Thank you all for reading, following, favorite and reviewing.

I have absolutely no idea why your reviews are not showing up at FanFiction, I but I know that you left really kind ones.

The breed I mention in this chapter, Japanese Akita, is the kindest and most loyal one I know. I can say that because I do own one since it was a puppy. The Akita with orange-white fur is really cute, if you don't know this breed look it up. If they really trust you, they are your best friend in life. No matter where I'm going at my place, I know my Akita is following me. It sometimes nerve, yeah, but it's also heart-warming. My dog is like a clockwork and waits for me at the door when I am coming from home and he does it only with me.

However, thank you all and enjoy this chapter. Of course you are welcome to tell me what you think, like always.

Thanks again.

T73.

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It's the first night since a while that I am not beset by nightmares and I welcome the peaceful sleep, I think the talk with Maura is helping me a little bit, but all of a sudden my mattress dips and I feel someone breathing against my cheek. I make a face and fight the urge to open my eyes. I groan when the said person starts to play with my hair and I clench my fists so I don't swat the hand away. I only can of two persons who invaded my room and I won't hurt neither of them.

"Ma," my son's hushed voice makes its way to my brain and I groan louder. "Do you have a puppy?"

"Why would I have a -" I start to protest and turn my head away but then my eyes shoot open. "Why would I have a puppy in my bed?" I ask and look sleepily at Nick. I roll my eyes as he shrugs and stretch my arms over my head. "Is it your birthday already?"

"Yes," he squeals and I think I am deaf.

I rub the sleep from my eyes and frown. "I doubt so, buddy." I whisper and see the look of my daughter who is on my right side. I blink a couple of times and sigh. "Do you want to have a puppy for your birthday too?"

"I wanna have a cat." Haley replies cheerfully and skids up. "Can I have a cat?"

I drop my arms to my sides and stare blankly at her. Seriously? A cat? What happened to my little ones and why do they don't wanna have the same things anymore? I hide my yawn behind my hands and focus at the ceiling to get my still semi-sleeping brain working. "How about I make breakfast for my two little monkeys and then we figure out what we're doing today?"

"Yeah," they exclaim in unison and my eardrums are bursting.

I sit up and kiss both of my kids good morning. "Alright, I'll be out in five minutes."

They jump down from my bed and literally storm out of my room. I roll my eyes and try to figure out what time it is. I look at my alarm clock and my shoulders slump because it reads 6.30am. I get out of my bed and ready for the day. I study my reflection as I brush my teeth and feel like a heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulders since I came by at Maura's. That is four days ago now and our family has noticed that something has changed between her and me. Okay, there was a potshot every now and then, but it wasn't something that let the situation escalate. I think it's a good start

I rinse out my mouth and not to myself before I risk my life by feeding of wild beasts that are sitting in my living room. I enter my kitchen and quirk an eyebrow as I see Haley and Nick sitting on the couch and that they are watching TV already. I'm more than sure that they wouldn't do that at their Mom's place. Maura's a great person also a strict mother. Don't get me wrong, it's great, it's really great because I am the one who's spoiling Nick and Haley and I'm not really proud of it. I thought that I'd be the one who has to restrain her when she'd get all too excited about shopping for the kids. It turned out that I was wrong.

I brace myself at the counter and frown a little. For almost one week we are having pancakes for breakfast and I can tell that I can't swallow one bite of it for the next few weeks. "How about we have scrambled eggs this morning?"

"I want pancakes." Nick exclaims without looking at me.

"I want apple."

I stare blankly at the back of their heads and heave a sigh. "Apple?"

Haley turns in her seat and flutter her eyelashes. "Yes, please."

I have to swallow back my laugh and sigh once more. "Honey, apples are a snack and not breakfast."

"I want apple."

"And I want to be a millionaire." I mumble under my breath and open the fridge to get milk out of it. "How about we find a compromise? Cereal for everyone!" I say and my kids throw their arms up over their heads. I roll my eyes and am glad that my proposal is popular. I start to prepare three bowls and take a deep breath. I don't know how Haley and Nick are going to react when I tell them that Andy's not going to be at Maura's when I drop them off later. I carry two bowls over to the couch. "One for my little prince," I say and hand Nick one before I do the same with Haley and both of them smile heart-melting at me. "And one for my little princess."

I get my own bowl and sit down between both of them and click my bowl with those of my children. "Cheers." I say and see Haley rolling her eyes as she shoves a spoon full of food in her mouth. "My mistake. Bon appétite."

We eat for a couple of minutes in silence and I rack my brain how to tell them that some things had changed within that week. "Both of you know that I'm bringing you back to your Mom's house tonight, don't you?"

The room is filled with silence and I have to swallow hard because I'm afraid that are going to make a scene.

"Can't we stay a little longer?" Haley almost whispers and makes a pouty face.

I sigh loudly and look down at her. "I have to go back to work tomorrow, sweetie."

"Why?"

"To earn money."

"Why?"

I scoff and raise my eyebrows high as I hear her brother groaning. "Because you want to have food to eat when you're here, and to go to the theme park, and on trips. Therefore, Mom and I have to work."

"And if we don't want to go back home," Nick asks all of a sudden and I look shocked at him. "Not because of Mom."

"We love Mommy." Haley adds and spreads her arms. "So much. And sometimes she speaks funny."

I have to chuckle because I know what Haley refers to. Sometimes Maura's forgetting that Nick and Haley are only seven and four and shower them with fun facts. Sometimes Ma and I have to remind Maura that they are just small children, but that doesn't make her a bad mother. "And Mommy loves both of you just as much, honey."

"But Andrew is not nice sometimes." Haley mumbles and frowns, and Nick becomes unusually quiet. "Sometimes he yells at us when Mom is away."

I have to be careful right now. Just because I didn't vet along with him it doesn't give me the right to demonize him at all. "Maybe because you did things you weren't supposed to do?"

"We run in the house, Ma." Nick admits and looks at me.

My brows shoot up high as his words hit my ears. It's not like that my kids are angels, they have the ability to grind your gears, even Maura and I yell at them sometimes when they don't listen to us "Well, that's something you are not supposed to do, Nick. Mommy and I told you that more than once. You'd ask Andrew if you can play in the garden, then."

"We did, Ma." Haley whines and squirms in her seat.

"And what did he do?"

"He sent us to our rooms and said that we are in trouble if he hear any noises." Nick answers my question.

I clench my teeth and take a deep breath. I am going to kill him if he said ever crosses my way. "Andrew won't be there if I bring you to Mom, I promise." I say and nod as my children at me with hope in their eyes.

"Really?" Haley whispers.

I nod and a small smile plays on my lips. "Scout's honor." I hear Nick sigh in relief and turn my head in his direction. Something's telling me that he still has more to tell but I'm going to give him a break for now. "So, what do you guys wanna do today?"

"Can we go to the animal shelter," Nick asks with sparkling eyes.

"Yes," Haley squeals and bounce up and down in her seat.

I roll my eyes but smile. "Alright, but we are just taking a look."

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"No," Maura says final and has her arms crossed over her chest. "No, Jane."

I roll my eyes and take a swig from my beer. "Maura, give it a thought. Nick wishes nothing more than this present."

"It is a Akita."

"It's a dog, a puppy to be exact."

"The Akita is generally seen as territorial about its property, and can be reserved with strangers." Maura starts and I have to furls my brows to hide my amused smile. "It is sometimes described as feline in its actions; it is not unusual for an Akita to clean its face after eating, to preen its kennel mate, and to be fastidious in the house." She trails off as I now arch an brow. "And since it is a large, powerful dog, the Akita is not considered a breed for a first time dog owner. And it has been targeted by some countries' breed-specific legislation as a dangerous dog. It's a large, strong, independent and dominant dog."

I scoff and shrug. "Sounds like you've been profiling me right now." I chuckle amused.

Maura opens her mouth to reply something and it seems like she understood what I've been saying. She smirks and slaps my arm.

I clear my throat and straighten up. "Okay, give me a try."

"For what?"

"To throw some fun facts in your face." I answer and she leans with her hip against the kitchen island. I clear my throat once more, dramatically. "A dog with the correct Akita temperament should be accepting of non-threatening strangers, get protective of their family when they're faced with threatening situations. They are usually docile, aloof and calm in new situations. As a breed they should be good with children; it's said that the breed has affinity for children." I can see that she is impressed by my counter. "What? I listened to the animal care attendant."

She rolls her eyes and takes a sip of her wine. "Akitas tend to take a socially dominant role with other dogs, and thus caution must be used in situations when Akitas are likely around other dogs, especially unfamiliar ones. In particular, they tend to be less tolerant of dogs with the same sex. For this reason, Akitas, unless highly socialized, are not generally well-suited for off-lash dog parks."

Oh that was a good one and I have to search for the last thing the guy at the animal shelter told me. "The Akita is said to be careful, courageous, fearless and intelligent."

Maura crosses her arms over her chest and holds my gaze. "Sometimes spontaneous, it needs a confident, consistent handler, without which the dog will be very willful and may become come very aggressive to other dogs and animals."

I blink a couple of times and furrow my brows. "Are we … still talking about the breed?"

"I don't know." She laughs and drops her arms back to her sides and I have to smile.

I get my phone from my jeans and open a picture I've taken at the animal shelter with the my kids and the Japanese Akita puppy. It's been a while since I was able to put such a smile on their lips, and the dog is very cute too. "Maura, take a look at it. Haley and Nick were arguing which pet is cooler the whole way to the shelter, cat or dog. But when they saw this little guy, they agreed that this one is the coolest. And look at its black, little nose and the beady eyes."

Maura's struggling with herself to keep a straight face as she takes a look at the pic and sighs. "I have to admit, it is very cute."

"Right," I ask and start to beam.

"And it reminds me a little of you." She adds and I splutter. "Well, except your fur."

I groan and roll my eyes, but she is right. The puppy's fur is orange-white and mine is black. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome." She shoots back laughingly.

"So it's a yes?"

"And what if it turns out that the Akita does have a bad temper?"

I take a deep breath and shove my phone back into the pocket. "Then we bring it to a dog grooming school and give it a strong hand."

"And if that wouldn't work out," Maura asks and turns serious again. "I don't want to break Nick's and Haley's heart because we have to give the dog away again."

I nod slowly and sip my bear. "If you think that the dog shouldn't be at your house, I'll take it in and look for a bigger apartment. Then they can be with it when we are around." I pause and look straight into her eyes. "Maura, I can't make this decision alone. If you're not feeling comfortable with it we can look for something else."

She takes a deep breath and wiggles her brows. "The puppy is really cute."

"But," I ask cautiously.

"There are so many buts, Jane." She replies and braces herself on the island. "This is exactly the breed Nick is wishing for?"

I nod slowly and walk to the fridge to get me a other beer. "Nick told me that he saw a movie with this dog and that he really like this dog in it. He meant a Akita."

Maura ponders my words and frowns deeply. She starts to nod and has to smile a little. "I think I know what movie he referred to."

"Really," I ask surprised and step closer, hoping that Maura let me in on the secret but it seems like I am wrong once again.

"Yes," she sighs and looks at me. "Okay."

I am a little lost right now. "Okay?"

Maura smiles and nods. "Okay, we get Nick a Akita puppy, but if it makes problems you take it in."

A smile tugs on my lips and clink my bottle with her wine glass. "It sounds like a deal."