Cold Lonely Nights

Litter

Shane strokes Wendy at the top of her head where he knows she likes it the most, looking down at her inflated stomach. After Kier brought in Max, the new dog got Wendy pregnant.

Now that the puppies are due, Shane took Wendy to the vet so that nothing can go wrong. Especially since Wendy is a little older than the recommended age range for puppies is.

Wendy whines in fear, tilting up her head to lick Shane's hand.

"It's okay girl, you'll be okay." Shane soothingly whispers.

Wendy whimpers so Shane kisses her behind her ear. The dog turns her head to lick his face, making him smile, stroking her ears to reassure her.

The vets help Wendy deliver a litter of 9 puppies. When they're done, after asking questions about Wendy's home life, they all decided that it would be best to have both her and Max neutered.

Kier had already arranged it for the puppies to move in with other people, although they only planned for six. He knew that Shane would not be able to arrange it for them to be given away after all his time in the orphanage so he decided that he should make sure that they stay in contact with the families so that they can check up on the puppies.

Kier enters with Max, who instantly tugs to the end of his leash to be near his puppies or Wendy.

"Do you need help?" Shane mocks.

"These muscles will do just fine thanks." Kier replies, dropping his mouth in shock when a vet effortlessly takes the leash and makes Max get up on a table.

Shane laughs at Kier, rubbing Wendy between the ears.

"That's a lot of puppies." Kier smiles, stroking Wendy's soft fur. "You're a brave girl." He encourages.

Wendy keeps licking her puppies affectionately. Shane rubs her between the ears lovingly, proud that all of her puppies seem to be healthy.

"How's your job hunting going?" Kier asks his friend quietly.

Shane shrugs. "I'm officially a handyman."

"That's great. You said you wanted to do more around the house." Kier tries to optimistically encourage.

"Well, it's more like I work around other people's houses. It's not much money though, I'm still going to have to work 20 hours a week as an auto mechanic to be able to pay half of the rent." Shane admits.

"Don't worry about the rent, I'm taking care of that." Kier reassures.

"Even though we've been friends for a long time, I can't let you pay for me to live. That's not fair on you." Shane sighs.

"Shane, I'm getting paid more than enough to keep a roof over both of our heads. It's fine, I don't mind, it's better than going shopping with the money." Kier laughs.

The feeling of his phone buzzing in his pocket makes Shane flinch, taking it out to have a look at it. He frowns when he sees that someone's booked him for the rest of the week as a handyman.

"Is that a job?" Kier asks with an optimistic smile.

"Yeah, sorry but I'm gonna have to cancel that cinema trip this weekend." Shane replies sullenly.

"But we've been planning that for months!" Kier whines.

"Sorry but us blue collars don't have the liberty of calling any day off we want." Shane replies.

"Shane, you so know that I've tried everything to get you into more than the working classes. It's just that after the incident at the orphanage, the company aren't letting me hire you. I would consider shutting down the company-"

"-Don't do that. A lot of people benefit from the work you're doing. You shouldn't neglect them that because I can't do any better." Shane cuts in.

"I'm still your friend, okay?" Kier reminds his friend.

"Of course you are." Shane forces a smile, slightly hurt that he has absolutely nothing in comparison to Kier, someone he's known for years.

Kier doesn't seem to notice Shane's anxieties and keeps petting Wendy to make her feel better after delivering so many puppies.

When Shane's phone buzzes again, he sees that there's an emergency job that he's needed for. "Kier, I'm so sorry about this but I really need to go." Shane tells him.

"It's fine, I have things handled here." Kier replies, letting Shane leave.