Fiona Harrison - A Pug Like Percy - A heartwarming tale for the whole family

‘She’s right, Percy,’ Simon called over his shoulder to me. ‘It’s definitely not the posh bit, and I hate to break it to you, but it’ll be a lot longer than forty minutes, given the way Gail drives.’

‘Dad!’ Jenny fired, eyes furrowed in frustration. ‘Stop being so mean all the time about Mum’s driving.’

‘Good point, Jen,’ Gail replied. ‘In fact, Simon, you’re welcome to drive us home yourself, if you don’t like the way I do it.’

‘Come on, love. I spend all week driving around London; the last thing I want to do at the weekend is to get behind the wheel,’ Simon protested.

Gail’s gaze never left the road, but her tone was clear. ‘Well then, stop having a go at me about it. You were bad enough on the way in.’

‘It was only a joke,’ Simon hissed. ‘You need to get a sense of humour.’

‘And you need to get a sensitivity chip,’ Gail retorted. ‘You’re ruining this special moment with Percy.’

I looked over at Jenny. The little girl’s eyes were downcast and fixed firmly on her lap as her parents exchanged words. She did not appear to be crying, but she was obviously upset at the fact the happy atmosphere we had all enjoyed just moments earlier had become frosty. I glanced at Gail and caught her reflection in the rear-view mirror. Her mouth was set in a determined line while Simon had turned his head and was looking firmly out of the passenger window.

I wondered if this was evidence of the strain Gail had mentioned. More than anything, I wanted to help, this was supposed to be a happy day not a sad one. Observing Jenny, an idea formed and I remembered one of the tricks Barney had taught me to try to get new families to like me. Rolling onto my back in the carrier, I exposed my tummy and yelped, a bit like a human baby.

Jenny looked across and her face creased into a delighted smile as she saw my trick. ‘Mum! Percy thinks he’s a baby.’ Not waiting for an answer, she reached her hand into my carrier and tickled my belly, just as I hoped she would. ‘Oh, his tummy’s so soft,’ she squealed.

Simon looked around to see what all the commotion was about, and laughed. ‘Oh, Percy, I can see you’ve already got a way with the women. You’re going to have to teach me a thing or two.’

‘What’s he doing?’ Gail begged as she navigated a particularly busy junction. ‘I can’t see.’

‘He’s rolling over, pretending to be a baby,’ Jenny explained, her hand still tickling my belly, much to my delight.

Quickly glancing around, Gail burst out laughing as she saw me. ‘Percy!’ she exclaimed. ‘Oh, my goodness, you’re adorable.’

‘He’s more than adorable,’ Simon said, chuckling. ‘He’s bloody brilliant. Look at you women going all mushy; Percy’s going to be the ace up my sleeve against you two.’

‘No, he isn’t.’ Jenny giggled. ‘He’s going to be my friend.’

‘And mine,’ Gail said, meeting my eyes as I rolled over and got back on my feet.

Looking around at the smiling faces, I was delighted to feel the atmosphere in the car had thawed.

Glancing into the rear-view mirror, I caught Gail’s delighted eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she mouthed.

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