common sense • rini/jolivia one shots

puppy love

when Ricky got home to his and Nini's small Salt Lake apartment, something was wrong. he stood outside the door, frowning when he heard no music. it was rare that Nini didn't have music playing in the apartment.

he slowly entered the apartment, closing the door quietly behind him incase his fiancé was sleeping. sometimes she took naps while she waited for him to get home from work. he set his bag on the hook in the hallway and slipped his brown dress shoes off. he loosened his tie as he stepped further into the apartment before stopping abruptly at a small squeak. he waited a moment for it to happen again.

bark!

Ricky quickly rushed into the living room to see his future wife sitting on the floor playing tug of war with a reddish fluffy retriever puppy. his jaw dropped at the sight.

"Nina...what did you do?"

Nini turned to look at him, a wide smile on her face, "i got a puppy!"

Ricky sighed and threw his head back, "Nini, really? you didn't think this was something you should've talked to me about first?"

Ricky watched the smile fall from her face. she bit her lip in a moment of self consciousness, "i thought it would be a good surprise. i'm sorry. i was on my way home and he was in a box on the side of the road, i couldn't just leave him there! look at his little face!"

Ricky turned his attention to the puppy sitting on his living room rug, "i'm just a little upset with you Nini, i wish you would've talked to me about this first. it's not exactly the best time to get a pet."

Nini nodded quietly as she picked up the puppy and walked down the hall, "i'm sorry Ricky, i thought it would be a cute surprise."

Ricky sighed, he knew he made her upset. he was not happy with her though, she needed to know that. they never talked about getting a pet, let alone a dog. their apartment was way too small, they didn't really have yard space, they were in the middle of planning a wedding, plus Ricky was more of a cat person.

he left her alone for a while, deciding to grade papers at the small dining room table. he rolled his eyes when he saw the dog food and bowls in the room, he wasn't a dog fan at all.

he continued to do work for a couple of hours, it was nearing 7 when he saw Nini again. she had popped into the kitchen, rubbing his shoulder and dropping a kiss to his curls as she passed behind him. he felt bad, even when she was mad at her she still loved him with her whole heart.

he watched her for a moment as she put the kettle on the stove for her nightly tea, "i'm sorry." she said quietly, feeling his eyes on the back of her head.

Ricky sighed sadly, "no Nini, i'm sorry. i shouldn't have freaked out on you like that. i'm just stressed out, it's hard teaching high schoolers all day only to come home with a new addition to the family that you didn't even know about. i should've talked to you about it instead of getting upset."

Nini smiled slightly at him, crossing to him and sitting in his lap, her legs swung across his knees. she kissed his cheek, nuzzling her neck into his. they sat like that for a moment before the sound of little paws trotting across the hardwood could be heard. Nini smiled as the puppy came into sight, Ricky smiled at her. she was happy and that was all that mattered.

"what did you even name him?"

Nini looked embarrassed at this question, "Fender..."

Ricky cocked his head at her, "like my favorite guitar?"

Nini nodded shyly, "i thought it might make you like him more, i mean look at him! he's so cute!"

Ricky chuckled and kissed her cheek, "you're so cute."

he made dinner for them, his homemade mac and cheese since it was one of her favorites. he resisted the urge to scoot the dog away with his foot when he noticed it sitting at his seat, staring at him as he ate.

the dog sat on his feet annoyingly while they sat on the couch to watch their nightly episode of Grey's Anatomy. Ricky had enough when he had to cut their post-Grey's make out session short because the dog was across the room staring at them.

Nini chuckled as she pulled herself off of his lap, walking to pick the dog up, "i'm gonna go take him outside to go to the bathroom and then we can go to bed."

he watched her as she took the leash off the hook and put it on the dog, his tail wagging wildly. she spoke to the puppy in a baby voice which he though was adorable. it was nice to see her so happy after all the wedding planning that was stressing her out the last few weeks. he shook the thought off, he didn't want a dog.

he hated dogs. he had asked for one every year for his birthday and christmas, his parents always telling him that when he turned 12 he could get a puppy since he would be old enough to care for it. that never happened because the year he turned 12 was the year his parents divorced and his mom moved to Chicago. his dad was too off the deep end to be able to take care of his son, let alone have a dog in the house. he's resented dogs ever since.

he was pulling back the covers when Nini came back in. he heard her shuffling around the living room for a minute before she came into the bedroom, the puppy trailing behind her. she closed the bedroom door and Ricky gave her a pointed look.

"what?" she asked.

"he's gonna sleep in here? with us? why can't he be in the living room or something?" he whined.

Nini chuckled as she put her hands on his shoulders, his hands coming to her waist, "he's a puppy, they get scared at night when they're left alone."

Ricky lightly rolled his eyes, "okay, but he doesn't sleep on the bed. he's on the floor the whole night. i don't need dog hair in my bed."

Nini smiled lightly, "that's perfectly fine."

her hands cupped his cheeks, the metal of her engagement ring cool on his skin, as she leaned up to kiss him goodnight. she walked around the bed to get to her side, the puppy at her feet.

"Fender, no. you gotta stay down here." she leaned down to rub the dogs head, the animal nuzzling into her hand.

Ricky and Nini both curled into the bed, Ricky pulling his fiancé right against him as they got comfortable. they had finally started to doze off when they felt something hop onto the bed. Nini smiled to herself as she felt the fluffy dog worm it'd way in between the couple.

"god damnit." he mumbled as they both fell asleep.

when Nini woke up the next morning, she wasn't surprised to see that Ricky had fallen asleep with Fender curled in between his arms. she smiled knowingly, she had been aware of his childhood trauma with dogs but she knew that the moment she got him a puppy, he'd fall in love.

she rubbed the dogs head lightly, "thank you Fender, you're gonna make daddy very happy."

even Ricky couldn't deny that when he woke up, having a small furry companion curled up in his arms was nice. maybe he could get used to this.