The first one came just two weeks after Penelope started volunteering at Furrever Home. Penelope had always loved animals, but her mother and sisters unfortunately despised them.
"I will not have some drooling beast shedding all over my furniture, Penelope," her mother sneered. "I will not have some dangerous feline roaming my halls and tearing up my carpets and drapes, Penelope," she declared on another occasion.
Her sisters had been far crueler on the subject. "Why would you get a dog, Penny, when you could simply look in the mirror?" Prudence had teased.
"Perhaps you could let Penny get a hamster or a mouse, Mum?" Phillipa added with a faux sweetness.
Then Prudence chimed, "It'll be the only friend she'll ever have." The three ladies, including her Mum, giggled and laughed at the stinging remark. That always seemed to be the family's favorite pastime---making fun of poor, pathetic Penelope.
That was the last time she ever brought up wanting a pet. At least, until the summer her cousin Marina came to visit. Marina's boyfriend George, who was away in military school, had sent Marina a puppy as a show of his affections. Marina, much like a Featherington would, was not a fan of animals and told Penelope "she could have the damn thing". And just like that, Penelope fell in love. For the second time at least. The first time was with her Eloise's brother, Colin, but that was a sad story for another day.
Penelope spent every waking moment with Biscuit, whom she affectionately named after an incident where the puppy stole three whole biscuits from her plate in the span of a minute. The Yorkie seemed to bear a resemblance to Colin in that sense. Penelope just knew the two would get along. But before Penelope could introduce her new friend to any of the Bridgertons, the summer was over, and with it, Marina left, which meant Biscuit had to leave too. Penelope remembered crying for hours afterward, mourning the loss of the first thing that ever brought her joy within the Featherington household.
She knew to not get her hopes up after that, and trained herself to stop loving things so much as it only ended in heartbreak. She had to learn that same lesson with Colin again and again. She never was good at giving him up. Eventually, after realizing what an idiot he was and after months of apologies, Colin finally wore her down. They had been together for two years since then, and were still blissfully in love. Colin was working on his first travel memoir, which meant less actual travelling and more writing in the comfort of their shared office space. Penelope had worked her way into a position as a senior journalist for Whistledown Times, and she volunteered weekends at Furrever Home.
Penelope's friend, Hannah ran the shelter, and she couldn't resist offering up her time to help the sweet creatures. Problem was, the shelter filled up so quickly, and there was only so many animals they could help with such limited resources. This was how Colin came home from the grocery store one day to find a scraggly, mangy little pug sitting in his lounger. Both Penelope and the pug had given him the cutest matching pouts, and he couldn't say no.
They did agree that their apartment couldn't fit another, so Penelope promised that she would find a more permanent home for Wiggles, who had already been named when they found her. Not even a week after Wiggles found her forever home, Penelope brought home Onyx, a sassy black cat who really did not like Colin. Turns out, he didn't like any men. He hogged Penelope's lap when she was home and never let Colin come near her. Luckily, they found Onyx a new home with Eloise and her girlfriend, Pip, which just meant Colin would never come over to hers for a visit if the cat was there. The third, Daisy, was a skittish pittie who was missing an eye. The poor thing had been abused by her previous owners, and Penelope couldn't imagine letting Daisy go to another bad home, so she stayed with them for two months.
It happened like this a few more times. Penelope would bring home some unwanted animal, usually dogs and cats, but occasionally a rodent, like Doc, the rabbit who liked to chew his running shoes. They went through near dozens of pets---Bingo, Reggie, Winnie, Jack, Mittens, Whiskers, Pumpkin, Axel. Each passed through for a few months max before finding their forever home. Each time they said goodbye, Colin watched the mix of emotions spread across his girlfriend's face. There were tears of joy and pride, but he knew deep down what she really wanted. It broke his heart, because Penelope deserved the world, and he wanted to give it to her.
The day Colin found the sweet thing was completely by accident though. He was on his normal jog through the neighborhood, wearing his brand new running shoes since Doc destroyed the old ones. Just as he was about to turn a corner, he heard a tiny whimper. It was barely noticeable, and he probably would never have heard it with his headphones in. But then he heard it again, and he turned his head, searching for the sound. There, huddled behind a dumpster was a dirty little Yorkie, staring up at Colin with wide brown eyes. He knew if Penelope had been there with him, she'd have snatched the dog up in a heartbeat and brought it home to clean her up. So that's just what he did.
Penelope came home hours later to find Colin asleep on their bed, a ball of fur nestled into his chest. Penelope smiled at the image, too tired to even question where the dog came from. She just crawled in beside them, careful not to shift too much to wake them. In the end, it didn't matter, as the dog popped open it's eyes and immediately jumped on Penelope, excitedly licking her face. She couldn't help the laugh the bubbled out. Amidst all the commotion, Colin stirred awake and sat up, smiling fondly as he watched them.
"Where did you find this one?" Penelope giggled. "She looks just like Biscuit." She pulled the puppy away from her face and sat her in her lap, looking closer. Her mouth slowly popped open. "I...I don't know how, but I think this is Biscuit!" Penelope exclaimed.
"That puppy your cousin gave you when you were 16?" Colin asked with a shocked laugh.
She nodded, staring in awe as she scratched behind Biscuit's ear. "I always wondered what happened to you," she whispered, unexpected tears spilling from her eyes as she hugged Biscuit to her chest.
Colin's heart swelled with love for the woman in his arms, knowing without a doubt that he and Biscuit had finally found their forever home with Penelope.
