Pairing: Wally/Artemis
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~800
Inspiration: media. tumblr. moc/ tumblr _ m7xv2s8pnl1qhxhiz. jpg
-Just reverse "moc" to "com" and delete the spaces (:

Bolt passes away when Jayden is a little over one and Artemis is a month pregnant with Elizabeth, and as sad as they are, they also know that Bolt had a pretty good life. He lived two years past the life expectancy of his breed, slept all day and ate and ran and played with them when he was awake, and he was there for all of Jayden's first year milestones.

And while no one can replace Bolt, it doesn't mean they can't get one for the kids.

Jayden has been mentioning it for a while now and he starts Kindergarten in the fall, and she thinks that having a dog will not only help to teach him responsibility but will also give him a companion in this sort of transition into the next stage of his life. So they go to the Central City pet shelter and Jayden immediately attaches to this chubby Saint Bernard puppy with floppy ears and these dark eyes. They look at a few more dogs, too, but it's pretty obvious which one Jayden wants.

Sparky (Jayden let Ellie pick the name) is a perfect fit to their family.

And he grows kind of really big really quickly because he was already a few months old by the time they adopted him. He just has all of this energy most of the time and he's really good at listening and respecting everyone's personal space and knowing his boundaries, because no, they're not the kind of owners that treat their dog like he's a human.

They love him like family because he is family, but dogs are happiest when they're treated like dogs.

(Wally was the one to tell them that, actually, because he watched a marathon of Dog Whisperer one night and thinks he's an expert now.)

Anyway.

Sundays are their lazy days because they usually don't try to schedule anything if they can help it so they can just hang around the house in their pajamas. They usually go out and do family stuff on Saturdays and Fridays after work and school, anyway, so it's a nice way to end each week.

It's almost their hourly snack time – their kids eat almost as much as Wally, but at least they're open to trying a lot of different foods so it makes it easier to have different snacks ready – and she has apple crisp fresh out of the oven. She doesn't even have to call for anyone, either, because their noses alert them that the food's ready and then they're drawn in like magnets. Jayden comes in from the backyard where he was speeding around and playing soccer with himself, and Wally comes in from the front where he was washing her car.

"Ellie wasn't outside with you?"

Jayden furrows his eyebrows at her and actually looks a little worried. It's amazing how protective he is of Ellie. "I thought she was inside with you."

"She's upstairs," Wally reassures. "She didn't come outside with either of us and she wouldn't have been able to without us noticing, so where else could she be?"

Artemis smiles. He's a dork most of the time, but sometimes she forgets how rational Wally can be, which is helpful since she's usually overprotective of her kids and all over the place when she's emotional.

"I'll go get her," Artemis tells the both of them, and Jayden relaxes a little and follows his dad into the kitchen.

When Artemis makes her way upstairs and into Ellie's room, she stops in the doorway and smiles widely. Sparky and Ellie are both asleep on the rug laid out on the hardwood floor in a sea of stuffed animals, and Ellie is hugging the bunny Dinah gave to her and using Sparky as big, furry pillow. They're a million different kinds of adorable right now, and she quickly grabs the camera from hers and Wally's room and snaps a few pictures because she just has to.

Then she kneels down to nudge Ellie's shoulder gently. "Ellie Pie," she coos, and Ellie stirs a bit, scrunches her face and tries to rub her eyes before Artemis pulls her hand away so she can't get dirt in them or something.

"Mommy?"

"It's me," Artemis says, and Sparky makes this little noise and blinks awake. "Come eat with us. I made apple crisp."

Ellie gives a toothy smile. "That's my favorite." Artemis laughs. Ellie says that about everything. "Can Sparky come eat with us, too?"

"Of course. Now get up, lazy butts."

Ellie giggles as Artemis pulls her up, and all it takes is one yawn for Artemis to see her energy all rushing back. She grips her bunny her hand and exclaims, "Let's go, Sparky!" and they both go racing down the stairs. Seriously, if they weren't naturally fast and usually able to avoid hurting themselves, her kids would give her heart attacks.

"Why do you have your camera?" Wally asks when she walks into the kitchen, and she sees his eyes light up when she shows him the pictures. "It's just like the one Jayden took with Bolt."

Yeah, she thought that same thing.

Then he smiles at her and asks her in this soft voice, "Want another?"

She's not sure if he means having another kid or adopting another dog, but honestly, she wouldn't mind either. Or both.

Probably both.