Page 74 of Wrestling with Daddy
The pup crawled across the linoleum floor, the distance between the bathroom and the open concept kitchen not long enough to be taxing. Ken took stock of the soft knee pads Nathan had over the rubber and approved.
That would make things easier.
Ken squatted down when the pup reached him, offering his hand in a closed fist. “Good boy.”
Zeus looked confused for a second, but he was soon sniffing the offered hand, shifting until he managed to get over the long snout and gave his fist a small lick.
“Such a good boy,” Ken praised again, his other hand reaching to the bowl of strawberries on the counter to offer him a slice.
Zeus didn’t hesitate this time, almost biting his hand off to grab the treat.
“Easy,” Ken chuckled.
Pups were fun. He was glad to see the generalization also applied to his very own.
For his part, Zeus wiggled, causing his tail to wag from side to side.
“You want to play, boy?” Ken scratched the naked skin behind his ears, laughing as the pup wiggled more and more and began to pant under his ministrations. “Yeah, I see you like scritches, huh?”
Zeus nuzzled him with his snout before rolling onto his back.
“On your belly, too?” Ken guessed.
It was definitely no hardship to nurture the pup like this, to shower him with all the attention he could ever need.
Eventually, the pup rolled back to all fours, hunching down on his ankles, the posture definitely meaning he was not getting tired anytime soon.
“Come on, I have a surprise for you, pup.”
“Woof!”
That bark was good, the perfect combination of growl and pitch. The effect was more powerful as he noted the pup’s head tilted to the side. It made Ken wish he was recording the whole thing.
He chuckled instead. “Yeah, you heard right. Wait by the couch for me, okay? No climbing on it, though.”
Zeus whimpered, the sound more high pitched, more pitiful than if it would’ve come from his human counterpart.
“Behave, and there’ll be more treats for you. I know you want those.”
Another pitiful whine, but when he glanced back, the pup hadn’t moved. Ken trusted he couldn’t get into too much trouble for the five seconds it would take him to retrieve the crate he’d stored in his bedroom.
“This is just a little something,” Ken teased him. He wasn’t sure the pup dealt too well with silence. “To be honest, Daddy might’ve got a tad carried away, but you said you wanted to play fetch, right?”
Zeus barked from the living room.
As suspected, he hadn’t moved from his spot, just watching the threshold to the bedroom like a hawk.
His head tilted to the side, the giant neoprene ears bobbing adorably as he took in the rather big box.
Before Nathan could jump at him and throw all the toys to the floor—which Ken thought a real possibility—Ken led the way. There was a rather empty space behind the couch that would work perfectly for playing.
Maybe he could put some mats there if this turned into something more long term.
“Okay, pup, all this is for you.” He set the crate on the floor, a smile on his lips as he saw the puppy slowly approach the mystery object in front of him. “You can choose what you like or don’t later, but now just pick something for fetch. You can do that?”
Zeus wiggled some more, shifting to try and see from all different angles. Ken had just added a bunch of things to his shopping cart the other day: from squeaky toys to thunderbolt-shaped stuffies, balls, and a few other trinkets.
After what looked like some careful deliberation, the pup dived into the crate, struggling to keep the snout out of the way to grab whatever had caught his attention.
