A\N: I am sorry for the extra-long wait for a new chapter in this series. The last few months have been hectic, and I've been dealing with quite a lot. I am very proud of myself for finishing this chapter. I used my new editing program to edit it, so hopefully, there are very few mistakes.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Hope gets a puppy

February and March flew by, and now it was mid-March. Hope's second birthday was in May, and Jessica's first birthday was in June. On a mild Saturday, March afternoon Joe opened the fence of his son and daughter-in-law's backyard.

"Grandpa!" Hope ran excitedly over to him, "Daddy, build!" She pointed to where Oliver and Shane were trying to figure out how to set up the girls' new swing set. It had arrived in February, but it was unfortunately too small to be built in the basement. Instead of sending it back, Shane convinced Oliver to put it together in the spring. The challenge took longer than expected, and the girls were getting impatient. So, at her mother's suggestion, Shane had texted Joe.

"I know," Joe picked Hope up and carried her over to where Jessica was playing with chalk on the back porch, "I came to help. So I need you to be a big, almost-two-year-old and stay with Grandma and your sister. Why don't you draw a picture of Baby Shark and a puppy for me?" Joe asked the toddler, knowing she was getting more interested in dogs along with her Baby Shark.

Walking up to his son Joe could tell he was getting frustrated, "Son," Joe placed a hand on his shoulder as he approached, "Let's take a little break; I brought some drinks for everyone," He held up a brown cooler he had with him.

"I think that's a great idea after maybe Joe can help us," Shane opened the cooler and smiled as she saw three You-Hoo's and two diet cokes. It reminded her of how well Joe knew all of them.

After the drinks had been given out, Hope had asked for a snack. Joe saw the perfect opportunity to talk to his son and daughter-in-law with the girls inside with Sharon. "A friend of mine has a golden doodle who just had a litter of puppies. I was wondering if you'd like to take one. I think a puppy would be excellent for the girls, especially Hope.

As expected, Shane looked interested in the idea, but Oliver was not so much. "Dogs need to be trained; even after that, they are messy and loud. We are already busy enough."

"I agree with Joe; a dog would be perfect for teaching Hope about responsibility and empathy. Plus, having a dog strengthens children's immune systems," Shane explained; when Oliver turned to question her, she added, "I've been researching since your father informed me about the possibility of getting a puppy."

Oliver wasn't sure how he felt about his wife knowing this information before he did. However, he knew now was not the time to ask. "May I ask what other information you found out about puppies?"

"They need to be socialized with other dogs, so I talked to Rita, and she and Norman are going to get a puppy too. That way, we'll be able to help each other out, and the puppies can play together."

"I guess it could be something to look into," Oliver looked to where Hope was crawling on her hands and knees on the deck. She started to bark which made Jessica giggle. Hope crawled over to her parents, "Hope, puppy. Bark!"

"She loves dogs, Oliver; you're always saying she needs to learn more responsibility. I think this is the perfect opportunity." Shane informed her husband.

"Hope, please stand up. Your mother and I have something we'd like to discuss with you," Oliver addressed Hope.

"Bark!" Hope responded,

"Oliver," Shane tried not to laugh. Sometimes he still didn't know how to speak to their children. "She doesn't understand, Hope; please stand up for Mommy," Shane held out her hand, "Mommy and Daddy have some big girl things we need to talk to you about."

As he watched his daughter stand up, Oliver said, "I believe I told her the same thing. She needs to learn how to talk correctly."

Shane sighed and lifted Hope into her arms, "Hope, now that you're almost two years old, how would you like to get a puppy. You'd need to be a big girl, help feed the puppy, and take it on walks. You should also play with the puppy and be nice and gentle."

"Hope puppy! Peese!" Hope clapped her hands, "Baby Shark." She pointed to her toy, "Puppy Shark," and then began singing about Puppy Shark in the tune of Baby Shark."

"Since this sounds like the decision has been made, I suggest we do more research. We should find out what a puppy needs," Oliver spoke up.

Later in the week, Oliver and Shane took Hope and Jessica to see the litter of puppies at Joe's friend's house. Five eight-week-old puppies were in a small playpen inside the kitchen, and they all started barking as the family approached. Jessica started to cry, but Hope walked right up to the puppies and put her finger to her lips when none of them stopped barking to look at the adults for help.

"That was a good try, sweetie. The puppies are just excited to see you. Would you like to play with them?" Joe's friend Martin asked.

"Yes, peese," Hope replied.

"Hope, leave Baby Shark here," Oliver told her, "The puppies will chew it."

"No," Hope cried, "Baby Shark."

"Hope, if Baby Shark gets chewed on, you will not get another, " Oliver warned her. He took the toy away, which led Hope to cry and scream.

"Hope," Shane knelt to her daughter's level, "Puppies like to chew things. You don't want Baby Shark to get torn up. That will make you sad." As Hope grew more independent and often didn't do as she was told, Shane had been reading articles and parenting books on her IPad, and she was attempting to use language Hope understood to talk to her.

"Baby Shark!" Hope held tightly onto her favourite toy. She looked into the playpen, where the puppies were playing with toys. "Baby Shark, come."

Shane took the well-loved toy and put it outside the Baby gate, "Baby Shark can watch you play with the puppies."

"No!" Hope began to cry.

"Here," Martin took a small tennis ball out of the puppy playpen, "The puppies love to chase balls. Why don't you throw this in the play area? Then you can play with them."

"Hope Mr. Martin is trying to help you," Oliver told his daughter, "If you're not ready to see the puppies, your mother and I will pick one out."

"No, Hope do," Hope took the ball and threw it into the gated-off area. She giggled as all the puppies began to chase the ball and then play fight with each other over it.

"Puppy fun, Hope play too." Hope tried reaching over the baby gate to climb in. Before she could hurt herself, Martin lifted her and put her in the baby gate area.

All five of the puppies stopped playing with each other and ran to Hope. Some jumped on her, which caused her to fall. She then got licked as puppies climbed on top of her. Shane and Oliver stood close by in case Hope got upset; she did not. She started giggling and then rolled over onto her stomach and began rolling around the baby gate. Some of the puppies attempted to follow her with hilarious results.

As Hope continued to play with the puppies, she became more and more confident in what she was doing. She tried to tell the puppies to play nice and sit, but they didn't listen. She realized something as Shane watched her daughter talk through how to sit nicely. Getting a dog for Hope would be even better than she ever imagined; Hope loved animals and was in her element. Maybe she was looking at a future veterinarian.

Hope played with the puppies for half an hour; her parents told her it was time to leave for dinner. Hope looked at all the puppies again and pointed to the puppy who had been at her side for almost half an hour. "My puppy."

"I think this is the puppy we want," Shane smiled, "Although we'll need to come up with a different name. As the puppy was wearing a pink collar, Shane knew the puppy was a girl. "How about the name Rosie?"

"Rodie," Hope replied, "Baby puppy. Puppy come." She pointed to the door.

"We have to wait another week until we can take Rosie home with us," Shane told her daughter as she lifted her out of the puppy playpen, "In the meantime, you can help get everything that Rosie is going to need all set up."

The next day Joe picked Hope up and took her shopping for some things Rosie would need. Once in the store, Joe put Hope in the cart's baby seat and started pushing the cart. "All right. Hope we need-"

"Baby Shark!" Hope yelled as she pointed to a new Baby Shark-themed dog toy display, "Baby Shark!" She said again, "Baby puppy, Baby shark," She pointed to a picture on the collection of a puppy playing with a squeaky toy version of Baby Shark.

Joe knew the Baby Shark song and associated characters were very popular right now, though he had not heard of Baby Shark dog toys. He thought maybe the whole idea was so that parents with young children and dogs would buy the products. As he looked at how happy Hope seemed, he guessed that whatever the idea was, it worked.

"All right, Hope, we can get Rosie two Baby Shark toys." He held up two fingers as he talked, "How about a Baby Shark chew toy or a Baby Shark ball."

"Baby Shark, ball," Hope smiled.

Joe loaded the two toys into the cart and then continued pushing the cart through the store. He managed to get many things for the puppy but stopped as he saw Hope getting cranky. He checked out of the store and drove back to her house. Once on her front lawn, Hope ran to the garage and her new tricycle. It was pink and purple with a horn. Hope still needed help riding it, but she was getting better.

"Go," Hope got on the seat and honked the horn. "Mommy!" She clapped as Shane entered the garage through the house entrance, "Mommy, ride."

Shane lifted her daughter into her arms, "How about later? Right now, Grandma is here for lunch. She has a special early birthday present for you. Do you want to see what it is?"

Shane carried Hope into the house and placed her in front of a large package. Joe had come, too, as all of the adults knew what the present was. Hope looked at the Disney wrapping paper for only a few seconds before tearing away. She ripped through the paper and seemed disappointed as she saw it only led to another box, "A box." She pointed out to the adults who didn't share her confusion.

"Here, sweetheart," Oliver led Hope over to the other side of the box where was a picture, "Grandma got you your very own toy kitchen, just like the one you love at daycare. Once it's set up, maybe we can have a tea party." Oliver hoped to take Hope to the Brown Palace Hotel for a tea party as another birthday present. He and Shane were planning o getting her a fancy dress and shoes.

"Tea party," Hope jumped up and down, "Cookies, Hope bake." Hope said excitedly, "Kitchen Hope room." She looked at her parents.

"I think your new kitchen is going to go in the playroom. Your bedroom already has enough toys."

Over the next week, Shane and Oliver worked to get their house puppy-proof. Wanting Hope to be able to help in whatever way she could, they had called several things for Hope to help care for the puppy. They had small new measuring cups so that Hope could fill Rosie's water and food bowls. Hope also had a stuffed dog that looked much like Rosie. Hope was using her stuffed puppy to help her learn all about her new puppy.

When Rosie came to her new home for the first time, she was whimpering as she was put into her large new crate. She cried even more as she saw she was somewhere unfamiliar.

"Baby puppy sad," Hope peered into the cage she reached her hand through, but Joe stopped her.

"Rosie may bite you, sweetie, she's scared, she missed her Mommy, see that blanket. It smells like her Mommy."

"Puppy Sad," Hope repeated. She ran to get her toy puppy, "Puppy friend," She held the puppy up to the cage, "Baby friend.

Rosie tentatively walked over to the edge of the cage; she tried to get the toy but couldn't.

Shane pushed the toy through the cage, and Rosie licked the toy puppy and began to calm down a little. She looked out at her new family and barked.

"Yay, puppy!" Hope cheered happily. "Play now?" She looked up at her parents.

"We need to give Rosie a few more hours to settle into her new home," Shane told her, "Then we can bring her out into the playpen."

"Hope stay, puppy," Hope sat down next to the cage with Baby Shark and began talking to herself as she made the toy move. Rosie watched Hope play and soon fell asleep. Once Hope was sure Rosie was sleeping, Hope went to her and Jessica's playroom. She got a small shopping cart and began putting most of her toys inside.

"Hope," Shane watched her daughter, "Are you going shopping?"

"Play kitchen," Hope responded as she pushed the shopping cart away. Once in the kitchen, she threw the toys on the floor and then put Baby Shark in her toy submarine. Standing up, she ran with the sub around the kitchen only to run into her father, who was going to start cooking dinner.

"Hope," Oliver looked at his daughter, "Are you okay? Please remember to walk in the house?" Once he saw that his daughter was okay, his attention turned to behind, where her toys had been dumped. Before having children, Oliver had led an elegant and organized lifestyle. After Hope had begun staying with him, he learned babies were messy and needed many things. With everything their parents needed to do, even Oliver was learning that sometimes the house couldn't stay as clean as he would like it to be. Now that Hope was almost two, he expected her to begin to help tidy up her messes.

"Hope, why are you playing in the kitchen?"

"Rodie," Hope pointed to her new puppy, who had just woken up and started to bark, "Food time," Hope walked over to Rosie's puppy food. She opened the container, but Oliver closed it.

"Go and get Rosie's food and water bowls," Oliver instructed, "Do you remember where you put them?"

Hope nodded and went to a low cabinet in the kitchen where she had put all of Rosie's things. She took out the two matching pink bowls and brought them to her father. "Hope do," She pointed to the food.

"Here, be very careful pouring the food," Oliver used the hand-over-hand technique as Hope used the measuring cup and put some food in Rosie's bowl.

"I will feed Rosie and give her some water. Can you put your toys back in the playroom? Since you want to stay in the kitchen, you can help me make dinner. We are having roast chicken and potatoes."

TBC

A\N: If you have time, I'd love for you to review :)