Austin Inverness loves dogs and his wife, Erika. Erika was the only girlfriend Austin ever had who didn’t judge him for being bisexual, and dogs never judge, period. Unfortunately, Erika isn’t much of a dog person. Airman Neil Stafford has been deployed to Turkey for a six-month tour and he enrolls his schipper-poo, Bunny, in the Fosters for Fighters program that arranges fostering for soldiers' pets. There he meets Austin, who will foster Bunny while Neil is overseas. The two men keep in touch via Skype and Austin is delighted by how well they get along. Erika, on the other hand, is delighted by how little she has to do to take care of Bunny. That is, until Bunny needs an emergency trip to the vet. By the time Neil returns home, Austin has noticed key differences between his wife and the new friend he can’t stop thinking about. As for Neil, he knows for sure he wants Austin in his life, but not at the cost of his friend's marriage. When Austin realizes Erika questions his bisexuality, the cracks in their relationship quickly spread and Austin questions everything, including if he can make the right choice. Will Austin and Neil be able to overcome the bumps on the road to happiness?

Fostered Affections

“Hey, Austin,” Neil called out from the kitchen. “I finally went shopping today.”


Austin sniffed. Over the smell of dog breath, he detected the scent of baked cheese. “You made dinner?” he asked, walking over to the source.


“Yeah, mac-and-cheese casserole.” Neil held up the bread pan full of gooey food, a pair of floral oven mitts protecting his hands. “It’s…just baked mac-and-cheese with breadcrumbs on top, but it’s good with ketchup.”


“Looks delicious,” Austin said with a smile.


Neil put it down on the stove top. “It just came out of the oven, so give it a minute to cool down.” He pensively took off his oven mitts. “So…how did it go with Erika?”


Austin sighed. “It was…intense.” He recapped what had happened, the decisions they had made, what he planned to do during their month apart. Neil served up the casserole while Austin talked, and scooped a spoonful into Bunny’s food dish. Austin took a bite in between sentences. “Mmm, this is really good.”


Chapter 37