Title: Getting
Presents With Marie
Author:
Terri
E-mail:
xgrrl26@yahoo.com
Rating:
PG-13, swearing
Archive:
Mutual Admiration, WRFA, Dolphin Haven, Peep
Hut
all others please ask first :)
Disclaimer:
I don't own anyone but Sam, Nat, the vet,
and a certain
three-legged dog. Sadly, these are not
the income-producing
ones of the bunch.
Feedback:
Please? With a gingerbread house on top?
(No fruitcake,
please.) Good, bad, and ugly welcome
but be forewarned
that flames may be publicly mocked ;)
Summary:
Sequel to Decorating With Marie. The
Laughlin
gang goes in search of some presents, but
it's not
quite an ordinary shopping trip.
Comments:
This one was inspired by a Peggy-flung plot
bunny. I
wasn't planning on doing another With Marie
so soon,
but that bunny really got to me. She
recounted
her encounter with some hungry stray cats
and asked
for With Marie version of Strays with Sam
and Nat
conspiring to bring home a little kitty.
Well, this
reminded me of a stray dog I encountered on
a trip from
Vegas to Santa Fe at some highway rest
area. It
was a pathetic dog, and looked pretty much
like the
dog in this story. My friend and I fed it
some fast
food leftovers we had in the car and gave it
water from
our water bottles, and that poor thing
looked like
it was the best day of his life. I wanted
to rent
a car instead of flying back home so that I
could take
him with me, but he wound up being taken in
by a sweet
little elderly couple that happened to stop
too and
just couldn't resist taking the poor mutt
along in
their RV. I hope he's happy, wherever he
wound up.
----------------------------------------------------
Shit! Shit!
"They couldnta gone far." Dammit!
"They were
right beside me Nat! Sam! Where are
you?" Thirty
seconds. They've been gone thirty
seconds,
and the scent trail is good. Nothin' coulda
happened
to 'em in a little mountain town in just
thirty seconds.
Not even in these Christmas shoppin'
crowds.
Goddammit, I told 'em to stay put! I told
'em
aha got 'em. That's their scent leadin' into
the alley.
"Logan?"
"This way
that alley there! I see 'em!" All
alone
no bad guys in sight. Just the two of 'em.
God, I'm
gonna kill 'em both. They know better than
to go wanderin'
off like that, scarin' the livin' hell
outta me
and Marie.
"Nat! Sam!
Come here! Come here right now!" They
know the
shit's about to hit the fan that innocent
look ain't
gonna work this time. I can smell the
relief all
over Marie she's gonna give 'em a once
over herself
just to make sure they're OK.
"What were
ya thinkin', goin' off like that? Didn't I
tell you
to stay right by us? Jesus Christ!" Don't
they know
what coulda happened? Didn't gettin'
attacked
on their own damn birthday their first
fuckin'
birthday to boot didn't that teach 'em
anythin'?
"Logan,
it's OK. They're OK." Damn. I know Marie
always says
no yellin'. And we did agree no
yellin',
no spankin', no bein' mean to 'em or scarin'
em, no matter
what. But God, if we ever lost 'em
"It's OK,
Sam."
Shit. Shit.
Now he's cryin' already. All upset.
Well, if
he really can feel what's goin' on in the
people around
him, and especially Marie, it's no
wonder.
We went from happy to all-out-panic in a few
seconds.
Marie'll hold him. She'll make him
understand
it's OK. But I swear, they gotta
understand
I gotta make 'em understand somehow
that they
just can't fuckin' do that. "You kids
listen to
me, you can't leave your mom and me. You're
too little.
You could get lost or somebody could grab
ya and take
ya away from us, maybe even hurt ya. You
gotta do
what we say, especially here in town. You
can't just
go off on your own."
Great. Sam's
just cryin' more now and Nat's got her
little arms
folded across her chest, poutin' up a
storm. In
fact, she's stickin' her chin out at me
like she's
pretty damn pissed. You know, sometimes I
feel like
tellin' 'em look, there's no instruction
book for
this parenting shit. I'm sorry I yelled and
got all
pissy but you scared the hell outta me and I'm
doin' the
best I can here.
"Your dad
is right. You have to stick close to us,
and you
have to listen. You can't run away from us
like that."
Well, good. Gettin' a little backup from
Marie here.
Sometimes sometimes I think she
indulges
'em a little too much. I know it's 'cause
she loves
'em so damn much, and I do too, but they
gotta learn
stuff, and we gotta correct 'em when they
do bad.
We ain't doin' 'em any favors if we don't.
And I know
part of why Marie always avoids correctin'
'em is 'cause
her own parents were such shits about
that, but
still, it's gotta be done. I think lately,
she's been
tryin' to do it in her own way, which is a
good way.
Shit, it's better than mine I went and
yelled and
scared 'em, they just froze. I don't think
they heard
a damn word I said. "You're going to have
to trust
us and do what we say because we're trying to
keep you
safe, and make sure you're always going to be
with us.
Do you understand?" They're both noddin',
but Sam's
still upset and Nat's still pissed, I can
tell. "What
happened?"
"Mama."
Well, now I really feel awful. Look at
him
all red and puffy and cryin' too hard to get
words out,
hangin' on to Marie for dear life. Damn.
Gotta remember
he's extra sensitive to feelin's and
stuff before
I go shootin' my mouth off.
"We didn't
run away!" Oh yeah, Nat's still very
pissed.
Upset too, and that's comin' out a little
now. Tears
are formin' in her eyes, and if I know
her, that's
just gonna piss her off some more. But
why's she
all squirmy? "We hadta do somefing!"
"What, honey?
What did you have to do?"
"Not tellin'!"
Whoa stompin' her little foot and
everythin'.
I think it's time for me to give it
another
go. I think I'm calm enough to help Marie out
a little
here.
"Nat, darlin',
you needta tell us why you went off on
your own
like that. We needta know what happened
here." Hey
somethin's definitely up with her
she's really
squirmy now and she smells there's a
bad smell
in there with her. I wonder if somebody was
around and
we scared 'em off or somethin'.
"Hmph."
Still not quite sure she wantsta tell me.
Maybe if
I try to make an expression that looks a
little less
pissy. And now she's exchangin' a little
look with
Sam. Oh yeah, somethin' definitely happened
here. Come
on, Nat, spill it, kid. "We saw somefing.
Look."
Sweet Jesus
a dog. She had some little dog stuffed
in her coat.
That's the bad smell and why she's
squirmin'.
And wouldn't ya know it's the most
pathetic
dog I've ever seen in my whole life? Missin'
one eye,
got a chunk taken outta one ear, and "Gimme
it, Nat."
- yep, missin' a leg too. That is one damn
pathetic
dog.
"Woof."
Poor thing don't even have the energy to get
out a serious
bark at me. Lookin' me over with the
one good
eye.
"That's
why you went down the alley? You saw the
dog?"
"Uh-huh."
At least Sam stopped cryin' long enough to
put his
two cents in. "Needs help, mama."
"Oh, Sam."
Marie's huggin' him real close now. I
shoulda
figured it'd be somethin' like that. They're
good kids,
both of 'em are. "You should've told us.
Next time,
you just let us know, OK? Your dad and I
will handle
it. You just let us know instead of going
off on your
own."
"But you
said no puppies, mom." Nat's got a point
they asked
for one for Christmas and we said no. They
ain't quite
old enough to take care of it yet, and
I'll be
damned if I'm gonna run after some mutt.
"I know,
honey, but but if you saw an animal that
needed help,
you could tell us. We'd we'd get it
help. You
shouldn't pick up animals on your own, Nat.
They might
bite you or scratch you."
"Nuh-uh."
"If they're
hurt or sick or scared, they might do it
even if
they like you, honey. I wouldn't want you two
to get hurt,
and I just don't know what I'd do if I
ever lost
you." Aw, honey, it's OK. Don't cry,
Marie, they're
fine.
"Oh." I
think Nat's gettin' the picture a little.
"Sorry,
mom. Sorry." Marie's buckin' up, givin' her
a little
smile.
"Woof."
And what are we gonna do with this sorry
excuse for
a dog? I guess we could drop him off at
the pound
or somethin'. But I bet they'd just lock
him up then
off him after a coupla days. We could
just let
him go, let him run wild and hope for the
best. That'd
at least be givin' him a fightin'
chance.
He kinda looks like he's in bad shape,
though.
"Logan
do you think- there's a vet in town, right?
Do you think
we could just take him to the vet and get
him checked
out? We we should help him." Yeah,
she's right.
She told the kids to tell us if they
came across
someone needin' help and now we gotta show
'em that
we'll help.
"All right,
darlin'. Let's go." I'll tell you
somethin',
though. There's no way we're keepin' this
sad-ass
dog. No way. One trip to the vet and that's
it. No dog
for us. No way.
"Well, the
dog appears to be fine very malnourished,
and the
obvious injuries can't be repaired, but he's
otherwise
fine." Well, that's good news to hear. "He
probably
tangled with a mountain lion or a bear and
lost. He's
very fortunate that the leg injury didn't
kill him.
X-rays showed a very clean break, but he
must've
lost a lot of blood."
"Thanks,
doc. How much do I owe ya?"
"That'll
be two hundred and twelve dollars." Holy
hell. Damn
expensive mutt. Marie's givin' me that
look
that
I-know-it's-a-kick-in-the-ass-but-we-did-the-right-thing
look. I
guess she's right. But money's tight as hell
already
with all this Christmas shit. We still got
presents
to buy for the kids. "I'll go get him and
you can
take him home." Oh no, hell no.
"Uh, doc
" I do *not* wanna have a dog. No way.
The kids're
too little and I ain't gonna -
"You did
want to take him home with you didn't you?
We've given
him all the required shots."
"Well, ya
see "
"Yeah!"
Leave it to Nat. Sam's even noddin' like
hell, backin'
her up. "He's our doggie!"
"Now, Nat,
me and your mom said "
"Logan."
Oh no, don't you go on their side too,
darlin'.
"I kind of don't feel right just leaving
him. And
the kids they really wanted a puppy."
"It ain't
a puppy, it's a full-grown dog. It's a
pathetic
dog. It won't even be able to go huntin'
with me."
"I know,
sugar." 'Sugar?' Oh, she's layin' it on
pretty thick.
"But maybe instead of spending more
money on
presents for them, we could get them the dog.
I mean,
we've already spent the money on it, and I
bet they'd
like it better than a bunch of other
stuff."
"Yuh-huh!
Please, dad!" Nat's jumpin' up and down
and look
at that Sam's lookin' up at me with big
eyes.
"Dada, pwease?"
You know, I probably never had a
chance after
the first second my kids spied this
awful-lookin'
thing. I'm outnumbered and even the vet
is givin'
me looks. Christ.
"All right.
All right. But that's it no other
Christmas
presents." Well, besides the couple we
already
bought 'em.
"Yay!" Yeah,
yeah, now they're huggin' me. Now I'm a
great Dad.
"I'll make
it up to you, sugar." Damn right you will,
darlin'.
I gotta get somethin' outta this deal here
besides
a beat-up mutt and a $212 hole in my wallet.
"Come on,
let's go home."
"Woof!"
At least he's barkin' like a normal dog now.
That stuff
the vet gave him some IV food kinda thing
it perked
him up a lot. And he's makin' the kids
laugh. I
guess he's not all bad.
"What would
you guys like to call him?" I still think
I should
get to name the dog. I'm the one who paid
for him,
I'm the one who's gonna hafta walk him and
feed him
and keep a roof over his mangy one-eyed head.
But no,
Marie says it's their present, they should
name it.
"Wot do
you fink, mom?" I think it really did sink in
with Nat
how much she scared us. She's been tryin' to
make it
up to me and Marie all day.
"Oh, I don't
know. You guys can come up with some
good names,
I bet." Marie's been good about lettin'
the kids
get back to normal with us she's rufflin'
Nat's hair,
just bein' normal, affectionate, not
holdin'
a grudge or anythin'. I ain't either, but
it's still
gonna be a while before I really cool down.
"Wot do
you fink, Sam?"
"Hmmm..doggie?"
"Wot 'bout
a name like you and me? Wot 'bout George?"
"He not
George." Heh. Sam's lookin' at his sister
like that
was the funniest thing ever. "He doggie."
I wonder
if he's pickin' somethin' up from the dog. I
wonder if
his powers if they just work with people
or what.
Maybe it's time for a little experimentin'
there.
"Is that
what he thinks his name is, Sam? Does he
think he's
called doggie?" Big noddin' there. Hmm.
Could just
be his little kid imagination, hard to
tell.
"What's
he thinking, Sam?" Wonder if touch matters
he went
to pet the dog right away when Marie said
that. But
he's not always touchin' Marie when he
seems to
be feelin' what she is. I wonder if it's
'cause she
carried him in her body or
"Happy.
Love. Doggie love us."
"He should."
"Logan."
Yeah, I know, darlin', be nice to the
dog. See?
I can tell what she's thinkin' sometimes
too.
"Wot 'bout
Blue?"
"Yeah."
Sam likes it. I think we have a winner.
But
blue?
"Like on
Blue's Clues. That show has a dog in it." I
guess Marie
can tell what I'm thinkin' a lotta the
time too.
"Blue it
is, then. Come on, kids, say goodnight to
Blue, and
let's getcha ready for bed." I got a
feelin'
that Blue's gonna be around for a while.
"Woof!"
Yeah, yeah. Don't rub it in.
"Can we
talk a little?" I kinda thought Marie might
wanna talk
'bout what happened. Bet she's a little
upset that
I yelled and was so angry when we first
found the
kids. She's right, I shouldnta yelled. But
I'm not
built like her. My temper especially when
my family's
threatened it's damn hard to put down.
I don't
think she really gets how hard that is
sometimes.
"Sure, darlin'.
And I think I know what you're gonna
say. Look,
I "
"Maybe you
don't know what I'm going to say. Maybe I
could say
it and then we'll see." She's smilin', so
she can't
be that pissed. "Logan, I really kind of
panicked
today. We lost them for less than a minute,
and I completely
fell apart. I totally forgot I could
use Sabretooth's
senses to track them and everything.
I was pretty
much just a jibbering idiot and no help
whatsoever
well, unless you count yelling their
names up
and down the street."
"I was pretty
upset too."
"But you
kept it together, and you found them. You
didn't panic
or get upset at all when they were
missing.
You did what had to be done to find them,
and I guess
I just I give you a lot of credit for
that and
I want you to know I'm sorry I wasn't any
help." Well,
she's right. That's definitely not what
I thought
she was gonna say. But maybe that's just
the nice
thing she wanted to get out before she's
starts talkin'
'bout how I fucked up by yellin'. She
does that
sometimes lets you know all the good
things so
the bad things she hasta say don't seem
blown outta
proportion.
"It's OK.
You know, it's my job to take care of you
and the
kids, honey. I know how much you'd freak out
if somethin'
ever did happen to 'em."
"I really
would lose it. I just I don't know if
I'll ever
be able to really express how much you and
the kids
mean to me, Logan. You're everything, you're
the only
important things in my life. I don't know
how I'd
go on if I lost any of you."
"I know
exactly how you feel. I feel the same way."
Maybe I
could just snuggle her up to me. I know we're
doin' serious
talkin' here and it ain't time for
touchin'
and kissin' yet, but I think she could use
some comfort.
"I know
I got a little upset when you yelled. You
you looked
kind of scary and you were really mad."
Big Marie-eyes.
God, I know that probably upset her
as much
as the kids. I just dunno how to fix it. I
try really
hard to be calm and explain shit insteada
yellin',
but in that situation, with everythin' bad
that could
happen to them runnin' through my head.
"I know
I shouldnta done that, but it just came out.
I dunno
I dunno if I can keep it in, when there's
that much
emotion bubblin' around inside me. I tried
not to say
nothin' mean to 'em, but I know the
expression
on my face and the loud yellin' probably
scared the
livin' shit outta them."
"I think
I know we decided on no yelling, and you've
been doing
really great with that so far. But Logan,
I don't
think today was a really big mistake or
anything.
They were scared, but but they did a
serious
thing. And I'm not so sure that all the
talking
we've done afterwards has made as much of an
impression
as them seeing how upset you were. I don't
think they
were afraid you'd hurt them or anything,
and I
I'm not saying we *should* yell at them, but
I'm just
saying that I don't want you to think I'm mad
about that.
I think they'll understand why you
reacted
that way, and I think seeing you that way made
them understand
how serious it was. You're really
good with
them, and you never yell. I guess I just
didn't want
you to think that because there was some
scary yelling
today that I was mad about it. You're a
wonderful
father, you know that?"
"That definitely
wasn't what I thought you were gonna
say." And
I'm just gonna give her a little kiss to
let her
know I appreciate it. "This parenting thing
it's hard
as hell."
"I know.
It's a lot harder than I thought. I can't
even imagine
how hard it would be if we had bad kids
or if I
didn't have you to help me with them." I sure
as hell
couldn't do this all by myself either. Just
one more
little kiss to let her know that too. OK,
maybe not
such a little kiss. "I love you a lot you
know."
"You're
a pretty understandin' woman."
"Does that
make up for getting you to adopt a dog?"
Heh. Look
at the little teasin' expression she's got.
That's damn
cute. Never get enough of that one.
"Oh, hell
no. You've got a lot more makin' up to do
in that
department, darlin'. The vet said that dog
was only
a coupla years old. Do you know how long
we're gonna
be feedin' that thing?"
"It's a
cute dog, though, don't you think?" More
teasin'.
And pressin' her body nice and tight to
mine. Very
promisin'.
"It's butt-ugly,
honey. One eye. Three legs. Chewed
on ear."
"Oh, I bet
I didn't look so good when you picked me up
off the
side of the road."
"You looked
*too* good. Looked way too good and
smelled
way too good. That's why I kinda didn't wanna
in the first
place. Don't think I didn't want ya,
darlin'."
I know she's just teasin', but I don't want
there to
even be a little bit of wonderin' 'bout that
in there
for her.
"Do you
want me now?" Hello heavy breathin' and a
change in
her scent. And squeezin' me pretty hard
with those
enhanced muscles of hers.
"Uh-huh.
Pretty bad as a matter of fact." This is
gonna be
a wild one, I can just tell. She's ready to
go, right
now. God, she's all over me.
"Tell me
how you want it." Oh God, hot little whisper
right in
my ear. "Let me do some making up to you."
"Dada?"
Oh, Lord, that can't possibly be my son.
Nope, no
son of mine would ever interrupt his father
at a time
like this. I know I saw him come outta
Marie's
body, but it just can't possibly be.
"Yeah, Sam?
You need somethin'?" Must be 'cause he's
scramblin'
over here to be with us. "What's on your
mind, little
guy?" And for once, he's huggin' on to
me, not
Marie. Hmmm.
"Doggie
needed help."
"Yeah, I
know. And we helped him. He's probably real
glad you
guys found him. But I don't wantcha goin'
off on your
own no more, OK?" Noddin'. But he looks
kinda unsure
'bout somethin'. I know his looks.
"What's
up? You look like you got somethin' on your
mind there,
kid."
"You can
tell us, honey." Marie rubbin' his back,
smilin'
at him. That oughta pop whatever it is loose.
"Me stick
wif Nat." Uh, OK. I know he likes his
little sister,
but "If Nat go, me stick wif her."
Whoa. That's
like the most complete sentence he's
said, ever.
And he didn't say it like he was tryin'
to excuse
him goin' off before, he said it like
look, here's
the deal if my sister goes somewhere, I
do to. You
grown ups just deal with it. "'nder
'nderstan?"
"Yeah, I
got it. But how 'bout this how 'bout you
let us know
if you or Nat wanna go somewhere and we'll
all stick
together? That's the way to do it, OK?"
"Ok, dada."
Big smile there. Heh. Whaddya know
that was
a pretty good solution on my part. Marie
didn't even
have to jump in and help at all.
"Why don't
you scoot on back to bed, huh? Want me to
tuck ya
in?" Noddin' there. "OK, get goin'. I'll be
along in
a minute." Just gotta tell Marie somethin'.
"Don't forget
where we left off, darlin'."
"Not a chance."
Oh yeah, I got some lovin' headed my
way. You
know, I'm actually kinda glad Sam
interrupted
and got that off his chest. Hell, I'm
pretty proud
of both of the kids. Defendin' their
mom, tryin'
to help that poor, beat-up dog, Sam
stickin'
by his sister no matter what I dunno if
they came
with all that already in there or if we
taught 'em
some of that, but they're gonna turn into
good people,
you know? They're not gonna be a coupla
more assholes
that the world coulda done without.
They're
gonna be a good addition, people that are
gonna be
good and do good in the world. I guess if
they're
turnin' out that well, then I can't be fuckin'
up too much.
Yeah, me and Marie we're doin' OK
raisin'
'em. I guess we can take care of a dog too.
"Woof!"
