Clem's Pov:

I pushed open my front door and walked inside, glad that it was a Saturday and I had the time to figure this all out. I felt bad that I had to leave Louis and Sophie and especially Violet, but I knew she'd be in good hands. They wouldn't let anything happen to her. Plus if I was ever going to get this done I needed time to myself.

"Clem!"

So much for that.

That's when I was tackled into a hug by a very energetic five-year-old. "Whoa, hey there goofball," I said hugging him back.

AJ pulled back and looked up at me. "You didn't come home last night. I missed you."

"Sorry about that, bud. I spent the night at Louis's house. I...uh...I was helping a friend." I rubbed my neck sheepishly hoping AJ wouldn't question it.

He nodded with a disappointed pout on his face. "Yeah, that's what dad said."

Speaking of which, I looked around the living room and noticed that Lee wasn't here. "Hey, AJ do you think you can show me where dad is?"

AJ nodded excitedly. "Yeah, he's in the kitchen. I'll show you!"

AJ grabbed onto my hand and practically dragged me through the living room and into the kitchen where we could see Lee seated at the table with a stack of papers and his coffee as he looked over some paperwork from school.

He looked up when we entered and smiled at me as he took a drink of his coffee. "Hey there, sweet pea."

"See, dad's right here." AJ points at Lee as he looks up at me. "Now can we go play?"

"In-In a little bit AJ." It's sweet that AJ's excited to hang out with me and normally he has my undivided attention, but I really need to talk to Lee at the moment. "I need to talk with dad first about something. Why don't you go ahead and play in your room and I'll find you later, okay?"

I can see his face fall when I deny his request. "Promise?"

I chuckle at his question. "I promise."

I see his face light up at this. "Yes!" Then he runs out of the kitchen leaving just me and Lee alone.

"So, you have something to tell me then?" Lee says grabbing my attention as he sets his papers aside.

I nervously walk up to the table and take a seat across from him. I don't know what he's going to say to this, but I'm hoping he'll support my cause. "Well, more like ask you."

"Oh boy, how much money is it going to cost me this time?" He says jokingly.

"What, no, it's nothing like that!" I'm quick to clear up, to show that it wasn't money that I wanted. "It's...well...It's complicated. Well, I mean...not really...I just..." I find myself fidgeting with my phone in my hands, not sure how I'm going to explain this.

I have the first part done. Earlier this morning I had pulled Louis aside and told him my plan to see if he was willing to go in on it with me, to which he more than happily agreed. He even took it a step further saying he would cover any costs. So I had checked this website to see if they had anything that would fit the description of what I was looking for. Then once I found what I thought would be a good match for Violet I showed Louis and he said he would buy everything we would need.

So now I already have everything else planned out, but I still needed Lee to be on board since neither I nor Louis is over the age eighteen just yet. All I needed was Lee to sign off on it and me and Louis could cover the rest. Though Lee still may need to drive me there.

So I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what I was about to tell my adoptive father. "Do...do you remember when I said I was um...dating this girl named Violet? Violet Knight?"

Lee thought about it for a minute before replying. "I do. I believe I have her in one of my history classes. Very quiet girl."

I nodded agreeing with him. "Yeah, well that's because Violet is mute...or, uh...selectively mute." I looked down at my hands as I continued to flip my phone over in them. "I-I just recently found out that her um...her life at home isn't the best. It's been hard on her lately. She...she's been through a lot." I say sadly as I refuse to look up at Lee.

"I had no idea. Is everything okay? Is Violet alright?" Lee asks me worriedly.

"Things are better as of right now, but I-I wanted to do something for her and I hope...Well, I'm hoping that you could help me with something?" I quickly unlock my phone and type the name of the website that I was looking at earlier into the search bar as I talk.

"Violet, she um...she has very high anxiety and it's easy for her to get overwhelmed in certain situations, especially if she's alone. I-I thought this might help." I pass my phone over to Lee and show him the information on the screen.

Lee raises a brow at the image on my phone, so I'm quick to clarify how we would do this. "Louis has agreed to help me and we would cover everything. We just need someone over the legal age of eighteen to sign the official paperwork. I wanted it to be a surprise so I-I was hoping you could help us with that part."

It's silent for a minute as I see Lee read over some of the information and guidelines of the website. Lee is usually very supportive when it comes to certain causes, like how he was supportive of the fact that I'm dating another girl. But I'm worried he's going to shut this down. I know it's a lot to ask and I know he's never really met Violet face to face outside of school, but I hope he takes my word for it.

I'm surprised when his face breaks out into an elated grin. "That sounds like a great idea Clem. When did you want to drive up there?" He asks handing me back my phone.

I smile at Lee's enthusiasm and support and I scroll through the webpage to look for the phone number. "The sooner the better, if...if that's okay with you. But I need to call ahead to confirm."

Lee nods his head as he turns back to his paperwork. "Whatever works best for you sweet pea. Just tell me when and we can go pick it up."

I smile and run up to him to give him a hug. "Thanks, dad." Then I walk out of the kitchen with way more confidence than I had walking in as I listen to the dial tone on the other end of the phone. If this all works out, I'm hoping it'll do wonders for Violet.

The next day it's about a quarter to eleven when we pull up in front of this brick building with a bright blue and red sign going across the front and my excitement was building with every step we took towards the front doors. I was a little nervous that Violet might not like the idea, but the constant reassurance from Louis helped push back any fear.

He put an arm around my shoulder as we walked through the doors, Lee and AJ right behind us. "You've got this orange. Violet will love it, and if not, you can always get her a stuffed animal." I shook my head at his suggestion, but that might not actually be a bad idea.

We walked through the front door and we were greeted by a girl at the front desk, someone who I actually knew from years ago that just happened to be volunteering here. "Jessie?"

She smiled at me. "Hey, Clem. It's been a while."

Louis looks at me confused. "You actually know someone who works here?"

"Oh, she doesn't work here, just volunteers every so often. But we go way back, Jessie has known me since I was eight. She's more like a friend of the family if anything." I tell him.

"So what brings you guys here?" We get asked.

I step up to the front of the counter and explain our situation. "I called yesterday to confirm an appointment were picking up for Everett."

I can see Jessie flip through a binder on the desk until she stopped on a page and runs her finger down the middle until she reaches my last name. "Right, Everett. The name is made out for Violet Knight though, is that correct?"

I nod to confirm this. "Yes, that's correct. We wanted it to be a surprise."

She smiles at me. "That's awesome, Clem. So I'm assuming Mr. Everatt's here to fill out the paperwork then." She grabs a form from off the desk and attaches it to a clipboard and sets it on the edge for Lee to take.

"That would be correct," Lee says with a smile as he takes the forms and a pen from her. "But just Lee is fine, you don't have to be formal with me Jessie." To which she nods.

"Alright, wait right here. I'll go grab him for you." She tells us and disappears down the hall and into the back where we can no longer see her. Then a few minutes later she comes back with a little carrying cage. "You guys are going to love him, he's the best that I know of and my personal favorite." She says as she puts the cage down on the top of the desk and opens the door.

Then she pulls out a little brown rabbit that's no bigger than a football. Honestly, he could probably fit inside my baseball cap, that's how small he is. He looks exactly like the type of rabbit you'd see outside in your front yard, but smaller. "This is Woody. He'll be Violet's Emotional Support Animal."

Then before I know it, she's setting him down in my arms. "Careful now, make sure you support the back feet."

I hold him kind of in a similar way I'd hold a baby, with one hand under him and one wrapped around. But he didn't move. Just sat peacefully in my arms. It's the calmest rabbit I've ever seen. Even when AJ runs up and asks if he can pet him, Woody is still non-reactant.

I think Louis thinks the same thing as he pets him because he says, "He's so chill. The little dude doesn't even care that all of us are touching him."

I hear Jessie laugh at his comment as I put the rabbit back into the carrier. "That's Woody for you. I made sure you got the best. He'll be perfect for your girl." She winks at me and my face turns slightly red.

Louis leans over towards me and whispers, "How did she know Violet's your girlfriend?"

"There's not a lot that gets past Jessie. Some things she just knows." I tell him.

Louis gives me a worried look. "Well, that's a little scary." Then he smirks. "Is she going to read my fortune next."

I lightly smack him on the shoulder. "Shut up, Louis."

"So you said Violet deals with a lot of stress and anxiety." I hear Jessie ask.

"Yeah, she's been going through a rough time. We were hoping that getting a therapy animal might help." I explained.

"Well, you came to the right place. ESA animals like Woody are designed to help people who deal with high levels of stress, anxiety, or depression. They help to keep people calm. I find rabbits to be especially calming, but that's just my opinion." She tells us.

Then Lee walked back over and handed her the completed paperwork. "All filled out."

She takes it from him and checks that everything is right. Then she pulls out one last sheet with a signature box at the bottom. "Alright, just your signature here and we're good."

Lee signs the bottom and then she turns around and grabs one of the tags that are hanging up on the wall behind her and hands it to me. It reads Emotional Support Animal around the edge and has E.S.A. in big red letters in the middle under the caduceus symbol. Next, she runs over to this filing cabinet and runs through some folders until she reaches the last name Knight. She pulls out the folder and places it on the desk and opens it.

Inside is an official certificate the shows the name of the animal, it's designed purpose, and the handler's name. It has the organization's seal of approval and the official name across the top that says Emotional Support Animal Registration of America. There are also three little ID cards that all contain the same information. They have Woddy and Violet's name, along with the type of service animal that he is and an ID code at the top in bright red letters that reads #151412. The cards also have a picture of Woody on the front and on the back, it says Emotional Support Animal along with the caduceus again and at the bottom, it says Protected under the ACAA & FHA Access Required by Law.

Jessie explains that these can be used as ID tags in a lanyard, or you can carry them in a wallet or they can even be attached to a key chain that way you don't have to carry around the paper certificate. There are also some papers explaining all about therapy animals and their designed purpose inside the folder.

Then lastly she leaves real quick and brings back this tiny red vest that has black patches on the sides with the words ESA Support written in white and an ID pocket holder. She puts all of this in a bag and hands it to me. Then Louis pays for the cost of everything, but not before buying a blue lanyard with pawprints on it for Violet to put the ID tags on.

"If you have any questions or problems just let us know and will try and help you with the situation." Then she pushed the cage across the counter towards us. "Now he's all yours."

I hand Lee the bag full of identification material and then grab the cage with Woody in it from off of the counter. We all wave goodbye and make our way back to Lee's car. I'm really glad we were able to do this, but I'm worried about how Violet will react when she finds out I got her a live animal as a gift. Now we have one last test and I just hope Violet takes this well.

Fun fact, I've actually done research on therapy animals in the past year for a research project, so I thought it was cool to be able to incorporate some of that into this chapter. And Woody is actually a real rabbit that I own as well. :)