"Options... There must be Other Options..." (Book 1)

Chapter 43 - "Buttons..."

Chapter 43 - "Buttons..."

Clara's PoV

John stood just inside his office door with his mouth wide agape.

Turns out that puppy's can be as hard to look after as kids are.

'Well there's not much I can do about the destroyed paper work right now. It doesn't really matter too much because I can just print it all off again... I just wish you'd have taken the stupid thing outside to do a wee' John scoffed.

'It's not my problem John. You didn't even leave me with a lead' Richard mumbled.

'Oh yeah. That's in my desk draw' John said, opening the top draw and fastening the red lead to the small puppy, that jumped up excitedly licking John's face. 'What the hell have I got myself into?' John muttered.

'Where the hell is the damn thing going to sleep?' Richard scoffed.

'Well I'm hoping Evie will bond with it and maybe it'll sleep on the floor in their room - but for now that's what the cage is for' John acknowledged, letting the puppy drag John along towards his car.

It was already 6.30pm and he knew with traffic it might take him a while to get home.

He knew it would be a bad idea to get the girls all excited before bed - but he really couldn't leave the dog in the car. 'See you tomorrow man' Richard said, clinching away from the puppy that was licking his trousers. 'Stupid thing' he muttered walking away - still cursing the dog for taking a shit on his shoes.

- - -

'Now don't you two look all cute in your pyjamas?' I smirked as Avia bounded out of the kitchen and into the lounge where Evie was attached to the window. 'Are you waiting for Santa? Because he doesn't come for children until they are in bed' I smirked, standing behind her and brushing her hair.

'I'm waiting for Daddy' she said sadly, looking out.

'Does she do that a lot?' I asked Lilly.

'It was even worse in Chicago. He was working 8 till 8 days. She never saw him. The amount of times she would fall asleep by the window was heart breaking' Lilly said as we cleaned up the toys, so we could see the floor again.

'It's time for the mince pies Mummy' Avia said, clutching my hand and pulling me into the kitchen where she pointed at the cupboard they were in.

I pulled the box out and let her place two of the mince pies on the plate and watched as she found the blue stool, and pushed it towards the fridge, and pulled three carrots out of the bottom draw.

She then ran to the tree with that but had a change of heart running back and opening the fridge again. 'Can you get one of Daddy's beers. Santa likes beer' she grinned.

'Are you trying to get Santa drunk? Because I don't think he'll be very good at delivering other presents if he's drunk'

'It won't matter. Daddy says that Santa is magic and he never gets drunk'

'No Avia. Daddy said that we're not allowed to have his beers' Evie mumbled out of nowhere.

'Give it back Evie' they scrambled, and it turns out I wasn't even watching, until I heard the bottle smash on the floor and heard them both gasp at the same time.

'Good god. What on earth is going on in here?' Lolly scoffed, as she lifted Evie out and banished the pair of them to the lounge, as Lilly started clearing the mess and I grabbed another bottle of beer and the plate.

'I'm sorry Mummy' Evie pouted as she sat back by the window.

'It's okay, no harm done' I smiled, handing the plate back to Avia who placed it under the tree.

I sighed looking at the poor kid.

I know I've been a terrible mother but as her primary carer you'd think he'd take more thought into things like Christmas for the kids. Especially seeing as they are both under the age of 8 which is when the Christmas magic really happens.

I sat on the sofa and played a card game with Evie because Lilly was determined that they weren't going to bed without having seen John, when Evie jumped up off the windowsill and ran to the front door.

She was jumping up and down like an over excited dog because she couldn't reach the door handle but really wanted to get to John.

I opened the door and she jumped at him even though it was freezing outside and hugged him tight.

'Hey there Evie. You excited for Santa?' John asked.

'Yeah. Daddy you have to read the Christmas story' she pouted sadly.

'I'm coming in right now' he smiled but then dropped her to the ground and crouched down in front of both girls in the lounge. 'I've spoken to Santa today and he's left something really special with me'

'Does that mean he's not coming here? We left him one of your beers and everything' Avia pouted.

'Of course he's coming here. He's just left one present with me because it couldn't wait until the morning. So you both need to stay here. Clara' he said motioning for Lilly to sit and for me follow.

'This is all very mysterious' I muttered, as he opened the boot and I stated at the black Labrador puppy in the cage that was very over excited and starting to jump up and down at the sight of John and food. 'Oh my god. You've bought them a dog?'

'Yeah. He's cute isn't he?'

'Cute yes. Looks like a lot of work. Yes' I scoffed.

'Well it really doesn't matter because you don't live here. Your a guest and the dog is for them' John said, pulling the puppy into his arms. 'Could you bring the cage in please?' He uttered.

I followed him into the hallway and he opened the lounge door shutting it on as soon as he stepped in and watched those two little faces light up.

I almost cried myself at how cute they were.

They ran straight to John and were giggling like crazy. 'Daddy's got a puppy' Avia said stroking him as he dropped him to the ground.

'Now we have to be careful. Because he's not trained to our house yet, which means we don't want him upstairs yet. He can only stay in the lounge and kitchen' John instructed.

We both watched as the dog headed straight for the tree but surprisingly didn't destroy it.

It was just funny when Evie got down on her hands and knees and followed the dog as if she was a dog. 'I can be a puppy too'

'What's it's name?' Lilly scoffed.

'It's doesn't have one. I've narrowed it down to a list of names for them to choose from' John admitted as he watched the dog suddenly destroy one of his shirts on the radiator. 'Oi you stupid mutt. That was a good shirt'

'Can we call him Buttons?' Evie asked.

'Yeah. Because he ate the Buttons on your shirt Daddy' Avia giggled in agreement, as John pushed the dog into the cage.

'Right. Buttons sleeps here, and you two sleep upstairs'