Chapter Five; The Long Goodbye
Hey guys! Sorry, it was another beautiful day and my head was so stuffed up that I couldn't think straight. Anyway, here's the next and last chapter and I really hope that you enjoy it!
"Hey Jeannie!" Roger called once he had stepped back outside. "Jeannie! You'll never guess who I found!" he cried when suddenly Jeannie popped in beside him.
"Oh Roger Healey!" she exclaimed excitedly before she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you! Thank you so very much!" she told him before he handed him over to her.
"You're welcome, now please just take him and hide him someplace." He told her before she bobbed her head, blinked her eyes, and disappeared again with an excited grin. "Oh boy, I really hope that Tony doesn't find him, otherwise he'll kill us both." Roger said to himself after she was gone.
…..
Tony and Jeannie were fast asleep in their bed. That is until Tony started to snore. Jeannie gave out a rather large groan before she rolled over onto her side and placed her pillow over top of her ears. That's when all of a sudden she heard scratching and whimpering coming from the closet that was followed by barking and occasional howling. Jeannie quickly rolled back over and set her pillow down behind her head pretending that she was asleep as Tony woke up.
"Wha,… What?" he questioned sleepily while he rubbed his eyes before rolling over and gently started to shake his wife awake. "Jeannie, Jeannie wakeup darling." He told her as Jeannie pretended to yawn.
"What is it Master?" she inquired.
"I hear noises coming from the closet. It sounds like a dog." He said before he got up out of bed and turned on the light. Then he put on his robe and walked down the hallway and into the living room where Roger was fast asleep on top of the couch. "Roger," he began while he bent down and whispered his name inside his ear. "Roger!" he whispered louder when his friend didn't reply causing him to roll off the couch and onto the floor.
"What!?" he hollered as he hit the ground with a thud before slowly getting back up onto his feet.
"I hear noises coming from the closet. It woke me up. Do you know anything about this?" Tony asked him.
"I refuse to answer that until I have my lawyer ready." Roger told him before Jeannie walked out of the bedroom wearing her own robe and matching fuzzy pink slippers while yawning sleepily.
"Alright that's it you two, there is a dog in this house I know it! After all, I know I might be a little bit groggy but I can hear him barking!" Tony exclaimed.
"I don't hear anything." Jeannie began nervously before turning her head and looking over at Roger. "Do you hear anything Roger Healey?" she questioned.
"No." he replied as Spot stopped barking and started to scratch up against the door. "I didn't hear that either." He said before Tony rolled his eyes and walked over to the closet door. Jeannie gasped and placed a hand over her mouth before he turned the knob and Spot walked outside of it wagging his tail behind him. Tony bent down and lifted him up into his arms before he carried him back over to the others.
"Jeannie how long have you had this dog here?" he asked her as she bit her lip.
"Since this afternoon. I found him when I was jogging in the park earlier on today." She told him.
"I see, after I specifically told you to stay home and get some rest." He said while she continued biting her lip and then sadly nodded.
"Yes Master." She replied while she glanced down at the carpet.
"Ah I see, I suppose that good old Roger Healey found out about it and decided to keep the secret from me as well." He said.
"Yes Master." Roger began before quickly shaking his head. "I mean yes Tony." He told him.
"Listen Jeannie, you're my wife and you know that I love you, and Roger you're my best friend. But the most important thing in any relationship is trust. And once it's broken it's very hard to glue back together again." He told them.
"I'm sorry Master." Jeannie said.
"Me too." Roger told him. "It won't happen again." He said.
"What about Spot though? What's going to happen to him. Can he stay?" Jeannie inquired before Tony took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"Well, he doesn't have any collar or license." He began. "I'll make a deal with you. If you make up lost dog flyers for him and nobody comes to claim him within several months he's yours. In the meantime he can stay here with us though." He told her.
"Oh, thank you Master!" Jeannie exclaimed excitedly before she gathered the puppy up inside her arms.
"Come on Spot, you don't have to sleep in the closet anymore." She said before she carried him back into the bedroom with her.
"Well, I'm glad that that all worked out and that Jeannie's happy. But now I'm going back to bed if you don't mind." Roger said pointing back towards the couch with his thumb.
"Me too, we've got a very busy day ahead of us tomorrow." Tony said before he turned around and started heading back towards the bedroom.
…
"Well that's it, that's the last of the suitcases." Roger began as he lugged them down the stairs and Jeannie heaved a heavy sad sigh before he turned over to look at her. "Oh, I almost forgot, I have something for you." He said while he removed his hat from his head and dug something out of his pocket. "Here you go, this is for you." He told her as he handed her a tiny wooden box. "Well actually it isn't for you but you'll see when you open it up." He told her while she lifted up the lid. Inside of it was a tiny black collar that had a golden license tag that read;
"Spot Nelson, 1020 Palm Drive"
"Oh Roger Healey, it's beautiful! I love it!" she exclaimed while she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him before she stepped away from him and simply just looked at him.
"Well you know Jeannie, I just wanted to let you know that besides Tony, you're my best friend in the whole entire world and I'm really going to miss you. Because I love you." He told her.
"Oh Roger Healey, I love you too." Jeannie told him sadly through a lump in her throat as she threw her arms around him and embraced him again and started to sob inside his chest.
"Hey come on now, don't cry." He told her as he quickly grabbed ahold of her hands and looked into her eyes. "The time will go by before you know it. And you'll have the Bellows here to keep you company. Besides that, we'll be back just in time before the baby is born. And I promise to be here for you whenever you need me and to love him or her just like he or she was my own son and daughter." He told her while he planted a soft and tender kiss on the top of her head and that's when suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Here," he began before he grabbed a few Kleenexes out of the tissue box and handed them to her. "My guess it's probably the Bellows to say goodbye." He said while Jeannie started dabbing her eyes as Roger went to go answer the door. Sure enough Mr. and Mrs. Bellows entered through the living room.
"Thank goodness we made it here in time. That way we can have one last celebration before you and Colonel Nelson leave." Mrs. Bellows said when suddenly Jeannie let out another sob.
"Oh!" she cried before she bobbed her head, blinked her eyes, and smoked inside her bottle.
"Poor thing." Mr. Bellows began with a shake of his head.
"Yeah, Jeannie's been having a hard time this morning. If she had as much trouble as she did saying goodbye to me then I can't imagine what it'll be like for her to say goodbye to Tony." Roger said.
"Where is Colonel Nelson anyway?" Mr. Bellows wondered before he stepped out of the bedroom drying his hair with a towel.
"I'm sorry I was busy taking a shower. Where's Jeannie?" he wondered.
"She just smoked in her bottle. She was rather upset." Roger told him.
"Well I don't blame her. The girl is pregnant and on top of all that she has to say goodbye to her husband and her best friend." Mrs. Bellows said.
"I'll go talk to her." Tony said before he turned around and walked over to Jeannie's bottle. "Uh Jeannie, it's Tony. Can I come in and talk to you for a moment?" he asked her as Jeannie glanced up at the ceiling and then blinked through her teary eyes. Tony instantly vanished and then reappeared inside her bottle on the opposite side of her.
"Oh Master!" she sobbed before she wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly. "I wish that you and Roger Healey did not have to go away, I'm going to miss you so much!" she cried while the tears continued pouring down her cheeks.
"I know,.. and we're going to miss you too." Tony told her while he gently patted her back. "But you have to remember that even though it's in different ways Roger and I love you very much. And we're still going to write to you and talk to you on the telephone, and we're never going to stop thinking about you. And you're going to have the Bellows here to look after you, and they care about you too. You can never have too many people that care about you." He told her with a shake of his head before he tilted her chin back to look into his eyes.
"And the most important thing that you have to remember is that we'll be back." He told her before they both closed their eyes and wrapped their arms around one another and started to kiss each other passionately. A few moments later Jeannie smoked them both out of the bottle again.
"Well come on Tony, we better get going so we don't miss our flight." Roger told him.
"Goodbye Roger Healey." Jeannie said.
"Goodbye Jeannie, love you." Roger said while he continued lugging his suitcase out the door.
"Goodbye darling, stay safe and be good for the Bellows, also try to stay out of trouble." Tony told her as Jeannie, and The Bellows watched out the window as Tony and Roger started heading towards the car. Jeannie gathered Spot inside her arms and put on his new collar before she grabbed ahold of his paw and waved it for him.
"Good luck!" Mr. Bellows shouted out the door to them as Tony glanced back at him and smiled before waving back at him and Roger glanced back at him as well.
"Why do I have a feeling that The Bellows are the ones who are going to need the luck?" he questioned before they both climbed in the car and drove away.