JP Part 2

Dakota

"No"

Joseph stands with his arms crossed while giving me a disapproving glare.

 "Come on at least give me a chance to explain!"

Joseph's expression stays the same.

"His name is Dakota and he's your therapy dog. He's trained to help with PTSD." I explain as I stand with the young golden retriever sitting patiently by my side.

 Joseph looks at Dakota then me, then Dakota again. "Peter, we're going to have a baby soon. Is now really the best time for a dog?" He says although I could tell he was holding back since he loves dogs so much.

 "Any other dog, no. But I think we need Dakota." I tell Joseph and pet Dakota's head. 

"I don't need a therapy dog." Joseph says defensively. "Come on Jojo. Give him at least a week. And if he destroys the house I'll bring him back." I bargain and Joseph caves. "Fine but only a week." He says as I let the leash go. 

Dakota was about a year old and briskly walked straight to Joseph with his tags jingling as he sits at Jojo's feet while wagging his tail. Even I was impressed. Joseph looks at Dakota but can't contain himself any longer. He gets down on the ground and examines Dakota, who just tilts his head in response, then looks at me. 

While looking up, Dakota starts to lick his face and Joseph falls in love. 

"Ah! I have the best husband ever!" Joseph shouts while wrapping his arms around our new friend. I walk up the stairs and lean into the doorway, "Ella! PJ! Come over here, I have a surprise for you!" I hear the little pats of their tiny footsteps come sliding down the stairs.

"Puppy!"

 Ella yells and she runs to Dakota with PJ and pets him, but I see something. 

"Ella, come here." I see something in her eyes. "Yes, Daddy?" I get down on one knee and Joseph looks at us while PJ pets Dakota. "Something wrong hun?"

I look at my beautiful little girl and push her long strands of gorgeous blonde hair to the side, lifting her chin up and look into her eyes. "Oh, I knew it," I whisper and Joseph comes closer and looks with me. "Haha! You and your strong Grayson genes." Joseph laughs when he sees it and my baby girl looks at both of us confused.

 When she was a baby she had these beautiful light green eyes, just like her papa, but now they were getting a little darker with flecks of gray. 

"Nothing sweetie, you're just so beautiful that your daddies are trying to figure out who you get it from," I explain and kiss her little forehead. She caresses her chin with her little fingers in deep thought and looks at Joseph, then me, then Joseph, then me again. 

"I think I want to look more like you daddy." 

She says with such brutal honesty Joseph pretends to faint and holds his heart. I grab Ella up and into my arms, kissing and tickling her all over. "

Daddy!"

 She screams and I hug her. Joseph looks at me hurt. "Don't worry Papa! I love you more than Ella and Daddy!" PJ says and now it's my turn to be hurt while Joseph picks up little PJ and snuggles him while ruffling his hair. "Ahh, these kids keep us on our toes. But there's no one to break the tie as to who's the favorite father." Joseph says and I laugh.

PJ and Ella escape us and go back to playing with Dakota. 

"I mean. We'll have to wait a year or two before he can form an opinion." I say as I grab Joseph from behind, he yelps, laughing loudly. He leans sideways and uses my lap as a pillow.

"I'm just thankful it's not twins again, or triplets like you. I still don't know how your poor mother and father dealt with two sets of twins, forget nine kids," he says and I laugh.

 "A big house, lots of patience, and every word said to us was with a purpose whether that be something as simple as creating a memory or supporting us through life," I admit and he smiles. 

"You're such an amazing father Peter. How did I get lucky enough to be with you?" Joseph says and turns to me. I gently kiss him and feel a smile form on his lips. 

"That's going to be an amazing story to tell the kiddos one day. All three of them." I reply and we kiss again.

"Eww, Daddy! Papa! That's gross!" PJ and Ella say in unison. 

I pull away and nuzzle my head on Jojo's chest and he laughs while ruffling the hair on the back of my head. "I forgot we have an audience," I mumble into his shirt. "What were we thinking?" 

"We still haven't picked a middle name." He reminds me and I groan. "We've been fighting about this for months," I say and I kiss his neck. "Nozomi." He suggested and I look at him. "Hope? But I wanted Yoichi! From when we were undercover in Korea!" I suggest and he laughs.

"Ah, only Seung will get it, we're like best friends now," Joseph says and I pick my head up and look at him. 

"He can't take you away from me," I say while squinting in suspicion at Jojo. He laughs a little, "Nah, It's not like that. He's with Luke 100%, trust me I tried." Joseph says sarcastically and my mouth drops. 

"How dare you flirt with Seung!" I angry whisper. He must be joking, "I know. But he said I was this gorgeous god among men. You never said anything like that." He pouts with his arms crossed. I come close to his ear and whisper, 

"Sorry, I thought you being the sexiest man alive was just another fact you already knew,"

 I whisper his ear and pull away, Joseph was looking everywhere except straight at me, as he blushes harder than usual. "Ah, Joseph you're so cute."

In the middle of the night, Dakota starts to whimper and I wake up to see Joseph tossing and turning. I watch Dakota as he hops onto our bed and starts licking his face and whimpering louder until Joseph wakes up, but he doesn't cry out this time. 

"Hey, buddy. Shh, don't wake Peter." Jojo softly whispers to Dakota while petting his head. 

Dakota then lays down next to him and nuzzles his head on Joseph's chest. He sighs and continues petting Dakota. 

"Don't tell him I said this but you're the best present Peter has ever given me," he says and scratches Dakota's ears.