Not beta'd. Additional notes at end. Warning: Animal Death.
I do not own Glee or profit from this in any way.
They adopt Sully a month after moving into their first apartment together. Their peers criticize the decision, but to Mercedes and Sam it felt like a natural progression of things. He's a cute little puppy with floppy ears and an almost too pink tongue who almost always knows when there's peanut butter in the cabinet. His energy level is always at a 10 unless Mercedes is humming, in which case he picks out a spot to lay and catches a snooze. Sam takes him along on his morning runs and sometimes lets him chase a squirrel or three. They get lost a lot but Sam always has a fun story to tell when they find their way home. Mercedes and Sully take evening strolls around their neighborhood. Sully doesn't chase squirrels then - instead he sticks close to Mercedes. The perfect guard, she calls him. She sneaks extra snacks to him when Sam isn't looking but joke's on her because Sam does the same with his leftovers. Either way, Sully is the winner.
Everyday's an adventure with Sully and he's often referred to as "the best good boy" which makes him twice as hyper, but it's okay because after earning their Master's, the three of them move somewhere with a yard. That does not have any holes. Nope, none at all. Mercedes does have to become an ameteur gardener after tripping over a (non-existant) hole for a third time, though. It works out though, because the house is much prettier with flowerbeds around the porch. Sully is the ring-bearer at their wedding ceremony. Stacey and Stevie refused to be anything other than a bridesmaid and groomsman and Mercedes' nephew, Jeremiah, was only three months old. Sure it was the fastest ever trot down an aisle and yeah he laid down between the couple on the altar, but his tail wagging was the best personification of joy that anyone could ask for.
It only takes about 15 seconds after being introduced to Athena that Sam and Mercedes are replaced as Sully's favorite humans. They can't even blame him though, she's just that amazing. He sleeps at the foot of her crib and growls at unfamiliar people who get too close to her. (Sorry Artie, weekly Skype calls don't count to Sully!) When Stephen joins the family three years later, Sully is overjoyed. He still sleeps cribside but can't do his morning runs with Sam anymore. His tail still wags but his bark is never as loud as it once was. There are a lot of hushed conversations at the Evans' household when Athena is five and can't understand why Sully can't follow her upstairs anymore. It's the hardest decision Sam and Mercedes have to make, but the knowledge that Sully won't be in pain anymore is the things that pulls them through. In his last days, Sully gets to eat unlimited peanut butter and even finds the energy to enjoy one last stroll through the neighborhood with his family. Athena said it best, when it was all said and done. "He was the bestest good dog. The very best."
This is something that popped in my head as I wrote the A/N for Trailblaze. It was typed up pretty fast so I hope there aren't too many errors! Hope you enjoyed. Much love, XX!