So this oneshot was inspired by a tiktok I saw on instagram I saw shortly after posting the last chapter. I can't link to it here, but if you look up this chapter over on ao3, there will be a link there. And the title is from the audio used in the tiktok...

Oh No

A squeak from the door had Claire finally pulling her attention away from her laptop. She'd spent most of the weekend holed up in her home office, trying to get through some final budget numbers as they were sorting out their end of the year reports. She expected to see Owen, or even Maisie, poking their head around the door, once again bugging her to join them, but no one appeared. However, the tell-tale clicking of Murphy's nails on the hardwood floor gave him away, as he snuck around her desk, before shoving his head under the arm rest and onto her lap.

"Hey, Murph," Claire greeted the dog, dropping a hand down to scratch him behind his ears. "How come you're not in the backyard with your dad?"

Murphy just pushed closer to her, his eyes drifting shut as she continued to scratch his head idly.

"Did he send you in here to drag me out?" Claire asked. She wouldn't put it past Owen to do so (or past Murphy to try to comply), but either way, it probably wouldn't be a bad thing to get up and stretch her legs for a bit. "Let's go see what he's up to."

Getting up, she followed Murphy out of her office. He led her to the kitchen where he grabbed the rope hanging from the sliding door and used it to tug the door open. Claire made sure to close the door behind them as they stepped outside. (Murphy still hadn't perfected that part — he liked to open doors, but seemed to forget about them once they were no longer a barrier to getting where he wanted to go).

Claire watched Murphy race across the back deck, jumping over the couple of steps down to the grass before tearing across the yard towards one of his (many) balls that seemed to always end up scattered everywhere. Chuckling to herself (and also a bit envious of his energy level), she then let her gaze wander as she searched out Owen. She found him in their favourite spot — stretched out in the hammock which was swaying slightly.

Stepping down from the deck herself, Claire made her way across the yard towards him. As she got close, she could see that he was asleep, which explained his lack of greeting. He was still holding onto a book which was now draped over his chest with one hand, and she assumed he fell asleep mid-sentence.

Coming to a stop at his side, she was tempted to reach out and run her fingers through his hair, a soft smile forming on her lips, as she watched the light filtering down through the leaves above dance across his face. She resisted, not wanting to wake him, not when he looked so relaxed and peaceful. She knew he'd had a long couple of weeks himself and hadn't been sleeping well.

A bump against her legs took her attention away from Owen, as she looked down to see Murphy with his ball clutched in his mouth, his tail wagging furiously as he danced in place.

"Okay, okay," Claire said, accepting the slobbery ball from. "But just a few throws, then I should go back in."

She quickly threw the ball across the yard, watching Murphy race for it, leaping into the air and managing to snag it mid-jump. She knew her tosses weren't as fast or strong as Owen's, and that Murphy liked to show off his ability to catch with hers.

A few seconds later Murphy was back, eagerly handing over the ball, his tail wagging. He was already off running before she could even throw the ball this time, letting out a quick woof when he glanced back and saw she hadn't tossed it. She quickly followed through, trying to tamp down her chuckle.

A murmur from behind her distracted her from watching Murphy's catch, and she turned, thinking that maybe Owen had woken up, but he was just shifting in his sleep, the book falling out of his hand and landing on the grass. She kind of wished he'd wake up. While she should go back in and try to finish up her work, standing outside, the white noise of the neighbourhood, the chirping of birds, the soft breeze was making her feel sort of sleepy herself, and she was tempted to climb into the hammock with him.

Before she had a chance to do anything (like wake Owen up herself), Murphy was back with his ball and Claire threw it again, this time watching Murphy as he ran after it. Just as he was coming back, the backdoor opened again and Maisie stepped outside, causing Murphy to detour towards her instead. Claire didn't take any offense — she knew Maisie had a better throw than she did — and besides, she was always happy to not be the one required to throw, as once Murphy started, he never wanted to stop.

Instead she watched as Maisie wrestled the ball away from Murphy before throwing it across the yard. While Maisie had been the one who'd wanted a dog most of all, and while Murphy definitely loved the girl, he was definitely Owen's dog, first and foremost. He'd spend time with both Claire and Maisie, but he was always happiest when he got to be with Owen. Claire knew Maisie had initially felt a little disappointed over that, but she also knew that when Maisie had started to really realize just how much work a dog was to have all the time (not just when puppy-sitting), she was happier to share the responsibilities.

"Oops! I mean — FORE!" Maisie's shouted warning jerked Claire out of her thoughts, just in time to see that the ball was headed in her direction. However, it wasn't the ball that Maisie had been warning about, as Murphy, paying attention to the ball, and the ball alone, was also sprinting towards her at full speed. Claire quickly stepped aside, just as Murphy leapt, his attention still focused solely on the ball.

Claire knew what was about to happen, but she couldn't stop it, and it felt like she ended up watching it all happen in slow motion. Murphy twisting midair to grab the ball, before landing with a giant oomph right onto the edge of the hammock. There was barely time for Owen to let out a gasp, as he was startled awake, before the hammock tilted and swung, unceremoniously dumping both Murphy and Owen onto the ground beneath it.

For a long moment there was absolute silence, everyone sort of shocked by the outcome of events, before Maisie started laughing. And once Maisie started, Claire couldn't help but join in. Murphy was on his feet in seconds, the ball still clenched in his jaw, as he tried to bark around it. Owen, on the other hand, remained sprawled on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked, struggling to get the words out as she continued to laugh. She squatted down, reaching for Owen, getting a bit concerned when he didn't immediately respond.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Owen waved away her hand, crawling out from underneath the hammock. "Just… surprised."

"Oh man, Dad, that was great," Maisie said, as she came over to join them. "I wish I'd had my phone. I bet that would've gone viral."

"I'm glad you didn't, Owen grumbled, as he stood up, his hands brushing away the dirt and grass from his clothes.

"Only thing that would've made it better was if it had catapulted you into the air," Maisie continued, ignoring Owen's protest. "That would've been awesome."

"I don't think my back agrees," Owen said, stretching and twisting, before looking down at Murphy. "What was that about, Murph? You trying to kill me?"

Murphy dropped his ball as he bounded over to Owen, jumping up at him.

"You okay?" Claire asked again, as Owen squatted down, letting Murphy "apologize" to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Owen confirmed as he grabbed Murphy's ball off the ground. "But, I'm thinking no more ball throwing in the direction of the hammock."

"I didn't mean to," Maisie quickly said. "I mean, I was aiming over here, but not at you. The backyard's just kind of small to throw for him."

"Probably better to do that over in the field," Owen agreed.

Murphy knew that word, and quickly darted away from the group, heading to the gate in the back fence that opened to the path through the woods behind the house. When he got there, he looked back at the group with a, 'aren't you coming?' look.

"Not today, Murphy," Owen shook his head. "I've got some stuff I need to do."

"I could take him," Maisie offered. "Murphy, do you want to go with me?"

The dog let out a happy bark, pawing at the gate.

"Can I?" Maisie confirmed, turning back to Claire and Owen.

"Sure, have at it," Owen said, handing over the ball. "Maybe you can tire him out."

Once Maisie and Murphy were out of sight, Claire turned back to Owen. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked him again as she looked him over.

"I think I'm going to be a bit sore tomorrow," Owen admitted, rubbing his lower back for emphasis. "So much for a peaceful nap." He looked at the hammock, before letting out a sigh as his focus turned back to the house. "It's probably a good thing he woke me, even if I don't like his methods. I do have stuff I need to finish."

"Oh," Claire said.

"What's that mean?" Owen asked, before his gaze narrowed. "Actually, what are you doing out here? I thought you were super busy."

"I was. I mean, I am," Claire said. "Murphy came and got me. I actually thought you'd sent him to drag me out for a bit."

"So, back to work, I guess," Owen said with another sigh.

"Or..." Claire said, before looking past him back at the hammock.

"You think I'm going to trust that again after it just dumped me on the ground?"

Claire couldn't help rolling her eyes at his comment. "It wasn't the hammock's fault, and besides, Maisie's got Murphy now. But if you're too chicken, that's fine," she said as she stepped past him to the hammock and climbed in. "Just means more space for me."

"Chicken? Me?" Owen said as he stretched out his back once more, wincing a little. "Scooch over."

Claire was more than happy to oblige, curling around Owen as he joined her. He gave off some exaggerated moans and groans as he got comfortable.

"This getting old stuff really sucks," he said once he was comfortable beside her.

"It does, but I'll give you a massage later," Claire said, patting him gently on the chest.

She was just starting to drift off, when she was suddenly overcome with giggles. She tried to keep them contained, but it was no easy feat, her whole body shaking as she laughed.

"What?" Owen grumbled, having also been close to dozing off. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry," Claire gasped between laughs, "I just keep seeing the look on yours and Murphy's faces as the hammock flipped over. It really is too bad Maisie didn't catch it on her phone. I wish you could've seen it."


I really do love writing Murphy. But I also wanted to make sure to at least give Maisie an appearance again, because I feel like she's been forgotten in this series recently. I've got a few other ideas I'm still working on for this collection, and I've written 2 chapters of my new idea so far. Hoping to get some more writing done this week. It's been... slow. But, as always, stay tuned...