Coincidence, Maybe?

Chapter 4: Puppies!

The kiss lingered on and on, pausing only when one of us had to catch our breath. A good forty five minute later we went to the kitchen where Araldo had already made up two plates of breakfast. 

"Good morning sirs. I made coffee for everyone, Mr. Ludwig I was-a unsure how you preferred yours so I didn't add-a anything to it." He said placing both our plates and two cups of coffee in front of us, mine was black, and I noticed that Feliciano's was swirling with cream and caramel. It was lighter than his skin. Outside was beautiful today, the birds whistling and the sun shining through the trees. I took a sip of the coffee, a luxury I hadn't been able to afford in near three years now, and I loved it just as it was. Feli drank his slowly, picking at his fried egg. After breakfast he reluctantly grabbed a red tool box and stood by the door. He had to grip the box with both hands to even carry it, so I reached over and took it from him, holding it with no problem. I led him up to my car which was still sitting sadly on the side of the road. I was holding keys to said car in my hand as well. He instantly knew where to find the hood latch button and threw the hood up, propping it open. For a few minutes he fumbled around with the engine, checking various basic things. He made similar faces while he was fixing car, almost the same as when he was cooking. After fumbling around with it for a good long while, he took the keys from my hand and tried to start the car, it sputtered for a moment before dying again. He sighed getting out of the drivers seat and looking into the engine once more.

"It's not your battery, the oil is fine, none of the pistons seemed to be blocked, it's not the spark plugs either, those would make a different noise" He went over everything in his head that it might have been, he knew his way around the engine. I figured he had probably spent a lot of time around the vehicles. Finally he grinned as he found something, then taking a wrench he loosened something and then cleaned it putting it back in and tightening what ever it was. Then he threw the wrench in the box and running around to the drivers seat. He started the car up without a problem. Then killing it he handed me the keys sadly. 

"There you go. See you at work bright at early tomorrow." He said, the sheer sound of a broken heart bringing tears to his eyes. 

"Right, unless I don't have to go into the city." 

"Why wouldn't-a you?"

"Vell, maybe I'm needed else where." I said, he realized what I was saying and smiled. 

"Do you want to stay with me?"

"I'd love too." His excitement at this fact got a little ahead of him and he jumped on me, throwing his arms around my neck, his lips crashed into mine harshly. I once again kissed him happily, standing there on the side of that little Italian road. We both got in my car and brought it down to the house. I got my few boxes and my one suitcase out of the trunk and carried them in.

"Is this all your stuff?"

"Yes this is it." I said looking at it. One small box had nothing but pictures in it, the suitcase was strictly clothes, and the other box was just office supplies and that was it. 

"Well, you can have-a the guest bedroom, all yours." He smiled, showing me where that was located, it had a door through to his bedroom, and the same joined bathroom. I set my boxes down, leaving them where they were on the bed for the time being. Then I put all my clothes away, in total I had seven dress shirts, four pairs of dress pants, three full suits, eleven ties, three pairs of shoes, and a package of both socks and boxers. It barely took up any room at all in the closet and dresser. I then moved to the picture box, as I began getting them out a certain little Italian came in and sat down on the bed. There were only seven picture in the box, all framed. He picked one up and looked at it. 

"Whose this lady?" He asked, pointing at a fair haired blonde woman on my shoulder laughing. I myself in the picture was smiling as she reached up for an apple at the tree we were standing.

"That is mein Mutti. She loves fresh picked apples but is terribly short. Shorter than you even. That was the day of my twenty first birthday." I said smiling, he understood that Mutti meant mom. 

"She seems like a great lady."

"She is. She worked three jobs just to keep me and my brother fed after my Vater left her on her own. I became the man of the house quickly." He set the picture on my night stand, then picked up another waiting to hear its story. This was one of my senior pictures from high school, the kind they put on all the side shows and year book pages. I was sitting on the ground with my three hounds looking up at the camera laughing. 

"Are these your puppies?"

"Yes they are. The German Shepard there is Blackie, when I adopted he she was covered head to paws in black soot. The Golden Retriever is Aster he was given to me as a puppy, and Doberman is Berlitz. I love them so much" I began to tear up, I had left my dogs in Berlin with my brother, because the flat I was going to have wouldn't allow pets. 

"Would you like to bring them here?" Feliciano asked looking up at me. 

"Vould you let me?!" 

"Of course. If it would-a make you happy." I smiled up at him. My family and my dogs were the only reason I really didn't want this job, but I needed it. I planned on sending every penny of the raise back to Mutti, and bruder. It was a whole ten hours back to Berlin, where the dogs were. My cellphone actually began to ring, it was my brother.

"I AM BRING ZHESE THINGS TO YOU. THEY HAVEN'T STOPPED VHINING AND TEARING UP MY STUFF SINCE YOU LEFT!!!" He yelled, I could here three sets of whimpers in the background. They missed me as much as I missed them apparently. 

"Please do. I'll text you the address." I waited and waited an waited. Gilbert said he was personally driving all three of them down today, getting a hotel and then driving the ten hours back. Since it was only ten in the morning when he called he should be here with them at just past midnight. Feliciano stayed with me all day. Then just as I was falling asleep for the night in the guest bedroom I heard a loud knock on the mansion door, and paws scratching at it. Feliciano was already asleep but I went downstairs and opened the door to find my three dogs and a very exhausted looking Gilbert Beilschmidt standing there. The dogs all three tackled me to the floor. 

"A mansion?" 

"Gilbert."