GATSBY

He needed a home, but was Maria barking to even consider taking him in?

- Brenda Roberts

I can’t cope, Mum.’

When I heard Becky say this, alarm bells began to ring. My daughter and her partner, Tom, looked so distressed and bewildered, it worried me.

Becky began to sob. ‘We just didn’t know how hard it would be to cope with a baby. I know this is a big ask, Mum, but if you could possibly take the dog off our hands, it would make such a difference. Mabel wakes up at night, and her crying sets Gatsby off howling. It’s terrible and, added to that, we simply haven’t got the time or energy to look after Gatsby.’

I remembered how it was, staying with them recently after little Mabel was born, and how pleased I had felt that it all went so well.

Gatsby was out of the way in boarding kennels at the time, and looking after my daughter and her tiny baby was lovely.

I had hoped Becky and Tom would slip into a comfortable routine once I’d left, but who was I kidding? It wasn’t as simple as that. Becky and Tom were only in their early 20s, and now they were floundering. I longed for them to settle down to be a happy little family with baby Mabel, but my poor daughter badly needed help.

I glanced down at Gatsby, who was snuggled up on his giant dog bed with his soft, cuddly elephant toy.

Becky blinked away the last of her tears, sniffed and stared at me hopefully. ‘What d’you reckon, Mum?’

‘Gatsby might keep you company,’ Tom put in quickly.

Well, my beloved husband had passed away the year before, leaving a terrible gap in my life, and, yes I was lonely. I’d recently entertained the idea of finding some new absorbing hobby, like painting or photography. I wasn’t completely against pets, but if I was going to adopt one, I would have preferred an easy goldfish in a bowl or maybe a talkative parrot. Not a dog. I didn’t do dogs.

Then, at that moment, the dark circles under Becky’s eyes touched my heart and I took a deep breath… ‘OK, I’ll do it.’