What Could Have Been

I'm Still On That Tightrope

Happy Sunday! Enjoy this little filler :)

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Adjusting to the new furry addition to their household was posing a bit of a challenge. Apparently, when Meredith was busy thanking them for taking her dog and telling them how sweet he was, she failed to mention how he wasn't housebroken properly. She should have expected as much with their unpredictable work hours.

She'd wake up in the middle of the night from his incessant barking at what? She never knew- the fact that his bed was situated right outside her room was no help either. He soiled the living room rug the other day and her dad had to haul it out leaving the hardwood flooring bare. She had tripped and slipped on one too many slobber-covered chew toys one too many times, especially in the dark. Doc had even gotten into her load of clean laundry after playing outside resulting in Stacey having to wash them all over again.

Stacey felt like she aged a decade in the week they've had him. So much for not being too much of a bother.

Like this morning, they were all trying to finish getting ready to get out the door, but Stacey was running around trying to find her shoe.

"It's not in my closet or in the laundry room." her mom called down from the top of the staircase.

"I checked and it isn't in mine either." her dad said as he came down the stairs. "Are you sure it isn't just in your hall closet covered by a different pair or something?"

Stacey pulled herself up from her spot on the floor where she was trying to see if the shoe was under a cabinet. It wasn't.

"I'm sure it isn't because I wore them yesterday and the other one is there but the pair isn't." she huffed as she dusted off her knees. She placed her hands on her hips and let out an exasperated groan. "Where is it?!" she exclaimed to no one in particular.

"Can't you just wear a different pair? We have to leave soon or else we'll all be late." he ran a hand through his hair as he checked the time on his watch again. He shot her a look with one eyebrow raised and she sighed.

She definitely could wear a different pair- she already was actually- but that wasn't the issue. The shoes were a really expensive gift from her Aunt Nancy and the thought of displacing them made her sick. With the new four-legged housemate they had, she made sure to put her shoes away more securely than ever so how did she manage to lose one after wearing it just the day before?

"I totally can, dad, but it doesn't change the fact that I still need to find it."

Stacey pressed her eyes shut and ran a hand through her hair in frustration as she wracked her brain for where her shoe could possibly be.

"Uhm... good news! I found it!" her eyes shot up wide at her mother's exclamation however, she furrowed her eyebrows when she saw her mother's expression. "The bad news is that you're not going to be happy about it."

Her mom's eyes were fixated on a spot behind her with her lower lip in between her teeth. She narrowed her eyes at her mother before turning around to the spot she was looking at.

Stacey's mouth dropped open and she felt her blood run cold. There by the kitchen archway, stood Doc with his tail wagging enthusiastically in the air and her missing shoe dangling from his mouth and dripping in dog spit. She felt the heat rising behind her eyes. Just when she thought the dog couldn't be any more of a pain in the ass.

...

Thanks to Doc's choice of chew toy this morning, her parents had to endure Stacey's annoyed rant the entire car ride to her school. Her dad knew better than to stop her prematurely. After spending the last half of his life with a woman like Addison, he knew he had to at least let her go through five minutes to blow off steam before he opened his mouth.