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The dog looked up from the bed she was sitting in. It was amazingly soft and comfy, she thought. She had just been brought to the Mercer's from the vets, not an enjoyable experience. Though she had fallen asleep rather easily—too easily in her opinion, she had awoken within a cage and freaked out, almost re-breaking her leg. It turns out she had needed surgery to reset it. Her bed was in the kitchen so that she could watch the family as they prepared for dinner. The youngest boy seemed to be the most help. He followed his mother's instructions setting the table and handing her ingredients. She kind of liked the way his hair flopped around in his eyes; it reminded her of the puppy that used to live next door. This made her miss her house. Would she even be fed here? Her mind was taken back to the present when a loud crash grabbed her attention. Bobby and Angel had decided setting the table would be faster by throwing the plates to each other, which obviously had not been the brightest idea. "Nice one genius!" Jerry jabbed as he quickly ducked at the plate Bobby now threw at his head. Crash. There goes another plate, the dog thought. She wondered how many sets of dishes they probably bought a week. Evelyn made Bobby and Angel clean up the mess and promise to wash the dishes after dinner. On hearing this Jerry replied with a teasing voice "Yeah, and don't forget to throw them back into the cupboard while your at it!" "Don't give them any ideas." Jack put in. Jack and Jerry expertly dodged the dustpan and broom thrown at their heads. "How could you possibly miss that kid's hair!" Angel asked Bobby, angry that they hadn't hit the two making fun of them. "That's enough!" Evelyn said finally. "Angel and Bobby finish cleaning. Jerry and Jack, unless you want to join those two washing dishes after dinner, I suggest you find something for yourselves to do!"

Jerry decided to go check on the dog that sat quietly in the corner, looking unsure on how to react to all the commotion. "Hi there!" Jerry said lowering his hand to pet the dog on her head. "Here it comes!" thought the dog. I'm in for it now. She closed her eyes and ducked her head, waiting for the hit she was sure was coming. But nothing happened. She looked up to see a hurt and confused expression in Jerry's eyes. "What's wrong with her?" he asked, looking to his brother Jack for some help. Jack examined the dog's expression and replied "she thinks you're going to hit her". "I'd never do that!" jerry exclaimed. "She doesn't know that." Jack said as he lowered himself to the same level as the dog. He reached out to the dog, not touching her, just allowing her to sniff his hand. Just like his mother would bend down to him and assure him everything was alright. Jack slowly petted the dog, making sure she knew nothing would hurt her. His slow movements put the dog at ease and she began to close her eyes and enjoy the affection and attention.

Dinner was crazy and the dog just decided to stay out of it. Angel had given her food right before they ate dinner and now she was left to look upon the dinner table, astonished that anything maybe even made it into the boys' mouths. They were more concerned with chucking it at each other. The walls were covered, as well as the boys. Jack's hair was filled with mashed potatoes and Bobby made sure he threw every hard piece of food he could at Jerry for his smart comments before. Needless to say, they spent over an hour cleaning up the room. Maybe it shouldn't have taken that long, but the soap bubbles were a tempting sight and the boys couldn't resist throwing those at each other as well. Angel looked at the dog and decided she felt left out, so he covered her in bubbles too.

"You've turned that dog into a poodle you idiot!" yelled Bobby as he looked upon Angel's work. "I dub thee Froo Froo!" Jerry laughed, knighting the dog with his mop. "That's not a good name!" Jack said, trying to save the dog from any embarrassing nicknames like the ones he had encountered. "What do you propose than you little fairy?" Bobby asked. Like that one, Jack thought to himself. "Something tough!" Angel said. "Ya!" Jerry agreed, "so that no one will dare mess with her!" "Killer!" Bobby said. "Maybe one notch below horrible and painful death" Jack replied to the name. "Okay, what do you use to look tough?" Jerry asked. "Well…" Angel thought. "A gun!" Bobby exclaimed. "If you have one of those, no one will mess with ya!" Angel agreed. "You can't call a dog gun, that's just stupid!" Jeremiah sighed. "What about Gunner?" Jack asked. Everyone stood around looking thoughtful. "That's not bad Tinkerbell!" Bobby said. "Yeah Cracker Jack, you've finally had a good idea!" Jerry added. "I thought actually was able to emerge out of all that hair!" Angel chimed in. Jack lowered his head, unsure whether to feel like he was being praised or laughed at. "Are you kids finished yet?" I voice called from upstairs. "Almost!" they all lied and quickly began to clean up the rest of the suds. Gunner just looked around, completely blown away that they had given her a name. People had names. Dogs didn't. That's just how it worked. Or so she though. She wasn't sure she even deserved the dignity of it. Looking at a stray sud that was falling down her face, she smiled to herself, this was kind of fun. She attempted to get up and was able to hobble on her three good legs to help the boys finish their job.

That night, Gunner was awoken from her bed by a soft cry coming from the family room. She hobbled into the room to see the youngest boy folded into a ball on the couch crying. She had no idea what to do. Had she caused this? She felt horrible and hobbled over to the boy, licking what she could see of his buried face. He looked up surprised and wrapped his arms around the dog's neck. Why did they keep doing this? She wondered. It's not like I deserve it. She than realized the fear in the boys eyes and allowed herself to be held. When he was finally able to speak, he looked into the dog's eyes and told her all about a horrible nightmare he had experienced and how it reminded him of his old home. He than released his grip on her neck and feeling better, he began to tip-toe back up the stairs. Feeling that she should watch over the boy to make sure he didn't have any more of these "nightmares" she followed him, rather difficulty, up the stairs. Jack seemed surprised when she stumbled into his room, and told the dog that if she felt scared she could sleep on his bed. He helped her up and to thank him, she licked some left-over mashed potatoes out of his hair. This was what she'd been missing. This was that hole she always knew was there and was craving to fill. She once asked herself what more could she need, she had food and a roof over her head. Now she understood. She also needed love and she believed this place could give it to her. She was no longer living in a house. She was living in a home. She watched over Jack until he fell asleep and then finally closed her eyes too.