"Dog!" A small but demanding voice came from behind the kitchen counter. Emily turned around in search of the source and spotted a little foot, dressed in a red-spotted sock, poking out from the corner.

Emily sighed. Not quite as to when Amelia had joined her. She thought that there were probably better places for a nearly three-year-old to be than sitting on the kitchen floor, but it would have to do for now.

Where had Andrew disappeared to anyway?

"Mommy will read you the dog book in a minute sweetheart!" She called out, turning her attention back onto dinner in front of her. If Emily never had to hear the word dog again it would be too soon.

It was Amelia's latest and only obsession; a hand-illustrated children's book describing all the fun activities one could do with their dog and Emily had read it through more times than she ever wanted to. Yet the young girl never tired of it. To make matters worse, the 'dog book' could only be read by mommy. Amelia had not taken kindly to Andrew's over-exaggerated character voices. That one had hurt Andrew a little. Though he'd never admit to it.

"No book. Dog!" Amelia said, as she stood up and walked towards Emily.

Emily quickly finished what she was doing and turned the stove off. She reached down to pick her daughter up and leaned back against the counter.

"You don't want the dog book tonight?" She asked.

Finally, Emily thought. Maybe they could move on to a new book now. Preferably one without dogs.

"Want dog. My dog!" Amelia said, her voice eager.

Oh god. She wants a dog.

"I'm not too sure about that honey," Emily said. "What about a cat?" She tried to bargain, though realistically neither were an option at the moment in their current apartment. There was a strict no-pet rule in the building.

But at least Emily liked cats. Dogs not so much.

"No." The girl frowned. Emily knew this was bound to happen. She should have bought her a cat book instead.

"There's my little girl!" Andrew said as he walked into the kitchen. He mouthed 'sorry' as he made eye contact with Emily. "You've got to stop running off like that missy. Here, you left monkey behind." Andrew handed his daughter the soft toy.

But she took little interest in the plush animal. "Dog!" Amelia exclaimed instead.

"She wants a dog." Emily spoke, her face showing visible annoyance.

"Like book." Amelia told her dad as she reached out to him.

"You want a dog?" He asked taking Amelia from Emily's arms and balancing her on his hip. "I think we can make that happen, darling."

Amelia cheered while Emily gave him a sharp look.

What was he doing? Promising a dog! Since when?

"Andrew! We can't have a dog in the apartment. You know that." Emily berated.

"Well, maybe we will have to move then." He continued. "Buy ourselves that nice big house."

"For a dog?" Emily said. "You want me to pack up our whole home and move for a dog?" Her voice was void of any form of amusement.

"Don't get too excited about it Emily." Andrew joked.

For a moment he thought she wasn't going to take his tease well and hoped he hadn't inadvertently initiated an argument.

She eventually rolled her eyes and replied. "Dogs are a lot of work. Nice big house or not."

Emily brushed a stray curl of her daughter's face before speaking to her. "Maybe we can go and visit Roxy tomorrow. Penelope and Luke will let you play with her."

"Roxy too big," Amelia replied shaking her head.

"You're a picky one aren't you?" Emily sighed. A dog was a dog to Emily. However, she suspected Amelia was fond of the black labrador puppy that featured in her favorite book.

Amelia gave her a toothy grin as if she was confirming her mother's observation. The girl then diverted her attention to the monkey her hands as her parents continued to speak.

"She gets that from you." Andrew quipped, earning a look of mild irritation from Emily.

"Yeah, and she gets this crazy dog obsession from you." She quickly responded back.

"Come on Emily, my dog was my best friend growing up. Kids need a pet." He said, taking her free hand in his.

"I never had one," Emily argued. "Sergio was my first cat and I think I turned out just fine."

Amelia's head shot up towards her mother at the mention of a fluffy animal other than her sought after dog. "No cat. Want my dog." Her little face started to scrunch, the toy monkey was dropped and Emily knew tears were imminent.

"Amelia, don't cry," Emily spoke softly. She was too exhausted to be wrestling with a worked up toddler tonight. Amelia was always so full of energy, it was a struggle to get her into bed normally, nevermind in the midst of a tantrum.

"Shhh, don't worry Amelia" Andrew spoke. The young girl settled down, as her father rhythmically bounced her up and down on his hip.

Thank god, dog induced meltdown averted.

"I thought we were on the same page about this. The house. Not the dog." He asked, slightly confused as to her sudden aversion to the idea of a new home.

They'd been discussing the possibility of them moving on from this apartment. They felt that it was time for something more family suitable. Amelia was an active little girl, and while they were in close proximity to a local park, the idea of their own backyard was tempting. Ever since Amelia had been born their life had slowly shifted to a more domesticated version. They still had their respective careers and weren't about to give them up, but priorities had changed. Settling down somewhere more permanent made sense at this stage of their lives and it wasn't as if they didn't have the money.

"You don't want to get a house anymore?" Andrew asked.

"No, I do. I do." Emily smiled, brushing her hand over Amelia's head.

"Then what is it?" He questioned, squeezing her had and prompting her to voice whatever the problem was.

"Nothing. I'm just tired. It's been a long day" Emily moved closer to them, placing a hand on her daughter's back. "But you do realize that now she is never going to stop talking about that damn dog?"

Andrew laughed. "Well think of it this way, if we get her the dog we may be able to convince her to find a new bedtime story," Andrew said.

He was right. "I guess we are getting a dog then. And a house!" Emily said.

"I get a dog?" Amelia asked, eyes wide with curiosity and excitement.

"Yeah, we will get you a dog," Emily said. Her daughter's happiness at the prospect filled her with a warm feeling of love that was worth any dog. Even for an adamant cat-person such as Emily Prentiss.

"But you may have to wait a little while," Andrew added. "Mommy and Daddy have to find you a dog first."

Surprisingly, Amelia wasn't bothered by that. "Ok." She said.

"Thank you," Emily said.

"For what?" Andrew asked. "Forcing you to get a dog?" They both chucked.

"Being you" Emily leaned in to kiss him. Their daughter mumbling as she was gently squished between them.

Apologies if there were any spelling/grammatical errors. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you for reading.