A/N: Just wanted to say a quick "thank you" for all the kind reviews on my last story. It really meant a lot to me and it inspired me to write more McSwarek stories and I'm striving to improve my writing skills. This is just a short oneshot of something that I really hope we get to see in S5. I hope you all enjoy and that it helps fill the void until RB is back!
Thanks in advance,
Missy.
Andy woke up Thursday morning with the kind of the excitement that could only be compared to a child waking up on Christmas morning. She was excited. No, she was beyond that. She was ecstatic. Deciding not to waste any more time, Andy rolled around under her boyfriend's strong arms so that she came face to face with his still sleeping form. He looked so peaceful and content and she felt slightly guilty waking him so early but she just simply couldn't wait any longer.
Peppering light kisses on his face and running her fingers through his rich dark hair, Andy persuaded her partner to wake up. "Sam. Baby, time to get up."
Sam's only reply was a sleepy groan while tightening his grip around her waist. Sighing, Andy snuggled into his embrace after realizing he wasn't quite ready to get up. Keeping her attention on his face, she studied every detail of it. For his age, Sam Swarek was still devilishly handsome with his strong dark features and his dimpled smile. Sometimes it was still hard for her to wrap her head around the fact that he was hers and vice versa. But yet here she was wrapped his arms and she was once again reminded that this is the only place that she has ever wanted to be.
"Are you gonna continue to stare at me until I decide to wake up?" Sam asked, opening his eyes and adjusting his arms around her middle.
"If that's what it takes." Andy replied with a smile. "Come on, I'll get the coffee and breakfast started."
"Remind me again why you are waking me up early on our off day rather than sleeping in." Sam questioned.
"Because mister" Andy began while poking him lighting on the chest. "You promised that on the first available day we had off we would go and finally get our dog."
Sam internally smiled at the way she said 'our dog'. He was happy with the fact that he was finally at a place with Andy where things were beginning to be referred as 'ours'. Our bed. Our house. Our bills. Our future. And now, our dog. This is what he wanted with Andy and he thanked his lucky stars everyday that things finally aligned for them to finally be where they belonged. Together.
"Yeah I guess I did, didn't I." Sam replied with a smile.
Giggling, Andy sprang out of their bed and skipped happily down the hall to the kitchen to start their breakfast.
Thirty minutes later the couple were walking out the front door and heading towards the truck. Eight months after Sam's shooting, they were finally making another big step in their relationship. Owning a dog brought on more responsibility to a relationship and it was a task they were ready to take on. Five months ago they took the first big step when Andy finally moved into Sam's bachelor pad. It was a step that may have worried outsiders looking in, seeing that they just got back together, but it was a long time coming. Now months later, Andy was holding Sam to a promise that he made to her almost two years ago.
"Okay. So I have a list of animal shelters that are relatively close by so we should check those out before going to a shop." Andy stated while buckling herself in.
"Aye Aye Captain" Sam replied while reaching out to hold her hand while making the drive towards the first shelter. "Anything specific that we are looking for McNally?"
Andy turned towards Sam and gave him a smile. "No. When we know we know. It's like buying a wedding dress. You go into the shop with an idea of what you want but you only truly know what it is until you have it on."
Sam gave her a questionable look with a slight hint of amusement dancing across his features. His heart fluttered with the image of seeing Andy in a white dress walking towards him but was brought out of his day dream with Andy's voice.
"Oliver told me that Celery has been watching 'Say Yes To The Dress' a lot and asked if that means she is hinting at him to propose. And I told him that if she really wanted him to propose she would just preform one of her witchy voodoo spells on him."
Sam laughed exposing all his dimples while he pulled into the first animal shelter. "Alright here we go. Now McNally if we don't find one to take home today we can try back next week."
"No. I think we are going to get lucky today. I can feel it." Andy replied as she jumped down out of the large truck. Taking Sam's hand as he met her on the passenger side of the truck, they walked into the shelter with matching grins on their faces.
Three hours and four animals shelters later, Andy and Sam were having no such luck finding their future dog. They were either to small, too big, too furry or not energetic enough. Andy felt bad for being so picky seeing that the dogs all needed a home, but she knew what she was looking for. Her hopes and standards were high, but she had the image all set in her head ever since Sam suggested the idea of a dog awhile back.
Getting back into the truck, Sam turned and looked at Andy. "Anymore on that list of yours McNally?"
She nodded her head and read the directions to the last shelter to him. "This one has got to be it. It's just like that saying 'saving the best for last'. I have high hopes for this shelter."
Sam chuckled at her excited antics as he drove to the last and final shelter in the area. Ten minutes later they pulled up and headed inside to once again endure the journey of bringing home an addition to their family.
"Hi there! Welcome to Happy Paws." exclaimed a middle aged woman who wore a shirt with the shelter's logo. "Can I help you two find any pet in particular today" she asked.
"Yeah. We would like to check out what dogs you have available for adoption." Sam replied while Andy scanned the room watching families finalize the adoptions of their new pets.
Andy and Sam walked hand in hand as they were led to a room that contained the cages of dogs. They shared a smile as they were led to a cage located at the end of the hallway.
"I'm afraid we only have a couple left available today. Most of our dogs were adopted this week so these are the ones we still have. Take your time and I'll be back in a few to check on you." The helper walked off leaving Sam and Andy alone with dogs. Andy scanned the cages and smiled as she inspected each one. However only one dog in particular stood out to her.
"Sam." She gasped. "This is the one. That's him. Look!" She exclaimed while pointing to the little golden labradoodle puppy curled up in the back of the cage.
"He's perfect." Sam said with a smile on his face. "So what's his name gonna be?"
"Boo. Boo Radley." Andy replied with no hesitation at all.
Sam turned his head to look at her with a dimpled smile. "Boo huh?" he asked. He was blown away with the fact that she remembered the description of the dog he pitched to her while he desperately tried to save their relationship a couple years ago. And yet here he was looking at an adorable labradoodle puppy that would be theirs. It was their dog; right down to the specifications.
"Yeah well, it's what you promised me. A labradoodle named Boo Radley and he is perfect. He is ours." Andy replied while leaning in to embrace Sam with a hug and kiss.
"Let's go get that paperwork started so we can bring our little guy home." Sam said while taking one last look at Boo before grabbing Andy's hand to head back to the front of the shelter.
The next day at work, Andy was still grinning from ear to ear just thinking about Boo. After filling out paper work for the adoption, Sam and Andy made their way to the local pet store to pick up the necessities for their new four legged friend. Overall, the first twenty four hours with Boo went smoothly. He was the ideal dog and perfect match for them. He was just playful enough but not too rambunctious where he would destroy everything in his site.
"What's got you smiling like a fool?" Asked her colleague and friend Gail. "Have a fun night last night?" She added with a wink.
"Something like that. Sam and I got a dog" Andy replied happily catching the attention of her fellow friends Chris, Dov, Traci and Oliver. They all rushed over to Andy where she was showing them a picture of Boo on her cell phone.
"Awesome! Rock 'n roll McNally! Whatcha name it?" Asked Dov.
"Well McSwarek of course." Oliver replied boastfully. Andy playfully rolled her eyes at his response. It's no secret that Oliver is a fan of her and Sam's relationship. He never gave up on them even when at times she had moments insanity and did.
"No. We named him Boo Radley. Boo for short. Sam has always liked it for a dog." She replied when she saw Sam walking towards the small crowd with her best friend Traci.
"Sam told me you guys got a dog. Let me see." Said Traci while reaching for Andy's phone. "He is adorable. Oh man, once I tell Leo he is going to be begging till the end of time until I agree to get him one."
"Well he is more than welcome to play with Boo for the time being." said Sam.
"Well," Oliver stated while looking at his watch. "I need to get back out on shift. I'll stop by later though and check out the newest addition to the Swarek family." He stated with a wink while ushering the fellow officers in the crowd back to work leaving Sam and Andy to themselves.
"So I'm thinking we are going to be those parents who show off pictures of their kids every chance they get seeing as we have done so with Boo's picture so far." Sam stated with a grin.
"Promise?" Andy asked with a smile on her face. She longed for that day when she and Sam would have kids. They've talked about it on numerous occasions and she knew that when the time was right they would get there. Until then she would hold him to it. After all, he doesn't break his promises.