"Thanks for comin'," Angus said as Brian stepped out of the car. "Ya' sure ya' want dog fur on the seats?"

Brian patted the roof of the car and smiled at us. "Don't mind a bit," he said. "Might all be sneezin' on the way back...ah, but it's alright, love the little buggers."

We called Brian to ask if he could help us bring the dogs home. It had been about a week since we picked them out. I was excited to see my old man and Angus' beagle. And I hoped they were excited to see us. We had been thinking of names for them. I considered names like Roo or Espresso, something people didn't often name their dogs. Rover and Fido were cute but a little common. Angus jokingly suggested I name him "Geezer" after Geezer Butler. "Mal will love that," he laughed. 

I wanted to know what Angus considered naming his hound but he wasn't sure. "I dunno...I think maybe I ought to get to know him first, ya' know?" he said. 

"Could name him John," Brian suggested. 

"Why?" Angus asked. Brian shrugged.

"Dunno, jus' the first thing that came to me mind," he laughed. 

We pulled up to the shelter and all of us clambered out of Brian's car. My heart was racing. Angus grabbed the harnesses and leashes we bought the last time we were here. I got my dog a black harness with a bright green leash. Angus found a blue harness and a blue leash with a fish design. It was the only one left of its kind. 

The woman with the silver hair saw us coming and beamed. "Hi! You're here to pick up your dogs, right? They're right in here," she said leading us back to the room. There was another family in there looking at some new additions without the orange card. All of the dogs we saw the week before that had the orange card were gone. Except ours, of course. "Look who's here!" 

My old man saw us and his tail started wagging. He looked like he had been groomed an hour before. Angus' beagle barked and spun around in his cage. Some of the other dogs got excited by sheer proximity and started barking up a choir. The woman held a couple of papers in her hands. 

"So the beagle is about a year and a half now," she said. "You know he was a stray and brought in and had all his shots. Neutered and the like." Angus nodded. "And the mutt is...the vet we took him to guessed he was at least ten...but we don't know for sure." Bad things happened to dogs that turned ten. It wasn't even that old but so many dogs I took care of had their health take a bad turn when they turned ten despite seeming relatively healthy. He looked okay, he even stood up on his bad legs. "He was surrendered to a few different shelters. You know, passed around to find one that would keep him without putting him down," the woman explained. "He had kennel cough at one point but he's fine now. Shots, neutered...he's good."

"Any other health problems?" Angus asked. 

"His back legs are a little wobbly sometimes," she said. "It's his hips starting to give out but that happens sometimes with dogs his age. 

Don't I know it...

"Are you ready to go home?" the woman asked unlocking the beagle's cage. He jumped out and started dancing around our legs, his tongue out of control. Slobber everywhere. Angus had a hell of a time getting the harness on and Brian and I had to help hold him still. "He's very excited."

"I can see that," Angus said wiping slobber off his nose. The woman went to the old man's cage and unlocked the door. He stretched and crept carefully out, sniffing around. I could see his eyes were a touch cloudy. He licked my nose and whined. 

"They're very lucky dogs," the woman said. "They've both been here for at least a few weeks. They're used to each other by now."

Brian knelt down to pet them both. They sniffed him and then sniffed each other. The family who was also in there stood back to let us through, looking at a pair of Pomeranian puppies, some new arrivals. I looked down at our newest family members lovingly. 

I hope I can do this...

**********

The pups leapt out of Brian's car, pulling on their leashes. Well, the beagle did anyway. My old mutt toppled out of the car and lumbered around. Angus and I let them sniff around a little. The beagle found a place to park while the mutt took his time. Angus shook off the dirt the beagle kicked on his shoes. "I'm gonna have fun with this one," he said. 

"Need help with anythin'?" Brian asked. 

"Ya' can help me with lunch," Angus said and they went inside, the beagle racing for our front door, pulling Angus behind him. "Jesus Christ," Angus said as Brian laughed. I waited outside for the mutt to go. He was too busy sniffing our garden to pay attention. Finally after a good leg exercise, we went in. 

The beagle looked at me over his shoulder, sitting on our sofa. Angus left the leash on the table, keeping the harness on for now. The mutt shook out his fur. "He's been caught, Ang," Brian said. "Red handed. Or red pawed, maybe."

"Cooper's tired," Angus said pouring out some tea. "Long time at the shelter, needs a place to stretch out."

"Cooper?" I asked taking the leash off the mutt. "That's his name?"

"Yeah," Angus shrugged. "He looks like a Cooper, don't he?"

"Ah, I still say he looks like a Johnson," Brian said watching the dog scratch his neck. "Handsome man, ain't he?"

"Ya' think of any names yet?" Angus asked looking up at me. I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Atlas," I said. The mutt sneezed and his ear flipped inside out. I fixed it for him and watched him sniff the couch then Cooper. 

"Atlas?" Angus asked. "Why Atlas?"

I shrugged. "I don't know....he's old....an atlas is a book that's usually old..."

"An atlas doesn't have to be old," Angus said eating some potato chips. 

"Well...you know, like encyclopaedias or dictionaries, you never see anyone with a brand spanking new one, it's always an old copy they've had for decades." 

"I guess so," Angus smiled. Brian pointed at Atlas.

"Ya' know I heard Atlas was a titan," he said. "In uh...in Greek, ya' know...mythology. Could be him." Atlas struggled to get on the couch and I helped him up. Cooper licked him after deciding he was a friend. "I think the name speaks for itself," he laughed.

**********

Angus took the dogs outside for a bathroom break as Brian and I cleared away the table. Dishes clanked together as we dumped them all in a sink full of water. Some of it splashed on my shirt. I pouted. "Maybe I ought to get a dog," Brian said pouring another cup of tea. "Be nice to have one around." Cooper barked as he ran around outside, exploring his new home. "Might get one that doesn't bark."

"Like what, a stuffed animal?" I asked. Brian laughed a little.

"Nah, I was thinkin' more like a...maybe a Great Dane, or somethin'." We both turned to look out the window and saw Angus once again being pulled around by Cooper. He had dropped Atlas' leash, leaving him to sniff around on his own. He followed Angus at a much slower pace. "Hm...maybe a Great Dane is too much..." Brian and I laughed at the spectacle outside. 

"A Great Dane would eat us," I said. "Dinner and a snack."

"Alright, maybe a smaller one," Brian said. "One me wife an' I can agree on....a bulldog maybe, I like those..." We drank our tea in quiet for a while. "Jus' a bit quieter when I come home from tour right now, ya' know? Which I like but it'd be nice to have a dog around."

Angus came back inside looking exhausted. "Where are the bags?" he asked out of breath. "Those dogs must have been holdin' it in for days."

Brian started laughing again while I raced to find the plastic bags to clean up accidents. I handed them over and Angus headed back outside. "Should have named 'em Atlas' an' Titanic, eh, Ang?"

"Yeah, should have," Angus called over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him. I could see Cooper trying to start up a game with Atlas and Atlas being a bit shy. Their tails were wagging and Cooper sneezed. 

"So how's life been over here, lass?" Brian asked. "I haven't been around in a while, been too busy at home."

I didn't want to explain my whole downward spiral of depressive episodes nor did I want to worry him. I kept to my most basic answer. "Fine," I said. "You?"

"Ah, it's been...well it's been somethin', we'll leave it at that," Brian smiled. "Hasn't been bad or nothin'...jus'....it gets hard, ya' know, all the...the pressure on ya'...on the tour...ya' get home an' think ah, it's over. But then in a couple of months...it's right back out there an' ya' wonder if you're doin' things right."

"What things?" I asked. I didn't mean to pry but I was curious. Brian sighed.

"Remember at the start...when I came in?" I nodded. "I was a bit nervous about how...their audience would like me?"

"Yeah?"

"I still am."

I admit, I was a bit surprised. Audiences had come to love Brian's singing and while they may have preferred Bon, they still enjoyed hearing Brian on the records and in concert. It had been a handful of years since then. Plenty of alums had been released with Brian's vocals and some did better than others but they still sold. Concerts were still selling out. "Really?" I asked.

"Course," he shrugged. "I'm always a bit nervous 'bout that."

We started laughing when we heard Angus swear loudly from outside. I hoped so badly that Wanda heard it too down the street. 

"I think you're doing everything right," I said. Brian smiled a little and held his tea in his hands.

"Thanks, lass. Means a lot."

Angus came storming back inside the house making a beeline for the sink. Cooper and Atlas trotted after him sniffing around the table for scraps. Angus used way too much soap and scrubbed at his hands, muttering.

"Problem, Ang?" Brian asked.

"The bags tore," he said. I couldn't help the large smile. The poor man. The same thing happened to me when I was dog sitting a couple years ago. "They shit like grown men an' the bags couldn't take it."

Brian started laughing and couldn't stop. I'm sure Angus would have laughed too had it been someone else. "That's rough," Brian said.

"Hilarious." Angus grabbed a towel and sighed, holding back a tiny smile. "Next time is your turn," he said to me. I agreed and we sat around the table finishing our tea and talking. Cooper and Atlas both climbed on the couch and spun in circles before settling down, sighing. 

Our new family.