Author's note: Thanks to Helene for that laugh until two in the morning as we went crazy with a puppy scene! :) Also, merci beaucoup for helping me with my French!
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Grace gave a puppy back to Jack and wiped tears of laughter from her eyes.
Lucas leaned his elbows on his knees to have a better look at Jack and puppy.
Jack grinned at him.
"It will be Buddy", little boy said and stole a glance at Grace who swallowed hard, trying to stay serious…
But Lucas saw that she was losing that battle.
"That's a fine name, Jack", she barely held her laughter back "And you can always add Luccie as Buddy's artistic name!"
Jack giggled a bit, sending Grace into a new fit of laughter.
"Yeah!", exclaimed Jack and bursted to giggles, joining Grace as she fought hard to stop crying from laughter.
Lucas shook his head at their silliness.
"Alright, you two clowns!", said Lucas as he got up "While you laugh here like mad I am going to check with Gustave does he have any food leftovers for this poor little thing."
He turned to leave when Jack called out:
"Hey, Buddy?", at those words, Lucas said "yes" at the same time when a puppy barked a "woof", making Grace and Jack practically roar with laughter.
Jack giggled as he got up from the sofa to follow Lucas.
"I'll go with you", he said as he held puppy close to him and smiled happily as Lucas picked him up in his arms with a smile and a kiss on his blonde head.
Grace joined them as they left the library. She closed the doors while Lucas stopped to wait for her.
Sensing a change in motion, a puppy looked at Lucas at the same time he glanced at him, only to send Grace and Jack into a new round of giggles.
Lucas sighed.
"I know", he said to a puppy "These two are crazy", he gently scratched the puppy's ears, earning himself an affectionate lick.
They went downstairs and bumped into Carson as he just came back from outside.
He looked up at them as they walked down the grand staircase and smiled.
"Hey, guys!", his eyes stopped at the puppy in Jack's arms "Who do we have here?"
Jack grinned happily.
"It's my new puppy Buddy!", a puppy let out a squeaky 'woof' and Jack quickly added "I mean Luccie!", as another little 'woof' was heard, Grace shook with suppressed laughter as she hurried down the rest of the stairs.
Carson laughed, but then his eyes turned to Lucas' face and he quickly stifled his laughter.
"Oh, I see", Carson managed to say before he took a puppy's paw and shook it "Nice to meet you, Buddy Luccie."
The puppy sniffed Carson's hand curiously only to glance at Lucas with a small whine.
Carson bit his cheek in order not to laugh.
"I think that he likes you more than me", Carson quipped as he passed Grace who waited for them in the long corridor.
Lucas let out a sigh as he put a giggling Jack down on the ground.
"I give up", said Lucas as he walked toward the kitchen calling his cousin's name.
Gustave showed up with an annoyed facial expression at being interrupted at his work.
Lucas ignored his frown and asked:
"Do you have any leftovers for Jack's new puppy until we buy some dog food for him?"
Gustave's frown turned into a shock.
"Un chien?!" ("A dog?!"), he gasped.
Lucas sighed.
"Oui, Gustave, un chiot", ("Yes, Gustave, a puppy"), he showed with his hand toward Jack who sat on the floor playing with a puppy, Grace and Carson watching them with a smile.
Gustave's face softened at seeing Jack laughing merrily. He looked at his cousin.
"Bien joué, mon frère. Bien joué", ("Well done, my brother. Well done"), he said warmly as he realized the purpose of the cute little dachshund. He disappeared in his kitchen only to come back with a little bowl filled with some food. He knelt down, whistling gently to a tiny puppy.
Puppy's ears perked up at the sound and he ran toward Gustave. Lucas stood by his cousin who was still kneeling and actually smiling as the puppy sniffed vigorously around the bowl.
Only to whine sadly at the scent of food and look up at the two men in front of him.
Gustave frowned at the little whine.
"Allez. C'est délicieux" (Come on. It's delicious"), he mumbled and gently pushed the bowl toward the puppy.
Only to have the tiny dog whine even more as he took two steps back.
Gustave huffed in offense and got up. He glared at Lucas with his trademark scowl.
"Ce chien est un imbécile, il n'a aucun gout" ("This dog is an imbecile, he has no taste"), he grumbled.
And in the next moment all hell broke loose.
A puppy looked up, then back at the bowl. He sniffed it once again and let out a little growl, followed by an angry little bark and in a blink of an eye he turned the bowl over with his nose, sending food all over the tiles as he stormed his way into Gustave's kitchen!
"ZUT!" ("DAMN IT!"), Gustave shrieked as he ran after the puppy.
Lucas grimaced as he watched the scene unfold and couldn't help but laugh as he heard Gustave gasping when a puppy sent some kitchen staff yelp in surprise and dropping their spoons as they saw a tiny dog running like a wind between their legs.
"GET OUT FROM MY KITCHEN BEFORE I PUT YOU IN MY COQ A VIN!", yelled Gustave.
In the next moment, a little daschund hid under the chair and growled at Gustave.
Lucas quickly came toward his cousin, trying to save this situation before it turned into a total disaster.
Gustave's eyes nearly popped out from his head at seeing Lucas in his kitchen.
"Oh, please, come in! All of you!", he yelled sarcastically, sending Grace and Carson into laughter, with Jack giggling beside them at the entrance.
Lucas knelt down, trying to get a puppy out from under the chair.
Gustave wiped his face with both hands as he spoke in a warning tone of voice:
"Lucas, get that stinky little thing out of my kitchen before I…", but the rest of his words couldn't be heard because of the puppy's loud barking.
Lucas finally caught the tiny dog and pulled back up on his feet, smiling as a puppy licked his face.
"Bien sûr, mon frère" ("Of course, my brother"), he said as he scratched puppy's ears "We wouldn't want you to serve Chien au vin!"
Gustave's eyes turned wide as saucers and that was when Grace's voice was heard.
"Hey, Lucas, I didn't know that Gustave likes Chinese cuisine!", she said through giggles.
Lucas laughed out loud.
"Neither did I, Grace!", he said, only to have his own cousin gasp in shock.
Seeing chef's facial expression turning into a murderous one, a puppy started to bark angrily at him.
"GET OUT! BOTH OF YOU! GET OUT!", yelled Gustave and Lucas ran out from the kitchen, a puppy in his hands.
"Well, I guess we'll have to go back to buy some dog food for this one", he said as he gave a fidgeting daschund back to Jack.
Jack looked up at him with a big smile on his face.
"We can take him for a walk!", he suggested and Lucas nodded with a smile on his face.
"Alright, let's do it!", he went toward the small closet next to the doors and took out a small box cage. As he knelt down to put a puppy in it, Jack turned to look at Grace and smiled excitedly at her.
"Hey, Miss Grace, we are going to buy some food for Buddy! Wanna come with us?", he asked happily.
Grace felt her heart swell at the little boy's invitation.
She smiled warmly as she walked toward him.
"I'd love to, Jack. Here, let me help you with these", she took his little boots from the shelf and knelt down helping Jack to put them on. In the meantime, Lucas got his jacket, cap, scarf and gloves ready and he put it on his little buddy with great care.
Grace put on her coat and stifled a laugh as she pulled her hair out. Wrapping her warm scarf around her neck and shoulders she glanced at Lucas who was buttoning his coat. Jack took her gloved hand in his little palm and looked up at Lucas.
"Ready, buddy?", he asked.
Grace stifled a laugh.
"Oh, are we taking the Senior too, Jack?", she squeaked out before both she and Jack bursted out laughing "It is downright criminal how much fun I have!"
At those words, Lucas put his face in his hands with a long sigh.
