My Girl

Shelby, Clark/Chloe futurefic
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the CW and DC Comics, not to me.
Loose sequel to A Dog and His Boy and A Very Shelby Christmas.
Picture from Allison Mack Online.

I was bored.

I lay stretched out on the sofa, sulking. I wasn't actually supposed to be up on the furniture, but The Boy wasn't around to tell me no, so I figured, what the hell.

In fact, The Boy hadn't been around for a week. I was annoyed, and a little worried. Of course, it wasn't like I'd been left locked up in the house. I could go in and out through the dog door The Boy had installed a while back, whenever I wanted. I hadn't been left to starve, either. The Neighbor had come over to feed me every day, and had let me hang out with him while he took care of the animals.

Still, The Neighbor wasn't The Boy. I wanted my boy back.

I wasn't sure where The Boy might be, or why he'd been missing for a whole week. It was puzzling that he'd been gone so long. Before he left, there had been a big party, and the Home had been filled to overflowing with people. The Boy and The Girl had stood in the front yard, beneath The Woman's rose arbor, while all those people stood around watching.

The Girl had been wearing a long white dress, which The Boy had yelled at me for trying to jump up on. I'd been slightly offended, but then they'd pinned a bunch of flowers to my collar, and I'd sat quietly next to The Boy while a stranger in a black suit talked a lot.

Afterward, The Boy and The Girl had mashed lips. I'd gotten a little excited at that point, and jumped up to lick both of them, and everyone had laughed. And this time The Boy hadn't yelled at me for jumping on The Girl's white dress. Instead, he'd laughed too, and rumpled my ears.

"Good dog, Shel," he'd told me. "You made a terrific best man. We can't wait to hear your toast."

After that, there had been food, and I'd patrolled the back yard, while people fed me little hot dogs and meatballs and bits of cake. It had been an awesome day. Any day with hot dogs and meatballs is a good day in my book.

But in the evening, as the sun set, The Boy had thrown his suitcase into the back of his truck, patted me one last time, and driven away with The Girl.

And he hadn't come back.

The Boy had never been gone so long before, and I lay on the sofa now, sulking and worrying. But suddenly I heard the distant hum of a motor I thought I recognized. I lifted my head and listened, my ears up.

And sure enough, it was The Boy's truck.

I jumped to my feet, leapt off the couch, and sped out through the dog door. By the time the truck pulled up in front of the house in a cloud of dust, I was dancing in the front yard, all my sulkiness forgotten.

It's about time you got back, kid. Where have you been? I've been worried about you!

And hey, now that you're back, how about some more hot dogs?

The Boy and The Girl got out of the truck, and I danced right up to them, my tail lashing like crazy. They both patted me and told me how glad they were to see me, and I jumped and wiggled and told them, in as close to human noises as I could manage, that I was thrilled to see them, too.

After a while, I calmed down and quit dancing. The Boy picked up two suitcases, and they started toward the house. The Boy put down the suitcases at the door and smiled down at The Girl.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Kent," he said, and picked her up, carrying her into the house with an air of great ceremony.

I wasn't sure why he'd done that. He'd never done it before, and besides, she was perfectly capable of walking on her own. But it seemed important to them somehow, so I followed, cocking my head and watching with interest as The Boy put her down inside and the two of them did that lip-mashing thing again.

At last The Boy lifted his head and grinned at me, apparently noticing my puzzlement. "Hey, Shelby," he said. "Chloe's going to stay with us."

I cocked my head on one side, trying to figure out that statement. Stay? Like for the night?

There was nothing new about that. The Girl had stayed the night, lots of times. But he shook his head, as if I'd actually asked the question in human noises.

"See, Shel," he explained, "I just can't seem to get rid of her--" She aimed a punch at him, and he ducked, still grinning-- "so I've decided to keep her. She's going to stay with us forever."

I felt my tail beginning to wag. The Girl was staying? All the time? Really? The thought made me happy, because I loved The Girl, and not just because she fed me treats and let me cuddle up in her lap. The Girl and I had always gotten along. Besides, The Boy was always happier when The Girl was around.

Anyway, the idea that I'd be living with The Boy and The Girl from now on... well, my tail wouldn't stop wagging.

The Girl reached down and gave me a hug, and I leaned against her, trying to tell her how happy I was. It had been quiet in the house since The Woman left. It had been just me and The Boy.

But now I was going to have a real family again, with both of my favorite people under one roof. I wagged my tail and licked The Girl's face.

I'm glad you're staying, I told her. Now you're not just The Girl.

You're my girl.

-The End-