"Carter, please stop bothering Zac while he's doing his work." Diana sighed and put her chin in her hand as she sat at the dining room table across from Zac. He was having a hard time doing his math today, or any other day because he was now the only one still doing school. He had originally planned to finish the same year as Melissa but she graduated two years early and was now attending classes at Tulsa Community College with Carter.
"Yeah, Carter. Stop bothering me." Zac smiled and poked Carter who was sitting in the chair next to him. She had been trying to strike up a staring contest for an hour.
Isaac was away for the week, visiting Beth in Pennsylvania. Taylor was sitting on the couch in the living room, sulking. He couldn't believe that his birthday was tomorrow and nobody had said anything yet.
Carter stared at Diana for a few seconds until Diana finally noticed her. Then, she nodded. "HEY Zac..." Carter poked him hard. "Don't you have to go to the bathroom?"
Zac looked at Carter and squinted his eyes. "What?"
"I said, BATHROOM."
Diana kicked Zac under the table.
"OH! RIGHT!" He jumped up from the table and ran upstairs.
Taylor looked over at Carter and his mom and gave them a strange look. "Whatever..." He was too miserable to care.
After a few minutes Zac came running down the stairs and plopped back into his chair at the dining room table. "Ok. I'm all done in the bathroom now. Where was I?" He grabbed his pencil and skimmed his paper with it. "Ah, yes. Here we go."
Carter laughed and got up from the table. She went and sat down next to Taylor on the couch. "Sup?" She asked, staring at the tv.
"Nothing."
"You do know the tv is off, right?"
"Yes." Taylor grumbled and grabbed the remote. He turned the channel to mtv.
"So, I've been thinking. What do you want for your birthday?"
Taylor's face brightened. She remembered. It was abou time. "You know what I want. The same thing I've wanted since I was like... 9."
"Yeah, but I can't get you a dog. Remember what happened last time you had a dog?"
Taylor frowned. "Poor Scooby."
"So what else can I get you?" She asked, nudging him lightly.
"I don't care. Whatever."
She sighed and stood back up. "Right. Well, anyway, your present is upstairs in your room."
Taylor stared as she sat back down at the dining room table for a minute before bolting from the couch and running upstairs. Carter and Zac followed him. When he threw open the door to his room he saw a large, plain box.
"Dammit Zac, you were supposed to wrap the box."
"Oops." Zac shrugged.
Taylor looked at them both. "From who?"
Carter raised her hand. "Just me. I hope you like it."
Taylor picked up the box and examined it and the minute Carter and Zac realized what he was about to do, they both screamed. "DON'T SHAKE IT!"
Taylor dropped the box, eyed it carefully, and opened the top. Then, he jumped back, looked at Carter, jumped up and down twice, and ran over and hugged her. "YOU RULE MORE THAN ANYBODY!"
"Yes, I know." Carter laughed and hugged him back.
Taylor went back to the box and pulled out the small Saint Bernard puppy. He was light brown, white, and black, and had a purple collar with a red bow tied around his neck. "Oh my god... does my mom know?"
"She said it was fine. It took a lot of begging though."
Taylor gave the puppy a hug and then frowned. "Did you name him yet?"
"No. I figured you'd want to do that."
"I suck at naming stuff."
Zac nodded. "Remember Scooby?"
"Poor Scooby."
Taylor carried the puppy downstairs, followed by Zac and Carter, and set him down on the dining room table. "If he pees on my table, you're taking him back." Diana glared and then giggled when she realized how cute the puppy was. "So what do we name him?"
"We don't know." Taylor sighed. "I suck at giving things names. I know," He grinned, "I say we name him penis."
Diana sighed. "We don't need another excuse to shout that word at the dinner table."
Carter made a face. "I was thinking Bob Marley."
Diana shook her head. "What about Shady? That's a good name for a dog."
"CUJO THE WONDERDOG!" Zac jumped up and snapped his fingers.
Diana shook her head. "I thought we'd have this problem. Carter, go get eight paper plates and that bag of dogfood from the kitchen."
Carter gave her a strange look, went into the kitchen, and returned with the plates and food. "Hungry?" She asked Diana and smiled.
Diana laughed and shook her head. "Ok we each get to pick two names. We write down our names on the plates, then cover them with the food. THEN, we put them in the middle of the table. Whichever one the puppy eats, is the name he picks. Sound good?"
Zac stared. "My mom's a genius."
Fifteen minutes of painful thinking went by and they ended up with eight paper plates with names on them. Taylor had picked "Penis" and for lack of originality, "Fred". Carter had chosen, "Bob Marley" and another name that she refused to reveal to the rest of them. Diana wanted "Shasta" or "Shady". And Zac was determined to name the dog "Arnold P. Weiner" or "Cujo the Wonderdog".
Diana looked tired. "I don't want to know what the P stands for. But, ok... here we go." She finished covering the plates with food and mixed them up. Then, she positioned them in a row across the table. Luckily, the unnamed puppy looked hungry. She nodded and Taylor let him go.
The puppy sniffed around the plates for a while before finally settling one of the middle ones. He ate greedily and in a few minutes Carter jumped up onto a chair and pointed her finger. "HA! WOO! THIS DOG RULES! HE PICKED MINE!"
Taylor, Zac, and Diana looked up at her, then down at the plate, and then back up at her. Taylor nodded. "I like it."
"It suits him." Zac nodded, too.
Diana shook her head. "Who the hell names their dog, "Kitty?"
They all shrugged.
Diana nodded. "Right. Apparently we do." She gave Taylor a quick hug. "Well, enjoy... Kitty. I have to go out for a little while. Zac, finish your math. Carter, no staring contests, food fights, drugs or alcohol of any kind, and no sacrificing Zac to the bunnies in the woods."
"Gotcha." Carter gave her a thumbs up and waited for her to leave. "Ok, who's got the crack? Zac?"
Taylor laughed. "Did you happen to get a leash for him?"
"Zac?" Carter made a face.
"No, genius. For the dog?"
"Oh, yeah." Carter went back into the kitchen and came back with a flourescent pink leash.
"Should have known you'd pick pink." Taylor laughed. "Would you... want to walk him with me?"
"Sure." Carter kissed Zac on top of his head. "Ok, now, Zac... I'm going out for a while. No staring contests, food fights..."
Zac rolled his eyes and laughed. "Alright, Alright, I gotcha."
Carter grabbed her sweatshirt from the couch and pulled it over her head. Then, she went outside with Taylor and Kitty. Taylor held Kitty's leash in his hand and walked fairly close to Carter down the street. "I can't believe you got me a puppy."
"I can't believe you let me name him Kitty."
Taylor laughed. "Better than Cujo the Wonderdog."
Carter laughed back and then shoved her hands in her pockets. "So what do you want to do for your birthday? Besides stay out of the hospital."
Taylor shrugged. "I don't know. Nothing special."
Carter pulled her hands out of her pockets. "Oh come on. There has to be something you want to do."
Taylor nodded.
"So, what is it? Lasertag? Traditional birthday dinner at Pizza Hut? Posing as a homeless person so you can carry around one of those mugs full of change?"
"Nah."
Carter sighed. "So then, what do you want to do?"
Taylor stopped all of a sudden and looked at her. "Be with you."
Carter was surprised at his response. She really didn't know what to say or do. So, she just did was her heart told her to do. She nodded and reached out for his hand, lacing her fingers with his. Then, they started to walk again. "Happy Birthday Taylor."
Taylor smiled, knowing that so far, it was the best birthday he'd ever had.