Fluffy Rides Out the Storm

Fluffy is a dog. He has been in our family since my favorite daughter; I call all three of them favorite while the other two aren't listening. On birthday cards which on September 11th there are two, for the twins; both of them have a secret note. The note says on both cards, "you are my favorite, don't tell your sister." Christmas cards the same all three have the same note.
Fluffy came to our house from a trip to the ER. He was a present from the ER nurse, because Jessica had been so brave while they sewed her stitches.
Fluffy somehow survived the fire we had at our family home. He was smoked up but, a trip to the dry cleaners made him as fluffy as ever. He didn't really have a name until then. The fire was shortly after the trip to the ER; always something. Time passes and Jessica becomes more and more attached to Fluffy. He becomes the equivalent of a soft blanket to an infant. We all start to realize that Jessica really thinks that Fluffy is more than a stuffed animal with floppy brown ears and tan body. More than just a toy dog. She treats him like somebody. He was then and still is a comfort to each of us when we need a security blanket. He is part of packing for spend the night outings. He is loaned out to the rest of us if we have to go to the hospital for some procedure. Any dreaded event is made easier when Jess says, "I will let you take Fluffy."
The Wednesday night storms that followed a month after the terrible April 27th storms were no exception to Fluffy's comforting. Before bedtime she put her shoes, large comforters, candles, robe and Fluffy on the edge of the bed for easy access if she had to take cover. At eleven that night I called to warn her that we had just had a bad storm and that it would head from Florence to Elk River. She gets up and gets in the bathtub during the worst of the storm. Just like the other guys her guy was not worried much about taking cover. He got up to look out at the clouds; as he passed her covered, shoes on, candles and Fluffy, all he said was, "what is all that you've got in there with you?"