Sisters

17.

STEPHANIE

I look at the little shaggy creature as he happily explores Nicole's and my apartment, little to say I fell in love with it at first sight. That little yellow Labrador was the fulfillment of all my childhood dreams and I still can’t believe she’s just mine. Leo definitely surpassed himself with these gifts, because the moment she awkwardly walked up to me with a big red bow around her neck, she won me over completely.

The puppy approached me and left a tennis ball in front of me, eager for attention and ready to play. I threw her that ball, and she joyfully ran for it, and then she handed it to me again.

Of course Leo had to think about everything and gave me an already trained puppy that was from the best litter he could find. Her pedigree was completely irrelevant to me, and if he had given me the first wanderer he came across, I would have loved her with the same strength.

"According to her pedigree, she got the name Astra, if you want you can change it," I recalled Leo's words, but this name suited her perfectly.

Astra in Latin means star, and for me she represents my star who will always be there to give me that immeasurable and pure love that only dogs can give.

I took the puppy and placed her in my lap, caressing her light hair, and she fell asleep shortly afterwards.

“Stephanie, I’m home!” I heard the door open and my sister’s voice.

Astra woke up and ran curiously towards the source of voice still unknown to her. Nicole was still shaken by the previous situation and I couldn't blame her for that. Fatigue and worry were clearly visible on her beautiful face.

"Stephanie!!!" Nicole screamed, and the scared puppy hid behind me.

"What is this shaggy creature, that litter of microorganisms, doing in our apartment?!"

Her fatigue was instantly replaced by anger. I seem to have forgotten how much Nicole despises animals, that is, the responsibility they bring with them, and besides, her medical phobias about the various diseases that animals can cause according to her will never be clear to me. So much for my plan to prepare her for what will follow...

“That shaggy creature, as you called her, is an Astra and she’s my dog ​​from now on,” I explained to her, stroking the frightened puppy.

"You definitely decided to send me to psychiatry today..." She shot me a look, "Where did it come from now?!"

“Leo gave it to me for my birthday,” I told her proudly.

Nicole always reacts abruptly and hastily, but I believe that in a while she will get used to it herself, because I have no plans to give it up. My life's wish was to have a Labrador, and I will definitely not allow Nicole to deprive me off this happiness.

"I'll kill him. This time Maximillian won't save him either!" She exclaimed angrily.

She angrily walked over to us and sat down on the corner set massaging her temples, for a moment I thought she was going to get sick, because truth be told, today was more than stressful for her.

The moment I saw her in the hospital crying and lost. I broke to pieces, because it was I who caused her to be in such a state. I can't even imagine what she went through, because all this caused her post-traumatic stress disorder. Nicole, who was always strong, shook in front of me and hugged me with all her strength.

If there was one thing I hated in my life, it was that I saw her hurt, yet she is my older sister. I was indescribably angry with myself for being the cause of her worries again, because if I had listened to her and checked my personal belongings, I would have noticed that I had forgotten my phone and all that would not have happened.