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Venice had a bright smile on his face when he stepped inside of the pet store together with papa and dada. His wish finally came true – they were finally at the pet store so that Venice could pick a pet for himself. The boy has been talking about getting a pet for weeks now and after a lot of consideration, Vegas and Pete finally allowed their son to get a pet. Because, where was the harm in that?
They already owned Spiky, the hedgehog, but since the animal actually belonged to Vegas, Venice wanted an animal of his own as well. He promised that he was going to take good care of it. After all, he was a big boy now and he promised that he was going to be even more responsible now.
The boy patiently waited as Pete and Vegas told him they would think about owning a new pet and Venice didn’t push it. He was patient enough and that day his wish finally came true. The three of them stepped into the pet store and the four year old couldn’t possibly contain his excitement as he was literally bouncing up and down with excitement.
Pete smiled when he glanced at Venice and he pressed his lips together. What kind of a pet would Venice even want to get in the first place? Probably a cat? Or a bunny? That was what Pete was thinking about. Vegas was also kind of curious what Venice had in mind, but unlike Pete, he was hoping that Venice wanted something cooler.
An ordinary animal was fine, but still – Vegas hoped that Venice had a cool animal. There were many animals in the store, Vegas’ eyes kept travelling around and he hummed along. Then again, he knew that in the end Venice was probably going to settle for something cute and fluffy, anyway.
Venice was barely containing himself from running around the store. Still, he held Pete’s hand as he was looking around and he was giggling.There were so many different animals in there. There were birds, bunnies, spiders, snakes, hamsters and so much more! Venice gripped on oPete’s hand and he chuckled.
“What kind of animal do you want to get?” asked Vegas and Pete smiled.
“A hamster?” asked Pete hopefully. He happened to love hamsters and he wouldn’t mind owning one. Besides, hamsters were easy to take care of, so it would be perfect for Venice. “Or maybe a bunny?” he asked before Venice could speak up.
Venice hummed and he shrugged because he didn't know yet and he chewed on his lower lip.
“I don’t know yet, papa, I want to take a look,” Venice said and Pete gave him a little nod. Vegas glanced over to the owner of the store that was standing over by the cash register and she was more than happy to allow them take a little look around the store, to see what kind of animals they had in there. The boy was more than happy to do just that and he let go of Pete’s hand.
Venice giggled when he stopped by the fish tanks and he was observing the pretty fish, pressing his face up against the glass, but then he quickly moved away when he saw that that frightened the fish. They were so pretty, many pretty colours and just as Venice was about to point out which one he wanted, something else caught his attention.
“Slow down, buddy,” said Vegas, walking after Venice, who didn’t listen at the moment and he slowly made his way around the corner and his eyes widened when he saw something very pretty. And cute! “Where did you go?” asked Vegas and Venice happily giggled.
“Dada, here, look, look!” said Venice, who finally found something that he really liked. It was the cutest animal that he had seen so far and he was happily pointing at it. Pete made his way over to him curiously and his jaw dropped when he saw just what caught Venice’s attention and he blinked a few times and then he stepped back.
It was a snake.
A python, to be exact. And it was large. Pete didn’t like snakes at all and he huffed under his breath. Venice, on the other hand, was completely in awe of the creature and he was giggling happily when he observed the snake, who was staring right back at him. Its little tongue was flicking and Pete shuddered.
Snakes were just not his cup of tea.
“A snake?” asked Pete carefully and glanced over to Vegas, who finally made it over to the two of them. V Vegas grinned when he saw Venice's choice. Snakes were cool, so he approved of Venice’s choice. Well, that didn’t mean that he would get Venice a snake, but still – he was proud of his son! It just went to prove that he really was his son! Of course Venice would want something cool, like a snake.
Rabbits were surely nice, but-
“A snake?” asked Pete and then he rolled his eyes when he saw how happy Vegas looked and he glanced over to the boy. “Why a snake?” he asked and then he crossed his arms on top of his chest and he made a step back when he saw the way that the snake was looking at him.
It looked like it was about to eat him and he didn’t appreciate it. He glanced at Vegas, who still had a wide grin on his face. The boy wanted to have a closer look at the snake and he looked over to Vegas, extending his hands up.
“Pick me up,” said Venice. “Wanna take a closer look at the snake!”
So, Vegas picked him up and Venice happily smiled, waving to the snake. It was really cute to the boy and he touched the glass, leaning closer to the snake and he looked up at Vegas, happily smiling because he had already made his decision and he nodded.
“Dada, let’s get this,” Venice said and Pete shook his head.
“Venice-”
“Snakes are cool!” said Venice, completely in love with the animal and he kept giggling every time that he would see the tongue of the snake flicking and he did the same, sticking his tongue in and out and then he leaned closer to the glass again and he grinned.
“It’s so cute!” said Venice and happily giggled. Pete couldn’t relate to that in the slightest and he shuddered, but he still didn’t want to hurt the boy’s feelings, so he just smiled and he sighed.
“It is?” asked Pete and Venice nodded.
“It has a cute face, papa!” said Venice happily and he thought about it for a little bit. “And cute little tongue. Hiss, hiss!” he said, happily laughing along and Pete slowly nodded and forced a little smile upon his face, looking over to Vegas, who was again grinning.
“That’s my boy,” said Vegas happily and ruffled Venice’s hair. Pete kept looking at Vegas and then he looked down, pouting.
“We’re not getting him a snake, Vegas,” said Pete quickly and Vegas looked at his husband. Then, he nodded.
“I know,” said Vegas.
“Why not?” asked Venice and whined. “I will take care of the snake, papa! I will feed it,” he said and Pete huffed. “And give it cuddles and kisses,” said Venice. Pete had so much to say, but he didn’t. Instead, he just smiled and ruffled Venice’s hair as well, but then he shook his head and he glanced at Vegas, who wasn’t really helping his case.
“Snakes are a big responsibility, a bit too big for you now,” said Pete and Venice pouted.
“I’m a big boy, papa!”
“I know, but I’m afraid you’re still too young,” said Pete. Venice then looked at Vegas, trying to work his puppy-eyed look on him since it usually worked, but it didn’t work that time. Vegas pinched his cheek gently and he shook his head.
“Not going to work this time, buddy,” said Vegas. “Pete’s right. You’re still too young to own a snake,” he said and Venice sighed, bowed his eyes down in disappointment, but he soon recovered and he slowly lifted his gaze up. He looked sadly over to his new friend that he made. The snake was really pretty, but he couldn’t take it home and introduce it to his other friends.
“I understand,” said Venice. He didn’t throw a tantrum or anything like that, he was understanding.
“If you really want a pet, Venice, why not settle for something fluffy and cute?” asked Pete and Vegas chuckled.
“And small,” added Vegas and Venice hummed along. Something small, cute and fluffy?
Venice clasped his hands together and he nodded.
“Oh, I understand!” said Venice happily.
“You do?” asked Vegas, laughing.
“Yes, yes,” said Venice and rubbed his palms together. “Dada, let me down, I will go look,” said Venice and Pete sighed in relief when Venice finally stopped with the snake and he pressed his lips together when he glanced at the snake and he shuddered.
Venice was happily marching around the pet store, trying to find something that fit the description of small, fluffy and cuddly. He walked right past the hamsters and bunnies and his eyes widened when he found something else that caught his attention. At first, he found it a little bit scary, but then as the animal moved, Venice giggled.
It moved funny.
“Papa, dada, I found something! Come, look!” announced the boy and Vegas glanced at Pete, who sighed in relief. At least, they thought that it was an animal that was- “It walks so funny, it has so many legs!” giggled the boy and Vegas stopped in his tracks.
“Many legs?”
“Small, cute and fluffy?” asked Pete and Vegas shuddered because that was just one thing that came to his mind and he slowly approached Venice, who was standing in front of a… Yes, a spider. Venice was pointing up at him and was still laughing.
“ Why? ” asked Vegas and Pete tried not to laugh when he saw Vegas’ reaction and he only shook his head in disbelief. Venice really was something else, huh? Pete found it hilarious – Vegas didn’t find that choice cool anymore, did he?
“Why?” asked Venice in confusion. “You said something small, cute and fluffy!” said Venice. “Spiders are!”
“Not cute,” said Vegas and Venice rolled his eyes.
“Yes, they are!” said Venice and then he scowled at Vegas. “Are cute.”
“Nope,” said Vegas and Venice pouted, looking over to Pete, trying to gain some sympathy from him now.
“Papa, are spiders cute?” asked Venice and Pete chuckled when he saw Vegas looking at him… very carefully. If Pete was going to agree to the spider, then Vegas was packing his things and moving to the main family’s mansion.
“Well,” said Pete, trying not to hurt Venice’s feelings. “They’re… different.”
“Different is good, no?”
“I mean… everyone can find some things cute while others don’t,” said Pete, putting it very simply for the boy to understand.
“Can we get a spider, papa?”
“Nope,” said Vegas.
Venice pouted again and he crossed his arms on top of his chest, now feeling a little upset. Papa and dada said that he could pick any animal at the pet store and now this? Betrayal. Snake was big, yes, but the spider was small!
“You are not fair,” said Venice. He was trying to be patient, but- “You said I can pick any animal and now I can’t,” said Venice and then he pouted, sulking.
“Any animal but a spider and a snake,” said Vegas and Venice scowled at him and then he huffed under his breath.
Still, Venice wanted a cool animal and since Pete and Vegas didn’t want to help him, the boy went over to the woman working there. He was going to ask her for help! Without any hesitation, the boy greeted the woman, who smiled and looked down at him.
“How can I help you, little man?” she asked with a small smile on her face.
“I want a cool pet,” said Venice happily and she smiled down at him.
“Oh, I can help you with that. What kind of an animal are you looking for?”
“Well, I wanted a snake and a spider, but papa and dada don’t allow it,” said Venice and her eyes widened when she heard what the boy wanted to take home with him. He was certainly brave for his age. “Oh! Oh! I know! I want a tiger!” said Venice and the woman laughed softly.
“You’re in luck,” she said and Venice’s eyes widened. It was a compromise that perhaps could work between the boy and his parents. “Just around the corner, there is a shelter and in there… there are many mini tigers,” she said with a small smile on her face. “You see, cats are just like tigers,” she said and Venice was listening.
“Really?”
“Yes,” said the woman. “And in the shelter are the cats without families. They’re waiting for someone to come and give them a permanent home,” she said and Venice felt sad now.
“They don’t have family?”
“Well, they’re very well loved at the shelter, but they’re waiting for someone to give them a warm home,” she said and Venice blinked a few times. It sounded sad that they didn’t have families and Venice changed his mind and he gave the woman a little nod and he thanked her.
Venice came running to Vegas and Pete, telling them that he wanted to adopt a cat from a shelter, which was a surprise, but… a good one.
Thank goodness it wasn’t a spider or a snake.
After finally explaining it to Venice why they couldn’t really adopt the entire shelter, the boy had decided to pick out two kittens. A brother and a sister. Both of them were white and grey kittens, currently curiously walking around the living room. Venice was on the floor as well, crawling around the two of them and Pete laughed as he watched Venice crawling around and meowing.
“What are you doing?” asked Vegas when he heard Venice meowing and the boy looked up.
“Telling them I’m their older brother now,” said Venice happily and Vegas smiled. “They don’t speak human, so I have to meow,” explained Venice and Pete chuckled.
“Ah, makes sense,” said Pete and he smiled as he watched Venice happily playing with the kittens. He looked blessed. The kittens still needed names, but Venice was working on it.
Venice happily found out that the two kittens followed him around the living room as he was crawling around and he couldn’t stop laughing and giggling, laying down and the two kittens curiously came over to see what was happening. One of them jumped onto Venice, while the other one was timidly looking around.
Venice giggled and the kitten jumped onto the floor when he sat up.
“Look at this,” said Venice and started waving a cat toy in front of them. It worked quite easily as the two kittens started chasing the toy around and Vegas leaned against the wall and then he looked over to Pete, humming along.
“This was a good idea, right?” asked Vegas and Pete grinned.
“Of course,” said Pete. “Better than a snake,” he grumbled and Vegas grinned, wrapping his arms around Pete when he saw that he still wasn’t over Venice wanting to bring the snake home.
“Now listen,” said Venice. “Dada said no scratching the couch, no biting his shoes,” said Venice seriously when the two kittens were done playing and they were curiously looking up at him. “You have to listen to me, I’m your older brother now,” said Venice happily, but the kittens weren’t listening anymore and Venice frowned.
“Papa, they don’t listen!” whined Venice.
But, Venice was responsible, so he was going to teach the kittens how to behave well! Vegas sighed and he tried to ignore the emotional pain that he felt when one of the kittens made it onto the couch and started scratching the expensive-
“Rule one, no scratching,” said Vegas, scooping the kitten into his hands and he scowled at it when he sat down with it in his lap and he hissed when the kitten sharpening its claws on his leg instead and Pete chuckled, sitting down next to him.
Vegas with a cat in his lap was adorable, but Vegas would have to argue; Pete with the kitten in his lap was much cuter.