cover at one glance. Lollipop is a sweet guy. He wouldn’t hurt a flea.” Jeremy scrolled through his pictures to pull up one of a large dog. “We wanted to take care of him, but Lollipop needed a bit of surgery on his knee. The vet’s office could keep him confined so he wouldn’t reinjure himself.”
“Lollipop? We could take care of him, Daddy,” Kenzie rushed to assure Osiris.
“Mastiff, huh? Those are big dogs,” Osiris said slowly as he thought.
“I know! We had one at the shop. He was the biggest lover!” She looked at him, hopeful that he’d agree.
“That was a puppy, Kenzie. This is a grown dog. He’s almost bigger than me, Baby girl,” Osiris warned.
“No way. You’ve got a hundred pounds on him, easy,” Beau laughed. “He needs a pack leader to determine the rules. Lollipop has some puppy energy left. If you’re not comfortable with dogs, it’s probably best to not suggest it.”
“I love dogs. My Buddy passed over the rainbow bridge a couple of years ago,” Osiris shared.
“Pomeranian?” Jeremy asked with a laugh that infected everyone as the mental image of the large, muscular man walking an adorable fluffy ball developed.
“Pittie,” Osiris admitted. “I rescued him from a dangerous situation at an abandoned house a vagrant set on fire by accident.”
Kenzie wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed kisses to his cheeks as Shelby slipped from Beau’s lap to hug BJ’s neck. Kenzie already knew that Shelby’s dog had been dumped and saved. “I think we should save Lollipop from the kennel.”
“I think so, too,” Shelby echoed her.
“Don’t look at us. We’d rather have him home in SANCTUM now that Lollipop is in good shape. We were going to call Deke this weekend and offer to keep him with us. He didn’t know we had a resident vet, or he would have had Bart do the surgery. The kennel has been a good place for him to recuperate quietly, though, but I’m sure Deke would like to have him here now,” Jeremy shared as he held his arms wide to welcome Shelby, who scrambled onto his lap.
“Sounds like it will be up to Deke to judge your dog-sitting abilities,” Beau laughed.
“I’ll call him tomorrow,” Osiris said.
“Or you could call him now?” Kenzie suggested with an encouraging smile.
“It’s not late where he lives,” Shelby chimed in helpfully.
“Might as well give up and call. Two Littles against one Daddy are tough odds,” Jeremy advised.
“Up, Baby girl. You stay here and talk to Shelby. I’ll go outside and talk privately.” His look told her not to argue.
Wisely, Kenzie nodded. When her Daddy walked out the back door onto the large deck, she urged, “Quick! Everybody, cross your fingers for luck.”
Five minutes later, when Osiris strolled back in, he stopped in the doorway. Kenzie and Shelby rolled on the floor as they tried to cross everything—fingers, toes, arms, legs. “Only Littles!” he laughed, leaning over to snag Kenzie from the floor and hold her close.
“Looks like we have a dog to take care of,” he told her with a grin.
“And a house to live in here?” she asked, clapping her hands with delight.
“And a house to take care of,” he shared.
Deke’s only request had been that the nursery be reserved for his Little. Now that he’d found her, Deke only needed to convince the special young woman that he was her Daddy.
That had been an easy promise for Osiris to make. He’d prefer to create the nursery of Kenzie’s princess dreams in their own home.
The next day, Beau handed them the spare key Deke had left with him and drew them a map on a napkin. There weren’t too many houses in SANCTUM, but this would take them the most direct route. With a hug to their hosts from Kenzie and a handshake from Osiris, the two set off down the gravel paved path to Deke’s house.
As they rounded the corner, a large log cabin loomed in sight. Deke’s lot wasn’t far from the one selected by Osiris. They’d be able to keep a close eye on all the developments.
“I love the log cabin look!” Kenzie gushed.
“I do, too,” Osiris admitted. “It looks perfect here in the woods. But I thought you’d dreamed of living in a yellow house?”
“A yellow house would be perfect in the city. In SANCTUM, a log exterior would be perfect! Maybe a room inside could be yellow to make it sunny?”
Osiris nodded before adding, “We’ll ask the builder if ours could have the same