Having Ethan around changed a lot of things. First of all, they were up a lot at night. Ethan cried a lot. I mean, a LOT. I was always worrying that something was wrong with him, but he seemed to just want Catherine to come and pick him up. I caught on to this tactic, so I thought I'd try it out myself and see if I could get the same kind of attention.

"Eddie, what's wrong?" Steve asked after I whined for a bit. It was working! He came to pet me. Thank you, Ethan, for teaching me a new trick. Such a clever boy. After a few days of them giving me attention after whining, Steve got a bit impatient. Then he got concerned.

"Eddie, what's going on with you, huh? You're whining an awful lot lately," he said. He was still petting me, though, so I was happy.

"Maybe he's sick?" Catherine suggested. She was rocking Ethan, who had just finished his cry fest.

"I should take him to the vet," Steve said, nodding.

Whoa, the vet?! Ooohhh no. Not the vet.

I jumped up from the floor where I was getting tummy rubs and wagged my tail furiously. See? I'm totally fine!

"He heard the v word," Catherine noted. "He seems fine now."

"Uh huh," Steve agreed, looking at me. "Eddie, are you actually competing for attention with a baby?"

Nooooo. I wouldn't do that. I gave him my best smile.

"Oh my God, you're right," Catherine said, looking at me. "He figured out that when the baby cries, we go to him."

"I told you he was smart," Steve said. Then he looked at me again. "But not smarter than us, bud. Sorry."

Nerts.

...

Ethan grew. At seven months, he was trying to grab my tail. I swept it out of his reach just before he could catch it. I'll admit it. I was teasing him with it. It was fun.

"Okay," Catherine was saying. "Here we go."

"You sure you got this?" Steve asked.

"I am offended," Danno said, faking outrage. "I helped raise two kids, Steve. Two. I think I know how to watch a baby."

"Technically you didn't start raising Charlie until he was older," Steve pointed out. "So you technically watched a baby last almost 20 years ago."

"Hey, whoa, oh!" Danno cried. "Throw that in my face why don't you?! I can watch a baby, Steven!"

"Where is he, Danny?" Steve asked, noticing I was hiding Ethan. Catherine hid her smile behind her hand as she got her shoes on. Danno whipped his head to look, and he was genuinely scared for a moment.

"H-He was right there!" Danno exclaimed. He jumped to his feet, panicked.

Ouch! I leaped to my feet after I felt my tail get grabbed hard.

"Very funny, Eddie," Danno said, scooping up Ethan. He looked at Steve accusingly. "You knew he was there the whole time, didn't you?"

"Yea, cos I watch my kid, Danny," Steve said. "Are we sure we can leave him alone with Ethan?" Steve looked at Catherine, worried.

"He'll be fine, Steve. We need a night out. Desperately. It has been way too long," she said. Steve didn't look convinced, but he eventually gave in.

"I'm watching you," he warned Danno, who simply waved in return with a big smile.

"Have fun!" he called as they shut the door behind them.

I looked at Danno, sensing mischief.

"Okay, Ethan," he said. "Who wants to jump up and down on Daddy's bed?"

I was totally in.

...

When Ethan was about a year and three months old, Catherine and Steve kept talking about this thing called a Wedding. I was listening to the food they were describing that was going to be there, and I was drooling. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my side. What was this? I turned to see Ethan standing, holding onto my fur for support. Neither Steve nor Catherine were looking.

Hey! I made a noise in my throat. Over here!

"You're making Eddie hungry with all this food talk," Catherine laughed, looking at me. Then she grabbed Steve's arm. "Steve! Look!"

"What?" he asked, looking. "Oh, wow."

"He's standing," Catherine whispered. "Oh my God, he's standing!"

"See? The doctor told you he was just a little bit behind," Steve said. "Nothing to worry about. He's catching on."

"Hi, honey," Catherine said. "Are you gonna walk?"

I knew Ethan needed my assistance. I slowly took a step, and he followed.

"Come on, baby," Catherine said, getting onto the floor now. "You got this."

"He's walking with Eddie," Steve said. "That's genius."

"Are you filming this?" Catherine asked.

"Yea," Steve answered, holding up his black box. I kept taking small steps, and Ethan walked beside me. When he was close enough to Catherine, he launched himself into her arms, giggling.

"Eddie," he said.

"Yea, Eddie helped you," Steve commented. "Good job, Ethan!"

I gave Steve a look followed by a throat noise.

"And Eddie," he added.

It was nice to be recognized.

…

Once Ethan started walking, he got into everything. I was constantly pulling him back from things that might hurt him. He thought it was a fun game. When he got a bit older (just over two), he discovered a newer and even more fun game: Ride Eddie.

"Ethan, don't ride Eddie!" Steve called, catching us whizzing by him.

"Get that cat!" Ethan was shouting. I was so glad he was on my side about Pickles.

"No, no," Steve said, running to pick up the cat before we got to it. "Don't touch the cat, Ethan."

Pickles didn't even hiss at us. I grew a little concerned at how slow that cat was getting. He didn't bother to even run from me anymore. What was wrong with him? I soon got distracted with Ethan on my back, and I forgot about the cat.

...

The Wedding happened, and Steve and Catherine were all smiles the day they licked faces in front of the important looking man. I had been made to walk down to them with something on my collar (I thought it was treats. I was thoroughly scolded for trying to eat it. Steve said something about "Not again," whatever that meant). I liked being involved. It made me feel special. Everyone was celebrating and laughing. I knew this was a good day. A best day, really. Those were my favorite.

"Mrs. McGarrett," Steve said to Catherine when they were alone. Ethan was with Doris for the night.

"Mr. McGarrett," she said back, giggling. I suddenly knew what was going to happen here, so I hopped up and bolted. Some things a dog didn't really want to hear.

...

One day, I went looking for Pickles, and he wasn't there. I found this very strange. All day I searched, and he wasn't anywhere. When Steve came home (he had gone back to work full time again, something about a very bad man he needed to get), he noticed my searching.

"Ah, buddy," he said, getting down to the floor. I went over for pats. "You're not gonna find him."

Why not?

Steve smelled sad, and I suddenly knew. Pickles had gone to cat heaven. I felt a little bad because our game of hating each other wasn't a game without him, but I hoped he was okay up there.

That night, Catherine was hanging onto me tightly and leaking from her eyes.

"I'm afraid of losing Eddie," she said to Steve.

I wasn't going anywhere. I was right there. I licked her face, making her leak more.

"I know," Steve said. His voice sounded funny. He got into bed with us and hugged me and her together. "I wish dogs could live as long as we do, but we know it isn't the way."

"Promise me I get to say goodbye to him when the time comes," Catherine said tearfully. "I didn't get to say goodbye to my dog when I was little. They just took her away and that was it."

"I promise," Steve said, giving her head a kiss. "But Cath, Eddie has a lot of years left in him. He's not going anywhere anytime soon."

I wasn't. I'd know when it was my time, and we had a ways to go yet. I rested my head on her lap as she petted me furiously. I could sense something in her belly again, and I knew what it meant. We were going to have another member join our pack.

...

It was like any other day until I heard Catherine make a horrible, wailing sound. I was instantly alert and went upstairs. I nosed my way into Steve and Catherine's room and found Catherine sitting on the bathroom floor hugging her knees and crying. I was worried for her, so I pushed myself into her arms. She clung to me, crying harder. I could smell something sad in this room, but I couldn't understand what it was.

"I just...really wanted...her..." Catherine sobbed into my fur. That's when I noticed that the stirring in her belly was gone.

Oh.

I let Catherine hold onto me until she stopped crying. Then we just sat on the floor in silence until Steve came home.

"Cath?" his voice called. Then he was in the doorway, and I could tell he knew right away. "Oh, no. Cath?"

"She's gone," Catherine cried. I was shifted to the side as Steve got down on the floor with us and took her into his arms. I rested my head on his shoulder as he comforted her. The two of them cried together. I felt really sad too. I wished I could take their pain away., but some pain you just couldn't do that so easily with.

...

This kept happening to Catherine. I'd sense the stirring of life in her abdomen, and not too long after, it was gone. I heard Steve call it a "miscarriage" once. They were both sad, and even Ethan was struggling to understand at almost three years old what was going on, but he was sad too.

"I don't understand," Catherine said one night. I was under the table, smelling all the goodness coming off of Steve's socks that were on his feet.

"I don't either," Steve sighed.

"We had Ethan no problem at all."

"I know."

"I really wanted more kids," Catherine lamented tearfully.

"Me too."

I heard them shift on the table. I assumed they were now holding paws.

"But I guess...I guess that is not what was planned for us," Catherine went on. I groaned as her foot found my back and started rubbing.

"I guess not," Steve agreed. I could smell the sadness, and I felt sad for them. I wanted to help, but I didn't know how.

"I'm sorry," Catherine whispered.

"I still love you," Steve told her. "That will never change. And who knows? Maybe when we least expect it, it'll happen."

"Maybe. I love you too."

And I love you both too. I wish I could tell them that. The only way I could was by licking them and cuddling them. I'm sure they knew how I felt about them anyway.

...

Eventually, Ethan got old enough to go to a place called "School." I didn't want my boy to go, but he had to. I sat by the window all day waiting for him, and Catherine would let me sit at the end of the driveway with her when Ethan got home from the "bus." It looked like it would be fun to chase, but Catherine wouldn't let me.

"Eddie!" Ethan would yell, and he would come running towards me. He was too big to carry around on my back anymore, but he held onto my collar tightly as we all walked back to the house. We'd play on the floor together, or we'd play outside. Catherine would start making food, which made me drool, and then Steve would come home from work. He was still working full time. He hadn't caught his bad man yet. I loved this routine, and even though I missed Steve and now Ethan every day, I still had Catherine. Then one day, Catherine went back to work with Steve, and I was alone in that house every day. I didn't particularly like it. I was bored a lot. I hated to admit it, but I sometimes missed the demon cat.

...

Life was going great when one day, Ethan did not come home on the bus. Catherine and Steve did not come home from work, and I instantly knew something was wrong. After a while, Danno came to get me.

"Come on, boy," he said. "We gotta go." He ran to grab one of Ethan's shirts that I had been fondly chewing on it that afternoon, missing him.

Go where?! I was anxious.

"Come on, Eddie," Danno said again. "Ethan's been kidnapped, and you're gonna find him."

I didn't know what "kidnap" meant, but it sounded very bad. I scurried to Danno, who didn't even bother to snap on my leash, and we ran to his car. Danno was swearing to himself and smelled scared and angry. I felt scared too, but I knew once I started to help, things would get better.

Oh yessiree...I was going to find my boy's boy. I was going to find my best boy, Ethan. As we drove like mad to Steve, I bared my teeth in anger at the fool who thought they could hurt my family. They would be sorry.

Duh duh duuuuuhhhh. Will Eddie be able to save his best boy? Stay tuned! ;)