Felix and Oscar.

One day I woke up to two Blenheim dogs looking directly at me with their round brown eyes. They sat a short distance from the bed and waited patiently on the carpet. Both of their spines were upright, their knees to the sides and their front paws were tucked nicely underneath the chest. As soon as I lifted my head off the pillow, their tails began to wag sideways and their jaws dropped down. The corners of their mouth were slightly upward; a dog's smile. They moved closer to the bed, I patted them one by one with my right hand on the top of their tiny heads and on the side of their faces. My body was exhausted from a busy week at work building Automated Guided Vehicles and went back to sleep. It was a Saturday and it had been a long time since I had a full weekend off work. A chance to sleep in a little longer. I knew they were still watching me. The boys wouldn't give up gaining my attention that easily. Oscar jumped up onto the bed and walked on top of my back and licked the side of my cheek, then he reached behind my right ear. I tried to stop him from licking my ear by turning my head the other way. He is stubborn and eventually, my ear was wet. He has an obsession with ears; dog or human makes no difference to him. Felix made a few attempts to get up on the high bed. I was impressed when he made it; Felix is six kilos heavier than his brother. Felix squeezed himself between my legs and managed to push my legs outwards, pressing his hedgehog paws into the soft blue duvet as he spun clockwise before dropping into his comfortable position; The Donut. Oscar had given up fussing over my ears and laid his head on my pillow. The three of us are on a plush mattress, each of us dreaming of something pleasant; a bone, a treat, and a beautiful woman.

An hour later I got up and the Cavalier twins were not in sight. I walked out of the bedroom and saw them out on the balcony, occupied and entertained by the movement on the street. I made my way over towards them. The living room had two sets of brown turds. I already knew which type of droppings belonged to who. Felix drops are placed apart from each other. When he drops his load, he moves a few inches from each load. Four loads in total; largest to the smallest. Oscar on the other hand is an artist, he holds himself in a position and curves his butt in circles and it resembles a chocolate soft serve ice cream."Who did this?!" I rose my voice in a deep firm tone that drew their attention from the balcony. They did not move."Come!" I commanded them as I pointed to the floor with my index finger. They obeyed and took up a spot in front of me, side by side with each other. "Who did this?" I asked again in a firm clear voice and pointed at the piles. Felix lowered the edge of his eyebrows and dropped his eyelids; resembling Droopy, the animated character. Oscar was shameless and panting with eyes wide open, just like Odie from Garfield; he is proud of his craft. I rose my hand above my head and swung my open palm towards them and stopped five inches from their face. Their heads dropped to the floor and I gave them both a light tap on their scrawny muzzle. Animal cruelty makes me sick and my affections run deep for the boys. I could not do any harm. On the other side of things, slapping a twelve-year-old child for bad behavior is fine by me. Kids have too much freedom in today's society and they have no discipline from their parents. Juveniles absorbed their attention onto their smartphones, like a dog and bone. I cleaned up the mess with a pet odor neutralizer, but it never works, they just end up finding another uncharted territory.

In the kitchen, I switched on the kettle and chopped the canned meatloaf into small pieces on the cutting board. I mixed the loaf with metabolic weight loss dry food in their bowls with a fork. Feli and Oski had their little black noises in the air, sniffing the varied scent of flavors as their heads moved left to right then up and down, the way the fork had stirred their breakfast. The veteran strictly ordered me to reduce their weight for their well-being. Cavaliers are known to be small dogs, but these two were born big-boned. The people in the dog park were surprised how two purebred Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were half the size of a Border Collie. Regardless of their size, both of them are very affectionate towards other animals and wanted new BBFs but backed away from a stranger's hand and hid behind my legs. I placed the bowls four feet apart from one another to prevent them from stealing each other's food. I stepped out to the backyard and sat under the clear vibrant sky with the serenity of sunshine as the caffeine began to melt away my tastebuds; drinking the first sip of le café noir is like paradise. The first cup of the day is important for a coffee-lover.

The clunk sound of an empty ceramic cup when it dropped onto the table was a keynote for the boys. They stopped whatever had them occupied and raced to the front door, side by side, hitting one another playfully. As I prepared myself and put on my shoes before I slid four black doggy bags into my pocket, Felix sat quietly the on carpet and Oscar turn his body in a circle two times in a row by the front of the door, he let out a one time bark"Arf!" An indication that he was ready or telling me to hurry up. I get confused sometimes. I gathered the two harnesses, the green one for Felix and the red one for Oscar. I put them on over their shiny coat and my phone rang. I saw the name on the display, it was my boss. I swiped my phone to answer the call." Hey," He said shyly "I know we told you that you could have the weekend off, but we need you to come in. Johnny wasn't feeling good this morning. We sent him home, can you come in for a few hours?" I rubbed my forehead and said nothing at first. The world stood still for a few seconds then I heard my boss's heavy short breath from years of smoking and hitting his flavored vapor. Felix dropped his body to the floor with his paws in front of his head. Oscar sat still and started to wimp. Their facial expression had shown sadness and disappointment. They were smart and they just knew, they knew I was called in to go to work. The look on their faces had my heart melting like lava with burning pain in my chest."Sorry boss" I said politely"I have to spend time with my boys" The boss replied sharply"But you don't have any kids!" I snapped back at him in a pleasant tone"Yes I do. I have two boys, Felix and Oscar. They are both three years old." I paused for a second. "Look, I can't make it to work today. I'll see you Monday." I hung up the call and put the phone on the side table near the big Tuscany wooden door. I bent down to pick up the end of the leash from the floor and the boys jumped with excitement with their front paws in the air. Bouncing up and down like a basketball. We walked out the door and it felt goddamn good to breathe. To earn a living is a necessary need but, to spend time with a man's two best friends is priceless.