adopting Sam, but…”
He looks into Dogday’s eyes.
“I just feel… guilty…”
Dogday looks at him sadly. “I know how you feel…” He says.
Catnap scoots closer to him.
“I… I love Sam, and I’m happy he's going to be our son, but…”
He sighs softly.
“I can’t help but feel like we should have picked Theo…”
Dogday hugs him gently.
“I know what you mean…” He says. “Theo’s a really great kid…”
Catnap doesn’t say anything else, just hugs back, silently.
The moment was interrupted by Delilah's cheery voice.
“Look who it is!”
Dogday and Catnap sit up straight, putting on smiles and waving to Sam, who’d walked in behind Dee.
“Hi!” Sam says, waving back happily.
Dee smiles at Sam.
“Sam, I've called you here because Mr. Catnap and Mr. Dogday have something they want to ask you.”
Sam tilts his head. “What is it?”
Dogday gets up, walking to Sam.
“Listen, Sam, Catnap and I both like you a whole lot, and we’ve decided to offer you something.”
Sam still looked confused.
Dogday smiles. “Samuel…”
He kneels down, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking into his eyes.
“Would you like to come be part of our family?”
Sam’s eyes sparkle. “R-really?”
Dogday nods. “Yes.” He says with a smile.
“We’ll get you your own room, with toys and books and everything, and we can have fun, play games, and dance, and make you all the jalapeno grilled cheeses you can eat.” he says.
He smiles softly.
“And we will promise to love and care for you every day, even after you’re old enough to move out.” he says.
“So, how about it?”
At first, Sam looks happy, with his tail wagging and wanting to nod.
But then he remembers something, his smile fading.
“N-no, I… I can’t.”
He says sadly, shaking his head.
Dogday, Catnap, and Delilah’s faces all fall.
“Why not…?”
Dogday asks.
Sam starts to cry.
“I don’t wanna leave Theo behind!” he says. “I.. I wish I could be part of your family but…”
Tears ran down his face. “Theo is like my brother…” he says. “I-If I left him behind, he’d be so sad… and scared…”
He turns away. “So no, I can’t go with you.”
He says as he walks away.
“I’m sorry…”
He says before he runs out the door, still crying.
Silence.
Dee looks aghast.
“Well… that could have gone better…”
She says.
Catnap and Dogday look at each other, both thinking, “What do we do…?”
And then suddenly, like a baseball hitting a kid who wasn’t paying attention in the back of the head, the obvious solution hit them.
They didn’t HAVE to choose.
They turned to Delilah, who was thinking.
“Hey Dee?”
Dogday says.
Dee looks at them. “What?”
Catnap and Dogday look at each other and nod, before looking at her and saying in tandem:
“Can we adopt both?”
Dee’s eyes widened. “Both…?”
She says.
The couple nod.
“We love both of them so much, and they love each other too.” Dogday says. “It’d be awful to separate them…”
Dee thinks for a moment, then looks through a stack of papers.
“Hmm, I suppose you could… but it’d mean twice the amount of paperwork.”
She says.
Catnap and Dogday nod.
“That’s fine!” Dogday says.
“It’ll be worth it to create a happy family.”
Dee smiles brightly.
“Well alright then!” She says.
She uses the intercom to call Sam and Theo to her office, where Catnap and Dogday were waiting for them.
‘Why are we here…?’
Theo signs as he and Sam walk in.
Dogday and Catnap look at each other again, then back to them.
“We realized we made a mistake.”
Dogday says. “And we’re sorry for trying to separate you guys.”
Catnap nods.
‘Anyone with even one eye can see you two care for each other so so so much… and we would never want to split you guys apart.’
Sam tilts his head. “What are you saying?”
Dogday smiles. “Samuel, Theodore…”
He gets on one knee again.
“Would you BOTH like to be part of our family?”
Sam and Theo look at each other, smiling, then look back to Catnap and Dogday.
“Yes!”
Sam says while Theo nods aggressively.
Catnap and Dogday felt their hearts practically burst with happiness.
They open their arms, and the boys happily run into them.
Dogday holds Theo while Catnap holds Sam.
Dee wipes a tear from her eye.
“That’s so beautiful…”
She says.
She then clears her throat, getting up from her desk.
“Alright, I’ll go get you some pens, and we can get started!”
Catnap and Dogday sigh and nod.
This was gonna take a while.
~A while later~
After all the forms were signed and the wrists were strained, it was official.
Theo and Sam were now officially Theodore and Samuel Dayes-Napford.
The two knew fathers hugged their children tightly in a sweet family group hug.
They give their respective kids a kiss on the head, then turn to kiss each other on the lips, making their kids go “Eww.”
After that dramatic day, Sam and Theo had packed all their stuff.
They rode with their parents back to the smiling valley, where they showed them their house, which both Sam and Theo really liked, wandering around and exploring all the rooms.
For their first night together, Theo requested they make a pillow fort in the living room, and everyone else thought that was a wonderful idea.
So, using couch cushions and the pillows and blankets from all the beds, they built a magnificent castle for them to sleep in that night. And just in time too, since the sun had set and the kids were starting to yawn, tired from all that hard work building the fort.
Inside the castle, Dogday was snuggled up next to Catnap, with little Sam in his arms, who was sleeping, while Catnap was holding Theo, who had also fallen asleep.
“Thank you for suggesting the adoption idea, Catnap.” He says. “I love our little boys so much…”
Catnap kisses his head. “Thank you for going along with it.” He says. “I do too, and, I truly feel in my heart… that we’re gonna be the best family ever.”
Dogday giggles quietly. “Yes we will.”
Maybe tomorrow they would work on decorating Sam and Theo’s room, or introduce them to their other friends, or maybe just eat jalapeno grilled cheese all day. The possibilities were endless.
With all 4 of the brand new family members cuddled together in their pillow fort, it seemed like a storybook ending.
But deep inside, they knew it was just their family’s story’s beginning.