September 2037

Tom opened the door and let his wife step in the empty 4 bedroom house where three of the bedrooms were now empty.

"It's feels weird coming back here without Ella." Sam aired aloud. "Normally she comes with us and we drop Daniel off at Bristol but now she's gone there too."

"Well, we've known this day was coming for a long time." Tom said as he put his arms around her shoulders in the hallway.

"I know but..."

"I understand." Tom nodded as he pulled he into his chest and slowly rubbed his hands up and down her back. "Do you know what I think we should do?" Tom began.

"What?" Sam questioned as she pulled away from him slightly to see his face.

"Well, I was looking at the battersea website last night because I thought maybe we could get a new dog to make the house a little less quiet. But, there was on dog who I found who'd been on the website for ages, and there was one reason - from what I could tell - why she hadn't been rehomed." Tom explained.

"Why?"

"Because she's heavily pregnant. With 6 puppies." Tom grinned as Sam's face began to light up at the prospect of what he was suggesting. "It's up to you but we've always had the 4th bedroom empty and y'know, we would put her whelping box in there and we've whelped Shadow before so I'm sure we can do it again. Admittedly, that would be a lot of puppies but we could ask if Fletch wants one or two-" Tom was interrupted as Sam planted her lips on his before she pulled away and bit her bottom lip. "So you want to go and have a look at her?" Tom suggested.

"What now?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure they'll still be open. But are you definitely sure you want to-"

"Yes I'm bloody sure. Now go, quick. Before someone else gets her." Sam ordered as she shooed she husband out of the front door.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A receptionist smiled.

"We'd like to rehome Vanilla, the pregnant lab." Tom announced.

"Oh um, just let me go and get someone to talk you through the process." She smiled before she went through a side door. Sam smiled as she looked through the window along where the kennels were and there were barks every few seconds which she smiled at because it reminded her of Shadow and her other dogs.

"Hello, I'm Laura. I hear that you're interested in rehoming Vanilla?" A young woman questioned as she came out in blue polo shirt with Battersea on it, along with some black skinny jeans which were coated in white and blonde dog fur.

"Yeah, I saw her on the website." Tom stated.

"Well if you come through to my office, we can just have a little chat." She smiled as she walked Sam and Tom through the side door that she had come out of, and they went down and corridor and then into a rather small consultation office with a desk and three chairs in front of it. "Just take a seat for me. Right, now do you have any experience in whelping?" She asked.

"Yes, I had a border collie a few years ago. She fell pregnant and we're both doctors so we were pretty calm with delivering her 4 puppies." Sam explained. "Look, we have no interest in selling the puppies. We know that Labradors are big dogs but we've got a 4 bedroom house with just the two of us living in it, and a large garden. Plus we have a friend who we would give one or two of the puppies to after about 10-12 weeks once the dogs have had their vaccinations and they've been weaned." Sam said to show the worker that she was knowledgable about raising puppies.

"Well, you need to understand that, usually the rehoming process would take weeks. But Vanilla has only got about a week before she's due to give birth and we need her to be settled before she gives birth because we don't want her to give birth here. If she does then it to be difficult for her to be moved after because she won't want to be moved from her whelping box so what I'd like to do, is if you are both serious about taking on Vanilla, then I'll arrange a home visit for tomorrow to make sure that your home is suitable. And then if all goes well, you could possibly have Vanilla home by tomorrow evening." She explained.

"That'd be great." Sam nodded eagerly and Tom smiled as he was so grateful that his idea had cheered her up.

"Well, what times would you be available for a home visit? It would take around half an hour to an hour."

"From 5:30pm onwards." Sam stated.

"Alright. Well I'm Vanilla's main carer at the moment, so it'll probably be me that comes around tomorrow, just after 5:30pm, and if it's suitable, I'll drive back here, and take Vanilla to your home in the van. How far away is your place? Because she's not really suitable for long journeys at the moment. She hasn't been in a vehicle since she was brought in."

"We're only about a 15 minute drive away." Sam stated. "And out of curiousity, why was she brought here?" Sam asked.

"Well, the family she was with didn't want to give her up, but she fell pregnant and they knew that they couldn't afford her scans and such, plus they had a baby on the way so they had to give her up."

Soon, Sam and Tom gave their details and then Laura took them to see their potential new dog.

"Vanilla? Good girl." Laura said softly as she entered the enclosure where there was a dog pillow on the floor for a bed. A food and water bowl and a few toys scattered around. Sam smiled as she entered and saw that the golden retriever Labrador was lying on her side on the cool floor panting. "We've been keeping an eye on her rectal temperature which will drop just before she goes into labour so we know the panting is just because of the hot weather." She explained whilst Sam stepped in and knelt down on the floor.

"Wow, she's massive." Sam exclaimed after seeing the dog's enlarge stomach.

"Well, she has got 6 puppies in there." Laura smiled. "To be honest, I'm just so grateful you're rehoming her. We we're really getting worried about her having to give birth in here."

One Week Later

"37°." Sam announced after taking Vanilla's temperature. The golden Labrador was lying on her side in the whelping box that Tom had constructed and she had taken a shine to the box as soon as she was introduced into the new home.

"She's going to give birth either tonight or tomorrow morning." Tom concluded as he knelt down on the floor besides his wife. "You okay?" Tom asked as he gently rubbed the dog under her chin.

"I miss Ella and Daniel." Sam croaked as two tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Oh you soppy cow." Tom chuckled. "I was talking to Vanilla." He laughed as he pulled Sam into his embrace and held her tightly. "Just think, we don't have to worry about them walking in on us anymore." Tom stated. Suddenly, Vanilla let out a sorrowful whine and Sam pulled away from Tom to check that she was alright. "Are we gonna do this?" Tom asked as he held his hand out.

"Let's do this." Sam sniffed as she put her hand in his, and they both looked at the rescue dog whom they were about to assist to deliver 6 puppies that they would have to keep an eye on 24 hours a day. Just like when Tom had helped Sam to give birth in her own bed to their two children before they'd had to look after them every single minute of the day.

The End!

I thought 75 was a good number to end it on because I have so many ideas for new fics! Thank you for reading this story, and I really appreciate those who had taken time to review :)

Here are the results for my poll, including guests' votes:

-The Devoted Husband = 15 Votes

-The Big C = 10 Votes

-Double Trouble = 9 Votes

-Mt Everest and Glastonbury = 8 Votes

-Lost But Not Forgotten and The Epidemic = 6 Votes

Thank you everyone for voting! I will be writing 'The Devoted Husband' first, but I'm going away for the next few days so I won't be focusing in on writing. I hope for it to be up by Wednesday or Thursday :)