Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for their squeal-inducing feedback! You're the best, ladies.
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
Puppy Love (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
"I'm home!" Joan called as she entered the house. She dropped her backpack on the bench by the door and knelt as Peanut came running from her spot by the front window where she'd been watching for Joan's return. "Hi, Peanut!" She giggled as she was covered in puppy kisses and buried her face in the dog's neck. "Did you miss me?"
"Like always," Mary said with a laugh, joining them. "Can I have one of those, too?" she asked, opening her arms for a hug.
Joan beamed and stood, hugging her mother. "Can we fill out Peanut's application for the dog park now?"
"Um, hi, how was your day? Mine was good, thanks for asking."
Joan giggled, looking up at her. "Sorry, Mama. I had a good day. Now can we work on Peanut's application? Please?"
"No snack first?"
Joan bit her lip, torn. "We could have snack while we work on it," she suggested.
Mary chuckled. "Do you have any homework?"
"Yes," Joan admitted. "But it's easy. One math page and spelling. And ELA,"
she added, referring to English Language Arts.
Mary gave her a look. "Homework first, then we'll work on the dog park application."
Joan sighed, but nodded.
Mary gave her an extra squeeze. "I know you're eager, but the dog park isn't going anywhere, I promise."
"I just think she'll like it so much," Joan said, leaning down to give Peanut, who had been waiting beside them for more attention, a kiss.
"I think she will, too. So let's get that snack and homework done, and we can start on the … surprisingly thorough dog park application."
Joan beamed. She turned and grabbed her backpack, motioning for Peanut as they headed toward the kitchen. "Come on, Peanut." The eager pup trotted along beside her. Joan put her backpack at the kitchen table and went to "Peanut's cabinet" to get her a snack while Mary worked on something for the two of them.
"Yogurt parfait?" Mary asked, already getting the yogurt out of the fridge knowing what her daughter's answer would be.
"With blueberries?" Joan asked hopefully.
"You got it."
"Okay, Peanut," Joan said, tearing a soft dog treat into smaller pieces. "Sit," she said clearly, giving Peanut a piece of the treat as soon as the dog sat. "Paw," she said next, holding out a hand and smiling when Peanut immediately put a paw into it. She gave her another bit of the treat. "Spin around," she said, moving her hand in a large circle. She squealed and did a little jump when Peanut spun in a tight circle. "She did it!" She gave Peanut the rest of the treat and a big hug. "Good girl!"
"Nice," Mary said, bringing the parfaits over to the table. "She doesn't always get that one the first time."
"You're so smart, Peanut," Joan said, kissing the pup's head.
"All right, my smart peanut, give her a chew and let's get going on this parfait and homework."
"Here you go, Peanut," Joan said, giving her a chew treat that would keep her busy for a while. Peanut eagerly took it into the living room, one of her preferred places to snack where she could still see what was going on at the table.
Joan joined her mother and they each dug into a parfait of yogurt, granola, and blueberries.
"Hey, Mama," Joan asked after a minute.
"Yes, peanut?"
"Is it cheating to ask Aunt 'Lyssa for help with the dog park application? I don't want to put anything that's not true, but …" She glanced toward Peanut who was lying on the floor working on her chew.
Mary smiled softly, understanding. "But you want your answers to put Peanut in the best possible light so she gets to go to the dog park."
"Yeah."
"Peanut's a great dog, I think she's going to get in, no problem. But if you're worried, how about this: we'll fill out the application, and then run it by Aunt Alyssa and Aunt Catherine to see if they have any suggestions to make it as good as we can make it. How does that sound?"
Joan straightened, nodding her energetic agreement.
"But first …" Mary continued, eyeing Joan's backpack, and the fifth-grader deflated a little.
"Homework."
The next afternoon, Aaron left work early so that all three could take Peanut to the dog park for her "interview."
Walking toward the door of the office, Mary and Aaron exchanged a smile as they listened to Joan give Peanut some last minute coaching.
"Just be yourself, Peanut, and you'll be fine. You're a good dog and we love you, no matter what."
Mary reached forward to squeeze Joan's shoulder.
"That goes for you, too," Aaron said with a smile.
Joan smiled back at them and then waited for Aaron to grab the office door and open it. Mary opened the second set of doors and they stepped into the office together. Peanut's already wagging tail started wagging even faster when she spotted the gray and white husky mix laying by the desk where a young man sat behind a laptop.
"Hello there," he said with a warm smile.
The husky stood up and came toward them, warbling in the way only huskies can.
The man smiled, standing as well. "Katja wants to say hi, too."
"Hi, Katja," Joan said, holding Peanut's leash as the two dogs sniffed each others' snouts.
"She's beautiful," Mary said. "How old?"
"Almost three," the man said. "Hi, I'm Benjamin. You must be the McGarrett-Reyes family with Peanut."
"That's us," Aaron said, shaking Benjamin's hand. Peanut left Katja briefly to check out the new human and Benjamin held out a hand for her to sniff.
"How old is Peanut again?"
"We think about a year and a half," Joan said, and Mary and Aaron exchanged a smile at how confidently she took the lead. "But we don't know for sure because she's a rescue."
"Well, she is a sweetheart, I can already tell," Benjamin said, scratching Peanut behind the ear.
"She really likes that spot," Joan said.
Benjamin grinned. "And I can tell you know your dog very well."
Joan nodded, beaming.
Benjamin motioned the three of them over to the desk, and Peanut and Katja followed.
"Peanut, sit," Joan said, giving her a small treat when she did.
"Very nice," Benjamin said with a smile. He sat behind the desk and motioned toward the chairs. "It's okay if Peanut wants to explore the office while we go over her paperwork."
"Do you want me to take her, pumpkin?" Aaron asked. "You can stay here in case Benjamin has any questions about Peanut."
"Okay," Joan said, handing over Peanut's leash. The pup happily began to sniff around the office and after watching for a moment, Joan and Mary turned back to Benjamin who had been typing on the laptop. Mary handed Joan the folder they had brought and nodded toward Benjamin. Joan took out the first paper in the folder. "Here's Peanut's vaccin–" She looked at her mother, forgetting the word.
"Vaccination," Mary supplied.
"Vaccination paper," Joan said, passing it over to Benjamin.
"Thank you very much. I'll just enter these dates into Peanut's record. This'll just take a minute."
As he typed, Mary noticed Joan's leg bouncing up and down. She reached over and patted her hand, giving her a wink when Joan looked over at her.
"Okay," Benjamin said. "Let's take a look at your questionnaire." Joan handed him those papers next and he began to scan them. "So you've had Peanut for about five months."
Joan nodded. "Since April 19th. That's Peanut's Gotcha Day."
Benjamin smiled. "Awesome. And she's been through a basic manners class."
"And we still work on her training every … well, almost every day," Joan admitted.
He smiled understandingly. "No history of fights or biting other dogs or humans," he read from the application.
"We only know for sure since she came home," Joan said and bit her lip. "But I don't think Peanut could ever have bitten anyone. She's so sweet."
Benjamin nodded. "I understand. She certainly seems sweet." He nodded to the other side of the room. "And Katja likes her."
"She has lots of dog friends," Joan said. "She has playdates with Buster in our backyard, he lives in our neighborhood. And her doggie cousin Rex. She's really good at playing with other dogs."
"That's great to hear," Benjamin said. He looked over the rest of the questions, noting that while Peanut did sometimes still jump up on people, it was something the family was working on, and that she had no history of resource guarding, prey drive, or aggression toward people or other dogs. He smiled at Joan. "I'm happy to say we would love to have you and Peanut join the Silver Lake Dog Park."
Joan squealed. "Did you hear that Peanut? You got in!"
Peanut immediately came over at the sound of excitement in Joan's voice.
"We'll just get a picture for our records and have you pay the fee, and she'll be all set to play today if you want."
"Can we stay and play?" Joan asked, looking longingly out the windows where they could see several other dogs playing in the massive park.
"Definitely," Mary said with a smile. "That's what we're here for."
"You get to play, Peanut!" Joan said, and the pup waggled excitedly. "You get to play!"
"And play she did," Mary said, chuckling. "For over an hour."
"It was so great," Joan gushed to the four on the tablet screen. "She loved it. We met so many new friends."
"That sounds like so much fun!" DJ said.
"So much fun!" Angie echoed.
"Remember the video of Peanut running in the backyard for the first time?" Mary said.
Catherine nodded. "Priceless."
"Well, this was like that, but with even more joy."
"She had so much room to run," Aaron added. "It was amazing to see. She's even faster than we thought."
"I checked out the website," Steve said. "24 acres, that's great."
"And a swimming area," Catherine added.
Joan nodded. "But Peanut wasn't really sure about the water. She just put her feet in and drank a little."
"I think once she checks it out a little more, she'll go in," Aaron said. "She looks like a swimmer to me."
"There was a dog there who jumped off the dock!" Joan said.
"What?!" Angie said, eyes wide with excitement.
"Cool!" DJ said.
"Can Cammie do that?" Angie asked her parents. "She loves the water."
Steve gave a nod of interest. "She does. We can check around and see if there's a place."
"Yay!" Angie cheered.
"Tell us more about the dogs Peanut got to play with at the park," Catherine said.
"She really liked playing with Duchess," Joan continued. "Balto wasn't as interested in playing, he just wanted to sniff."
"Balto?" DJ repeated.
"That's Duchess' brother," Joan said.
"Duchess is a young lab, Balto is a husky mix," Aaron supplied.
"And Rosie is their sister," Joan said. "She only played a little, but she was really sweet." She looked at Mary. "She was Mom's favorite."
"Just the sweetest face," Mary said. "She's older, so does more watching, but such a sweetheart."
"Now tell them about Peanut's new bestie who she played chase with," Aaron said with a wry smile.
Joan grinned. "Steve!"
"Huh?" Steve asked.
Joan giggled. "It's another beagle mix like Peanut, and his name is Steve! They chased each other all over!"
Mary didn't bother to contain her guffaws and Catherine chuckled while DJ and Angie giggled, looking at their father who shook his head, fighting his own laughter.
"Well, it definitely sounds like Peanut had the time of her life at the park," he said finally. "With Duchess and Balto and Rosie …"
"And don't forget Steve!" Angie said.
"Who could forget Steve," Mary said, between snickers.
"You're loving this, aren't you?" he asked.
"I really, really am," she said, wiping away tears of laughter.
"Just, do me one favor," he began.
"Too late," she said, holding up her phone. "I just texted video to Danny and Carrie."
Steve dropped his head to his chest with a sigh. When he looked up, he caught Joan's eyes on the screen and smiled. "Well, I think we all know that no one can replace Peanut's best friend."
Joan looked down at Peanut who was fast asleep after her eventful day, her head in Joan's lap, and smiled. "Not even Steve."
Hope you enjoyed!
Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll
Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net
Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com
You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line.
And find Mari on Twitter at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller