It’s five o’clock.

Daddy is done with work. The dogs can sense the end of the day. They peel themselves off the couch, stretch, yawn and shake off the long naps they take every day. They know it’s time for a walk. A “W”, as we call it. Don’t say the “w” word too loud or Linus will start getting too excited.

Daddy puts his shoes on. He smiles at us and asks about our day. He asks but he really already knows most of what our day entailed. He sits at his desk peeking out at us through the baby gate. We can hear him take his calls. We can see him writing and thinking hard. We like him home with us. Even if he’s in that back office most of the day. He’s accessible and we like that.

He straps the Ergo carrier to his chest as I get the dogs leashes on. Charlotte the french bulldog prances around as I jingle the leash closer to her. She runs away in excitement and I yell at her to come. I end up walking over to her… always. Linus the shepherd comes right over. This afternoon walk is the highlight of his day. The morning walk is just for sniffing and leaving his scent every which way, but this one is usually longer and faster paced. He starts panting at the thought of getting out. I pat him on the head as I clip his leash into place, knowing how much he enjoys getting out. Both dogs move quickly to the door. Ellie is loaded into the carrier. She kicks her legs in amusement at the regular scene. I give her a quick kiss. I give Daddy a quick kiss. We head out.

We walk. We talk. We talk about our days. We talk about finances. We talk about my parents and his. We talk about us as new parents. We talk about weekend plans and gardening and dreams of owning a farm. We talk and relate. Ellie listens to her parents enjoying each others company. She hears us discuss important topics every night and she hears us chat about the day-to-day. Sometimes we tickle her feet and play peekaboo. Sometimes we talk just to her, tell her what we see as we walk by the big park. The neighborhood dogs are off leash chasing balls. We point out the doggies and wave to our neighbors. Sometimes we walk so far and talk so much, Ellie cuddles in close to Daddy’s chest and drifts off to sleep for the remainder of the walk. While she sleeps we talk about how beautiful she is and how lucky we are to have her as our own.

The air is cool and a little bit salty. It’s breezy and it’s getting close to dinner time. We make our way home. Linus is reluctant to head back. He could walk for miles. Charlotte is eager for her dog food dinner.   We make it back home. I take the leashes off the dogs and set them on the rack in the laundry room. They settle in for the night. Daddy unbuckles the carrier and sits quietly down in the big chair. A sleeping baby still on his chest. It was a good walk… our evening walk.

– linking up with Heather for JUST WRITE.