“It must have been so hard to give him up,” I said. The schmaltz was involuntary at this point.

The angle of the hipster’s head kept the tears pooled in his eyes until he stood and looked down at Jasper before gazing into the distance.

My grip tightened on Jasper’s leash.

“You guys have done a great job with him,” he said, finally.“He’s very happy.”

The hipster was not happy. He extended his hand to each of us. I said nothing in fear of suggesting visitation rights. He and his girlfriend continued down the street. Jasper did not put up a fuss, thank god.

Mike and I reached the end of the block before either one of us dared to look at the other, before we spoke and turned around, slowly, to see if the hipster was following us.