Here Comes Santa Paws (Christmas Falls: Season 2)

16. Roman

Chapter 16

Roman

I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel to the classic rock music blaring over my speakers. I’d been in a pretty good mood today, but how could I not with a belly full of delicious leftovers? The company had been pretty good yesterday too.

It was dark by the time I finished my errands. The grocery store had been nearly empty, with most people shopping for Black Friday or lining up for the over-the-top parade.

A pang in my chest caught me completely off guard. There was probably still time to go and see what the fuss was about. Gripping the steering wheel, I shut that thought down. I didn’t give a shit about Christmas parades or any of that festive crap. What was so special about people tossing out candy alongside glowing monstrosities on wheels? Though the old-school firetruck Elias told me about sounded kind of cool.

Elias was there with more than enough Christmas spirit for both of us. Why does my brain keep jumping to him?

I could feel myself starting to get attached in the way I promised myself over twenty years ago I wouldn’t do again. If I kept letting myself get closer to Elias, it would hurt like hell when I left. I could feel myself not only falling for him, but for the quaint life a town like Christmas Falls promised. Just like I had for Dahlia Springs.

I wasn’t built to stick around. There were too many places to explore, and it was time for me to make the next jump in my career. There were no opportunities to do that in this area. It was likely one of the jobs I’d applied for would come through, so I needed to keep my emotions in check.

I pulled into my garage a few minutes later and juggled unlocking the door with the reusable grocery bags threatening to cut off circulation to my hands. No matter how much I bought, I always insisted on bringing everything inside in one trip.

The tree squeak toy I’d picked up on an impulse slipped farther into the bag as I shifted to twist the knob open. So what if it was a Christmas tree toy? I might get pleasure out of watching Carol tear it to bits.

As I opened the door, I expected an eager Carol standing there to greet me like she’d done each time I came home, her tail and body wiggling in sync. But my kitchen was empty. I’d grown used to her enthusiastic greetings and began to look forward to them. I had to admit it was nice having someone excited to see me.

“Carol?” She didn’t come. I frowned as I set the bags on the counter and worked my way through the house.

She wasn’t on her bed in the living room. I ground my teeth. That little shit better not have snuck into my room again. I’d found her in there once already, snoozing with her head on my pillow. I’d been diligent about closing the door behind me every day since. At least, I thought I’d been.

When I reached the hallway, sure enough, the door was open. Either I’d forgotten, or she’d learned how to press down on the long-handled doorknob. What I didn’t expect was the pile of vomit at the foot of my bed or the whimper that came out of Carol when she saw me.

I rushed over, dodging the puke, and gently lowered myself beside her on the bed.

“What’s wrong, Carol?”

I gave her a thorough visual inspection. Her stomach looked even more swollen. What if she’d eaten something that had wrapped around her intestines? Or something she was allergic to? Researching how to take care of dogs had produced way too many medical horror stories. Each one flashed through my mind.

As she rolled toward me, I noticed her nipples seemed larger—not that I’d really studied them in any level of detail. Maybe I was noticing them now because they were bigger. Or because I was searching for a sign of something being off.

She scooted closer and my heart melted into a puddle as she rested her head on my leg, staring up at me with her big dark eyes. The wall around my heart crumbled.

“You’re faking it so I’ll let you sleep on the bed. Not going to work, missy. This is a one-time pass only.” She licked my hand. “Gross.” The side of my mouth turned up.

Carol let out another soft whimper.

My chest constricted as I dragged my fingers gently along the top of her head between her ears. “You’re going to be okay. Elias will tell me what to do.”

I could call the vet directly, but I wanted Elias with me. I didn’t want my lack of experience with dogs to harm Carol, and I knew Elias would ensure she got what she needed.

ELIAS

I loved the Christmas Falls Parade of Lights. Each year, one of our volunteers sacrificed his truck so we could decorate it like a giant reindeer. Some of our most well-behaved shelter animals wore reindeer antlers and sat in the bed of the truck as a bevy of volunteers—also wearing antlers because who doesn’t love a good theme?—either raced around passing out candy and flyers or marched at the front of our float holding the animal shelter banner.

I was one of the candy runners. My skin was sticky with sweat under my thermal shirt and Rudolph sweater with a blinking nose.

“Here’s a flyer about our adoption events during the festival.” I handed the paper to a pair of adults standing behind several bundled kids, who eagerly unwrapped the candies I’d given them.

I waved and moved on to passing out goodies to more parade spectators.

“You look like Rudolph!” one kid exclaimed after I gave her candy.

“Santa’s Helpers Animal Shelter is full of Santa’s furry friends. Want some candy?”

She nodded eagerly and held out her hands.

The sidewalks along Christmas Boulevard were packed with spectators. I got so much energy from this event. My initial adrenaline usually wore off a week into the festival, so the parade helped refill the well. Festival season was a marathon, not a sprint. Especially this year with all the extra stress from the leak, impending construction if I ever found a contractor with room in their schedule, extra adoption events, worrying about Gramps, and worrying about Carol. At least I had Roman’s support on two of those.

Instinctively, I scanned the crowd like I might see him. A pointless endeavor because Roman wouldn’t be caught dead at the parade.

Once our float reached the end of the route, I thanked all the volunteers and squeezed the hug-friendly ones before giving high fives and waves to the others. As I walked over to touch base with Nancy, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Normally, I wouldn’t check it until we had the animals safely back at the shelter, but I looked just in case it was Gramps.

Roman: There’s something wrong with Carol. She threw up and is whining. Her stomach looks more bloated. Should I call the vet?

I pulled Nancy aside, told her what was happening, and asked if she could oversee getting the animals back to the shelter. She had a key to the building and would make sure they were all back in their kennels with topped-up food and water for the night.

“Go. And let me know how she is, okay?” The concern in her eyes matched the knot growing in my gut.

“I will. Thank you.”

She pulled me into a quick hug. “She’ll be fine.”

I squeezed her back, then hurried toward my car parked several blocks away. As soon as I was far enough from the parade noise, I called Roman.

“Hello?” His tension was evident.

“What’s her symptoms? I just wrapped up the parade. Heading your way.”

I had to let the car heater clear the fog from the windows.

“I think her stomach is bigger. This might be weird, but I think her nipples are too? She threw up and is whimpering off and on. What do you think is wrong with her?”

My shoulders relaxed slightly. I had a pretty good feeling about what was happening.

“Has she been eating and drinking lately?”

“Unless she’s developed opposable thumbs to dump her water bowl in the sink and put her food back into the container, yes.”

I chuckled at his reply and considered snarking back playfully, but I didn’t want to push him. He seemed stressed enough.

“Eating and drinking are a very good sign.” The windows were clear enough for me to drive. I decided to keep him on the line in case it helped him. “Sometimes avoiding that can be a sign of something more serious.”

Roman let out a breath. “That makes sense.”

I heard shuffling through my car’s stereo. “Is she letting you touch her?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m almost there.”

“The front door is unlocked. We’re in the bedroom.”

I snorted. “She’s not allowed on the furniture.” I attempted to mimic his deep voice. It was risky teasing him in this state, but I bet on it breaking his tension.

“Kiss my ass.” There was a hint of humor in his voice.

“I’m pulling in. Be there in a flash.” I hung up and hustled into his place, kicking off my shoes.

As I reached his bedroom door, the sight of them took my breath away. He was sprawled out on his bed with Carol snuggled up against him as the little spoon. Their heads shared a pillow as Roman gently rubbed her belly in slow circles.

I cleared my throat to clear the dreamy vision of coming home to this every day and slowly entered the room, hoping not to startle Carol.

“Hey, sweet girl. Looks like you’re getting pampered.” She watched me warily but didn’t growl or move.

“Watch out for the puke. Haven’t had a chance to clean it yet.”

I smiled. Seeing that his priority was comforting Carol over caring about the condition of his carpet confirmed every gut feeling I’d had about Roman being good for her. And make my crush bloom into more.

“Got it. Thanks.”

She tensed as I approached the bed, but she let me. Roman’s gentle belly rubs must’ve worked magic. The fact that he stayed spooning her and wasn’t worried about me seeing him vulnerable with her added about a trillion hotness points to the mountain of them he already possessed.

“I have a feeling I know what’s going on.” I sat on the edge of the bed to get a good look at Carol.

Roman raised his head from the white pillowcase dotted with dark fur. “What is it?”

“I think she’s pregnant.”

Several complicated emotions passed over Roman’s face. Confusion, denial, surprise. Then his eyebrows furrowed as he glared at me. “What happens at that shelter?”

I snorted. “Nothing. They’re all fixed. I’d planned to do the same with Carol. She must’ve gotten pregnant right before we took her in. Otherwise, the vet would’ve seen it when he did her initial evaluation. We can take her in to confirm.”

“Puppies?”

I grinned. “Hopefully, several.”

Roman’s nose wrinkled. His hand stilled on her stomach like he was trying to feel anything moving around.

“If you’d like me to take her until then, I can. She’ll need some extra special care while she’s pregnant.” I didn’t dare mention the birthing process. That was a whole ordeal, but I doubted he was ready for those details.

“No,” he said sharply. “Thank you, but she’s clearly comfortable here, and I don’t want to disrupt her more than necessary. Taking her to the vet will be stressful enough.” He frowned. “What are you smiling at?”

I gestured to him spooning a dog the size of a child on his bed. A bed he swore she’d never have access to.

“This is a one-time thing. I found her in here and didn’t have the heart to move her. She sleeps in the living room at night.”

I nodded at his insistence.

Roman removed his arm and sat up. When Carol flopped her head back to look at him, he ran his hand down her back. He wasn’t smiling at her, but I could feel the affection rolling off him in waves.

He locked eyes with me. “I overreacted, didn’t I? I’m sorry I interrupted the parade.”

I shook my head before he even finished speaking. “You didn’t overreact at all. How would you know the signs of dog pregnancy? Your dog vomited, has a bloated stomach, and is whining. Calling for help is the exact thing you should do.”

His shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.” He looked back at Carol. “You can stay here for a little while longer, then it’s back to the dog bed for you and your parasites.”

I noticed he didn’t correct me on “your dog,” but I didn’t call it out.

I snorted and rose from the bed as Roman did. He followed me to the living room.

“Thank you for coming over. Should I call the vet?”

I shook my head. “I’ll text him and let him know what’s going on. They might be able to get us in this weekend. If you can’t take her, I can.”

He shook his head. “I can join anytime this weekend, but if they’re not available until Monday, it would be easier to go if it was before ten. I start patient appointments after that.”

I wanted to wrap Roman in my arms and kiss his worries away, and I kinda wanted to drop to my knees to show him how hot it was seeing how much he cared. I’d been thinking of getting my hands on him nearly non-stop since he kissed me in my kitchen. Instead, I walked to the door. Roman reached around me to pull it open. When I turned back to him, he stood close, almost trapping me there like he’d done yesterday.

This thing between us felt like playing with fire, but I didn’t mind a little heat.

I reached out and squeezed his arm. “What you did today, how you comforted her, proves you’d make a great pet parent.”

Roman stared into my eyes with his usual intense stare, but that time, I could’ve sworn there was more to it. More than gratitude. More than the heat from the handful of kisses we’d swapped. Instinctively, I pulled him into a tight hug, then shifted my head back enough to give him a brief kiss for comfort. Roman’s arms tightened around me, deepening the kiss.

Until Carol barked. Furry cockblock.

Roman’s eyes fell closed as he backed away.

“Sorry. I’d better check on her. Text me about the vet appointment?”

“Of course. Don’t hesitate to call or come over if you need anything. Anything at all.”

“I need to get her back on her dog bed. That thing cost over a hundred bucks. My mattress doesn’t even have memory foam.”

I grinned. “But her bed doesn’t have a bearded space heater.” I gently tugged on the beard in question and dropped another chaste kiss on his lips before going home to spend even more time fantasizing about getting Roman naked.