It should have been a Keeper

My "new brother" arriving in November!

This past week, my parents "reserved" a puppy who will be ready to come to his "forever home" in early November. In discussing potential names and puppy preparedness, my mom was reminded of the time, years ago, when we sent our dog Keeper to get spayed. It was high time - Keeper and our friends' dog, Kodie, had been...well...exhibiting some...er...free-spirited...um...puppy love (much to the chagrin of my mom and her friend Marcia, and much to the fascination and amusement of the rest of the two families' kids).

Marcia and my mom also both volunteered to answer phone calls forwarded to their houses for Pregnancy Helpline, a pro-life organization that helped counsel and meet the needs of young girls finding themselves unexpectedly pregnant. So I'm fairly certain I missed years (and years) of boys calling and asking me out solely due to the fact that my mom would answer all phone calls with "Pregnancy Helpline, this is Jackie. How can I help you?" And not due to this fact:

But I digress.

On the day of Keeper's spaying procedure, my mom gets a phone call from the vet.
"Keeper made it through the operation just fine and is sleeping off the anesthesia. We did, however, have to remove a baby canine - it was unavoidable. I'm terribly sorry."

No Pregnancy Helpline training had prepared her for the loss of Keeper's unborn puppy. So she called my dad, who was appalled that the vet would abort a puppy without even asking. He pointed out that she should probably call Marcia and let her know, as the unborn puppy was most likely the result of the frequent backyard romping with Marcia's puppy, Kodie.

And it just so happened that Marcia was on her 12-hour Pregnancy Helpline shift.

Marcia: "Pregnancy Helpline, this is Marcia. How can I help you?"
My mom [now sobbing]: "Keeper was pregnant with Kodie's baby."
Marcia: "Jackie??"
My mom [still sobbing]: "They aborted the baby canine during her spaying operation."
Marcia [now also crying]: "What?? Did they even ask you?? There are so many other options out there!"
My mom [sobbing]: "I know!!...What cute babies they would have had."

A while later, still mourning the loss of her canine grandchild, my mom received a call from my dad.
"Jackie, I just talked to one of my grad students, and he seems to think we may have misunderstood the vet. Is there any way he may have been referring to a baby tooth??"

And, in fact, he had been. Keeper returned to us the next day sporting a gap-toothed puppy grin.