Welcome Home

Chapter Two

Linda drove slowly through the pouring torrent of rain, the groceries crowding the back seat and her mind on a million different things to do when she got back to the house. As she pulled into the neighborhood, she followed the car in front of her at a snail's pace, and found her mind wandering. It had been a couple of days since she and Chris had talked about getting a dog for Sherlock, and after seeing how depressed he had become after their last confrontation, she was actually starting to give the idea some serious thought. She had to give Sherlock kudos - he picked the right person to advocate for his cause. Chris was a master with his words, expertly trained in the art of planting little nagging thoughts exactly right where they would make the biggest impression of all.

I know you want Sherlock to be happy...

Of course she wanted Sherlock to be happy. What good mother in her right mind wouldn't want her child to be happy? But why did he have to ask for a dog of all things-?

Suddenly, the car in front of her slammed on its brakes and blasted the horn, causing her to screech to a brutal stop. Before she could comprehend what had happened, the car raced from around a form in the road and quickly sped off.

"What in the world…" Slowly, she drove up next to the little shape that was crouched and trembling in its spot, obviously terrified at what had just transpired.

Her heart lurched as she saw that it was a small puppy.

It was about the the size of a loaf of bread and had a fur color of what she supposed was deep red. In its fright, it didn't make a move to run away, but stayed stone still. Poor thing, she thought to herself as her foot pressed the gas pedal and she continued to drive. But she found herself growing more and more worried each inch that the car traveled. After a few seconds, she pulled over to the side of the road and parked to watch in the mirror and see if the puppy would make a move to get out of the road. But over a few minutes, it stayed right where it was. What if another car came and didn't see it? What if someone was looking for it? What if it was hurt? Her mind continued despite her best efforts to stop; what if, what if, what if?

Don't do it, Linda...

With a sigh, she unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door to get out and walk back, ignoring the chill of the rain as it beat down on her body. The puppy heard her approaching, and looked around, its eyes baring a deeply sad expression.

"Hi there." She leaned down to offer her hand. The puppy ever so slowly uncurled itself from its position and walked to her, sniffing her fingers before gently lapping them with its tongue. "That must've been very scary for you." She said as she stroked her hand over its trembling body. There were no tags, so it was safe to assume that the innocent little animal didn't belong to anyone, at least not around their area. She couldn't just leave it all alone in the downpour...leaning down, she tentatively picked it up and carried it in her arms back to the car where inside, she found a stray blanket and made a bed so the puppy could have a place to sit. It trembled all the way to the house, cuddling as much as it could in the bundle of fabric. As soon as the rain passed, she would take it to the nearest animal shelter and drop it off. Hopefully, a good family would come along and adopt it...

When they were back at the house, Linda unloaded the groceries and against her judgement, brought the puppy inside the house. To her surprise, it didn't run amuck, but followed her very closely as she put different things away all around the kitchen.

"You're very well-behaved, there," she casually observed after all of the goods were put away and she set to work to completely dry it (or he, as she found out while drying between his legs) off of water. He stayed very still against her movements, almost like a little dog soldier.

"You must be hungry." Thankfully, there was still some chicken from dinner the night before, and he seemed to really enjoy her offering, licking the bowl clean of every last bit of meat. Warily, she left the puppy by himself to change and dry herself off, half expecting him to be destroying something when she came back. But to her surprise, he had taken to a small pile of blankets yet to be washed and was sleeping soundly when she returned into the kitchen. Well, at least he'll be quiet until I take him to the shelter, Linda thought to herself as she grabbed her book and took a seat in Chris's armchair in the sitting room. As she read, she felt a small tap of a paw at her arm and looked to see the puppy watching her, a look of longing in his eyes.

"No." She tried to find her place, but the tap came again. "I said no." Another series of taps and a very soft whine accompanied his next inquiry. With a huff, she pursed her lips. "...Just this once."

The puppy climbed up into the empty space next to her thigh, sighing happily as he snuggled close and started to snore. She had to admit...as much as she wasn't keen to having an animal invading her space...it felt kind of nice to have another presence with her as she read. Absentmindedly, she reached to stroke his head lightly, and continued to read, barely noticing that the rain had stopped and she had yet to take him anywhere...

The puppy's shrill bark snapped her out of the world of the book. Someone was home...the front door opened and with an even louder bark, he took off at dead run around the corner, tripping clumsily with each burst of a sprint.

"What in the world-" Chris's voice cut off as the barking stopped. She could practically feel his utter confusion in the silence that followed. "Uh...Lin?" he called warily. "Did you know there's a dog in the house?"

"I had a faint idea, yes," she answered as her husband walk into the living room, the puppy trailing happily behind him. She had to hold back a smile as he opened and closed his mouth at least twice, looking between her and the puppy curiously. "He was almost ran over, I couldn't just leave him out there in the rain all by himself," she explained simply.

"Uh-huh." Chris slowly took a seat on the couch across from her. "Well...I have to say, I wasn't expecting this."

"I was going to take him to the shelter when the rain cleared up."

"It stopped raining hours ago. Why is he still here?"

Linda didn't reply. Oh, Fate, you sneaky devil, you, Chris gleefully thought to himself. He cleared his throat. "You know, he's kind of cute."

"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" He could hear the very faint tone of adoration in her voice, and thankfully, he didn't miss her very brief smile. Linda's mind was open, but it was getting her to make that final jump that would be the most crucial part.

"The shelter will take good care of him; he'll be adopted quickly."

Her brow furrowed at his casual statement.

"We better get him out of here before the boys get home, we wouldn't want Sherlock to get his heart broken."

Her hands formed a prayer position in front of her lips as her eyes stayed glued to the puppy, who was watching her back. Close, but still not enough of a push.

"It's too bad. This little guy would make a great addition to the family." He practically held his breath with anticipation of her answer. After a few long, tense minutes, she lowered her hands and sighed.

"You think Sherlock would like him?" Bingo.

"Why don't we let him decide?" he asked as the front door's lock clicked open...

Mycroft and Sherlock walked in, expecting to hear the usual silence of the afternoon, but at the sound of a bark, both of them froze.

"Did you just hear-" Mycroft's words were cut off as the puppy came barreling around the corner, knocking over the canister of umbrellas in sheer excitement. Sherlock's jaw dropped.

"Is that-" He couldn't believe it; it was a puppy! He got to his knees and eagerly grabbed the little animal in his arms, burying his nose in the soft red fur.

"Well, that is," Mycroft started, but his words failed him as he watched Sherlock and the puppy instantly bond with one another. It was actually quite…sweet to see. He felt a very slight smile twitch at the corner of his lips. It was nice to see Sherlock so happy after being so depressed about their mother saying no. As if right on cue with his thoughts, Chris and Linda came around the corner and they stopped to watch Sherlock, who was looking at them with wide eyes. Linda couldn't help but beam at her son's bamboozled expression as his jaw flapped open and shut like a fish out of water.

"Do you like him?" Linda asked.

Mycroft couldn't help but be suspicious and quickly deduced his mother's intentions, surprised and somewhat delighted to see her acceptance of the situation at hand.

"I think you should give him a pirate name," Chris chimed in suddenly with a wink. That was the confirmation; the puppy was theirs to keep.

"Redbeard," Sherlock said finally after catching his breath from both the shock and the love lavished on him. "His name's Redbeard."

"Well, then, Redbeard it is," Linda said as she wrapped an arm around Chris's waist, her heart bursting with so much joy as Sherlock put Redbeard down and took off running, the little puppy eagerly jogging and barking after him. With a slight smile, Mycroft set his bag down.

"Mum...you've made him very happy." That was the first real compliment that Linda had received from him in a very long time, and she treasured hearing the words. With a look to her beaming husband and a gentle kiss between them, they followed their sons into the living room...

After everyone had went to bed, Linda walked down the hall and peeked into Sherlock's room to see him and Redbeard snuggled under the covers together, completely tuckered out after their latest adventure on the high seas. Apparently, her lecture about the puppy sleeping downstairs fell onto deaf ears. With a soft chuckle of both exasperation and humor, she walked into the room and gently took Sherlock's askew pirate hat off his head to set it on the desk.

"Thank you, Mummy," he murmured sleepily, falling back into a deep sleep as she kissed his forehead gently. Redbeard looked up from his position tucked into the little boy's arm and blinked slowly, a look of utter bliss in his tired gaze.

"So you've made your home there now, have you?" She put her hands on her hips to feign annoyance. Redbeard laid his chin on Sherlock's chest, giving her the most adorable begging look. "Well, I suppose I can let this go for one night." Although she had a feeling that it wasn't going to be the last time she would be having that conversation. "You take care of my little boy, now, you hear me?" She pat his head gently. "Welcome home, Redbeard." As the door to the room shut softly, Sherlock turned to pull Redbeard more into his embrace, content to finally have a furry companion to call his own...

And thus, with adopting Redbeard, the Holmes family was officially complete and we were all content to be. But...that was the problem. Contentment can be the most dangerous thing to happen to the human psyche; when you're content, you're comfortable. And when you're comfortable, it's easy to forget just how much something or someone means to you. Over the next few years, myself and my family would all become victims of contentment...

But an event where we would come close to losing the one person we depended on the most would teach us all a most painful lesson...