Sporting tight-fitting workout clothes and jackets, Evangeline gazed at Eric and hesitantly said, "Are you sure you're going to be alright here alone with them?" She was going to prepare for the reunion that means getting back in shape. But . . . she stole a peek at her pets who were lazily cozying around.

"I'm fine," Eric replied, smiling. "You go and do your yoga. We'll go to you after an hour."

Still a bit hesitating, Evangeline gave her pets a warning eye before she tiptoed and kissed Eric on the cheek. "Alright, see you at the park later."

It was good training to have her pets bond with Eric. Though she was still a bit worried, she gave one last glance at those adorable puffs of fur before she turned and sauntered away.

The moment Evangeline was out of sight, Eric closed the door and stared at Summer, Fall, and Winter. Evangeline was going to join in the yoga and fitness classes at the nearby park, but since their pets had just finished eating, they still need an hour rest before he could walk them.

Wait . . .

Shifting his gaze left and right, he couldn't find Spring anywhere. Among the pets, the little hamster was the most peculiar one. Always disappearing.

Woof!

Like always, Winter stuck to him like glue while Summer walked here and there, ramming things with its nose. He had no idea where he got all that energy from. In contrast, Fall was the laziest of them all, or should he say the fussiest and high maintenance. She didn't eat anything but imported goods, marinated dried tuna, smoked fish and the likes. And she didn't walk on anything dirty and needed her little stilettoes when she stepped outside while she didn't sleep on anything less than a memory foam.

The cat had pretty much enjoyed her life more so than his.

Like now, no matter how hard he tried, Fall didn't allow him to be near her like she could smell the poor in his clothes. She would hiss and snarl her sharp tooth.

While Summer, well . . . the only time he was allowed to be near him was when he would give it food. No surprise there.

The only pet who was warm to him was Winter.

And if he wanted to stick to Evangeline, he had to make her pets like him.

There was no way around it.

Shaking his head, he searched for the little guy while Fall eyed him warily, ready at any time to flex her claws against his skin.

"Spring, come out. Where are you?" he called, looking under the chair, the cabinets and the small little crevasses the hamster could hide while his fingers held a sunflower seed he knew the little guy like the most.

"Oh, there you are." He smiled when he finally saw him in front of the door, which led to the guest toilet. It was just standing there, looking at him with its round black pupils.

"What are you doing there?" he asked. Influence by Evangeline's habit of speaking to animals even if they didn't understand him.

Walking towards Spring, he saw its eyes glint evilly, or probably it was his imagination. But before he could take another step, something thug at his shirt.

Peering behind his shoulder, he saw Winter, pulling his clothes, stopping him from taking a single step.

"What's wrong, Snow?" he asked but didn't try to pull his shirt back.

Grr!

Winter growled as if trying to tell him something while trashing his shirt in between her teeth.

And that was when something like a twinkle appeared in his line of sight. Looking down, he saw there were scattered shiny objects on the floor leading towards Spring. He squatted and picked those tiny objects while a bemused smile appeared on his face.

They were small pins with pointy ends. Rolling the pin in his index finger and thumb, he stared at Spring. Comprehension dawned on him. "Do you hate me that much?"

Of course, Spring didn't answer. It snapped its fluffy head away, and he could tell strangely, for some reason, it was clicking its tongue from disappointment before it scurried away.

Forget it. He wouldn't force it. He would take his time to warm up to them.

He picked the tiny pins and stood up, walking towards the storage where the cleaning materials were located.

Since he still had to wait for an hour, he might as well do some cleaning.

While Eric was busy vacuuming the floor, Spring was busy plotting out Eric's demise. However, all his plots were thwarted by Winter. From the pins to the tiny rolling stones on the floor so Eric would slip, and his head would smack against the glass table to the more brutal of dropping a sharp scissor from the chandelier into the man's head.

And all of this missed Eric by an inch thanks to Winter's interference.

Squeak!

Stomping its small little feet, Spring rubbed its fluffy cheeks with its little paws, thinking of another diabolical plot to erase the man's existence until Winter bit his tiny collar.

Squeak!

Spring protested, wagging its little limbs, attempting to escape Winter's grasp, but it was futile as Winter was bigger and stronger than him. Winter threw him inside a cage and closed it with its nuzzle before she tottered towards the bathroom to get something.

Eric's ears were covered in earphones, listening to the music while he vacuumed the place. He didn't hear all the commotion going on, but he did wonder where the tiny balls and appearance of sharp objects came from.

Shrugging his shoulders, he resumed cleaning. And after fifteen minutes, he finished vacuuming the floor just in time that he saw Winter came out of the bathroom with a rubber duckling between its mouth.

Removing her earphones, he sauntered towards the big girl as it stopped beside where Fall was sleeping.

"What do you have there?" he coaxed and rubbed its head before he grabbed the rubber duckling from its mouth, which the big fluff willingly gave him.

Inspecting the toy, Eric asked, "What's this? Do you want to play?" Squishing the rubber duckling, it produced screeching quaking sounds followed by Falls surprised shrilling meows.

MEOOORW!

Surprised, Eric stared at Fall, who was so shocked by the sound it jumped away from the duck. Hairs rose on the end of its back, claws extending.

Comprehension dawned on Eric as a mischievous smile stretched his lips. "Don't tell me, you're afraid of this little duck?" he extended the duck towards Fall, and the big kitten jumped away, sprinting fast towards a safe distance.

Smiling evilly, Eric had an idea.

Tucking the duck on top of one of Daniel's collected toy cars, he grabbed the remote control, and the little car with a duckling on top gave chase to Fall.

Meow! Meow!

The room echoed with Falls hysteric meows and Eric's laughter. Fall jump on top of a furniture to escape the duckling, but Eric didn't let her off. The car followed it wherever it went until Fall sought Eric willingly.

Fall jump to Eric's legs, mewing as she did so. Its big misty eyes were imploring and begging Eric to save her.

Meow! Meow!

Fall's paws brushed on Eric's pants while its ears pointed down, and its eyes turned bigger and dilated by the seconds as the duckling came nearer.

Chuckling, Eric bent and embraced Fall in his arm, making sure that the cat saw how he kick the approaching duckling away.

"It's safe now. It won't harm you anymore," Eric cooed, but Fall didn't have any intention of removing itself from Eric's embrace. It even brushed its head against Eric's neck.

Pursing his lips, Eric was in a happy mood. Didn't take long for the big kitten to warm up to him.

"It's all thanks to you, big girl." Holding Fall in one hand, he rubbed Winters big head by the other while his eyes shot to Summer, who was dead asleep on its bed.

No matter. He and summer weren't exactly enemies. Well, at least it would willingly come to him whenever he had food.

Then he stole a peek at Spring, who was thrashing inside its cage. Never expect the most violent was that little one.

When their eyes meet, he swore it glared at him.

Looking away quickly, Eric peeked at the clock. It was already passed an hour. He must have been enjoying himself not to notice the time.

Time to pick up Evangeline.

He put a leash on Winter before he picked his coat and keys and looked at the others. "Wanna go with me?"

Spring snapped his head away, showing its round butt as a response while Summer didn't even hear him, snoring away in dreamland. Fall was looking at him, still shaken at the event that transpired as it kept mewing at him to take her.

"Alright, I guess it's going to be you guys then."

Putting a leash on Fall, he then walked out of the condo and made their way towards the nearby park.

----

Even with the freezing season, there were still many who visited the park, and a lot were partaking in the activities.

Eric found Evangeline among the crowds. It wasn't hard since the woman was an eye-catcher and with all the people who were eyeing her.

Quickly, he went to her but stopped when he realized what she was doing. Yoga must have finished, for she was wearing boxing gloves and was punching a punching bag hanging on a tree. From her postures and those quick, precise movements of her arms, Eric knew it was not a first that she was taking up boxing.

Sometimes she would kick and throw punches, and for an odd reason, watching her made the scar on his left cheek throbbed. Remembering the time when he slapped her.

No wonder . . .

Eric and his company of fluff approached Evangeline but didn't disturb her. He sat near the bench while Winter stayed by his side, and Fall laid on his lap, didn't want the dirt of the bench to stain her soft white furs.

He didn't have to worry about those guys who were eyeing her since the jacket she was wearing covered until her buttocks. What was more, from the way she was punching and kicking, creating whooshing spine cringing sounds, no men with a brain would dare to interrupt her.

Well, there was one man. A bulky man, rippling with muscles from head to toe, sporting tight sports shirt, and pants. It was kind of awkward the way it fitted his body, especially how the girls were lavishing his bulge.

Eric shuddered. Only a narcissist would show that thing in public, and the man was even proud of it, not even covering with a jacket or something.

The man approached Evangeline, and based on her reaction, Eric guessed that the man was not the coach since Evangeline didn't even recognize his existence.

Eric stood to his feet and walked towards his girlfriend with Fall and Winter in tow.

The moment Eric appeared in her line of sight, Evangeline stopped what she was doing and turned towards him, beaming. "Hey."

Smiling back, Eric stopped near Evangeline. "Sorry we're late." Fall jumped from Eric's embraced towards Evangeline while the latter caught the big kitten, and it laid comfortably in her arms.

"It's fine," Evangeline said. Rubbing Falls fur, she gazed over at Eric, amazement in her eyes. "You manage to make Fall like you?"

"Well, I had a little help." Eric winked at Winter and rubbed its big fluffy head.

Ahem

Both Eric and Evangeline stared at the bulky man who was looking at them suspiciously.

"Who's this? Your servant?" the man asked, clearly not impressed with Eric's face and lack of body mass.

Not acknowledging the man's existence, Evangeline tiptoed and gave a resounding smack on Eric's lips, which stunned everyone who saw.

"Let's go, Eric. It's important that I eat protein after an exercise." Evangeline led the way, swaying her voluptuous hips as she sauntered. Eric followed, smiling in one of smugness and pride while he casually wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Wait, I'm talking to you!" Feeling humiliated and by a woman at that, the man ran after them.

Eric's body tense at the approaching threat, but before the man could approach even a meter towards them, a series of threatening growls rumbled in Winter's throat. And if Eric's hand weren't tightly wrapped around Winter's leash, Winter would have already toppled the man down.

The man stopped, so did Eric and Evangeline.

"Woah, easy there." The bulky man raised both his arms up while he eyed the big dog. It was so big it even reached his waist while its head was bigger than his.

Evangeline smirked, enjoying the reaction of the man while Eric glanced at Winter, his fingers turning white from holding on her leash. He even had to use both hands! He never saw Winter like this before. The adorable big gentle dog had turned into a violent bear. Its furs were standing across its spine, canines snarling drooling with saliva, claws extending, butt raised and head low, ready to attack at any moment. And with its size, it was scary, alright.

Eric thought that she would really attack the man the moment he released her. He didn't know Winter could be this territorial and aggressive.

"Eric, give me the leash," Evangeline said.

Eric eyed her suspiciously through his pair of thick lenses with blatant rejection. Of course, he didn't give her the leash. It was a terrible idea. Though he trusts her strength, he would not gamble with this amount of force that even he had trouble holding.

"Trust me." Evangeline insisted.

Eric glanced at the bulky man first, who, for all oddity, still remained on his spot, refusing to turn away even from the threat of a gigantic one hundred fifty-pound dog.

Eric then glanced at Evangeline. The intention behind her perking lips wasn't something he wanted to know. It was better not to know and just hope for the best.

Hesitantly, he pulled Winter's leash and handed it to Evangeline. His muscles remained tout though, in alert to grab the leash at any moment when Evangeline was in any danger being dragged by Winter.

But no such thing happened when Winter sat obediently on the ground the moment that Evangeline took his leash.

And the bulky man relaxed his guard and took a single step closer, still warry of the dog as he said, "Why don't you join me for a meal, my treat of course."

It was not made clear who he was asking, but Eric was sure it wasn't him while Evangeline smiled. A smile that Eric was very familiar with, which often he got whenever he did something she didn't like.

The bulky man's face stretched with his smile, thinking Evangeline smile was a yes. He took his step forward only to be stopped when Evangeline spoke.

"You should be running."

And before the man could register what she said, Evangeline let go of Winter's leash, and the docile, gentle dog turned savage and violent once more –– leaping towards the man with its canines and claws.

agh!historical

Caught by surprise and fear, the man screamed, an off tune from his masculine form. He ran for his life while the onlookers were stunned at the sudden turn of events.

"Eve . . ."

"Don't worry." Evangeline smiled sweetly at Eric. "Winter completed her vaccines. She could bite him how many times she wants."

". . ."

No, I'm afraid Snow would actually tear him in pieces.

Fortunately, before that could happen, the man hadn't forgotten his brain and climbed on a tree, saving his limbs from being torn apart.

"Tsk. That guy is lucky I'm in a good mood," Evangeline mumbled, and she whistled for Winter while Eric's face couldn't be painted.

Eric thought it was the right time that she and he should talk about anger management.

The moment Winter heard Evangeline's call, the savageness in her eyes and every violent bone in her body disappeared, and she reverted to being a docile, gentle dog. She then skimped and trotted towards Evangeline in high spirits, wagging its tail with its tongue slipping from her smiling mouth, asking for a pet.

And Eric . . . Had got it all wrong. It was not Spring who was dangerous among them . . . it was undoubtedly Winter who reign supreme.

I'm glad I've adopted her first.