Never give a woman a vacuum, unless it's a good distraction from the other gift she's going to hate.

So maybe Lesley wasn't ready for a baby. Brant could accept that for now. But he still wanted to keep the ball rolling in the right direction, so he brought home the next best thing… a puppy. 

He knew it was going to be a challenge to keep Lesley from freaking out when she saw the adorable little fluff ball of energy. "Get that thing off of my carpet!" That's the first thing she'd say. But Brant came prepared. He bought the Dyson DC14. Its motorized brush bar could be turned on to remove deep down dirt and pet hair from carpets, and turned off to protect more delicate rugs or floors. So when she said, "Not on my antique travertine tile!" he had that covered as well.

Then she'd try to say that she wasn't about to clean the mutt's fur out of the vacuum's dust bin, but then he'd tell her about how quick and hygienic it is to empty with just the push of a button. And when she complained that the filthy fur ball's tufts would get lodged under the baseboards or between the couch cushions, he'd whip out the high-velocity crevice tool.

He had it all worked out. But just in case it completely backfired, he had his overnight bag packed and a reservation pending at the downtown hotel.

Brant heard Lesley's key in the lock. No turning back now. He reached down and adjusted the pup's big red bow and fluffed up its fur one last time before...

"What. Is. THAAAAT???"

Brant braced himself for the fight. "Lesley, don't get mad. I just think a puppy would be really good for …"

But he was stopped short before his well-planned argument even got going. Lesley had thrown her keys and purse on the side table, dropped to her knees and crawled over to the puppy. She was now laughing and rolling around on the ground with it, and it was yipping happily and licking her face.

Brant stood over them for a moment with his mouth open in disbelief before the edges curled up into a satisfied smile. This was a side of Lesley he had never seen, one that he hoped to see a lot more of in the future.

Back to top