Delia came home the next day, Patsy giving her assistance as they walked up the steps and entered the flat. Delia was back in her sweats and T-shirt, and she held her bag of prescription pain-killers in one hand while the other gripped Patsy's forearm as they floated into the living room.
"There you are," Patsy said, helping lower Delia down onto the couch.
"I'm not your patient," Delia chided, shooting Patsy a smile.
Smiling back, Patsy pecked Delia on the cheek before taking her painkillers.
"I'll put these away," Patsy said briskly, sweeping from the room, leaving a bewildered Delia to stare after her.
Entering the kitchen, Patsy saw Ellie place a tall-sided box on the counter before tiredly reaching for some tissue paper.
"How was puppy duty?" Patsy asked with a smirk at Ellie's worn face.
"I had to play with her for two hours!" Ellie whispered, gesturing to the box. Patsy looked over the edge and saw the puppy passed out, in a deep sleep at the bottom.
Swiftly, the two placed a light layer of tissue paper over the dog before Ellie gently lifted it and gestured for her mum to go.
They re-entered the living room to see Delia looking around dazedly, having taken a few painkillers on the car ride home. At the sight of the box, her eyes narrowed and she suddenly looked suspicious.
"What is this?" Delia demanded as her daughter placed it on her lap and Patsy sat next to her.
"Open it!" Ellie said, a grin spreading across her face. Delia turned to Patsy.
"Pats…" the brunette said reproachfully. Patsy gave her wife a shy, yet reassuring smile.
Looking distrustful, Delia turned to the box and delicately removed the tissue paper.
"Oh my God," Delia whispered hoarsely, "Pats…this…this is a DOG."
"Mmhmm," Patsy said.
The brunette simply stared down at the corgi's slumbering form, shock on her face.
She then burst into tears.
"Deels?!" Patsy asked, alarmed as her wife turned and buried her face in Patsy's shoulder.
"It's...s-so…adorable!" she blubbered.
"Oh my God, mam," Ellie snorted, trying to hold in her laugh.
Patsy glared at her daughter as she tried to calm Delia.
"Here," Patsy said, taking the box before gently lifting the puppy's limp form and placing it in Delia's arms.
The brunette only cried harder.
"I-I get t-to keep it?!" Delia bawled.
It was at this point Patsy realized that giving Delia a puppy after she took two Vicodin probably wasn't the best idea.
"Yes, it's yours," Patsy said, allowing herself a smile.
To Patsy's horror, Delia began to croon in Welsh to the puppy, who cracked a bleary eye up at its new owner. This prompted a child-like giggle from Delia as she wiped the tears from her face.
Despite Patsy's previous thoughts on dogs, the puppy quickly became a new member of the family.
Patsy and Delia lay on their bed, the puppy between them as Delia lazily played with it, rubbing its belly as it nipped at her fingers. Every once in a while, it would release a small bark, eliciting a giggle from Delia. Two days had passed since they presented the puppy to her, and it had developed a habit of waddling after Delia as the brunette walked around the house. To Patsy's amazement, Delia really did have a knack for dogs; she had already gotten the puppy semi-house trained and had started teaching it commands…in Welsh. When Patsy had questioned her, she said that the dog was a Welsh breed, and God forbid it forget its heritage. Patsy highly doubted that the dog really cared that much about its genealogy; and in fact considered bringing up the fact that it was allegedly bred to herd horses, and they were not using the dog to do such a thing. But Patsy also knew that Delia's answer would be the brunette calling her out on the carpet, and be along the lines of 'Well, then buy me a horse, Patience!', which Patsy was of course not willing to do, even for love.
Watching her wife and the puppy amusedly, Patsy asked softly, "Have you thought of a name?"
Delia's lips puckered as her brow furrowed with a frown.
"No," the Welshwoman said after a pause, "I need to know her personality first."
"So, 'Miss Barks-A-Lot'," Patsy said candidly.
Delia, taken aback by this rare form of humor, tried desperately to control her laughter.
"Just imagine," she giggled, "Shouting that in a dog park!"
Patsy smirked before saying, "People would think you were insane." As she said this, she reached down and tickled the puppy's belly. The corgi turned its head to look at her, its tongue lolling out as it panted excitedly.