Aidan Embarrasses Me At P.E.T.C.O.

Aidan had been lying around the house all day looking depressed and sleeping, so I decided to take him to Jiffy Lube with me, where I was going to go spend the rest of my paycheck on an oil change. I was quite cross about it, but it had to be done. I figured that depending on the wait, I could drop the car off, walk Aidan back to the house, and then come back for the car when it was ready.

In a lucky turn of events, the only other car at Jiffy Lube was just driving off as Aidan and I pulled up. Aidan had gotten himself onto my lap and was standing with his paws on the door and his head out the window, grinning ecstatically. The guy who came to get my car smiled at him.

"Hello!" greeted Aidan. "I am on a car ride right now, but I think maybe it might be over."

"Oil change?" asked the guy.

"Yes, please," I said.

"But," continued Aidan, thoughtfully, "I'm still in the car, so I'm not sure. I might still be on a car ride."

"Just leave the car on and come inside when you're ready and we'll get you started," said the Jiffy Lube guy, heading indoors.

"Car ride's over," I said to Aidan, cracking the door so he'd lose balance and sit down so I could open the door the rest of the way. He plopped down clumsily. "I thought it might be." I opened the door and he tumbled out, ready for the next part of his trip to begin.

It turned out that it was only a 20 minute wait since I had beat the evening rush, so Aidan and I set off to walk around the area instead of bothering to go home.

"Let's go on the sidewalk," I said.

"I like the way this parking lot smells," Aidan insisted, snuffling at the ground. "There's something familiar about it."

I waited for him to realize what it was. He looked up at me. "P.E.T.C.O.!" He looked around until he spotted the store, right in front of him. "Oh, boy!"

"Let's not go in there," I said. "I don't have any money."

"I don't care! I just want to look," said Aidan, trying to make a beeline for the store, but stopped by my grip on his leash.

"Aidan-" I began.

"It's P.E.T.C.O." said Aidan, "the store for pets!"

I sighed.

"I'm a pet! So it's a store for me!" He wagged his tail.

"Fine," I groaned. "Lead the way."

Aidan scurried through the automatic doors, snorting with excitement. He paused for a moment in the entry, taking in all the splendor before him.

"Come on!" he commanded, snuffling his way down the aisles. He was completely engrossed by everything the store had to offer.

"There's turtles here," he announced, sniffing near the turtle tank. "Wow!"

"Yeah, wow," I agreed, half-heartedly. He tugged me towards some bags of wood shavings.

"These are for rat cages," said Aidan knowledgeably. "I really love this store."

"Uh huh." I pulled out my phone to text Davey about what a nerd Aidan was being about P.E.T.C.O.

"Oh, what's over here?" wondered Aidan, leading me past an employee.

"Can I help you find anything?" the young man asked.

"No thanks. He just wanted to come in here," I grimaced at the pug, who was going on about how great the selection at P.E.T.C.O. is and dragging me toward some dog food. It was making it very difficult for me to type into my phone. I was relieved when Aidan paused to inspect some bags of wet snacks on a display shelf. I hurried to compose my message before Aidan dragged me to look at dog vests or something.

"I mean, I really love this store," said Aidan.

"Uh huh," I said absently, finishing up my text.

"It's probably my favorite," said Aidan decisively. "I think everyone should know that."

"That's cool," I said, looking up just in time to see Aidan with his little sausage body poised over the nearly empty shelf of treats, leg raised in the air. "Aidan, no!" I gasped, yanking him away, hoping I had acted in time. I had not. Aidan's liquid seal of approval was puddled on the shelf and dripping onto the tiled floor. I could tell by the gaping smile on his face that he was incredibly pleased with himself.

"I gave it a five star review, because that's what this store deserves," he told me.

"You didn't give it five star anything," I grumbled. "You just peed all over it."

"It was my best pee," insisted Aidan.

It was my turn to drag Aidan as I went back to find the kid and let him know what Aidan had done. "It happens all the time," he assured me, pulling out a spray bottle of cleaner and deftly removing all visible evidence of Aidan's transgression as the culprit himself buried his nose in the young man's butt.

"We're leaving," I said, frowning at Aidan. He beamed at me.

"It doesn't even matter that he wiped it up," Aidan whispered. "I can still smell my five star review."

He wagged his tail as I led him out of the store.