Disclaimer: Barkingly not mine.

A/N: Sequel to Puppy Love, in which Anzu got a puppy and her mother, in an act following the kind of stunning coincidences that could only happen in fiction, named him Atem. Since this was also originally intended to be part of As Deep as the Sky it was inspired by a song, although this time the fic itself isn't named after the song in question. Well, calling something Stacy's Mom when there's no character called Stacy would be a little confusing, wouldn't it?

Every Dog Has His Day

© Scribbler, January 2008.

And I know that you think it's just a fantasy,
But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me.
Stacy's mom has got it going on,
She's all I want, and I've waited so long.
Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me?
I know it might be wrong,
But I'm in love with Stacy's mom.

-- From Stacey's Mom by Fountains of Wayne.

Looking after Atem wasn't so bad, Anzu thought after the puppy had been part of the Mazaki household for a few weeks. Sure, he still had accidents, but his toilet training was getting better, and she'd at least managed to instil the fear of Ra into him if he even thought of going near her Jimmy Choos while he was teething. Yuugi had donated a pair of busted old sneakers, which Atem enjoyed immensely. One was little more than a sole with some strips of fabric attached, and this he constantly carried around in his mouth as though emulating how his mother used to carry him. It was quite sweet to see, and Anzu had to admit there was nothing quite like coming home from a long day at school to a warm puppy welcome. At least she could always count on Atem to be glad to see her and want no more than a cuddle and some dinner, usually in that order.

If only the real Atem had been this demonstrative, she thought wistfully, emptying a sachet of Puppy Wuppy Chow into a dish and fondling puppy-Atem's ears as he gave her a grateful lick and buried his face in the food. She dumped the empty sachet in the trash with a grimace. Where does Mom find this stuff? 'Puppy Wuppy'? Puh-lease.

"Anzu? Is that you, sweetheart?"

"No, it's the milkman," Anzu called up the stairs.

"Well in that case I'll have three skimmed and one bottle of full-cream, please."

It was an old joke, part of the rituals they'd developed when it was just the two of them – before her mother's boyfriend Omishi became a part of their lives. He had his own key now. Anzu had smarted at first, feeling as though Omishi was trying to replace her father, but now she had to agree that her dad was in America and her mother couldn't be expected to put her whole life on hold just because her marriage failed. Besides, she could do worse than Omishi. He'd picked out Atem, after all.

"Did you remember about tonight?" Meron Mazaki yelled from her bedroom.

"What?"

"The gallery auction. You did remember, didn't you?"

"Of course, Mom. It's only been on the calendar for the last month, and you only remind me before and after school every day."

"Sorry, sweetheart. This is just really important for the gallery. If we could get a few more sponsors, things could really pick up and we could actually start turning a big profit instead of a small one."

Meron worked at a Youth Art Gallery, which tried to help disaffected and abused kids through creativity. There were counsellors and psychiatrists and all sorts on staff, and sometimes she got roped into teaching classes, but mostly she dealt with the boring paperwork side of things. As such, tonight's auction, which would play host to some of the richest and glitziest z-list celebrities and corporate representatives in Domino and the surrounding area, was a Big Deal. For weeks Anzu had been hearing about this person and that person whom her mother had convinced to attend, and Anzu herself had twisted Otogi's arm until he agreed to go and buy something to hang in the head office of his company. Under his smugness, strange fashion sense and obsession with dice, Otogi was a pretty nice guy and already had his finger in a lot of philanthropic pies. It hadn't taken much arm-twisting to convince him.

Anzu was slightly disgusted when the biggest fish, which the media latched onto, turned out to be Seto freaking Kaiba. Once again, Kaiba Corp.'s notoriety had squashed Otogi's company in the media spotlight.

Atem yapped, as if reading her thoughts.

"I know. Sickening, isn't it? Still, if it makes Mom happy, I'll shut up about it. And it's not like I have to go and watch reporters drape themselves over Kaiba like he's an actual human being -"

"Anzu, are you talking to the dog again?"

"No."

Atem yapped indignantly.

"Sure, sweetheart. Thank you for staying with him tonight. I wish you could've come too, but you know how he destroys things when nobody's around, and he's so much worse at night."

"Mom, it's fine. Honest."

And it was fine; right up until Anzu was curled up on the sofa with her Maths homework on her knee. She had to stretch uncomfortably whenever she wrote something down, since Atem's head was in her lap, but he was sleeping so peacefully that she couldn't bring herself to disturb him.

"I thought you were the motherly type. You collect small fluffy things – fuzzy pencil-toppers, stuffed toys, Yuugi -"

"Stupid Jounouchi," she muttered, spitting out a lurid pink feather from her pencil topper, which she'd been chewing absently even though she always ended up ruining them. She was worse than the puppy sometimes, though she rebelled against acknowledging it.

The doorbell rang. Atem instantly leaped awake, barking wildly.

"Anzu, will you get that? Omishi, where are my shoes?"

"By the door where they always are."

"Not those. The slingbacks I bought last week -"

Anzu opened the door to see Otogi. Or a second she blanked. Wasn't he meant to be at the Youth Gallery? "What the heck are you doing here?"

"I agreed to give your Mom and Dad a ride to the gallery." He thumbed over his shoulder at the long black limousine idling by the kerb. Practically every window of every house had a face in it, or net curtains twitching as their neighbours wondered who could possibly own a car like that – with its own driver and tinted windows, no less.

Anzu sighed and called over her shoulder, "Mom, your ride is here."

Meron appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, barefoot except for her stockings, and looking radiant in a long black sparkly dress with a bunched front to make her ample cleavage look like that of a woman who hadn't breastfed a baby and sagged in the years afterwards. Anzu's genes definitely came from her mother's side in that area. "We'll be right out, Ryuuji. Thank you ever so much for this. There's no way I could drive my Yaris in my new heels." She nibbled her lipsticked lower lip. "If I ever find them, that is."

"Have you checked in Atem's basket?" Anzu suggested.

"He wouldn't …" Meron blinked. "Would he?" She instantly disappeared to look, revealing how her dress plunged so low in back that Anzu knew she was glad she wasn't going tonight. Complimenting your Mom's appearance at home was one thing, but being seen in public with her was quite another. Meron did look good, but to Anzu she would always be Mom, and look best in a sweater and old slacks. Plunging dresses and visible cleavage would be too embarrassing for words.

When Anzu turned around, however, her cheeks flushed anyway. Otogi's eyes were fixed over her head, on the spot her mother had just vacated. His lower jaw was slack.

Sudden embarrassed fury swelled inside Anzu. "Otogi!" she screeched.

He snapped from his stupor. "Huh? What?"

"She's my Mom, you pervert!"

"I wasn't … I never …"

Anzu whirled on her heel. "Atem!"

The puppy bounded over, already responding to his own name.

Anzu pointed at Otogi. "Sic 'em."

Atem barked, sniffed Otogi's expensive shoes, and barked again, tail wagging as though Otogi was a long lost best friend he'd been waiting his whole life for.

Otogi grinned. "Some attack dog."

Anzu scowled. "I need to train him. First thing he's going to learn is to chase away perverts who ogle my mother while I'm still in the room. Total grossness!"

Atem yapped and lifted his leg, treating Otogi's patent leather with as much respect as he did Yuugi's old sneakers. Otogi yelped, doing a passable impression of a puppy himself, and Anzu found herself smiling even though she knew she should have been reprimanding the puppy.

"That works too," she said instead.

Fin.