I do not own Blindspot or its characters.

Rich had really done it this time.

Kurt stared at his wife, wondering how his life had gotten so out of control in the span of twenty-four hours. She was seated on the couch, cuddling their unexpected house guest and cooing to him, and he could practically feel her getting more attached to him by the minute. "Jane. We can't keep him. You know that, right?"

Jane looked up, startled. She'd known Kurt wasn't exactly pleased with Rich's wedding present to them, but . . . "Why not? If you're worried about him being more work for you, I promise that won't happen. I'll take care of him."

"And how are you going to do that while we're at work?" Kurt questioned, hating himself for having to be the voice of reason as her face fell.

"I'll figure it out," Jane muttered stubbornly. "How hard can it be? He's so tiny and sweet." The bundle in her lap squirmed, and her eyes softened as she rested her palm against his head.

"He won't stay little for long," Kurt said grimly, eyeing the puppy's oversized feet. "He's a Newfoundland, Jane. He'll probably grow to at least one hundred fifty pounds. He'd eat us out of house and home before long. Not to mention, being too big for the apartment."

"I know it's a lot to ask," Jane said softly, "but it's just for a year. And I'll pay for everything he needs." The FBI gave her a small consulting fee, which should cover it if she was frugal. Starting with cancelling that shopping trip Zapata had arranged. Or at least not buying anything. It would be a small price to pay for a companion who loved her unconditionally. "Please, Kurt."

Damn you, Rich, Kurt thought angrily as Jane turned pleading eyes on him. "I suppose we can give it a try for a week or two," he agreed grudgingly, knowing even as he spoke that the dog was there for good. "But since he was a wedding present to both of us, I think it's only fair we split the cost." And if it was more sixty-forty, than fifty-fifty, he wouldn't complain.

"So we'll . . . what? Share joint custody of him when we split up?" Jane asked incredulously before realizing that there would be no custody of him for her when that happened, joint or otherwise. She could hardly go on the run with such a conspicuous dog, and it wouldn't be fair to take him away from Kurt.

Kurt shrugged. "Why not? We'd hardly be the first couple to do so." And it would provide him a convenient excuse for checking up on Jane. He gently took the puppy from her and held the black furball up to eye level. "Well, little fella, what are we going to call you?"

"I've been trying to think of names," Jane confessed. "But so far, I'm drawing a blank."

"There's no rush," Kurt reassured her as he handed the dog back to her. "The right one will come to us. But we probably should get a move on to the pet store before they close and pick up some dog food and a harness and leash for him." Jane bit her lip, hesitating as she looked from him to the puppy, and he smiled. "You can bring him along." It was one of the perks of visiting a pet store.

Though watching Jane quickly proved to be an even more entertaining one. She went up and down the aisles, her eyes wide as she surveyed the massive array of dog paraphernalia available for purchase. Needless to say, they came home with a great deal more stuff than just the basics Kurt had intended.

He was grateful for that foresight in the morning, however. "Jane," he tried to reason as she stuffed a vast array of dog toys in the crate they had bought, "we're only going to be at the office for eight hours or so." Barring anything unforeseen, of course. "I think one or two toys should be plenty."

"But we don't know which ones he likes yet," Jane pointed out reasonably, and Kurt gave up the fight. Patterson didn't know it yet, but she was the designated dog sitter for the day. She was going to have a field day with this.

Reade and Zapata and Patterson were waiting for him in his office when they arrived, and they all did a double take at the sight of the puppy in Jane's arms. "Who's this?" Patterson cooed as she rushed over to them, reaching for the dog, and Jane obligingly placed him in her arms, smiling as Patterson giggled as he licked her face. "Aww. You're a sweetie. Yes, you are. Yes, you are."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Patterson," Kurt told her. "because I need you to watch him today. He was an . . . unexpected wedding present from Rich Dotcom, and we'll try to make other arrangements as soon as possible, but . . ."

"Sure, boss," Patterson agreed, more than happy for the company. She hoped they didn't have a case today, because she was going to find it difficult to keep her mind on work. "What's his name?" She let him down, and he sniffed Zapata before turning his attention to Reade, looking up at him with a hopeful expression as he wagged his tail.

"Don't look at me, dog," Reade said, holding up his hands as he backed up. "I'm allergic to your kind."

"Aww, have a heart, Eddie," Zapata teased. "He loooves you."

The puppy barked just as Zapata said Reade's name, and Jane and Kurt's eyes met, a slow smile spreading across their faces as they came to a mutual agreement. "Eddie," Jane told Patterson. "His name is Eddie."

"Well, look at that, Reade," Zapata joked. "You just got your first namesake. Congratulations. Some people go their whole lives without having a dog named after them."

Reade just shook his head at her. "You're just jealous because no one's named one after you."

Tasha was just about to respond when Reade's phone rang, and his brow furrowed as he pulled it out of his pocket. "It's Sarah," he announced in confusion, wondering why she would be calling him. The two of them hadn't spoken in months. "Hello?"

"Can you explain to me why my brother isn't answering his phone?" Sarah asked in that bitingly cheerful tone that guys everywhere understood spelled trouble. "And why I'm sitting here reading the news of his marriage to Jane in an article in the Times online?"

"Uh . . ." Reade held the phone out to Kurt, whose expression signaled he already knew what the call was about. "It's for you."

Kurt held the phone up to his ear with a sinking heart. "Hey, sis. I was going to call you last night, but . . ." Eddie's arrival had completely driven all thoughts of that from his mind.

"So it's true?" Sarah asked, wounded. "You're married? And you didn't think to invite your family, or even mention it to us? You didn't even tell me you were dating her."

"It wasn't like that, Sarah." Kurt grimaced and looked at the team, signaling that he needed a little privacy, but he grabbed Jane's hand when she tried to leave. "I would have invited you, but it was an undercover mission to catch a criminal, and since we had to apply for a marriage license as part of the operation, we just . . . we decided on the spur of the moment to make it real. I know I should have told you we were dating, but—" I couldn't because we weren't really dating.

"You decided on the spur of the moment to make it real," Sarah repeated flatly. "Kurt, you're about to be a parent. You can't make huge, life-altering decisions like that. Tell me, does Allie know about this? Did you discuss it with her at all?" His silence gave her the answer. "Are there any other surprises I should know about?"

"Well, we did get a Newfoundland as a wedding present," Kurt responded, and Jane winced. She couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but she was pretty sure that was the wrong thing to say.

Sarah's voice lowered dangerously. "You think this is a joke?"

"No, of course not," Kurt told her, instantly contrite. "Look, Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you we were dating, and that I didn't invite you to the wedding, and that you had to find out this way. You deserved better than that, and I . . . I'm really sorry, okay? I know this is a lot to take in, but I . . ." He reached for Jane's hand, as if Sarah could somehow see them through the phone, ". . . I love Jane, and I really think you will too, once you get to know her. Maybe you and Sawyer could fly back East sometime soon and visit us."

"I'd like that," Sarah responded after a long pause. "And if you love Jane, I'm certain I will too. You're my brother, Kurt. All I've ever wanted is for you to be happy. I just . . . I wish I'd been able to be there to see it, that's all."

"Me too," Kurt said quietly. "I know it's not the same thing, but we did have a videographer record it." Rich had insisted, "for appearance's sake," and it was the one thing for which he was grateful to the man. "Maybe when you come for your visit, we could all watch it together?"

Sarah swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I'd like that." She hesitated. "Is Jane there? I'd like to talk to her."

Kurt slowly held the phone out to Jane, and she hesitantly took it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jane," Sarah greeted awkwardly. "I just wanted to say congratulations, and . . . welcome to the family."

"Thanks," Jane said softly. "I'm . . . I'm sorry about . . ." Screwing up your brother's life. Potentially ruining his career. "Kurt and I both wish you could have been here. If it helps, my brother lives right here in New York, and he . . . didn't attend either. We haven't exactly been . . . getting along very well lately." And she wasn't sure why she had just shared that with a total stranger. One who didn't even know she had a brother. But if she was surprised, she didn't let on.

"That sucks," Sarah said sympathetically. "Kurt and I went through a rough patch of our own when we were arguing about my dad's involvement in Sawyer's life when he was younger. Just keep reaching out to him. It will get better." She paused. "Did you guys really get a Newfoundland as a wedding present?"

Jane laughed as she responded, and the two women chatted for a few more minutes before she handed the phone back to Kurt. He shook his head at her when he ended the call. "The two of you are going to become the best of friends and gang up on me, aren't you?"

"What's the matter, Kurt?" Jane teased. "Afraid she's going to tell me more embarrassing childhood stories about you?" She cocked her head. "Look at it this way. You've only got to put up with it for a year, and it will be good practice in case you ever decide to get married for real." Her smile faded slightly at the reminder that what they had wasn't. Waking up in his arms this morning had definitely challenged that perception, and she couldn't afford to forget.

She couldn't afford to lose her heart to him again.

She was just about to excuse herself to go check on Eddie when his desk phone rang. "Hello? Yes, I'll accept the charges." His brow furrowed, and he motioned her to his side as he put the phone on speaker. "It's a collect call from prison. Three guesses who it's from."

"Wow, Stubbles," came Rich's voice. "With deductive skills like that, you really ought to consider being an FBI agent." Silence greeted him, and he chuckled. He could practically see Weller grinding his teeth. "Did you like my present?"

"It certainly fits with your flair for the dramatic," Kurt ground out.

"We love him," Jane broke in, ignoring the look Kurt shot her. Rich always had a method to his madness, annoying as it might be, and she hoped to move things along before it escalated into the usual war of words, and Kurt hung up the phone. "Thank you, Rich."

Rich's voice warmed. "You're very welcome, Janie. I know living with Stubbles there will be . . . challenging at times, so I wanted you to have someone who would love you unconditionally. And not to worry. I know you're both very busy people, so I've arranged for doggie daycare for him for the rest of his life. You can take him by there in the morning; they're expecting you." He paused. "Well, I think that's all for now. I'll check in again with you next week to see how things are going. Bye, now."

"I, uh . . . I think I'll go check in on Eddie," Jane said as Kurt hung up the phone and slipped out before he could comment, but before he had time to wonder if he should go after her, Zapata barreled in with an expression that spelled trouble.

She took the seat across from his desk and didn't mince words as she laid out what was bothering her. Kurt felt his blood run cold as he listened, and he sat in silence for a long time after she left before rising and going in search of his wife.

It was time to renegotiate the terms of his marriage. Again.