A House Full of Love

by Camille S. Jacks

Once there was a man and his wife who were very happy living in their big house. But one evening as the man read his newspaper while his wife did her knitting, she looked up and said, “We have a lovely house with many nice things, but don’t you think something is missing?”

The man folded his newspaper and said, “Yes, something is missing. Our house is too quiet. Maybe we need a dog.”

So the man and his wife went to the pet shop and bought a cute little soft and cuddly puppy.

One evening as the man read his newspaper while his wife did her knitting and the puppy lay sleeping on the floor, the woman looked up and said, “We have a lovely house and many nice things. We have a cute little puppy, but don’t you think something is still missing?”

The man folded his newspaper and answered, “Yes, something is still missing. Our house is much too quiet. Maybe we need a kitten.”

So they bought a playful little kitten. The kitten liked its new home, and the man and his wife and their little puppy liked the kitten.

One evening as the man read his newspaper while his wife did her knitting and the puppy and kitten chased each other, the woman looked up and said, “We have a lovely house and many nice things. We have a cute little puppy and a playful kitten, but don’t you think something is still missing?”

The man folded his newspaper and said, “Yes, something is missing. Our house is still too quiet. Maybe we need a bird.”

So they bought a pretty canary that sang beautifully. The canary liked its new home, and the man and his wife and their little puppy and playful kitten liked the canary.

One evening as the man read his newspaper while his wife did her knitting and the little puppy and playful kitten chased each other and the canary sang, the woman looked up and said, “We have a lovely house with many nice things. We have a cute little puppy and a playful kitten and a pretty canary that sings, but don’t you think something is still missing?”

The man folded his newspaper and said, “Yes, something is still missing. Our nice house is too quiet. Maybe we should get a parrot.”

So they bought a parrot that talked and squawked. The parrot liked its new home, and the man and his wife and their puppy and kitten and canary liked the parrot.

One evening as the man read his newspaper while his wife did her knitting, the little puppy and playful kitten chased each other and the pretty canary sang beautifully and the parrot talked and squawked. The woman looked up and said, “We have a lovely house with many nice things. We have a cute little puppy and a playful kitten and a pretty canary that sings beautifully and a parrot that talks and squawks, but don’t you think something is still missing?”

The man folded his paper thoughtfully. “Yes,” he said, “something is still missing. Our house is still too quiet. Maybe we need to adopt a baby to come and live with us.”

“Oh, yes,” said his wife.

“Arf,” barked the little puppy.

“Meow,” agreed the playful kitten.

“Tweet, tweet,” sang the pretty canary.

“Squawk, indeed,” replied the noisy parrot.

And so one day the happy man and his happy wife welcomed a tiny baby girl into their house.

Then the little puppy was happy.

The playful kitten was happy.

The pretty canary was happy.

The noisy parrot was happy.

And the beautiful little baby girl was happy too, for now the big house was a home full of love.

Illustrated by Nina Grover