The night, as they were sleeping, Abhimanyu felt a slight unease in his demeanor, keeping him awake. He looked at that time to see it was a little past 2am. He looked over to see Akshara laying on her side, the covers pulled up to her bare chest.
His eyes darted to the door to see it was still closed. He got up, put on his underwear and made his way to the kitchen.
He saw Taco was still sleeping soundly on the bed Akshara had made for him in the living room.
Abhimanyu walked over to the fridge, opened it, took out a bottle of water and began chugging it. He turned around again and saw Taco was wide awake now, fully paying attention to what Abhimanyu was doing.
Abhimanyu turned around and without giving Taco so much so as another glance, walked towards their bedroom.
As he entered the bedroom, he mistakenly left the door slightly wedged open. He then went to the bed, put his bottle on the side table and settled under the blanket.
Damnit! There are so many pillows here! Abhimanyu shifted around in the bed before throwing a pillow onto the ground beside his side of the bed.
Just then, he heard the little pitter-patter of steps making their way into the bedroom before settling down on the ground beside his side of the bed.
Sneakily, Abhimanyu peaked over the bed to see Taco had settled onto the pillow he had thrown onto the ground.
Feeling satisfied, Abhimanyu turned to his side and pulled Akshara into his arms, snuggling her tiny body up close to his larger one.
~*~
The next morning, Abhimanyu woke up and was just about to get up to go to the bathroom when he slipped his feet into his slippers.
He felt a wet liquid touch his feet and he immediately opened his sleepy eyes only to see his slippers were soaking wet in what looked like a puddle of yellow liquid of watery consistency.
He turned to look at Taco, who looked at Abhimanyu innocently before hiding his face in his paws.
"Akshara!" Abhimanyu yelled, walking up his wife.
Akshara rolled around in the bed to face Abhimanyu who by now was seething.
"What happened, Abhi?" She asked, yawning.
"Your dog peed all over my slippers! That's what happened!" Abhimanyu explained, loosing his cool.
"But how? Isn't he outside?" She looked at him, puzzled.
Damnit! Not her remembering Taco slept outside last night. "I went to grab a water bottle during the night and I think he may have sneaked his way in without me noticing. I was too sleepy to pay attention." A little white lie never hurt anyone.
"Oh, I am sorry. I'll clean it up right this moment!" Akshara frantically got up and quickly collected Taco off the pillow he was laying on.
"Bad dog! You don't pee on slippers!" She scolded the little puppy, worried that the 7 day leniency Abhimanyu had given her would quickly be shortened if Taco kept on making the wrong impression on the judge.
Taco whimpered at Akshara's scolding, prickling Abhimanyu's heart. "It's not his fault. He must have not been able to hold it in. Just take him out and let him do his business."
Akshara looked over at Abhimanyu and nodded her head. "Okay. And I am sorry again, Abhi."
"It's okay. Just make sure it doesn't happen again."
"It won't!" Akshara blurted out apologetically as Abe carried Taco to the living room to leash him up for his morning stroll.
Abhimanyu watched Akshara and Taco leave before turning back to his pair of slippers which would need to be discarded. He shook his head, sighed deeply, picked up his slippers and hopped on one foot towards the bathroom.
He trashed the pair of slippers into the garbage bin before stepping into the shower to take a shower and wash his feet.
~*~
Abhimanyu came home one night, a few days later to see Akshara trying to grab a pair of shoes out of Taco's teething mouth.
He watched her, amused at the little boy's strength as he gave Akshara a hard time.
"No! Give Taco! Don't!" She pulled hard, but to no success.
Abhimanyu let her struggle for a few more seconds before finally putting his wife out of her misery. "Taco! Drop it!" He voice was hard, firm.
Akshara watched in shock as Taco dropped the pair of shoe he was holding in his mouth and sat on his bum like a good boy.
"How did you do that?!" She asked, flustered.
"I guess you just need a firm hand on him. He knows you love him too much to scold him." Abhimanyu didn't want to tell Akshara he had developed a liking to the little man too.
This was evident in Abhimanyu waking up in the middle of the night and opening the door just a crack so Taco could enter their room when he felt like it.
Abhimanyu began to realize he actually was missing Taco during the night when he would not be in their room. But he kept quiet about it. They still had 3 days to go for their 7 day deadline.
"What did he have in his mouth anyway?" Abhimanyu asked.
Akshara hid the shoe behind her back. "Nothing. Just s shoe." Akshara looked at Abhimanyu, shifty eyed, refusing to meet his gaze.
"Which shoe?" Abhimanyu asked, getting curious.
"Umm..."
"Which shoe?" Abhimanyu asked again.
Reluctantly, Akshara held out the single shoe she had been hiding. Abhimanyu's eyes widened in anger and shock as he came across a freshly chewed piece of his Nike Air Jordan's —one of his favourites.
"I am so sorry! I was cleaning the shoe closet and I don't know when he ran up and snuck the shoe out." Akshara confessed, looking at Abhimanyu apologetically.
Abhimanyu looked between Akshara and Taco. "First my shirts, then my shoes?! If he keeps this up, I won't have any clothes or shoes left to wear! Tell your dog to keep out of my things!"
"My dog?! I clearly remember you calling him your dog when he performed the "paw" and "roll-over" trick to perfection which you taught him! If he does anything bad he's my dog, but if he's being smart, he's your dog?!" She scoffed offhandedly. "I don't think that's quite fair, is it?"
"It's actually quite fair. You are the one who wanted a dog. So you are the one responsible for encouraging his bad behaviors. I am just trying it teach him basic manners." Abhimanyu pointed out, pulling Akshara into his arms and crushing his lips against hers capturing her mouth a kiss certain to leave her speechless.
Akshara moaned against his lips, getting distracted by his touch and the amazing skills of his tongue.
~*~
The next day, Abhimanyu had a night shift in the emergency unit beginning at midnight, thus making it so he had the entire day off.
However, Akshara did not have that luxury. She first had to go into the Birla Hospital to check up on the last minute details of the Children's ward in preparation of it's grand opening.
Then she had to make a quick pit stop at the Community center to host 2 music classes before she was able to make her way back home to her two boys.
Abhinanyu on the other hand who had the day off had a very set of different worries.
"Take him with you!" Abhimanyu told Akshara as soon as she was finished applying her makeup.
"Abhi, you know I can't take him with me! He won't bother you except maybe to go pee so let him out on the balcony."
This was the first time in the week Abhimanyu was going to be alone with the dog. Normally, Akshara acted as the mediator between the two and kept Taco away from Abhimanyu.
Despite Abhimanyu accidentally leaving the bedroom door open whenever he woke up in the middle of the night for a bathroom or drink break and also beginning to teach Taco new tricks for treats, he never really touched Taco or pet him that much. He didn't even let Taco onto the sofa or bed despite the little terror giving him the most ruefully eyes and the heart melting of head tilts.
"But..."
"No but Abhi. You two will be fine! It's only for a maximum of 6 hours and then I will be back! Promise." Akshara turned around and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss on Abhimanyu's lips.
Then she walked into the living room where Taco was playing with a toy and kissed the top of his head. "Bye Taco, be a good boy okay?"
She then turned to Abhimanyu, "You be a good boy too, Abhi." She chastised. Akshara stood up straight. "And I will see you both later."
~*~
Abhimanyu watched Akshara leave and turned to look at Taco who was chewing his toy. Taco looked up and stared Abhimanyu in the eyes, innocently.
Abhimanyu walked over to the fridge and took out a bottle of water, began gulping it down all the while keeping his gaze fixated on the four legged creature to prepare for it's next move. Just in case he attacked.
But the attack he had been anticipating, never came. So instead, Abhimanyu took an apple and banana from the counter, a plate and a knife and headed over to the couch.
He sat down and turned the television on. He scrolled aimlessly through the channels until he found something worthwhile watching.
Meanwhile, when he looked over to see what Taco was doing, the little pup was busy flinging his toy in the air and catching it, playfully. Taco then moved over to Abhimanyu and set his toy down in front of him.
"What? You want me to throw it for you?" He asked Taco earning a bark in return.
"I am not throwing it for you." Abhimanyu chastised.
Another bark.
After a moment moments of back and forth, Abhimanyu finally picked up the toy and tossed it at a reasonable distance, enough for Taco to get his cardio in.
And soon, Abhimanyu began to have fun. He would fling the toy and Taco would go and bring it back to him and the cycle would repeat.
~*~
"Okay, enough. That's enough for now." Abhimanyu spoke to Taco, ceasing their little playtime.
Taco went and sat down in front of the sofa Abhimanyu was seated on. Abhimanyu have Taco one satisfied look as he began cutting the apple and banana he had completely forgotten about.
As he began to eat, he saw the intense gaze of someone following his every move. He looked down to see Taco laying on his belly, head on his paws, silently begging Abhimanyu for a piece of apple.
Abhimanyu sighed, disliking the fact that the puppy was laying on the ground by himself knowing well that it was a rule he himself created. Abhimanyu had told Akshara Taco was not allowed on the couch or the bed.
But guess what? Rules were meant to be broken.
Abhimanyu gave Taco one last look before finally patting the sofa beside him. "Okay, come on up."
Taco's tail wagged as he ran up to the sofa and jumped up on it with the help of Abhimanyu. When Taco found the right place to snuggle into, Abhimanyu handed him over a piece of peeled apple and a banana.
A smile formed on Abhimanyu's face as he saw Taco eat the apple and banana without hesitation. From therefore on, Abhimanyu would eat a piece of fruit and give Taco a piece of fruit.
"So what movie do you want to watch?" Abhimanyu asked Taco who sat up, moved around a bit until he was sitting right in Abhimanyu's lap.
"Oh, you want me to pick? Fine. If you say so." Abhimanyu thought he was truly going to go crazy talking to the little puppy but on the contrary, it was quite fun. It...made him feel less lonely and more loved —it made sense.
Taco curled up on Abhimanyu's lap as Abhimanyu watched television, aimlessly caressing Taco's head and scratching his ears.
~*~
Akshara returned home around 4pm to the most adorable sight she could ever imagine of witnessing. Abhimanyu was laying asleep on the couch with Taco curled up right on his chest. One of Abhimanyu's hands laid on Taco's back, holding him in place.
Trying her best to be silent, as soon as she closed the door behind her, Abhimanyu awoke and so did Taco.
"I am so sorry. I was trying to be as quiet as I could." She apologized.
"It's okay." Abhimanyu yawned, sitting up on the couch and plopping Taco onto the ground.
"I see you two are friends now."
Abhimanyu looked at Taco who looked back at him. "We...we are getting there. It's quite a journey."
"I can see." Akshara stifled a giggle.
"So...ummm...I know tomorrow is the last time of our 7 day trial period with him." Abhimanyu glanced down at Taco before looking at Akshara. "If you were to...or wanted to adopt Taco, keep him...I wouldn't object."
"You wouldn't object or you would like for me —for us to keep Taco?" She clarified.
"Don't push it." Abhimanyu warned.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Yes. Thank you Abhi, for not having objections to keeping Taco." She said sarcastically rushing up to Abhimanyu and crushing her lips against his for a playful kiss.
"I don't appreciate the sarcasm." Abhimanyu pointed out for which Taco let out a little bark of agreement making Akshara and Abhimanyu laugh.
"You are the best, my husband. And that definitely is not sarcasm." Akshara mumbled against his lips.
Abhimanyu wrapped his hands around her waist. "Is that so?"
"Yes, it is." Her cheeks flushed.
Abhimanyu got up from the sofa just as Akshara wrapped her legs around Abhimanyu's waist. He carried Akshara towards their bedroom. He turned around to tell Taco who stayed rooted in his spot: "We will be back. It's time mommy and daddy had a little playtime of their own."
"Mommy and daddy?" Akshara giggled.
"Shut up and kiss me." Abhimanyu's cheeks inflamed as he ordered Akshara to kiss him as he proceeded to shut the door in Taco's face.
<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>
Abhi's gonna be working the emergency unit. He may or not see a familiar face there. Welcome to the last leg of chapters for TMC!