Chapter Text
Abby wasn’t fond of public parks.
She especially wasn’t fond of it on a Sunday morning. Despite the spring season, it was freezing. The early-morning chill slapped her cheeks pink and turned her oxygen into smoky puffs pushing through her lips.
Normally Abby enjoyed spending her Sunday morning in bed, sleeping in until nine before she and Clarke would emerge to watch the morning cartoons together. But last night she had promised Clarke that they would walk to the park so she could collect some new leaves – what Clarke referred to as “orange star leaves” - to draw in her new sketch book. Clarke was barely six, but Abby had to admire her daughter’s skills. She was a natural.
What kind of mother would Abby be if she didn’t foster her daughter’s artistic skills?
So at the break of dawn Clarke had dragged her out of bed and to the park – “We need to get there early before someone takes all the good leaves, or the wind sweeps them away!” – and Abby hadn’t the heart to tell her that it wouldn’t quite work out like that.
But it seemed like Clarke had abandoned her leaf searching long ago.
Abby was watching Clarke from the park bench, playing with another girl who looked to be about her age. This girl had long, raven-black hair that curtained around her frame and an endearing smile. Clarke was showing her new friend the bag of leaves, who was examining them with great interest.
Abby’s lips tilted into a small smile. Clarke didn’t make friends easily, and Abby was surprised that the girl seemed interested (most girls Clarke’s age seemed discouraged by Clarke’s enthusiasm for all things nature that she would show them; leaves, dirt, wriggling worms and critters).
“Mom!”
Abby lifted her head up to see Clarke running over, her new friend by her side. Abby immediately caught up with her, fear shadowing her eyes at her daughter’s worry. “Clarke, honey, what is it?”
“We found a hurt puppy. Octavia’s brother is watching him but you have to come and help”.
Abby briefly glanced at the dark haired girl, ‘Octavia’, then turned her eyes back to her daughter with a small frown. Abby parted her lips to ask her about her new friend, but Clarke was already tugging her by the hand and towards the cluster of trees beyond the playground, so Abby just nodded and followed her daughter and Octavia.
To Abby’s surprise, the injured puppy wasn’t what she first saw when she emerged into the mini nature-forest, but a younger boy who couldn’t be older than eight (Octavia’s brother?), and a man crouching down on the ground who she assumed to be Octavia’s dad. His hair was dark and a little un-kept - as if he had just rolled out of bed that morning – with a few loose, espresso coloured waves falling over his forehead, and when he lifted his head, Abby saw intense, dark chocolate brown eyes, striking features and a defined jawline peppered with stubble. His lips broke into an amused smile, sending something fluttering in her stomach.
“So, you were called to join the rescue party too?”
Abby smiled. “It looks like it”.
“Mom can fix it,” Clarke said firmly, a determined look in her eyes. “I’ve seen her fix people in worst states before”.
Abby didn’t even have the heart to tell her that doctors don’t heal animals, vets do. So instead she said, “how about we take a look at him?”
Marcus moved aside so Abby could kneel down and take a look at the puppy. It was a sandy brown shar-pei, all wrinkled rolls, stubby paws and beady brown eyes. She was curled on the grass, pining. Abby patted the puppy gently, assessing his back, his sides, his paws – “Ouch!”
Abby withdrew her hand, wincing. She pressed on her throbbing finger.
“You alright?”
Abby turned her head to the kids’ father and nodded. “I’m fine. He barely bit me, but I think we know where the source of his pain is. His paw”.
“So can you fix him?” Clarke asked eagerly.
“The puppy needs a vet,” Octavia spoke up, turning to her brother as if for confirmation, who nodded. “We need to take him to the vet”.
Abby nodded. “Your friend’s right Clarke. The puppy needs a vet”.
Octavia smiled, happy that she was right. She stood up and brushed the dirt of the ends of her jeans, turning to glance at Clarke and then her brother. “So what are we waiting for then?”
Abby and Octavia’s father shared a look, somewhere between puzzlement and disbelief at their children. Clarke however was already scooping the puppy up into her arms, staring at her mother with a hint of frustration. “Mom, come on”.
“Clarke, this isn’t even our dog. We should try and find the owner first –“
“We found the puppy in here,” the boy spoke up. “If his owner was nearby, he wouldn’t have let the dog stray so far. The dog doesn’t have a collar either or a microchip. I checked”.
Abby pursed her lips. “Well we can’t just drive him to the vet Clarke. We walked here, our cars at home –“
“It’s okay, dad has a car,” Octavia pipped up, gesturing to her dad.
Abby arched an eyebrow at Octavia’s father, who shrugged and smiled, reaching for his keys in his pocket. “It’s fine, it’s my day off anyway. I can drive. That is if you don’t mind the mess in the car?”
Abby parted her lips to respond but Clarke beat her to it with, “No we don’t mind. Come on mom!”
The kids were already rushing out of the forest and towards the car park. Abby shook her head incredulously, repressing a chuckle. “Looks like I don’t have much of a choice anyway. Fortunately I don’t mind a little mess; I think my life is pretty much accustomed to that anyway”.
He stood up and offered her his hand, helping her up from the ground. “Somehow I find that hard to believe”.
“Trust me. Try being a single mother of one with a full time job and you’ll understand”.
He shrugged as they made their way out of the forest. “How about a single father of two?”
Abby stopped, turning to face him with surprised eyes. “Really? Okay, you win”.
He smiled. “It’s not too bad when you have kids as easy as them. Octavia and Bellamy can be a handful, but they’re great kids really. Your daughter seems sweet too”.
Abby’s eyes drifted over to Clarke, who was giggling with Octavia and Bellamy as the puppy sneezed in her arms. “She’s a blessing”.
“Kids make friends so easily”.
“They do”. Abby paused, frowning a little when she realised that she didn’t even know the stranger’s name. She turned to face him, offering him a small smile. “I’m Abby, by the way”.
He returned the smile. “Marcus”.
“Dad, come on!” Octavia and Bellamy called, already waiting for him at their car.
Abby and Marcus shared a look before they shook their heads and hurried after the kids. Abby’s eyes widened when they arrived at Marcus’s car, examining the sleek black and white police car. The kids were already sitting inside – Clarke in the middle with the sneezing puppy on her lap, and Bellamy and Octavia hovering over the pup on either side - and Marcus was opening the passenger door for her, so Abby stepped inside without comment.
True to his word, the car was filled with junk; empty Starbucks cups on the dashboard, stickers stuck on the back of the seats, the floors filled with McDonald bags, empty water bottles, old sweaters, library books and gym bags.
Marcus passed her an apologetic look as he sat next to her. “I’sorry about the mess. I’ve been on holiday, so I haven’t had to use the car for my work in a while”.
Abby shook her head and smiled. “It’s fine, seriously”.
And it was.
Somehow, when she glanced at all the mess, she saw images of Marcus driving his kids though McDonalds and apologising to the workers as Octavia and Bellamy both yelled their orders over the top of each other, Marcus picking his kids up from sports, their sports bags carelessly chucked in the back seat, Marcus turning the radio up louder by Octavia’s request, whilst they all sung and danced around in the car with so much movement that they splashed their bottles of coke onto the seats.
It reminded her of family. Of home.
Abby felt like chiding herself. It was crazy of her to allow her and Clarke to step into a car with a complete stranger so they could drive off to the vet and help an injured puppy.
Abby was used to crazy. Chaotic shifts at the hospital and juggling her duties as Doctor and Mother, whilst trying to provide for Clarke what she and Jake were supposed to do together was difficult, and often made her life a little crazy.
But this was a different kind of crazy.
Yet as she looked into Marcus’s warm eyes and kind smile, any doubts she had about her decision evaporated from her. Because she felt like she could trust him.
She really did.
“You alright?”
Abby startled, meeting Marcus’s puzzled stare and raised eyebrow. She blushed and shook her head, turning away. “Sorry, I’m just- I was just daydreaming”.
When she looked back, he was smiling, an adorable smile that crinkled around his eyes, stirring the same fluttering sensation in her stomach, like autumn leaves caught in the wind. His stare was lingering on hers, studying her, and Abby quickly tore her eyes away from his intense gaze, clearing her throat.
“So, can I ask what you and the kids were doing out here so early then?” Abby asked, the blush fading from her cheeks.
Marcus turned the key in, his hand on the clutch. “Tae kwon do practice. We live in a tiny two-bedroom apartment, so Bellamy and Octavia like to practice in the open space every Sunday morning, preferably early when no one else is around. What about you?”
“Collecting leaves”.
Marcus nodded with a small ‘ah’, as if it was the most common answer. Abby smiled as he reversed out, and went to explain, “Clarke likes to draw. Her current project is a collection of sketches of different leaves”.
“Are you guys talking about me?” Clarke called from behind, irritation lacing her voice.
Abby turned her head around and smiled. “No honey, just telling my new friend about your wonderful drawings”.
When she turned back around Marcus was smiling at her again with an arched eyebrow, and Abby found herself blushing again. She barely knew this person. ‘Acquaintance’ would have been more a more appropriate friend. ‘Octavia’s father’. Or even ‘our’ new friend. And yet the words her slipped from her lips before she could give them a second thought.
But then Marcus said without taking his eyes off the road, “Hey, you hungry? I know a great cafe near the vet. They make the worlds’ greatest pancakes”.
Abby blinked, surprised. She turned her head, and their eyes briefly met, before he was looking back on the road.
“The worlds’ greatest pancakes? That sounds great”.
…
It turned out that the vet wasn’t needed.
Halfway towards the vet, Clarke had miraculously found the cause of pain: a thorn. It was stuck in the pup’s paw, and the pup had bitten Abby before she had a chance to notice it. With a little moral encouragement from Bellamy and Octavia, and a pair of tweezers that Abby always kept handy in her bag (just in case for situations like this), Clarke had managed to pull the bindy out.
Abby couldn’t help but be a little proud. Despite her daughter’s artistic talents and aspirations, she couldn’t help but hope that she would go into Medicine. She knew that Clarke would be a natural.
So all in all, the puppy was free from her thorn, and was leaping between the three kids’ laps, and licking a giggling Clarke’s face. But the question still remained.
What to do with the puppy now?
The reasonable answer was to hand it over to the pound so they could find his owner.
This answer did not go down well.
“We can’t do that!”
“What if he doesn’t have an owner? What if the owner doesn’t find him?”
“Dad, they put down animals that don’t get a home!”
Marcus and Abby, once again, shared another worried and weary look.
Marcus pulled over to the side long ago so they could settle this dispute.
Abby turned her head around and spoke softly, “Clarke, we can’t just keep this puppy. It may have an owner, someone who misses her very much”.
Clarke frowned with irritation but bowed her head down. She knew that mom was right.
Bellamy had a different idea. “What if we keep it just for now? Just until we find his owner?”
Abby had to admit, it wasn’t a bad idea. Certainly better than keeping it, and definitely better than dealing with Clarke’s distress if she were to give it to the pound and potentially subject the puppy to its death.
Marcus however was frowning in the rear-view mirror. “Bellamy, I don’t think out apartment is the best place for a dog. The land lord wouldn’t allow it”.
“Why don’t we take the dog then?” Abby asked. “We live in a large estate with a backyard and plenty of room for the dog. We could take him until we find his owners. Of course Octavia and Bellamy would be welcomed to visit”.
The siblings’ eyes brightened at this. Marcus turned to look at her, surprised. “Really?”
Abby shrugged, smiling. “Sure, why not? Besides, I doubt Clarke will let me take back my words now,” Abby glanced at Clarke, who was smiling widely.
“You hear that Pepper, you’ll be coming home with us!”
Abby lifted an eyebrow, and shared another glance with Marcus (it was really becoming a shared habit between the two of them). “Pepper?”
“Because she keeps on sneezing,” Octavia explained, scratching the wagging dog in-between her ears. “Like when you inhale pepper”.
Marcus shook his head, and Abby chuckled wearily. “Good god, they’ve already named her”.
Marcus asked, “Have you thought about what’s going to happen if you don’t find the owner?”
“No, and I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. But you know what, if we end up keeping her, maybe it won’t be so bad. Clarke could use another friend”. Abby hesitated and glanced at her daughter and the cuddle puppy. “Besides, it’s not like we don’t have the room for her. Our house was always built for more than two”.