“Well, Frances was nice.”

“Yeah, he was.”

“You know, I had no idea time goes so fast! It’s like our years are days! Beau used to be a daddy, now he’s a dad.”

“Maybe that’s a sign we should start thinking about being parents, soon. We’re not getting any younger.”

“Okay, but can you please promise me we’ll have time to have a life before then!”

“You read my mind, hon.”

“So how have things been since you, y’know, moved to an entirely new country.”

“Oh, it hasn’t been bad at all. I found a nice job as an astrophysicist in town, and Max loves being away from Windenburg. I still keep in touch with my mom and brothers, though, and Max is happy about that, even though he never talks to his own family.”

“He doesn’t talk to his family at all? I mean, if Frances or I stopped talking to either of our families, we’d never get out of the house. Grandparents and aunts and uncles are usually great sitters after all.”

“I’m not sure why he doesn’t, but… I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but we’re not sure if we’ll be having kids for a long time. I mean, we’re only 23.”

“By the Watcher, you two are young!”

“Well, I, um, noticed your pet.”

“Oh, Scruffles?”

“Yes, um, I don’t think I’ve seen one quite like him. He’s so… large.”

“Yeah, Lucas wanted him. He loves big dogs. You should see him playing with the big guy, he gets so happy. It was worth the long search.”

“A long search?”

“Yeah, he’s specially bred to not bother Luc’s asthma. I suggested we get a smaller dog, like a maltese, but he really wanted a big one.”

“Well, that’s kind of you. I don’t think Beau and I could ever have the patience looking for a pet for that long. We’ve got three kids, after all.”

Three? Kids?”

“You’re going to love these guys.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! They’re like tiny baby gays who’ll look up to you!”

“That’s how you think we’ll get along? You said yourself you only knew them from online chatrooms!”

“Well, yeah. Plus, they’re from Windenburg, so they’ll have some fancy foreign tastes you can bond over.”

“And those foreign tastes aren’t… eccentric, are they?”

“Come on, I’ve known these guys since they were old enough to vote, and I can assure you, these guys are the normalest normal guys you’ll ever meet.”

“Huh.”

“Yep, just two normal guys.”

“Eep!”

“… And one very big dog.”

“Hey, you remember Beau, right? The guy online?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“Turns out he lives just about 15 minutes away from us. I was thinking maybe we could invite him over sometimes.”

“Oh, he’s married now, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he’s been for a while now.”

“You know, I’d love to meet his husband. I want to meet who tamed the wandering beast, hehe. Do you think we can invite him, too, hon?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.”