Sorry for the delay. I got caught up in my other stories, and then I got sick...again. *Sigh*

Happy reading!

It was quite some time since Steve, Catherine, and Ethan had left. I was still waiting patiently for them to return. Danno had done his best to keep me company and entertain me, but I got bored with him easily. CharlieBoy, though...he was a good companion. We got up to lots of exploring together, and he threw those balls for me that I liked.

"Dad, is Eddie okay?" CharlieBoy asked today. I was lying on my stomach facing the door. I was willing Steve to walk through it. I really missed him.

"I think he's just missing Uncle Steve," Danno answered. He bent down to rub my ears and pet me all over. "Aren't you, boy?"

I really was. I hoped they were safe wherever they were.

...

Danno took me out for a walk one night, and I caught the scent of something interesting halfway through it. I was off my leash since we were walking in an area that was deemed safe by Danno. I charged on ahead, tracking this scent.

"Hey! Eddie!" Danno called. I ignored him. I kept sniffing until I found the source.

Well, hello.

A creature looked back at me. He was strange looking, and he did not seem to like me at all. He started to growl and stamp his feet at me. I bent down, my butt in the air as I wagged my tail. I wanted to play with him.

"Oh, whoa," Danno said, stopping behind me. "Eddie, easy. Back off."

No. I wanted to play. The creature was getting more and more worked up, though. I couldn't understand why he didn't like me. I was friendly. I lolled my tongue out to show I was harmless. The creature swiftly turned it's back to me.

"No, no, no," Danno was saying. "Eddie, come here. Come here."

This was interesting. What was the creature doing? I went in to sniff.

"EDDIE, NO!"

I twisted my head at his scream just as the pain ripped through the right side of my snout.

OW, OW, OWWWWWWW! I howled. I danced around, pawing at my face and crying at the pain at the same time. The creature scurried off, and Danno grabbed my collar and my paw to stop me from swiping at my face.

"Shit," he said. "Oh, shit. Steve's gonna kill me. Come on, Eddie. We gotta get you to a vet."

Vet?! Oh, no. I don't think so. I dug my heels in. Vets meant shots. Vets meant fingers in places I did not like at all. No way. Definitely not.

"Eddie, I'm sorry but you've got to," Danno said, getting down to my level again. "You've got porcupine quills in your face, Eddie. Those are bad. We gotta get them out. Damn it. I didn't even know they had porcupines here."

Porcupine? What an odd name. They should have gone with something easy like dog.

I reluctantly let Danno hurry me to his car. The pain was intense, and I didn't want those things in my face anymore.

...

"Oh, poor baby," Noelani said, stroking my back as I lay on the table. The vet was prepping, and Danno was trying to keep me still. He had called in reinforcements because he knew Noelani was good at making me feel better.

"Thanks for coming," Danno said. "I thought a female touch would help him out, and I remember you two are good buddies."

"Yes, we are," Noelani agreed. She kissed my head fondly. I thumped my tail.

"He's lucky," the vet said, coming over to me. I gave him my best death stare. I hated vets. He ignored me.

"How so?" Danno asked.

"He could have gotten way more quills than this, and they could have gotten into his eye."

"You can get them out, right?" Danno questioned. The vet gave him a look that implied Danno was being stupid (I recognized it because Steve gave it to Danno a lot). I tried to smile, but gosh darnit it hurt. I wondered-OW!

I flinched at the pinch. Noelani petted me soothingly. Damn vet. He got me when I wasn't paying attention.

"What is that?" Danno asked. He really did ask too many questions.

"Just something to help with the pain and to help me remove these quills," the vet answered.

"It'll be all over soon," Noelani promised me.

I got sleepy real fast.

...

"Is he okay, Dad?"

I opened my eyes to find CharlieBoy looking at me with a worried expression on his face. I wanted to lick it better. I still felt woozy, though.

"He's just fine," Danno promised. "All the quills were removed, and he's gonna be okay."

I wanted to sleep again. I felt myself being picked up. I don't really remember the car ride home, which was disappointing. I loved car rides.

...

I heard knocking on the door the next morning, and my ears pricked at a familiar voice. I scrambled to my feet and hauled ass towards it, frantic with excitement.

"Eddie!" Steve cried, welcoming me with open arms as I jumped at him.

Oh Steve. Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes! I licked his face and wagged my tail so hard I could barely stand.

"Good to see you too, pal," Steve grinned, getting me to stop licking him, but not before my tongue went into his mouth while he talked. He had eggs for breakfast. And bacon. Oohhh bacon.

"Are you done French kissing your dog?" Danno asked.

"Down, boy," Steve said, nudging me. I reluctantly got down. I didn't want to. He frowned at me then, noticing my face.

"What, uh, what happened?" he asked Danno, who scratched his head.

"Well, he...he found a porcupine."

"A what?"

"Yea, I didn't know they were here either."

"I know we have them...Danny, why didn't you call me?"

"It just happened last night! I didn't know you were gonna be back today. I have barely heard from you since you left!" Danno said, outraged.

"They got them all out?" Steve asked, examining me. I tried to stick him with my tongue again, but he dodged it.

"Yes. He's fine."

"Curiosity got you, huh?" Steve asked me. I grinned. I thought it was called a Porcupine, but what did I know? "Come on, let's get you home."

Home. Now that sounded amazing.

...

Catherine, Catherine, Catherine! I raced towards her, and she laughed as I flattened her to the ground. I sniffed her all over and licked her and whined.

"Hello, Eddie," she smiled, scratching me. It was heaven. She looked at my snout, tutting at me. I assumed Steve had told her what happened. She gave it a kiss, and it did feel better.

"Eddie!"

Ethan, Ethan, Ethan! I abandoned Catherine and ran towards him. I was more careful since he was smaller. I didn't want to get a swat for knocking him over. Ethan giggled as I washed his face with my tongue. He tasted like a lot of things.

"I think he missed us," Catherine noted as Steve helped her to her feet.

"I think so too," Steve agreed. I ran around with Ethan then. I was so glad he hadn't forgotten me. I never wanted my family to leave me behind again. I didn't care where they went. I'd stow away and go with them.

...

It was a long time later when Junior and Tani came to visit, and I sensed the stirring in Tani's belly. They had shiny things on their fingers too. I guessed they were mates for life since Catherine and Steve had those same shiny things on their fingers too. Humans were strange. Didn't they know you didn't need a shiny thing to be mates for life?

"Oh my God!" Catherine cried, seeing them. "You got married?!"

"While we were away?" Steve asked, faking hurt. He hugged Junior and Tani after Catherine.

"It was kind of spur of the moment," Tani answered, smiling at Junior. I went over and pressed my face into her belly. Hello, baby. I wondered if she knew it was there.

"Are you...?" Catherine asked, seeing me and looking at Tani.

"Oh...um..." Tani paused, looking at Junior again.

"Only if you want to," he said.

"What? What?" Catherine asked, growing excited.

"We're having a baby," Tani replied, clapping her hands together. Catherine began to shriek and dance around with her. I bounced with them too. It seemed like fun and an important thing to do in that moment. Junior laughed while Steve clapped him on the back.

"Congratulations," he said to Junior.

"Thanks," Junior beamed. I looked up at everyone and felt so happy for my family and friends.

...

"Eddie, would you quit chasing my ball?" Lou asked, annoyed. I looked up at him. What? It was a ball. He hit it, and I ran after it. Was that not the concept of fetch? Or had things changed and no one told me? I didn't like those balls much anyway. They were too small and too hard. I spat it out. I enjoyed my lazy days with Steve and Lou.

"McGarrett, did you teach him to cheat for you?" Lou accused.

"What? No," Steve answered innocently. I smiled at him. He winked back at me.

"I saw that," Lou said.

"Saw what? I had something in my eye," Steve told him. He swung and hit his ball. As per his instructions, I did not chase after it. I only chased after Lou's.

"Sure, sure," Lou commented. He gave me the stink eye while he went to hit another ball. Once it was flying, I was off to the races.

"EDDIE!"

...

One day, a visitor came, and I recognized his voice from somewhere. I stood at the side as Steve hugged the man tightly and went on about how good it was to see him. I couldn't contain myself anymore. I went over to him.

"Who's this guy?" the man asked, bending down to me as I pranced around him. I sniffed him cautiously. He smelled like that stuff Kamekona was always giving me. Shrimp. He also smelled sad and scared.

"This is Eddie," Steve said. "Eddie, this is Chin Ho Kelly."

Ah, Chin! I remembered them talking to him once upon a time. I wagged my tail. I already liked Chin if he was a part of Steve's pack.

"What brings you back home?" Steve asked. He sounded curious.

"Sara," Chin answered somberly.

"What happened?"

"She's missing," Chin said.

"Oh, no."

"She's been hanging around a bad crowd lately, and I've talked to her about it a bunch of different times. We got into a big fight two nights ago, and she ran off. I couldn't find her until I was notified that she got on a plane to come here."

"You think she's still here?"

"That's what I'm hoping," Chin answered. "I don't want to think the worst. I just want to think she's mad at me and is cooling off."

"Let's hope you're right," Steve agreed. "She's 16 and thinks she knows what she's doing. We'll find her. Come on, we'll go meet the team and start looking."

"Thanks, Steve," Chin said appreciatively.

"Come, Eddie," Steve said to me then, and I stopped sniffing Chin's pants. I looked at him.

What?

"It's time to go to work."

Surprise! Hope you didn't mind that I brought Chin in for a chapter or two. Thanks for reading!

To clarify, the year is roughly 2025 because Ethan is roughly 6 years old as he was born in 2019. That is why Sara is 16. I'm sorry for confusion. I didn't do the timeline as through a dog's eyes, it's seasons changing not years (just my idea of that anyway).