Page 43 of Fun and Games

"Someone's got to give him a good home," I said.

"So I guess I was right when I assumed you own lots of stuffed animals?"

"Definelots."

I didn't have many physical possessions. Moving around from place to place meant I had to pack light. But I hadn't been able to part with my favorite stuffed animals. I always found room to pack them into my moving boxes and suitcases, even if I had to throw out an extra pair of shoes or leave behind a couple shirts.

Some were from my parents, or other relatives. Some were ones I'd bought myself.

And some were from David, given to me as presents for holidays, or sometimes simply as a surprise. Stuffed animals were always better than flowers, in my opinion.

"You can't tell me you don't have anything from your childhood that you've kept around as an adult," I said.

A troubled look flashed across Mason's face, something almost distressed, before he quirked a smile.

"I'm not the sentimental type," he said.

I had noticed Mason's apartment was a bit bare bones, with not much in the way of personal touches.

"You didn't have any collectible baseball cards or your favorite action figures, or something?" I asked.

Mason took a stuffed elephant off a shelf and tossed it in the air, catching it with one hand.

"When I moved out of my parents' house I didn't bring much with me," he said. "Better to start off fresh, was my thinking."

The words were said casually, but the way he carefully avoided my eyes made me wonder if there was something more to it.

If Mason turned around, would I see that same clouded-over expression that had crossed his face earlier?

He stopped tossing the elephant from hand to hand and put it back on the shelf. He picked up the toy next to it.

"This is an interesting one," he said. "I don't think I know what it is."

I took the toy from him and cooed.

"It's a cute, tiny dik-dik!" I said.

"Excuse me, what?" Mason asked.

"It's a dik-dik," I said as I brandished the toy that looked like a small antelope with huge eyes.

"I see," he said. "For a second I was wondering if I should be insulted about something."

"I wasn't trying to insinuate anything about your manhood," I told him. "Dik-diks are a kind of antelope, but much cuter." I turned the toy over in my hand and examined it. "It looks kind of like Bambi, with its huge eyes."

I looked back to the shelf, but the one in my hand had been the only of its kind.

"That's sad," I said. "This is the only dik-dik available. It must be lonely."

"I'm sure it's fine," Mason said, amused. "It's got all the other animals to make friends with."

"It's not the same," I said. "Dik-diks mate for life. They should sell them in pairs."

Mason took the toy back from me and held it up to meet it face to face.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," he told it. "You don't need a man to make you happy."

"It's not that they need a mate to be happy," I said. "It's just that when they find a mate they stick with them forever."