Bear - Chapter 10 - Becker's POV

Today was the one year anniversary of me and Jess coming home and since then things have been hard but the two of us managed to pull through it like we always do but of course it was mainly down to Jess and her brilliant little mind. So much has happened in a year, Abby has given birth to a baby boy called Nicholas or Nick for short after Cutter who is five weeks old and they've gotten married, Matt and Emily have gotten married and she is three months pregnant, Lester finally got the Knighthood he dreamed of, me and Jess had become a real couple and have recently brought a house together, Jess is fully qualified to go out in the field and has a perfect aim and for the first time in a really long time everyone was really happy.

It took both me and Jess a long time to become 'normal' again after everything that happened but it took her a lot longer to come back from it then it did me but then again I'm a trained soldier who is trained to not let stuff like that effect me, it's only been in the last few months that she's become herself again. It was horrible seeing her the way she was back then, she wasn't sleeping or eating or drinking properly, she was having terrible nightmares, she was always really spaced out, she never seemed to hear what you were saying to her and she didn't even look herself. Watching her like that day after day broke everyone's heart and we all tried to help her but she had convinced herself that she was fine even though she was far from it but Lester called her into his office and had a private conversation with her and a few days after that she became herself again, to this day neither of them have said what was said and honestly I don't need to know but whatever he said did the trick.

Looking at her sleeping was one of my favourite things to do she always looked so peaceful and care free on even the most stressful and upsetting days she looked like a china doll when she slept, so delicate and fragile looking but I knew better then anyone that she wasn't actually delicate and fragile because she was one of the strongest people I knew. As she laid with her head on my chest, her arm thrown across my torso and her leg thrown across mine I couldn't believe that I had her, that out of all the guys that showed interest in her (And there was a lot) that she actually chose me over them. Part of me thought that maybe it was the experience of being trapped in that place that brought us together and part of my thought that it was just luck.

I stroked her hair and soon I felt her moving and she lifted her head up and smiled at me before placing a kiss on my lips "Morning" She said and put her head back on my chest "We've got the day off, why are you up at 7:15?" She asked me.

"You know me, I don't do lay ins" I said and felt her laugh "Why don't you go back to sleep, I'll go for a run, have a shower and cook some breakfast when I get back… surely you'll be awake then" I said and untangled myself from her unwillingly and placed a kiss on her bare shoulder.

"OK but I want a big breakfast" She said with a smile "I want bacon, sausages, eggs, toast and orange juice" She told me knowing that I would cook whatever she asked for like I did every morning. Although Jess was brilliant and she could cook her breakfasts where never as good as mine, she always burned the bacon and toast.

After I had been for a run and had a shower I went into the bedroom to get some fresh clothes and I seen her still sleeping and heard her snoring lightly which made me chuckle because she's adamant that she doesn't snore even though we all know that she does, it wasn't a loud bear like snore but it was a little snore that you would expect from a pixie or something. I placed a kiss on her cheek before putting the covers over her naked body and I went downstairs to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast and as I left that to cook I went into the living room and put the TV on and had a flick through the channels until I seen one playing FRIENDS, me and Jess could watch this for hours.

When breakfast was cooked I went upstairs and into the bedroom and woke Jess from her sleep by placing a kiss on her lips and speaking her name and she did wake up "Sorry to wake you from your snore filled sleep but breakfast is ready" I told her.

"I don't snore" She said and got out of bed and put her dressing gown on and she went down to the living room as I got her breakfast and handed it to her "Thank you" She said and I went into the kitchen and got my breakfast before going back to the living room and sitting next to her "What shall we do today?" She asked.

"Well I've been thinking, Abby and Connor have had a baby, Emily is pregnant and I think we should expand our little family by getting a dog" I told her. She had been asking for a dog since we moved in together but I never really wanted a dog because they were such a big responsibility and I felt bad working all the time and leaving the dog at home on it's own but I have spoken to Lester and he said we could bring the dog into work as long as it was trained not to pee inside.

As soon as we had eaten and Jess had gotten ready for the day we went to a dog rehoming place because I thought it would be better to rescue a dog, that had hard lives and lived in kennels when all they wanted was someone to love them. I hadn't really decided what sort of dog I wanted to get and I wasn't that bothered on size because mine and Jess' house was big enough for a full grown dog, my mum has rescued a dog before and she said you'll know what dog to get because you feel attached to it.

We walked through the door and went to reception and told her we wanted to have a look at the dogs because we were looking to adopt one and she told us where to go and that there would be employees walking around and to speak to them if we wanted or needed anything.

Jess wanted to adopt all the dogs but most of them couldn't be around children so they were an instant no which was sad because them dogs would struggle to be rehomed and will probably end up getting put to sleep and we looked at every single dog and although she felt a connection with all of them I didn't… until we seen Bear.

Bear was a one year old all black German Sheppard who was good with children, had a good temperament, house trained, loved people, well behaved and knew basic instructions and I felt a connection to him so I got one of the employees who came and spoke to us "Bear is such a social dog who loves people and other animals, he used to be over there next to that dog but when Bear would jump up at the cage to see the other dog that one would try and bite his feet" She said and I felt sorry for him.

"Our best friend has just had a baby and our other friend is pregnant, it says on his information page he's good with kids but what about babies?" I asked her.

"I've got a baby myself and when I came back from maternity leave I went into the office with my daughter, Bear was in there playing with someone and I put the car seat on the floor and Bear sniffed her out and then laid down next to her as if he was protecting her… he's great" She explained.

"Why hasn't he been rehomed already? He seems like the perfect dog" Jess said.

"People have opinions about German Sheppard's because they're used as police dogs so everyone thinks their vicious and plus they're big dogs who need exercise. Now a days people want little cute handbag dogs" She said.

"We're really interested in him, could we stroke him or something?" I asked.

"Of course" She said and opened his cage, she let me and Jess in and he rushed over to us, we kneeled down to his level and he just started licking us as we stroked him "We have a field joined on, would you like to take him for a walk?" She asked and we agreed.

Me and Jess took him for a walk and she showed us how good he was on a lead, she also showed us he knew how to sit, shake hands, lie down, roll over and if he starts tugging on the lead if you tell him to stop he does. She gave us the lead and stepped away from us and let us interact with him and he was a great dog, we played with him for about half hour and it was decided that me and Jess wanted to keep him and the girl told us that they would have to inspect our house to make sure he had enough room and fill out some paperwork and it would be a couple of days before we could take him home but we were sure they would let us keep him so after that we went to the pet store and got him everything we would need, a bed, a food and water bowel, a collar, a lead, toys, food, treats, shampoo, conditioner, trimmers, wipes, a comb and a dog tag which we put his name and our phone number on.

Three days later we went and collected Bear, the lady who came to our house was very happy with the house and garden and we answered all the questions to her satisfaction and we had done all the paperwork which everyone was happy with, all that was left was to take Bear home. As we went to his cage he seen us and became all happy, I took the collar they had for him off and put our one on for him and the lead and we walked him out to the car.

We took him home and he went sniffing around to check out his new home and went we took him into the garden and he marked his territory by peeing and then we started playing with him "I love him" Jess said "Just so you know if it's ever a choice between you and him, he wins" She said with a laugh.

"Thanks a lot" I said as she giggled.

After playing with him me and Jess decided to take him to the ARC to see how he reacted to people there and I knew Abby was going to be there with Nick so I would see how he was around babies for myself, as soon as we walked into the hub area he went sniffing around and everyone was stroking him and fussing over him, we took him into Lester's office and Lester liked him too "Good choice he's a good dog" He said as he stroked Bear and Bear seemed to like him.

Connor called Jess to look over something on the ADD so she went there as I tried to coax Bear away from Lester and once I did I went over to the ADD with him, Abby was there with Nick holding him in his car sear and I sat down on the floor and told Abby to put him down next to me which she did, Bear went over to him and started sniffing him, I was scared so I was ready to get in front of him in case anything happened but it didn't, Bear laid down next to the car seat and a few minutes later Nick started crying and Bear went to Abby and started nudging her "I think I've just found a new babysitter" She said and we laughed.

It was decided between me and Jess that whilst here at work Bear would sit in my office with me so I took him there where I had brought another bed, food bowel, water bowel, food and treats because we did have long hours here so he would need all that and I was closest to outside if he needed to go to the toilet and I decided to catch up on some paperwork so I sat down at my desk and Bear went over to his bed and instantly fell asleep, someone had a long day.

That is the end of this story, hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for all the support!