Day 5 – December 29th
Percy
"Nope . . . no . . . oh definitely not," I cried out, passing yet another row of adorable but too small and yappy dogs. I should have brought Annabeth to help in this endeavor but that would have totally ruined the surprise of me getting her a puppy. Not to mention it would throw her into a tailspin over pet deposits and having no yard and oh dear god I could hear her voice in my head nagging me about needing an actual house with a yard for the dog she so badly wanted.
I released a heavy sigh and continued. Paws for a Cause was usually one of our favorite days of the year but now that I was A. actually looking for a lifelong friend and B. doing this on my own, I was a bit overwhelmed. There were dogs of every breed all over the park and every last one of them in need of a home.
Annabeth would have taken them all home if we lived on a farm with about a hundred acres but currently we were trapped in the inner city concrete jungle and she felt it wasn't fair to any animal but a cat to be trapped in a tiny apartment. This was an issue I would remedy shortly, but she didn't know that yet.
A groan escaped me as I changed directions, the dogs only getting smaller – which I had no clue was possible! What on earth are you supposed to do with a dog that fits inside a teacup? I'd be afraid that I would kill it in the couch cushions when I sat down – until I found a row of what looked like decent medium sized dogs. Maybe, just maybe I would find what I was looking for down this row.
I walked slowly, looking at every breed, checking the magical Google gods for any information I could find, and I would just shake my head and move on. None of these animals were what we were looking for and I was getting discouraged. It was already three-thirty and Annabeth would get home before me if I didn't find a friend soon.
My stomach rumbled, forcing me to stop at a hot dog stand which I found a little ironic in the moment. Exhausted, I dropped down on a bench and I tore into my late lunch. I moved on to my second hot dog and dropped my hand to the bench for a moment so that I could scan the area in hopes of finding my way, only to have my hot dog stolen straight out of the wrapper by a beast of a silvery gray puppy.
"Hey! That was mine," I called out, taking off after the massive pup. The dog was teasing me; hot dog still in its mouth, it would run twenty feet ahead of me, stop, turn around and drop its head to the ground with its back end up, tail wagging, and as I would get just feet from it, it would take off once again.
This chase went on for at least ten minutes before we came to a stop almost halfway across the park. The crazy dog still had half my hot dog hanging out of its mouth and I could swear it was laughing at me.
"Alright you mangy mutt, I want my hot dog back!"
The dog bounced around me more and a laugh followed from behind me. "What, are you going to finish what she didn't, cos that would be kinda gross?"
I whipped around to find a little girl who couldn't have been more than eight years old with a smirk across her face and tight, wild blonde ringlets flying in the cold breeze.
"Yeah, well, that was my lunch," I spat back, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to remain stern with her and I was failing miserably.
She stared me down, her amber eyes boring into my green ones and I cracked. "Your dog is terrible!"
"No, she is not. She is actually quite well behaved, just a little . . . clumsy," she retorted, watching the dog with a smile on her face which quickly fell as the dog took off at a run and then tripped over her own front paws and went face first into the frost covered grass. She smacked her forehead with the palm of a hand and then took off after the dog, yelling for her mother as she went.
"Mom! Mom, I found her," she called to a woman about a hundred yards away and for some reason I found myself following. "I swear, I don't know how she got out but thankfully she didn't go too terribly far."
"No kidding. I would hate for her to go to someone who would abuse her. She's been through enough," her mother responded, scooping up the massive pup and placing her back in the kennel with seven other puppies that were half her size.
"I found her with him," the girl replied, throwing a thumb out toward me.
"Thank you for bringing her back."
"Um, yeah . . . sure, no problem. So, are they part of the adoption today?" I asked tentatively.
"Yes. All eight of them."
"No, Mom! No," the girl cried out suddenly and I stepped back, afraid she may come at me swinging.
"Emily, we can't keep them, baby. Your father said no and that is that," the woman replied quietly.
Trying to diffuse the situation, I asked, "So, what is the story on these guys?"
"They were dumped on our ranch. Their mother was in pretty bad shape and so were two other pups. We did everything we could to save them, but they were just too far gone. We lost momma and the pups and were left with these eight crazies. The mother was a Silver Labrador and the father, well the vet wasn't too sure. He said he thinks possibly a Great Dane based on the biggest one, but she could just be a fluke too. We couldn't really afford to DNA test them, so this is as good as it gets."
"So . . . can I go in, see which one likes me best?"
"Definitely," she replied sweetly, moving over to her daughter and walking several feet away with her.
"So, which one of you terrors is going home with me today?" I asked the dogs as I carefully climbed over the play yard fencing.
My legs were immediately covered by gray bouncing little fluff balls and I did the only thing I could think of, which was sit down. There were paws everywhere as I was trampled by tiny feet, all fighting for my attention. After about ten minutes I noticed that the larger of the pups wanted my attention, but she wouldn't come to me as her siblings kept her on the outer edge of the group.
"I want you," I demanded to the larger pup, pointing at her which sent her into a flurry of hops around her siblings.
I stood up and quickly scooped up the giant puppy, only to be met with a ton of puppy kisses.
"No, Mom! He chose her. He chose Mrs. O'Leary! The only one I wanted out the bunch and he chose her," the girl screamed at me, or her mother, I wasn't quite sure at the moment as she was giving me a death glare.
"Ignore her. She's known since they were dumped off that we couldn't keep them. Any of them, right Emily?" Her mother shot back at her. "She is the sweetest one in the bunch, just the clumsiest and I am sure that is due to her size. She would make an amazing friend. If you want to adopt her, just follow me, I have all of the paperwork over here. Now, you do have adequate space for her?"
"Well for two days she will be in an apartment with my girlfriend and I and then on the first I have a big surprise for her . . . the keys to our first home."
The woman smiled up at me. "Woah, big step there and you're brave to take on a dog along with everything else."
I returned her smile, readjusted the puppy in my arms and looked down at the stack of paperwork. "We can handle this. Now, is her name really Mrs. O'Leary?"
"Unfortunately. My four-year-old named her and well, it just kind of stuck. She knows that name and responds well to it. I am not sure that changing it would be a good idea."
I looked down at the silvery fluff ball in my arms which greeted me with a tongue across my face. "Mrs. O'Leary, it is then.
The door to the apartment opened and Mrs. O'Leary lifted her head up off my lap. I grabbed on to her for a moment, waiting for Annabeth's voice. Suddenly my heart pounded in my chest and I was pretty sure I just made the biggest mistake of my life.
"Percy, are you here?"
I looked down at Mrs. O'Leary. "Go get her girl," I gulped quietly.
"Percy," she called again, and Mrs. O'Leary leapt off my lap, making a beeline toward Annabeth's voice. I prayed this would go over as well as I imagined in my mind but the crash in the foyer followed by, "What the hell? Shit! Perseus Jackson, get your ass in here!"
'Ah hell, this is not what I planned on at all!'
"Coming," I called, tripping over my own two feet as I tried to run to her.
"Shit, no! Down puppy, down," she cried pointing a finger at Mrs. O'Leary, and trying to get her to obey. She looked up to find me wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights kind of look and I cringed under her glare. "Please tell me this isn't day five's gift?"
"Well . . . yeah," I whined, snapping my fingers at Mrs. O'Leary and she immediately sat down, still trying to nip at Annabeth's dropped hand to get her attention.
"A puppy, Percy? Really?"
"Hey, you agreed there would be no complaining and you would accept whatever I gave you!"
"But it's a puppy, Percy! Neither of our apartments are big enough for this soon to be beast of a dog and oh my god, Aphrodite is going to lose her damn mind! Percy the pet deposit –"
"– has been taken care of. Aphrodite knows and has waived the fee. She knows you Annabeth and she knows you aren't going to let anything happen to this apartment. I already spoke with Reyna and while she yelled at me in Spanish for a little bit, she eventually broke and told me everything was copacetic after Mrs. O'Leary gave her lots of puppy loving."
"Mrs. O'Leary?"
"Yeah, the family I adopted her from had already named her and she knows it and I don't have the heart to change it," I defended, bending down and calling her to me with the snap of my fingers.
"Okay, so terrible name but dammit Percy, look at her! She's enormous for a puppy and she can't even run without crashing into things, and we don't have the room for her," she cried at me, "look around, there isn't exactly enough room for the pair of us here and you brought home a dog."
"You have been wanting a dog for ages, Beth. You will love her, just give her a chance. She is pretty chill until someone comes knocking on the door anyway."
She stood still for several moments, glaring down at me and the pup before she finally caved. She crouched down and immediately started loving on Mrs. O'Leary's ears to which the dog responded by dropping her head on her knees and closing her eyes.
"Oh, you are sweet," she responded quietly, trying not to show me that she was in love with the beast. "You really do have a terrible name though. Are you sure we can't do anything about?"
I looked up to meet her stormy eyes and snapped my fingers again, "Mrs. O'Leary, go lay down."
She left a kiss on Annabeth's hand and trotted off to the living room, jumped up on the sofa and crashed with her head down on the arm of the sofa.
"You have got to be kidding me?"
"No, she is a quick learner, just clumsy as all get out," I replied with a sheepish laugh.
She stood, pulling me with her, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, are there more surprises like this one that are going to make my blood pressure soar, or have we hit the height of the fun?"
"Oh please, you know you love her," I responded.
"You are so lucky I love you," she deadpanned.
"Psh, I am the best you have ever had," I shot back as she walked toward the living room.
"Yeah, yeah. Mrs. O'Leary, come here," she snapped at the pup and she immediately jumped up and fell into Annabeth's lap. "She's a better cuddlier than you are Perce. You better get back over here and claim your crown."
I couldn't help but smile as I plopped down next to her, pulling her closer, leaving kisses on her temple as Mrs. O'Leary snored in our laps.
Thank you 3 for being my beta! If you get a chance really check out her newest story...I absolutely adore it!
Now, on to those comments I missed last night!
Guest : Your update is here and another shall follow shortly. I am slacking today a little bit. I am in that in between stage of Christmas and New Year's where I haven't a clue what the day or time is.
Athenachild101 : Thanks for the fave! I am not going to give away any secrets there and I will clear up the Helen issue here shortly! I swear but Helen is just jealous of the girl. She's very bitter over the fact that Frederick had a life before her and takes it out on our girl sadly. It's mostly just a culmination of everything that fuels Helen's fire, if that makes sense.
Falling clouds : Thanks! More cuteness to come, I swear!
3 : LOL issues for everyone! I wanted to do a little more with the scrapbook, but eh, pressed for time but you know that already. Maybe I will bring it back at the end of the story...ooo new idea! LOL I need to stop, tell me to stop!
imagination-running : Again...not giving anything away! Hehehe Glad you are enjoying the story!
So I think I caught everyone there. Next update is hopefully coming along tonight, that or you are getting 2 on NYE!