Knowing this would certainly affect Max and Sam (our first "children") we took careful steps to introduce the girls smells before they came home by giving them blankets slept in by the babies.
Max took a few sniffs and asked me, "Ok, nice, but when is dinner and when are you going to start telling me how much you love me today?"
Sam on the other hand, sniffed and sniffed and sniffed, then finally grabbed the blanket out of my hand and began running around the place in his true Bronco style.
"Chase me! Chase me! Someone....please! This smells greeeaat!" he yelled with a snort.
Understand, Max is our sensitive, needy, attention defecit boy (little black terrier) and Sam is our loving, protective, fun one. Oh boy, how they have responded to them coming home.
Both of the boys were giddy like the rest of us. Sidney came home first and both of the dogs went crazy smelling her all over. Neither had any clue what was about to happen to their social standing in our home and Max was in for the biggest shock. About a week into things, Max gave me a puzzling look one day. We had to have a conversation....
"Ok, now this little squirmmy thing is cool, but I just want to make sure I get my time with you and momma," he said, head titled and all. "I mean, I've been around for nearly 6 years and I have to have my sleep and I must have some attention focused on me. When is this little thing going away? I don't have to share the bed with her too, do I? I mean between you and momma, I don't have much space left in the bed..."
"Well, Max, you'll always have your place. But, you're no longer the number one cat around these parts," I replied. "Her name is Sidney and essentially she's your new sister. She's no going away."
I didn't want to cause him emotional harm by telling him there were two. He whinned and then hid under the bed the rest of the day.
Just 13 days later we brought home Chloe. We came in with her first and left Sidney waiting outside. Chloe was quickly greeted by snorts, yelps and the like. But the boys were a little confused...
"Oh boy, look, it's Sidney again! I never knew she left!" he said mistakingly while yelping as normal. "I actually missed her. Look Sam, Sidney is back!"
"I know, I know, I know," Sam replied as he bucked and tucked around the couch.
Both of the dogs smelled her like mad and ran around the place.
Neither had a clue.
A few seconds later, we brought in the real Sidney.
"Wait a second!" Max said stopping in his tracks. "Sidney is over there...in the living room. How did she get back outside?"
Sam started sniffing Sidney like mad, butt and nub wagging like crazy.
"That wasn't Sidney bro," he said giggly to Max, while slobbering all over her. "I am not sure who that was, but THIS is Sidney."
He ran off even more excited, leaving Max in shock and awe. I think we literally saw tears well up in his eyes.
He looked up at us.
"You mean....umm....that, ummm.....there are TWO!!!!!!?" he whinned. "What has my world come to?"
"Max, that was Chloe. This is Sidney. Yes, there are two," I explained as I knelt down and cupped his snout.
"So, so, does, I mean, does that mean, umm, that both of these things are here to stay?"
"Yes, sir."
Max gulped, made one last curteous sniff and went back to his cave.
A few days later, things had settled down and Sam was really taking charge.
Both of the babies are on monitors that go off here and there. Sam really gets concerned. It went off a few days ago on Sidney and before either of us could get to her playpen, Sam was ready with full a report in paw.
"Ok, here's the deal," he told us as we got closer, "Nothing to see here people. She's fine. Just a little false alarm. I've got it all under control. Really."
All he needed was a white coat and a name tag and he'd be Doc Samuel.
"By the way, when am I going to be allowed to take her outside and play?"
"Never Sam, never," I said. "But thanks for the report. Go back to bed."
How the worlds have collided.
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment