Written: Christmas of 2020

It was just a week until Christmas, and your husband was acting...weird. Not only was he being secretive, but he was sneaking out at weird hours of the day and going to Patrick's house. And when I say weird hours, I mean like, three in the morning. And he wasn't telling you why. Whenever you'd confront him about it, he'd just shrug and say, "I had to pick up something."

But who the fuck needs to pick up something every night of the week at fucking three in the morning?

Nice one, Pete.

It was in the middle of the night again, when you heard Pete getting out of bed. You sat up, and looked down.
"Are you cheating on me?" You asked quietly.
His eyes widened.
"No...of course not, baby.." he said, reaching over and holding your hands. "I know it may seem like that, but everything will make sense, I promise."
"When?"
"About a week." He said, then gave you a small smile. "I love you."
You laid your head on his shoulder. "I love you, too."

A week later, you were very eager to find out what he was keeping from you. During that week, he had gone to Patrick's house every night. Again. You had called Patrick, because you still weren't sure if what he was keeping from you was necessarily good. But he didn't give you any information. All he gave you was a "He's just working on something." And a "No, Get off of that! No no no...Not you.."
So you waited. And then one morning, you felt a tap on your shoulder.
"Y/N.."
You opened your eyes, and Pete was sitting next to you in bed.
"Hey.." You Said sleepily.
"It's Christmas." He Said, flashing one of his charming smiles.
"Yay.." You Said, yawning.
"Come downstairs when you're ready...I have something for you." He said, giving you a kiss on the cheek, and then going downstairs.
A little while later, you followed him. He was sitting on the Couch, holding a large box in his lap. He smiled when he saw you.
You sat next to him, eyeing the box involuntarily.
"So this...this is why I've been going to Patrick's house all of the time..." he said. "But here.."
He handed you the large box, and you chuckled. "What is it?"
"Well, open it!" He said, laughing.
You bit your lip and lifted off the lid, revealing a furry, slobbery, bundle of cuteness.
"Oh my goodness!" you exclaimed. "It's so cute!"
You lifted it out of the box, and it left sloppy, wet kisses all over your face.
"Aww!" You Said.
"His name is Bailey." He said, reaching over and petting him a few times. "I'm sorry about last week...I really hope he makes up for it."
"I'm sorry I accused you of cheating..." you said, lifting up the dog to plant a kiss on his head.
"Hey, I would've too, with the way I was acting." He said.
"This explains everything, though. Especially Patrick on the phone."
"You called Patrick?" He asked, tilting his head a bit.
"Well...um...yeah." You Said. "I guess Bailey here was a lot of work for him."
"That's why I was going over every night." He said. "Mostly to have Patrick tell me everything that Bailey had done wrong that day."
"Well...Maybe we should get him a dog next year."
Pete laughed. "Sounds like a plan."