Allergic

It’s Maggie’s 10th birthday. She hurries downstairs, thinking this will be her best birthday ever. Her dad is making pancakes, her mom is doing pregnancy yoga, and her two brothers are playing with a ball. Maggie wants everyone to get going, and she’s frustrated about having to wait. Her grandmother calls and asks about a party later in the day. It’s time to go to the animal shelter, and Maggie sits in the center row of their van, while her parents sit in the front and her brothers, Liam and Noah, sit in the back. As Maggie’s parents talk about baby names, Maggie thinks about how the baby is taking over all of her parents’ time. She knows that the puppy will be everyone’s but will mainly be hers because her brothers only pay attention to each other and her parents seem obsessed with the baby.

The family arrives at Sierra Foothills Animal Rescue, and Maggie’s mom reminds Maggie that they may have to look multiple places to find the right dog. The family goes inside, and they learn that the shelter has puppies. Maggie finds the one she wants right away. As the family follows the shelter employee who has the paperwork to adopt the puppy, Maggie starts thinking about all she’ll do with the dog.