And Then There Were Ten

We arrived home late the other night from a concert given by Ruyman’s dad. While the concert was fun, the night had been kind of rough. The relationship between Ruyman’s biological parents teeters on the border between tolerance and contempt, which always lends telenovela-like drama to family gatherings. Only after much negotiating did both Ruyman’s parents agree to be in a photo together with him. It’s the first time it’s ever been done.

Ruyman y padres

Vicente on stage

After the concert, Ruyman, Carmen, her two friends, and I went out to eat at a little place that features dancing on weekends. The atmosphere reminded me of a church dance from high school: too bright, too loud, too awkward, and too sweaty. One of Carmen’s friends went outside to take a phone call on her iPhone and was promptly mugged. Needless to say, she was pretty upset. By that time, Ruyman’s little sister Ashley and I were asleep in the back of the car with the doors locked, so I missed most of it.

When we finally got home, it was after midnight. Generally, the dogs are excited when we return in the evening, but quiet down pretty quickly. Not last night. All the dogs but one bounced around hysterically and no amount of food or yelling could make them stop. 

The exception was the youngest female, Violetta, who was lying in a corner emitting yowls of pain every few minutes. When Ruyman and I went to the upstairs room, she followed us and tried to hide under our bed. 

When Ruyman and I first met Violetta, Ruyman’s sister warned us that she was bad tempered and a biter. While a little snappish, Violetta seemed more unsociable than anything else. She did have some strange physical characteristics, though: an oddly shaped torso, extremely large nipples, and a strange way of walking. After watching her tummy get more and more distended, Ruyman and I realized she was pregnant.

It took us until last week to convince the family that Violetta was indeed embarasada. The point is now beyond equivocation since she’s downstairs nursing five white puppies. She’s a little less bloody and shell-shocked than right after the fact, but the mama-bear tendencies still hold strong. Laila is the only one who doesn’t seem to understand she’s supposed to leave Violetta alone.

So the already burgeoning canine population doubled overnight. And after a morning scraping so much dog crap off the roof that both Ruyman and I threw up, this is not good news.