Feb. 12- Adopting a Pet Together (Bonus points for including Kit!) - 1.5K
Kimmy’s sitting outside the pet shop, fenced in with two other volunteers and about fifteen puppies when the 6’4 guy with the Falconer’ cap comes up to her.
“Puppy for sale?” he asks, his accent thick. European, Kimmy guesses, but she’s pretty bad at pinpointing these kinds of things. He’s pointing at the wriggling ball of fur in her lap, gnawing at a plastic bone.
“Adoption,” Kimmy says, then cradles the puppy as she stands. “Would you like to hold him?”
“Can I?” the man asks, sounding pleasantly surprised as he sets down his groceries.
“Sure,” Kimmy says. This particular puppy hasn’t really been catching the attention of families throughout the day. He’s a little plain, Kimmy supposes, and shy around strangers. “Just kind of hold him with two hands—there you go.”
The man is astonishingly gentle when she transfers the puppy to him, and the dog looks comically small in his hands. The man’s eyes are twinkling, and he holds the dog close to his chest, kissing it on the head very lightly as he murmurs in Russian.
“His name’s Kenny,” Kimmy says. “We found him in a box downtown, along with a couple others. They’ve all had their shots, gotten fixed, microchipped, it’s all included in the adoption fees.”
“His name Kenny?” the man grins, like there’s a joke behind that.
“I mean, you can name him something else, if you adopt him,” Kimmy says. Kenny is licking at the man’s chin now, looking very content. “He’s usually kind of shy. The other dogs tend to trample him because he’s so small, so he’s just been hanging out with me. But I think he really likes you.”
“Oh,” the man says. He looks like he’s thinking. “How to adopt?”
“You’d just go talk to Gloria over there. She and her wife foster these puppies and conduct the adoption event,” Kimmy says, pointing to a woman with a clipboard. She’s currently talking with a couple holding a twitchy white dog with a black patch over his eye. “She’d interview you on the spot, then if you’re good to go, you can pay the adoption fees and you’re free to bring him home.”
“Ah,” he says, staring at Kenny. Kenny stares back at him. “I’m…I’m travel sometimes. But can get petsitter, do you think she’ll—?”
“Probably,” Kimmy says. The man looks like a good guy, and Kenny’s been having a hard time getting adopted. “You really like him, huh?”
“Yes,” the man says, reluctantly handing the puppy back to her. “Thank you for let me hold. I think I’m talk to…you know, boyfriend first, he always tell me that I’m decide everything too quickly.”
“No prob. We’re here ‘til 6:30,” she says. The man’s smiling softly when he mentions his boyfriend. “And next Saturday, too, same spot. 3 to 6:30.”
“That’s very good news,” he says. “Boyfriend will be visiting. Can I leave something, like maybe name and phone number? For Kenny?”
“Oh,” Kimmy says, handing her phone over. “I don’t know? Sure? I can let Gloria know.”
“Thank you,” the man says, typing quickly into her phone. Alexei Mashkov. 401-362-9876. For Kenny. The name sounds Russian. Maybe he’s in the mafia. “Is there anyone else?” He gestures to the dog. “Look at him?”
“No,” Kimmy says. “You’re the first. Like I said, Kenny’s shy around strangers. Families are usually looking for a more sociable dog.”
“Okay,” Alexei says. He sounds kind of sad. “I’m come back next week. Nice to meet…?”
“Kimmy.” She shakes his hand and waves as he gathers his bags, heading into the parking lot.
When Kimmy gives the name and number to Gloria, the first thing she says is, “Is this a joke?”
“Uh, no?” Kimmy says. “Guy just left. Really liked Kenny, but he had to go home. He’ll probably come back next week. Are we not allowed to reserve dogs? Is that not a thing?”
“You met Alexei Mashkov,” Gloria says flatly. “And Alexei Mashkov held Kenny and wants to adopt him.”
“Who’s Alexei Mashkov?”
“From the Providence Falconers? That Alexei Mashkov?”
“That’s…football? No. Hockey?”
“What did he look like?” Gloria demands.
“I don’t know, tall? Like, really tall? Buff? He had this accent.” Kimmy’s grasping at straws now. “Um. His nose is like, kinda big, but like, he makes it work? Gloria, I have no idea.”
“Holy shit,” Gloria moans in despair. “That’s gotta be him. I can’t believe you didn’t get his autograph. Or a photo! I’d love a photo of him holding Kenny. Every time he checks someone into the boards I’d just think of him holding a tiny, tiny puppy.”
“He kissed Kenny on the head,” Kimmy says helpfully, and Gloria just groans another upsetting noise.
Kimmy Googles ‘Alexei Mashkov’ when she gets home. And yep, there’s a bunch of photos of the same guy in hockey gear, holding weirdly-shaped trophies and in various celebratory poses like a dork. She’s not a hockey fan, so most of the stats mean nothing to her. There’s only two lines in ‘Personal Life,’ where it states simply, “Mashkov has dated Las Vegas Aces Captain Kent Parson since 2015. The two live in Los Angeles in their summer home during the off-season.”
Then she notices the salary Wikipedia had listed for Alexei, and she nearly chokes on her own spit.
“Kimmy!” she hears someone say, the very next week, at 3:05 exact. She’s holding Kenny in her lap, and he perks up at the voice. “I’m come back!”
When she looks up at Alexei, he’s accompanied by a shorter blond guy who has freckles all over his nose. He’s kind of cute, Kimmy supposes. Must be the boyfriend. He’s also carrying a fat white cat in his arms for some reason. Some of the puppies start going berserk at the cat, trying to jump over the fence to get a better look and barking wildly, but the cat pays them no mind.
“This is Kenny,” Alexei says to Kimmy.
“Yes, I know,” Kimmy says, petting Kenny with two fingers.
“No, I’m mean, he is Kenny,” Alexei says. “My boyfriend.”
“Kent Parson,” the blond guy says, reaching out his hand for a handshake, then rolls his eyes at Alexei.
“Oh. Oh.” The little snicker Alexei had made last week totally made a lot more sense now.
“Kenny bring his cat, see if Kit likes the puppy! Then we know for sure!”
“Uh,” Kimmy says. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea?”
But Kenny the puppy is already squirming in her arms, almost like it wants to jump towards Alexei. Alexei holds his hands out happily, and the dog hops into his hands eagerly.
“He’s kidding,” Kent says. “I’m going inside the store, actually. Get this girl a new collar. She chewed the last one to pieces.”
But Kenny the puppy is twisting against Alexei’s bicep, almost like he wants to sniff at the white bundle in Kent’s arms. Kent turns towards Alexei, moving so that Kenny is face-to-face with Kit. Kit blinks, almost like she’s bored, then cocks her head at Kenny.
“How Kit feel about new addition to family?” Alexei says.
“I still think you should start with a fish,” Kent says. “But the dog’s cute, I guess. Oh, Kit—”
Kit straightens herself, stretching so that she’s right in front of Kenny’s nose. Then she sticks a tongue out and licks the dog’s face, just once, before readjusting herself in Kent’s arms and looking away impassively. Alexei looks like he’s just won the lottery.
“Kit Purrson has spoken,” he says gleefully.
“You named your cat after yourself?” Kimmy blurts out, just as she hear Gloria squeal a little from afar.
“Oh my gosh, is that Kit Purrson?” Gloria exclaims, sounding like she’s about to cry. “I follow her on Instagram, oh my God, she’s adorable.” Then she actually looks up, her gaze switching from Kent to Alexei, then Kent again. “Oh my God. Kent Parson. And Alexei Mashkov. Oh my God.”
“We want to adopt Kenny,” Kent says, then turns to Alexei, whose grin is so wide Kimmy is almost afraid it’d crack his face. “Alright, laugh it up. I’m over you.”
“I’m not laugh, just happy,” Alexei says, kissing Kent’s temple, who begrudgingly lets him do so, but his blush is already betraying his frown. “But yes, I’m want to adopt.”
And as Gloria stammers out the adoption fees and process, Kimmy sees Kent press shoulder-to-shoulder against Alexei, his face a little scrunched in concentration as he listens intently. Kenny the puppy is yawning and licking at Alexei’s fingers, and Alexei keeps looking at the puppy in wonder.
(They bring Kenny home that day. Kimmy also notices that Alexei buys no less than ten chew toys from the store.)
