"No."

"But why?"

"Because I don't have time to walk it every day-"

"I'll walk it, I swear! You won't have to do anything-"

"Really? In a month? In a year? A dog is a big commitment; I don't want you getting bored-"

"I promise! I'll take such good care of it, you won't even know it's here!"

"No, no, not the face… why do we need a dog when I've already got this set of puppy eyes to contend with?"

Alex watched his fathers' conversation in bewilderment. Something about this didn't seem quite right. He thought he was supposed to be whining, but Blaine was doing a great job by himself. Sophie was looking down at him over Kurt's shoulder. She was only a year old, but she was practically rolling her eyes. Alex shrugged at her. I'm just as confused as you.

Blaine reached over to take the baby out of Kurt's arms, resting her on his hip and making sure Kurt could see her face.

"But Kurt, look, what about Sophie? You want a puppy, don't you baby?"

Sophie looked over at Kurt nonchalantly. She preferred not to get in the middle of this one. She flopped her head onto Blaine's shoulder. Kurt snorted.

"She doesn't seem to mind."

"Alex? Help me out here. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a puppy?"

"I don't know… I guess so." He glanced from one parent to the other, nervous that he would annoy one of them by taking sides. "I mean… I like dogs, but… what if it fought with Edward?"

Edward, half cat, half crabby pensioner, looked up from the sofa. If he could talk, he would rarely say anything except 'Meh'. They all knew he'd have any puppy doing his bidding within minutes. He would still run the house.

"See? Edward doesn't mind. Kurt, pretty please with sugar on top and chocolate sprinkles and a bowtie,please can we get a puppy?"

Kurt took a deep breath, looking from Blaine to Alex, both equally hopeful, then over at Edward. The cat raised his eyebrows for a second, then closed his eyes and rested his head on his paws. He was staying out of it.

He sighed and ruffled Alex's hair.

"OK, OK, I will think about it."

Blaine and Alex grinned at each other and bumped fists.

Blaine struggled with armfuls of shopping as he staggered to the door. Everything was strategically squeezed on top of each other to the point where he couldn't put anything down without running the risk of dropping the whole lot. The lights were on, so Kurt had to be back from his dad's. He clung to the groceries and pressed the doorbell with his nose. He felt one of the bags tear, but he couldn't tell which one. Admittedly, he'd gone a little overboard at the supermarket, but if Kurt would just let him in he knew he could make it to the kitchen. Where was he? He pressed the bell again. He head-butted the door a couple of times, in case the bell was broken. He felt a cold drop on his head as it started to turn grey overhead, so he finally gave up and put his bags down on the step. Muttering to himself, he fumbled for his keys and let himself in, running back to grab the bags and drag them in before they soaked through.

"Kurt?"

He heard a giggle from the living room, and a lot of shushing.

"Hi, Blaine! Sorry, we've uh… just come here!"

"Hold on, let me put this stuff away-"

"Trust me honey, it can wait."

"What?"

"Daddy, hurry up!"

Blaine frowned. As he dumped the bags on the table, he heard a different voice. It barked.

"No way…"

He opened the living room door to one of the cutest scenes he'd ever witnessed.

His entire family was sprawled on the floor. Kurt was lying on his side with Sophie sitting up and leaning back against his stomach, giggling and squealing, while Alex was burying his face in the dark, curly hair of a puppy. It was about the same size as Sophie, with enormous brown eyes, and a big pink tongue flopping out as it rolled onto its back, paws flailing while Alex tickled its belly. Dogs don't laugh, and Blaine knew that, but there was something about the way he was panting and yapping that made him look like he was in hysterics.

Blaine dove to the floor next to Alex, picking the dog up and snuggling up to it. It squirmed for a second before nuzzling against his chest and licking his chin.

"Hey, you big furry lump! When did you- where's he from? What's his name? What made you change your mind?"

"Well, you know my friend Lily? We dropped in on her on the way back from Dad and Carole's so I could borrow a book from her, and Alex fell in love with her puppy, then she mentioned that she's moving in with her boyfriend soon and he's allergic to his fur so she has to get rid of him anyway…"

"… And you realised that dogs are the coolest and you couldn't help yourself?"

"No, I just… Alex and… well look at him! He's adorable!"

Blaine burst out laughing.

"Baby, nobody's saying he's not gorgeous, I just think it's kind of funny that of all the dogs in the world, you bring home this one…"

He tilted his head so that his hair mingled with that of the dog clawing at his shoulder.

"Dad, look! Pepper's fur is just like Daddy's hair!"

"No it's not."

"Kurt, it kind of is."

"That's not… why I…"

"Hey Alex, do you think Dad loves me so much that he picked a dog just because it looked like me?"

"Yeah, but maybe we should just say it's because I liked him. He's gone weird."

"You're probably right. I think he's embarrassed. Here, why don't you take him?" He passed the dog back to Alex and crossed his legs, grinning at Kurt, who was staring at the puppy in disbelief.

"I'm ridiculous."

"You're. So. Cute. I can't believe you adore me this much-"

He leaned over to kiss Kurt on the cheek, but he leaned away, frowning and blushing.

"Shut up; maybe I just have a weak spot for dumb animals-"

Blaine crawled up behind him, knelt over him and kissed all over his face, and Alex and Pepper leapt on top of them. Alex tickled him and kissed his cheek, Pepper chewed on his sleeve, and Sophie patted his hand and gurgled appreciatively.

"Well maybe I have a weak spot for you. Mwah!"