Disclaimer: Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. This is set roughly a year after Ace passed away.
Scanning his eyes over the far few photos Maria Frank had placed on the wall following Ace's passing, John Munch knew she was feeling the need for a friend. Not just a human friend, since she had John for company and companionship, but a furry dog friend. It had been a year since Ace passed away and coming home to a quiet home was becoming lonely for the both of them. He had noticed, when Ace was around, Maria was happiest to have a furry companion to take to the park, walk or jog with.
His goal was to find her a furry companion.
But first he needed to get back to bed after getting up to get a glass of water and call to nature. Heading in the direction of the bedroom, Munch walked in and walked silently to the bed to join his partner under the covers. To his humor, she had wrapped her arms around his pillow and was hugging it close. John smiled and gently tugged it out of her arms, placing a kiss on her bare shoulder. "Can I have this back?" He softly whispered, smiling when she cracked her eyes open for a moment. "Can I have my pillow back?"
"Hmmm...no," She flatly replied, holding it closer to her chest and tiredly smiled. "Why would you want it back? It's too comfortable for me for you to take back." She muttered and her eyes closed again for sleep. John sighed and reached into a closet for an extra pillow. He knew the chances of getting it back were slim to nothing at that moment, even though she would give it back in the morning.
The first step, he figured in his mind, was the look out for signs of her wanting or hinting a new dog.
M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M
The next morning before work, he glanced through the morning newspaper and noticed classifieds for available dogs. John knew she would never get a dog through the papers, but it was worth hinting it to Maria and see her reaction. "Hey, Maria?"
"Yes," She answered, lifting her head slightly from her breakfast. "What's up?"
"Now I can see why you don't like looking through the classifieds for dogs. Some of these prices are outrageous and some people even have them up for free." Munch lifted his eyes to see her shake her head slowly. "Just to ask, who would you go to if you were to get another dog?"
Maria sat up and tilted her head in deep concentration. "Well, I would probably ask a few of my reputable breeder friends of who they know has available puppies. I would probably ask Robert Dickson first since he knows mostly all the breeders in the New York state. I do know he breeds Papillons - they're cute but not my cup of tea - but he knows breeders who breed bigger breeds." She lightly kicked his leg and asked, "Why'd you want to know?"
He shrugged and placed his paper down to finish his cup of tea. "Just curious." The look on her face told him she didn't believe him. "Honest. I'm just curious."
She smirked and softly snorted. "Yeah, sure. You may be curious, but there is a reason behind it. You should know I know you well enough to not take the 'I'm just curious' excuse." She stood up and lightly touched his cheek as she headed to the bedroom to finish getting dressed.
She knows me far too well, John thought to himself, as he folded the newspaper and headed in the direction to get dressed.
"I don't know man. Do you think she's ready to own another dog?" Fin Tutoula, John's dark-skinned partner asked as he refilled his mug. He had let slip his ideas and thoughts to him by accident moments earlier. "Frankly, do you feel ready?"
The older man sighed and tilted his head slightly. "I've felt ready for a new one six months ago. I know this isn't going to be easy for her since Ace and Alex were not only her companion dogs, but also her partners at work. She basically had to get a new dog right away after Alex was killed on the job. I don't want her to feel pressured into getting another one just because I feel ready for it. I've seen her training skills and they are beyond amazing, but it's just seeing if she's ready, if she'll accept another dog and if the dog or puppy will accept her."
Fin thought for a moment, as he glanced over in her direction. Maria was nose deep in paperwork and moving as fast and carefully as she could. A few of her cases were due to be closed, but they did need her attention for the rest of the day. "Maybe. Any idea of where you'd find her a dog or puppy?"
"She's friends with reputable breeders around the city. I'm hoping I can get a chance to call one and find out anything if she's hinted about it or not. Being Mar, she won't tell me upright, but she's more into hangs it around until I understand it."
Shaking his head slowly, the dark man took a seat at his desk and went to work with his case load.
A few hours later into their day, Munch decided to check on Maria to see if she wanted to go out for some lunch. What he saw on her computer screen for a split second surprised him - a page on Bloodhounds. The bells rang off in his head, but he didn't show any sign of seeing what she had been looking at when she exited out of Windows. "Want to see if you would like to go out for lunch?"
"Lunch? Sure. Any place in mind?" She asked, wishing for a moment he didn't see what she had been looking at. Maria wasn't too sure if he was ready for a dog either.
He thought for a moment and suggested, "The sandwich and salad shop on fifth avenue? We haven't been there in a while."
"Sounds good." She smiled up at him and logged out for her lunch break. Taking his car and heading in the direction of the small shop, he pulled over under a tree and laced his fingers with her's. "What's the matter, John?" Maria asked, knowing he only did that during work if something was bothering him.
He answered with saying 'nothing', but he could see she didn't believe him. He couldn't get anything passed her when he was deeply thinking or bothered by something. "Nothing's wrong. Can't a man hold his girlfriend's hand?"
"Not when the girlfriend and boyfriend are cops and not suppose to be in a relationship." She remarked, squeezing his fingers gently. "What's the matter?" For a few minutes, he didn't say anything and instead averted his eyes to stare at the steering wheel. Releasing his hand, Maria leaned back to make it look like she was reaching for something in the backseat - when she was really leaning over to whisper into his ear. "C'mon, baby. What's the matter?"
John swallowed from how close she was and turned his eyes to look at her. He didn't want to tell her about his plans since he wanted it to be a surprise for her. She had done so much for him in the past, he wanted to give her something that would last for a long time. "I just love you. That's all. I wanted to hold your hand and just feel your palm against mine." He noticed he was whispering and wished he hadn't.
"We can't do anything while we're sitting here, silly, and we're due back at work in an hour." She replied back, her voice at a whisper that sent chills down his back. "Let's just get some lunch in us, finish up this day and then we can go home for some free time together."
"Okay, then. Just so long as we have some free time later this evening." He smirked, pointing in finger sternly at her face. Seeing her eyes glance down at it with a look that would have made him overly excited, John thought it was best to get out of the car before they were caught in the backseat by pedestrians walking by. "What are you feeling for, Mar? A sandwich or a salad?" He asked as they headed into the quiet and small shop.
Maria pondered for a moment on her options, knowing she's tried almost everything on the menu. "I haven't the chicken salad for a while. What about you?"
"Oh, you know the usual." He glanced in her direction and grinned, making her laugh. "Why do I make you laugh easily?"
"Because you are too damn funny to me," She answered before adding, "And predictable ninety percent of the time."
I hope I'm not too predictable, frankly, John thought, briefly biting his bottom lip before looking at a patiently waiting server.
To be continued...