It took me quite a while to adjust to how humans are supposed to behave here
It really wasn't that bad at the human resuce center, considering the state I've seen plenty of them in back home
Granted I did get microchipped, but it had all my medical information on it
Thank whatever deity exists here that they didn't have a policy on spaying/neutering humans here
Great for me but it made me wonder if I'd be used for "breeding"
They didn't allow that to happen here though
We even got our own little rooms to ourselves
They were pretty small, and had as many windows as possible
Twice a day we were let out to the yard to "play" with the other humans and any kids that came around
It's a very odd feeling to be pet and played with by little critters that you'd be doing the same back home at a petting zoo
The center put "clothes" on us when we were let out to play with customers and kids, since they didn't want any of the curious teenagers to get any ideas
Not since the incident
One day the cutest little fox girl showed up with her parents and sister
I was already somewhat inured to the cuteness these little kids had
The ears too big for their heads, the giant innocent eyes
But this girl...
"Look, look at this one, mommy!"
She had on a little pink sundress, two giant fluffy ears, a tail much too big and fluffy for her size, and a great big bow tied in her hair
Just the sight made me clutch my chest
I hope the vets here could diagnose diabeetus
I had an excuse though. I had just finished running a few laps of the yard and doing a few pushups
The staff had written it off as my previous owner being some kind of breeder or human-show competitor
She was jumping and tugging on her mom's long skirt
Both her parents were that kinda reddish-orange color foxes back home were, with a white belly, and she matched them both
"He's so big, look at him go!"
I was laying on the ground to do a few pushups, and had only done about ten of them before she ran over
She jumped up onto my back and sat down with her legs hanging off my side, so I obliged her silent request and continued to do a few
"Be careful, honey bun," the mom said
"Don't worry about it babe, if the center let him out here he's safe to play with," the dad corrected
"But he's so much bigger than the other humans here."
Their daughter giggled as I continued to do my pushups and kicked her little legs
"That's okay mommy," she said from atop me, "I like big humans!"
I finished my set and lay on the ground for a second before she realized that I was done
"He's awfully docile...and he's got some strange habits..." the dad rubbed his chin
"He also looks way stronger than the other humans here, too," the mom added.
"Could just be his diet. I've seen some pretty fat humans before."
The dad called over one of the employees
Their daughter stood up on my back and started to walk up and down my body
I turned back and saw her holding out her arms to keep her balance
The little hairs and pads pressing into my bare skin caused me to smile and giggle, but I made sure not to do anything I hadn't already seen other humans do
The employee was a big brown bear female
She was actually pretty nice
I had taken to referring to her as Momma Bear on account of her treating us all so nicely
And getting pretty angry at any patrons or their kids who got too rough or lewd with us
Momma Bear walked over and smiled at me and the kit
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, can you tell me about this human here? He seems a little...different," the dad said
"Sure. We found him passed out behind the center a couple months ago and too him in. We don't usually accept humans left at our doorstep, but he seemed so scared we took him in. He's quite smart, for a human, and very docile. We suspect that he was owned by a breeder or used as a showhuman, but he didn't have a microchip."
"What's his breed?"
"From what we can tell he's entirely vanilla, he's just got a tan."
That was another thing it took a while getting used to
Without any human countries here, as far as you knew, they instead differentiated between the different races of humans as breeds, and named them all after flavors.
I was vanilla. The black guy in the room next to me was chocolate, the indian woman was caramel, and the asian across the hall from you was lemon.
I figured it was because he looked like he had just bitten one
To be fair his eyes were VERY thin
Some of the animals in this world went bonkers over them
Just like those scottish fold cat breeds back home
Man, I really hope I found a good owner
From what I've gleaned from the conversations had in front of my little room, I was considered the family-friendly "breed" like labradors were back home
It was even more ironic that this was explained to a family of labradors when I first heard it.
The little kit slipped a paw between my legs and fell on my rump, then stood and walked back up to my neck while Momma Bear was talking
"He's pretty big," the dad continued, "how much does he eat?"
"He eats what a human his size should, but he's not a glutton," Momma Bear answered, "and don't worry about having to clean up any extra-sized messes. He's completely house-trained!"
The kit slipped again when her paws tried to balance on the back of my neck and she fell down
I pushed up again, keeping her there, and stood up
She squealed and grabbed my unkempt hair to keep her balance
Huh, I stood about a head higher than the father
I reached up and wrapped a hand around each of her little kicking legs
"Wow, look how tall I am now daddy!"
"Careful sweetie! Don't fall!" the mom called out
"It's fine, ma'am," Momma Bear said, "He's quite good with children."
"How is he on a leash? Does he need a lot of exercise?"
I looked up at the little kit on my shoulders when she kicked her paws in my hands.
She pointed across the yard with one hand and grabbed my hair with the other
"Mush!"
I started off in a saunter, wandering off and away from the adults talking about me.
I've heard it all before, it's nothing new to me.
Although I wouldn't mind be adopted by this family
This little kit was pretty cute, after all
It was definitely a better bet than some lonely old cat lady, or one of those punk dogs that always eyed the spiked collars and chain leashes
Plus she reminded me of my little sister when she was younger.
She giggled and squeaked and screamed from atop my head
I started to jog around, bouncing her around on my shoulders
She pulled on my hair and shouted directions, and I followed
Eventually we wound up back in front of her parents
Her mom covered her mouth and giggled at the sight of us
"Having fun there, Kelly-belly?"
"Yeah!" she shouted back, all out of breath
"Did you decide on if you're going to get this human?"
"Yes! I want this one, I want this one!"
"Now sweetie," the dad began in a serious tone, though it was hard to take him seriously when she was so much higher up than him right now, "taking care of a human is a lot of work and a big responsibility. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Yes Daddy, I'm ten now! I'm a big girl! I will love him and pet him and dress him and feed him and I will call him Kahuna!"
Oh good it wasn't George.
That would be too much for me.
If she was going to adopt me, that would make me the pet and her the master, right?
If be spending a lot of time on my shoulders...
Why not call me Blaster?
She wasn't that big. She only stood about the height of my sternum, not including her ears.
But she had that guy wrapped around her finger
"Okay, sweetie, if you're sure."
He turned back to Momma Bear who had a huge smile on her face, and she lead him off to do paperwork.
Her mom reached up to take her off my shoulders, but she wrapped her arms and legs tighter around me
Her mom relented and just folded her arms
"Kelly, you can't call him Kahuna."
"Why not?"
"You already know someone named Kahuna, and he's our neighbor."
"Okay, how about Sue?"
"That's a girl's name, sweetie. He's a boy, so he needs a boy's name."
"Hmmm..." she let go of my hair for a moment to pat my head with both hands while she thought.
"Bobby! I'll name him Bobby!"
"After the human in the movies?"
"Yeah! Except he's bigger, so people will know they're different!"
"Ok sweeite, Bobby is is. Come on inside, we need to tell the nice lady what you're going to name him."
"Yay~!"
Her mother reached over with a leash and attached it to my collar, then lead us inside
I couldn't fit through the door with Kelly on my head, so I reached up and pulled her off
She made a fuss when I tried to put her back on the ground, so I just wrapped her in my arms like a baby.
We walked in after her and found her father and Momma Bear in her office filling out papers
Kelly's mom told her what to put on the paper and lead us into the little lobby they had in the front to look at collars, toys, food, and such
Kit picked out a collar with a big pink bow to match her own and affixed it from within your arms
Once all the paperwork was filed the four of us went to the car
As soon as we were outside she climbed back up to my shoulders, sitting with an air like she owned the place
In fact the only time she wasn't riding somewhere on me was in the car, and that was only because she needed to be buckled in to her seat
She kept telling me all about how she was going to dress me up and run around the yard with me and walk me and all sorts of things
She was talking at a million miles an hour and almost shaking in her seat she was so excited to get her first human

My Very First Human (con't)

When we arrived to my new home it was already getting dark
We were deep inside a suburban area
Their house was a nice-looking two-story house with a small front yard and a large fenced-in backyard
Another car was parkd in the driveway, some beat-up piece of shit, nothing like the nice SUV we were all riding in
Before we got out she grabbed my leash again and hopped into my arms
She laid on her back against my chest, her big fluffy tail in between her legs
Her parents led us inside
"Mommy, I want to give Bobby a tour!"
"Ok sweetie, just no running around the house, or riding on his shoulder inside."
"Okay..."
She tugged on my leash from her spot in my arms and lead me around
"That's mommy and daddy's room. We can't go in there unless we ask. This is the living room, and we're not allowed to eat or drink in here because mommy doesn't want any stains on the nice carpet."
The living room was huge and the ceiling went up both stories
Her parents' room door was right next to the front door of the house, and next to it was a little study
"That's the quiet room, and you gotta be quiet if you're in there. There's the kitchen where we eat, and mommy makes me do chores in there all the time. You also can't eat anything in there unless you ask, because mommy says you'll get fat if you eat all the time, and I don't want to get fat like a bear."
Some stairs were across from it and went upstairs
There was a balcony at the top overlooking the living room
a second flight below it went to the basement
"Down here is the basement. This is where we watch movies, that's my stinky big sister's room, and that's the storage room. I don't like going in there, it's scary. Let's go back upstairs."
I followed her directions and opened a large sliding glass door to their backyard
It was pretty dark, and the light on the large porch out here didn't really light it all up.
There was a swingset with a little wooden house thing on top of a ladder attached to it, with a little slide coming off the front.
"This is our backyard. I have friends come over and play and we can do all sorts of things, like tag and hide and seek and sometimes in the summer we do waterslides! I can't wait to run around and play with you Bobby. Now go back inside and I'll show you my room!"
I followed her directions and walked upstairs. On the way I saw her mother in the kitchen making dinner, and her father was on the couch in the living room watching the news on TV.
Damn she must be a good cook, because my mouth was already watering at the smell.
Upstairs were three doors
"That's the bathroom. You should potty and poop in there, but no where else, since mommy and daddy would get mad if you made a accident in the house. That over there is the guest room if we have somebody like grammy stay the night. And this is my room!"
I opened the door and strode inside to a very...pink room.
Yeah, this was definitely a little girl's room.
She had a huge oversized bed in the center with a big purple blanket and several pillows
Her parents must have bought it with her growth spurt in mind, since my parents did the same for my little sister.
I wonder how she's doing...
No, keep those thoughts away. There's no going back.
Her dresser was a wooden base supporting a huge mirror with all sorts of stickers covering the pink paint covering almost every surface with little brass handles
Toys, earrings, bows, and other stuff was all over it, some of it sticking out of cubbies
Her closet was stuffed to the brim in clothes and the floor of it was covered in shoes and sandals and all sorts of other things
It made me wonder how someone with paws for feet would even wear sandals, but I didn't question it.
I smiled and threw her onto the bed
She sqealed in the air and bounced a few times, sending pillows flying
I quickly followed, dropping onto my back on the bed, throwing her up in the air again
She giggled and fell on me
"Hey! Heehee, Bobby, we're not supposed to jump on the bed, or mommy will get mad!"
Her mom called out from downstairs that it was time for dinner
Kelly reached over and took my leash off
"Okay, mommy says that you're not allowed to eat dinner unless you're dressed..."
She ran over to her closet and tugged a pink heart t-shirt free from the clothes, then ran back to me
It was obviously too small, but I was going to let her try and put it on me anyway
I sat up on the bed and bent my head forward while she clambered up and opened the bottom of the shirt
She pressed it over me and pulled it down over my head, totally stretching out the collar of the poor piece of fabric
It just wound up bunched up around my neck, like a weird scarf
"Hmm..." she put a furry finger up to her mouth and looked at me for a moment, "I'll have to ask mommy about getting you a shirt that actually fits, but you're wearing a shirt, so it counts! Let's go!"
I shrug and pick her up again and take her downstairs
At the table were her parents on either end, and on one side was standing another fox, probably her sister
And good grief, look at her.
She had long and straight black hair, a torn white shirt that obviously wasn't hiding a bra, and tight sweatpants. Her ears were pretty big too, but they were more proportional on her, and had a few piercings in each
Her white shirt was barely holding back a pair of GRATE STONKING TITS and I could hardly avert me eyes in time
Seriously, how did someone with such a tiny frame support a pair of breasts that large? Each one had a nipple the size of a nickle, and each breast was almost the size of my own head, and I'm bigger than anyone in this house!
Must be from her grandmother's side, since her mother was about average-sized. The inspection gave me reason to look away from her for a moment.
I'm definitely gonna play the dumb human around her and walk in on her any opportunity I get
"Whoa, what the fuck is that?" her sister said, drawing my eyes back to her.
"Anna! Language!" her mom correct
"No, what is that? I thought she was going to get a little human, not this...this giant freak!"
"Hey!" Kelly yelled, "He's not a freak!"
She jumped up and wrapped her arms around my neck, giving her sister a glare
"He's my human and his name is Bobby, and you should be nice, you--you titty-monster!"
Her father sipped a drink and looked levelly at Anna.
"Kelly, be nice. You shouldn't call your sister names like that. Anna, he's a perfectly well-behaved Vanilla, Anna, and it was her choice which human she took home, not yours. If you wanted a small human of your own, you should have gone with us."
She cross her arms under her fuckhuge udders
"I don't want to take care of some smelly crap-factory. How the, ergh, I'm not cleaning up after it when leaves a giant steamer in the middle of the living room floor!"
"Honey, he's house-trained," her mom added, "and apparently he was abandoned by a human breeder, so he's already got a lot of training done already. Now, sit down and let's eat."
Kelly harrumphed then guided me to her chair at the table, and she pointed to a bowl next to it full of HumanChow (tm)
The stuff wasn't bad, and it filled me up, but I didn't like the idea of eating the same thing three meals a day for the rest of my life.
I sat down on the floor next to her chair and the table near the end while they joined hands and prayed to furry-jesus.
I was kind of sad that they didn't bother giving me any of the food on the table, but my treatment at the paws of Kelly had almost made me forget that I was considered a dog here, not a real person.
I picked up my dish and started to eat with my other hand when I felt Kelly's paw reach over and pet my head
I froze for a moment, my entire situation sinking in
It--this...this was nice.
I'm so glad she picked me.
Her parents started asking their kids about their day, and she stopped petting me
It came back quick when her punk sister started to complain about all the girls at school and dealing with some punk guys hitting on her all the time
I drowned it out and just enjoyed the meal with the family, when there was a little noise in my bowl
I looked down and saw a handful of peas in the middle of my food, then back up to Kelly
She was doing her best to look inconspicuous, but she stole a few glances my way with a smile
Sweet, free veggies. It wasn't the best treat, but I need dem vitiamins if I want to maintain
I smiled back and reached over to my water bowl, using the motion to reposition myself so that my back was to her mother sitting next to her
I picked them out and stuffed them in my mouth as fast as I could
Then I lifted by bowl back up and put it next to her leg to make it easier to sneak me more food
She giggled quietly and dropped a few more in
Her sister finished dinner first and got up to leave
"I'll be in my room."
"Anna, you don't want desert?" Kelly asked
"No, it'll go straight to my thighs."
"Why do you care so much about those?"
"Leave her be, honey," her mom interrupted.
I leaned forward to watch her depart
Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave.
Eventually they finish the main course of dinner
After, of course, Kelly sneaks me a broccoli and some more peas
"Mommy, can Bobby have some desert? He all his food and he's been a good boy all day!"
"I don't know honey. If he has too many sweets he might get sick and it could make him poopy. You'd have to clean up any mess he makes, remember?"
"I remember. Just a little slice though? Please?"
I look up over the edge of the table and give her my best version of puppy-dog eyes
She gives me a big smile and reaches over to ruffle my unkempt hair
"Oh, fine. A little slice won't hurt."
"Yay!"
I smile at her and get on my knees next to the table, putting my chin a little below the edge
Chocolate pecan pie
Damn this is good
I wish I could have more, but I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

After dinner we went downstairs to watch a movie
The Secret Life of Humans
It was all CGI animated humans with great big eyes and perfect skin, all of that
Same story, too
Kelly sat in my lap the entire time, explaining what the movie was about, who her favorite character was
I absent-mindedly stroked her tail and tummy when she laid down in my lap
She giggled a little and told me that she was the one who was supposed to be petting me
Unsurprisingly it had a human that looked kinda-sorta like me
Her mother called us up afterwards and told her it was time for bed, so I carried her upstairs
She changed into pink pajamas, a shirt and pair of fluffy pants, that had the tight little elastic bands on the end surrounded by frills, and her tail popped out the back and swished around
She took me into the bathroom to get ready for bed
On the sink was a little glass cup with some Antelope singer's face on it, a bright red toothbrush, and a bunch of combs and soaps
"Okay, so before bed you have to brush your teeth, go potty, and take a drink of water, but not too much or else you might wake up in the middle of the night."
She put a little too much toothpaste on her toothbrush and I could definitely tell when she kept dripping suds into the sink
She turned to me and tried to tell me how to brush my teeth through a full mouth
She was a little too short for the high sink in the bathroom next to her room so she had to use a little stool
When she was done she looked at me, then the sink, then back to me
"Here, use mine."
...really?
Well, at least I know it's clean
I took it from her hand and let her put a huge dab of toothpaste on it
As I was wetting it to brush, she left my side, pulled down her pants, and hopped up onto the toilet
I almost left, but then I remembered that they still see me as a dog
She makes me forget sometimes
I really need to be more careful
It wasn't that awkward for me
I grew up in a small home with a bunch of brothers and sisters, all younger than me, and one too many days of waking up late to go to school had me pretty much inured to stuff like this
My bigger concern was the inhuman...er, unbelievable amount of liquid that little kit expelled
Seriously, even I don't go that much
How could so much fit into something so small?
I really hope she doesn't have a bedwetting problem, or she'll drown us both
I rinsed my mouth like a savage and just drew water with my mouth straight from the tap and left it on
She flushed, wiped, and hopped off just as I finished up
She tugged my hand and pointed at the toilet.
"Okay Bobby, your turn now. Go potty."
Whew, ok.
I'm just a pet
I watched my dog pee all the time back home
This shouldn't be any different, right?
...
She's still a little girl.
I stood as close to the toilet as I could and put my body between it and her
She tried to move around me to make sure I was going, but I kept nudging her away with the sole of my foot
"Aw, are you shy? Mommy said that some humans can't go if you're looking at them. Don't worry, I won't look if it makes you scared."
She laid her hand on my butt like it was supposed to be comforting or something
I grunted at her and she backed up to the sink
"I can't hear you, Bobby~ Go potty! Be a good boy and go potty for me!"
This was an altogether new experience
I was usually the one saying that when I took our family dog out for a walk
With the practiced ears of the oldest of seven kids I just drowned out her voice and went
She washed her hands, took her drink of water, and I followed suit
We walked downstairs to say goodnight
Well, I walked.
Her little command of raising her arms and saying "Up!" was getting pretty common to me
This spot in my arms might as well have some kind of saddle
Her parents were in their room
Her father was sitting in a comfortable chair next to the bed watching the evening new
Her mother was putting something in her hair and wearing a larger version of Kelly's PJ's
I lifted her up in my arms and held her out to her mother
"Goodnight Mommy!"
She smiled and wrapped her up in a hug
"My my, you have him trained so well already."
"He's a good human, I picked the right one!"
Aw, that gives me the warm fuzzies inside
Her mother gave her back to me so I could have the warm fuzzies on the outside
I walked her over to her father who gave her a hug and kiss
"Where is your new human going to be sleeping?" he asked
"In my room! I have a bunch of blankets and pillows out so he can make a little human nest on the floor."
"Honey," her mother began, "I know you don't have school tomorrow, but don't stay up too late, ok? We don't want you getting cranky."
"Okaaaaay, Mommy."
I stood there for a moment, waiting for her to direct me where to go next
Her parents both looked back to us when they noticed the silence
"Aren't you going to say goodnight to Bobby too?" Kelly pouted, crossing her arms from her seat in mine
Her mom smiled and reached up to run her paw through my hair
"Goodnight Bobby."
She looked at her husband expectantly for a moment, who was back to watching the news
He noticed her and flinched
"Oh! Uh, goodnight Bobby."
Satisfied, Kelly pointed me back upstairs
In her room I closed the door and set her down on her bed, then started to pull a few blankets out of the closet
While I was trying to lay them out into something comfortable enough to sleep on while still being on the hard floor, I heard her whisper-shout
"Bobby! Bobby, come here!"
She was sitting up on her bed, her little paws holding the blanket up to her neck
I walked over and bent over next to the bed, waiting for her to tell me goodnight or something
She instead threw the covers over her head and crawled to the center of the bed and sat up
A lone paw emerged and tugged on my hand
"Come on! Get inside!"
I obliged and followed her under, sitting cross-legged
The bed was barely large enough for the both of us
After a moment a little purple flashlight popped on and I could see she had a fairly large book laid open
"Ok Bobby, be a good boy and listen, I'm gonna read us a bedtime story!"
I couldn't help but smile
It was like she was having a little sleepover with one of her friends
She pulled a few of the big pages over and started on a fairy tale
Of course, one about humans
These were about a little leopard girl and her pet human who went on adventures
Of course the human could talk
Well, kinda
This chapter had them exploring a spooky mansion
Turned out all along it was an evil woman racoon who wanted to stop an orphanage from being put into the building because she doesn't like little kids
Her big pet human held down the villain while the leopard girl unmasked her
"I wish you could talk, Bobby... Ooh! Wait right here."
She disappeared out of the blanket for a moment and rummaged around under the bed
When she came back she had a shoe box in her paws
She set it down between us
"My big meanie sister doesn't know, but sometimes I take her fashion magazine and hide them under my bed."
She pulled one out and showed me the cover
Reading some of the article titles, I could already tell this was going to be a bore
Nothing but articles about boyfriends, how to lose weight, and how be more popular
"Look at all these pretty dresses and shoes!"
Oh thank goodness she wasn't reading this trash
She opened one up and turned to an ad page, covered in marker
Several pairs of shoes were circled, and a few sandals
In this world some of them allowed a fur's paws to stick out the ends
She spent the next several minutes pointing out which shoes she liked best
Along with several dresses, skirts, and tops
All circled, of course
"Someday I'll have all sorts of money and I can buy all the clothes I want, so I have to make a list of what that is. I'm gonna live in a big house with a huge closet that I can walk in and look at all my stuff. I'll be the prettiest girl in the world!"
She slapped the magazine closed and gave me a serious look
"This is a secret though, Bobby. You can't show anyone my collection under my bed, or my big sister will get mad and hide your stuff, or take a bunch of your socks so none of them match, and then mommy will get mad too, so you can't tell anyone, ok?"
I nodded my head and smiled
I already had a plan
She reached up, putting a paw on the shoebox to reach my face, and put a furry finger on my mouth
She pressed against my bottom lip and spoke in the same gravelly voice she used for the human when he spoke in the book
"Ok Kelly," her finger moved my lip with the words, "I promise I--"
I reached up and gently took her finger off my mouth and looked around conspiratorially
I put one of my own against my lips and shushed her for a moment and leaned in, clearing my throat a bit
Her eyes widened a bit, but she didn't make a noise

"I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"YOU C--" she started to shout
I quickly covered her mouth for a moment, listening for anyone reacting

"Shhh, shh! Be quiet or you'll wake someone up!"

Her head nodded in my hand and I released her
Her eyes were wide and sparkling, the lower parts of them curling up from the smile spreading across her face
"You can talk!" she whisper-yelled, "You can talk and understand me, right? You could talk all this time?"
I nodded

"Yup, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want anyone to find out."

"But why are you telling me? Isn't it a secret?"

"Well, I trust you Kelly. I'm your human, and you're my master. You picked me and I like you."

She drew in a quiet gasp, shaking in excitement, before jumping up to hug me around my neck
"My human can talk! My human can talk! I have a talking human! Oh you'll be the best human ever!"
She hopped up and down with each little yell
I wrapped my arms around her tiny form and patted her on the back, shushing her again
She pulled back and looked me in the eyes
"Can all humans talk, or just you?"

"Oh, all humans can talk in grunts and stuff, but I'm a special human who's smart enough to talk and understand furs."

"Ooh, just wait until mommy and daddy find out, they'll be so happy for me!"
I just shook my head

"You can tell them, but they won't believe you, Kelly."

"What? Why not?"

"They're too grown-up to believe you. They will just make up some excuse about how you're just imagining it."

"But I'm not even tired, so I can't be asleep and it's not a dream! Ooh, I know! I'll just have you talk to them!"

"Sorry Kelly, but the rules are I can only talk to you and your friends. I can't talk to furs who are too grown-up."

"Why?"

"If the grown-ups find out that I can talk, they'll know I'm an extra-special human. Do you know what happens to extra-special humans like me when grown-ups know for real that I can talk?"

Her ears drooped just a little
"No..."

"Big meanies who work for the government will come and take me away in the middle of the night to a secret hideout."

She gasped.
"But that's stealing! That's against the law, and why would they steal you anyway?"

"Because the president wants only the most special humans for his pets, especially all the extra-special humans, and he wants them all to himself!"

She pulled me back into a hug
"Well he's a big meanie then! I won't let them take you away, you're my human!"
I patted her on the back of the head and nuzzled her

"It's a big responsibility. Are you sure you're ok with a talking human?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded into my neck, "I'm a big girl, I can do it."
I smiled.

"That makes me happy, Kelly. I'm glad you can handle it."

She was quiet for a few seconds, sqeezing tighter before pulling back and looking me in the eyes again
"You can talk to my friends though, right?"

"Yeah, so long as no grown-ups are around."

She bounched up and down again on my legs
"Ooh, I can't wait to show you to my friends, they'll love you! I'll have to take you to go see them tomorrow, then we can go have adventures, too! Can you slay a dragon?"

"No, no," I chuckled, "Your mommy and daddy would get mad if I let you get that close to a dragon."

She frowned
"Don't call them 'your mommy and daddy,' you're part of our family now, so you can call them mommy and daddy too!"
My...my heart.
I saved face and let out a chuckle instead of a wheeze

"Okay, okay. Mommy and Daddy would get mad if I let you get in danger. I'm your human, so I have to protect you, right?"

She nodded

"So that means running fast and far away from any dragons or ghosts or monsters."

Her ears drooped
"Okay..."

"Hey, let's get to sleep, ok? We need to have plenty of energy if you're going to go see all of your friends, right? The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we get to tomorrow."

"Yeah!"
I smiled and gave her another hug
She released me and put the magazine back in the box, crawling back out to hide it again
I crawled out of the blanket too, heading over to my bed on the floor
"Bobby?"
I turned back to her
She had the book on her little nightstand with the flashlight on it, and she was back in the same position when she first got into bed
Her oversized ears were held up to me and she was giving me the biggest puppy-dog eyes in the world
"Can you sleep with me in my bed tonight?"
Be strong, Bobby

"Are you sure that's safe? I don't want to roll over on you in the middle of the night."

"It's ok, it never happened when I slept in Mommy and Daddy's bed."
[puppy-dog eyes intensifies]

"Okay, okay. Make room."

"Yay!"
She scooted toward the edge of the bed and patted the side behind her
I crawled under the blankets and scooted up next to her, laying my head on her pillow
She reached over and took my hand
"No, like this. Daddy always sleeps like this whenever I snuck in."
She pulled one of my arms under her waist and around her, and then the other over her shoulders
I was pretty sure she was light enough that she wouldn't cause too much pain in the morning from my arms going to numb
She sighed as my arms wrapped around her, squirming into my chest
Soon the top of her head was pressed up against my chin and her ears flanked either side of my face
My head was pressed lightly against the headboard, and the pillow was sitting all askew to accomodate us both
The short hair tickled when she moved, but she was soon still
I could definitely get used to this
After a few minutes, I found myself relaxing enough to go to sleep too
"...Bobby?" she asked from between my arms

"Yeah?"

"If I grow up too much, will you stop talking to me?"

"No," I sighed and tightened my grip around her, "you met me before it was too late, so I can always talk to you."

"Forever?"

"Forever."