Disclaimer: Garfield and all related characters are the property of Paws. Inc and ViacomCBS/Nickelodeon at the time of this story's creation.
Chapter 5: A Happy Reunion
Jon Arbuckle, still in his pajamas, drove as fast as he could to the veterinarian's office, not even caring about the traffic or driving within the speed limit.
"Please let him be there. PLEASE let him be there!" Jon repeated to himself as he parks his car in front of the building.
Like a professional athlete, Jon sprints to the front door and pulls on it as hard as he could.
"Why won't this door open!?" Jon struggles, now knowing how Garfield must've felt when he tried to open the fridge.
After failing miserably to open the damn door, either by it being locked or Jon being a scrawny man, the exhausted owner stops to catch his breath. While doing so, he spots a sign hanging from the inside.
"CLOSED!?" Jon reads out loud with his masculinity still intact.
"GODDAMN IT!" The angry owner punches the door as hard as he could. Knowing that his dog may be long gone at this point, all Jon could do was sit on the floor and hug his knees in depression.
"Why!? Just why!?" Jon said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I just wanted to have a nice Thanksgiving with my family, but now they both hate me!" He kept on crying, guilty beyond belief.
"I'm sorry, Garfield! I'm sorry, Odie! Can you two ever forgive me!?" Jon continues sobbing, the guilt being too much for him to handle.
Unbeknownst to the crying Arbuckle, a familiar looking dog is approaching him.
*ARF*
"Not now, Odie." Jon sniffs. "Can't you see I'm too busy crying over you?"
Jon's eyes widened as long as they could, for right beside was his dog whom he thought he lost forever.
"ODIE!" Jon excitingly picks up his dog and wraps him in a rather tight embrace.
"Oh, Odie! I'm so sorry for leaving you! I'll never do it again!" Jon said, tears of joy bursting out of his eyes.
*ARF* Odie happily barks and starts licking his owner affectionately.
"Well, it took us long enough to find you." A familiar female voice was heard.
"Liz! Boy am I glad to see you." Jon said.
"Again, that's Doctor Wilson to you." Liz points out, annoyed by being called by her first name.
"Sorry, Liz...uh I mean...Doctor Wilson." Jon corrects himself.
"Much better." Liz said. "So, how's that horse of yours handling his diet?" She asked sarcastically.
"But I don't own a horse." Jon said.
"I meant your cat, idiot!" Liz harshly points out.
"Oh, you mean Garfield? Well, not too well, I'm afraid." Jon sighs. "I've been feeding him half of a lettuce like you've instructed, and now he hates me because of it." He further explains.
"Wait, you've been feeding him nothing but lettuce!?" She asked.
"Well, isn't that what the diet said I should do?" He answered with another question.
"No, you idiot!" Liz said, pinching her nose in frustration. "You were supposed to feed him plenty of high fiber and give him plenty of water, not starve him to death!" She angrily points out, now worried about the vitamin deficiencies the poor kitty is probably suffering through right now as a result of this diet.
"Hey, you were the one who suggested that I put Garfield on this diet in the first place!" Jon argues.
Liz opens her mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say to counter Jon's argument.
"You're right." The veterinarian sighed in defeat.
"I am?" Jon asked, surprised by what he just heard.
"Yes, you are! Don't make me repeat myself!" Liz spat angrily.
"Sorry." Jon chuckles nervously.
"I can tell that this diet has been too hard for someone like Garfield." Liz admits.
"Yeah, and maybe I was a little too extreme on it, too. I just wanted him to be healthy, but I took it too far, especially on Thanksgiving day no less!" Jon agrees.
"Tell you what, maybe we should let Garfield skip his diet for now and start him with some mild exercise instead. Do you think he'd like that?" Liz suggests.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Jon said with excitement. "Thank you so much Doctor Wilson!"
"You're welcome. I'd rather see Garfield fat and healthy than this." Liz said.
"Garfield's gonna be so happy when he hears this! He's been looking forward to this Thanksgiving dinner all year!" Jon cheers.
Then he suddenly realizes something.
"Oh, shoot! I left the turkey in the oven! I gotta get back before it burns! See you later, Liz!" Jon said before he and Odie rush back to the car and drive back home.
"That's Doctor Wil...oh, forget it." Liz said as Jon's car leaves the driveway.
"Hopefully, he'll wear some normal clothes when he comes back for their next appointment." She sighed as she walks back to her car, embarrassed by watching a grown man cry in public in his pajamas.
Meanwhile...
"Take that, Jon! Take that, Thanksgiving!" Garfield cackles evilly as he pours detergent into Jon's bowl of vegetables. He's already ruined everything else edible in the kitchen, and all he needed to do now was ruin this particular dish.
"This will make a nice white sauce for Jon's stupid vegtables!" The cat said with a sinister grin.
"While I'm at it, let's put some garlic in there as well!" He gleefully pours the garlic into the bowl, covering the vegetables with white powder.
"Garfield! I'm back!" He hears his owner calling out for him. He quickly throws out both the detergent and garlic into the trash and runs out of the kitchen before Jon could notice anything suspicious.
*ARF* Odie happily greets Garfield with many affectionate licks.
"What do you know, you actually got tweedle dee the wonder dummy back." Garfield said, unamused.
"Garfield, I need to talk to you." Jon said with a serious tone.
"Ugh!" The cat groans in frustration. "What now!?"
"I've been thinking, and I believe that I may have been too harsh on your diet." Jon said. "So, I was thinking that instead, you can skip your diet for now and have you do some mild exercises instead. How does that sound?"
Suddenly, Garfield leaps onto Jon's face and showers him with kisses.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Garfield shouts in joy, finally free from his torture.
"Well, I'd better finish our Thanksgiving dinner. I'm gonna serve you the best Thanksgiving you boys ever had!" Jon places his cat down and heads to the kitchen.
"Did you hear that, Odie!? I'm free! I'm free!" Garfield said with the biggest smile on his face.
*Arf* Odie barks in approval of Garfield's positive attitude.
"I can actually eat again! Oh joy! Oh rapture! Oh…"
"AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" A loud scream was heard from the kitchen.
"OH, NO!" The cat shouts in terror, now remembering what he just did.
