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says. “You know, your mom and dad have been praying a prayer just like that one for a couple of years.”
    “They wanted a puppy?” I ask, surprised.
    Gran chuckles. “No. They wanted a child.”
    Some of me wonders if they wanted a child as much as I want a puppy. The rest of me wonders why. “Why did they pray that, Granny? They already had me.”
    “Before they had you, Nat, your mom and dad prayed God would give them a baby. You were the answer to that prayer. And they thank God every day for you.”
    I know that’s a for-true thing. “So why do they want another baby?”
    “I think God gave them that want. And this time God chose to answer their prayers by letting them adopt a boy from China, a boy who really needs a home.”
    The door opens, and the lady comes back. “Made your pick yet?” she calls.
    “Not quite yet!” Granny calls back.
    I walk up to the cages again. A pointy-nose dog jumps up on the bars and scares me.
    I peek in at a little brown dog with no hairs. “Here, boy!” I call. But he won’t turn around.
    A big red dog is panting in the next cage.
    “I still don’t know which dog to pick, Granny.” Maybe I didn’t pray hard enough.
    A big puppy kind of dances in a bottom cage. It’s brown, with floppy ears and hair that’s not short and not long. I get down on my knees to see it better. The dog trots up and licks my hand through the cage bars.
    “Granny, this one likes me!”

    The Adopt-A-Pet lady walks closer to where we are.
    The big brown puppy sticks out a paw. I think it wants to shake hands. Its foot is so big it makes me giggle. And just like that, I know this is the dog I’m supposed to pick. Like maybe that puppy prayerworked already.
    “What kind of a dog is this one?” Granny asks.
    The lady bends down and stares into the cage. “Your guess is as good as mine. But you don’t want this one. Look at the size of those paws. That puppy’s going to grow to be one giant dog.”
    “Ah. Better keep looking, Nat,” Granny says. “I promised your folks I’d get a dog that would fit in the house.”
    “But—” Words won’t get past the chokey in my neck. I want this puppy. This puppy picked me. And I picked her. And we picked each other.
    And if I can’t have this puppy, I don’t want a puppy. That’s what.

Chapter 12
Name That Puppy
    “Come on, Nat,” Granny says, moving to the next cage. “There are lots of cute dogs here.”
    “But I really want this puppy, Granny.” Inside, I am telling this to God. On account of Granny listens to God more than to me. Please make my granny want this dog.
    “On the plus side,” the Adopt-A-Pet lady says, “this one’s housebroken already.”
    Granny wheels around. “Housebroken? This big puppy is housebroken?”
    “Only one here I’m sure of,” the lady says.
    Granny looks at the puppy, then looks at me. “Sold! Nat, you got yourself a puppy.”
    “Yippee!” I shout. The puppy shouts too. Only with barking.
    The lady unlocks the cage and hands me my puppy. She’s kinda heavy and squirmy, but I can carry her myself.
    My puppy and I have to wait in the Adopt-A-Pet office so Granny can sign more papers. I whisper a big, fat thank you to God for the best dog in the whole world.
    I wish Mommy and Daddy could see my puppy.

    Granny walks out with a little cage. “Bought your dog a kennel,” she says.
    We load my puppy into the kennel. All the way home, I try to think up a name.
    “What about Brownie?” Granny says.
    “It’s not special enough,” I tell her. “And not Fido or Pickles or Jill or Mary Kay, either.”
    When we get to my house, I take my puppy out of the kennel. She tickles her wet nose against my neck. And I feel something inside of me that I’m pretty sure is love.
    “I love my puppy, Granny.”
    “Looks like it goes both ways, Nat,” Granny says.
    I’m surprised that love can happen that fast. “I love you, Puppy 24,” I whisper. That name just comes to me out of nowhere. “Granny,