Nana

Grant was sitting the room that Skye dubbed as her home office (which, in reality, was barely bigger than a closet and really didn't deserve such title, but he humored her), peacefully reading a mission report from last week and enjoying a moment of silence–which was so hard to come by these days–, when he saw something move from the corner of his eye. Raising his gaze from the document, he turned towards the slightly ajar door, just in time to see a small, brown muzzle appear in the opening, nudging it wider, until the pup's whole body fit through it. Then, almost as if she hadn't just pulled a Houdini, the dog trotted to the corner and all but threw herself into Captain's old basket, then looked up at Grant with tired eyes, almost as if she wanted to say I'm done.

Despite his best efforts, Grant just couldn't stand this sight without breaking into a smile–especially since the dog had a tutu around her neck and a tiara on the top of her head.

To be completely honest, Grant hadn't been the biggest fan of the pup–Nana, the girls called her–when she first got there nearly four weeks ago, mostly because no-one (one particular somebody) thought about clearing it with him and Skye. Nope.

They were celebrating Haylie's sixth birthday, which meant that the backyard was swarming with guests: their old team, Haylie's friends from school, and a couple of parents. Which meant that the chaos was done, baked and served even before his ever-so-helpful father-in-law arrived bearing an enormous cardboard box that yelped.

And he really couldn't have told Cal to take it back when a horde of six-year-olds was already fawning over the sandy collie pup that poked her head out of the box.

This was really not a time to get a puppy–they were expecting their third baby in less than two months, and Grant had an idea that the newborn, plus the Haylie and Ada, would require all of their energy. But, of course, Cal had a counter-argument for all of Grant's arguments: their old shelter dog, Captain, who had been with them ever since they moved into this house when Haylie had been barely over a year old, was really getting old–almost completely blind and not even trying to get up the stairs anymore to slip into the bedrooms, he was clearly living on borrowed time. And, Cal reasoned, if the girls had another dog to occupy them, Captain's impending death maybe wouldn't hit them that hard. Not to mention that the presence of the pup would likely make them feel less neglected when their baby sister got there, getting ahead of jealousy. Also, he pointed out, having a pup would teach them some responsibility.

And anyway, who would be that cruel to have a little girl's birthday present from her grandpa taken back? (Cal didn't actually say this, but Grant was sure that it was implied.) It also didn't help that Skye was won over the moment she looked at the dog, and Grant had learned a long ago not to argue with her when she was pregnant.

So despite of Grant's disapproving frown, the dog, this hyperactive ball of fur, stayed.

And four weeks later, he had made peace with it.

"What's up, Nana?" he asked the dog, inching his office chair closer to her. "The girls are wearing you down?" Nana, not moving from the cushions, only answered with a lazy wag of her tail, making Grant chuckle. "I feel you, they can be pretty exhausting. Now, let me help you…" He reached down, and gently pried the tiara and the tutu from the dog. "Better, right?" Another wag. "But they worth it, you know?" he continued telling the dog, even though she only blinked back at him, her head resting on her paws. "That's why we are having a third of them. Crazy, right?" Nana yawned, almost as if telling him that he was mad. Grant smiled and scratched the top of her head. "Just wait until you have another little person to pull your tail! But until then…" He nudged the door closed and slid the chair back to the desk. "…You can hide out her for a little bit, I won't say a word. If you let me work, I'll let you sleep. Deal?"

Nana, completely as if agreeing to this arrangement, yawned, then turned towards the wall, and promptly fell asleep.

So, yeah, that pup might have grown on Grant.

A/N: Oh, how I was missing this 'verse! Also, a little reminder: Captain was introduced in Ch. 12 - Mini Heroes, appearing to be a rather lazy, but affectionate dog, then he was seen again in Ch. 108 – Late Night Visitor, furthering the image of the useless but loveable dog. Chronologically, his last mention is in Ch. 90 – Goodbye –it is noted there that he died when Ellie was just a baby, so I had to work around that.