Chapter Text
Gil placed the box down in the front hallway as he entered the house quietly, trying to be as sneaky as possible. It had taken months of planning to get this surprise right, and for it to fall at the last hurdle would suck. He shrugged his jacket off, hanging it by the door next to Scott’s. He could hear the faint sounds of Scott in the kitchen, so he crept through, leaning in the kitchen doorway for a moment to watch him.
Scott was stood at the oven, stirring at the pot of Bolognese sauce he was making, lifting the spoon to his mouth to taste it before quickly throwing in more garlic and pepper. Gil smiled as he noticed that he was covered in flour from the fresh pasta he had likely made earlier, mostly in hand prints where he had clearly wiped it on his jeans or shirt without thinking. Though Scott had his back to him, Gil knew that there would be a streak across his forehead as well and probably in his hair.
He took a few steps closer, wrapping his arms around Scott from behind, pressing a kiss to his shoulder blade, “What’s cooking, good looking?”
Scott jumped a little, dropping the spoon into the sauce before leaning back into Gil’s embrace, “Ryder family recipe spag bol with meatballs. Straight from the recipe book.”
Gil’s smile grew, “I love your family.”
Scott hummed with laughter, “Just wait until we can get my mom out of cryo, then you’ll get them cooked by the expert… What are you doing home so early? I wasn’t expecting you for another hour or so.”
“Got all of my errands done quicker than I thought,” he told him, “And besides, I couldn’t wait to get home to you.” Scott turned himself in Gil’s arms, leaning down a little to kiss him. Gil kissed him back for a moment before pulling away slightly, taking hold of Scott’s hands, “Can you slip away from dinner for a few minutes? I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Sure,” Scott gave a nod, “Sauce needs time to cook anyway. What sort of surprise? If it’s like the surprise from this morning, we’ll have to be quick; Dian’s due to wake up from his nap soon.”
Gil smirked as he led him into the living room and sitting him on a couch, “Maybe later after our troublesome son has bedded down for the night, but for now I’ve got an even better surprise.”
“Better?” Scott’s eyebrows rose, disturbing the line of flour on his forehead a little, “That’s a big statement to live up to.”
“Just stay there, and close your eyes,” Gil instructed, starting to back out of the room slowly, watching as Scott suspiciously closed his eyes, “Do you remember your sister mentioning that a load of second wave biologists on the Hyperion had started working on bringing animal DNA out of cryo?”
“I remember. Our cousin Toni is a zoologist, she was quite excited,” Scott said.
Gil picked up the box from the entryway and made his way back in, “Well, their work has come along really well as it turns out.”
“Does that mean there’s going to be real steak in Andromeda?” Scott grinned.
“Better,” Gil insisted, putting the box at his feet, “Open it.”
Scott opened his eyes with a frown, glancing down at the box. He went to open it, but there was a shuffle of movement from inside, and his head snapped up to look at Gil, a smile playing on his lips as he started to figure it out, “What’s in here?”
“Just open it,” Gil grinned.
With slower and more suspicious movements than before, Scott flipped open the flaps keeping the contents hidden and he couldn’t hold back the tears that immediately welled up in his eyes when he looked inside.
Rolling around in the bottom of the box was a puppy; golden fur, big brown eyes and a wriggly body. With shaking hands, Scott reached down and scooped the pup up into his arms, cradling him close to his chest, pressing a face into his soft fur.
“Is he…?” he dared a glance up at Gil.
“He’s all yours. First litter of puppies in Andromeda,” Gil told him, coming to sit beside him, “Do you like him?”
Tears of joy ran down Scott’s face, “I love him. I love him so much… and I love you. Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
“Scott, if we lived in the Milky Way I have no doubt that you would have adopted ten dogs by now because I can’t say no to your damn puppy dog eyes, as soon as I heard that they were starting to breed animals again I had our names down for the first litter. Wanted it to be a surprise. Had to drop your sister’s name a few times to get on the list, but it was worth it. Anything’s worth it to see you smile.”
Scott leaned across and caught his lips in a kiss. Gil wiped away his tears before scratching the pup behind his ear.
“You’ve still got to name him,” Gil reminded him.
Scott was quiet for a moment as he looked at his dog, a look of real contemplation in his eyes. Gil watched him curiously, raising an eyebrow as a smile spread across Scott’s face.
“Mozzarella.”
“Mozzarella? First dog in Andromeda and you’re calling him Mozzarella?”
Scott nodded, shifting the pup in his arms so that he could press a kiss to his nose, “Yeah. He’s definitely a Mozzarella.”
Gil snorted with laughter, kissing his cheek, “I love you, you goofball.”