disclaimer: The X-Men are the property of Marvel, while Jenny belongs to me.

The Puppy
by Dizi

(the day before chapter 12 of "Human in a Mutant World") two days before Jenny's 'housewarming' barbeque

Looking around Bishop nodded in satisfaction. "The house looks good and security will be as good as I can get it by tomorrow. Only one thing left and I'll take care of that for you today."

"The furniture arrives tomorrow. What's left?" Jenny asked with a frown.

"You need a good guard dog. Electronics can only do so much." He explained.

"No." She said emphatically. "Oh, no. I do NOT want a dog in my brand new house messing the place up."

"Logan and I will train it. You won't have to worry about a thing." Bishop continued.

"You're not listening." Jenny raised her voice slightly for emphasis. "No dog."

"A good dog will alert you in case of trouble and be protection at the same time." He acted as though she hadn't spoken.

"You're still not listening." Jenny crossed her arms and looked him straight in the eye. "No. Dog."

(during chapter 16 of "Human and the Demon") the day Jenny went back home after her extended recovery at the mansion

"I am not having this argument with you again, Bish." Jenny said, bringing her bags of possessions into the house. "No dog."

"You can see the benefit. You can use the extra protection, especially with Lacy here and a baby soon. Besides," he decided to throw in something a bit more emotional, "every boy needs a dog, and Lacy is having a boy." He nodded to the listening woman.

"I can't believe you're starting this again. I do not want a dog." She turned to Lacy. "You just rest here and we'll put your things in your room."

Lacy watched Jenny go and looked up at Bishop from the couch. "Tell me more about boys needing a dog."

(sometime during chapter 20 of "Human and the Demon") during Kurt and Jenny's wedding reception

"You know," Bishop said to Kurt as both men watched Jenny dance with Steve Rodgers, "with you going off on your honeymoon the house will be just sitting there. It's a real security risk when people leave a house empty for a long period of time. You could use a good guard dog. I can get you one, it could be a wedding present."

Kurt shook his head, not even looking at the other man. "Jenny has told me of your arguments. She does not vish to have a dog. I am not going to start my marriage by accepting the offer she has been refusing."

"Damn," Bishop muttered under his breath.

The day before Zelig's first birthday

"What is that?"

"What?"

"That-that thing you are unsuccessfully hiding under your jacket."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"It's moving."

"My jacket does not move."

"Whatever's inside it does, and whatever it is, I don't want it in my house." Jenny warned. "Bish? Bishop? Are you listening?"

"I always listen to you, Jenny." he said as he stepped inside the house. A low whine and a soft bark came from under the jacket as he shifted and moved past Jenny.

"You're just not going to do as I say," she said dryly.

"I'm just not going to do as you say," he agreed. "Where's Zelig?"

Jenny stood straight and gave him a hard look. "Don't you dare wake him up! Bish? Bishop!" She called to his back as he walked across the livingroom towards the nursery. "This thing is NOT staying!"

Once in the nursery, Bishop took the puppy out and held it up to look it in the eyes. "It's okay, girl. It might take awhile but she'll come around. First step is to win him over." The puppy licked his face excitedly and he petted her until she calmed down. Then he very carefully placed her into the bed with Zelig and sat down in the rocking chair to watch.

The almost one year old didn't stir as the puppy curled up around him and went to sleep.

An hour later

Kurt and Logan walked in with two full bags of ingredients Jenny had needed for Zelig's birthday cake. As the party was for tomorrow, he wasn't sure why they hadn't already had them but, as he was not the one baking it, he was not going to complain. He'd done that once before and had learned never to do it again.

Both men instinctively took defensive stances at the tension in the air. Bishop and Jenny were decorating for the next day but didn't seem to be talking to each other, and anger was positively radiating from her.

He decided to bypass whatever was wrong and ask a safe question. "Zelig is not avake yet?"

That must not have been quite as off topic as he'd intended because Jenny stiffened and said, "Listen."

Kurt tilted his head to listen, not sure what he was listening for but knowing it was connected to his son. He could hear over the baby monitor that the boy was laughing good naturedly and talking in his baby speech, which usually made Jenny laugh too. Confused, he looked to Logan and was surprised the man was trying to keep a straight face. What had the other man heard that he couldn't? And why was Jenny upset when Zelig was so happy?

"Keep listening," she said through gritted teeth, taking the grocery bags and hurrying into the kitchen.

A moment later, a happy bark sounded, followed by a trill of happy laughter from Zelig and Jenny slamming a cabinet door. With wide eyes, Kurt rushed to the nursery.

He was prepared to be indignant on Jenny's behalf. She had made no secret that she didn't want a dog. As her husband, it was his job to support her. He didn't care either way and as she did her decision was final. That's the way it was, and that's how it should be.

However, the sight that met his eyes warmed his heart. It was no wonder Jenny wasn't going in herself. He knew, she knew, they all knew, she would feel the same if she saw what he was seeing now.

The puppy was jumping all over the crib, licking Zelig's face and then jumping back. Zelig was crawling from one end of the crib to the other chasing the puppy. Every so often he would succeed in catching it and the puppy would bark, lick the boy into submission, wiggle away, and they would start over.

Kurt watched for at least ten minutes, an indulgent smile on his face. It hadn't taken long for the two to fall in love with each other - Bishop had obviously chosen well. There was no way he could separate them.

He just had no idea how to break it to Jenny, and he considered his options carefully as he walked towards the kitchen.

He found her mixing the cake batter with a vengeance. She didn't look up from the mixing bowl, though he knew she was aware of his presence.

"Liebchen," he said cajolingly, stepping up behind her.

She mixed faster.

"Liebling," he tried again, placing his hands on her shoulders.

And faster.

"Geliebt," he tried a third time, adding a touch of seductiveness to his voice and massaging her shoulders gently.

Jenny didn't think she could go any faster without splashing the batter everywhere, so stopped abruptly, set the bowl down carefully, and gripped the cabinets. Kurt continued to rub her shoulders and the tension slowly drained out of her. "Logan and Bishop vill train her."

She made a disgusted sound at Bishop's name being mentioned, and he knew that was probably not the best way to start. "He has brought food and toys for her. Ve can put in a pet door."

A sigh escaped her, whether from his words or his hands neither was exactly sure.

"He loves her already, Jenny. Ve cannot take her from him. Vhat else can be done?" he said reasonably.

"I know, why do you think I was so mad? He went around me, Kurt, he sabotaged me by going straight to Zelig. I didn't have to see, you can hear it over the monitor." She sighed again and leaned back against him. "I really didn't want a dog."

"Ja, I know." He kissed her temple, and promised rashly. "I vill take care of her. You vill not haf to vorry about a zhing."

She gave him a suspicious look. "You'll clean up after it? I won't have to worry about puddles on the carpet or other nasty surprises?"

"Oh, nien," he swore, "I vill take care of everyzhing."

"Sorry ta interrupt," Logan said, sticking his head in the door, "but we gotta go." He hesitated then said in a rush, "Ya might wanna check on 'em. They been kinda quiet in there."

Jenny closed her eyes and gripped the counter again.

"I vill take care of it," he promised, hurrying from the room.

By the time Jenny had the cake in the oven and the counters clean, she was calm and wondering where her 'men' were. She had expected them to have shown up by now. Passing through the living room, she could hear Kurt cursing in German over the baby monitor and made a mental note to speak to him about it. Zelig was learning to talk and she didn't want such words in his initial vocabulary.

"Ma!" Zelig called cheerfully, when she opened the door.

"Hi, my little man," she laughed. He was standing at the crib rail smiling at her, but that wasn't what had put her in a laughing mood.

On his hands and knees on the floor, Kurt was picking up diaper stuffing, the puppy sitting beside him and wagging its tail. The entire floor was covered in the white fluff and a piece was dangling from the dog's chin. Well, now she knew what the cursing was about and maybe he had an idea why she was against having a dog.

"Hey, sweetie," she cooed to the laughing boy, "are you ready for some juice?" She looked around and continued in the same sweet tone. "Daddy has to go to the store again. Yes, he does."

Kurt gave her a surprised look and paused in his work. Jenny gestured to the empty bag on the floor. "Those were the last of the diapers. I think it was a half full."

Putting more of the fluff in the trash bag before the puppy could get to it, Kurt cursed again.

One month later

"Don't wag your tail at me. I'm mad at you, and I never liked you anyway." Jenny said irritably, scrubbing at the large wet area on the hallway carpet. "I think Kurt went on this mission just to get away from you. You know that, right?"

Far from being contrite for her actions, the puppy wiggled its body happily at the sound of Jenny's voice.

"I thought you were being trained. I was promised this wouldn't happen. I am NOT supposed to have to deal with this." She looked up and met the canine's bright eyes. "We have a pet door so you can go outside."

The puppy leapt forward and licked Jenny's face.

"Eeewwww." She swiped at the wet strip with the back of her hand. "You're not even smart enough to run and hide when I find it. You are supposed to be protection?"

Jenny dodged when she leapt for her again. "Stupid dog."

Later that night

Thunder sounded with a loud BOOM causing the entire house to vibrate and waking Jenny. Hard on its heels came a pitiful howl and Zelig crying simultaneously as both were startled too. She hurried to the nursery to find her son sitting up, huge tears rolling down his face.

"Don't worry, sweetie, Mama's here." She took in the scene as she crossed the room. The puppy was licking the tears away and Zelig had one hand stretched out towards her and the other clutching the dog's fur. He let go in favor of his mother when Jenny reached for him, though.

Rubbing his back soothingly, Jenny murmured, "You can sleep with me tonight." She walked slowly back to her bedroom, swaying in the manner she has used to calm him since he was first born, and he laid his head sleepily on her shoulder.

Thunder sounded again and duel whimpers came from her shoulder and her feet. Jenny groaned as she realized the puppy had followed them.

"Go away. You are not sleeping in my bed." she told her, and put from her mind the sorrowful look in the doggy eyes and the way she whined pitifully. "No. I mean it, little boys only."

Jenny put Zelig in the middle of the bed and climbed in, pulling the covers around them and tucking him protectively against her.

The rain pounding on the roof quickly lulled them both to sleep, so she didn't notice the slight bounce on the bed as the puppy jumped up on it. Somewhere inside she did feel her nose her way under the covers and snuggle against Jenny's arm wrapped around Zelig.

Two weeks later

Jenny peeked in the living room to be sure Kurt was fully involved playing with Zelig, before quietly walking to the pantry. Reaching behind the Moonpies, oatmeal, and baby biscuits she pulled out the pouch of doggie treats.

She took one out and held it up so the dog could see it. "Alright, do your trick. Dance for me."

Tail thumping, the excited canine stood on her hind legs, forepaws in the air, and slowly turned in a circle twice.

"Good girl," Jenny crooned, ruffling the dog's fur s she gave her the treat. "See? It's not so hard."

Two days later

Zelig crawled into the grass after the little ball Kurt had been throwing for the dog moments earlier. Reaching it, he sat down with a plop and picked it up with both hands. With all his might he threw the ball, making it land a few feet away.

The dog, still really just a puppy, ran after it and nudged it back to him with her nose. He laughed in delight and reached for the ball to do it again.

"So ya still ain't even named her?" Logan asked incredulously from the picnic table where he, Kurt, and Bishop watched the antics a few yards away.

Kurt shook his head. "Everytime I suggest somezhing Jenny says it does not fit or valks avay."

"Well, Zelig isn't going to like it but we should get busy with her." Bishop grabbed the leash from the table. Walking to the dog, he clipped it to her collar and started to pull her to the middle of the yard, making the boy howl in anger.

Digging her paws in the grass, she struggled to go back to Zelig and the ball.

Bishop sternly said, "Come," and tapped her on the nose with two fingers.

She yelped and jumped, causing the collar to pull around her throat and yelp again, Zelig screaming and crying the whole time.

The screen door slamming behind her, Jenny rushed outside to find out what the commotion was. Placing her hands on her hips, she demanded, "What do you think you're doing?"

Looking at her in surprise, Bishop said, "It's time for her training. She's-"

"You let her go and leave my dog alone." Jenny interrupted, glaring at him.

Shocked, Kurt and Logan watched Bishop silently remove the leash.

Still glaring, now at all three men, Jenny picked up Zelig, who patted her face and said "Gaagle." She went to the backdoor, paused, snapped her fingers, and said "Girl."

Girl gave them a haughty look as she preceded Jenny inside.

"Guess she's got a name after all." Logan said in a low voice. "An' her trainin's comin' along great."

note: I've had some family issues and been really involved in the new stories. There is more to come here but I can no longer promise to post regularly (obviously). I will continue to post this story and will hopefully start the next story end of January or sometime February.

Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi