Title: Godiva

Author: Written by Sprite, typed by zortrana.

Timeline: A summer or two post-513. Brian & Justin mostly live at Britin. Emmett still lives with Deb and Carl.

Typist notes: Neither Sprite or I know anything about Labs, surgery on dog legs, or animal hospitals. We don’t really want to know about those last two things either. Sprite also wants everyone to know that she wrote this fic MONTHS ago and that it is my fault for not typing it sooner and that all errors are mine because I am rusty.

 

 

 

“Jesus, Theodore, are we ever going to get out of here? It’s almost 9:00 p.m.” Brian complained as he signed a seemingly unending stack of paperwork.

 

“You’re nearly done, boss.” Ted encouraged, jumping when his cell rang suddenly. Ted looked at the number and answered cheerily, “Em! What’s up?” The smile disappeared from Ted’s face quickly as he listened to Emmett’s distraught voice.

 

“I hit her. She came out of nowhere and it was so dark and she was so dark and I hit her!”

Emmett said frantically.

 

“You hit a woman with your car? Where are you?” Ted asked, quickly grabbing Brian’s pen and scribbling down the address.  “I’ll be right there!”

 

Brian was pulling on his jacket also, “Emmett HIT someone? Fuck!”

 

“I don’t know what the hell happened; he was meeting with some client in the suburbs. Let’s go! I have the address of the hospital here.”

 

Brian drove, while Ted navigated using the GPS on his phone.  They finally arrived at the destination and looked at each other. “What the fuck!” Brian said.

 

“Babbling Brook 24 hour Animal Hospital,” Ted read the sign.  He and Brian exchanged a meaningful look before going in.  Emmett rushed up to them, blood on his shirt.

 

“Thank goodness you are here! They took her into surgery and it will be awhile before I know anything!”

 

“Em,” Ted said with a patience born of years of friendship, “I think you need to start at the beginning.”

 

Emmett was well into his tale when the veterinarian appeared. “She’s doing very well, Mr. Honeycutt. We were able to save the leg, although we did have to pin it,” the woman explained. “You’ll be able to take her home in a few days.

 

“Thank you, thank you,” Em exclaimed, “but she’s not my dog.”

 

The vet looked at him, confused. “But you signed for her medical expenses?”

Ted groaned, and Brian rolled his eyes at this news.

 

“I will, I will,” Em promised, “I mean, I hit her, not on purpose, of course, but it’s my responsibility. But we have to find her real owners!”

 

The vet nodded. “She wasn’t wearing a collar or tags, but I’ll check her for a microchip. You should contact the animal shelters, and put an ad in the papers.”

 

“What happens if nobody claims her?” Emmett asked.

 

“Then we try to find a rescue group to take her and find her a home, or she goes to the shelter.”

 

“C’mon, Em, let’s go.” Ted tugged gently on his friend’s arm.

 

“Can I see her?”

 

Brian sighed, and slumped back into the hard, plastic chair as Emmett went with the Vet.

 

 

 

 

*************************

 

“She wasn’t micro-chipped and no one has claimed her,” Emmett shared with Michael, Brian, and Ted over lunch at the diner.  “Michael, you and Ben have that nice house…”

 

“Oh no!” Michael said. “We don’t have a fenced yard for a dog!”

 

“Don’t look at me!” Ted quickly jumped in. “Lupe would never be seen again! Or she will destroy the dog in 15 seconds or less.”

 

Brian fixed Emmett with a death glare and Emmett sat back sadly. “If we don’t find her owners in a few days, the Animal Hospital may have to turn her over to the shelter.”

 

Deb came up with the coffee pot. “What’s with all the long faces?”

 

“The dog.” Michael explained. “She might end up at the shelter.”

 

Debbie sighed deeply, “Fine, Emmett, you can bring her home, but only until you find her a real home. Are we clear on that?”

 

Emmett perked up. “Crystal clear,” he responded happily.

 

“You shouldn’t say “crystal” around Ted,” Brian mentioned.

“Brian!”  the group chorused.  Deb smacked Brian alongside the head with the order pad, and turned back to the counter.

 

 

**************************

 

 

It was a beautiful summer day and the sun sparkled on the surface of the pool at Britin. Carl was presiding over the grill and delicious smells were emanating from it. Brian sulked off to one side with a drink in his hand. Justin’s plane had been delayed, and although he was expected at any time, Brian wasn’t happy about the lost hours.

 

If that wasn’t bad enough, Emmett had showed up with the dog, who had certainly NOT been invited and who, although the strange cone thing around her head had been removed, still looked ridiculous with a shaved leg, a big scar, and a terrible limp. J.R. and Gus didn’t seem to mind and were running around with the dog, giggling. 

 

“Look,” Emmett said, pointing to J.R. hugging the Lab. “See how much she would enjoy having a dog when she visits you?”

 

“NO.” Ben and Michael said in unison.

 

Emmett turned to Mel and Lindsay. “Don’t even think about it, Honeycutt!” Melanie warned. “DO NOT even think of mentioning keeping that dog to the kids.”

 

Emmett sighed and turned toward Brian, but taking one look at the dark expression on his host’s face, snapped his jaw shut.

 

Just then, a car honked out front.

 

“Sunshine!” Debbie exclaimed.

“Justin!” Lindsay said delightedly.

“My baby is here!” Emmett said.

 

With a rush, everyone headed for the front of the house and swarmed a rather dazed and disheveled Justin with greetings. Brian planted a kiss on him and slung his arm over Justin’s shoulder as they all headed back to the pool area. That’s when they heard the splash, and in one of those horrible frozen moments in time everyone realized who was missing.

 

“Jenny! J.R.!” The group yelled and everyone broke into a run. As they rounded the corner of the house, the group saw a dark streak shoot out over the pool and land with another splash. The Lab.

 

J.R. bobbed to the surface, gasping, and the dog grabbed the girl’s little sundress with her teeth and began swimming bravely, with three good legs and one bad one, toward the edge of the pool.  Michael, Ben, and Brian all dived in and pulled the dog and J.R. to safety, handing the girl to Melanie’s and Lindsay’s anxious arms. Carl quickly checked her pulse and breathing. Ben helped the Lab out of the pool, Justin handed out towels to all the soaked guests, and then everyone slumped down, suddenly exhausted.

 

“I’ve thought of a name for her.” Emmett unexpectedly announced from where he and Ted were toweling off the dog. “Godiva! She saved J.R. the way that Godiva saved me all those years ago. And she is a chocolate Lab.”  He ignored the ensuing groans and resumed wiping the water off the newly christened Godiva.

 

“Em, honey,” Debbie looked up from where she was going through J.R.’s bag looking for dry clothes, “I know she saved J.R. and I’ll be eternally grateful, but you can’t keep her at our house. We have such a small yard, and we have such strange schedules that no one is ever home, and it isn’t fair to her to be cooped up all the time. It’s been okay when she was hurt and couldn’t move around much, but you can see she needs to room to play now.

 

Ben had moved over to Godiva and was petting the dog and telling her what a good girl she was. Michael looked up from J.R. and over to Ben, who nodded slightly.

 

“You know, Em, Ben and I really need to fence our back yard anyway…”

 

Emmett jumped up with a whoop, “Godiva! You are going home!”

 

 

 

And they all lived happily ever after.