Jake strode back into the main room a bit later to find Rodrigo on his knees pleading with the two-year-old.
"Please stop crying!" the hardened firefighter begged, getting tearful himself. "You cry, you make me cry!"
The child wailed on, huge tears streaming down her cheeks.
Rodrigo looked around desperately for help and fixed his eyes on Jake.
"Supe!" he called, "I'm in trouble here! Why are you just standing there?"
Jake crossed his arms and smirked. "What's the matter? Can't handle it? I've seen you wrestle The Wolverine!"
"That was a guy in a costume, "Rodrigo said through clenched teeth. "This is the real deal - and I can't deal!" He jerked to his feet and literally ran away.
Jake crossed the room quickly and unabashedly hauled the little girl up onto his arms, knowing she didn't need anymore abandonment issues. The child weighed almost nothing to him, but her distress was heavy to his empathetic nature.
"You know what we need?" he asked, tucking back some hair that was stuck to her wet face. "Masher," he said in an almost whisper.
There was a suddenly a sound of something massive moving two rooms away. The beast had excellent hearing and stirred at the sound of its name. A huge, slobbering boxer ambled into the room, her giant paws thudding across the wood floor toward her master.
The little girl suddenly stopped crying and stared at the approaching dog, eyes wide in amazement
You know why we call her Masher?" Jake asked, leaning toward the massive canine as it stopped to sit at his feet and licked its jowls. It looked at the girl in anticipation, waiting for the superintendent to offer the "treat" he held.
"We call her Masher because ..." he lowered the little girl to the floor "...her favorite chew toy..." the boxer swiped the salty-teary face clean with two licks of her sloppy tongue "...was a potato masher." The dog pushed its head against the girl and was rewarded with a few tentative pats.
"Couldn't get that potato masher away from her." Jake smiled as Masher rolled over and presented her belly for small hands to rub. The girl complied, then laid down and snuggled into the dogs dense fur.
"Sparkle Pony," she said, drowsily.
"Her name's Masher," Jake reminded her softly.
"Sparkle Pony!" the two year old said defiantly, giving Jake the withering look only the very young can communicate.
"Dude, she broke your dog!" The older girl exclaimed as she walked into the room to find her little sister pinning a giant animal to the floor.
"Nah," Jake said dismissively, "this dog would would pin a burglar down just to see if she could get belly rubs for the trouble." He turned on the teenager suddenly. "Speaking of burglars, what were you three doing burning down the Smith's cabin? Last time I checked, they didn't have any match-happy kids!"
"Match-happy kids? Do I look like a kid to you?" the girl, who was all of 15, asked defiantly.
"Ok, senior citizen," Jake shot back, "what shenanigans were you old-timers up to? Can you describe your tomfoolery and hijinks?"
"What?" she asked, wrinkling her face up as if she smelt something bad.
Jake shook his head. "Where are your parents?" he asked simply.
"We ain't got no parents! Where's your pole?" A burst of energy in the form of a young boy burst into the main room.
"The depot's one floor, no pole" Jake said, turning in a circle to watch the kid sprint around the room. He assumed the "ain't got no parents" remark was just a boy spouting off.
"What kind of dumb fire station doesn't have pole?" the boy stopped and kicked hard at one of the armchairs scattered around the room. It started to vibrate, letting out a low, trembling hum that made Masher raise her head and growl in response. "Ha ha, cool," the boy started darting around the room kicking all the furniture. Another kind of rumble interrupted the tirade when he accidently kicked Axe, who glowered and grumbled in the doorway.
Jake took the opportunity to shout "Where? Parents?" over the cacophony.
"No mommy, no daddy! Sparkle Pony is mommy now!" This came from the smallest child who was tucked under Masher's protective hulk as if she were a puppy.
Jake looked at the teen with a pained expression.
"I'm extremely responsible," she said a bit weakly. "I've kept these two out of trouble their entire lives...except for when lighting hit that tree near that cabin."
