The Stroud Family and I

Chapter: 28

Chapter 28: Picture Time

I walked into the living room to find Colton with his arms crossed, staring down at Carson, whose ears were pulled back in shame. Colton's black shirt was pulled tightly around his arms, revealing his ripped biceps. His eyes were narrowed down with sternness, and his lips were rolled into a thin line.

"Bad boy, Carson! Bad boy!"

Colton was pointing his finger at him, a crinkle wedged in between his eyebrows, and I suddenly felt bad for Carson. I looked past Colton and saw three of our couch pillows all ripped to shreds, the white fluff and feathers all over our wood flooring. I sighed and padded my way over to Colton and Carson, where Colton was still giving him the cold shoulder. Poor boy, he just likes to tear things up. I squatted down to the ground and pulled Carson into my lap. His head tucked into the crook of my neck, and I petted his head softly.

"It's okay baby, is evil Colton being a big meanie to you?"

Carson swiped his tongue out and licked my cheek, making me laugh out loud. A second later, Colton was sitting next to me, and the minute he sat down, Carson hopped off of me and crawled into Colton's lap. Colton rolled his eyes, but caved in and laid an arm over him. I cracked a grin at Colton's glum face, but I could still see a smile.

"I'm sorry little buddy, but you can't keep doing this," he sighed and stroked his soft, golden fur.

"Shorty, you can't keep hugging him while I'm in the middle of scolding him. He is getting older, and he shouldn't be doing this kind of stuff anymore. He needs to learn his lessons when he does something he's not supposed to," he sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry," I sulked.

I just always felt bad for Carson when he got in trouble. I mean, we've had him for six months now, and yet, he still acts like he is a little puppy. He is still counted as a puppy, technically, but he is almost one year old. When we went back to California for Christmas, we obviously had to bring Carson with us, and let me tell you, Jacklen wasn't too happy when she came into the living room one day and found out that Carson decided to pee all up the side of it. Let's just say, she went and bought a new couch that same day.

Colton smiled warmly at me and pulled me into a hug. I inhaled his sharp scented cologne and closed my eyes at how content I was with just being in his arms.

"I know you're sorry, Shorty, we just need to be a little more strict on him now, okay?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

Colton kissed the top of my head and then began ruffling around with Carson. As much as I hated to admit it, I know Carson has latched onto Colton more then me. Don't get me wrong, I know Carson loves me a lot, but he follows Colton around everywhere, and I literally mean everywhere. If we're watching a movie and Colton gets up to go get more popcorn, Carson goes with him. If Colton goes outside to take out the trash, Carson goes with him. If Colton wakes up during the middle of the night to go pee, Carson goes with him. It's like a little routine, and I find it adorable. I can tell Colton secretly loves it, he just won't admit it.

I watched as Carson pounced into Colton's lap, making Colton fall backwards, chuckling in the process.

"Whoa there buddy, you're getting a little too big to be doing that," he laughed.

I giggled when Carson's head tilted to the side, and he swooped down and swiped the whole side of Colton's face with his tongue. I pushed myself off of the floor to walk past Colton so I could go get a drink of water from the kitchen, but Colton's hand latched onto my ankle, causing me to halt in my steps. I peered down and raised an eyebrow at Colton who was grinning at me from the hardwood floor.