Questions over breakfast.

Abby looked at her sleeping sister fondly. Lucy looked so adorable and at peace in the morning light. She didn't want to ruin it by waking her, but she knew they had to act fast to cut off any complaints her dad might have about how she was treating their new pet.

She let Lucy sleep for a few more minutes as she freshend up and put on a pair of jeans and a cute pink shirt, then sat on the bed to nudge her shoulder. "Hey sweetie. Sleep well?"

Lucy nodded groggily and sat up to stretch.

"Good. Listen, today is an important day for you. You need to be on your best best behavior so daddy doesn't regret doing things my way. No talking, no shying away or acting ****, and no table scraps. I'm going to ask about your diet, but until then you have to eat what's in your bowl. Can you do that for me Lucy?"

Lucy already looked less happy, but she nodded again. Looking for a touch of extra reassurance, she reached out for her sister. Abby took Lucy's hand in both of hers and squeezed warmly. "Good girl. Come on then."

Tom looked up from his newspaper when his daughter led the family pet into the kitchen, but he didn't say anything. "Morning daddy. What's for breakfast?" Abby asked as she walked over to the pantry. Crouching to reach the lowest shelf, she picked up a bag of pet food and carried it to the counter.

While her dad answered with a gruff "Hard-boiled eggs and toast, help yourself," she opened the bag and filled a waiting bowl. Another was filled with water, and both placed on the floor next to the table.

Lucy did her best to appear content as she crawled over and started eating. This pet food tasted slightly better than the kibble she'd had to eat in the kennel, but this was the first time she ate directly out of a bowl and she didn't like it. It was humiliating, and hard to do without making a mess. Still, she knew better than to complain.

Meanwhile, Abby had buttered a slice of toast and sat down next to her dad. "Daddy, I've been thinking about how best to handle this whole thing and I have some important questions."

Tom folded his newspaper and put it away. "Go ahead, kiddo."

"Okay, I'm a little worried about Lucy's health needs. I mean, she's pretty closely related to us, right? So she probably needs the same nutrients. And I don't know if that mix will give it to her," she said, gesturing at the bag on the counter.

"They would have told us if that's the case when we picked her up. She was in the biology department after all, they're not idiots. But better to be safe than sorry, I suppose. We'll take her to the vet for a checkup later."

"Great! They can tell us if she needs to brush her teeth too, and whether she needs any shots. Then I only have one more question."

"And what's that?"

"Can we move her bed up to my room? Please? Please please please?"

Despite himself, Tom had to chuckle. "Alright. I was worried that you'd only want to pamper and play with her, but I can see you're taking the responsibility of caring for a pet seriously. And I think you are helping her adjust, she already looks much calmer than yesterday."

They looked over at Lucy, who quickly stuck her face in the bowl to hide that she'd been listening in anxiously.

"I think getting your mother to accept things will be the bigger challenge. I'll call the vet to make an appointment and try talking to her again while you two eat up."

"Did you hear that Lucy?" Abby asked when their dad had left the room. "We're making progress!"