A/N: Requested anonymously on tumblr.

Enjoy!

The whole situation seemed picture perfect. Andy's been to the remains of the only slightly disastrous pet adoption circus or parade or event, or whatever. Andy isn't quite sure. There are many things that Andy Dwyer is unsure of at the moment, driving home with all the patience of a four-year old, and one of them is a name.

"What are we gonna name her?" Andy asks, every nerve in his body buzzing with excitement. While he waits for a response, he realizes the problem: April is at home and he's talking to himself. He glances in the rear-view mirror and giggles to himself. "What are we gonna name you?"

So lost in his own inability to wait to see April's reaction, he'd completely forgotten that April thought he was getting milk. At least, Andy's sure that's what he said. Either way, as he pulls into the driveway, the only thing on his mind is the little carrier in the backseat. Not much of a sound comes from it when he lifts it, or when he opens the door and shouts for April. There's a faint rumbling vibrating through the carrier but Andy can't tell if it's from him or his precious cargo. It doesn't take long for April to yell, letting him know she's lying in bed.

And with that knowledge a plan forms in his head.

Andy tiptoes into the bedroom despite his previous shouting. When he reaches their bedroom, the furious purring vibrates up his arm. Andy sets the carrier down on the bed a good distance from where April lay. She must not have felt the bit of weight on the bed or didn't care, which is much more likely considering her total spiral after the failed Animal Control adoption drive.

"Hey, babe," Andy calls for her, hand ready on the cage door. When April doesn't move, he repeats, "Hey, babe. I got something for ya."

"Andy, I'm not in the mood-"

April's mind clearly in the gutter, Andy chuckles. As she turned to face him, though, April instead locked her eyes on the beady golden eyes staring from the confines of the pet carrier. She says nothing and there is no smile, no amazement like when they found Champion in that depressing shelter. At first, Andy regrets his decision. April hates what he did and he knows it and now she's going to feel terrible at making this decision to go back.

April continues to say nothing, instead slinking out of her mess of covers and opening up the little cage door. As if knowing that these weird people who weren't talking to each other were okay, the little black kitten steps out of the carrier and in front of April. She lays down and faces the cat, body contorted, staring into her eyes. The little kitten paws awkwardly at April's nose, tiny claws thankfully retracted. When the gesture ends with the kitten's paw sliding down April's nose, the best sound Andy's heard in a week erupts out of his wife.

While she's laughing, this dark thing that teeters between drunken giggling and the chuckle of someone who knows a secret, Andy flops down beside her. The kitten jumps at the movement and stares at Andy, just like she did just half an hour before now.

"Where did you...?" April finally pipes up but she's reaching out to toy with the exploring strikes of a kitten's claw that grasp at her fingers. Andy gets the distraction.

"She was at the, y'know, the adoption thingy," Andy moves closer to April, who never once takes her eyes off of the now mewling kitten. "You were so busy, I was in charge of her little area. Nobody even came to look at her but she kept meowing at me-"

As if hearing that, the kitten repeats her noise from before. She settles into it, testing it out when April and Andy laugh together. He's convinced April coos at the cat, but says nothing about it.

"Did you name her yet?" April's voice is so dry and ragged, either from dehydration and exhaustion. Either way, Andy put an arm across her back and gripped her shoulder and holds her close. "I mean, that's cool if you did, but, y'know."

"Nah, I figured you'd have a way cooler name anyways," Andy says. It's true. She would know a better name, probably the instant she put her mind to it.

"How about... Hellcat?" April posits.

"That's awesome."

"Hellcat Ludgate-Dwyer," April says the full name. Just as Andy is about to remind her how awesome a name it is, the kitten flops forward after a failed pounce and struggles to rotate from her position stuck on her back. Fur gets caught in April's nose and between the meowing and the plush punches of paws, Andy lets out an audible d'aww.

"She's like a little baby," Andy notes and reaches out pat the exposed belly. Kitten teeth poke at his fingers as he scratches and the purring from before restarts in overdrive.

"That's it. You're so smart," April kisses him on the cheek and Andy can feel her smile. "She's our little Hellbaby."

Together they play with the kitten who eventually decides, in an instant, that they're both boring and discovers that she's in a new locale. Exploration spurs on the little cat, her feet padding along carpet until much louder thudding meets outside in the living room. The two sets of footsteps stop and April stares at Andy. She stands up out of bed to go see what's happening and Andy follows.

In the living room, Champion lays down with his nose brushing up against the kitten's body every so often. He moves his head to follow the kitten, who walks along the length of Champion's head before settling into a spot on his back. Curling up there, all the kitten energy spent for the next few minutes, their Hellbaby snuggles into Champion's fur and buries her head so that she resembles a black ball more than a cat. Champion sighs and before long his eyes roll backward, falling back into his usual nap.

Andy looks over at April, who meets his gaze.

"Babe, why'd you adopt a cat?" she asks him.

"You were depressed about the adoption thing going super bad and I figured Champion could use a friend that's not us, or Chris," he adds. April groans but her eyes never turn away. He even spots her lip curling into that telltale smile. "So, you said something about black cats and witches, and-"

"I am a witch, so I need my familiar," she interrupts.

"Exactly, you need a... whatever that is," he waves it away and she breaks into that wide smile he's missed. "So, I got a kitten for you and I hope you feel better. If not, I'll go adopt fifty more cats."

"You promise?" she asks him, hand reaching up to play with his tie he still hasn't shed. Andy had gone straight from a work day she avoided to the the shelter.

"On my life," he answers with a seriousness that makes April roll her eyes. That usually meant she liked what he said. "I love you."

"Love you too," she whispers and leans up to kiss him on the lips. It's a gentle, quiet one that he loves. She sighs when it's over, that same contented one he knows very well. April smiles at him. "You're awesome. Thank you."

Andy means to tell her that she's awesomesauce, he really does. Unfortunately - actually fortunately but Andy's brain sort-of breaks a little - she has him shut up with a much deeper kiss carrying a question that begs for the bedroom just beside them.