Chapter Five
Emily awoke the next morning, and removed Matt's arm from around her waist. They're interesting night had turned into Matt falling asleep, and Emily stuck chasing down the children trying to put them to bed.
"Hey babe," the man beside her spoke softly.
"Hey, how you feeling?" Emily asked, glad that after two pregnancies that she finally got to ask him that question.
"Well rested," He said, a goofy smile covering his lips.
"Good, because after yesterday I gave Eryn the day off, so you can help me with the kids," she said, leaning down and lightly kissing his forehead.
"Oh, umm...I think Cheryl needs me," Matt said, pulling the covers off, not even taking a second to look at the clock.
"Matt, Cheryl called after you fell asleep last night. Told me to tell you to take one more day off. Said she needed you back well rested. Do you honestly think I'd give Eryn the day off if you had to work?" Emily asked.
"I guess not, but I'm glad to see you've warmed up to the nanny thing," Matt said, as he heard light chatter from the nearby bedroom.
"Yeah, well Eryn isn't like a nanny, she's like a friend," Emily said, getting up to check on the triplets.
"I'm still happy to see your getting along with her," Matt called as Emily left the room.
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"Hey guys," Emily opened the door.
"Look mommy we didn't get up," Kelly said, a sweet smile on her face.
"I know, you did so good," Emily said.
They had ran into a problem a couple of months earlier, with Zack and Kelly running into they're bedroom, while they were practicing they're extra circuliar activities.
"Can we have a surprise for being good?" Kelly asked.
"Depends on what it is," Emily said, knowing exactly where this conversation was going.
"We want a puppy mommy," even though she knew what was going to come from the little girls mouth, it took everything in her to not bust out laughing.
"I'm sorry honey, but you can't have to puppy," Emily said, trying to hide the giggles that wanted to come out.
"But we even have a name picked out and everything," Kelly pouted, her small lip sticking out, her eyes wide. Emily could not say no to this face, and she knew Matt couldn't either.
When Matt said that Kelly was the spitting image of Emily, he wasn't thrilled to learn that she had inherited her mother's excellent use of the puppy dog face.
"I'll have to talk to your father," Emily said, ushering the three small children out of their rooms.
"What will you talk to me about?" Matt asked.
"Oh just wait," a wide grin crossed Emily face, as she made her way to the twins room.
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"Why not," Kelly pouted some more.
"Yeah Matt, discuss with our three year old daughter why she can't have a dog," Emily had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
"Daddy doesn't ummm...daddy's allergic," Matt said, a smile on his face. Proud he had came up with such a great idea.
"What about a kitty?" Zack busted in.
He had been really quiet up till then. Matt shook his head, he knew he'd have to get one or the other, and while he didn't particularly like cats, anything was better than a dog.
"A kitty is fine," Matt said.
"I want a doggie," Kelly folded her arms acrossed her chest.
Matt met Emily's eyes pleading for help with this. Kelly did not give up easily, she was definitely her mother's daughter.
"Kel, honey, daddy is allergic," Emily said, trying to reason with the young girl.
"I don't like kitties," Kelly said, her little nose srunched up like Emily's did.
Matt shook his head, there was no way he could or would win this battle. He was about to become a dog owner. He shuddered at the thought of having a furry four legged creature running about the house. 'No' he thought, he was putting his foot down, that thing would not be in his house.
"Fine," Matt threw his hand up in defeat. "We can get a dog, but the dog stays outside," Matt said sturnly.
"Yay, thank you daddy," Kelly said, a big smile emerging on her face.
Matt head fell into his hands, as Emily rubbed his back lightly.
"You just had to cave huh?" Emily whispered in his ear.
"You just couldn't help me out huh?" Matt said back to her.
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"Daddy hurry, I wanna go get my doggie," Kelly said, jumping up and down excitedly.
"Let's go," Matt said.
The troop was dressed and ready to head out the door. Emily held little Gracie in her arms, as Matt had little Daniel, while in between Matt and Emily in a line, stood Zack, Matty, and Kelly all holding hands.
They got to Emily's Tahoe, and buckled in all of the children, and then they both slid into the front seat.
"Oh it won't be so bad," Emily said.
"Oh yeah, she's gonna pick the biggest one," Matt said, shuddering again.
"Aww, it'll be okay, I'll protect you," Emily giggled.
"Funny," Matt said, his hand brushing against hers.
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"Daddy I like that one," Kelly pointed to a seemingly small puppy, whose paws were nearly as big as his tiny little head.
"How about that one," Matt said pointing to a much smaller dog.
"No, I like this one," Kelly pointed to the same puppy.
Matt paced the tiny floor of the animal shelter.
"What kind of dog is that one," he pointed to where his very small daughter was talking to the puppy.
"Ah, that's Rex, and he's a mutt, but we have distinguished that he has Golden Retriever and Rhodesian Ridgeback in him," the young man said.
"What exactly is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and are they big dogs?" Matt asked.
"Ah, Rhodesian Ridgeback's are a hunting breed of dog. They were originally breed in Africa, and were breed to hunt lions. They can become very large dogs, but with him being a mutt, he wouldn't be as large as a normal Rhodesian Ridgeback," the young man said.
"Okay, how big do you think..." Matt paused for a moment, trying to recall the dogs name. "Rex will become?"
"Um...I think the vet said that he will be about a good eighty pounds, and he will probably stand between four to five feet tall on his hind legs," the man said.
"Hind legs, that means, when he stands up on only two legs," Matt said.
"Yes sir," the man said.
Matt shook his head, and grabbed Emily's arm, who was enthralled by a tiny little Chihuahua.
"What?" Emily asked, seeing the fear in Matt's eyes.
"That thing is going to be huge," Matt said.
"Well, you can try and negotiate out of it," Emily said.
"Yeah, right, she's got your negotiating skills. It would be like trying to negotiate with you," Matt said.
"Then it looks like Rex is our dog," Emily smiled.
Matt shook his head in defeat.
"We'll take Rex," Matt said.
"Great choice sir, he's really a great dog," the man said.
"Thank you daddy," Kelly screamed, making a beeline for Matt's leg.
"Anything for my Kel-bell," Matt said, picking up the small girl.
"I love you daddy," Kelly said, throwing her arms around Matt's neck.
"I love you too, Kel-bell," Matt said.
Emily smiled, she loved Matt's little nicknames for the kids.