The decision was mutual. I and my husband Nilu had been married for almost two and a half years now. I had left my job, too. We had been wanting a baby for quite some time. We would have endless discussions as to how that can change our lives, what we would do, how things would be. In other words, both I and my husband were totally excited.
It was around the mid of the year 2016 when the news was confirmed. Oh, the excitement!! A flurry of activities followed, to plan for the baby’s homecoming and also about the future. I had changed my WhatsApp status to “Time to bring a baby home!!” Messages started pouring in. Good wishes and congratulations! People who had not messaged me in ages were also sending in their good wishes. Some of my friends came to the ultimate conclusion as to why I quit my job. Of course, because I wanted to start a family! After all, why does any Indian, married, working girl leave her job abruptly (Eye roll!)?? To have a baby, right?? Anyways, so there were questions as to when the news got confirmed, how many months now, etc., which I very cleverly averted and told them it’s a secret (Mysterious smile;-))!!
Slowly, time was drawing near for D-day!! And as the day drew near, I started having my own doubts, just like a new mommy has. Will I be able to do this? Will I do justice to this new role in life? What if I can’t cope with the responsibility? What if we lose all the freedom that we had as a couple till now? How will we ever go for a late-night movie? What about shopping? And partying? So, we had a lot of discussions on how we can make it work. But the trick was to focus on the positive points about this whole thing!
And finally, the D-day arrived! 25th June 2016. It was a Saturday, hence, not much traffic on the road! The time scheduled for the appointment was 9 AM. Finally, we reached the venue! Wait wait wait!! What? What venue? The word should have been the hospital, right? Confused? Well…I did not say I was getting a human baby home, right (wink wink!!)?? So, let's continue with the story, anyways!! We arrived at the venue, Hotel for Dogs!! Yes, you guessed it right!! 10 points to you! WE WERE GETTING A FUR BABY HOME!! And not just any dog. We were adopting a Freagle! Freagle? Well, that’s a word of endearment for Free Beagles! Free Beagles?? Why, were they in captivity?? Well, yes, they were in steel cages for many many years in a god-forsaken laboratory with all sorts of atrocities done on them in the name of research and development! Check out Google, please! But hellooo… knock knock!! Let’s get back to my story, OK?
So, we arrived there. There were a few other families who had come for the adoption. We saw a huge compound with some cute dogs playing around. But nothing prepared us for the surprise when we approached the enclosure that held our future baby!! It was an ocean of brown, black and white, with lots of fast movements (tails wagging maybe??) and bright twinkling stars (eyes shining and twinkling with the gift of a new life!). OVERWHELMED!! That was our emotion at that point in time. So much cuteness!! The Freagle team of Bengaluru welcomed us and instructed us to spend some time in deciding which one we would like to adopt. Sounds simple…NOT! They all looked the same, although males and females had different colored neck collars!! They were all of the same size and shape! They all had that haunted look of a bad past in their eyes! They were all prancing around trying to take in so much, yet hesitant to make a move!
We sat down on the ground, looking at each other, speechless. We tried to pet some of the seemingly daring ones, tried to approach some, but they would sniff our hands and run away. For, the Freagles were each fighting their own inner battles. The enclosure was already full with so many of the Freagles. Then…another lot was released into the open!! Our eyes almost popped out of our sockets; like one of the Freagle Team members, Awanti said, it was an optical illusion! Freagles jumping, Freagles barking, Freagles running, Freagles lapping up water from the common bowl, Freagles sniffing around! While this was happening, we were still undecided. Whaaatttt?? Don’t roll your eyes! It was difficult to decide, trust me on this.
And then ...…this slightly fat fur ball enters the scene. Sniffs Nilu’s hand a couple of times and lets him pet it. This Freagle seemed to be unfazed by the ruckus and the to-do all around. Nilu points out the ‘fatso’ to me! He slowly goes and drinks from the bowl and walks to the far-off wall and lies down. Till then, I had not noticed him much; he was one of those many wagging tails! Then, one of the Freagle team members entered with a handful of treats, and all hell broke loose!! The Freagles started a mad rush, trying to get a piece of treat. It was then that cupid stuck!! The ‘fatso’ ran into the mad rush for his share of the treats. Mouth open, tongue sticking out, eyes twinkling, he ran fast, ears flapping in the air; he ate his treat and lapped up some more water!! And I fell in love (hearts hearts hearts!!)!!
It was decided. We would take the ‘fatso with the broken tongue’!! Yes, his tongue is cut at the tip in a jagged fashion (God knows how!). He was christened Spanner by his Freagle mommas. Adoption formalities were done pretty quick and the essential Martingale collar and leash were purchased (This is a necessary requirement and caution measure for adopting a Freagle.)!! And while we were all excited about the adoption, the fat rascal slept!! The Freagle mommas were happy that one of them got to go home at last J!!! They took our pictures, we clicked some of our own!
AND at last, it was time to go home!! Bidding goodbye to his pals of a few weeks, Spanner was carried by Nilu to the car, whence he started a whole new journey of love, cuddles, belly rubs, chin scratches, walks, good food, and many more things! We named him IKRAAN, after the fictitious character from the movie Avatar, where an Ikraan must also choose you, as you him. As the story goes, that is how the 'Sahelu' or the bond develops. So finally, we got a pet. So finally, our little family was complete. SO FINALLY, WE BROUGHT THE BABY HOME!! Our baby furboy, Ikraan! My sunshine boy!
How the fatso took over our lives…well, that’s another story altogether!! Stay tuned for the next one, though ^_^!!
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