Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI or Toy Story
A Good Home
"Hi Nicky." Jackie said cheerfully as she answered the phone one morning.
"Hi hon, can you sneak away from the kids for a minute and come meet me in the driveway, I just turned down our street."
"Yeah I can, the kids aren't here, they went with my parents to the park and then I think my mom said they were taking them for pizza and ice cream so Sloan and I are just hanging out at the moment, but why do you want me to meet you in the driveway?" Jackie asked.
"Just do it, I'll see you in just a minute." Nick said as he hung up the phone.
Jackie ran up to Sloan's nursery and peeked in his crib. The baby was sleeping peacefully so she grabbed the baby monitor and went outside to meet Nick. He pulled in the driveway mere seconds after she got outside.
"Hi get in." He told her as he unlocked the door.
"I can't leave, the baby is in the house." She told him perplexed.
"I know, we aren't going anywhere, just get in."
She climbed in the passenger side.
"What is this all about?" She asked.
"Don't get mad." He told her.
"Oh Nicky what did you do?" Jackie asked, that saying always had her on high alert.
He reached behind him and grabbed a box.
"Isn't he cute?" He asked as he pulled a tiny Dalmatian puppy out of the box.
"Nick you bought a puppy without discussing it with me?" Jackie asked sounding both shocked and angry.
"No I didn't buy him, Russell and I found him outside by a dumpster last night a block from our crime scene, we thought he might have been part of our case but he wasn't, poor little guy was whimpering, he was so scared, cold, and hungry."
"Aww poor thing." Jackie said, feeling bad for getting mad at Nick for bringing him home.
"Both Greg and Doc Robbins said that if we couldn't find a nice home for him they'd take him but they'd prefer if we found him another home if at all possible so I thought I'd ask you if you knew anybody that wanted a puppy, unless you want to keep him and give Dolly a little brother." Nick told her with a smile.
"Um I don't think it's a good idea that we keep him, Dolly might get jealous and plus with a new baby a new puppy is just too much right now, the only way I'd keep him was if he'd have to go to the shelter, I wouldn't let that happen because if he didn't get adopted he'd be put down, but since Greg and Doc both said they'd take him I don't have to worry about that."
"So I take it you don't know anyone looking to adopt a puppy?" Nick asked.
"Actually I might, Valerie Sampson, a fourth grade teacher at my school was just talking about getting her son a puppy for his birthday, I heard her mention it the day school got out for the summer, let me give her a call." Jackie said.
Jackie got out of the truck and went inside the house. Nick followed her, carrying the puppy in the box.
Jackie quickly went and checked on the baby, he was still fast asleep so she set down the baby monitor on a dresser in the baby's nursery and then she went out of the nursery grabbed her phone and dialed her friend's number.
"Hello?" Her friend answered.
"Hi Valerie this is Jackie."
"Hi Jackie, how are you?"
"I'm good thanks and you?"
"I'm good."
"Good. Hey listen I overheard you saying the other day that you were thinking about buying your son a puppy for his birthday, are you still planning on doing that?" Jackie asked.
"Yep, I promised him that when he turned six he could have a puppy and his birthday was last month and he has been hounding me ever since, why do you ask?"
"Well last night Nick found an adorable Dalmatian puppy and we were wondering if you'd like to take him. He doesn't have any of his shots or anything, or at least I don't think he does, he seems to be a stray but he is adorable, and he's friendly." Jackie told her as she glanced over at Nick who had the puppy on his lap.
The puppy was just curled up comfortably on Nick's lap, fast asleep.
"How old is he? Is he old enough to eat by himself or would I have to feed him with an eye dropper? I could do that if need be, I grew up on a farm and had to do that with several kittens throughout the years but I kind of wanted my kiddo to feed and take care of it as much as possible and he wouldn't be able to do that if the pup couldn't eat on his own."
"Let me ask Nick." Jackie told her.
"Hey Nicky, you said that when you found him he was hungry, was he able to eat out of a dish or did you guys have to feed him by hand?" Jackie asked.
"He ate by himself, every last ounce of milk we gave him, and he has teeth so I'm assuming he could eat dog food, we just didn't have any at the lab so we gave him milk."
"Nick said he eats by himself." Jackie told Valerie.
"Oh good, and how much do you want for him?" Valerie asked.
"Nothing, we just want him to go to a great home."
"That's great, thanks Jackie, would you mind if Ethan (Valerie's son) and I came over to see him?"
"Sure, we'll be home all day."
"Great, is it ok if we come in about an hour or so?"
"Absolutely." Jackie told her.
"Awesome, thanks Jackie, we'll see you soon." Valerie said and then hung up.
About forty five minutes later the doorbell rang.
"Hi." Jackie greeted as she opened the door.
"Hi, where is the puppy?" Ethan asked excitedly as he burst through the door.
"He's in the kitchen, follow me." Jackie said as she led Valerie and Ethan to the kitchen.
"He's so cute, can I have him mommy please?" Ethan begged the second he laid eyes on the tiny pup.
"Don't you want to see what's he's like? You can pet him, sit on the floor here." Jackie told the sweet little boy with a laugh.
Ethan eagerly sat down and the puppy raced over to him and started tugging on the little boy's shoe laces. Ethan giggled like crazy as he began to pet him.
"What do you think? Do you want him?" Valerie asked after a few minutes had passed.
"Yes." The little boy screamed, he was so excited he couldn't contain himself.
"But I thought you said that you wanted to go to a place with a lot of puppies and pick out the one that you wanted?" Valerie asked.
"I want this one mommy, I really do, I want this puppy. Can I have him, please?"
Valerie smiled.
"That's up to Nick and Jackie." She told her son.
"Please Jackie, can I have him, please?" The little boy begged.
"I'll make you a deal, I'll let you have him but you have to promise me that you'll take really good care of him."
"I promise, I promise." Ethan said, sounding like he truly meant it.
"Ok, good, then he's all yours." Jackie told him.
"Thank you Jackie." He said as he ran at her and gave her a hug.
"You're welcome, I'm really glad we found such a great home for him." Jackie responded as she returned the little boy's hug.
"Is that the puppy's mama?" Ethan asked suddenly as he spotted Dolly sleeping in the backyard.
"Nope that's not his mama." Jackie told him.
"She could be, you never know." The little boy said, sounding curious, just like most children do at that age.
"I know for a fact that she's not his mama." Jackie told him with a laugh.
The little boy shrugged, he didn't care who the puppy's mama was, the only thing he cared about was that he got to take the puppy home.
"Where's Jasmine, Houston, Johnna, and Karlie?" Ethan asked.
"They are with their grandma and grandpa." Jackie answered.
"Tell them they can come play with my puppy any time they want."
"Thank you buddy, that is so nice of you, I'll tell them."
"Well kiddo should we go home?"
"Yep." Ethan answered.
"What are you going to name the puppy?" Jackie asked the little boy.
"Buzz Lightyear." He said without missing a beat.
"I like that." Jackie told him with a smile.
"Alright bud, let's head out, what do you tell Nick and Jackie?" Valerie said.
"Thank you." He said as he once again wrapped Jackie in a hug before doing the same to Nick.
"You're welcome, remember, you have to take really good care of him." Jackie told him.
"Yep I remember." He said.
"Thank you both." Valerie said she picked up the puppy and put him in the box that Nick was holding for her.
"No problem, see you later." They responded as they left.
"I'm so glad we found a great home for the puppy." Jackie told Nick.
"Yeah me too, I'm sure Ethan and the puppy will be best buddies." Nick said with a smile.
"What do you say after the baby wakes up we go out for lunch? I'm hungry."
"Ok sounds good to me. I'm going to hop in the shower really quick." Nick said.
When Nick was in the shower Sloan woke up so Jackie fed him and then got him ready to go.
Just a short time later they were ready to go.
As Jackie buckled the baby safely in his car seat she couldn't help but smile, it had been a great day, the puppy now had a great home, it was beautiful outside, and she was going out to lunch with two of the people that she loved most in the world. She couldn't ask for much more than that!
The End!