Jack is oblivious to the fact that the stray puppy he picked up near a haunted house is a ghost. Maddie doesn't have the heart to tell him.
~ Ghostanimal
I've Only Had Cujo For Five Minutes, But
—
"…Jack," Maddie says, warily.
"Mads, just listen, listen," Jack starts, cutting her off. "I know we have a zero pet policy, but I couldn't just leave him there!"
The 'him' in question is a dog; a puppy Saint Bernard, if she had to guess. The proportions and features seem right, even if the rest of the details - the piercing red eyes, the green fur, the lolling purple tongue - do not.
"I mean just look at him! He's lost, and sad, and lonely," he holds up the pup that is none of those things. The pup is bright and happy, glowing (—literally) and squirming in Jack's grip, tail wagging, eager to play.
The Fenton Finder beeps incessantly in her back pocket.
She silences it, because. Well.
…She already knows where the ghost is, obviously.
"He was eating garbage around the corner from the Kinsley house, you know, the place where all the furniture is on the ceiling—" And yeah, that tracks, because the Kinsley house is haunted, though not, as some might assume, because of the furniture thing. "And when I showed up, he just trotted right on over, like he was waiting there for me! He's so friendly!"
No ghost is friendly, though, Maddie thought they agreed. They're ectoplasmic constructs that simply mimic human sentimentality—though, she reflects, as the dog licks her husband's hand, this one is pulling off the act quite brilliantly.
But why Jack wants to bring a ghost home, much less treat it like a pet, is baffling…
"He's so light - stick thin - practically see-through!" Jack continues, and Maddie wonders briefly if he mixed up 'practically' with 'actually', but has no time to ask before he barrels on. "We can't just toss him back out on the streets, Mads! He's already starving—He'll die!"
All of Maddie's thought processes screech to a halt.
"Come again?" she asks.
"He's starving," Jack repeats, and
"…No, I got that part," she says, sending a pointed look at the Very Green Slightly See Through Currently Weightless Dog in Jack's arms. "But you say we can't leave him because you think he… will… in the future… die?"
"Oh, I knew you would understand!" Jack bursts, brimming with relief.
Maddie's head spins a little. Well this certainly clears up a few questions, she thinks, watching her husband dance in joy. Jack—somehow—doesn't realize the dog is a ghost. Though, how he could've missed it…
She glances again at the vivid red eyes. The sharp teeth. The menacing aura.
…Was Jack always this oblivious?
"—And steak, and lamb chops, and pork bones - no kibble for you, no sirree!" Jack is saying, promising away the world's most expensive canine diet to a creature that definitely doesn't need it. "Four meals a day, no! Five! Five till you're healthy…"
"Just a minute, Jack." Maddie steps in to rain on his parade. "I never said we were keeping him."
"Aw, but Mads!" Jack begs. "Please?! I'll feed him and walk him and train him and build him a custom doghouse in the backyard—"
Maddie regrets silencing the Fenton Finder. She has a feeling nothing but empirical evidence will sway Jack, here.
"—and brush him and comb him and play with him and buy him all the tennis balls his heart desires—"
"Jack…" she starts, gently. "No."
"BUT I LOVE HIM," Jack cries.
He has the aura of a six year old begging for their first puppy. Which, in a way, he is. Jack has an enthusiasm for life that rivals any six year old, finding unbridled joy in the smallest of things. Maddie loves that about her husband. It's one of the reasons she married him.
But. "I'm sorry, Jack," she says, taking a deep breath before she pulls out the big guns. "I just don't think it's a good idea—"
"But he'll make a great addition to the family! He already loves you!"
Jack holds him out again, perhaps hoping to sway her with its cuteness. The dog looks at her and licks its nose. A green tail wags.
"Jack…"
"And it'll teach the kids responsibility!" Jack barrels on, unheeded. "That's good, right?"
After you promised to do all the chores? She thinks, internally.
"And, and," Jack adds, close to tears. "We can train him to hunt ghosts!"
That gives her pause.
"Hunt ghosts," she echoes, unsure she heard right.
Hope glimmers in Jack's eyes, and his head shoots up. "Yeah! You know those stories that say animals have a keen sense for the supernatural—I'll bet this pup has a great nose for spooks!"
She taps her chin with a thoughtful finger. "A ghost hunting dog…" she muses. Admittedly, the idea has merit. Already a ghost itself, it wouldn't be thrown off by invisibility or intangibility or other common ghostly tricks. It couldn't die, or be possessed. And Maddie could capture it if the dog ever turned on them.
Still…
Maddie looks up, brow furrowed, to find not one, but two pairs of puppy dog eyes pleading for her mercy. Maddie's heartstrings twinge. When was the last time she saw Jack get this worked up over something other (at least in his mind) than a ghost? The loyalty ran strong through this man. Separating the two would crush him. Maddie sighs, looking at those pleading eyes—
How can she say no?
"Alright," she agrees, her voice almost drowned out by Jack's immediate cheer. "Fine, we'll take it in—on a trial run." She warns. "But the moment it acts up…!"
"Come on, Mads, look at him! He's a sweetheart!" Jack says, cuddling the puppy ghost close.
It doesn't seem hostile… for the moment, at least. The dog starts to yip happily, licking at Jack's face.
"I'll start moving him in as soon as we get home, you'll see! I'll take care of everything! A food dish, a bed, a—" he sniffs slightly. "—maybe a bath, first. He does smell like rotting trash. And his fur color's a little off."
A little off, he says, Maddie thinks, half hysterical, looking at the mutt's green fur. A little off. A LITTLE off?
"We'll have to adjust some of our inventions too. Tone them down," Maddie mumbles under her breath. When Jack sends her a confused look, she quickly adds, "To, uh, let some ghosts in! So we can test his aptitude for hunting."
"Oh yeah, good thinking, Maddie!" Jack beams at her.
Maddie sags a little. Close one…
"Now you just need a name," Jack says, gathering his new buddy in his arms and starting to walk towards home. "Pupper… um… Rover? Hm. Maybe the kids'll have some better ideas…"
Maddie follows, lamenting, certain she'll regret this. "At least Danny will be thrilled."
"Oh yeah, Danno always wanted a dog!" Jack says, lighting up. "…Dibs on breaking the news! …Oh, I can't wait to see his face when he comes home!"
—
