A wife.

Twenty minutes later Lucy had finished her meal and was putting on a brave face as her mistress tugged a brush through her hair. She'd been through a lot since her shower that morning, and her hair was messy with knots. The brush going through them pulled at her scalp no matter how gentle the woman tried to be, but she was determined to play the good pet so she bit her lip and waited for it to be done.

It took a while, but eventually the brush was able to glide through her hair without getting stuck. The woman gave it a few more goes to make sure she had eliminated every knot, then paused.

"You have such lovely long fur," she remarked. "I bet it'd look nice with a braid. But my wife will be home any minute so we'll leave it natural today. You be a good girl for her now Lucy, you don't know her yet but she's just as much your mistress as I am."

Lucy nodded, which earner her a smile before the woman stood up and took her leash in her hand again. "Come along then, I think I hear Petra's car already."

Sure enough, the front door was unlocked with a loud click just as they reached the entrance hall. The door opened and in walked another woman. She was white with short brown hair, and dressed for business like her wife had been earlier. She was a bit curvier though, and made up for her shorter stature with a taller pair of high heels.

"Hey Valerie!" she called out before her eyes dropped to Lucy. "Oh gosh, that's her? She's adorable!"

The newcomer's excited manner startled Lucy. Part of her still wanted to recoil and get away, but another part was pleased by the compliment. Luckily her mistress took charge before she could do anything. "Isn't she just? And everything's been cleared so she's ours to keep provided we make regular reports about how she's coming to terms with her nature."

"You're amazing," Petra gushed as she put her purse down and kicked off her heels. "When we talked about getting a pet I didn't think you'd score us the Lucy Carpenter! Although I don't really like that name..."

Valerie leaned in to kiss her wife. "We don't have to call her that. Part of having a pet is naming it, after all. It'll help her let go of her past as well."

"True!" Petra said. She crouched in front of Lucy and held out a hand for her to sniff. "What would be a suitable name for such a cutie?"

Lucy was dismayed to hear even her name was to be stripped from her. It was the last thing that made her feel like herself. But she controlled her emotions and did her best to act happy while she smelled Petra's hand. She tried to look at things positively. They both seemed enthusiastic and caring, and they wouldn't bother giving her a new name if they didn't care about her, right? It was like she was being welcomed to their family! At least that's what she told herself while she waited to hear what they picked.