"Very recently," Steve promises. It isn't something that he kept from her for the sake of secrecy alone, and he hopes that much is obvious to her. After the door is shut behind them, he squeezes past Lucy and kneels to pet the dog. When he left, she was wearing a Santa hat, secured with an elastic so that it wouldn't fall. It's long gone now, but Steve isn't overly surprised.

From where he is kneeling, he looks up at Lucy. He can tell that she's confused. He feels slightly guilty for that, but at least it means that she has yet to figure out the surprise. He stands and walks over to the kitchen table, where a small collection of gift-wrapped boxes are set under the miniature false tree he bought a few weeks ago. Each of the boxes holds a different gift for Lucy. Some of the larger, slimmer packages are records. In one of the smaller boxes, a necklace. In another, a key. This is box he retrieves before walking back to where Lucy stands.

"This is Hazel," he says, tilting his head down at the dog, who has chased him across the apartment and back, and is now sitting by his leg. He holds the gift box out to her. "I was thinking that she could live with us."