Six Pebbles and a Puppy

"But Dad I need to teach him that fairytale green is the bestest colour!"

"Not yet Heath, wait for your mother to wake up first."

He huffs and shoots a glare my way, folding his pyjama-cladded arms around himself. Fuck, it's like looking in a mirror.

I had six individual little mirrors, all six of which were my sons who looked exactly like me, minus the height and the tattoos. Although, Perseus has just successfully risen above the height of my green-haired wife, which did not take much time at all.

Heathcliff had awoken earlier this morning when I had arrived back from the dog shelter. He still had his eyes pinched closed when he descended the staircase and it took him a whole seven minutes to realise I had a puppy in my arms.

He had shot up from his slumped position at my side when the soft fur of our new family member tickled the skin of his nose.

His hand had slapped over his open mouth in shock as he greeted the new puppy that he had been entirely unaware of until only moments before.

"Can I go wake Mom up now?" He grumbles with a frown on his face, blissfully unaware of the fact that he is turning into a miniature version of his father.

I was just as impatient as him, though I did not show it I was growing more and more frustrated with the fact that my other five sons had not yet awoken.

"Heath." I deadpan. "It is five-thirty in the morning. You know what that means?"

His face lights up and he jumps from his sitting position, letting go of the nameless dog's ears that he had previously been flapping about to make him look like that flying elephant movie.

"It means that we can wake brothers up a-and then wake Mom up!" He beams, the scowl that had previously painted his face switched off within a blink of an eye.

I nod to him, hushing him to remain quiet so that he does not ruin the surprise. "Yes, now go and wake up your brothers and do not tell them about this, you hear me?"

"Yes Dad." He responds quickly and sternly, just like all my other sons whom I had trained to be just as stubborn and strong-willed as me.

He scurries off up the stairs whilst I head into the kitchen to make Ella's surprise perfect. I place the dog onto the counter, trying my best to keep ahold of the writhing little thing as I tied the bow around his collar.

I had no idea what on earth I was doing, but the lady at the shelter said that this would make it like a scene in a movie, which I had no clue about but nevertheless complied at the mention of Drizella's happiness.

I scowled as I looked at the green ribbon that did not match exactly with the colour of fairytale green.

I knew that my sons would point this out instantly, and that I would never forgive myself for giving Drizella a gift that was not entirely perfect.

The dog whined as I looked down at him, debating whether or not to take him back to the shelter and forget this whole thing.

I instantly knew that if Drizella found out that I had returned a dog to the shelter then that would be the end of our marriage, and I could not even fathom that idea without becoming utterly insane, so I abolished my previous idea instantly.

"You better not scratch her or I swear to fuck—"

My words falter as I pick the puppy back up into my arms, not knowing what on earth I could possibly have threatened this puppy with that would be beneficial to my marriage.

The sound of six individual footsteps running along the hallway upstairs let me know that Heathcliff had successfully awoken each of hisbrothers.

I place the puppy into the laundry room, not knowing where else I could possibly put him without there being catastrophic results.

I waited until I heard the sound of our bedroom door opening before I myself carefully made my way up the stairs.

I walked through the fairytale-green cladded walls that held an infinite amount of pictures taken from years and years ago up until only weeks ago.

Ella loved having mini scrapbooks and photo albums for each of our children to look through. They all had their very own and they each held their own place on the bedside table of every one of our sons bedrooms.

Each of them like to look through them before they go to sleep, it was full of pictures ranging from when me and Ella first met, our wedding pictures, vacations and the birth of each of our sons.

The sound of six individual voices filled the space of our bedroom, each of them fighting over who got to talk to their Mom first, who appeared to have given up her routine acting earlier than usual.

My chest sagged as I huffed at the fact that I was not there when she awoke, hating the fact that I had missed the way her eyes would squint as she adjusted to the bright green walls of the room.

"Where is your Dad?" My little green-haired goddess questions our sons, who all gather around her like one huge blanket.

"He is downstairs!" Heathcliff chips in, thrilled that he is the only one who knew of my whereabouts. "He's getting the pupp—"

"I am here." I bark out, interrupting my second youngest son who was about to ruin the surprise I had been planning for months upon months.

Heath's hand is slapped over his mouth just like his mother does on a regular basis, the realisation that he was about to go against the one thing I told him not to do dawning upon him.

Ella gives me a look as if to say 'what's going on?' as her eyes squint at each of our sons, silently studying each of them to see whether they too knew what was going on.

Not one of them crumble beneath her gaze, all of them maintaining the act of being clueless to her surprise that they had been desperately waiting for.

I terribly wanted to climb into bed with my wife and kiss her all day long, but I also wanted to see her face when I present her with her new puppy.

She had wanted a dog for as long as I have known her, but I had feared that her attention and cuddles would no longer be for me and rather for a ball of fluff that suddenly would become part of our family.

But, three months ago, she looked after a dog for one of her friends. Over that weekend I grasped the fact that she is able to cuddle a dog and cuddle me at the same time, which changed my mind entirely.

"Dad has something to show you!" Perseus exclaims, trying to pull Ella out of bed.

"Do not pull your mother's arm, Percy."

He instantly places her arm back onto the bed, apologising to Ella who smiles brightly at him. The sight of her smile unknowingly brings a smile upon my face, the sight of her happiness being my entire world.

"What you smiling at, Lurch?"

Fuck that voice. The voice that belonged to the love of my life, the mother of our children and the one person in the entire world that was not at all afraid of me. Drizella Stone. My everything,

"You." I respond, walking over to her and picking her up out of bed. "Always you."

She wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist as she places a kiss onto the side of my lips.

"What the fuck was that?" I grumble, feeling the crevices of my scowl coating my face.

"A kiss!" She beams, tilting her head to the side as she looks down at me, her green hair elegantly flowing with her as she does so.

"Give me a proper one, Medusa."

"But I have not brushed my teeth yet!" She sighs, looking between the top of my head and my eyes and she runs her fingers through my black hair.

"So?" I deadpan, confused for once on her logic.

"So," she drags out, "my breath stinks."

"Give me a kiss, Ella."

"No." She grumbles, trying to imitate me as she deepens her voice.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"N—"

"Kiss him!" All six of our boys chime in, all of them perched on the edge of the bed as they eagerly wait for their parents to kiss.

I smirk in accomplishment at the fact that they all are on my side, even Edgar who is a Mommy's boy through and through chimed in happily.

I have trained them well.

They all chant along together, urging their mother to kiss me as I desperately await her soft lips on mine.

"Okay, okay!" She groans, totally faking the fact that she is against kissing her husband as she hushes the chanting behind her.

I grow impatient, pulling her face down to mine and kissing her plump lips desperately. Although not as sensual as I would have hoped due to the fact that all six of our boys are cheering and clapping, making Ella laugh and break away from the kiss.

I can't help but laugh along with her as they all jump around on the bed in celebration, each of them cheering at the fact that they had broken their mother's stubbornness.

Our laughter dies down and Ella rests her head in the crook of my neck as we watch our sons jump around on our bed.

"I'm am so happy we can give them a life they deserve." I say quietly so that only my wife can hear.

"Me too." She says softly back, watching our children beam with happiness and they make hundreds of little indents on the comforter.

"I love you, Medusa."

"I love you more, Lurch."

"Not fucking possible." I grunt back, my eyes faltering shut for a moment at the feeling of her soft lips against my cheek.

"Do I get to see my surprise now?" She questions, looking at me with hopeful eyes as she remains latched onto me like a koala.

I instantly nod and tell the boys to come downstairs, making them all scramble off the bed and rush out of our bedroom door with anticipation.

I follow soon after them with Ella still attached to my side, despite her protests, not wanting the boys to see the dog before Ella does.

They must have figured out where I had hidden the puppy, because they are all huddled around the door of the laundry room with their ears pressed up against the wood, desperate to hear any hint of life behind there.

I reluctancy place Ella onto the floor, since she begged to be put down so that she could open the door herself.

Perseus, Edgar, Gatsby, Fitzwilliam, Heathcliff and Rochester all make a path for their mother to walk through, watching eagerly as she opens the door of the bright green laundry room.

A gasp tears through her at the very moment my eyes grow wide at the sight before me.

A mountain of clothes lay thrown around on the floor of the small room, each piece of fabric ripped and torn to shreds at the hands of a proud-looking nameless puppy, who sits amongst the pile with pure joy.

"Oh my god!" Ella exclaims, instantly making me regret my decision of adding a ninth member to our family.

"I'm so sorry Ella, I didn't think he'd do that I—"

"You bought me a puppy?!" She screams, running to me and jumping on me whilst our sons play with the destructive puppy.

Hundreds of kisses are placed on every inch of my face with her uttering thousands of 'thank yous' .

If this is her reaction to getting a puppy then I'd go back and buy every fucking shelter in America just so that I could see the smile on her face again.

"I love you, Stone." She grins, her eyes shining with joy as she brings the puppy up close to her to cuddle.

"I love you, Ella."

She giggles as the dog licks her face, instantly making my brows furrow as a scowl etches onto my features.

And when I look down, I see a swarm of little scowls all looking up at the puppy who kisses what is only mine to be kissed.

"That little fucker."

._._._._.

a/n ahhh I'm so overwhelmed by the support you guys have thrown my way so far!!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was one that may not be that common to be requested but I still think it's pretty cute <33

P.S it's also two in the morning here in England so don't judge if there's any mistakes ;)