we'd make nice pets

Last weekend, Ruby picked out her first pet, a hamster, longhaired and male. The store had one longhaired left, in the back, not in the usual place for display. Longhaired hamsters are supposed to have a better temperment.
I could not go into the back room because I have allergic asthma; the air was thick with the scent of fur, where they live, isolated.
So when Ruby found me in the aisles, she said, smiling excitedly and skipping along, "Come meet Jeremy."
Ruby, now, is always concerned for Jeremy, wants to make sure he's alright, checking on him and, when he gets to explore his surroundings, especially beyond his cage, treating him as tenderly as we would be treated, if we were in his position and loved.