The civil papers were served on Naina a week later. Pharaoh had already moved back home; her caretaker hugged Naina, Ren and Kenny tightly before coaxing the Clydesdale into a trailer. The drive would be long for the two of them.
Naina flipped through the legal jargon on every page. Odd, how they'd chosen to go with a different lawyer instead of just doing it with Ollie. The meeting would be happening soon; if there was anything that needed to be said, Naina could send it beforehand.
Ian warned her against it. "Don't let them find out anything before you tell them. There's the chance they could cover it up or put an argument. If they're honest with their lawyers, those guys will know everything. Plus, they'll have a great counter-argument."
He thought for a second, scratched his head, and said, "I'm guessing they'll want to settle, make you 'pay' for what you did. They probably need the lawyer to scare you. I'm a little surprised that they took so long."
Summer was close to ending. Most children were back in school, while the residual heat in August had flowed over into September, slapping everyone with rays of fire.
She sighed, wishing that she was worried about fall sweets and not a settlement. "I thought they'd forgotten about it. Or at least gotten scared with what I'd said that day."
She couldn't forget the look of horror; sure, it'd only existed a moment, but at that very second, the lies she'd figured out had become cemented as true. Lauren had wanted to get back at her since college, Carmella had a role in the crashing of the wedding and Cassie had messed things up on her mom's orders.
But why had Ollie done such a thing? Naina had always gotten along with Ollie; they used to be sarcastic buddies, teasing Gigi about silly stuff.
"You want me to come with you?" he asked.
"Yes." She'd need someone else to be there, just so she wouldn't lose her wits.
Plus, she kind of wanted to see the look on Lauren's face when Ian walked in the door.
Tomorrow, they would be giving the puppies away. Already one had been adopted; Naina felt her heart drop as Tortilla was carried away in the little doggie carrier, equipped with several toys, a bag of dog food and the promise that they could get treatment from the clinic when needed.
Kenny came to her when she finished up making the small sign that would be attached to the side of the road. "So, tomorrow's the day?"
He was still wearing his scrubs and a fancy little cap that sported different animals dancing.
She nodded. "I'm kind of sad. They were my roommates for so long."
Queso, the runt of the litter, came up to her and yapped, begging to be picked up. She held him close to her, and slowly drew circles in the soft, short fur. The pup wiggled around until he showed her his belly.
"It'll be alright," Kenny said.
"I hope so." Her voice cracked a bit. "It's just a little sad to see them go."
"Yeah?"
She nodded again, not really wanting to talk.
The next day, bright and early at eight in the morning, she set up the sign and put up the portable fenced area for the pups to play in, while they waited for their families to come.
One by one each pup left with their owners until three were left: Taco, Beef-Bone and Queso.
The only ones who hadn't been picked by a family were Queso and Beef-Bone. Both were a little smaller from the rest, and Beef-Bone had an issue with her back paw and how it didn't exactly align properly. Kenny had done his best to see if he could rectify it but said that it was best for the pup to let it stay as is.
Ian had already decided to keep both of them, if no one else wanted them when they came to pick up their own pup.
The family coming to pick up Taco drove in a couple of hours after Naina had set everything up. Taco was already equipped with everything he needed; toys, food, carrier and other goodies were packaged away.
A pretty Indian woman was dragged up by her kids. Or Naina assumed to be the woman's kids because of how close they were with one another.
"Hi! I'm Nandini? We're here to pick up Taco." The woman had cute, cheerful face and had a similar skin and hair tone that Naina had. "My husband will be coming soon."
She turned around and waved towards a man walking up. As the guy navigated the rocky area, he hit a stone and tumbled into the ground, flailing his limbs wildly like those weird car sales things that would whip in the wind.
Nandini shook her head and turned her attention back to Naina.
Naina smiled. "Hi Nandini! If I can get you two to read and sign through these papers, you'll be good to go."
The boys, who looked like twins, eyed the runts that now frolicked in the little setup.
"Ryan! They need your signature too," Nandini said.
The man who'd tumbled earlier walked up behind Nandini and leaned over her. "Mine too? Yours isn't enough?"
"Well, they need both of the couples signatures."
"Okay." He had a handsome face that looked eerily familiar. Where had Naina seen him somewhere before? His hair rustled around, carressed by the southerly winds transporting heat.
He signed it off, but then one of the boys, the one with the caramel skin tone and blue eyes, tugged on his mom's skirt. With the most adorable lisp, he whispered, "Mommy! Beef-Bone still isn't adopted. You promised that if she wasn't we could take her in!"
"Ash, honey, I'm sure someone will adopt her." Nandini's face was caught between amusement and horror. Probably because she'd hoped someone would adopt the dog before her family had come.
"Yeah, but what if they leave her in a shelter?" Ash stage-whispered to his mom and pointed at Naina. "Beef-Bone won't be alive for much longer! And today's their last day!"
He then pointed to the dog's back paw, which again, was still misaligned, but working fine.
Nandini sighed, and glanced at her husband, who smiled softly and gave her a small nod. She kneeled so her eyes were level with Ash's. "Well, we did promise, and we won't break it. But you and Nic promised that you would help take care of the puppies if we got them. Are you going to do so?"
"Of course!" The boy had a very cute smile that resembled his dad's dimpled one. He ran back to his brother, who watched Ian in the little pen as he picked up Beef-Bone.
"What's going to happen to the other puppy?" Ryan asked. A worried look crossed his eyes as he watched the lonely pup squirm in the grass.
Naina chuckled. "He'll be fine. The owner was planning on keeping one puppy to begin with."
Ian and Naina got some more supplies for the family, since they were now taking two dogs; an extra carrier, food, toys and blankets were stowed away in the car's trunk. Nic and Ash each held onto a pup as their parents buckled them into their seats.
The noon sun hid behind some fluffy clouds, and a cool breeze ruffled the leaves sleeping on the ground. Naina jiggled around, trying to rid of some heat that'd settled on her chest and arms.
The family waved goodbye as they left.
Queso whimpered when Ian and she returned to the little set up. She picked up the pup and shook him a little with her hands. "You're stuck with us now. You alright with that?"
Queso, who had a white underbody and black and brown spots painted here and there, yawned and moved his paws towards her, like he wanted to lay against her.
Ian laughed. "Guess we can take that as a yes."
When they got back inside, where the AC made the entire place feel like a winter wonderland, he asked, "You alright? You seem a little down."
"I'm a little sad that they left. I'm glad they're going into good homes." She remembered how Ian had toured their houses and given the prospective families as much information as he could on corgis and how to take care of the positively precious dogs.
He watched her face for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I am too. But they did go to good families, so hopefully, we'll have nothing to worry about."
"Yeah..."
But she had other things to worry about, like her impending case.
The lawyer Ian put her in touch with, a corporate friend of his, gave her some advice 'off the record'. He mentioned that it'd probably be a good idea to keep some things to herself. They probably already knew everything that she did, after all, but both her and the lawyer would know when the day came.
The lawyer, Xavier, promised that he'd be around the day she had to meet with the other side and had already gotten in touch with the opposing counsel.
Xavier was very businesslike; his suit was prim and proper, he spoke clearly and concisely, and his attitude was go-getter. His black hair, unlike Ian's, was chopped short and sat close to his olive-toned head.
So, she didn't have much to worry about. Not that she ever had to in the first place.
Xavier's take on the whole situation was that 'it was bungled up from the start and they tried to fix it up, screwing it up even more'.
Now, all she needed was an update from MJ about her wedding.
~~~
Probably will be done soon! I think? Did you enjoy the cameo? Props to Voyageavecmoi for predicting it haha!
I won't be able to upload for the next couple of weeks and I'm sorry about that! Exam time is getting crazyyy
Please leave a vote if you enjoyed this chapter! Some feedback would be appreciated too XD