Sofia's Puppy Love Page 3

  Sofia felt nervous all of a sudden. Would she be able to do this? She glanced at the door where Jasmine, Madison, and Keiko were watching her from the hallway, giving her smiles and thumbs-up to boost her confidence. Sofia turned back to Ms. Chen.

  “I know I missed the deadline for the science fair,” she began, “but if you’ll let me, I’d really like to enter a project.”

  Ms. Chen leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know,” she said thoughtfully. “The other teachers and I already began planning the table arrangements in the gym. We want to be sure there’s enough space for all the projects. Do you have something specific in mind?”

  Sofia’s shoulders slumped. “Not exactly,” she admitted. “But I know I can come up with something quickly!”

  Ms. Chen gazed at Sofia for a long time. “All right,” she said. “I’d be happy to give you a second chance. But you don’t have much time! Here’s a fresh form. Write up a plan for me over lunch period, and then I’ll take a look. If it looks like a good project, I can squeeze you in as a late entry to the fair.”

  Sofia jumped to her feet. “Thanks so much, Ms. Chen!”

  With that, she practically skipped out of the room, clutching the science fair form in her hands.

  “Good for you!” Jasmine said, greeting her friend with a high five.

  “Way to go,” Keiko chimed in.

  “So what now?” Madison asked as they walked toward the cafeteria.

  Sofia looked determined. “Now I just have to come up with the best science fair project ever!”

  As the girls settled in at a cafeteria table to eat lunch, Sofia placed the science fair project form next to her tuna sandwich. Meanwhile, Jasmine flipped through their science book as she crunched on some baby carrots. “How about making a volcano?” Jasmine suggested.

  Sofia shook her head. “I tried making one over the summer and I added too much baking soda. There was fake lava everywhere. After that disaster with the paint, I think I’ll steer clear.”

  Keiko’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, how about a model of the solar system? I have some blue glitter you can use to make the Earth.”

  “Good idea,” Sofia replied. “But I think Michael Abiola is already doing a solar system.”

  “Too bad,” Keiko replied. “I’m dying to use that blue glitter on something!”

  Jasmine flipped to another page in her book. “I don’t see anything in here that’ll work,” she said. “All the good ones take time, like this one where you feed plants different liquid diets to see which one makes them grow fastest.”

  Madison pointed at the chart under the description of the plant experiment. “Hey, that kind of looks like the chart you made for Piper,” she told Sofia.

  Sofia gasped. “Madison, you’re a genius!”

  Madison lifted one eyebrow in confusion. “I am?”

  “Yes!” Sofia cried. “Piper can be the subject of my science fair project!”

  When Sofia got to the shelter that Saturday, she was extra excited. Not only would she get to see Piper, but she also had a great plan for her project. She told Mrs. Wallace all about it as soon as she arrived.

  “I’ll show everybody how to take care of runts so they get stronger and healthier, just like Piper,” she explained.

  “That sounds like a terrific idea.” Mrs. Wallace beamed. “You’ve certainly worked wonders with Piper. He’s dying to see you.”

  Sofia couldn’t wait to see him, either. But when she entered the room with the puppy pen, she was shocked to see not just her friends but a roomful of visitors, all buzzing around the puppies.

  “What’s going on?” Sofia asked Madison.

  “It’s the webcam,” her friend replied. “Now that the puppies are almost ready to be adopted, everybody wants to meet them in person.”

  Sofia watched as the puppies tumbled around their pen. It was almost as if they were putting on a show by being extra adorable. Peanut and Princess trotted around the pen, side by side, carrying two ends of the same chew toy in their mouths. Peaches was snuggled up next to Penny, and Poppy was sniffing all the new visitors like crazy. Pickle had his face buried in a bowl of dry dog food, his new favorite meal. Sofia noticed that Mrs. Wallace had placed matching ribbons around all the adopted dogs’ necks that said I’VE BEEN ADOPTED! Penny and Pickle were wearing them, and Sofia saw a ribbon each on Peanut and Princess, too. It was great that the livestream had generated so much interest, but it worried Sofia, too. There were only three dogs left. What if someone adopted Piper?

  Sofia looked around in a panic. Where was he, anyway? She couldn’t see him. But then she spotted him, snuggled under a blanket, hiding from the crowd. As soon as he saw Sofia, he wriggled out and bounded over, letting out excited yips.

  Dr. Arroyo appeared next to Sofia, smiling down at Piper. “He’s almost the same weight as his brothers and sisters now—thanks to you.” Dr. Arroyo patted Sofia’s shoulder. It was more great news, but Sofia couldn’t enjoy it because of the conversations she was hearing around her.

  “Pick out whichever one you want,” said a dad to his son.

  Sofia watched anxiously as the boy spent a few minutes playing with each puppy. Please don’t pick Piper, she pleaded silently, holding her breath.

  After a few long minutes, the boy stretched out his arm and pointed to Poppy. “That one!”

  Sofia breathed a sigh of relief when she watched the father tell Mrs. Wallace the good news. As Mrs. Wallace placed an I’VE BEEN ADOPTED ribbon around Poppy’s neck, Sofia knew it was only a matter of time before someone chose Piper.

  Suddenly, Sofia had a great idea. When Mrs. Wallace had a free moment, Sofia approached her. “I think I know how to make my science fair project extra special,” she told Mrs. Wallace, “but I’ll need your help.”

  Two weeks later, everyone in school gathered in the gymnasium for the annual science fair. It seemed like the whole town was there, with teachers and families strolling from exhibit to exhibit, admiring the students’ projects.

  Jasmine had managed to make a great electric circuit using a potato. She impressed the teachers by using it to turn on a small lamp. Madison set up a fondue pot to melt different kinds of chocolate bars. Beside her, Keiko had set up a ladder. She planned to drop her egg from the top in a special cushioned parachute she had designed and built herself. Next to the ladder was a poster with photos of all the times she had failed and broken the egg.

  Sofia’s presentation about runts had gathered quite a crowd. It showed all the charts Sofia had made tracking Piper’s diet and weight for his first six weeks of life. But what really drew people over was the puppy movie Sofia had set up on her laptop. Mrs. Wallace had let Sofia record some of the video from the shelter’s webcam, and Madison had contributed footage she’d taken with her phone showing Sofia patiently bottle-feeding and weighing Piper. Any time a group passed Sofia’s table, they oohed and aahhed at the adorable puppies.

  Sofia was pleased, but she couldn’t help feeling anxious about Piper. He and Peaches were the only puppies left. It was just a matter of time before some lucky person adopted them, too. In her mind, she tried to be okay with that. She knew that the important thing was that Piper found his forever home, even if it wasn’t with her.

  “You should be very proud of your daughter, Mr. Davis,” Ms. Chen was telling Sofia’s father. Her mother wasn’t feeling well again, so she had stayed home.

  “Thank you,” he replied. “And thanks for offering her a second chance at the science fair.”

  “Actually, she’s the one who came to me,” Ms. Chen admitted, smiling at Sofia. “I wasn’t sure she could pull it together in time, but she proved me wrong. Nice work, Sofia. This is real science: collecting data, making careful observations, and reporting on it so that others can learn what you’ve learned.”

  Sofia grinned at the compliment. “Thanks, Ms. Chen,” she said.

  Sofia’s father took another long look at her project. The video showed Piper diving under the blankets, then
popping his head out and panting happily. Piper was playing hide-and-seek just as he’d done before he was born. “You know,” her father said to Sofia, “he really is pretty cute. What do you say we go adopt him after the science fair is over?”

  Sofia thought she’d heard him wrong. “Are you serious?” she asked. “But what about everything you said before about me not being responsible? What about the mess I made with the paint?”

  Her father laughed. “That was a mess,” he admitted, “but you helped me clean it up. And the fact that you asked your teacher for a second chance shows maturity. I can see how hard you worked with Piper. I think your mother would agree with me that you’ve proven how responsible you can be. You’ll be a great dog owner.”

  Sofia couldn’t believe it.

  “Jasmine! Madison! Keiko!” she shouted to her friends from across the gym. They had been studying Madison’s project—and sneaking tastes of chocolate—but they hurried over right away.

  “You guys—my dad said I could adopt Piper!” she practically shouted. The four friends started jumping up and down and screaming with excitement.

  “Girls!” Sofia’s dad interrupted the celebration, his hands over his ears. “I think you’d better quiet down. You don’t want to break those test tubes and cause an explosion.”

  He gestured toward the project next to Sofia’s, which contained beakers full of different-colored liquids.

  “Sorry, Dad,” Sofia said sheepishly. “We’re just so excited!”

  “Well then, what are we waiting for?” her dad said. “Let’s head over to Rosa’s Refuge right away.”

  Sofia said good-bye to her friends and promised them an update as soon as she got home.

  When Sofia and her dad got to the shelter, Mrs. Wallace met them in the reception area. “Sofia!” she exclaimed. “I was just about to give you a call. I have some news—”

  “So do I,” Sofia interrupted excitedly. “I’m here to adopt Piper! My parents changed their minds!”

  Mrs. Wallace’s face fell. All the light in her eyes seemed to dim. “Oh, Sofia … that’s why I was going to call. A family came in this morning. They have twin daughters, and they decided to adopt a puppy for each girl.”

  Sofia shook her head. “You don’t mean …”

  “They adopted Peaches … and Piper,” Mrs. Wallace confirmed sadly. “Since the puppies are weaned now, they took them home an hour ago. I’m so sorry.”

  Sofia was speechless. Although the shelter was filled with the noise of barking dogs and meowing cats, Sofia could almost hear her heart crack like one of Keiko’s eggs.

  By the time Sofia and her dad got home, there was no consoling her. “I never even got to say good-bye,” she wailed when she saw her mother. Tears streamed down her face as she crawled into bed next to her mom, who wrapped her in a tight hug.

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” her mom said. “I know how much you cared about Piper. But there will be other dogs you’ll love, too.”

  “Not like Piper,” Sofia insisted.

  Her mother shared a look with her father. “There might be one thing that will cheer you up. Should we tell her?”

  Her father shrugged. “Seems like as good a time as any.”

  “Tell me what?” Sofia asked, sniffling.

  Her mother reached into her dresser and pulled out something that looked a lot like the X-ray Dr. Arroyo had taken of Penny. Except this one was dark and swirly, and instead of six tiny skulls, Sofia saw one round head with a tiny five-fingered fist right next to it.

  “You’re going to be a big sister, Sofia,” her mom explained. “I’m having a baby.”

  “You are?” Sofia asked in shock. “Really?”

  “Yes, really,” her dad replied. “We hope you’re as excited about the news as we are, but we understand that it’s a lot to take in.”

  Sofia couldn’t believe it. She had always wanted a baby brother or sister, but she just figured she was destined to be an only child.

  “I’m excited,” Sofia replied, a smile spreading across her face. “I’m just surprised. Why didn’t you tell me? Is it a boy or a girl? And is that why you’ve been sick in the morning?”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” her mom replied with a laugh. “One question at a time!”

  “Sorry,” Sofia said sheepishly. “I just really am excited. And surprised. Wow! I’m going to be a big sister!”

  Her mom nodded. “You are, sweetheart,” she replied. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner, but we didn’t want to get your hopes up in case something went wrong. The beginning of a pregnancy can be pretty rough. The babies don’t always make it. But I’m feeling better now, and the baby is doing really well.”

  Her mother lay her hand protectively over her belly. Sofia thought about Piper and how he almost hadn’t made it.

  “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Sofia asked again, holding up the sonogram.

  “Not yet,” her father replied. “We want it to be a surprise. But whatever the baby is, we’ll love it.”

  Sofia smiled. She was still sad about Piper, but she was thrilled at her parents’ surprising news. Soon she would have a little brother or sister!

  Suddenly, she gasped and sat straight up in the bed. “The spare room—it’s for the baby!”

  “That’s right,” her mother replied. “And now that you know who the room is for, you know that we have to make it extra special. We could use a responsible person like you to help us. What do you say?”

  Sofia cozied up to her mom, putting her hand over her mother’s hand. “I’m in!” Sofia cried.

  For a moment, the crack in her heart hurt a little bit less.

  Sofia tilted her head to one side and then the other. “Mmm, I think it would look better over there,” she said. She pointed to the rocking chair next to the new crib.

  Madison picked up the soft yellow pillow. “But that’s where we had it in the first place!”

  “Sofia, I think you’re overthinking this,” Jasmine said gently. “You’ve had the pillow in four different places, and it looked good in all of them.”

  Keiko chuckled. “Her poor dad had to move the crib five times!”

  Sofia blushed and gave her friends a sheepish grin. “I just want this nursery to be perfect.”

  “It already is!” Jasmine insisted, sweeping her arm around the room.

  Sofia stood back and tried to see it through her friends’ eyes. Her mom and dad had moved all the big furniture pieces in—the crib and dresser, the rocking chair, the changing table—and now Sofia was in charge of decorating. She’d taken the job very seriously, trying to find just the right spot for all the adorable baby things. There was an owl-shaped lamp on the dresser, and stuffed bears lined the crib. The soft blankets in the crib and the foam-green walls made the room feel warm and cozy. She’d hoped it would get her mind off Piper, but she still thought about the tiny pup all the time.

  “It does look pretty great,” Sofia said at last. “I think we’re done.”

  “Hooray!” her friends cheered.

  Sofia went to get her parents, making them close their eyes until they stood in the middle of the room. It had been two months since they’d revealed their big news, and Sofia’s mom was wearing a loose blue summer dress that showed her growing belly.

  “Are you ready?” Sofia asked them.

  “Ready!” her parents answered in unison.

  The girls counted off together: “One, two, three … open your eyes!”

  Sofia’s parents slowly opened their eyes and burst into huge grins. “Oh, Sofia, it’s wonderful!” her mom gushed.

  “It’s perfect,” her father cheered. “Great job, sweetheart!”

  “My friends helped,” she said, smiling gratefully at them.

  “Hey, we should get over to the shelter,” Keiko reminded them. “Mrs. Wallace said she needed our help with a dog that just came in.”

  Mrs. Wallace was waiting for them outside the shelter, and she seemed nervous. But when she
saw Sofia and the girls approaching, she smiled. “Thank you for bringing them on a Sunday,” she said to Sofia’s parents. “I’m sure you had lots of things to do, but this simply couldn’t wait.”

  “It’s no trouble,” Sofia’s mother assured her.

  “Is everything okay?” Sofia asked, worried.

  “Well, I pride myself on finding the right forever home for each animal,” Mrs. Wallace replied. “But every now and then, a family realizes they made a mistake, and they bring the adopted animal back. That’s what happened this morning. The dog is here now and he looks lost. I can’t even get him to eat any treats.”

  “That’s terrible!” Jasmine cried.

  “If anyone can cheer him up, it’s you four.” Mrs. Wallace opened the front door and motioned for them to follow her inside as she led them to the playroom.

  Sofia looked around, but all she saw was a lumpy blanket in the corner.

  “Where’s the dog?” she asked Mrs. Wallace, confused.

  At the sound of Sofia’s voice, the lump under the blanket began to squeal and wriggle. A second later, one stubby paw and a snout with a small patch of white fur shaped like a heart poked out eagerly.

  “Piper?” Sofia gasped in disbelief.

  Piper lifted his head and yipped happily. He leaped to his paws, throwing off the blanket and running to Sofia at top speed. She bent just in time to scoop Piper up into her arms. “Hi, boy!” she called out. “I missed you!”

  “He missed you, too,” said Madison. “Look how excited he is. But why did the family bring him back?”

  Mrs. Wallace shook her head. “Two puppies were too much for them to handle. And Piper never seemed happy there. So they brought him back, hoping I could find him a better fit.”

  “Looks like you’ve found one already,” said Sofia’s mother with a laugh.

  Sofia felt hope spark inside her like fireworks. “Can we really keep him?”

  Her parents both gave her glowing smiles. “Absolutely,” her father said. “Piper is coming home with us today!”