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Jubal chuckled quietly as he listened to the conversation between Tyler and Abigail, what had started off as a question about animals had turned into what they would name a pet snake.
“Can I put that on my birthday list, dad?” Abigail asked, a grin and her best puppy dog eyes.
Jubal shrugged, “Your mum doesn’t like snakes and I don’t think Dana loves them either, but you can always ask - maybe a goldfish?” He suggested.
Eleanor chucked at that, “Personally, I’d want an owl.”
“An owl?” Jubal asked, frowning a little as his two younger children began discussing fish names.
Eleanor put her book down, marking her page before looking at him while he drove.
“Yeah, they’re cute. More original than a dog and some of them have the biggest, cutest eyes. I’d definitely have an owl. It’s been on my list since I was eight.”
He could picture Eleanor wanting an owl, he could even picture Tyler and Abby wanting an owl, but Dana, that would be a surprise.
Dana was currently away, out of state on a case, and Jubal had all three kids. It had been a last-minute trip; his mother had bought three new puppies and invited the grandkids to meet them. So, they’d all piled into the car to make the trip to grandma's house.
“What ever happened to wanting a dog?”
“Too mainstream,” Eleanor shot back with a laugh. “And, all that walking - it’s too much walking.”
“Well, we can have a family discussion about it when your mum gets home tomorrow. See what she has to say about it.”
“Or,” Eleanor began with a cheeky grin, “we could totally surprise her!”
Jubal laughed out loud, shaking his head. “That, as funny as you think it would be, isn’t going to happen, Elle.”
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Jubal sat in the living room with his mother, watching the kids play with new puppies in the backyard.
“You’re started something with these new dogs, mum. So far, the kids have told me how they want a snake, a fish and an owl.”
Jubal mum shook her head. “Whatever happened to cats and dogs? Or a hamster, kids love hamsters!”
“Apparently, they’re too mainstream. I said we’d talk about it when Dana got back, but I’m trying to let them down gently. I can’t see a snake, or an owl being added to the family just yet.” Jubal said with a laugh.
“They’re welcome here any time they like to help me with the puppies.”
“I know they’d love that.” Jubal said, turning to look outside to check on the three kids.
And they would, his mother had remained close to Sam after the divorce, and his mother had wasted no time in telling Dana just how lovely she was and, how both she and Eleanor would be welcome whenever they liked - Jubal knew the kids would be around a lot with the new dogs, and with grandma’s love of cooking, and of course, feeding her grandchildren.
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“Kids, dinner will be ready in ten minutes.” Jubal didn’t expect a reply when he shouted upstairs - they’d come down eventually - he had food after all.
“So,” Dana began, coffee in hand, shoes still on after walking through the door only twenty minutes earlier. “Where did you leave things?”
Jubal shrugged, “Somewhere between names for a goldfish, and let’s ask Dana about a pet snake.”
“We are not getting a snake, or an owl, or a tarantula, or any other crazy animal. Why can’t they have a fish, or a hamster, I had a hamster growing up, and Katie had a fish, we were both very happy.” Dana shook her head, humour in her voice.
She could also see how a hamster, or a fish wouldn’t be the most exciting pet ever, but she was drawing the line at a snake, and wouldn’t even entertain the idea of any form of eight-legged animal.
“Hopefully,” Jubal began while dishing up pasta. “They will forget about it or move onto something else.”
Dana chuckled, “You have such high hopes.”
“Who has such high hopes?” Tyler asked, as he appeared in the kitchen, sitting down at the dinner table, “Hey, Dana.”
“Your dad,” Dana answered him.
Tyler seemed confused but let it go. “How was your case, Dana, did you catch the bad guy?”
Dana nodded, with a smile, “It was a tough case, but we caught the bad guy. How was your day? Your dad told me you went to see grandma and her new puppies?”
“YEAH!” Abigail shouted cutting her brother off as she ran down the stairs, Eleanor not far behind her.
“You sound like you had a nice time, Abbey.”
“We all did, they’re really cute, and really tiny, and really, really cute.” She said as she sat down.
Dana nodded at the description of the nine-year-olds afternoon before taking a seat herself.
“Dad,” Eleanor began, a tone that both Dana and Jubal knew well. “We’ve all been talking about this pet situation.”
Jubal handed out dishes before sitting down, waiting a few moments before giving Eleanor the go ahead to explain, giving Dana a look, both of them aware that this could be a lengthy conversation. Each of them had raised their kids to be strong willed, not realising that it would backfire on them multiple times before they left for college.
“We have decided, we want fish, and we spoke to grandma and she said she will happily go with us to get fish tomorrow, we have enough money and everything.” Eleanor said with a smile, before putting a fork full of pasta in her mouth.
“So, grandma is going to take you tomorrow, to get fish, and then you’re going to be happy, and we’ll have no more talk about snakes?” Jubal asked, watching all three kids nod.
He looked up at Dana who simply shrugged before speaking. “You three seem to have all of this planned out.”
Tyler nodded, “We do, totally, and we’re ready to be grown-ups about it, and be responsible.”
Jubal sighed a little, trying to hold back a laugh. “Okay.”
They spent the rest of the meal talking about their weekend, the past week, how everything had been at school, before all three of the kids finished and asked to be excused - telling Jubal and Dana how they needed to go and speak to grandma again, just to make sure everything was okay.
“You saw that, right?” Jubal asked, wanting to be sure.
Dana chuckled, “Yeah, they are definitely not buying a fish tomorrow. I just hope for their sake, it’s not a snake.”
Jubal shook his head, “I didn’t think you were scared of anything?”
“Some snakes can swallow humans, and I am not dealing with that possibility, not when Abigail is tiny and far too trusting of reptiles. You know I took them to the zoo right, I have never seen anyone more excited to touch a venomous snake than your youngest child.”
Jubal smiled, equally proud and terrified. “Kid belongs in Australia.”
Dana sighed, “Your mum knows that we wouldn’t approve of a snake, right?”
Jubal thought for a moment. “I think so.”
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“They’ve been gone over an hour - when should we start to panic?” Dana asked quietly.
With all the kids taken care of, neither of them had gotten out of bed. Instead, taking advantage of the weekend and the kids-free morning to relax and not rush around.
“After two. You know what my mum’s like, she’ll be feeding them as well, no doubt.”
Dana smiled, knowing Jubal was probably right. “Maybe they have gone to get a goldfish? Maybe they’ll surprise us and,” Dana stopped talking, shaking her head.
Jubal pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her. “You’re overthinking it. Just, as hard as it is, let it be, and if it’s a snake or an owl, then I will take one for the team and break it to them gently, that it cannot stay here.”
Dana chuckled lightly, before sighing, “We should have gone with them.”
“Yeah, we really should have.”
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It was only twenty minutes later when the front door opened, and promptly closed again. Downstairs was now filled with hushed chatter, causing Jubal to sit up in bed.
Footsteps on the stairs made Dana sit up too, as they waited to see the three kids and whatever animal they’d brought back with them.
“Grandma had to go back home because one of the puppies got into the kitchen from the spare room. But we got fish!” Abigail said as she walked into the master bedroom, coat still on, with the biggest smile on her face.
“I will call grandma later and tell her thank you.” Jubal assured his youngest child.
“Are you ready?” Tyler shouted from the hallway.
Dana glanced over at Jubal before telling them to come in.
Tyler walked in first, his grin as big as his little sisters, followed by Eleanor who, unsurprisingly wasn’t holding a goldfish bowl.
A rabbit. Eleanor was holding a grey, fur ball, with big floppy ears.
“That’s a rabbit.” Dana stated the obvious.
Abbey jumped a little bit, nodding. “That’s fish!”
Jubal took a moment before looking at Dana. “The rabbit is called fish. I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“We have everything for it, hutch, hay, everything, we saved up all our money, so, you don’t have to get anything.” Tyler was quick to explain, as he reached out to stroke the new family pet.
Silence settled between Dana and Jubal as the three kids fussed over the rabbit when Eleanor placed it on the floor. They watched for a few minutes, neither of them being able to keep a straight face as they saw how happy the children were.
“I mean, it’s not a snake.” Dana tried.
“It’s definitely not a snake, and I mean, doesn’t need walking twice a day, we can deal with a rabbit, right?” Jubal said.
“You know,” Eleanor began, looking at her parents, “Fish has a sister called Milly,”
She didn’t even finish the sentence before both her parents were shaking their heads.
“You said you were getting fish yesterday.” Dana said, only closing her eyes for a moment when she realised that the children had done exactly what they said they were doing.
It was Abigail who got the honour of telling Dana, “Yeah, Dana, yesterday we said we were getting fish, and now fish is here, this is her forever home.”
“She’s got a point.” Jubal pointed out quietly, only getting gentle smack on the arm as a reply.
Fish. Fish, the rabbit.
Jubal reached out, giving Dana’s hand a gentle squeeze. “At least it’s not a snake, love.”