Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog's Tails
A/N: 100 REVIEWS! WE HAVE REACHED A WHOPPING 100 REVIEWS! Lets try for a hundred more! As a present for this, I have decided to update this story with a Part One and Two special!
CaptainSoda12: Calm down. I will get to your request when I get to it.
Briar4: I apologize, but at the moment an OC just wouldn't fit into the flow of the stories I currently have going unless you do not mind it being an AU and for one chapter. Again, I apologize for this but if not an AU then perhaps a compromise. You do remember Source/Ursula saying that she did have a little one? I hope you understand where I am going with this.
All Fans Of Snips: Hey guys! Quick shout out to point you in the direction of my other work. If you like this story, then please check out my other work for this fandom 'Life Without You', 'Mother's Day', and 'Things Better Left Unsaid.'
Tangled up phone lines, and a child on the floor. A suitcase that won't close, and an impending phone convo. These were not a few of Peabody's favorite things but since his adoption of baby Sherman, they were things he had to put up with. Balancing the cellphone between his shoulder and ear, he attempted to lift Sherman yet again into his baby carrier but the baby refused to budge from his spot on the floor. With a heavy sigh, he half listened to the conversation, and half wrestled with Sherman and the phone's lines until at last he gave up and returned fully to the conversation.
"Peabody! Are you even listening?" A voice belonging to an older woman called back through the phone, a touch of annoyance lacing her voice.
This woman was Mrs. Chien, the lesser known adopted mother of the dog on the other line, who had taken the dog into her home just a year before he left the nest to move to New York on his own. She was the only person who did not seem to mind that the dog would not play fetch nor act as a normal dog would and was actually one of many people who had convinced Peabody to go through with his plans to attend collage. Anyhow, even though their time together was brief, they still kept contact and like any dotting mother when Mrs. Chien caught word of the adoption she just had to call her son to see how things were coming along now.
This of course ended up leading to one thing, and then one thing lead to another and Peabody now found himself attempting to hurry out the door to get to the airport to catch the first plane down to Portland, Oregon to visit his mother. Why he ever agreed to this whole visit on such short notice was beyond him, but regardless there was no escaping it now so he might as well follow through with it. So returning to the phone, he cleared his throat and finally managed to pick up the squirming child and seat him in his carrier.
"Yes, mother. I am still listening." He said, carefully maneuvering Sherman's tiny limbs around the buckles of the carrier and strapping him in. "Sherman was having trouble getting into his seat is all."
"Oh! Put Sherman on the line, I want to talk to him." The woman said suddenly, a certain love lining her tone which could only be described as the love a grandmother would have for her grandchild.
"O-okay?" Peabody stuttered, a tad odded out by the request but never the less, he settled the phone next to Sherman's ear and watched for a few seconds as the baby happily babbled into the phone. "I will never understand-"
He paused when he realized that there were still a few things he needed to complete before the thought of leaving was even an option. Quickly, the dog rushed to the kitchen counter and plucked up a sealed envelope. Since the family would be gone for the week, he felt it necessary to have someone look after the penthouse for the time being. This task would be left to his neighbor from two floors down, and enclosed with a list of things that needed to be done around the house, a spare key was concealed. A knock on the door altered him that the woman was now here for said envelope.
"Coming!" He called as he headed to the door and unlocked it.
Peabody's blonde neighbor/friend was soon reviled, her hair tied back in a rather clean ponytail compared to her usually messy one and her four year old daughter (Whose name Peabody had yet to set to memory) clutched around her boot cut jeans. Oddly enough, this clean and cut look normally meant that she was at her busiest, making Peabody feel a bit (but not so much) guilty for posing this task on her at the last second.
"Good morning Source, you are looking well this morning." Peabody greeted, casually handing her the envelope and patting her small daughter on the head.
"Thanks. I just woke up actually." The woman laughed, slowly bending and picking up her daughter. "And this little one just wanted to come say farewell for now."
"Bye bye." The girl said quickly, ducking her head into her mother's chest and refraining from making eyecontact for the rest of the encounter.
"That is sweet." The dog commented with a soft chuckle before shaking his head. "Anyhow, the envelope contains a list of emergency contact numbers, including mother's cell phone and house number. The fridge has been stocked incase you want anything, and well, most of it is in the note so just read that." The dog said quickly, walking back over to his son suddenly and snatching up the phone.
The baby boy squeaked in protest at the loss of his new talking-buddy, but that didn't last long as he soon took interest in his favorite neighbor standing in the doorway. He reached for her and she was at his side instantly, playing with his tiny hands and giggling as happily as he was. Turning her head, Source smiled up at Peabody, who was now helplessly listening to his mother's overly-bubbly words at how talkative the one year old Sherman was and how smart he was bound to be in the future.
"Lets hope Sherman is as excited to meet grandma as much as she is to meet him." The blonde laughed, loud enough apparently for Mrs. Chien to hear.
"Ursula? Is that Ursula, your little girlfriend from collage?" The older woman asked, knowing full well who it was. "Put her on the phone! I haven't talked to her in ages!"
"Mother! She is just my neighbor." Peabody said with a shake of the head. "And just a friend for that matter, for a dog to date a human would b-"
Before he could finish, the phone was snatched up by the blonde, who in turn casually waved him off. Peabody rolled his eyes and shook his head as he went to Sherman and picked up his carrier carefully. Knowing those two, by the time they hung up the phone then Peabody and Sherman would have already gotten to the older woman's house, which was a distance of at least 41 hours. This wasn't even an over-exaggeration (Well maybe it was), regardless, they would be off of the phone by the time the boys got there, which would be again, 41 hours from now.
"We'll be off down, Source! See you in a little while, mother!" Peabody called so that both women could hear as he grabbed his suitcase and rushed out the front door.
One Trip To The Airport Later:
"And that, Sherman, is what we adults refer to as 'Road Rage'." Peabody said simply as he pulled up to the airports entrance. "You must never repeat the words spoken nor the action of that particular gentleman who cut us off at the intersection. Understand?"
The baby simply cooed happily and waved his hands around above his head, clearly having no idea as to what his father was talking about. With that, the dog removed the boy from his strapped in seat and carried him inside. They still had a while to spare before their flight took off, but with security precautions still needed to go through, they really didn't have much time. Luckily, everything seemed to go smoothly, that was until they got to the metal detector.
"Sir, please remove anything on your person and place it into this bucket." The security guard said in a bored tone.
Peabody groaned and set the carrier down and set his wallet, keys, glasses, passport, cell phone, and his MP3 player into the bucket and walked through the detector. It rung loudly as he stepped back through the gate and tossed in the loose change he seemed to have forgotten and tried again, only to get the same result. Since Peabody was a well known dog, the guard did not suspect that he was hiding any weapons, but that didn't mean that he didn't still want to mess with him.
"For goodness sake!" Peabody exclaimed as the alarm went off yet again.
What on Earth could he be forgetting? He was sure that he had removed anything metal on his person except- Oh gosh, he would technically be naked if he took that off! Though, the odds of it being that were very slim though. Then again, his luck today was also just as slim.
"Sure you don't have anything else?" The man asked, a smirk playing over his thin lips when he noticed the look on the dog's face. "Not even a collar?"
Yeah, so apparently it was his bowtie. With a deep breath, he attempted to collect what ever amount of pride and dignity he had left and removed the dang thing, making him appear all the more dog-like now.
"It is not a collar, it is a bowtie." Peabody said as he placed it into the bucket. "The metal tab is just a decoration."
"Sure." The guard snickered as the dog walked though, and then Sherman was brought through also.
Peabody rolled his eyes and quickly gathered up his things and redressed before picking Sherman back up and carrying him towards the next roadblock. After confirming that Sherman had his travel shots and a doctors approval to travel, the two turned in their tickets and travel books before finally going to board the plane. This sight seemed to excite Sherman to no end as he began to coo loudly as they went to find their seats. They had window seats, meaning that Sherman would be able to get a good look at the clouds and world below them. Things would have been perfect if it hadn't been for the man who sat down next to them.
"Oh great, I'm next to a baby." The man muttered, not happy with his assigned seat. "And some idiot dog also."
Peabody's ears perked up a bit, as he slowly turned and looked at the man. He was both surprised that the man would say such a thing while they were in hearing distance, but he was also a tad annoyed with the man.
"Excuse, but what did you mean by that?" His voice was firm and unwavering.
"Nothing, but that kid better not cry the entire flight." The man shot back, his voice more harsh and annoyed. "And you better not whatever it is dogs do when they fly."
"I assure you sir, Sherman and I will be well behaved this flight." Peabody said, patting his boy's head gently as the baby cooed happily.
"Is your owner around or anything, because I'm not going to take your word for it."
If Peabody was going to spend the next forty hours on a flight next to this man, then he wanted to get something down right now.
"Let me tell you something-" Sherman's ears were covered for this next part.
Sherman couldn't tell what his father was saying, but instantly the man next to them paled and shrunk back into his seat the more Peabody spoke. The low rumbling that emitted from his father's chest was comforting and Sherman soon found himself drifting to sleep, mindless of the fight going on around him.
"And you sir, are an even bigger one!" The dog concluded, finally taking his hands away from the boy's ears. "The nerve of some people!"
"Geez man, okay, calm down!" The other stuttered, scooting away a bit and burying his face in a nearby magazine to avoid making eye contact with the enraged dog.
Peabody took a few deep, calming breaths before looked back down at his sleeping child and smiling lovingly at him. Even though Sherman more than likely couldn't hear him, he spoke to him anyway in a low whisper so his words were kept just between Sherman and him.
"Mrs. Chien will get along with you well." He began softly, petting the other's head gently again. "She is a very kind woman, and I only have the fondest of memories of her in the year that I lived with her."
His voice began to trail off as he felt himself slipping back into a much different time, all of those years ago.
The puppy farm was a cold and bitter place on nights like these. The storm clouds raged loudly over head, unleashing an assault of heavy rain and lighting onto the world, followed by several rolls of thunder. While any other puppy would just cower in the corner, the only inhabitant of the farm found himself watching the rain with a certain sadness in his eyes. For years he had been here, and he knew what would happen to a dog like him if he didn't get adopted soon.
"No one seems to want the pup." The owner muttered, rubbing his sore fingers together in an attempt to loosen the tension in them. "This place won't be around much longer, so if no one gets him soon... well then..."
Of course, Peabody knew what that meant, which is why he felt the way he did now. Today would be his last day on this good Earth, and by the way he saw things, he whole existence had been nothing but a blink in the whole of time. He had so much more to offer the world, so many footprints to leave behind, but sadly since he was born in the form he was in, none of that potential mattered. That was sadly the way things had to be.
He had come to accept this, and to be honest he had been expecting this. His signs were wiped out by a sudden roll of thunder, seemingly reminding him of in just a few hours it would be like he had never been there. He could see the old owner of the far approaching the puppy pen, a vet following close behind. The rain that washed down on them made them appear all the more sinister.
"I'm sorry." The owner muttered under his breath when Peabody was in hearing range.
Peabody frowned, and slowly curled up on himself as he waited for the painless death that awaited him. It never came though, because the sounds of squeaking tires and a loud horn honking soon brought everyone's attention forward. No sooner had the horn sounded did a woman of medium height and build, wearing a dark purple rain coat and black heels come rushing forward.
"Wait!" She exclaimed, her voice louder than the thunder as she trudged through the wet earth. "I'm here to answer your add, about the puppy."
She waved a newspaper clipping in her hand that could only be guessed to be said add as she rushed towards the three, stumbling only a bit as her heel got caught in the mud but luckily she caught herself last second and kept running until she was face to face with the farm's owner. She frowned when she saw the vet nearby.
"I'm not to late am I?" She gasped sadly as she tried to reclaim her breath. "I tried to get here as soon as I could bu-"
"No, no. You're just in time ma'am." The owner said kindly, but then shared her frown. "But, you realize that this dog isn't- Well, normal... Right?"
The woman turned suddenly to Peabody, who was still curled up in a small ball. Slowly, he opened a single jade eye to look up at her and felt the sinking fear that came along with the thought of the woman turning around and leaving once she knew that he was no ordinary dog. Instead of leaving though, she smiled and sank to her knees before collecting the dog into her arms and smiled.
"Of course I do. And that does not matter to me at all." She said as she smiled happily, petting the dog's head gently. "I've always wanted a son you know."
It may have just been his high emotions, but Peabody could have sworn that the woman's smile outshone the sun that day, which was still tucked behind a dark patch of clouds. This woman had been the first human to ever show him such kindness and expectance.
"Hes all yours then, miss-" He paused and waited for the woman to fill in the blank.
"Chien." She said with a soft giggle. "Ironic, I know."
Peabody looked up at the woman, and pressed a hand to her arm to make sure that she was real and he was not dreaming. Yes, she was there, and she was finally going to take him to a place that he could call home. He couldn't stop his tail from wagging as he smiled brightly at the woman, the rain now long forgotten as he snuggled closer to her chest and shut his eyes gently.
By the time Peabody snapped out of his trance, he realized that he had been sleeping. Sherman was still asleep at well, but he was smiling widely as he snuggled into the dog's fur and continued to sleep. Peabody returned the smile, at stroked his small cheek as he looked out the window at the storm clouds down below them. Normally, they would have been the most dreadful things for one to see, but to him- They were beautiful.