Chapter 17:
The sun went down. Everything was dark, and Sniper and Spy had not returned.
An old romance movie played on the TV, but Scout hardly paid attention to it as he sat on the floor with Dee. She seemed antsy without Sniper there, and Scout could tell.
"He's coming back," Scout assured Dee softly, watching as she chewed on a plush whale while she laid across his lap. She whimpered a little, and Scout stroked her soft head.
"How is she?" Engineer asked as he entered the room. "Has she eaten? Did you give her the bottle like I said?"
Scout nodded. "Yeah,"
"Good," he reached down and scooped Dee right up, much to Scout's dismay. "Spy just called, they're on their way back,"
Scout breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, awesome! Did he say what happened?"
"Nope," Engineer replied, handing Dee back to Scout. "Here, I think she likes you better than me,"
"Oh," Scout took her back, watching as she wrapped her tiny hand around his dog tags and pulled on them gently. "Huh. You think so?"
"I sure do!" Engineer got up and left the room, calling back, "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes,"
Dee started to put one of the dog tags in her mouth, but Scout stopped her. "Nah, you don't wanna do that. Trust me, they don't taste good,"
Later that evening, Scout sat outside with Dee on his lap again. She was sleeping now, but Scout wanted her to be there when Sniper returned.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the bright lights of the camper came shimmering into the dark night, and Scout's heart began to race. He rose up, with Dee in his arms, and he ran to the vehicle.
Sniper stepped out, and the moment he saw Scout, he threw his arms around him and hugged him tightly, right before he realized Dee was there.
"There she is," he remarked, breathlessly. He took Dee into his arms as she slowly awoke, and he kissed her little head. "Did you miss me, lil' beastie? I told you I'd be back,"
Dee blinked a few times, realizing who it was, and she gave Sniper a big, toothless grin before cuddling into his neck.
Scout smiled back up at Sniper, and it was then that he noticed the horrible bruise on Sniper's jaw. "Geez, man! What happened to you!?"
"It's nothin'," Sniper assured. "Let's just say I got into a spat with Dee's 'grandad' once I found out he was the one who threw her out,"
"Did you kill 'im?" Scout asked, excitedly.
Sniper chuckled. "What do you think?"
They shared a laugh, and then Scout cleared his throat. "Listen…I'm sorry about…"
"Hey, don't worry about it," Sniper replied, patting Scout's shoulder. "It's okay, really. Thanks for looking after Dee,"
Scout cracked a smile up at him. "Sure thing,"
Spy hopped out of the camper, lighting a cigarette. "Gentlemen, let's get inside. I have some wine I've been waiting to open with everyone,"
As everyone headed back inside, Dee wrapped her hands around the collar of Sniper's shirt, and she made more happy cooing sounds up at him.
Sniper paused in his tracks, pressing Dee a bit closer and kissing her head once more. "I love you too, Dee,"