Cody: In the Doghouse

Cody waited for the effects of the dog shots to kick in as Mom herded him to the fluffy pink dog bed in the corner of the living room. He rolled his eyes as he saw a three panel mirror set up apparently so he could see himself from various angles. They won't buy me a new video game, but apparently they'll blow all the money they can on me now that I'm a poodle. He wasn't a poodle though. He knew he wasn't!
"Let's get your school bows off." Can you take my dumb pink poofs off too? Cody thought. "You were such a good boy at the vet today." She praised, pulling off his green and gold bows. "These really do clash." She murmured.
"You're the one who dyed me pink."
"Hush. It doesn't hurt to be pink." She patted the poof atop his head. "Who's my pinky poodle pup? Cody is! Cody is!" He groaned, but he could hear his tail thwacking against the dog bed. "See? Deny it all you want, but your waggly tail proves you like being pink."
"But"
"But nothing. I am your mother. As long as you're a puppy, I'll be making decisions for you. Your friends' moms pick their haircuts and I pick yours. You look so nice." She gave him another pat on the head, but then her hand moved downward. Cody looked over his shoulder, only then becoming aware he had been sitting like a dog this whole time. Mom began to scratch right at the base of his tail, between the two orbs of fur on his butt. Cody began to pant, amazed by how good it felt. I'm not a dog, I'm not a dog. He repeated to himself. Mom smiled and kept it up. "Good poodle. See? Mom knows what she's doing, huh?" She pulled her hand away. "Now, we gotta dress you for dinner." Cody was still in the throes of those grade A butt scritches, but he yelped as he saw the lacey white bows in her hands. No! No way.
"Mom!" He whined.
"We talked about it this morning, a poodle without bows is like a boy without pants." Had that only been this morning?
"So you admit I'm not a boy."
"That's not what I said." She smiled and scratched his ear. "I just want to take a nice photo of my... handsome poodle. Is that so much to ask?"
"But why do I need bows?"
"Cody. No whining. We're doing this because Mom says. Now sit still." Cody tried his best to sit still, but quickly found himself wishing he had been able to turn his back to the mirror as Mom covered him in bows. A bow on his tail, one a piece on each wrist and ankle, one on each ear and a big one right on top of his head poof.
"Aren't we done?" Somehow, the bows made him look pinker, prissier, and more like a poodle!
"Almost! We're gonna take your collar off."
"So don't run away." Dad joked, walking in. For a split second, he seemed to eye Cody sympathetically as if he saw his son as fully human.
"That reminds me, Steve. I sent you that link to that app."
"Got it downloaded."
"Perfect." Mom undid Cody's collar and added the pièce de résistance: a big white ribbon tied in a big bow around his neck. Cody stared at himself and could only bring himself to whimper. How could things get any worse?
"Wow. He sure is something." Dad said, staring in disbelief at his poodly son.
"Hush. It's just for a photo or two." Dad nodded, knowing there was little point in talking his wife out of things. Cody was her poodle more than his.
"Dad, you can't let her put photos of me like... like this online!"
"You look cute." Mom said. "And howling isn't going to get you out of your photoshoot. Now pose!"
"Pose how?"
"Hear the poodle. Be the poodle." Cody glared at his dad. That was not helping.
To his relief, Mom gave in and directed him to sit up straight, lie down, roll over, and show off his bows. It was humiliating, but Mom praised him enough that he could not help but feel like he was doing good.
"So the vet didn't snip-snip?" Dad asked as Cody lay on his back, making what Mom called his 'puppy dog eyes' to the camera. He yelped.
"We'll talk." Mom murmured to him. Dad nodded.
"Are we done now?"
"I suppose we can be. Steve, can you fill Cody's bowl?"
"Time for these things to come off." Cody batted at his bows.
"Oh, leave them. You look so pretty."
"I don't want to be pretty." Cody muttered.
"Doesn't matter if you want to be, you are." Mom said. "My pretty poodle puppy." Cody kept batting at his bows, hoping that somehow, Mom would realize no boy should be pink and riddled with bows! "Leave your bows alone." Mom said. "Bad dog."
"But"
"But nothing. I don't have time to put another set of bows on you. Now, let's go eat dinner." Cody got to his feet. "No! No jump. Down, boy. Down." She pushed down on his head until Cody returned to all fours. "You're getting too old to be jumping up, Cody."
"But" He sighed, knowing that this was one battle not worth fighting. He walked into the dining room on all fours, bows bouncing with every step.
"Decided to keep the bows on, pinky?" Dad asked with a laugh.
"He looks pretty." Mom said. "My pretty poodle puppy, all pink and perfect." Cody muttered just what he thought of that into his puppy chow.
Cody's dish was empty before his parents finished eating. He looked up at them from the floor.
"Cody, don't beg." Mom scolded. How did she see him through the table?
"People food isn't good for poodles." Dad said. He looked at Cody and snorted before quickly holding in his laugh. "Sorry, bud. You look"
"He's getting lots of comments." Mom interrupted. "They all love his pretty bows."
"How many of them think he's a girl?"
"Steve! You know that's par for the course when you have a poodle."
"Especially when you dye me pink."
"Dr. Jamisin updated Cody's records today. He's all up to date on his shots and his description is all set."
"You're a card-carrying pink poodle?" Dad teased. Cody growled.
"Cody!" They scolded in unison.
"I didn't mean to..."
"Steve, get a photo of our pouty poodle! Look at him, it's like he knows he's in trouble."
"Well, I do speak English..." Cody muttered.
"So precious." Mom murmured as she studied the photo. "Oh! We've been having so much fun, we forgot about Cody's special surprise!"
"Surprise?" Even before his poodlification, that was a word that was sure to make Cody's ears perk up.
"Someone's excited." Dad chuckled. "It's in the backyard."
"Like he knows where that is." Cody had already taken off.
"See?" His dad said, chuckling as he followed.
"He's not wearing his collar!" Mom called as Cody barrelled through the backdoor. His ears flattened as he saw what awaited him there.
There, right by his tree, was a doghouse. But not just any doghouse, a pink one with his name over it in white painted letters. He whimpered, spying the dog bed from his room within it.
"Isn't it great, bud?" Dad roughly tousled his head wool. "Your very own place."
"But I have a room."
"You're getting too old to sleep inside." Mom said. "You're not our scared little puppy anymore, are you?"
"But... I'm not even..." Cody could not think of what to say.
"You'll still come inside for meals." Mom said. "And scritches and brushes and bows."
"See? But now when you've had enough of ole mom and dad, you can come out here and be your own poodle." Cody looked at his parents. Sleep outside? Was it any worse than any of the other things he had put up with? There was only one thing to try.
Shifting his weight, Cody got to his feet. His parents immediately exchanged a grin.
"Jumping with joy!"
"But down, Cody." Dad said. "No jumping." Cody sighed and returned to his hands and knees. His paws? He wasn't even sure anymore. "Should we..." he heard dad said.
"I think it'll be fine." Mom shrugged, looking over her shoulder at the fence. "The back gate is fine. Sure, he jumps every now and again still, but you'd need an opposable thumb to turn the lock. Dainty little poodle paws won't work."
"Plus I don't see our bow obsessed puppy making it on the streets. Hard to be all tough when you're woolly and pink."
"Aww, be nice, Steve. Besides, Pet Patrol came highly recommended. The doctor said" Cody rolled his eyes, tuning his parents out. Sometimes, he had no idea what they were talking about, like they spoke a different language.
He crawl-walked into the doghouse. At least his red bone was in here. He grabbed it in his mouth as if it was the most normal thing in the world, chuckling to himself as it squeaked. When he turned around, his parents had gone inside.
"Guess I live in a doghouse now." He said to his bone, sitting down on the dog bed. "My own place..." He lay his head down and sighed. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? "Oh, fuck. I'm still wearing these stupid bows!"