Lonely
As we mentioned earlier, the house that Vanessa grew up in was too big for just one person. Vanessa was lonely, she had her friends in town but that was about it. She needed someone or something to come home to and lighten up her day. That person was always her father, but he was gone.
So she decided to go back to her roots as a child and get a pet. She had always been good with animals and she loved having them around, so why not adopt one? There was a local animal shelter nearby that would have a large selection of dogs and cats waiting for her to choose from.