The Missing Gem

40 | In Sickness And In Health

Lucas

Sparkles turns ten months old today. This was kind of an important age for dogs, they're only a couple of months away from becoming adults, so yesterday we took her to the vet so she could get some more shots taken that she needed.

She was also growing crazy fast. The small little puppy wasn't so little anymore, but she sure was still a puppy at heart.

"You wanna go out don't you?" I asked the dog that sat on the carpet right next to my side of the bed, while I sat up on the mattress, my eyelids still dragging themselves down.

She whined at me in response and I got up.

"Shh, don't wake up mom." I whispered before scratching behind her ears.

I looked at the digital clock on my bedside table - it read 7:41 A.M. Then I looked to the bed and noticed Nicole was sleeping peacefully with her head on my pillow. I noticed that a strand of her hair had fallen down during her sleep and was now in front of her closed eyes, and I gently tucked it behind her ear and kissed her forehead. She didn't even budge and I tried my best to shower and get dressed in silence, not wanting to wake her up from her peaceful sleep.

Just like I do every morning, after I was ready for the day, I picked up Sparkles' leash and took her out for her much needed walk. Ten minutes late we walked back into the house, I gave my furry baby her food, and I started fixing up my breakfast.

That was our daily morning routine before I went to work and before Nicole woke up.

Actually, that's not true. Usually I don't have to go to work this early but we're having an early meeting today with the producers and we have the rest of the day off.

Her book has been doing really well in book stores across the country, and I couldn't be happier or prouder of her and everything she's accomplished on her own.

The publishers have been talking to her about making it a global hit and releasing it on a bunch of other countries and then doing a little book tour. Ever since the day she came home and gave me that news, she hasn't been able to stop talking about us going to London again on the tour.

I looked at the watch on my wrist - 8:49 A.M..

Damn.

I threw one last piece of the pancake in my mouth before I went to our bedroom to say goodbye to my girlfriend. She was still looking as peaceful and comfortable as before, as she slept through the morning light and I chose not to wake her up and only kiss her goodbye on the forehead instead.

I watched her body rise and fall rhythmically, her breathing was like music to my ears.

I looked down at my wrist again and left the room. I quickly grabbed my keys, phone and wallet and walked out the door, but not before scratching behind Sparkles' ears as she laid on the couch.

"Bye cutie."

* * *

The meeting was actually pretty long, about three hours or so, but it went so well it felt like time was flying by.

Finally! A meeting that goes well.

The producers seemed really happy with all the work we've been doing as a team to create the characters they had envisioned. Thank God.

It had been a few hard months. Nothing seemed to be working, I designed hundreds of sketches that were thrown in the trash, in the middle of all that I was still adjusting to the team, to a new job, to a new place... I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty close to losing it, but I'm glad it all worked out in the end.