With everyone happy and accepting of Kate and Steve's relationship, they continued to flourish. They realised that paying the mortgages on their two flats was a massive waste of money and decided to pool their resources and sell them both to buy their own place. A house this time with a bedroom for Josh and another guest room in case Steve's parents came to stay. And a garden to enjoy the outside.
Kate and Steve spent lots of weekends traipsing around lots of different properties never finding anything they liked, or if they did it was too far out of their price range. They were extremely disappointed and about to give up their search until out of the blue they found something they both liked and could afford. And even better, their offer was accepted.
It was a detached house with four good sized bedrooms and a lovely private garden. Downstairs had a formal living room and then an open plan kitchen/diner/living area at the back of the house where they would spend most of their time. It was nicely situated between both places of work so they had an equal commute time.
The rest of the year was taken up with all the paperwork and admin that went with moving house, and as per usual it went incredibly slowly. It was quite a stressful experience as they were selling two flats and buying one house. Steve sold his flat first and moved in to Kates place before they made the final move into their new home. It was a little bit cramped but they survived.
It was touch and go whether they would be in their new house before Christmas. Mark knew this and asked Kate if she wouldn't mind if Josh spent Christmas with him again, despite it being Kate's turn. He was taking Jackie skiing and wanted to take Josh as well. Kate was disappointed but felt she couldn't really say no as it would be really tight with Josh in her cramped flat. As compensation she would get Josh for the next two Christmases.
As it was, in the end they got a completion date of December 1st and so the beginning of December was very busy for the couple with unpacking. It was also their first anniversary and they celebrated with a take away meal surrounded by a few candles and lots and lots of boxes.
With Christmas approaching, it was also time to start the Christmas shopping. Kate couldn't believe it was that time of year again. This year however, the shopping trip was very different for het. Now she was in a relationship she had company and there were lots of presents to buy and didn't feel so down about the whole time of year. On one particular trip they found themselves in the lingerie department where they had bumped into each other. Steve felt he couldn't let the opportunity pass by without buying Kate another bra and pant set he liked. Kate couldn't also miss the opportunity to tease Steve. "We getting your mum some nightwear this year?".
Josh spent the last weekend before he went on holiday with his dad with Kate and Steve in their new place. Kate picked him up from school before sitting him at the kitchen table and supervised him doing his homework as she unpacked some boxes in the kitchen. With Josh getting his work out the way the first night they would then have the rest of their time together for some fun.
Steve arrived home a bit later than usual and had a little bouquet of flowers in his hand for Kate when he walked through the front door. He was hoping that they would help with the 'surprise' he had with him.
Josh was the first to realise what the 'surprise' was. Mainly because it went straight over to him and started sniffing his legs which was very ticklish.
"Hey," Steve said as he approached Kate with the flowers. "Got you a little something. Thought they would brighten the place up a bit," he continued as he gave Kate a peck on the lips. Josh was ok with them kissing now and they made sure never to get carried away.
"Thanks. They're...," Kate began to say before catching sight of Josh on the kitchen floor stroking the belly of the dirtiest looking animal she had ever seen. "What's that?" she asked.
"It's a dog," Steve replied. "Well technically a puppy really. She's only about six months old according to the vet,".
"I know it's a dog," Kate said. "What's it doing here?".
"Well you know how I was raiding that factory today?" Steve asked.
"Yes," Kate answered. He'd been talking about it that morning at breakfast.
"Well it was totally deserted when we got there and we were just about to leave when I heard this whining coming from an empty room. I go and search for where it's coming from and I find her, tied up in a corner. I couldn't just leave her," Steve explained.
"Why is she here?".
"Well I took her back to AC-12...,".
"Bet the gaffer loved that!" Kate interrupted.
"He let his feelings be known about the matter," Steve volunteered. "He said I should take her to a vet, so I did. He examined her and found out it's a girl. A little under nourished. No microchip,".
"Right," said Kate. "That still doesn't explain what it is doing here,".
"Well all the local dog shelters are full at this time of year. We phoned several and none could take her. So I said we would look after her over Christmas," Steve admitted sheepishly.
"Cool!" replied Josh who had been listening to the adult conversation. "Can we keep her mum?" he asked as the little dog put her front paws on Josh's chest and started licking his face. Her little tail wagging very fast in excitement. This was the most love and attention she had ever had in her short life so far.
"She's filthy," Kate pointed out. "She could have all sorts of diseases or fleas. Don't get too close to her, Josh," she warned.
"The vet has given her her first vaccinations and flea and worm treatments," Steve explained. "I'm going to give her a bath,".
"Can I help?" Josh asked, homework was now completely forgotten about.
"Course you can, mate," Steve replied.
"What are you going to wash it with?".
"Vet gave me some stuff. And I called in to a pet shop and got a dog bed, food. A lead. It's all in the car,".
Kate shook her head in wonderment. She could see she was losing the battle. Steve and Josh both seemed attached to the dog already. "Let's see what she looks like when she's clean," Kate offered.
Steve smiled. He knew he was wearing Kate down. "Alright Josh, I'll just get all the stuff in from the car. Can you make sure she doesn't escape,".
"Yep," replied Josh.
Steve left and came staggering back in to the house with a fluffy circular bed, a large bag of dried dog food that looked enough to feed her for a year and a plastic bag that contained food bowls, the lead and a few toys. There was also the dog shampoo.
"Right let's do this, Josh," Steve said and headed up the stairs to the bathroom. Josh followed with the dog in tow.
"Use some old towels to dry her with, please," Kate shouted up the stairs before returning to her unpacking. Knowing Steve it would be the plush new white towels otherwise. It wasn't long before she heard Josh howling with laughter and lots of barks coming from the dog. Keen to see what was going on, Kate ascended the stairs.
When she got to the bathroom she found the dog in the bath, Josh holding her still whilst Steve washed her using the hand held shower head. By the looks of the room and Steve (who thankfully had changed out of his work suit) which were all soaking wet, getting the dog in the bath hadn't gone particularly smoothly.
It now seemed as though everything was under control as Steve washed the last of the soap suds off the dog. Kate could see the puppy was blonde coloured with a patch of white fur on her chest. She wouldn't tell the boys but Kate thought she was actually quite cute now she was clean.
The dirty water was let out the bath and Steve searched for the old towel he had found to dry the dog with. Before he could use it however, the dog shook herself vigorously, spraying all three humans and covering the room again in water:
"Chrissake Steve!" Kate shouted as she got wet.
Steve took action and covered the dog in the towel, drying her as best he could. The dog looked at Steve with her dark brown eyes and proceeded to lick his face as well. It was her way of thanking him for rescuing her.
"We could call her Bonnie," Josh suggested, having fallen quite in love with the dog. "We've just learnt about Bonnie and Clyde in school. They were criminals you know. And you two are both police officers,".
"What do you think, Kate?" Steve asked.
"Bonnie's a good name," Kate agreed. It appeared they were now owners of a dog.
There were no further problems with their new pet for the rest of their first evening together although there was a bit of mild panic on the Friday night when Kate and Steve were locking the house up before going to sleep and noticed the puppy wasn't on her bed in the kitchen.
"Where's the dog?" Kate asked as she re-entered the living room where Steve was sprawled on the sofa.
"On her bed,".
"No she isn't," Kate replied.
"Well she should be," Steve said as he sat up concerned. "Shit! Has she got out?" he asked as he unlocked the back door and checked the garden. Kate meanwhile looked in all the hiding places she could think of in the house.
"We can't have lost her already," she said to Steve when they both drew a blank. Josh would be absolutely heartbroken when they told him.
"Let's just check upstairs ," Steve said.
"She went to her bed though when Josh went to bed," Kate pointed out but followed Steve upstairs.
Kate took the spare bedrooms whilst Steve checked their room. He was walking past Josh's room having still not found the dog when he noticed Josh's door slightly ajar. He took a peek inside.
"Kate!" He whispered. "Take a look," he said when she joined him.
Kate popped her head around the door and found Bonnie stretched out next to Josh on her son's bed, fast asleep. Josh's hand resting reassuringly on her belly. "We're going to have our work cut out with that one," Kate said as she withdrew her head. "So much for no dogs on the beds,". Kate had come up with the rule earlier in the evening.
"Do you want me to take her back downstairs?" Steve offered.
"Leave her," Kate said. "They're both fast asleep. It's very cute," she continued before they both headed to their bedroom.
The next day the whole family went for a walk. Kate was already seeing the benefits of having a dog in that Josh hadn't spent any time on the computer since Bonnie had arrived.
There was a park near their new home and they decided to walk Bonnie there. They took a tennis ball for her to play with. Steve and Kate took a seat on a wooden bench whilst they watched Josh play 'fetch' with the puppy. That was the intent, although for the first couple of throws of the ball, Josh had to also retrieve the ball as Bonnie just looked at Josh, not sure what she was supposed to be doing.
"You have to pick up the ball and give it back to me," Josh instructed the dog as he did as he said, hoping the pup would understand.
"Looks like you've brought a faulty dog back home," Kate joked with Steve. They watched as Josh persevered however and soon Bonnie was running all over the park fetching the ball in return for strokes and encouragement from Josh. She ran around so much that she slept solidly by Josh's side once the family returned home.
By the end of the weekend Josh and Bonnie had developed such a strong bond that it was quite traumatic to watch Josh saying goodbye to his new friend when Mark came to pick him up at the end of the weekend. Kate promised to send pictures of their new pet whilst he was away to ease the pain of their separation and tried to cheer her son up by also reminding him that it was only going to be a couple of weeks before he could visit again.