You were sitting cross-legged on your bed, laptop propped up on a pillow, smiling as you watched Franco animatedly talk about his day. His voice was warm, crackling a bit through the video call, and every now and then, he'd slip into rapid Spanish, getting lost in the story he was sharing.

"...y estaba tratando de explicarle eso..." Franco continued, gesturing with his hands, his eyes bright with laughter. ("...and I was trying to explain that to him...") Then he suddenly stopped, grinning, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "Oh, por cierto, tenemos un perro nuevo," he said, scooping up something furry and small from out of view. "Tan lindo, ¿no te parece, mi amor?" ("Oh, by the way, we have a new dog. So cute, don't you think, my love?")

He held up a tiny ball of fluff with floppy ears and big, curious eyes that blinked at the screen with an innocence only puppies had. Your heart melted, and you could feel a laugh bubbling up in your chest, the distance between you momentarily forgotten.

"¡Ay, Franco, es adorable!" you exclaimed, leaning closer to your screen as if you could reach through and pat the puppy. "¿Cómo se llama?" ("Oh, Franco, he's adorable! What's his name?")

Franco smiled, scratching the dog's ear and looking almost shy. "Todavía no sé... quería que tú me ayudaras a escogerlo." ("I don’t know yet… I wanted you to help me pick it.")

The puppy yawned, squirming in his arms, and in that moment, you felt a wave of longing, wishing you could be there, to hug him and welcome the new puppy into your shared dreams of the future.