A/N: In loving memory of my fur baby. I miss him so much, he was the best friend a girl could have asked for, and my everyday companion.

Most of this will be directly inspired on his personality, our relationship, and everything in between. I lost him almost four months ago to PDE (Pug Dog Encephalitis) which is a horrible heartbreaking condition.

04/18/2014 - 05/24/2018

"A puppy?" Claire had her arms folded against her chest and her head tilted to the side, "Owen..." She really wasn't into the idea of having a pet. Mostly, because she knew first hand how much time they required and the extra work they demanded. Who was going to walk him, feed him, bathed him, take him out potty? She sure didn't have time for this and knowing Owen; she'd become his mom and be reminding him that the yard was filled with dog poop and he had to go clean it up.

"You are going to love him!" Owen insisted as they both walked around the car toward the passenger's side. He had made sure to mentally prepare her before making it home. The redhead had gotten a text message asking her to keep an open mind and heart because Owen was about to introduce her to someone special.

Owen was so proud of the little boy he had picked among those dogs back at the pound. The puppy had been well behaved all drive long. Unlike any other dog, he never once demanded to have the window rolled down. Owen would never get why dogs seemed to love having the wind against their face and have other cars almost run over their head when driving by, and so far it seemed this little guy didn't get it either. He figured, from that point on, that training his new pet was going to be a piece of cake.

Boy, was he in for a surprise.

This was the main reason why he wanted a dog; training had been a big part of his life and he was missing doing that. Of course he couldn't go out there and get himself some raptors, so a dog would do. Owen wasn't a complicated man; maybe the pug quietly sitting on the passenger's seat was not about to go chasing after a pig through the jungle and stop at his command, but he could definitely teach him some tricks.

"Why? Why do we need a dog?" Claire shook her head as she waited for Owen to open the car and introduce her to the new family member.

"Because you are hard to tame and I'm starting to feel like a rip off." He joked. The way those green eyes were looking back were warning him that he had crossed the line. "Too much? Yes? No? I'm sorry?" He grinned apologetically and kissed her cheek.

She shook her head, she was clearly offended. The kiss didn't even make her blink, she only glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He knew this time around, she didn't really find it funny because she hadn't given him any sort of comeback. She was usually insulting him back, but now she was quiet. This one had been uncalled for and she was going to make him pay for it later.

Once the door was opened, a chubby little fawn puppy with the smoothest of furs was sitting on that same spot where Owen had placed him. He had this cute little pushed-in nose and the most expressive eyes. The wrinkles around his cheeks and forehead making him look sad and confused. He had a long tail curled up around his back so he was wagging his entire behind as a cheerful greeting. He wasn't sad at all, that was just his face.

"What? They ran out of golden retrievers?" Claire was not expecting him to get a toy dog. She didn't say more. She had always been an animal lover and it wasn't the puppy's fault that her boyfriend had gone get him behind her back. She bent over and picked the dog up. "You are heavy." She noticed. For being a compact dog, he had some pounds on him.

Unlike any other breed, this pug puppy didn't jump to the opportunity to lick her face — which she appreciated. He just remained still and watched her get him out of the car.

"I got him at the shelter, I know how important it is for you to adopt and not shop and all that stuff." Owen had heard a few stories from when she was a volunteer back in high school.

"He left half his fur on my car seat." She pointed out. Pugs shed, a lot. Claire looked down at her top to realize this, "and the other half on me." She glanced at Owen. This was going to be a problem, specially if he was expecting for the dog to hang around inside the house.

Owen was now fetching the stuff he had gotten for their puppy from the back seat. He had gotten him some food, a dog bed, some toys, a couple of bowls for his food and water, a leash and a collar, among other things.

"I'm impressed." She smiled as she watched him take all these things out of the car. She figured he would have adopted the puppy and forget they had to eat and sleep.

"Claire Dearing's impact."

"That doesn't make up for what you said earlier." She put the dog down and started to brush all his fawn fur off her shirt, it took her a few seconds to realize those little hairs were immune to that. She needed to vacuum those suckers off her top if she wanted them gone, and still that wouldn't be a hundred percent effective.

Claire and Owen were about to be invaded by pug fur to the point where they would be leaving traces of it everywhere they went.

The redhead looked down and found the puppy sitting there, not moving. "I think he is broken." She shrugged. It had been decades since Earhart and those dogs at the shelter she used to volunteer at before her internship, but she was sure that a normal dog would have run off to explore.

"He's shy, they said." Owen shrugged and managed to carry all the dog things up to the cabin in one trip.

Claire followed, "come here, boy." She called out enthusiastically. The puppy was looking away that same way one does when pretending someone we are mad at is not there trying to talk to us. The redhead decide to leave him there, he'd eventually find his way into their home she figured.

Wrong.

Owen was trying to show how committed he was on taking care of the dog, but Claire's freaking need to do everything the way she wanted it, was making this impossible for him. At the moment, they were already fighting over what corner of the kitchen should be the appropriate one for his bowls. Owen didn't care where, so he had just set them by the sink counter, Claire didn't find that a smart place to leave them.

"Why not?" Owen wondered between his teeth.

"One misstep, and you will knock it over."

"If I knock it over, I will dry after." Problem solves, Owen figured.

"No."

"God, woman. Then, where do you want me to put them?" He begged for a solution, already frustrated. They had gone through this with the dog's bed already. Thankfully, that already had an official spot that Claire approved of.

"I don't know. You figure it out." She shrugged and walked out of the kitchen.

Owen rolled his eyes once he knew she couldn't see and bending down, he dragged the little bowls over to the other end of the kitchen, next to the door.

"No." Claire called out from the living room.

"UGHHHHHHH." He injected extra feeling to that so she could read into his annoyance.

The redhead ignored him and walked over to the window so she could looked out and check on that puppy. He was still sitting there by the car where Claire had left him, looking away. He seemed lost in his thoughts, expect dogs didn't think so he was just staring into space. Claire was intrigued, what an odd little puppy. She tilted her head and just watched him for a few seconds.

Back in the kitchen, Owen had decided he was the man of the house and he was going to leave those damn bowls where he felt like it. He placed them back at that first corner by the sink counter and smiled proudly to himself, sticking it to the man. He then walked around finding the puppy food he had gotten and using the measurement he poured the dog some food. The person at the shelter had insisted to measure the puppy's food; pugs could eat and if he was not careful he'd get fat and that was bad for his hips.

This little guy in particular had gone through some rough times. He had been born with hip dysphasia, he was originally from a breeder but the owner hadn't had any luck selling him because of that physical deformation. So the little puppy ended up being dropped at the shelter. He needed a surgery but the shelter hadn't been able to afford it.

"Ah, shit!" Owen exclaimed from the kitchen which was what made Claire realize she was still staring out the window and how that puppy hadn't moved.

"You better dry that!" She called out knowing he had knocked over the water bowl already, even if she had been too lost in her thoughts to hear the metallic bowl clicking against the floor.

"Yes, mom!" He called back obviously annoyed that she had been right. Owen immediately reached out for the cloth hanging from the dishwasher handler.

"Not with that!" The redhead called out knowing exactly what he was about to use.

"Witchcraft." He mumbled.

"I heard that." Claire decided to go back out and check on the dog. She walked over and the little puppy started wagging his behind at the sight of her coming for him. "Hey there." She smiled and kneeled down. "Don't you want to come in with us?" She asked softly before reaching out and petting his head.

The look in those deep chocolate eyes was the purest Claire has seen in a dog. He hadn't done anything but ignore her when she talked to him last and he was already stealing her heart. "What is it with me and boys who don't listen?" She teased before carefully picking him up.

He was probably about ten pounds and only eight months old, he was heavy so it took some adjusting to get used to it but Claire managed to carry him up to the house and place him back on the floor once inside.

"Do you want to play?" She asked the dog. She had been trying to come up with a name too, have suggestions before Owen could throw the most random and awful names on the table for him. Claire found a small ball in the bag of things her boyfriend had gotten for the dog and walking over she let the puppy get familiar with it before she let it roll across the living room.

The puppy finally stood up and it was then when he let her watch his limp. He would put all his weight on his front legs and leave the back left leg weightless. It was a heartbreaking picture. Owen had left out the little story.

The way that chubby dog so gracefully moved around with all the effort it took him to go get that ball had the redhead tearing up.

"You never mentioned the dog has a limp." Claire had walked over to the dog and taken the ball from his mouth. She kneeled back next to him and started to pet behind his ear which she noticed he loved.

"Huh?" Owen emerged from the kitchen after cleaning his mess and figuring out a safe spot for the bowls. "They said he had a hip problem and he needs surgery. Maybe they mentioned the limp, I'm not sure." He went back to the kitchen, now that the dog's food was settled down, it was time for a snack so he was going to make himself a sandwich.

The redhead moved her attention from Owen back to the dog once he disappeared back into the kitchen and slowly sat on the floor with her legs crossed. She watched that puppy stand up and immediately move over between her legs. She smiled at the action, little did she know that the puppy had just picked his favorite spot. Claire let her fingers smoothly brush his fur and in a matter of seconds she discovered the loud snoring that dog made.

"Owen, we need a name." She called out "and he snores, just like you." She teased him.

"Blue Charlie Delta Echo!" He suggested from the kitchen, his head in the fridge while he fetched for some cheese and ham for his sandwich.

"No."