Kiss Me Softly (Jardougall)

The Vet

Tay's P.O.V.

All I could do was pace back and forth, biting my nails, Sam trying to assure me that everything was okay. What if things weren't okay? I still wasn't ready to let Nala go. The kids...the kids would be heartbroken.

I set my hands on my forehead, finally sitting down on the couch as Sam wrapped her arm around me.

"She's okay, Tay," she cooed.

"How do you know?" I groaned into my hands.

She was silent for a few moments. "I don't. Neither do you. But no matter what happens, we can't change the events. You have to accept them."

I sighed and nodded, looking down at the floor. She was right. Sam was always right. So we sat in an awkward silence. She offered to drive Lucas and Turner home after a little bit, and I decided that it'd be good so I could keep an eye on David and wait for Jenna. For a few minutes I sat in David's room, just to keep an eye on him as he slept. Then I decided that I needed to grab my phone from downstairs.

I picked my phone up and turned it on, seeing that I had two missed calls and a voicemail; all from Jenna. Worried, I clicked on the voicemail and lifted it to my ear.

"Hey, hun," Jenna said, sniffling. I immediately furrowed my eyebrows. "So...I just got out of, um, talking to the vet." She let out a sad chuckle. "God...there's no fucking way I'm telling you this through voicemail. Just call me back, please. I love you."

Jenna's sadness was breaking my heart, and I quickly called her back. She answered without hesitation.

"Jenna? Hey, what's wrong?" I answered.

"It's...it's Nala..."

I stopped my pacing and swallowed a lump in my throat. "What?"

She let out a shaky breath. "You should bring the kids with you..." I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the next words out of Jenna's mouth. "I think they'll want to say goodbye too."

-----/-----

Jenna sat out in the waiting area with David as the twins and I sat with Nala. The vet knew that Nala was minutes away from her death, but she let us stay in there. Evan seemed sort of lifeless as he stood against the wall, staring at the floor and not even paying attention. I had my arm around Ava as she tried to choke back sobs, petting Nala's fur. I couldn't even cry. Yeah, I was heartbroken as hell, but I was just...numb. I just couldn't cry.

Nala let out a slow, sad breath, and I told the twins that they should go with Jenna. Ava left, but Evan just turned to watch me. I moved closer to Nala and forced a smile.

"You'll always be my puppy, you know?" I said. My voice cracked and I let out a deep breath. Now the tears were starting to fall. "I mean, I know it's your time to go...I just have to pick my head up and accept that, I guess. I've never been so attached to a pet, really, and you've done so much for this family." My breathing was shaky by now, and the salty tears had made their way to my lips now. "If you're ready to go...it's okay."

She looked up into my eyes and took in a deep breath, then huffed it out long, slow. Then I let go.

"Mom," I heard Evan say. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up from the floor, where I had been crouched beside the metal table she was laying on. "Come on."

He walked with me out of the room, where the doctor was waiting with a pitying expression. Evan simply nodded and the doctor made her way into Nala's room.

Jenna's P.O.V.

"Tay?"

I leant up against our bedroom door, worried. Ever since we'd gotten home, she'd just kind of sulked to bed and hadn't come out. I'd made the kids some food to hold them over for the night, and talked with them for a little about anything they wanted. Now I had to step a little farther from the parenting role and more towards the loving wife role.

"Babe..." I walked over to the bed and laid down, wrapping my arm around her body as she jumped with small sobs. "I miss you already."

Tay sniffled. "I didn't go anywhere," she said quietly.

"Then where's the Tay I know? Where's the Tay that will pick her head right back up after anything? Where's the Tay that can get through anything?" When I got no response, I sat up a little more so I could look down at her but still cuddle against her. "Is she in here somewhere?"

I tickled her sides a little and she let out a small laugh, her voice still sounding a little weird from crying. "Don't," she laughed.

"She's got to be in here somewhere." I continued tickling her as she still laughed adorably. Eventually, I stopped and now had Tay on her back, looking up at me. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I love you so much."

She smiled, a real, genuine smile, and that lifted my spirits. "I love you, too, Jen," she said.

-----/-----

It took the twins a week or so to start being genuinely happy again. Tay and I had been trying so hard to make them happy, and we finally succeeded. Then everything returned back to normal.

On the upside, Jake hadn't been bothering Tay in his flirtatious way anymore. In fact, he'd transferred to the school where his little sister Dani went, which he told Tay was even better. They stayed in contact a little, and he was still invited when the teachers would go out for drinks or something.

Tess and I were supposed to get lunch when Tay was at work, but my wife asked if she could tag along this time. She wanted to get to know Tess better. After rearranging things, the three of us went out to the little diner. (We had left David with Lisa at the daycare). Afterwards, we back to Tess's apartment, where her dog Cocoa was. Watching Tay play with her for a bit made me think that maybe we should get a new dog soon.

Which we did.

I saved up money and, as an early Christmas present, adopted a black German shepherd. He was still a bit of a puppy, but Tay fell in love with him immediately. Besides, German shepherds are a great breed to have for children. She said that having Sirius (of course she named the dog Sirius) wasn't the same as Nala, but he was part of the family and always would be.

Christmas flew by in a breeze, and next thing I knew, it was Tay's birthday. It was crazy how the months were flying by so quickly. Ava and Evan were still with their boyfriends, and now we had taken Turner into our family even more. Of course, we'd basically adopted him from the moment they became friends, but having him as my son's boyfriend brought him closer to us. Lucas had started to grow on me. I eased up on Ava, and they usually went out every Friday, unless there was another special occasion. Like this time, it was their five-month anniversary, and Lucas took her to the fairgrounds. I'm pretty sure Ava had her first kiss, but Tay won't tell me. Oh well. The giggling gives it away.

And just like that, our family was the same as it ever was. Fun nights in the living room with Lucas and Turner over, and friends and family. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect family than the one I had. And as Lucas and Ava told about how they had spent their anniversary, I wrapped my arm around Tay same as Lucas had done to Ava. When my wife looked up at me, we just smiled at each other.

I think we'd done pretty well.

A/N

Okaayyyyyy I'm done. I just kinda crammed everything in because I didn't have a whole lot more to write. So the story's over, you can all return to the real world now (:

I don't know what will ever happen, if I'll write another one or not. It's not my main priority at the moment, so I guess it all depends on how everything else flows.

Please comment, let me know how it was, your favorite parts, favorite characters, and feel free to share this story and Holding Hands. If you want to read more Jardougall, you can read the story I'm currently writing, Bad Enough For You, if you aren't already.

Thank you so much for reading <3