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"Listen to your sister," he says.
I finally open the door, but I’m dumbstruck when I see my boyfriend holding a little puppy with a red bow around its neck.
I step back, and the kids see the puppy.
It’s as if they planned it. Both start screaming and jumping at the same time, and I, weak as I’ve become since the coma, cry uncontrollably.
Soraya and Silas are in love with the neighbor’s dog, and every time we run into it on the sidewalk, they lose their minds.
Athanasios steps inside, pulls my head close, and gives me a soft kiss on the lips. "He’s vaccinated and very gentle," he says.
I nod in agreement because I wasn’t even worried about that. I know how careful he is and that he’d never bring an unvaccinated animal near the kids.
"Doggie," Silas tries.
"Puppy," Soraya chimes in, coming closer to where we are.
Athanasios kneels and explains to the kids that they need to pet their new friend gently. The twins may not understand a word, but they seem very focused on the instructions.
I, on the other hand, am too emotional to say or do anything.
Madison comes closer to me. "You’re in love with him," she whispers for only me to hear.
I don’t even try to deny it. "How could I not?" I whisper back. "It’s like he’s devised a plan to win me over, which is ridiculous, I know. A man like Athanasios can have any woman he wants."
"Which means he must be in love too."
"I don’t want to think about that, Madison. There’s a dreamer inside me that still wants the full fairy tale. If I get my hopes up, I could get hurt badly."
"Then don’t think. Just live."
Athanasios
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
"Accordingto the animal shelter supervisor, he’s a German Shepherd and Labrador mix—whatever that means. His mother's owner passed away, and she was pregnant, so they gave the puppies away."
"Good thing I didn’t go with you, or I’d have wanted to bring all his little siblings home."
"Too late. They were all spoken for. I went looking the day after you told me you were thinking about adopting a dog."
Madison and Eleanor have headed to the kitchen, probably to give us some privacy, and the kids are running back and forth, chasing the little dog. The funny thing is, even though they’re walking steadily now, they’ve started crawling again.
I mentioned it to Brooklyn, and she thinks it’s to be ‘on equal footing’ with their four-legged friend.
"It was such a wonderful surprise," she says.
"I didn’t mean to make you cry. I should have warned you I was bringing him."
"Don’t worry about it. It was just from the emotion. Their little faces when they saw the dog . . .” She closes her eyes andwraps her arms around my neck. "You have no idea what it means to me to see my kids smile when I know I could’ve lost the chance to raise them."
She’s sitting on my lap, and I pull her closer to my chest. "That’s not going to happen. They’ll grow up with you by their side." I pause before adding, "Every child should grow up with their mother by their side."
She leans back a little and looks at me. "Are you saying that because you’re adopted?"
"Partly."
"Did you always know the Pappakouri weren’t your biological parents?"