Trey tried but failed to picture what seven dogs would look like all running around together. "This I've got to see." He made his way toward the door, fully aware that Nathaniel was only two steps behind him.
"Hopefully you'll see it a lot. I could get used to having help with taking them all outside. I'm not even kidding a little." They made it outside and Nathaniel moved up next to him. "Hey, what's the Trey for? If that's not too personal."
No one had ever asked him that before. "I'm the third son of a third son." Trey shrugged. "My parents were from the south, even though they moved here to California before I was born. It means three, obviously. It's kind of a southern tradition to give that nickname to the third generation, although they chose it as my given name instead. People don't usually question it."
Nathaniel shrugged. "I'm Deuce to my family and anyone who met me before I was about twenty. Nothing fancy like being the third son of a third son, though -- I just have the same name as my father and he's 'Nate'. So I got 'Deuce'. I think it's better than 'Junior', overall."
Trey stopped where he was. "They call you Deuce?"
"Uh-huh. Most people I know well do. I use Nathaniel for work and for people I meet when I'm not with my family; since I grew up here and see them fairly often, it's kind of a toss-up which name I use."
He could feel his lips tugging up in a smile. "So what do I call you? I have a buddy named Nate; if I slip up and call you that, it's nothing personal."
"I'll shudder all over and feel all old and shit." Nathaniel winked at him. "It's up to you. I'm cool with either of them, though Deuce is a lot less formal. Nathaniel makes me feel like I'm at the office, sometimes."
"Okay, so not Nate." Trey thought for a minute. "I guess we'll wait and see whatever comes out naturally, then. But that's kind of funny. Deuce and Trey. Two and three." It had kind of a nice ring to it.
"We can name the puppy 'One' or 'Four', I suppose. I used to even know what order they came in, but they're all mixed up, now."
Trey laughed. "I should let Lacey name it, if it's going to be hers. But I'll try and steer her in that direction. So, back to your place?"
"Sounds good to me." Nathaniel gave him a sunny smile, all straight teeth and twinkling eyes. "Puppy madness ensues."
Deuce got home after noon on Thursday, Trey's second day off after Deuce'd been to visit at the fire station. He wasn't totally, one hundred percent sure that Trey was going to stop by to see the dogs again, but he hoped so, so he'd taken the afternoon to work from home.
He let himself in and winced as the dogs started up. "Shh, you guys. Pete's going to toss out us out if you don't get a grip."
"Nah, Pete'll just move for the duration."
Deuce jumped and then waved as Pete came out of the kitchen, laughing at him. "I'm not going to kick you out, man. Really."
"But you're not going to stay, huh?"
"Nope. But look at it this way -- Rebecca and I are learning we can live together, and the other option is me staying here and you taking the dogs over to her place. Not going to happen."
Deuce nodded. He couldn't really fight with that. "Sorry," he said for the millionth time.
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you in a couple of days -- need to get back to work now. Lunch is never long enough." Pete grabbed his car keys and left, calling out a good bye to Q as he went.
"This is so not right," Deuce said to himself as he went into his room. "And that's gross, little puppy. Outside is good for that. I guess I'll take care of you lot before I shower. Baths for everyone, what do you say?"
The dogs approved, rolling and tumbling all over the place to get to him.
In the backyard while the dogs romped, Deuce didn't realize he'd been waiting for the chime of his cell phone until it came. A text message yielded the information he'd been hoping for.
"are u home? want to see the dogs."
Deuce smiled and carefully shook a puppy off his foot while he sent one back. "in backyard w/them. come save me." He put his phone back in his pocket, located a chew toy that was in danger of being buried in Pete's garden, and hoped Trey would get there soon. The puppies were being especially adorable, after all, and what better way to snare a pet owner?
Twenty minutes passed before Trey finally showed up, in uniform, an apology on his lips. "Sorry. We got a call right before my shift ended. Then it got canceled as we pulled out of the driveway, and I got held over for a few hours, waiting for my relief. Hey, pretty girl." He knelt and gave Q a pat, flopping her ears around and making her collar jingle. Then he looked up at Deuce. "Can I use the bathroom to change?"
Deuce would have been delighted if Trey had stayed just as he was, but he had to concede that he himself would probably have wanted to change after work as well. "Yeah, sure. Of course." Deuce gestured to the door. "You can use my room if you want, since it's roomier."
"Thanks." Trey rose and disappeared inside. Q whined and snuffled at the door for a while until he reappeared in workout shorts and a soft-looking T. "Whew, that's better. You have no idea how much underwear I go through in one shift." Trey dropped down again to play with the dog, who looked delighted with the attention.
"Um. What?" Try as he might, Deuce wasn't sure what underwear had to do with uniforms. Plus, the idea of Trey in his boxers, briefs, or boxer-briefs was distracting.
"Yeah." Trey chuckled and sat on the ground. He was immediately overrun with puppies, but he didn't seem to mind. "Go to the gym, change my shorts. Get a call, change my shorts. Get another call, change my shorts. Wake up in the morning, change my shorts. I bring at least three T-shirts and four pairs of boxers in my gear bag every shift."
"Huh. The secret life of firefighters." Deuce grinned and pulled a puppy off Trey's arm, where it was trying to get a stranglehold on his sleeve. "No biting, you. So, aside from Q, do you have a preference for one of the dogs yet?" He sat down and kept the puppy he had, getting his wrist licked for his trouble.
Trey looked thoughtful as he gazed over the mass of wriggling pups. He reached out and plucked one from the pile and held it up to his face. The puppy was a male, mostly white except for a few gray splotches on its back, and it gazed back at him solemnly. Its wagging tail was the only moving part.
"This one's always so calm. Is that normal for puppies? Maybe it's got brain damage." Trey moved his face closer to the puppy and got a lick on his nose in return.
"It doesn't have brain damage." Deuce laughed at him and moved his hand before the licks could turn into nips. "He's just a quiet boy. Which, you know, is probably exactly what you want, especially for your little girl to play with."
"I guess so." Trey put the puppy in his lap. Instead of trying to wriggle away, the pup seemed content just to stay where he was. He got stepped on once or twice by random littermates, but it didn't bother him. "Yeah, this one." Trey smiled and ran his fingers through the soft fur. "What do I call it?"
"That's entirely up to you -- I'm not going to name your dog, man." He looked at the puppy and then at the other male in the litter, who had a black mark on his nose. "I've been calling that one Jimmy, and the one in your lap Tommy, but I suggest you change that before it sticks."
"Tommy." Trey looked amused by that. "Well, he's always the last one to get his dinner from his mom. And he's never the first one to get over to play with me when I'm here." Trey picked up the puppy and looked in his face again, but kept speaking to Deuce. "And since you're number two and I'm number three... I'll call this one Six." He knew that they’d sort of agreed on letting Lacey name it, but the idea had suddenly come to him and Trey couldn’t ignore it.
Deuce grinned and nodded. "I like it." He did. It was different and clever. "We should get him a collar soon, so we can take him on walks when you come over."
"Okay. What about the others? Are you keeping one?"
"I haven't decided." He'd thought about it, and he thought that maybe Q would like to have one of her offspring with her, but he had a looming and perpetual issue. "It all depends on where I wind up living."
"No word on that, huh?" Trey asked the same thing each time he came over.
Deuce made a face. "They've halted work at the building for some reason, and I've heard that they're going to be re-doing the rental agreements. I don't know if they'll allow pets at all, now, or how long it'll take before I can move back in, if they do let me keep Q. I think I should just start looking for a new place all together, but I have no idea what I'm looking for. Inertia kept me there for years." He had to roll his eyes at himself. "Lame, huh?"
"Not lame." Trey lay back on the warm grass, but three of the puppies thought that was a signal to play and tug at his hair. He sat up again with a laugh and tumbled the dogs to their backs. "It just means you were comfortable there." He paused for a moment, apparently thinking about something. "You know... there's always my place. Until you decide what you want to do or your apartment becomes available again. I'm not home a lot. You can pay rent on my guest bedroom, if you want to." Trey kept his eyes on the puppy that was still resting in his lap.
"What, me and the dogs?" Deuce laughed. "You have no idea."
"Well, how long until you can let three or four of them go to new homes?"
"Four or five," Deuce said, laughing. "Probably another week. I have two spoken for now, and someone at work is asking around for the others. They'll go -- people love puppies -- but I want to make sure they're going good places."
"So move in a week. Seriously, I'm home a lot less than your friend is. My place is bigger, and you'd have your own bathroom. I even have a laundry room, so you don't have to keep the dogs with you all the time. Like I said, you can pay rent if you feel like you need to. Just until you find somewhere to go. What do you think?" Trey finally looked up at Deuce expectantly.
"You're serious." Clearly he was. Deuce narrowed his eyes and pried a puppy off his pant leg. "Do you have a fenced yard?"
"Uh-huh." Trey nodded and leaned back on his hands. "The only place they could escape would be through the side gate door. It's wrought-iron and has big open spaces in it, but that's easy to fix with a couple of boards and my table saw. Otherwise, my yard is surrounded by a brick retaining wall on all sides." Trey grinned at him. "I'd even be willing to put in a doggie door on the slider in the kitchen. Temporary one, I mean."
"You have a table saw?" That could seal the deal. "I like a man with power tools."
"I have a table saw. And a chainsaw, and an air compressor. I changed my own oil last week. Want me to do yours?"
Deuce wasn't sure if that was a flirt or not, so he did what he always did -- jumped in without testing the waters. "Oh, yes. I really, really do." He turned up the heat in his smile, just for a moment.
Trey looked flustered, but only for a moment, and it was so fast that it could have been missed. "Okay," he agreed with a nod. "When you're down to three dogs or less, give me a call. I'll put new sheets on for you. And buy extra motor oil."
Deuce laughed. He couldn't do anything
but
laugh. "Okay, you're on. And thank you -- from me, from Q, and probably from Pete most of all."
"No problem. I have Lacey next Wednesday through Saturday, so maybe I can bring her by here to let her play with the dogs. Uh, if that's okay, I mean. She's a good girl. Quiet. Reads a lot. Loves animals." Trey sounded as if he felt like he needed to prepare Deuce for being around a seven-year-old.
"I'm sure she's awesome." Deuce had no issues with children at all -- just bad parenting. He was reasonably sure that Trey, no matter what he said about his ex-wife, was a good parent and that Lacey's mom was probably doing a fine job as a mom, even if she wasn't so great as a wife. "And of course you can bring her by. Any time at all. The puppies would love to have someone else to climb on."
"Yeah, she'd love that. I'll bring her over," Trey said and looked slightly relieved, as if he'd been worried that Deuce might have said no or been a secret child-hater or something. Trey picked up the newly-named Six and brought the puppy close to his face again. "You and me, kid. Hope you don't mind staying alone sometimes." He looked up at Deuce. "You might have to be my permanent dog-sitter."
"I don't think that'll be a problem." Deuce smiled at him and then grimaced as tiny teeth grabbed his thumb and his attention. "Hey, you. That's not the way to act." He grabbed the puppy and gave it a tummy rub, laughing. "So pushy."
The pup wriggled with delight. Trey plopped Six down next to his littermate and did the same thing, rubbing the puppy's belly until it looked as if the stubby little tail was going to wag itself right off the dog.
"So, what've you got going on today?" Trey asked. "And what day is it? Why aren't you at work, if it's a weekday?"
"It's Thursday." Deuce was only a little surprised that Trey's days ran together. "I decided to work from home this afternoon because I knew you had today off, and hoped you'd stop by."
"You did? I mean... oh. That's cool." Trey gave a shy smile but didn't break eye contact. "I guess the dogs weren't the only thing I wanted to see."
Well, that was progress. "Good." Deuce nodded at him and gave Trey his best friendly smile, as opposed to the leering smile. "Since we're going to share a place, it'd be good if we look forward to seeing each other. What kind of movies and TV do you like? I don't watch a lot, but I lean toward comedies and good special effects. I have a lot of DVDs that you're welcome to use, is why I'm asking."
"You do?" Trey perked up and gave a half-smile. "Can I take them to work to watch on my laptop? I'm good with comedies. And special effects, if you mean shit blows up."
"I mean lots and lots of explosions, yes. What else is there, really? And of course you can take them to work." He was pretty sure that they'd all come home, too, and if one or two went missing, so what? It wasn't like he'd never lost a DVD before. "You can go through them all when I move in."
"Cool." Trey lay back down on the grass and watched the puppies flop down for their mid-hour nap. "You can invite friends over and stuff, if you want. Once in a while I call a couple of guys and we barbecue on the patio. My friends are cool. We all outgrew the bar and club scene, thank Christ. Some guys never do." Trey paused and looked stricken for a moment. "I mean, that's cool if you still like to party."
"Oh, yeah, that's me. I'm huge into the scene." Deuce had no idea where the scene was. Or what it was. "Nah, I'm kind of a homebody. My dirty little secret is that I stay up really late at night reading sometimes."
Trey laughed. "Right, I forgot for a minute you were a computer nerd. What do you read? Probably not those wizard books. I don't think Lacey reads those yet, anyway."
"I
love
those. I've read them all more than once." Deuce nodded. "I have all the DVDs, too. Mostly I read thrillers, though. Or mysteries, or literature, or bestsellers. A lot of fiction. Biographies." Deuce grinned, pulled out his wallet, and produced a card. "My library card has a wear mark on it."
"Wow. A real library card. I've heard of those." Trey reached out and snatched it from Deuce's hand with a twinkle in his eye. "I'm holding it for ransom."
Deuce bit back half a dozen inappropriate responses. There were so many ways he could take the discussion into territory that Trey was probably not ready for -- and then he'd have to find a new place to live before he'd even packed a bag. He did roll to his knees and crawl toward his library card, making a grab for the one puppy that was still awake. "And what," he asked, "is the cost for its safe return? It means a great deal to me, you evil kidnapper."