My Humans Are Getting Married!

Like a tornado, Franklin crashed through the hanging screen on the backdoor, never slowing down, and burst into the family room.  Before anyone could react, he started shouting at the top of his lungs, “Snickers!  Little Bit!  Guess what, my humans are getting married!”

Quickly Little Bit shushed him, and whispered, “Franklin, shhhh!  Snickers is asleep, and you know how grumpy he gets when you wake him!”

“Sorry,” Franklin mumbled, and then he strained to quietly say, “But my humans are getting married!”

“That’s so exciting,” Little Bit whispered, “Congratulations”.

Franklin couldn’t contain himself, he walked all around the family room, eyeing Snickers, hoping for one little movement to see that Snickers was awake.  Snickers wasn’t buying it though, even though he was wide awake, he didn’t stir a paw, knowing that Franklin would seize that opportunity and be all over him to play.

Disappointed, he went back to talking to Little Bit.  “They’re getting married!  And I get to go to the wedding!”

Snickers couldn’t contain himself with that news, he raised his head and said, “Wait a second.  YOU’RE going to the wedding?  Hmph, that will be the day.”

“It’s true Snickers, my Dad told me I was going to get to go,” Franklin protested.

“People say I’m a stupid dog, you’re such a puppy, Franklin.  That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Snickers dropped his head back down and closed his eyes.

“Mom said I couldn’t come, but Dad looked at me and winked, and he said, ‘don’t worry Franklin, I’ll sneak you in.’  If my Dad said I’m going, I’m going.”

Little Bit sighed, “I’m not sure Franklin, weddings are just for people, I’m not so sure they would be allowed to have you there.”  When she saw Franklin’s disappointment, she quickly added, “But you 

never know, maybe your Dad has a plan.  He always seems to have a plan.”

All of a sudden, Franklin jumped up on the back of the chair, and started whining and crying like a little baby.  The worst part was, he was practically standing on my head when he did it. 

I yelled, “Franklin!  What are you doing!  I’m right here, she’ll be right back!”

Little Bit yelled at Franklin, “What’s wrong with you?  Why are you so upset!”

Franklin said, “Your Mom left the room, aren’t you upset?”

Little Bit said, “But our Dad is still here, everything is OK.”

“I thought you guys said he wasn’t worth much?” Franklin asked.

Snickers mumbled, “He does have a point, Mom does everything.”

Little Bit changed the subject quickly, “No matter, now tell us more about the wedding.”

Franklin jumped down from the chair, and got excited again, “That’s only part of the news!  We’re also getting a new home!  I’m going to have my own room, and my Mom and Dad will come to my room and play with me every day.  We’ll play tug of war with my chew toys.  And my Dad will play that game, where he covers himself with a blanket, and yells for me, and I come and rescue him!  And I’m going to have a backyard!  My Dad will come out and throw the ball to me, and we’ll play catch for as long as I want until I finally get tired.  This is going to be so much fun!  I can’t wait to have my own home!”

Snickers started chuckling now and couldn’t contain himself, “Franklin, you are such a puppy!  When will you learn?”

Franklin tilted his head to the side, and asked, “What do you mean Snickers?”

Snickers raised his head and barked, “Your own room?  That’s right.  And they’ll put one of those gates up, and leave you in there all by yourself!  You’ll be stuck there all day.”

“Wait, what?  My parents wouldn’t do that!” Franklin protested.

“Snickers, be nice!” Little Bit squealed.

“And a yard of your own?  That’s right, you’ll have a yard, and you’ll probably have one of those poles and chains that they’ll tie you to.  You’ll be stuck out there in the hot sun.  Maybe they’ll be nice and give you a bowl of water, I used to always kick mine over.  It’s a tough life being tied up in the yard.  You’ll have to learn the hard way I guess.”  Snickers rolled back over, dreaming of those tough times from his puppyhood. 

“Wait, what?  A chain?  Why would they put me on a chain, they love me?” Franklin said excitedly.  He was starting to believe that maybe his life as a house dog wasn’t going to be so nice.

Little Bit quickly jumped into action, “Franklin, take a look at him.  Take a long look at Snickers.  Does it look like he’s had a hard life?  Look at that fat belly of his.  Does that come from a hard life tied up in the yard?  You know our parents, do you think they’d treat him that way?”

“You don’t know the tough life I’ve had,” Snickers mumbled, “It’s tough being the oldest dog, I didn’t get spoiled like you, Little Bit.  I had a dog trainer.  He was mean to me”  Snickers dropped his head back down and tried to go back to sleep.

Franklin sat there, dejected, trying to figure out what the truth really was.  As he slumped down and buried his head in the carpet, Little Bit said to him, “Franklin, I really don’t believe there could be a dog that is loved more by his humans than you.  You can see it anytime they are here with you.  They light up anytime they see you and talk to you.  They spoil you even worse than Mom spoils Snickers.  You will have a perfect home, and your Mom and Dad will do everything to make it a loving and wonderful home for you.  You are the center of their universe, anyone can see it, and you should know it.”

Franklin popped his head back up and got that puppy-like energy again, “You really think so Little Bit?  You really think they love me more than any other dog?”

“Absolutely Franklin, no dog could ever be loved as much as you,” Little Bit said.

As Franklin got his swagger back and started dancing around like the puppy that he was, Snickers raised his head ever so slightly, and asked, “Where did you say your Mom and Dad were going today?”

Franklin stopped and tilted his head to the side a few times, and said, “I think they said something about South Carolina?”

Snickers dropped his head and mumbled, “Yep, probably getting a new puppy.”

“Wait, what?”

“Snickers!” Little Bit screamed.