The Married Life of the Hamilton-Laurens

Amy the Turtle

*Frances is 14 and Phillip is 12*

     John really, really wanted a pet. Not a cat, nor a dog, nor even a hamster. (Though Alex would never get a hamster after the infamous Hamster Incident.) His class had a hermit crab, but John wasn't really invested in it. In fact, he once forgot to feed it for a couple days. The kindergarteners in his class still hadn't let him live that one down.

He looked down at the paper in front of him. By the letter W he was always tired of the alphabet. Music blared from his daughter's room, some weird emo band she and her friends liked.

"Frances, can you please turn that down?" He called, taking his favorite red pen and correcting a few mistakes on the paper. The music was grudgingly turned down a few notches.

Only a few minutes later the volume was higher than it had been before he had asked it to be lowered. He sighed, walking over to Frances' room. He knocked on the doorframe.

"Frances! Can you please turn that down? I'm trying to do my work." A face opened the door. John could see two other teenage girls in the room behind her, sprawled on the bed.

"Dad! You're even worse than Philip! Can you please try not to embarrass me while Theo and Abby are here?" She slammed the door, but John smiled as the music quieted down.

The door to the apartment squeaked, and Alex and Philip walked in. Alex looked at the door and cocked his head. He swung it on it's hinges a few more times. It groaned accordingly.

"I should probably put some oil on that or something. What do you think, John?" John looked towards his husband.

"Yeah, probably."

"Dad! Guess what happened at Yearbook today?" Philip slung his backpack on the table. He was more enthusiastic than usual. It was a Saturday, but since the Yearbook had to be done in two weeks, a special weekend meeting had been called. Alex had picked him up so that John could grade some papers he was behind on.

"What happened at Yearbook, Philip?" Alex rolled his eyes, already aware of what had happened.

"Sam and George where picking on me so Anthony punched George in the face!" Philip pulled out his recently acquired phone. "See I got it on video!"

"I really don't want to see that. Do their parents know what happened?" Alex pretended to check a wristwatch signaling that he had been over this before.

"Unfortunately. Mr. Eacker was coming to pick up his son and saw everything. Though, I'm sure that everyone else wouldn't have told them."

John sighed. "Philip, you really shouldn't be a bystander like that."

"Whatever. It was awesome." He sauntered off to his room. John would bet good money that he was texting Anthony right now.

"Alex, we should get a pet." Alex turned around, a cookie already stuffed in his mouth.

"What?"

"I said we should get a pet."

"I'm allergic to cats, and having a dog in New York would just be a handful."

"None of those. I was thinking about a turtle."

"Well, John, you are 'turtle boy,' so I guess it's appropriate. But still, why a turtle?"

"Um, turtles are awesome. Plus, they're not much trouble."

"Fine. We can put a tank in our bedroom."

"Sweet. I'm going to research turtle tanks!" As he ran out of the room he could see Alex sigh and take another cookie. The jar had stopped being an emergency cookie jar. It was now just a whenever you're hungry jar.

The turtle tank had been set up in John and Alex's room. It had a little waterfall and a whole layer of pretty brown pebbles. The kids had refused to help, but John was still really proud of it.

"Come on Alex! Hurry up!"

"John, I have to get the keys and put on my shoes. You're acting younger than Philip and Frances." The two kids, for their part were leaning against the door frame while John jumped up and down and Alex rummaged through the shoe drawer.

Finally he found a matching pair and pulled the sneakers on. He twirled the house keys on his fingers and the family headed out the door. They boarded the subway and started the quick journey to the pet store.

Ferrets and mice ran around their cages and fish swam aimlessly. Cats purred and dogs growled as the group headed into the shop.

"Dad, can I look at the cats?" Phillip asked.

"Can I go with him?" Frances added.

"Fine," John consented, "but don't go anywhere else."

"I'm a teenager," Frances whined.

Alex nodded, turning towards his daughter. "Exactly why me and your father don't want you to go anywhere we don't know."

"Uh, you guys are so annoying." Frances and Philip walked away and John and Alex walked over to the aquatic animals section.

"Oh! Look at this one!" A little turtle, smaller than all the others, floated on the surface of the water. It let out little air bubbles and lazily swam around. "I want that one, Alex!"

"John, you are a grown man. If you want a turtle, get one."

"Sweet! I'm gonna get the small one. It looks so cute. I'm gonna name it Amy!"

"Why, John, are you going to name your turtle Amy?" Alex redid his ponytail, looking at the turtle again.

"I think Amy fits it very well." They paid for the turtle and headed home. John excitedly let Amy into the tank. She slowly approached the water. She paddled around a little.

John sprinkled some turtle food into the tank. Amy slowly chewed it up. She kicked up a few pebbles. Except for the time he had to pee and eat dinner, John spent the entire day staring at his precious little turtle. He really was turtle boy.