Sweetie Read Free Page A

Buddy. “It’s okay, honey. We love you just as much as always.”
    But Buddy barked until Charles put Sweetie back down on the floor. After that, he played nicely with Sweetie — as long as she stayed awayfrom his people. Every time Sweetie trotted over to Lizzie or tried to kiss the Bean or even
looked
at Charles, Buddy started to bark.
    “What’s going on in here?” Mom stood in the doorway, her arms across her chest. “I’ve never heard Buddy bark so much.”
    “It’s Sweetie,” Charles told her. “Buddy’s jealous. He doesn’t understand that we will always love him best.”
    “Hmm.” Mom frowned. “That’s not so good. It’s important for them to get along if we’re going to foster Sweetie.”
    “But Buddy’s not being mean to her,” Charles said quickly. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if they had to give up on fostering the tiny poodle. He loved to watch her scamper around. “I think he just needs some time to get to know Sweetie.”
    Mom nodded. “You’re probably right. Anyway, it’s time for dinner. Let’s put Sweetie into the puppy crate for now and let her settle in a bit.Maybe by tomorrow Buddy will get used to having her around.”
    Charles and Lizzie and the Bean tried to give Buddy lots of attention that night. They fed him special treats and patted him constantly, and Charles even read to him from Buddy’s favorite book,
Three Stories You Can Read to Your Dog.
But tonight Buddy did not seem to be paying attention. Instead, he kept one eye on Sweetie as she wandered around the living room. And he barked every time she went near one of the Petersons. Finally, Sweetie curled up on a pillow near the fireplace and fell asleep, and only then did Buddy relax on Charles’s lap.
    Buddy slept in Lizzie’s room that night, and Dad put Sweetie’s crate into Charles’s room so she wouldn’t be too lonely. Once they were alone in his room, Charles gave Sweetie all the kisses and hugs he could not give her in front of Buddy. “I’m sure everything will be fine in the morning,” he told her.
    But he was wrong.
    A good night’s sleep did not change anything, as far as Buddy was concerned. In the morning, he still thought it was just plain wrong for any of his people to play with Sweetie — and he let it be known.
    After breakfast, Charles and Lizzie were in the living room with the puppies. Charles had Sweetie on his lap. He was teaching her to give him a kiss whenever he said, “Kisses!” She was such a quick learner.
    At first Buddy whined and barked. “Poor Buddy!” Lizzie said. For a while she distracted him with a rubber tug toy, but soon he gave up on playing with that. Now he lay with his head on his paws and watched Charles and Sweetie with a sad look on his face.
    “Buddy, come on.” Lizzie dangled Mr. Duck in front of him. Usually Buddy loved to grab the fuzzy stuffed toy and dash around the room with it, shaking it madly. But today he only glanced atMr. Duck, then sighed and dropped his head back to his paws.
    “Poor Buddy,” said Charles. “Maybe I should take Sweetie away for a while. Sammy and I were supposed to go over to David’s today anyway. Maybe I can take her with me.”
    David sounded unsure when Charles called to ask if Sweetie could come over. “I don’t know. I can’t wait to meet your new foster puppy. But what about Slinky? I’ll call you back,” he said.
    Slinky was David’s cat. She was so shy that, so far, Charles and Sammy had never even seen her. David said Slinky mostly hid under the couch when company was around. Sammy thought Slinky might be David’s imaginary pet. But Charles believed in her. He had seen a picture of Slinky on David’s bulletin board. She was really pretty, with brown and black coloring. Tortoiseshell, David called it.
    A few minutes later, David phoned back to say it was okay to bring Sweetie over. “But Mom says we have to kind of smuggle her into the basement, so Slinky doesn’t know there’s a puppy in the