patterns

Every night we take the dogs out. We sit on the front steps, me on the left, him on the right. We smoke our one cigarette and talk.
We talk about work or dogs or trips or memories or we just make shit up.
Then he walks the dogs around the block so they can poop and I get ready for bed.
When he gets home the dogs race through the house to find me and tell me about everything they smelled and the places they peed.
I crawl into bed while he is checking his stuff on the computer and brushes his teeth. Then he brings me my vitamin, I take my vitamin, hand the glass back and he tells me to drink more. He tells me I need to drink more, he nods when we compromise on how much is enough.
We do this almost every night, slight variations in every step.
I like the pattern and the consistency and I’ve always liked being given a vitamin.