“Yes. Yes, they do. They have to. The vet told me to come here and get them. I need her to not bleed in my truck or anywhere in my house, so if you’ll just point me to where the tampons are . . . I’ll get out of your hair.”
Pointing my phone down to Princess, I made sure to zoom in on the diaper she was wearing before turning the camera back onto Aaron.
The employee looked at me with pleading eyes, but I offered no help as I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.
“Ah . . . sir . . . tampons are for . . . well . . . ladies, um you know during that time.”
Aaron was growing impatient as he pointed over to Princess. The young girl looked at Princess, who was now fast asleep on the floor. “I know. I know. You see my dog is during that time. So I need the tampon things to keep her from bleeding everywhere. She got blood in my truck. In. My. Truck.”
“Sir, do you mean doggie pants? Some people call them doggie pads?”
Aaron pulled his head back and turned to me. Looking surprised to see me recording him, he asked, “What are you doing?”
Shrugging, I said, “Recording this for Ryn and Tristan.”
Aaron rolled his eyes as he asked, “What are tampons?”
Smiling, I kept recording as I said, “I think you’re thinking of pads, Aaron. Tampons you . . . um . . . insert inside.”
Aaron’s face fell as he whispered, “Oh hell.”
DROPPING DOWN ON THE SOFA, I let out a tired moan. Princess was resting in her little makeshift bed I made so she didn’t have to jump or move too much. This was stressful. If I can hardly handle a dog being spayed, what am I going to do when Sierra and I have kids and one falls from a tree and breaks their arm?
Em walked out of the kitchen and handed me a beer as she sat down next to me and pulled her legs up to her chest. “So—”
Taking a drink of the beer, I raised an eyebrow and looked at Em. “So . . . what?”
“Have y’all set a date yet?”
Smiling, I nodded my head as Em began jumping around like a child. “Oh my gosh! Aaron why haven’t y’all said anything?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I gave her a wink. “We just picked a date yesterday. Sierra had to make sure she could take off in the fall with the new job, but we decided what we wanted to do for the wedding, and the honeymoon.” Wiggling my eyebrows, Em made a gagging sound as she stuck her finger down her throat.
“I didn’t need that visual, thank you very much.”
Shrugging, I said, “That’s what brothers are for, baby sister. Hey, I’m going to need you to house sit and watch Princess for me.”
Em beamed as she smiled. “Sure! Can I have a party?”
Giving her a warning look, I held up my finger and said, “One party with no more than eight people. No sex, no drugs, and no alcohol.”
Lifting her hands to her chest she crossed her arms and pouted. “Well damn, Aaron. Why have a party then?”
“Ha ha,” I said as I tossed a pillow at her. “Anyway, three weeks from today. I’ll be gone for two weeks.”
Em took a drink of her beer and set it on the coffee table. “Okay. Where are you going?”
Smiling, I said, “Spain.”
“Spain! Wow. What for?”
“My wedding, and honeymoon.”
Em looked at me as her eyes grew bigger in her head. Slowly shaking her head, she asked, “Wedding?”
Nodding my head, I stood up and headed into the kitchen. “Yep. And honeymoon, don’t forget I said honeymoon.”
Scrambling to her feet, Em chased after me. “Aaron! Y’all are getting married in Spain? In three weeks? Wait . . . is it just the two of you . . . alone?”
Opening up the pantry door, I searched for something salty to eat. Finding a bag of Lays potato chips, I smiled and grabbed them.
Em reached for my arm and pulled me around to look at her. “You’re eloping? What about Mom and Dad? What about me? You’re robbing us of this moment. How could you?”
Laughing, I placed my hands on Em’s shoulders. “Settle down, tiger. We’re going to have a ceremony here too, before we leave. Just family and friends at Mom and Dad’s place.”
Em’s eyes lit up. “Really? How in the world did y’all plan this so quickly?”
Shrugging my shoulders I said, “I don’t know. We both wanted something small and intimate. Sierra has wanted to go to Spain, so she had all the information already for where to go and stay. It kind of just fell together, especially having told mom. She took off with the plans.”