Callie POV

"I'm sorry...what now?" Mom blurs out shocked as she stares at me, without blinking

"He's yours!" I repeat again even thought I know mom heard me perfectly fine the first time

"I don't have a dog!" She states back

"You do now!" Jesus jokes from behind of me. Stef laughs out loud at Jesus comment, but mom gives Stef a look, before turning back to me.

"Show your mom his passport!" Jude nudges me

"Oh! I totally forgot about it. Here hold him, mom!" I hand the puppy over to mom without giving her much of a warning

When I saw that mom was keeping him out in stretched arms, like he was a bomb or something, I walked back to mom "It's a puppy mom! He won't bite," I gently pushed her arms so she would hold him closer to her chest

"We went to the vet this morning...you know, to get him checked out and get him vaccinated," I tell all the adults as I walk over to the backpack that stood by the tree "He is little under weight, but overall he is doing okay," I reach in outside pocket to get the dogs passport out "And they gave us a passport. It has all the needed information written inside..."

When I turn back to mom, I see that the puppy was now licking moms face. She was trying to evade his tongue, but she had no such luck. I think I saw a smile on her face. It is very ticklishly, when he licks you, especially when he tries to lick your ears.

"See, he likes you!" I comment as I walk back to her "Here, check it out,"

I hand the passport to mom and take the puppy back. I set him down on the ground. He stumbles over to Stef and Lena and looks up to them before he sniffs them. Lena and Stef both crouch down to be closer to his level. They both start to pet him and aww over him. He tries to bark out, when Stef starts to scratch behind his ear.

"You like that, don't you! Yeah...you like it!" Stef was speaking in this baby/puppy voice which was much softer than usual

Mom holds the passport in her left, while with her right hand she rubs her forehead "Callie! Getting a dog was a big step! Why didn't you call me and talk to me first?"

"Because you were at this double date thing and I didn't want to disturb you!" I reason back rocking back and forth on my feet trying to act all innocent

"A puppy need a lot of attention and time, Callie. You have school and I have my job...he is going to have to spend most of his day home alone!"

"Well, I figured between the two of us we will be fine. We will figure something out" I scratch the back of neck as I spoke with uncertainty

"Callie-"

"He had no where else to go, mom! Did you want me to leave him behind the dumpster?" I ask playing to her emotions

"Of course not!" mom interjects

"The other option was take him to the pet shelter, while his brother and sister already found a home! There are already enough puppies and dogs in the shelter, he would be mostly likely be euthanize. All because his first owners were total assholes! He hasn't done anything wrong to deserve that kind of fate!" I gesture down to the puppy

"Callie!" Lena instantly calls me out once I said the bad word "Frankie is right next to you! Can you please watch your language!"

"Sorry, I just...they were all thrown out...they lived behind a dumpster and they hadn't eaten in days! I don't understand how a person could do that to innocent puppies!" I detain a little pause as I watch the puppy being petted by Stef and Lena "Look at him! He deserves a nice home, mom. A loving home. We can provide it! We have a yard where he could run and play..."

Mom kept on drilling me, she was clearly not happy with me not consulting her at first "What about the expenses, Callie? Raising a dog is not cheep!"

"You can take out of my pocket money!" I reason back, desperate for mom to accept him

"We already bough him few toys!" Jude says when he picks up the few toys from the ground to show them to Amy "See. We can play tug of wars with this one and we got him a little ball that squeaks. He likes the squeaky sound!"

"Two toys. They will both be ruined in month top! Besides he will most likely chew all of our shoes and eat the corner of the table or the carpet!" Mom responds to Jude

"We bought him the puppy dog food as well. It's in the car," Brandon points to the street where it was parked "It's a professional food, it should make his fur shine and be super soft"

"And with one bag of food will be for how long?" Mom argues back "3 weeks….5 weeks? Puppies need to eat 3-4 times a day. The bag will be over before you know it!"

"He doesn't need much. All he needs is for someone to love him," Mariana adds playing with Amy's emotions as well "It's kind of like taking in foster kids if you think about it. The three of us will be forever grateful to our moms for taking us in and raising us like we are their flesh and blood, it's the same with him!" Mariana smiles at her moms and detains a little pause, so that the feelings would get to everyone "He has no mom and dad, he was left with his siblings in horrible conditions. He was basically left there to die. You just have to give him a chance and he will prove to you just how much you mean to him. He may not be in your whole life, but you would be in his. And dogs are known to be the most loyal pets. Especially a rescue dogs!"

"Hey, you three dum-dums!" Stef calls out the three siblings as she stands up "I don't recall your names being– Callie!" Stef shots Jesus a look who just opened his mouth to add something as well "Let them settle it on their own!"

But mom remains silent after Mariana's little speech. She was staring at the Latina girl, obviously thinking about what the young girl had just said. I had a feeling that what Mariana said – worked. Mom was starting to cave in.

Mom glances to me briefly before she looks back at Mariana "I sort of...kind of...hate you for what you just did!"

Mariana flashes a big smile, knowing that Amy didn't mean anything bad with what she just said. What mom meant was that Mariana really did get to Amy. She strike a nerve. And know mom was looking at the dog completely differently.

"So, can we keep him?" I ask carefully, hoping I have waited enough time for her to reconsider

"We don't really have a choice do we?" Mom asks me back. I throw my arms around mom and squeeze her tightly "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

When I end the hug and take the two steps back to my previous positions, Mariana whispers to me "You're welcome!"

"Thank you!" I mouth to Mariana as I press my palms together

"If he poops in the house-" Mom points to me "You are going to clean it up!"

Mom finally opens the passport to read the date that was written looks over moms shoulder to read it as well.

"Why did you name me as his owner?" mom points to the passport as she looks up to me

"It's your house. It would only be reasonable if the owner of the house has a dog!"

Mom hands me back the passport before she crouches down "Duke...Duke, buddy, come here!" she extends her arms towards the puppy. Duke looks at her for few seconds, but then runs towards her, right to her arms.

"Good boy!" Mom stands up, holding Duke in her arms "You better not poop in the house!" All Duke does is lick moms face, making her laugh out softly

Mom looks to me and says "Let's get him home! Callie gather the stuff!"

I hurry to go get all the toys and my bag. While I do that, I hear Stef ask Brandon "How did the 6 of you sat in the Volvo? Did Callie walk here by feet?"

"We didn't and Callie didn't walk. We took your car," Brandon replies casually. When I look over my shoulder I see him walking away in faster pace than he usually walks. I guess he already know he was in some trouble with his mom. Stef does not like it when others drive her car. In fact, the only time I recall in the last year, when Stef had allowed someone else to drive it, was on the camping trip.

"You took my car?" Stef says while Brandon was still just few steps away, she did not sound pleased "Without asking me!"

"Sorry, mom...can't hear you!" He changed to pace to fast walking to light jog and started to move significantly further away from us. The other kids started to walk towards the black SUV as well. I wave at them as I figured I will ride with Cooper and mom.

"We live in the same house! You live in my house!" she called after him

"Our," Lena calmly and quickly corrects her "Our house, honey!"

"Our house!" Stef corrects as she calls after him

"Come on you two. I will drive you home," Cooper tells Stef and Lena, when I follow mom back to Cooper's car

Amy POV

It was a late evening. We set up a bed for Duke in the hallway, by the stairs. He seemed to like that spot. He could see the kitchen and the living room, and he knew when someone walked up. Duke fell asleep when we were eating supper. We gave him part of his portion of dog food and after that he went to his spot and fell asleep.

Callie and I watched him sleep for a little while. He was so cute, while sleeping. His little feet were moving, like he was running in his dream and every once in a while he whimpers/snored out. It was super adorable. Callie took a video and bunch of photos of him.

Raising a dag will not be easy, but I have a feeling it will be filled with great memories. A dog brings in different kind of feeling in the house – I can't deny that. Duke already felt like part of a family. He fits in. I guess I will have to thank Callie for this later.

Before I settle down in my bed, I walk to Callie's room. She was on her phone. Probably texting with someone. Her fingers were swiftly moving over the screen, her look focused on the phone as well.

"Have a moment?" I ask after I knocked on the door frame

"Sure. Just a sec," she says without looking up as she was focusing on her phone screen. I walk in the room and slowly pace around it, looking at the posters on the wall and her organized mess on and around her desk and bed region.

"What's up?" she asks and places her phone beside her on the bed

I scratched the back of my neck as I slowly paced towards her bed, closer to her "So...uh..I noticed a certain…thing in the bathroom,"

Callie looks to me confused and clueless "What thing?"

"Used condom," I say making her cheeks turn red, Callie looks down embarrassed "You and Gavin had sex?" I ask her quite bluntly, but in a soft manner

"Yeah," she says when she closes her eyes for a brief moment

"And you are…" I say slowly waiting for her to finish the sentence

"Okay" Callie says, when she looks up to me "I'm...I'm more than okay" she stuttered a little

"No panic attacks or bad memories?" I ask carefully knowing it is a sensitive subject as I sit at the end of her bed

"No, Gavin was...he was very gentle and he remembered everything I told him. He made sure I was doing okay and asked me if I was ready," She explains while every now and then looking down to her lap. Clearly this was awkward for her.

I smile at her "I'm glad. I'm happy it worked out for you," I reach for her hand "I think you know what I am going to say next,"

Callie looks to me confused for a second, but when she averts her eyes down to the lap, the look on her face changes "You are going to make an appointment..."

"My mom signed me up for my first appointment when I was 15. You are 17 and you have started a grown up life – it is time for your first visit. We need to make sure you are healthy," I explain to her, Callie silently nodded her head "So...are you okay if I make an appointment for you?"

"Yeah" Callie says barely above whisper

I knew that this is going to be the next big obstacle for her. First gyno is always scary. I remember how scared and nervous I was, when I went to my first appointment. Mom came with me, but she stayed outside in the waiting room. Just knowing that she was there helped. I can only imagine how scared she must be. After I learned about what Liam did her, I read a lot of articles and joined a lot of forums, so I could know and understand as much as possible about what she was going through. One of the things that I read, was that gyno appointment, even if the woman was an adult and already had sexual experience before being raped, was extremely scary. Being exposed to another human being like that, being in the vulnerable position like that, being touched down there by a person, who you don't know - it can all be a trigger. IT can take the person to a whole new level of fear.

"I'm gonna sign you up with my doc, okay. She is very professional, also very friendly. Very easy to talk to. I think you are going to like her," I squeeze her hand gently "I'm going to call tomorrow and see what date they can offer. But I am guessing it won't have an opening until early to mid January,"

"That's fine I guess" Callie relies without looking up to me. I can sense she wants this conversation to end.

I lean forwards and place a kiss to her forehead "Try not to worry about it too much, honey. I know it's scary and nerve wrecking, but trust me...you are going to be okay. I'm not doing this to punish you or anything. I simply want to make sure you are healthy!"

"I know," Callie replies as she slowly lifts her head to look up to me

I kiss her forehead once again "I love you!"

"Love you too" Callie says it back, right when we both hear a sound coming from downstairs

"Your dog is up!," I tell her with a smile

"It's your dog!" Callie smirks back

"What happened with – I'm gonna take care of him, walk him, feed him, clean after him-"

"It's really late," Callie smirks back, when she unlocks her phone by her side to see the time

"Ah, so that's how it's going to be!" I get up from the bed

"So sleepy," Callie fakes a yawn and stretches before she falls down, her head hitting the pillow

"Rascal!" I ruffle her hair, making her groan out, before I head downstairs to see Duke

Cooper POV

December 30th

Amy showed up at my doorstep early in the morning. She was wearing just plain simple dark blue jeans and a comfy and warm looking sweater. Her hair was made up in messy pony tail.

"Hey" I invite her in "What are you doing here so early? I didn't know you were coming to see me today,"

She walks in, stops right in the hallway and turns back to me. I close the doors behind her and walk up to her. By the look on her face, I can tell something has happened. She looks sorrowful, there was no spark in her eyes, she wasn't smiling. Amy had pulled her hands in her shirt sleeves.

"What's the matter?" I ask placing my hands on her arms

"I started my period yesterday evening, so..." she looks down to the floor between us "-I'm not pregnant."

"Oh," I breath out as I try to wrap my head around the news. I was kind of saddened by the news, but at the same time relieved. I guess, a little part of me still wanted to become a dad, but the other part feared that I wasn't ready for it or that I would be bad at it.

Amy draw nearer reducing the space between us. She presses her head to my chest and her arms wrap around me. I kiss the top of her head as I hold her close to me.

"Uh...I don't...um..understand. Can you…explain how that is possible?"

Amy leaned out of my hug and with her thumb she wiped away a tear from her cheek "I called my doctor this morning...and she said that the most likely scenario is that..uh I had what's called chemical pregnancy."

"What is that? I have never heard of it..."

"Basically the test was not wrong. I was pregnant, but I had a very early miscarriage" Amy says as she wipes another tear away from her cheek

"Miscarriage" I blur because of my surprise of the news

"It's very common. Apparently about 70% conceptions end in early pregnancy, but most of the woman don't even realize it they had miscarriage..." one slow tear rolls down her cheek before she leans back to my chest, wrapping her arms around me

"I don't know how I feel about this," she quietly whimpers out after a little while "I'm sad that it happened. But at the same time I am relieved. I feared, that if I was pregnant, than in some way I would have been replacing Markus," Amy pressed a little bit closer to me "How horrible person am I for being relieved that I had a miscarriage?

"Amy, you are not a horrible person. You lost your son and husband in the same day. You are allowed to feel whatever you are feeling. It doesn't make you horrible. Sometimes the feelings doesn't make sense, but that's okay too," I kiss the top of her head "But I do hope, deep down you know that no one could ever replace him, Amy. Just like I could never replace Aaron. Or you could never replace Callie's mom." I lean a little bit away so I could see her face. There were silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Gently with my thumb I wipe away as many tears as I could.

"Come, let's go sit down," I take her by her hand and lead her to the small living room. We sit on the couch. She snuggles up to my side. Once we had settled down, we sat in silence for a while. I was just consoling her, holding her.

"I would have loved to see you in a dads role," Amy speaks up as she looks up to me. Her eyes were still teary, but the spark in her eyes was slowly coming back

"Part of me wanted to become a dad" I admit to her

"You are a good father figure to Callie. She looks up to..."

"No she doesn't"

"No" Amy shook her head "She does. Of course she would never tell you that" Amy caresses my cheek as she glances to my eyes "You would be a great father. I can picture it clearly in my mind."

"I would probably screw the kid up. Have you actually thought about how much a parent can screw up a kid?"

"Yeah...I know. Callie was one of the unlucky ones-"

"No, no, no" I shift a little so I could have a better look to Amy "Not abusing or anything. Just like...plain and simple screw up. Like teach the kid that red color is actually blue, or that sky is called grass, or that letter A is actually pronounced as the letter Z, or that 1 comes after 7 not 8, or mix left side with right. There are so many ways a parent could fuck the kid up!"

"You have actually put a lot of thought in that, have you"

"I had a very sleepless night last night," I say with a chuckle "And I read some stupid article online, where a man was using the toilet wrong all his damn life, until some sales person told him the truth when he was looking to buy a new toilet!"

"I read that too!" Amy says enthusiastic as she sits up so that she was no longer pressing to my side "He uses the toilet rim instead of the toilet seat while pooping!"

"That's the one! Neither his wife, not his dad or mom when he was baby pointed that out...that's so twisted if you think about it!" I say trying to hold the laughter in

We laugh about it for few seconds, but as the laughter dims down, Amy once again starts to look sad, like when she walked in "I had a miscarriage..."

The news once again hit her hard. Tears appeared in her eyes, she frowned up, trying to hold the tears in. I reach for her hand and pull her to my side, so I could hug and sooth her.

"Everything will be all right," I whisper softly in her ear as I rock her gently in my arms

AN: Before I wrote this, I had actually never heard of chemical pregnancy before. But as I was looking up the medical info about when a pregnancy test could show a false positive, that's when I learned about it.

I stuck with the name Duke, because I liked so many other names you suggested. I simply couldn't decide. If I could I would name him in all of the names, but that would be just silly. I really liked Fido, Crash and Boomer. When I had to name my dog - he didn't have a name for 3 days, because I couldn't decide. There are so many cool, cute names you can give to your dog, it's ridiculous.

Hope you enjoyed it :)