Yet another Richpez fic

Part 8

Joey opened the door and dragged a heavy suitcase over the threshold. Lauren followed carrying two smaller bags. Joey heaved the suitcase into the living room then walked back over to Lauren, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead.

"Welcome home, Lo."

"Well, temporary home. We'll see how these few months go." she smiled up at him.

Joey walked over to the couch, sat down and put his feet up.

"I'm not worried. You're gonna stay here. I can feel it."

 "And what makes you so confident?" she asked as she sat down next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

"Cos you're not gonna want to go back to Chicago after spending a warm LA winter here. Plus you're gonna get so many acting opportunities. And like, 3 months of Joey lovin'? No way you're gonna leave."

"Oh boy, can't wait for all of those things." she said sarcastically.

**************

Lauren's eyes slowly focused as she turned to face Joey in bed, only to be met by a slip of paper left on his pillow.

'Morning Beautiful. Gone to help Corey take some things to the storage unit. Be home soon. x'

She smiled to herself and couldn't believe that 8 months ago she was debating whether moving here was the right decision. 

A few hours later a worn out Joey arrived home trying to suppress a nervous energy.

"Hey Lo, wanna go get some lunch?" he asked, trying hard to sound as casual as possible.

"Uh, sure. Where d'you wanna go?"

"Well, MK was telling me the other day about this new Italian place that does really good gluten free pasta. Sound good?" 

"Sounds great."

After a 30 minute car ride Joey pulled over and parked in front of a small building. Lauren, who had spent the past 10 minutes staring at her phone looked out at the sign.

'Culver City Animal Shelter'

Joey looked expectantly at her but she returned his look with a confused stare,

"Where's the Italian place?" 

He smiled at her and nodded his head at the building in front of them. Lauren looked again and immediately began sobbing as she hurled herself across the car and squeezed Joey as tightly as she could.

"Let's go get our baby girl" he kissed her forehead as she tried to compose herself.

"Is it the chihuahua? The one I showed you the other week?"

"Yep, it's all taken care of, all we gotta do is sign some paperwork and she can come home with us, today!" they kissed deeply before Lauren threw the car door open, grabbed Joey's hand and marched towards the shelter.

As they entered they were greeted by a cacophony of dog barks surrounding them, but Lauren remained focused on a small carrier perched on a table near the entrance. As they moved nearer she peered inside at the small, shivering dog curled up in the furthest corner of the crate.

"Hi! You must be Joey." the young woman working at the reception walked over and extended a hand.

"Nice to meet you! This is Lauren...". Joey trailed off as he watched Lauren staring into the crate, completely unaware of anything else in around her. Joey shook her shoulder and she snapped out of her haze.

"Sorry, hi I'm Lauren." 

As they discussed paperwork and other adoption matters Lauren's gaze kept drifting to the carrier and the moment they had signed their names her emotions threatened to overwhelm her. The shelter employee opened the cage and coaxed the dog out with a treat before handing her to Lauren. She coddled her like a small child in her arms, staring into her eyes.

"Have you guys got anything in mind for a name?" 

"Diane" she said absentmindedly, before repeating it quietly to the dog, hoping it would imprint itself in her mind.

A short drive later, with Lauren holding the shivering chihuahua on her lap the whole way, they were back at home. As Lauren headed up the stairs she turned back to see Joey pulling a small bed, a bowl and a bag of dog food out of the trunk of his car.

"When did you get all that?" she asked in disbelief.

"This morning when you were asleep, I wanted it to be a surprise, but I also wanted to make sure we had the essentials before we brought Diane home. Tomorrow I'm gonna go and get everything else we need."

************************

Joey entered the apartment and started putting away all of the pet care items he bought before looking around the empty living room.

"Lo?" he called

"In here" Lauren called back from the bedroom.

As Joey opened the door he saw Lauren laying down on the bed with Diane curled up on her chest asleep.

"I was just reading with her next to me and she crawled up and fell asleep, I didn't want to move her. She's so peaceful." tears began to swim in her eyes. 

Joey gazed lovingly at his two girls before laying down next to her, kissing her on the cheek.

"I don't think I've ever loved anything as much as I love this dog." she exclaimed as she gently stroked Diane's back.

Joey wanted to make a snide joke about it but knowing how long Lauren had wanted a dog, and watching just how happy she was, thought that she probably was telling the truth.

(A/N: I'm not sure where to take the fic from here so I'll probably take a break while I try and come up with something. In the mean time, check out my one shots. I'll probably have more of them soon, and send me prompts or suggestions for things you want to see :D)