Chapter 24: Max (Leo's POV)

My phone began ringing, way louder than I remember it ever being. 

"Turn it off!" She smacked her pillow in my face. I rolled over to grab it but ended up falling off. 

I looked up at the bed in confusion. Did it shrink or something? No, she was just on my side, the whole left side of the bed empty. "Why are you-" 

"Answer it," she whined. 

I grabbed it, clicking my tongue in frustration, and answered it. "Hello?" I asked while scratching the back of my head. 

"Leo, I need you here." 

"Huh?" 

"I need you here. Immediately." 

I glanced at the caller ID. "For what, Jack?" 

"Just come here, all right." He hung up. 

I stared at the phone in confusion, then at the time. It's eight o'clock in the freaking morning. I mumbled curses under my breath while standing up. "Where are you going?" she mumbled, her eyes still closed, her head on my pillow. 

"Your dad is calling me. Apparently, it's something urgent," I sighed. I went in, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and didn't even bother changing. I kept my sweatpants and shirt on and grabbed my keys. 

She fell back asleep. 

I grabbed my phone before kissing her cheek. She groaned and shuffled. I chuckled before kissing the top of her head and then leaving. Even Flynn is still asleep. And he's normally the early riser. I got in the car and drove off. When I got there and the door opened all I saw inside, was chaos. 

"What the hell happened here?" I asked myself as if I could answer that. It was a complete and utter mess. The couch had a tear in it, I could hear Jack screaming for his study and there was toilet paper circling the room. 

I looked down when I felt something gnawing at my leg. A dog. A puppy. What the hell is going on? 

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked the puppy, knowing well he couldn't answer. He stopped and stepped back, looking up at me. He sat down and stopped running around, staring up at me. "You're trouble, huh?" I looked behind the couch and saw, you've got to be fucking kidding me. 

Another one. Running around with a roll of toilet paper in his mouth. Which was almost finished. 

"Oh, you're not the one that's trouble, I see," I nodded. The other one came and sat beside- I should get their names. They're tiny. I crouched down and looked at their name tags. "Max," I nodded, "Ace. Brothers. Very well, come on then." I stood up and they followed me to Jack's study. "You called," I said while letting the puppies in. 

"Take them. Please." 

"Excuse me?" I laughed. 

"Oh dear, sit down," he huffed, looking a mess himself. I sat down, both of the puppies trying to climb up my legs. I rolled my eyes before picking them up and setting them down in my lap. "Oh great, they already love you." 

"Explain, please." 

"A little before Claire's birthday, we went to this shelter. She'd been wanting a dog for a very long time. And we saw that one," he pointed, "Max. I love that guy, he's so calm, doesn't make any chaos." 

I looked down at him, falling asleep on my leg. 

"Then we found out that he was already on hold for someone else. So we found that guy, Ace, from the same litter. That little-" he stopped himself. "Claire really liked him, she loves French Bulldogs, so we applied. Now, finally, I was supposed to pick up Ace. Then I get a call saying they can deliver them here. 

So I agree, when he gets here, surprise, surprise! There are two of them! Apparently, the person who applied for Max had to pull out due to some circumstances so now, they're both ours. And I cannot keep them here because look at what they've done! Those are Claire's, take them." He was out of breath by the time he finished. Poor guy. 

"Take them? And keep them where?" I asked. 

"Wherever. They're hers." 

I looked down at them, both now asleep. "They're tiny, Jack." He shrugged at me, going through some papers. "I signed up for your daughter." He looked up at me. "I-I mean, to keep her safe. Not to keep her dogs." 

He sighed, "You'll be fine. She knows how to handle dogs, she grew up with three Frenchies in the house. But you gotta take care of Max, he's the youngest and he had a little tough time. Their stuff is outside, I'll have someone help you take it," he said. 

"But I-" 

"Please, Leo." 

I sighed in defeat, "All right." 

I got in the car after closing the trunk. They're so tiny, I can easily hold them both in one arm. I got in the car and set them down in the passenger seat. "Which probably isn't safe," I mumbled to myself before picking them back and setting them in my lap. I drove back to the house, both of them messing with each other the whole way there. 

I kept them in the car once I parked and unloaded their stuff first. Once I set their stuff inside the house, I grabbed them, locked the car, and took them upstairs with me. She's still sleeping. 

"Wake up," I huffed, turning the lights on.

She whined, hiding under the covers. I put them on the bed and they began climbing on her. "What the hell are you-" she gasped, looking at them. She looked up at me, in extreme confusion. 

"You got them both. They made your dad's life a living hell so now, they're both yours." She pulled her hair up before picking them up. She grinned while playing with them. 

I sat down beside her with a sigh. "I should probably take them out to the backyard," I huffed. Max crawled over to me and climbed onto my stomach. 

Yeah, I like him. 

I looked over where Ace was lying on her chest while she kissed him. "You're really gonna let me keep them?" 

I shrugged, "I don't have much of a choice." She grinned at me before she pecked my lips. 

I scooped them up and took them outside while she got out of bed and freshened herself up. I was sitting out in the backyard while they ran around when she came and sat beside me. I even made sure to cover up the pool so they don't fall in, which would have happened because they've fallen on the cover about ten times. Luckily, it isn't just a sheet, it's a whole wall-case-cover-type thing. 

"Which one do you like?" I looked at her in confusion. "We both know we have our favorites, come on," she rolled her eyes. 

"Max. Ace is a little devil," I mumbled. 

"I like him. I think he's fun. Max is adorable though. He seems to like you." 

"One for each then," I said, turning to her. 

She smiled before leaning in and kissing me. "Thank you," she smiled. 

"No problem," I replied. She rested her head on my shoulder while we sat on the grass. 

"What the hell are you two- oh my god." We both looked up to see Flynn. "Yours?" he asked her and she nodded in response. "I want one," he sat down beside her. 

"They're not just mine if they're staring here. They're yours," she looked at me, "And yours," then at Flynn. 

Flynn was staring at them with love-eyes I haven't even seen on Aesha. 

I rolled my eyes before I whistled. They both came running over, Ace going straight to Claire, Max running over to me. Flynn rolled his eyes, "Of course, they chose who they like," he scoffed. They both went and began jumping around him, making him smile while he played with them. 

"This place is about to turn into a mess," I sighed. 

"We'll get through it." She patted my arm. I looked down at her and she lifted her head to look up at me. 

"I signed up to keep you safe, now I'm taking care of puppies," I sighed. She chuckled before kissing me again. 

"Cut out the PDA and grab plastic bags," Flynn snickered and stood up before going back inside. 

I scrunched up my nose in disgust while standing up. "You grew up with three, you do it," I said. 

"Kiss my ass, Jackson. Grab a bag," she rolled my eyes. 

This is not going to be fun. 

✯¸.•'*¨'*•✿ ✿•*'¨*'•.¸✯

I fell on the couch with an exhausted sigh. Introducing puppies to a huge house and making sure they don't ruin anything is exhausting. Luckily, Flynn went out and bought them loads of toys to keep them occupied. 

They still prefer our fingers to bite. 

Claire was in the shower, I was on the couch, Flynn went out with Aesha, and Max and Ace were biting my fingers. "You little shits," I mumbled before playing around with them for a bit, sitting on the floor against the couch. 

This is just as bad as raising a kid.

And just as fun as having one.

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Chapter twenty-four

I was just going to put one but why not two, you know? you can never have too many puppies

I've pretty much got two Frenchies myself. One like Max, one like Ace.

No kidding. One is THE devil and the other is a calm little sweetheart.

next chapter: ace