Beyond This Moment

10 Day Five- 1:03 P.M.

"We need to name him," I announce from the backseat with Cassie with the brown and white dog between us. Now that he's bandaged and taken care of and fed, his tail is wagging and he's licking my face and he's really cute. But he doesn't have a name so we're just calling him 'the dog' for now.

Cassie is scratching his back right beside his tail because he seems to really like that and I'm petting his ears as he stands between us. Gabe is scowling behind the wheel, driving as fast as he can to make up for the time lost yesterday because of being stuck at the vet's office. Now we're not on schedule and it's really freaking him out. We're about two hours behind and we're going to be three hours behind when Gabe gets pulled over for doubling the speed limit.

"What about Lucky?" Cassie suggests but then after a moment of thought, she shakes her head. "No, that's too predictable. What's your name, handsome?"

I've had a few ideas but none of them really sit right. He doesn't look like anything that I've come up with. As we're brainstorming again, the song changes on the radio and when the new song starts, the dog starts barking. He hasn't barked at all since we met him yesterday and so it's kind of funny to hear him bark and his tail starts wagging, getting excited at whatever the stereo is playing now.

"Your dog likes Fleetwood Mac," Elias says from the passenger seat and then turns up the radio a little louder. We're listening to Gabe's playlist right now (driver picks the radio) so I don't know what song is playing, I've never listened to Fleetwood Mac, but the dog apparently is a huge fan.

"Okay, Fleetwood Mac," I repeat the band's name and then I look at the dog's dark, almost black, eyes just to see if he looks like a Mac. "Then it's only fitting that we name him that, I think that it's perfect."

"You're going to name him Fleetwood Mac?" Gabe wonders incredulously and I can tell that he's trying to hide a laugh because he's still bitter about the dog coming with us. He doesn't want to show that he thinks that the name is funny because by laughing, he is surrendering his anger and he's too stubborn for that.

After I told him that I'd stay with the dog there in Wisconsin, Gabe tried calling my bluff by getting in the car with Elias and Cassie but when he could tell that I really wasn't bluffing, I called his and he gave in and let the dog come with us. Of course that meant another pit stop at the pet store but I was in and out before he could leave without us and so now, we've got a dog on this road trip with us.

Gabe is worried that he'll pee in the car or get car sick but I'm optimistic that neither of those things will happen. If I just ask him to please not pee in the car then I'm sure he'll obey.

"I think that he named himself Fleetwood Mac," I defend, petting the dog's ears again. "Mac for short."

The song changes, Mac gets much less excited, stops barking and wagging his tail, and then lays down between Cassie and I to go to sleep. Yeah, he's definitely a Mac. He's a little bigger than Toto from the Wizard of Oz and his white and brown fur is clean now after the vet gave him a dog bath. He has two bandages- one on his front right paw and another one on his front left leg. The doctor had to give him a few stiches but they aren't a major deal and he hasn't been scratching at them, which is good.

Like the vet said, he's malnourished and it's clear to see by his ribs showing and the way that he sometimes looks afraid of us when we go to pet him. I think he's warming up to us though, because he's not flinching as badly now.

The most important thing about him though, is his magical and wonderful puppy soul because he's such a little angel and I adore him. We snuck him into the hotel last night and it was as if he could tell that we were undercover because he did not make a sound the entire night. He didn't even pee in the room.