Line of Sight - 1. Chapter 1

"Please," he begged. "Can I have this one?"

I inwardly cursed as I looked at the squirming puppy my six year old son held carefully in his mittened hands. I wanted so bad to tell him no, we weren’t getting a dog, but I knew it would break his heart. I wouldn’t even be in this position if it hadn’t been for my damn ex promising him a puppy. Only Dave had neglected to mention that he wouldn’t be around to help care for the little critter.

As it was, I had managed to put this exact scenario off for nearly two months, but then my luck had run out. Of all days I had to pick today to go grocery shopping , but hell, how was I supposed to know that someone would have a litter of pups they needed to get rid of and had chosen the grocery store parking lot as their pet store?

“I don’t know, Jake. A puppy is a lot of responsibility.” I knew I was going to lose this battle, especially when Jake looked up with those bright blue eyes.

“I’ll take care of him Daddy. I will. I promise.” He cuddled the puppy closer to his chest and smiled up at me. “I’ll feed him, and play with him, and he can sleep on my bed.”

I knew I’d lost. I might not have been the one who made the promise, but it looked like I was the one who was going to have to keep it. I really wasn’t looking forward to housebreaking a puppy in the middle of winter.

“Are you sure that’s the one you want?” I knew it was a long shot, but I could hope he would say no. “You can’t change your mind when you get home with him.”

“I’m sure!” He squeezed the squirming armful of brown fluff tighter. The sound of whimpering made me reach over and rescue the puppy from my over-enthusiastic son. I lifted the pup in the air and once again cursed inwardly when I saw it was a male. Not only would I have to worry about housebreaking, but I also had him marking his territory to look forward to. I looked into his face and sighed. He was cute; I had to admit that. I cuddled him close to my chest and crouched down so I was eye level with my son.

“If these nice people will agree to hold him for us while we go get a few groceries then you can get him.” We wouldn’t be able to do our full grocery shop, but we could at least get a few of the necessities that we needed.

I watched Jake turn to face the lady sitting in a lawn chair and bit back the smirk as she crumbled in the face of his pleading blue eyes. She smiled and nodded and without saying anything my son ran up to her and hugged her. I knew that was something I was going to have to really watch with him; he was a very sociable little boy and had no hesitation when it came to strangers.

I walked a fine line between making him afraid of everyone and keeping him wary. I didn’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to him. He was my life and I would do everything in my power to keep him safe. Maybe if I was lucky the puppy would grow up and be not only a friend, but a protector and an ally in keeping Jake safe. I set the bundle of fur down among his litter mates and stood to take my son’s hand in mine and lead him into the store.

“Maybe I should stay with the puppy, Daddy.” He stopped and looked longingly at the doors leading outside.

“We’ll hurry, I promise.”

His little mouth turned down in a frown but he reached out and grasped the cart like he was supposed to and after one last look at the doors he started moving.

“You know, you’re going to have to think of a name for him.” Maybe if I could get him talking it would stop the looks towards the door. I doubted it, but figured it was worth a shot.

“Oh, I don’t have to think about it Daddy. I’m going to name him Murray.”

I looked at Jake in surprise, wondering how he’d come up with that. I had expected a name from one of the cartoons he watched constantly, not something that sounded surprisingly adult.

“Why Murray?”

“Because, that’s the name of the doggy in the story that Dave used to tell me before I went to bed.”

I cringed at the mention of my ex. After the whole experience of Dave walking away from us, I knew that in the future I would be a lot more cautious in who I brought into our lives. I’d thought Dave was in it for the long haul. Being wrong had never hurt so bad. I glanced at the blonde head walking alongside the cart. I wasn’t the only one who had lost something, and while I knew how bad it had affected me, I could only guess how it was affecting Jake. He had become fairly withdrawn since Dave left and he’d been more animated with the puppy in his arms than I’d seen him in nearly two months.

I wasn’t looking forward to going through the next few months, but Jake was more than worth it.