I want a puppy.
I'm not going to waste my time pretending that he followed me home, Sam wouldn't buy it anyway. I'm going to tell him the truth. I was on my way back from Dante and Jeremy's when I turned a corner and heard noise coming from an alley. I thought it was a person, so I looked and found an injured puppy.
I healed him right away, and I'm only a little ( Read more... )
I healed him right away, and I'm only a little ( Read more... )
I don't know why I do, I think it's just habit. Or maybe I've stopped caring when I work. Being freelance means nothing's really set, that's the reason why Jeremy loves it so much, and I think that's probably what I go for. No real set rules, just as long as you have it in by the deadline.
Carly thinks it's weird, but then again, she was doing her other job at night before. I don't really know what she thinks is so strange.
Anyway, whatever. I'll finish this, and go to bed. It all looks right to me anyway, nothing huge is jumping out at me. I didn't think there was anything wrong with this shoot. But I never not look.
... There's the door. I guess she's actually coming home tonight after all.
A while ago, I might've worried about Carly being out this late. It was hell getting her past those first few weeks of not slaying, and then after that, there was just dealing with her hating me for it. I understood it though, as much as I could, so I went with it.
After that, she's been alright. So now it's just about trusting her. Like she did with me after I got over drinking. Just considerably heavier and involving weapons, blood, demons, and some serious injuries that our son had to heal at four or five in the morning.
"Hey." I called over my shoulder, flipping through the last of the prints that I had to handle. "Have fun?"
"Sam."
...
See, that trusting her thing? I have a hard time sticking with that one when the first thing I hear after not seeing her all night is the tone she gets like she's done something wrong.
"Yeah?" I hesitated, then turned around, and saw... A dog. A dog? She brought home a dog.
And by the looks of it, it's a stray dog.
Why the hell would Carly bring home a stray dog? It's a cute, dog, it just... I mean I know Julia wants a cat no way in hell, never freakin' ever, it's not happening, and we have to get them a pet sometime, but just picking up a dog off the street?
What the hell was she thinking?
"I found him on my way home."
"You found... And you just brought him home?" Look, I don't want to play the asshole here. I just figure we've got three kids who aren't very big yet, and only one of them could really defend themself if the dog decided to go nuts on them.
Maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe this dog is alright. But she doesn't exactly know for sure, now does she?
"What the hell happened?"
There's some kind of story to this, I know there is. There always is when Carly does something like this.
And I think I'd really like to hear it right about now.
I think I like the dog already.
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"Yeah."
What was I going to do, leave the poor thing? He'd either starve to death, hurt himself again, or get hit by a car. He's too tiny for me to think that he would be alright out there, and after he was so good about letting me heal him, I couldn't just walk away. I doubt there are a lot of strays out there who are sweet enough to lick your hand while you're healing them. Clearly our puppy is one of the good ones.
Assuming that Sam caves and lets us keep him. And he should. He has to. We should get to keep the puppy.
If we gave Julia and Junior chores as far as taking care of him goes, we would be teaching them about responsibility. That's good, isn't it? All those books I read when I was pregnant with the kids used to talk about how independence and responsibility builds confidence. Not that Julia needs any more confidence than she has but...responsibility would be good.
And come on, he's clearly harmless. He's afraid of Sam.
I have never in my life met anyone afraid of Sam. The fact that he is just shows how gentle the little guy would be around the kids. We need that, especially with Lorelai.
"What the hell happened?"
"He was making no--" No, describe the noises. The noises will make Sam pity him. "Whimpering. He was whimpering and crying in an alley and I heard him, found him, and healed him." There's still some driend blood on his fur, but he seems fine now. He couldn't really stand before.
"He's been doing the trembling thing since I uncovered him." I pushed back my jacket a little bit and carefully started stroking around his neck and upper back.
"But its not as bad now. He's calming down."
And I think he might like me.
"I was hoping we could take him to a vet tomorrow."
Arianna could come over and watch the kids in the morning if Sam doesn't want them to see him right away. We could head over before they wake up and be back by noon. Its technically Saturday morning now, so if Sam lets us keep him the kids would have all weekend play with the puppy before they go back to school.
If Sam lets us keep him. Which he should.
"He hasn't snapped at me or anything like that." He's just afraid of you because he knows you're the mean one. "He sort of just let me take him, and he shakes, and makes a little noise, and then he licks me."
Stop acting like I brought home the anti-Christ.
"He's a good dog."
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Whimpering and crying and hurt. Great. She's trying to guilt me into this. And I think it's working. I'm not going to be that easy about this. Once he starts feeling better, something could happen. And when one of the kids is scarred forever by getting attacked by a crazy dog, then what?
Exactly.
Why is he shaking so much? Is it just the cold thing? ... He'd not scared is he? ... Because if he's scared, and Carly's the one who took care of him, that'd mean he's scared of... me.
Something's actually scared of me?
Y'know, if it wasn't a puppy, that might actually be cool.
"He's been doing the trembling thing since I uncovered him."
Because he's scared. Of me. Damn it. You know what? It's because he's been out on the street. He doesn't have a home or anything which sucks, so he's just sort of scared of everything. This is Los Angeles, after all.
And not having a home around here is about as crappy as it gets.
... I can't be okay with this. He's off the street, there might be something wrong with him, and I don't want to take the chance. Carly wants to go to a pet store tomorrow? I'm all for it.
This? I can't be okay with this.
"But its not as bad now. He's calming down."
He still looks scared.
Damn it!
"I was hoping we could take him to a vet tomorrow."
Well maybe if we got that out of the way, and the vet said he was okay, and the kids liked him... No!
I'm not freakin' okay with it. It's a potentially dangerous dog. And if one of the kids sees him somehow, because they have a way of walking in on things, they'll get attached. And jump at him. And you know what? Probably get bit.
"He hasn't snapped at me or anything like that."
So?!
"He sort of just let me take him, and he shakes, and makes a little noise, and then he licks me."
And isn't that special. What do you want me to do? ... No, I know what you want me to do. I'm not supposed to do what you want me to do.
... At least it's not a cat.
"He's a good dog."
"Carly..." I sighed, and got up, looking at the dog for a second. I don't know. He looks like a good dog. He looks like he's not going to try to bite someone's head off or snap at the kids or pass some kind of disease or some freakin' thing.
And he's not a cat.
"Okay, look. I don't..." Don't look at me like that. That goes for both of you. Freakin' stop it already.
"... You seriously think there's nothing wrong with the dog."
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Can't he do any better than that tone?
I know he's thinking its a bad idea to let a stray animal in the house. I get that animals can snap. Sometimes they hurt people. And this one isn't exactly trained to live with children, but what about animals that are? Don't some of them let loose and snap sometimes anyway? We can't trust this puppy any more or less than we can trust any other puppy out there. That also means that we can't trust any other puppy any more or less than we can trust this one.
So if that's the case, and this one is here and needs a home, why can't we have this one?
We may have some work ahead of us with him, but I think it would be worth it. And its not like we don't have a house and a yard or anything like that. A few years ago I would have known better than to even hope that we could fit a dog in with us at our apartment. There was no way, period.
Now there's a way. There's a house, and there's a decent backyward with a fence around it. More importantly, there are all of these things and a little puppy who would like them.
I bet he would be good with the kids. Junior would probably be a little scared at first, but Julia loves animals. And Lorelai...I think she would be okay. Somewhere in between Julia and Junior's position on him.
"Okay, look. I don't..."
Don't use the word don't! Come on, I'll read up on puppies the same way I read up on babies. If we have three children, we can handle a dog. We would be good to him.
I sighed and looked down at the puppy, and I swear, I couldn't help but pout just a little. He could really belong with us.
And I am not taking him to a shelter or anything like that. If we're not keeping him, we're finding him a home, not a spot on Death Row.
"... You seriously think there's nothing wrong with the dog."
"I think he's okay now." I watched him slide farther into my jacket, and gave up on holding him. It might be less effective when I don't have the puppy in my arms, but he probably wants to lay down.
"He's just a stray." I pushed the office door so that it was only open by a crack in case one of the kids called for us, purposely dropped my jacket on the floor, and then set the puppy down on top of it. I had to hold back a laugh when he curled right up in it. How can Sam be using words like "don't"?
"It doesn't automatically make him bad, Sam." Hasn't Julia ever made him sit through Lady & The Tramp? He's like, the Tramp.
"I ran into you in an alley the night you came back to Los Angeles, took you home with me, and look at how that turned out."
I know its not the same, I'm just saying...
"Listen, I can't just let him go, and I'm not taking him to a shelter where they're going to keep him for a few weeks and then put him down."
That much is out of the question.
"If you won't let us have him, then we have to find him a home."
A good one. With a yard either bigger or just as big as ours, and nice people who will take care of him.
"But I don't see why we can't just get him checked out and keep him."
I'm sorry, but I don't. He's nice.
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God damn it, there's too much guilt here, and she's piling the pout ontop of it. And she won't stop piling on the freakin' pout until I say yes to what she wants, because I hate the pout, and she knows that.
You know what? I can't think of a single guy who likes a girl pouting at him like that. There's such a thing as a sexy pout, and the pout that works its way into your head, and freakin' destroys you. That's the one I'm dealing with.
And Carly is good at this pout.
"He's just a stray."
'Just'. I like that word. 'Just'. Makes something like that sound like no big thing at all. 'Just'. Christ.
"It doesn't automatically make him bad, Sam."
I know it doesn't. I wasn't bad, and I turned out fine. I get it, you don't even have to make the comparison this time. I'm not a dog, but for all intensive purposes, yeah, I was a stray.
And I did the stray thing before I started living at Madsen's when I couldn't stay at my own house growing up for more than a few hours at a time, and then had to come to them for a place to stay.
And now I'm a hell of a lot better, and I have a family. I get it, Carly. Don't jump on that one.
"I ran into you in an alley the night you came back to Los Angeles, took you home with me, and look at how that turned out."
... Or just do it anyway.
"Yeah, I know." I knew that before you said it. "But it's not the same thing, is it?" The only serious difference being he's smaller, and I'm human.
"Listen, I can't just let him go, and I'm not taking him to a shelter where they're going to keep him for a few weeks and then put him down."
Not every shelter does that, do they? I don't even know anymore. This isn't something I've ever had to really check up on. The only reason why I knew about it in the first place was because I randomly heard about it. I don't think it's the kind of thing they'd ever put in a brochure.
Maybe he'd have chance, even if they did. He's a cute dog, whatever, right? Someone'd have to love him. After he's been checked out. Which we could do.
"If you won't let us have him, then we have to find him a home."
'If you won't' turns me immediately into the bad guy, and I know that's what she's shooting for. The guy who looked down on the poor little stray and wouldn't take him in, even though he was like that once, what a jackass. I get that one too.
... I'd hate myself if we got rid of this dog. I know it. Especially if I somehow managed to get Carly to take him to as shelter, even though she's already refusing it. I could manage it, but she'd hate me, and I'd hate me, and if the kids somehow found out about the dog before then, they'd hate me too.
...
Damn it.
"But I don't see why we can't just get him checked out and keep him."
"Because--..."
The dog isn't on Carly's jacket anymore.
"Carly, the dog's gone."
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I know its not the same thing. He doesn't have to point that out to me. There are differences. Lots of differences. I'm aware that you can't really compare a dog to a person, but if there ever were a situation in which you could compare a dog to a person, its this one.
And considering the way that the dog is scared of Sam, it looks like he's scared of men. Which means the poor little thing has probably been kicked by a guy or something, and he's way too small to defend himself...
Yeah. I can't go there. The more I think about it, the more I realize that Sam should have some empathy for the puppy. I mean, I already like him. Why does Sam have to be the voice of unnecessary reason?
"Because--..."
Because you're being a jerk, that's why. And I don't want to hear it. I want to hear good things about how we're allowed to keep the dog. Marriage is about compromise, right? Why can't we compromise and do things my way this time?
Its not like I planned this. I found him. I usually don't even walk that way. Everything about bringing this dog home was an accident except the part where I actually brought him home. And I don't regret it right now, but I will if Sam says something that makes me mad at him and forces me to take an action that ends with the dog getting killed anyway.
"Carly, the dog's gone."
"How can you say that when you haven't given him a--" We're not talking about getting rid of him, are we? "What?" I looked over at my jacket on the floor and saw just that. A jacket on the floor. No puppy.
"Damnit."
Well, he couldn't have gone far. I closed the door on the way in. He's around here somewhere.
"Let's go look for him."
Quietly. Because if we wake the kids, I'm dead.
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What's that about? Did Mom get home? Is she okay? Somebody just opened my door, something's going on.
But nobody's saying anything or turning the lights on, and Mom or Dad would always do that, even Aunt Arianna or Uncle Dan would. So it has to be somebody I don't know. And there's no reason for somebody I don't know to be in my room when I know it has to be really late.
... Maybe it's Oogie Boogie. The footsteps are getting really close, if it's him, I gotta run now before he gets me so I can hide again until Mom or Jack Skellington shows up.
I grabbed my tiger and sat up, and couldn't figure out if I should just run, or if I should turn on my lamp and make sure it's Oogie Boogie. I think he'd make a lot more noise, but if he's being sneaky I don't know.
Mom'd feel really bad if Oogie Boogie killed me and she wasn't there to do anything about it, so I have to hide and give her time to get here, but with how close the footsteps are I don't know--
Cold nose!
"AHHH!" I fell back on my bed, and didn't move for a second. The nose went away really fast, what was that? "Who's there?!"
I heard a whimpery noise, and I sat up again. I don't want to get too scared. I think Oogie Boogie would act different than this. He'd never make a whimpery noise, someone who's hurt or upset would, and I shouldn't be afraid of them.
My lamp's right above my head, I can turn that on. I reached up, and flipped the switch.
... When did we get a dog?!
Jackie has a cat, and Brendon keeps talking like he's going to get a dog, but I don't think he is yet. I think he's just saying that so he can act like he's the cool one. He lies about stuff all the time for practice or something. I don't know.
We never really talked about getting anything though, except for when Julia asked for a cat too, and then Dad said no and got this scared look. He doesn't like cats. I don't know, I guess they're alright.
I like dogs better. This one looks kind of scared. What's he so scared of?
I moved up to the edge of my bed, and watched the dog looking at me for a little while. He might be a bad dog, and he snuck into our house. Dad was supposed to go to bed soon, he might've gotten past him.
Mom was supposed to be with Uncle Dante and Uncle Jeremy for I don't know how long, so it wouldn't be too hard for him to just get in. And if he's a bad dog, he could bite. I don't want to get bit.
But he doesn't look like a bad dog.
I frowned, and reached out really slow, and touched the dogs nose. I almost moved away when he started sniffing at me, but he was just doing that so it was okay.
Then I got closer, and I started petting him as slow and as careful as I could, in case he was a bad dog and I have to run. I don't know how fast bad dogs are, but I'd still try, I wouldn't want to just sit around and get hurt or anything.
He's still not doing anything bad. Maybe he's a good dog. He looks like a good dog. I got off my bed, still petting him, and got closer.
And then he licked me.
Which... was kind of gross. And weird. And I wasn't expecting to get licked.
...
It's kind of cool too.
I think I like this dog.
"Hi." I sat down in front of him, and he laid down next to him so I could pet him some more, I guess. And I did, because he's being a good dog. "I'm Junior. I wonder if Dad knows you snuck in."
... If not, I might wait until tomorrow to tell him. I like this dog, I don't want him to go away yet.
"You can sleep in my bed tonight, okay?"
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I think with all the looking we've been doing in here, we would have found him by now. Unless he's stuck behind something, and if he was, we would hear him. Plus the door seems to be open a little more than I had it originally. He went off on his own.
Which wouldn't be so bad if the house wasn't dark, he wasn't small, and Sam was letting us keep him. The fact that he hasn't caved in on that yet makes this even more tense than it would be if I had already broken him with the pout. And that is all his fault. I hope he knows that. He's making everything more difficult than it has to be.
"I'm gonna go look in the bedroom."
Our door is close by and always open. If the puppy is really as set on exploring as he suddenly appears to be, that would be a good place for him to go. And it has all kinds of things in it that I don't want a dog to chew up or wet on.
Great.
I pushed the door open and walked out into the hallway, planning on heading straight for our bedroom, when I saw that Junior's door was open and light was coming through. I think we've found our puppy.
"Sam." I pointed to Junior's room and shook my head, trying to look more upset about it than I was.
Junior found the puppy. We haven't heard any screams, nor has our son come running out for help. That probably means that he likes him as much as I do, and I'll have him on my side, asking Sam to keep the dog too. And even though that could be setting Junior up for disappointment, its not.
I know how Sam is. He's already running out of reasons why we can't keep the cute little stray, and now that he sees Junior with it, he's likely to break.
"Come on." I took Sam's hand and practically dragged him to Junior's room, smiling instantly when I saw him sitting on the floor and petting the dog.
Yeah, the dog looks really dangerous when he's wagging his tail at our five year old.
"Hey, I see you found my friend." I let go of Sam's hand and went over to sit down on the floor next to Junior. "I found him on my way home, and he looked like he needed a little help."
No, Sam. I'm not going to tell Junior that its all your fault that I can't say he's our dog. Aren't you glad you married me?
"He's staying for the night."
And hopefully every other night after that.
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Now if he goes to any of the kids, either we're going to have an interesting little freakin' accident on our hands, or they're going to get attached. Not one of them has a closed door, it's not like this is a freakin' impossible thing.
Either way, it's going to go bad, and one just happens to be a hell of a lot worse than the other. And is this really a big deal to Carly? No. She's only going as fast as she is because she wants to make sure I don't find the dog first and kick him the hell out.
I'm not sure I really want to anymore, though.
"I'm gonna go look in the bedroom."
"Whatever." I went to the kitchen, and checked inside. No dog. I can't believe we're actually doing this. She just had to bring the damn thing home, didn't she.
Alright, where else is left?
"Sam."
"What?" You found him, and... Shit. He's in Junior's room. With the Oogie Boogie nightmares lately, the dog'd probably scare the hell out of him.
I mean we haven't heard any screams or anything, but that doesn't mean that he didn't get scared. That just could mean he shut himself in the closet or he's hiding somewhere waiting to be rescued.
I really think that there's something that can't be good about it, but until I figure out what the hell to do, I just leave it be.
"Come on."
"Alright, alright." She probably thinks that since we haven't heard anything, Junior likes him. And she might be right. Which means the second one happened. Which means getting rid of the dog is going to be even harder, because Junior is as bad as she is as remembering things and holding onto them for weeks on end.
... I'm screwed.
Yeah, he likes him. He'd never sit that close to an animal he didn't know unless there was some level of trust already there. And that never happens this fast with him. Ever.
Damn it.
... Good for the dog.
"Hey, I see you found my friend."
Yeah, he did. Yay for you.
"I found him on my way home, and he looked like he needed a little help."
If I try to get any back up out of her as far as getting the dog out of here, I'm going to get screwed on it somehow. She wants to keep him too badly. I don't know why this is such a big thing other than he could use a home, and he's cute, and I sort of want to k but it is.
And big is how it's going to stay, no matter what I say unless I say yes or what I do.
"He's staying for the night."
He could stay longer.
Damn it!
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We have to give him a name so I don't just keep calling him a dog. Everyone deserves a name, he should get one too. And I don't think Julia should name him, she'll give him a dumb name. Or maybe something girly. And girls are okay, but he's a boy dog, and so he should get a boy name.
Mom can help me figure out what kind of boy name he should get when she gets home.
"Hey, I see you found my friend."
Mom's home! ... She brought the dog? Well then then he's ours now, otherwise she wouldn't have brought him into the house.
"Yeah, he's a good dog." I smiled, and then I saw Dad in the doorway. He doesn't look happy. Did he not want the dog? He's afraid of cats, not dogs. Dogs are cool, like this one. He even said so himself once.
So why doesn't he look happy now that we have a dog that's for us?
"I found him on my way home, and he looked like he needed a little help."
He must've not had a home of his own. He looks a little dirty, that means he was out on the street. He should definitely stay with us. Who else is he gonna stay with if he doesn't?
Everybody needs a home, right? His should be here. I'll make sure Julia doesn't do mean things to him if she decides she likes cats better. I stopped her from doing a whole bunch of stuff to Lorelai, even though sometimes I think Julia really doesn't like me because of it.
But Lorelai doesn't deserve stuff happening to her just 'cause she's little, she needs a break. Like the ones Mom gives Dad when he messes up sometimes, as long as it's not something that really really bugs her. So I do it anyway.
"He's staying for the night."
"For the night?"
Why just the night? Does he have to go after that? But I thought he's supposed to be ours?
... Who's gonna take him away? And why would they do that?
"But isn't he ours?"
I looked at Dad, and then thought maybe that he was the one who didn't want the dog around. But he's a good dog, and if Mom found him, that means he's supposed to be ours.
"Aren't we gonna keep him here?"
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"Yeah."
I picked Junior up and pulled him into my lap, planting a kiss on the top of his head while the puppy scampered over so that he could sit in front of Junior again. Its cute. I know we haven't figured anything out, but Junior is on my side now. We're going to win. All we have to do is gang up on him and pout a little more. He doesn't stand a chance against the three of us, and the look on his face tells me he knows it too.
He's going to have to give in and let us keep the dog. I know he's worried, I was too. Everything that he's thinking now about it being dangerous, I thought of on the way home. Then I realized that I was making too much trouble out of a simple situation. We don't have any reason to think that the dog is going to flip a switch and be bad with the kids. The way that he's acting around Junior just proves that he'll be good to them.
"But isn't he ours?"
He should be. Give it a few minutes, Junior.
I really can't see Sam wanting to get rid of the dog now. He looked cute and nice before. Now he's not just cute and nice, he's cute, nice, and Junior is attached to him. He's at least twice as hard to say no to now as he was before, and I was pretty close to getting him to give in before the dog ran out and found Junior.
I think the kids should have a pet. We would be waiting a few years if the puppy hadn't needed rescuing, but now is a good time too. Julia is already asking for a pet, Junior just hit the age where he realizes what a big deal this is, and Lorelai...she's Lorelai. The dog will make her happy, even if she isn't going to do much more than play with him.
I think we could make this dog happy, and I think this dog could make us happy. The things that Sam are worried about could happen no matter what kind of animal we bring into the house, so I think we should stick with this one. He already likes us.
Most of us, anyway. He would like Sam a lot more if Sam would give him a damn home.
"Aren't we gonna keep him here?"
"We...Well, that's something that we're talking about." Or something that I'm begging for. Take your pick.
"And we're going to figure it out, and do whatever we think is the best thing to do for him and for us."
I happen to think that the best thing to do is keep him, so we'll see.
"I promise, honey. I'll make sure he gets a good home. Even if that home turns out to be with someone else. He's really nice, and I want to make sure that he finds a family who loves him."
But I still think that family should be this one.
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"Yeah."
For the night. Could he look anymore instantly freakin' depressed? Seriously, let's make me feel a little crappier for objecting to this thing in the first place. He can make it there, he's a hell of a lot more like his mother sometimes than anyone gives him credit for.
So come on Junior, go for the gold.
"But isn't he ours?"
I'll give him this, he's a freakin' reliable kid.
"Aren't we gonna keep him here?"
See what I mean?
All that's left is the pout. But the pout is a girl thing, so thankfully, that's the one thing I'm left without. So he'll just be left with the eyes at the tone to work with, although I'm sure he'll do fine with that.
Everyone says he has my eyes, but I swear, it's my eyes with the influence of whatever freakin' con artist lies somewhere in either my or Carly's side of the family.
"We...Well, that's something that we're talking about."
Talking, arguing, whatever.
"And we're going to figure it out, and do whatever we think is the best thing to do for him and for us."
In Carly's case and mine too, that's to keep him here. In my case, I don't know anymore. I know how screwed I am here. I know what's going to happen if I say no. But I still know what could happen if I say yes.
And it's not a definite that Julia and Lorelai would like him. They've both changed their minds on something in weirder cases, and Carly knows that. Just because Junior very obviously likes him doesn't mean anything.
It just means we have one kid who's going to hate me for at least a couple of weeks if I don't keep this dog in the house.
And I'll definitely hate me too.
"I promise, honey. I'll make sure he gets a good home. Even if that home turns out to be with someone else. He's really nice, and I want to make sure that he finds a family who loves him."
And you want that family to be this one. I get it, okay?!
God, this pet thing is such a pain in the ass.
And I still want to say yes.
... He's looking at me. I think he gets where the opposition is coming from, I get the full on look now. Crap. Crap crap crap. Damn it, I can't believe I want to hide from the sad look of a five year old. What the hell is wrong with me?
Aside from the fact that I'm being a hypocrite, and I know it? Nothing.
God damn it, why can't I skip getting the look?!
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I don't get what we're supposed to talk about. Unless we is supposed to mean Mom and Dad. And then I don't get what they're talking about. It looks like it's all figured out to me, I think.
Unless Dad really doesn't want the dog. And I don't get why he wouldn't want the dog. He'll be Dad's dog too, he can even help name him if he really wants to. I don't mind.
"And we're going to figure it out, and do whatever we think is the best thing to do for him and for us."
The best thing is he stays here. With us. 'Cause I think he belongs here. And I think everybody else should too. Even Dad.
"I promise, honey. I'll make sure he gets a good home. Even if that home turns out to be with someone else. He's really nice, and I want to make sure that he finds a family who loves him."
We could love him. We could love him a lot. We could take care of him, and he'd get bigger, and he wouldn't have a sad face and be dirty and have to live on the street.
And if he went with another family, I bet they wouldn't like him as much as we would. We'd be a really good home for him, 'cause we're a good family, even if Julia and Lorelai and I fight sometimes.
I have to ask Dad nice then. Maybe if I do, he'll let the dog stay, and help name him, and let us take care of him and be his family.
"Dad?"
"... Yeah?"
"How come we can't be his family?"
"... Well..."
That's not an answer. When you talk to someone, and they ask you something, even if you're arguing with them you're still supposed to have a good answer. So that way, they won't have anymore questions for you after.
I have to think like this 'cause I'm Julia's brother, and when we get into a fight, I have to say more stuff than I usually want to so I can answer her, or ask her stuff. I learned a lot about arguments from her.
And then she tells me to stop talking. Which is a bad way to end an argument, I think.
"I'd take care of him. Julia and Lorelai can help." Lorelai could learn how to do some stuff that would help out. "They'd like him."
"Well, I... I don't know."
"I do." I know he's supposed to be here. So we need to keep him.. I pet the dog, and looked back at Dad. "He's a good dog."
Most of the time I don't like saying this much stuff, but I think this time, the more stuff I say, the more chance we have of keeping the dog. It's all up to me, so even though I don't like it, it's still important.
"So can we?"
Please?
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"... Well..."
You've got nothing. There's no reason why we can't be his family. If you want to get overprotective, then there are stupid fake reasons that don't make any sense, but in reality, there's nothing. The good puppy shouldn't get kicked out of the house just because Sam isn't thinking clearly. He should stay here, and get checked out, and then we can go shopping and buy whatever we need to buy, and name him.
And something tells me that Junior has already started thinking about names, so this whole process wouldn't really take us a long time. I mean, there are certain things about owning a dog that would, like getting him housebroken, but we can do it. Dan and Arianna would probably help out, especially Dan, he loves animals.
I guess, if Sam says no, I could talk to him about taking the dog, but I don't want to do that. I want to take the dog. If Dan took him, everytime I saw him I'd think he should be at our house instead of Dan's apartment. Our house is a lot better than Dan's apartment.
"I'd take care of him. Julia and Lorelai can help. They'd like him."
They would. And I'd help too. If Sam says yes, I'll wake up early tomorrow and give him a bath before we take him to the vet. Which is something that I'm going to have to do either way, but I'd be happier about doing it if we were keeping the dog. I know its going to be a lot of work to get a dog that lived on the street to adjust to living in a house, but he's young, and he's kind, and he likes us. Its probably a lot easier to get a pet settled when they're not trying to make you hate them.
"Well, I... I don't know."
"I do."
Same here, Junior.
I know its stupid, but I'm glad that I found him. Giving up slaying has been really hard for me. Its hard to feel like you're worth anything to the rest of the world when you give up your 'destiny' to be just like everyone else. And even though I don't regret it, I miss it.
But bringing the dog home tonight made me feel like I was doing something good without being a vampire slayer. Like I'm almost at the point where I don't need any of that anymore. I can be a mom, and a wife, and every once in a while, if something happens, I'll know what to do.
"He's a good dog."
"He is a good dog." I agreed, reaching out to pet him again, and then looking up at Sam. "He's a really good dog."
Don't make us give him away.
"So can we?"
Yeah, can we?
"Sam..."
He's going to regret it if he makes us get rid of it. I won't intentionally punish him, but I know I'm not going to be happy about it, and I can't say that I'll make any effort in hiding that. And Junior is already so attached that he's definitely going to feel the same way that I do. Not to mention how Julia would feel if she knew about this. He's not gaining anything from being a jerk to a stray dog who belongs here.
"I think we should keep him."
You may want to kill me for saying it in front of Junior, but I can't help it. Its true. I think we should keep him. Junior thinks we should keep him. And whether or not he wants to admit it, I know that Sam thinks we should keep him too. He just needs to admit that so that we can be happy, and this can be over.
Anytime now. Its not getting any earlier.
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I know We don't know that.
"He is a good dog. He's a really good dog."
Oh stop freakin' adding to the guilt trip he's trying to put me on, will you? It's already working. He should not be able to be like this at five freakin' years old. I want to know who's teaching him this crap, seriously.
If this is Danny's way of getting back at me for that little joke I played on him like... six freakin' years ago he wins I'm going to kill him.
"So can we?"
I don't know!
"Sam..."
What?!
"I think we should keep him."
....
Thanks a lot for the back up, Carly. Now he's going to definitely just hate me if I say no to this. There's no 'equal' thing here as far as whatever punishment would happen if we got rid of the dog, it'd be all on me. Completely.
I really freakin' hate that.
I sighed, and thought about my options, realizing I really didn't have any. I'm screwed and for once, I'm okay with that if I do anything other than what they want and I want.
So what else is left to except say yes?
"... We..." I sighed, and rested my forehead on the doorway, nodding a little. "We'd have to take him to see a doctor, so we can make sure he's not sick or anything."
I just give up.
"And if he's sick with something that's not good, then we have to take him somewhere else." I'm speaking in terms Junior'd at least try to get, except I think he's mostly just clinging to the idea of keeping the dog right now.
"But if he's not..."
Yes, you win.
"Then we can keep him here, with us, and we'll be his family."
Happy now?
Maybe after this the dog'll stop being afraid of me.
"Okay?"
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See? Mom definitely wants to keep him. He should stay here with us. Dad needs to say it's okay now. I think he'd like the dog too if he gave him a chance, and if he didn't, then he should at least be happy he's not a cat.
Either way, he should stay here with us.
"... We... We'd have to take him to see a doctor, so we can make sure he's not sick or anything."
Does that mean we get to keep him?
I think I get that he might be sick, if he's been living out by himself without a home or anyone to take care of him. We should take him to a pet doctor. It's apart of taking care of him.
But he hasn't said if that means we keep him or not.
"And if he's sick with something that's not good, then we have to take him somewhere else."
Who else would take him if he's sick with something bad? Then he'd be by himself again. I don't want to put him back out on the street without a family to take care of him.
I guess we should still take him to the pet doctor anyway, just to be sure. But if he's sick, I still want to keep him. We could just give him medicine until he's better.
And then he'll be living with us, and he'll be our dog. Whatever his name turns out to be.
"But if he's not..."
Then we keep him?
"Then we can keep him here, with us, and we'll be his family."
... I still don't think I get why he'd have to go away if he was sick. But still, he said we can keep him! That's better than where we were a minute ago!
"Okay?"
"Okay." Now I can go back to sleep. And the dog can stay here with me and sleep in my bed. I don't care if he's a little dirty, we can give him a bath tomorrow.
I got up from Mom's lap and went to Dad, giving him a hug. "Thank you." I went back, and gave Mom a hug, then I climbed up back into my bed.
Then I patted my bed like I've seen Jackie do when she wants her cat to come to her, and let the dog come up and lay down with me.
"He's going to sleep in my bed. Okay?"
I don't think we have any place better for him to sleep, and even if we do, I sorta want him to stay here anyway.
Sleep now, and then the pet doctor tomorrow.
"Have to give him a name, too."
That's important.
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