A/N: To answer your questions,
Yes, Gideon will eventually make an appearance. He'll be very important to Spencer. ^^
Spencer is twelve years old.
Dave was hardly discouraged. As the saying went, there were plenty of fish in the sea. Although, according to Spencer, overfishing was a big problem. Luckily, women were in no danger of extinction. In fact, the world was more overpopulated than ever and reaching out to people had never been easier thanks to technology. There was no reason to cease trying. And so, when Dave returned home that night from his date with Maggie Lowe, he sat down at his computer to check his matches while balancing an icepack on his head.
Early Monday morning, Emily, Derek and Aaron exited the house to find a present on their front porch; actually, Emily quite literally tripped over it.
"What the hell?" she snapped, aiming a kick at the wrapped package.
To her absolute horror, something inside yelped. A few seconds later, Derek was on his knees ripping off the paper and tearing the tape.
"You've got to see this," he said, surprise and disbelief frozen on his face.
Aaron and Emily bent down to get a better look as Derek gently lifted a living, breathing Miniature Schnauzer puppy from the box.
"What in the name of -?"
"What's going on?"
Spencer, Penelope and JJ had just opened the front door to behold a scene of their three older siblings hovering over something on the porch.
"This was in a box outside our door," Aaron explained, taking the puppy from Derek and holding it in one hand like a hot cup of coffee.
"Aw, let me hold him!" Penelope grabbed the tiny dog from Aaron's grasp and cradled it in her arms. "You're so cute," she chortled, stroking the soft fur on its belly.
The puppy wagged its tail and JJ and Spencer closed in around their sister to pet it.
"Who left it here?" Emily posed the question.
"I'm not sure…" Aaron replied.
"Maybe its owner left it here because he didn't want it anymore," suggested Derek.
"Does our house look like a dog pound?" Penelope said. "On second thought, don't answer that."
"Why would someone go through the trouble of wrapping up an unwanted dog in a box with colorful paper?" Aaron pointed out.
"Maybe so it would look appealing to a child. The kid would open the gift, fall in love with the puppy and the puppy would then have a loving home," JJ speculated.
"If the parents agreed to keep it," Emily said.
Spencer shook his head. "I think whoever placed the package on our porch intended for one of us to find it. It wasn't left in this exact location randomly."
Spencer took the puppy from Penelope and it immediately began to lick his face.
"I think he likes you, Spence." JJ grinned.
"I think he's a girl," Spencer said.
"Shouldn't you kids be on your way to school? And where did the mutt come from?" Dave had appeared in the doorway all dressed for work and he looked as though he'd been up most of the night.
Aaron and Emily explained the situation.
"Was there a card?" Dave asked when they were through.
"Nope," Derek replied, taking the puppy from Spencer, who was reluctant to give her up. "But look! There's a collar!"
Dave squinted at the tag.
"Ima," he read out loud. "That's all. There's no address. I'm going to be late if I don't leave ten minutes ago. You kids figure out what to do. And we absolutely cannot keep it," he added, catching sight of Spencer's face.
"But what are we supposed to do? We have school!" Derek exclaimed as Dave's car pulled out of the driveway.
"I'll think of something. You five go to school."
"No way, Aaron. I'm staying here to help you find a home for her."
"I have to go. I have a huge test," Emily said, scratching the puppy behind the ear. She was still feeling guilty for kicking it.
"JJ and I have a quiz, but we could miss it…" Penelope began.
"No. Derek and I will deal with this and the rest of you will go to school. Now."
Emily, Penelope and JJ started their trek to school.
"Spencer?"
The youngest boy had lingered behind.
"I don't have a test or a quiz today and I've already finished this week's homework. Also, I haven't missed a day all year. Please let me help you."
Aaron nodded. "Fine."
A pleased smile replaced Spencer's anxious frown.
"Here you go, kid," Derek said, handing Ima to Spencer. "Don't lose her now."
"I won't."
Ten minutes later, the boys stood at the end of their neighbor's driveway.
"So, you're going to stare at her with those big sad eyes and pout with those plump lips and work a little magic here, all right?" Derek instructed.
Spencer, holding the puppy, practiced his hurt look on his brothers.
"Don't look too pathetic or she might try to adopt you too," Aaron added.
Suddenly, Derek swung and slapped Spencer across the face. Hard.
"Derek!"
"What was that for?" Spencer squeaked, regaining his footing. He'd almost dropped Ima!
"I'm trying to make him cry. If he looks really upset, there's more of a chance the old woman will do what he asks," Derek explained to Aaron, who looked like he was about to give Derek a good chewing out.
"He's right," Spencer piped up, rubbing his stinging cheek with one hand. "Look, my eyes are watering."
Spencer rang the doorbell and then backed away a couple paces. He clutched a sleeping Ima in his arms while tears flowed freely from his eyes. He stood there for about a minute and then looked back at his brothers, who'd remained in the street. Derek made exaggerated gestures of ringing an invisible doorbell over and over. Just as Spencer turned around and reached for the button, he heard footsteps approaching from inside.
An old woman in a floral nightgown opened the door. Her white hair, peppered with gray, hung loosely past her shoulders and she seemed to have a cataract in her left eye. She surveyed the boy wearily.
"My n-name is S-S-Spencer and I w-was wondering if you'd h-help me out," he sobbed. His cheek really hurt.
"Boy, do you know what time it is?" the old lady croaked. "Go ask your mommy for help."
"S-s-sorry, but I c-can't. M-my mom's in an asylum and my d-dad is at work."
"What do you need?" the woman sighed. "A ride to school?"
"N-no," Spencer sputtered, holding the puppy up in front of him so the blind old bat could see. "I f-found this baby canine, but my dad won't let me keep her. Her name is Ima and she n-needs a home."
The old lady saw where this was going.
"I don't want no dog. Take it to the pound where it belongs."
"But they might euthanize her there. Did you know that four million cats and dogs are put down each year? That's about one every eight seconds."
"Quit your whining and deal with it. I don't want it! Now get out of here. And don't come ringing my doorbell this early in the morning again, you hear?"
With that, the old woman slammed the door in Spencer's face. Ima barked and Spencer snuggled her.
"No luck, huh?" Derek said when Spencer rejoined him and Aaron at the bottom of the driveway.
"No, I'm sorry."
"We can try some other neighbors," Derek suggested.
"Great, you do it this time," Spencer said, trying to hand Derek the puppy.
"No way, man. I'm not half as innocent-looking as you."
"I have a better idea. Follow me," Aaron ordered, relieving Spencer of Ima and holding her awkwardly against his chest.
Spencer and Derek followed.
"You couldn't even convince a kind little old lady to take in an adorable puppy? That's pretty sad."
"Derek, nothing about her was kind or little. She was quite terrifying, actually."
"You really are pathetic, pretty boy. Scared of a granny."
"You want to meet her? Because we can turn back right now and you can go ring her doorbell. I'll start digging your grave."
Aaron was growing tired of listening to his brothers' excessive bickering. They were only a block away from their destination. Just one more block…
"Hey, are we going to school?" Spencer asked, jogging to catch up to Aaron.
Derek laughed. "Hey, you run like a wounded lemur!"
"Yeah, well you talk like a -"
"That's enough," Aaron cut in, and both boys shut up. "We are heading towards the school," he confirmed.
Spencer sensed that his oldest brother was on edge, so he didn't inquire any further. Derek, on the other hand, chose to speak up.
"We're going to school? Aaron, we can't. We're supposed to be looking for -"
"Believe it or not, I know what I'm doing," Aaron snapped.
There was a moment of thick silence.
"Just trust me," he added in a calmer voice.
Derek and Aaron disappeared inside the high school and Spencer slipped into the middle school, highly embarrassed of how late he was.
At the end of the school day, Spencer found Aaron, Derek and Emily waiting on the middle school steps. Ima was nowhere to be found.
"So, did you find her a home?" Spencer asked, confusion etched across his features.
"I sure did." A slight smile graced Aaron's lips and a faint dimple formed on his cheek. "I gave her to Haley. I told Haley that I'd bought Ima as a gift for her, and she was more than happy to accept it."
"Yes!" Spencer exhaled.
"What are you so happy about?" Emily asked.
"I can visit Ima whenever I want!"
"I hope you know you're not coming with me to my girlfriend's house." Aaron laughed.
Spencer pouted and widened his sad eyes. Derek punched him in the arm so he could cry.