Together (Sequel to Slipping Away)

Chapter Thirty-Five

After the family finished lunch Adaley was playing outside while Louis and Harry cleared the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Harry smiled softly as he watched Adaley ride down the slide while squealing. Louis walked up next to Harry and gently bumped his lover's hip with his own.

"What're you thinking about?" Louis asked and Harry smiled softly at Louis before he walked behind the smaller man and wrapped his arms around his lover's waist from behind.

"About how perfect everything is right now. Not only do I have the perfect fiancé and daughter but I have the perfect house to share with them." Harry murmured against Louis' neck and Louis smiled softly.

"You're such a sap, Haz." Louis teased and Harry shrugged, setting his chin on the top of Louis' head.

"I've also been thinking about getting another member of our family." Harry murmured and Louis cocked an eyebrow.

"I thought we both agreed that we weren't ready to take on another child." Louis said with a small frown and Harry shook his head.

"I'm not talking about adopting another child. What if we got a pet? Just a dog or a cat that can play with Adaley while we're busy." Harry suggested and Louis raised an eyebrow.

"You want to adopt a pet?" Louis asked in disbelief and Harry halfway nodded.

"When I was little we had a cat and whenever I was sad I knew that if I cuddled our cat that everything would be better. I was thinking about getting a dog. I've done some research and Rottweilers are good family dogs. I think Adaley would enjoy having a campanion until we decide on whether or not we want to adopt another child. This will also test us to see if we're able to handle more than one child." Harry said and Louis grimaced slightly.

"Aren't they dangerous like pit bulls?" Louis asked nervously and Harry shook his head.

"That's a common misconception. Pit bulls and Rottweilers aren't naturally vicious. It's just in how you raise and train them. I've come across a lot of dogs and quite a few of them have been Rottweilers and pit bulls and not once have I been attacked. I was talking to this girl on a dog website last week. She said her name was Jo and her parents had a Rottweiler when she was growing up. She said that dog would only growl if she sensed danger. She said that she always felt safe when that dog was around because her parents knew how to train it. The research I've conducted on them showed me that that specific breed of dog actually is very family based. Rottweilers feel the need to protect their owner and family from danger. I don't expect a lot of danger to come our way on this island but I'd still feel comfortable having a pet that I know will protect our little princess. And if we decide to get one the trainer I talked to said that it would be best if we started out with a puppy. That way we'd have more time to bond and train it. He also said it'd probably be a good idea if we got a female so it'd balance out the male to female ratio." Harry rambled and Louis nodded slowly along to what Harry was saying.

"Why don't we think on it a little more and tomorrow after we get Adaley enrolled in school we can make our final decision?" Louis suggested and Harry sighed heavily and nodded. "But we won't tell Ada about this until we make our final decision, right?" he asked and Harry opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a small voice.

"Won't tell Ada what?" the voice asked and both Louis and Harry's heads snapped to the back door to see Adaley standing there with a small pout on her lips. Harry chuckled nervously.

"Won't tell Ada how amazing she is at being our daughter?" Harry tried to lie but it came out more as a question. Adaley nodded slowly but decided not to press the issue. She walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Are you and Papa done with the dishes? I wanna see the house." Adaley said and Harry nodded slightly. Louis finished putting the last dishes into the dishwasher before the young couple showed their daughter around their new house. Adaley fell in love with each room that was shown to her. She loved the family photos that Harry and Louis had hung up in the downstairs and upstairs hallway. She loved the way Harry and Louis had designed her room and the way it didn't seem like just a room. It felt like her room. She felt like she was meant to sleep in that room every night. After an hour the couple sat down on the couch without their little girl who was preoccupied with the books lining the walls of the study. Louis leaned against one arm of the couch and rested his feet up on Harry's legs.

"Are you sure you want to get a dog? A Rottweiler?" Louis asked and Harry nodded, smiling at Louis.

"This Jo girl really sold me on them when she talked about how much she loved that dog and how it killed her and her parents when she died." Harry said and Louis nodded slowly, playing with the hem of his shirt.

"What was her dog's name?" Louis asked and Harry chuckled softly.

"The dog's name was Sabot. It's spelled like Say-Bot but it's pronounced like Say-Bow. Her parents have apparently always been into strange names for their pets. Apparently their current dog is named after a cookie." Harry said laughing softly and Louis rolled his eyes but laughed along with him.

"Please tell me that we won't give ours a stupid name." Louis begged and Harry nodded but froze, turning to look at Louis with wide eyes.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Harry asked, nearly vibrating with excitement. Louis nodded slowly.

"Let's adopt a dog."