Tom proceeded to give all the yips his tiny body could produce when heard her gasp at his signal. Feeling exhausted by the exertion, he stretched his paws, feebly scrabbling against her palms to try to emphasize his awareness before falling into a daze, his sleepy puppy body shutting down.
Gazing down at the ball of black fluff in her palms, Samantha contemplated her options. Tom had given her a pretty clear signal that he heard her and was mentally conscious inside his changed form before sleep had claimed him, but she was surprisingly still quite angry about how he'd changed her without warning and what had happened after... It had been weeks, though, and she'd had time to wonder as to the circumstances leading up to her transformation and Tom's immediate disappearance afterwards. Sighing, she realized that maybe she should get his side of the story.
"This little black pup is definitely the one I'd like to keep, Jen. He's just... so cute? I mean, as the odd one out, there's something special about him." Samantha replaced her sleeping husband-turned-puppy in the box with his canine mother and siblings as her neighbor joined her in the laundry room where they'd set up a whelping box for Missy.
Jennifer smiled, thinking that all the pups were already special in their own ways and trying not to feel preemptively sad about finding them homes. "That's wonderful, Sam. I think if you raise him right, he'll get along so well with Max and Misty! And knowing how people just go crazy for Poodle-mix puppies, I know we're not going to have any trouble placing the others! They'll be ready to go at about eight weeks, but we can start lining up interviews and meeting potential adopters whenever you're free!"
"I'll let you figure out the details and make the final calls," Sam said, rising to head back to her house. "Just let me know if there's anything you need in the meantime." She knew she couldn't take Tom home immediately since a puppy needed to stay with the mother for a while, but as soon as that time came, Samantha was going to get some answers.