My Life Would Suck Without You

Epilogue

Last chapter! Gah I loved this story. Enjoy this last chapter 😊😊

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Six weeks later...

"I'm home!", Ariana called as she walked into the apartment with her arms full of packages from some of the trendiest stores on upscale Madison Avenue.

Betty, Fawkes and their horde of puppies all came barreling around the corner from the laundry room, the puppies slipping and sliding on the hard-wood floors and bouncing off each other as they each tried to be the first to make it to Ariana. She dropped the shopping bags, more in self-defense than in a desire to bond with the dogs, but she had to admit it was hard to resist those ugly little faces. Within minutes, she was sitting in the entryway with six puppies crawling all over her, vying for her attention.

A male voice broke through the yipping, yapping and slurping.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Ariana Grande would willingly sit on the floor with, and I quote, 'a pack of wild mutts'." Jai stood at the bottom of the stairs with Hannah lying on her belly over his forearm with his other arm resting gently on her back. Jai cupped her little head in the palm of his hand. It was a perfect fit and her favorite way to be carried.

"I did say that, didn't I?", Ariana admitted as she reluctantly rose from the floor, leaving the puppies feeling dejected and sad, if their whimpers were anything to judge by. Betty quickly distracted them by walking over and nuzzling one with her snout while Fawkes tugged playfully on another's ear. They quickly forgot the sweet smelling human when they started playing with their mother and father.

Ariana slowly approached Jai. "Well, they aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. It's pretty amazing, in fact, how quickly they've each developed their own distinct personalities. I'm really going to miss them." Five of the six puppies had already been spoken for. The two identical brindle-colored males were going to Frankie and Donny. Gisele laid claim to the one red head. Louise, Doreen's former secretary, asked for the small, quiet female. Interesting choice, considering how oppositely this reflected her. Luke and Dianna agreed, much to Dianna's dismay, to take the large, dopey one.

Jai wanted to keep the last one to be Hannah's dog. That way, as he explained it, they would each have their own pet. Jai picked the most precocious or annoying, depending on your point of view, for Hannah and named her D.Q. D.Q. was short for Drama Queen because he said that the puppy reminded him of Ariana. Since she was the least hideous of the litter, Ariana didn't mind the comparison ... too much. She was a miniature copy of Fawkes, complete with his innate love of pampering and everyone was inextricably drawn to the light brown puppy.

She reached out to take Hannah, but Jai stopped her.

"You don't want to do that unless you're ready to devote a good half hour to nursing her."

"Ohhh", Ariana grimaced slightly. "I take it she didn't think much of the bottle, huh?"

"Like usual", he said matter-of-factly.

Ariana put a light hand to one of her full breasts. "Well, I need her as much as she needs me then." She gently lifted Hannah from Jai's arm and held her with a hand under each armpit and her fingers splayed across the back of the baby's head, supporting her. Ariana studied her briefly before moving the baby to her shoulder. It was amazing how much she'd grown in just six weeks. Hannah had initially lost weight after coming home from the hospital, but that was to be expected. However, within a week she was back to her birth weight of 6 lbs. 14 oz. And now five weeks later, she was close to nine pounds. Her hair was growing right along with the rest of her and hadn't suffered at all from the hair loss that new-born infants often display. It fell in soft little brown ringlets all about her chubby little face. And her eyes ... to Ariana they seemed to lighten everyday and she knew that soon they would be the identical coffee brown color of Jai's. As she started to walk to her favorite chair, the baby realized who was holding her and started whimpering and fussing in anticipation of her next meal.