The last few boxes were finally being unpacked at the house that you shared with your boyfriend TJ Oshie. To be fair, you had both moved everything in about a month ago, but with his playing schedule, it was almost impossible to get time at home to unpack everything. After a month of unpacking here and there, you guys finally got officially situated in your new house. You plopped onto the couch and let out an exhausted sigh.
TJ came out of the kitchen and smiled over the back of the couch at you. "We finally did it." He said, pushing your hair back out of your eyes.
You smiled up at him and nodded. "We did. It finally feels like home." You said, looking around at the living room.
TJ climbed over the back of the couch and lay between your legs, resting his head on your chest. "Now it feels like home." He said, smiling.
You giggled watching him climb over the couch, and wrapped your arms around his shoulders. "You are too cute, you know that?" you asked him.
"I've been told." He winked up at you.
The two of you lay on the couch for a little while, just enjoying each other's company. He would nuzzle up to your neck, as you drew little patterns on his back with your fingertips. The comfortable silence was interrupted, when TJ spoke up.
"I was thinking, that maybe we could get a pet. It's gotta get lonely here when I'm away, so maybe it would be good for us." He suggested.
You couldn't help but smile. TJ was always worried about you getting lonely when he was away. He would skype you every chance he got, and when he couldn't skype, he would text you or call you. "That sounds like a nice plan. What kind of pet should we get?" you asked him.
He thought for a moment. "Anything but a goldfish." He joked. "How about we go look at some pets tomorrow?"
You nodded and kissed his forehead. "I like the sound of that."
TJ spent the rest of the night with you, rarely leaving your side. Any outsider that saw TJ would think that he was a big tough guy, but he had a soft side that you loved. You waited for the days when you got to spend the entire day with your boyfriend, seeing the soft side that only a few people saw. This was one of those days.
The next day, after the two of you ate lunch, TJ drove you to the local animal shelter to look for a pet. You didn't know which kind of pet you wanted yet, but you knew that you would be happy with a dog or a cat. You even considered getting a rabbit or a guinea pig. TJ kept making sure that you knew that your options were endless, and that he just wanted a pet to make you feel less alone without him. When you pulled up to the shelter, you walked inside holding TJ's hand. He explained to one of the workers that you were both looking for an animal to keep you company, and the worker walked you both to the area where the animals were kept. She let the two of you look at the dogs first.
"They're all so cute babe." You told TJ, lacing your hands together.
"They are really cute. Do you see one that you like?" he asked, rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.
You looked around and bit your lip some. "Maybe we should get a pet that won't need as much attention at first you know? It took us a month to get unpacked, I can't imagine that it will be simple to train a puppy or a dog if it took that long to unpack our house." You noted. The dogs were cute, but you were also thinking about what would be fair to them.
TJ smiled and nodded. "You are too caring for your own good sometimes." He said, kissing you gently. "Let's try looking at the rabbits." He said.
The worker brought you to the rabbit area, and let the two of you look at them for a little while. You looked at them all and asked one of the volunteers about rabbit care. After finding out that rabbits needed plenty of care as well, the two of you decided to try the cats. As you walked in the room where the cats were kept, you smiled at quite a few of them.
"These are the little demons aren't they?" TJ asked, joking.
"Oh hush they are not." You smiled, nudging his side playfully. "Look at this little guy." You said, walking up to a cage holding a black and white kitten with big green eyes. The kitten immediately ran up to your finger and licked your fingertip when you put it between the cage bars.
TJ followed you and smiled, seeing the kitten loving on you. "He seems to like you quite a bit." He said.
"He's so cute look at him. He follows my finger." You told him, moving your finger across the cage door, the kitten following your finger wherever it went.
A volunteer came over and smiled. "We can take you to a bonding room and you can let him run around with you outside of the cage, if you'd like."
You looked up at TJ and smiled. "Can we?" you asked him.
"Sure, let's get to know this little guy." He smiled.
The volunteer took the two of you to a room where there were some cat toys and a litter box in the corner. There were two chairs, but you opted to sit on the floor next to TJ, who sat on one of the chairs. After a few minutes, the volunteer came back holding the little kitten in her arms.
"Here he is." She said, kneeling down and setting him on the floor gently.
The kitten ran over to your lap immediately. You smiled big and pet him, giving him plenty of love. "I think he just stole my heart." You said as the volunteer left.
TJ smiled and shook his head. "Then we can't take him if he's gonna be competition." He joked.
"Look at his little face." You smiled. "Do you wanna go see your future daddy?" you asked, letting the kitten run free.
The kitten climbed up TJ's pant leg, making TJ laugh. "Alright, he is pretty adorable. Do you like him?" he asked you, petting the kitten.
"I love him, babe." You corrected him, rubbing the kitten's chin earning a soft purr.
"Then I guess we're taking you home buddy." He smiled, rubbing the kitten's head gently.
The two of you filled out the paperwork and got a carrier for your new kitten to go home with. On the way home, you insisted on stopping at the pet store to buy some toys for your new pet. When you got home, you made sure to show the kitten where the litter box was and where his food was.
TJ came up behind you and put his arms around you as you watched your new kitten play and explore the house. You turned to face TJ and gave him a gentle kiss, thanking him for the new addition to your lives.
"Now comes the fun part." You smiled.
TJ smirked down at you. "And what is that?" he asked.
"Naming him." You winked.