"How about this one?" Percy called, causing Annabeth to turn and stand from her crouched position and make her way over to where her husband was stood, looking down into a large, glass container filled with yapping and small dogs crawling over each other. She waved curiously at the young girl sat in the centre, presumably a member of staff, as she stroked the puppies and petted them lovingly.
"Which one?" she asked, not managing to see the one Percy had originally gestured to among the ocean of moving puppies. Percy licked his thumb and pointed to beyond the glass screen again, (where a group of brave puppies were now scratching and kneading at the bottom, trying to reach the legs of the newcomers peering at them) but it was still too vague to see which one he meant.
"That one," he said, pressing the glass with his finger.
"Which one? The terrier or the beagle?" Annabeth asked, still not sure which one he meant.
Percy grinned. "The beagle."
Annabeth looked at it – it was sat next to the young girl, nuzzling it's nose into her leg and sidling up with other dogs. Her heart melted at the sight of it – it was very sweet, but she wasn't sure it was the right thing for them. The girl caught them looking at it and gestured to it, smiling. Percy glanced at Annabeth, who shrugged, and nodded enthusiastically at the girl. They watched as she stood up, bent down, and lifted the small beagle puppy into her arms, heading for a door at the back.
They waited a few seconds, until she appeared again through another door labelled NO ENTRY, the puppy still in her arms. Percy 'awwwed' when he saw it, and walked to greet her, stroking the dog in her arms. It yapped excitedly and started licking his hand. Annabeth smiled at the sight, before the smile faded and she looked around nervously. "Percy," she murmured, shaking his arm gently. He looked at her, a grin plastered on his face as he stroked and petted the beagle. "Yeah?"
"Percy, have you seen Luke? I've lost him," she said, worriedly. Percy chuckled as he took the beagle from the assistant's arm, gesturing in the other direction with his head.
"He's over there, playing with the guinea pigs," he said, turning to talk with the worker again to discuss the beagle. Annabeth scanned the room, trying to catch sight of her five-year old son among the crowds of customers, staff, animal pens and shelves and shelves of pet food, pet beds, pet toys, and anything else anyone might need for their animal. Eventually, her grey eyes caught him, sat cross-legged talking to what Annabeth guessed was a white German Shepherd puppy through a pane of glass. "Luke!" Annabeth called, making her way over to him. He looked up, bright eyed and grinning, saying, "Bye bye doggy," and running to meet his mother.
"Luke, come on. Daddy thinks he's found a dog," she said, bending down to haul him into her arms as she carried him over to where Percy was stood, cradling his dark-haired head close to her. Percy smiled when he saw them, and ruffled his son's hair, showing him the beagle. "Luke, meet Buster. Buster, Luke."
Luke glanced at Percy, who nodded eagerly, before he tentatively reached out a small hand to pet the dog. Buster studied it, growling lowly, and gave it a sniff. Eventually, it decided the hand was safe, and gave it a fond lick, much to the amusement of the five-year old, who giggled and pulled back. Annabeth smiled and put their son down gently, scratching the dog's ears as Luke hugged her leg. Percy looked at her, as the worker stood beside them awaiting an answer. "So?" he asked hopefully. "What do you think?"
Annabeth cocked her head to one side. "I don't know Percy..." she said, studying the beagle. "Are you sure it's the right thing for us?"
Luke tugged on her trouser leg. "Mommy, I found this-"
"Shush Luke, you can tell me about it later," she said softly, looking at Percy, awaiting his answer.
Percy looked down at the beagle with a sympathetic look. "Look at him, Annabeth! He's adorable! We have to get him!"
Annabeth patted her son's head, slowly craning her neck to see the dog she had been looking at earlier. "Well, I found a dog I think could work, but..." she trailed off. Percy shrugged, handing Buster the beagle back to the worker.
"Okay then, let's take a look," he said. Percy knelt down and hauled Luke into his arms like Annabeth had been doing earlier, exhaling heavily at the new weight in his arms. "Gods, Luke, you're getting heavy!" he grinned as his son swatted at his nose playfully.
Annabeth led them over to where she had been earlier, bending down to coo at the dog from earlier. Percy joined her on the floor, and pulled a face when he saw the dog.
Luke tapped him on the shoulder, "Daddy, I saw this-"
Percy glanced at Annabeth, pressing a finger to Luke's lips. "Not now, Luke." Luke narrowed his eyes at the finger, giving a sweet five-year old pout. Neither of them noticed.
"Wise girl, it's like, a bazillion years old," Percy said.
Annabeth ignored him, cooing and 'aww'ing at the dog through the glass, who whined and turned circles, before laying down and resting it's head on it's paws. By the looks of it, it was an old, a very old, collie. "And?" she asked, looking at her husband, who had a protective arm around his son. "It's lovely."
The young worker from before came and sat down next to them, Buster no longer in her arms. "This is Shelly," she said. "One of our oldest dogs."
Percy rolled his eyes at Annabeth, who glared at him. "And how old is it, exactly?" Percy asked the worker.
"Eight years old, I think. She was neglected by her owners when she was young, so we took her in. She's very loyal," she continued, looking fondly at Shelly.
"She's perfect!" Annabeth decided.
The worker smiled.
"Annabeth, if we're going to get a dog, why don't we get one that we can have in our family for more than two years? If we get Shelly, we're not going to have her for very long," Percy said.
Shelly looked at them sadly through warm, brown eyes, as if to agree with Percy.
"I still think we should get her," Annabeth said.
"I think we should get Buster. We still have a good eight years with him, at least."
Luke tapped Percy's shoulder. "Daddy, there was this cute-"
"Luke, can't you see your father and I are talking?" Annabeth dismissed him, intent on winning the dog argument.
"Come find me when you've made your decision," the assistant said, standing up and leaving.
"Annabeth, with Buster we have a lot of time for him to settle into our family properly. Luke will have him until he's at least fourteen!"
"She said that Shelly's really loyal. For the gods' sakes, Percy, she was abandoned when she was young! We don't want her to spend the rest of her life in a pet store, do we?"
"Mommy-"
"Luke, quiet-" Annabeth started, before she was cut off again.
"Mommy, I found a cute dog!"
Annabeth sighed, and stood up, taking her son's hand. Percy followed. They shared a glance. "Okay, Luke," Annabeth said gently. "Show us this dog."
Luke huffed indignantly and pulled his mother and father by Annabeth's hand to the dog he had found earlier. "It was really cute Mommy!" he was saying. "It was so fluffy!"
A smile spread across Annabeth's face, despite still being annoyed at Percy, who was pouting and muttering behind them. Luke towed his parents round the pet store, until reaching another dog enclosure that looked no different to the rest.
"It was here," Luke pointed to the animal pen.
Annabeth sat on one knee so she was his height and peered at the dogs, asking gently, "So which one was it?"
Luke looked disappointed that she hadn't been able to instantly tell, and pointed with a chubby finger in the general direction of the fluffy White German Shepherd dog she had seen him looking at earlier. "The white one?" she asked.
Luke nodded eagerly. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other doubtfully, as they watched a male worker try and get the dog to eat something. The puppy had it's head in it's paws, and was eyeing the bowl of food before it distastefully. It growled. The worker sighed, and disappeared through the door at the back, trying to keep all the puppies yapping his feet in the enclosure. Moments later, he emerged, a box of dog food in hand. Annabeth had to suppress her laughter as she watched the man shake the pack of dog biscuits over the bowl, even though the lid was closed. She wondered if he was doing it for a reason, or if he was just really stupid. He didn't seem to think he was doing anything wrong though, and laughed as the dog barked and happily ate the food, even though it hadn't changed at all.
Percy chuckled. "That dog has no brain."
"Mommy, Daddy, please can we get that one? Pretty, pretty, pretty please?"
"Maybe," Annabeth spoke softly, squeezing her son's hand. "We'll see."
She turned to face Percy and said in a low voice, so as to keep Luke from hearing their conversation, "I like that one more than Buster."
"I like it more than Shelly," he responded. "And Luke likes it."
They heard the girl worker from before come up behind them.
"Have you decided yet?"
Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, and made a silent agreement. They both nodded. "We think so," he said, turning to his son. "Luke, are you sure you want to get that one?"
Luke nodded, grinning.
"That one is one of our newer ones. He hasn't got a name yet," the worker gestured at the White German Shepherd puppy.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Percy grinned excitedly. "If we get him, can we call him Polo?"
Annabeth sighed. "And why, Seaweed Brain, would we call him Polo?"
Percy looked proud of himself. "Because, Wise Girl, he's white all over and has a hole where is brain should be!" he said promptly. Annabeth laughed out loud, suddenly finding his logic, well... amusingly logical.
"Okay, Percy," she agreed. "We'll call him Polo."
She felt a tug on her hand, and looked at Luke. "Mommy, are we getting him?"
"Yes, Luke, we are," she smiled.
"So have you decided on that one?" the worker asked.
Percy glanced at Annabeth one last time, and slid his hand into hers with a smile. "Yes," he said. "We'll get that one."
A/N. Sorry for the late reply, but I went to my grandmother's house and couldn't write. But it's here now, so enjoy! This lovely idea was requested by ILive4Books, who asked for Percy, Annabeth, and their young son looking for a dog. Thank you!
Again, this one ended up a LOT longer than planned. I think this is going to become a theme for my author's notes, if it isn't one already.
Anyway, please review! It would make my day. And don't forget to give in any requests!
Thank you! :)
~Franki