Pup

"Ngh," a sleeping Lillian rolled over onto her back and stretched her arms above her head while arching her back backwards just like a cat deep in dreamland without any responsibilities or a care in the world.

It was Sunday, and she had no work or plans going on, which meant she could sleep in til noon and spend the day as leisurely as she wanted.

Finishing her well executed stretch, her eyes opened slightly to sleepily notice signs of the morning sun filtering in through the gaps of the curtains covering the tall, nearly floor to ceiling windows. Her eyes slow blinked, as she attempted to guess what time it was, before she grabbed the nearest pillow, hugged it tight, then rolled over to shut her eyes and turn away from the growing sunlight.

Pulling the fluffy pillow closer to her chest, she bent her head forward and stuffed her face into the cloud like fluff, quickly falling back into a restful slumber.

About two hours later, the sound of her phone hitting the floor startled her awake. She quickly got up and bent over the right side of her bed to pick it up, anxious to check for scratches or cracks after hearing it slap the cold hard floor. Luckily, everything looked to be undamaged.

When she checked the phone to see what time it was, she noticed a notification on her home screen - 1 missed call from mom.

Ah, the vibration of the phone call must've caused it to fall to the floor. I should remember to turn that off before bed tonight.

Seeing how it was already 11:45am, Lillian slowly rose up from the bed and dragged herself over to the bathroom to wash her face. She leisurely grabbed her face soap and lathered it in her hands to make a soft bubbly foam, then applied it to her wet face in a circular motion before rinsing it off with some warm water. After checking her face for any residual foamy bubbles hiding in her hair, she picked up her toothbrush and began casually brushing her teeth as she scrolled through her friend's newest posts on Pinstagram.

OMG, what?! They got a puppy?

She paused on the picture her grandma had just posted 3 hours earlier. One of her cousins had helped her set up a Pinstagram account 2 summers ago to because she wanted an easier way to keep in touch with her grandchildren. Surprisingly, she had gotten really into her social media, and posted almost daily - usually of some meal she cooked or a nice flower she found outside. The newest post though showed a family picture of her mom and grandma hugging a cute furry, floppy eared little creature, while standing outside in a picturesque snowy scene. They even gave the pup a little beige sweater that made the young dog look that much cuter.

Excited to hear about the new puppy, Lillian quickly finished her morning routine and jumped back onto her bed to give her mom a call.

"Mom?"

"Oh, Lillian! I'm so happy to hear your voice! How is everything? Are you getting along well at your friend's place? Are you eating well?"

"Yeah mom. I'm good. My roommate is out of town for work, so I have the whole place to myself right now. By the way, did you get a dog? I saw grandma's post on Pinstagram."

"Coffee Bean! He's the cutest thing. One of the neighbor's dogs had a litter a few weeks back, and they asked if we'd like to take one of the pups in. He's so full of energy, but your grandma is having fun with him. I think she's with him now trying to teach him how to play fetch, though yesterday all he could do was chase the ball around the room."

"Aww. Can I see him?"

"Sure, one second. Let me just put you on video mode." Lillian could hear her mom walking to another room as the camera was focused on the inside of her palm. After she opened a door, she could hear her grandma's voice in the background along with the faint sound of the TV. Her grandpa liked to fall asleep in front of it during his down time. "Here we go. This is coffee bean, isn't he cute!"

"Mom, your hand it covering the camera."

"Oops, haha. I'm always doing that." Her mom moved her hand out of the way and the spotted black and white floppy eared pup ran up to the camera.

"His ears are too adorable! Hi Coffee Bean, I'm your older sister, Lillian." The tiny pup looked straight into the camera for an instance, then ran away to go roll on the floor.

"Is that my sweet grandbaby on the line? Pass me the phone so grandma can say hi." The next moment the camera was flipped back around and her grandma's familiar face came into view. "Lily, I miss you so much. When are you going to come visit grandma again? I can make you your favorite chicken stew!"

"Hey, hat's not fair. You know I can't say no to that offer. I'll try to come visit once the weather warms up." Lillian rolled over onto her back as her neck was getting tired and extended her arms to hold her phone above her head.

"Hmm? Are you in your bedroom right now? Can you give us a tour of your new place?" Her mom popped in on screen next to her grandma and eagerly asked to see the apartment.

"Oh, uh..." Lillian paused for a moment and looked around her intensely pink room, then thought about whether or not it would be okay to show them the rest of the large penthouse. Even though she was hiding her contractual marriage from her family and the fact that her friend/roommate was actually the CEO of the Geldan Group, she worried it would be suspicious if she hid everything from them. "The apartment is really messy right now, but I can just show you my room for now." She changed to her phone's other camera and gave her mom and grandma a quick tour of her bedroom, she was relieved that both her bathroom door and closet door were shut as she wasn't sure how she was going to explain how opulent they were.

"Wow, so stylish. I really like the pink!" Lillian's grandma commented with such serious enthusiasm that both she and her mom couldn't help but laugh. Her grandma gave them a light scolding for laughing at her genuine remark, then they finished up the call with a quick hello from her grandpa and one last cameo of Coffee Bean.