Chapter 56

So I just want to apologize for this and probably the upcoming chapter. I'm kind of stuck on this story right now. I know exactly where I want it to go, but it's the getting to that point part that's giving me fits. This and the next one will probably be filler chapters just to get to that point. Once again, I apologize!










I walked out of class with an enormous smile on my face. I was free. No more classes, no more papers, no more tests. Well, at least as an undergrad anyway. I stepped outside and paused for a moment to look around at the campus. I’d only be back one more time in a few days to graduate.

I saw other students on campus, some done for the semester, others still with a final to go. Most of them weren’t experiencing the kind of elation I was. Only a small number of seniors were graduating with me in a few days. Most graduated in the spring in May, not in December. I didn’t even know anyone that was. I turned my back on campus and made my way to my car. As I got closer I saw a figure leaning against my car.

My smile only grew at the sight. I knew that figure well. I couldn’t help but giggle to myself at all the people passing him by without a clue, thanks to the low slung cap and nondescript jeans and jacket. I broke out into a run and launched myself into his arms when he saw me coming.

“How does it feel to officially be done with school?” Sidney asked when I pulled away.

“Amazing. Are these for me?” I turned my attention to the bouquet of red and yellow roses.

“No, they’re for my other girlfriend.” I gave him a dirty look. “They said that red and yellow roses together symbolized congratulations. Since I can’t be here for your graduation, I wanted to give them to you now.” I took the roses from him and inhaled the scent. Then I tipped my head up and pressed my mouth to his.

A few months ago I would have been upset, even angry, about him missing my graduation, but not now. Of course it was disappointing that he’d be in Philadelphia instead of in the crowd, but it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t make the schedule, so there was no reason to be angry with him. Just knowing that I felt that way showed how much I’d matured in this relationship recently.

We parted ways, just for a little while, to drive home. Upon reaching it, we fell into a routine we were sure to do a few hundred more times. Sidney sat down next to me on the couch with his laptop on his lap as I flicked through channels. A little bit later he shut the laptop and headed upstairs for his pre-game nap. Two hours later he emerged dressed in a suit and gave me a kiss goodbye before leaving for the rink.

Once he left I made my way upstairs to get into the shower. I spent the next hour after I was out getting dressed, doing my makeup, and then my hair. I put on my jacket and grabbed my purse just as a car horn sounded from the driveway. I hopped into Vero’s car and we headed in to the rink together.

All the girls cheered at the end of the game when the Penguins destroyed the Flyers 6-1 in the first of their home and home. I grinned and clapped at Sidney’s first star selection and then we headed downstairs to wait for the guys. When I walked into the room I saw all the banners and balloons littering the walls.

“Congratulations!” everyone called out when I walked through the door. I couldn’t help but laugh and thank them for their thoughtfulness. I had no idea where I’d be without these girls.

Two days later I walked across the stage to accept my diploma. When the ceremony ended I was met with my friends, including Hailey who had flown in, and my parents and brother. Hugs were given out liberally before what must have been a million pictures were taken.

We all made our way back to my house where my mom cooked a large dinner for everyone and we spent the night watching the Penguins beat Philly in a shootout, with Sidney getting a goal. He was the only thing missing from my day, and I missed him and wished he was there. Unfortunately I knew it wouldn’t be the last time he wouldn’t be around for me on a big day.

A couple of days later he was home from his short road trip. We spent all of his off day decorating the house for Christmas. We’d decided that because they didn’t have a long break to just have our families come to Pittsburgh to celebrate. It was the first time for both of us to decorate a house for the holidays and I pretty much dragged him all around the city to buy decorations.

It took two days and a little help from some of the guys to get all the decorations up. When we had finally finished I collapsed back onto the couch and looked around me. The whole house looked so festive, and I loved it. Even so, I was tired, and fully planned on spending the rest of the day lounging lazily on the couch. Unfortunately, that wasn’t Sidney’s plan.

“Get up, we have somewhere to be,” he told me. I gave him a strange look, not having a clue what he was talking about.

“Where do we have to be?” I asked. He just shrugged and pulled me up off the couch by the hand.

“You’ll see,” was all he said. I narrowed my eyes at him. He knew I hated surprises and yet he was always surprising me.

“Wait, should I change?” I checked when I watched him grab his car keys. I glanced down at the lululemon pants and zip-up I was currently wearing. It wasn’t exactly my ideal outfit to be traipsing around Pittsburgh in.

“No, that’s fine. You probably don’t want to dress up more than that,” he told me. Now I was really confused.

“Are you taking me to the gym?” I questioned, less than enthused as I followed him to the garage and got into the car. He simply laughed at me and shook his head.

Despite my millions of questions, pressing for any information on where we were going, he remained tight-lipped and wouldn’t tell me. I tried to figure it out based on the route we were taking, but I was simply lost. The streets we were turning down made absolutely no sense to me. That was until he pulled into the parking lot and came to a stop.

“Are we getting a dog?!” I exclaimed excitedly when I saw the shelter looming in front of us. He laughed and nodded.

“You’ve been saying you wanted one, and with you just graduating and it being Christmas I thought we could pick one out,” he explained. I clapped my hands together excitedly before leaning over to hug him.

“Have I told you how much I love you lately?” He simply laughed at me again and led me inside. Thankfully Sidney had had the sense to bring me to the shelter to pick up a homeless dog rather than suggest going to a breeder. Pure bred dogs were so much more likely to find a home than a mutt at the shelter.

We were led back to the kennels where the dogs were being held. I hadn’t expected it, but the second we walked through the door I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. As I looked down the row of kennels I wondered how I could possibly pick a dog and leave the others. They all deserved good homes.

We made our way down the rows stopping to look at each dog and find out a little about them. Through some long conversations and heart-wrenching decision making I narrowed the dogs down to two. The first was a female black and tan Rottie/Retriever mix named Lulu and the second was a male black and white Border Collie/Shepherd mix named Gilligan.

“How am I supposed to pick between them? Just look at how cute they are!” I whined to Sidney in complete despair. He smiled at me sadly and shrugged.

I continued to make the trek back and forth between the two kennels, looking at both of them, waiting for something to tell me which one I should get. Both of them continued to look out at me with hopeful eyes, wagging their tails each time I approached them, mouths open in a smile. It was breaking my heart.

“Get them both,” I heard Sidney say from behind me. I spun around in surprise.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.

“If you can’t decide, get them both,” he repeated. My eyes went wide and I tried to keep the smile off of my face.

“Are you sure?” I checked.

“Consider Lulu a graduation present and Gilligan a Christmas present.” I let out a squeal of delight and threw my arms around him.

“They’re both under a year old. Are you really sure?”

“Do it now before I change my mind.”

A little while later Sidney and I walked out of the humane society with two dogs on leashes. He dropped me off at the house before running out and getting all the items I wrote down on a list for them. By the end of the night he was complaining about the lack of attention I was giving him because I was only paying attention to the dogs, who were both complete sweethearts.

“What do you think our families are going to say when they get here tomorrow?” I asked as we got into bed that night. Lulu and Gilly, as I’d decided to call him, were in their crates since they weren’t housebroken yet.

“They’re going to think we’re insane for taking on two dogs under the age of 1,” he replied.

That’s exactly what happened with both sets of parents as they showed up at our house the next day. Even so, they seemed to love Lulu and Gilly as much as I already did. The whole family had them outside playing and running around the backyard as Sidney napped before the last game before break.

Christmas went by without a hitch, everyone enjoying themselves over the couple of days Sidney had off. By the time our parents both headed back home I’d already taught both dogs a few tricks and I was starting to work on a few more. It shocked everyone how quickly I seemed to take to being a dog owner.

I’d never been able to have pets before with my family in Manhattan and I was surprised at how complete I suddenly felt having them in the house. Obviously I’d always known I had a love for animals, but until I took in two of them I hadn’t realized just how much they could fulfill my life. I was in love with my new “kids” as I called them and thankfully Sidney was too.