One of the biggest reasons you had fallen in love with Alex was because he had such a big heart. He was always willing to help, support, show care towards those that mattered to him. He had certain causes and passions that meant a lot to him, and he was known to sneak in some charity work when home.

Alex never bragged about what he did, never felt it was a big deal. He just did. And if someone ever called him out on his behaviors, praised him excessively, he did everything he could to brush it off and move away from it. He didn't do good things for the recognition. He did good things because he wanted to and wanted to make others happy.

It was no secret that animals were his biggest weakness.

The first time you'd come home to a surprise animal was a dog. An older dog at that, maybe pushing ten years old if not past it, who looked like some type of German Shepherd mix.

"Um, Alex?" You'd called out from the front hallway, where you were stroking the back of the dog gently. The dog was just standing next to you, letting you do what you did, seeming pleased with the situation.

To say Alex had looked sheepish when he came around the corner was an understatement.

"Hey babe!" His greeting was overenthusiastic and much too saccharine. You just raised your eyebrows, glancing down at the dog, and then back to your boyfriend. Whatever façade he was putting on immediately deflated. "Listen, I know, OK? But Jen's neighbors moved and just left him. How fucked up is that?"

"So, that's why there are shelters." You weren't trying to be cruel, you loved animals as much as Alex did. But you were also practical. And adding a dog into the mix of your busy lives wasn't the most sensible move.

"He's old though. Old dogs don't last in shelters. They're usually put down. And that's not fair. He's a good dog, he deserves to live the rest of his life with a family."

"…and we're that family?"

Alex just smiled gently, giving you his best puppy dog eyes. When you looked down at the actual dog, he was doing the same.

Great. They're already best buds.

With a sigh and an eye roll, you crouched down to the dog's face. He tentatively pushed his face towards yours, his cold nose rubbing your cheek.

"You're lucky you're cute," you informed the animal. From the corner of your eye, you saw Alex close his eyes and squeeze his fists in a victory motion.

Major, as you learned was the dog's name, somehow became an integral part of your family over the ensuing months. Despite his age, he was still quite active and adventurous. There were plenty of hikes in the woods, swims in lakes, and visits to local dog-friendly breweries.

It was just under two years since he'd joined your household that you had to make the difficult decision to put him to sleep. You hadn't been ready to do so. It seemed to come out of nowhere, the way his breathing got shorter and ragged when he did things. Soon enough he was struggling just to make it around the house.

Your local vet, bless them, came to the house to do the procedure. It allowed you to sit with Major on the couch, Alex on his other side, just as he always loved to be.

Five days later, you'd finally stopped crying constantly at the loss.

The second time you'd come home to a surprise animal, you'd been less startled but still not ready.

Alex was on the couch when you'd walked in, the TV on, so you hadn't at first noticed anything different. He was leaned back against the armrest, so it wasn't until you came around to the front that you saw what you saw.

"Hey hon," you greeted. But your attention was immediately drawn to a blanket bundle cradled against his chest. You instantly became suspicious.

"Hello, love of my life," was his response, looking up at you with that smile.

"Oh for fuck's sake," you'd groaned. "What's in there?"

"I didn't go looking for this, I swear," Alex defended. "It was just…on the back deck. And looking so…it's not good."

And that was when the tiniest kitten head decided to pop out from the blanket nest, followed by a miniature little body. The kitten was short haired, orange and white, scraggly looking all the same. You watched as the kitten climbed up Alex's chest, latching onto his shirt, suckling. It was clear Alex had attempted to bathe the creature because it didn't look atrocious, but it still had a sickly look to it.

"I'm not a big cat fan," you stated, watching as the little paws kneaded against your boyfriend's body, it's eyes closed and content.

"That's cool. I am," he replied.

The kitten ended up named Ziggy, and you were constantly battling it for Alex's attention.

The third time an animal unexpectedly joined your family, you were in the kitchen making lunch for yourself. Ziggy, now much bigger than the day he was found, was laid out on top of the refrigerator, watching you as you moved about. You weren't entirely positive how the cat managed to get up so high all the time, but that was neither here nor there.

What you did know was when the front door opened and the clicking of nails was audible heard, Ziggy was at attention. And when a little Dalmatian puppy came scampering into the kitchen, the cat took off like a shot out of the room.

"Hey there, easy little one," you spoke to the dog, who was swirling all around your legs, jumping up at your, trying to get every bit of itself on every bit of you. "Settle down, dude!"

"Uh, yea…that's not gonna work," Alex stated as he walked into the kitchen.

"What?" Your eyes cut up to your fiancé's.

"Sooo…yea. He's deaf." Looking from Alex down to the dog, and then back up to Alex, you waited for further explanation. "He's from a breeder, and they were going to have him put down just because he's deaf. I don't get why because he's perfectly great otherwise. So what he can't hear? Dogs can learn sign language."

"They can?" You knew hand signs were sometimes used with training dogs, but the idea of a dog learning legitimate sign language seemed farfetched for some reason to you.

"Totally. Watch." Alex came around the counter to where the puppy was sniffing enthusiastically around the under-trim of the cabinets. As soon as the dog saw Alex, he turned and went towards him. You watched as Alex pressed his first two fingers together on each of his hands, and then laid one set over top the other. The puppy immediately sat down and looked up at Alex expectantly.

"Well then," you mumbled, as Alex got down on the floor, rubbing all over the puppy happily, who was eating up the attention, his butt wiggling along with his tail.

"Sooo….?" Alex looked up at you with his inquiry, as the puppy climbed all over him, eventually being able to lick his face repeatedly.

"So what?" you questioned.

"Come on baby," he replied, picking up the dog in his arms and standing back up. The puppy wiggled for a moment, but then looked towards you appraisingly. "Look at him! It's like he's saying 'I'm good enough, right? I can join this family?'"

Alex, you decided, was going to be sleeping downstairs on the couch alone for the foreseeable future in order to take care of the puppy.