Dog Tags for Christmas

by Lindsay McKenna

  Flynn took the handheld device, peering at the black and white screen. Raven slept soundly, her mouth open just the littlest bit. Flynn grinned down at the tiny little 2x2 black and white screen. Without saying a word, Willow could tell he wanted to go see her, but Debbie was wise. “Let’s go to bed while we can, Papa bear. Your wild child will be up soon enough and I need some serious sleep.”

  With a heavy sigh he nodded, giving Debbie a quick hug as she exited the house. “Thanks, Deb. See you in the morning.”

  The older woman gave him a wave and headed to her truck. “I’ll be here.”

  A few hours later, Willow forced herself to get up and pull her clothes on. As she pulled her jeans up, she was reminded again that she needed to go shopping. Nothing fit like it used to. She slipped on her Merrill shoes, thankful yet again that her life revolved around short-cuts.

  Guinness followed along behind as she crossed the yard to the office and let herself inside. When she went into the back room, the mangled dog was still curled up in the same position it had been, but it no longer shuddered. Maybe he would pull through. She darkened the room and headed back home, hopefully for a few more hours of sleep.

  Raven gave her two hours before she was up and ready to conquer the world. Carrying her to the rocker in the corner, Willow laid the baby across her lap and lifted up the edge of her sleep t-shirt, then released the latch on her nursing bra cup.

  If someone could have explained to her the feeling of having a baby latch on to her milk-engorged breast, she never would have believed them. Physically, it was such a release. Totally different from sex, of course.

  As she looked down at her drowsy daughter clutching her skin, her little cheeks depressing with suction, Willow realized that the satisfaction of being the sole sustenance for her daughter was very humbling. They’d added in cereals and some baby food here and there, but about sixty percent of her food was still milk. And as her chubby little hands kneaded the flesh of her breasts, Willow hated that time was moving so fast. Soon, Raven wouldn’t need her milk anymore and she would be eating on her own.

  Flynn wandered into the nursery as she was switching Raven to her opposite breast. “Hey, babe,” she smiled. “The dogs are outside. Why don’t you grab a shower while we finish up here?”

  Instead, he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his broad chest and watched them. “I can’t take part in this, but it still feeds my soul.”

  Crossing the room, he knelt down in front of her and leaned in for a kiss. Raven noticed her father and began to beat her fist excitedly, but she didn’t release Willow’s breast. She was still too hungry.

  Their little family unit was amazing, and every day brought new experiences and milestones. Willow let their little bubble of shared happiness sink into her bones. She would remember this day.

  “I’m glad you don’t mind nursing,” he told her softly. “I want to see this many times. I want several kids, Willow.”

  She cocked her head. “You have taken to it very well. I’m up for several kids, maybe just not at once. I don’t know if I can do two in diapers at the same time.”

  He frowned and gave her a nod. “Yeah, you’re right about that. We’ll wait a little while for the next one.”

  “Although I’m always up for practice,” she told him with a saucy grin.

  Laughing, he leaned in for another slow kiss, until Raven protested being smooshed.

  Flynn eventually left to rush through a shower, then he returned for some baby-daddy cuddle time. Willow took her own turn in the shower and got dressed. Her long hair would just have to stay damp because she braided it onto a long tail down the middle of her back. She snatched a banana and a yogurt from the fridge and headed to the living room, where Flynn played with the baby on the floor.

  “I want to go ahead and run over. Can you handle her until Debbie gets here?”

  He gave her a brow-cocked look and she had to laugh. “Okay, okay, just checking. I love you.”

  Willow leaned down for a kiss, but Flynn didn’t let her pull away. “Maybe we can get Debbie to babysit one night while we go on a date.”

  A thrill moved through her and she gave him a second, lingering kiss. “I would love that.”

  “I’ll see what I can nail down, then. I’ll try to stop over later.”

  With a nod and a final kiss to her daughter’s downy cheek, she headed out.

  The bait dog seemed to be improving. Willow apologized to Nicky about the mess, but when she saw the dog she waved Willow’s concern away. “Looks like you had your hands full last night. No worries.”

  Willow went through her day in a bit of a fog. Since she’d had Raven, the late night interruptions were a little harder to recover from. When the office settled down she took a long lunch and headed to the house for a breast-feeding session. Maybe she could close her eyes for a few minutes as well.

  It was the best little break ever because Raven fell asleep as well, and when Willow woke she felt refreshed and ready to face whatever happened next. She handed Raven over to Debbie and headed back to the practice, then to her office. She needed to make a call.

  Detective Angela Holloway was a very conscientious cat owner, and had become a friend of sorts. After a couple of years of seeing owners, you got to know them a bit, and Angela had helped her out with a few pet adoptions. She answered on the first ring. “Detective Holloway.”

  “Hey, Angela, this is Willow James. Do you have a minute?”

  There was some shuffling on the other end of the line and Willow could tell she was leaving a noisy room. “Sure. What’s up?”

  Willow told her about the mangled dog and asked her if she knew of any dog fighting activity in the area.

  “Not that I know of, but I’m in a different department now. I moved into homicide. I can ask around and see if I find anything out.”

  “I would appreciate it. If they’re using bait dogs they’re fighting, as well.”

  “I’ll keep my ear to the ground. You doing okay? How’s your little one? What’s her name?”

  Willow laughed. “Raven Honor Flynn. She’s beautiful and precocious, but that’s just her mother’s perspective. Feels very strange to even say that.”

  Angela snorted. “I’m sure. I admire you. Kids aren’t easy these days.”

  Willow sighed. She’d already begun dreading of the what-ifs. “I know, but Flynn is amazing. He’s an incredible father.”

  “Good. And I’m sure you’re an amazing mother, too.”

  Willow really hoped she would be. “Thanks, Angela. I appreciate that. I better let you go. I just heard my front door ring.”

  “Okay, bye!”

  It was good she shortened the call because an emergency came in the door, taking her attention for the next hour. Then the cases came steady until well after six. When she finally got a chance to look up at the clock, she was amazed. The time had flown.

  When she checked on the bait dog one last time, she was happy to see that he’d started to move around. Removing the IV, she fed him a little food. He licked carefully, as if his mouth were very sore. Willow looked for an undamaged place to stroke him and ended up rubbing a finger on the outside of his front leg. But the guy wagged his tail weakly.

  “We need to name you,” she murmured. “Maybe Oscar, as in De La Hoya. I think Oscar is a great name for you.”

  The dog wagged his tail again, then settled his body down to rest. Willow shut his door and let him be, flicking the lights off as she left the room. She walked through the office, turning off lights as she went, and remembered to set the alarm as she exited the back door.

  When she walked into their house a few minutes later, her own dogs were thrilled to see her, but even better was the smell wafting in the air. It smelled like Chinese, or maybe Japanese. Flynn looked up at her and smiled when she came into the kitchen, crossing to drop a hungry kiss to her lips. As worn out and tired as she was, she had to react to the love she could feel pouring off of him.


  Dropping the spatula to the counter he cupped her face. “You look tired. Everything okay?”

  Nodding, she let herself sag into his arms. “Yes. Just busy. Where’s Raven?”

  Flynn glanced at the monitor. “She just woke from a nap. Why don’t you go grab her, give her a snack, and by that time the food will be ready.”

  Overcome with appreciation, because she knew he had to be as tired as she was, she eased in behind him and wrapped her arms around his lean torso. “I love you, Joe Flynn.”

  He twisted enough to wrap an arm around her shoulders and press a kiss to her head. “I know you do babe. And I love you just as much. Why don’t you go wash up? How’s the dog?”

  He didn’t have to identify which dog he was curious about. She knew. “He’s slowly making progress. I took him off the IV tonight and he managed to eat some. I think I’m going to call him Oscar.”

  “As in De La Hoya? Great choice.”

  Willow stared at the gorgeous man cooking her dinner, who understood the way her brain worked more than any other person on the planet. What the heck had she done to deserve him?

  Flynn caught her look and stepped before her again. “You believed in me,” he told he softly, again just knowing what she was thinking. “I love you, Willow. With all my heart and soul.”

  Tears filled her eyes and it took everything she had to fight them back. She was not a pretty crier. Stepping forward she wrapped her arms around him again and lifted her mouth for one more amazing kiss.

  He pulled away too soon, swatting her on the bottom. “Go get cleaned up and feed the wild child before the rice burns.”

  So she did.

  Chapter Three

  Flynn wondered what he was doing. Willow would probably not be happy with him.

  The kid under the tree was pacing today, as if he were stewing on something. Pulling the truck up alongside the curb he rolled down the window and turned off the ignition.

  The kid couldn’t be any more than fifteen or sixteen. Hispanic coloring with thick black hair and dark brown eyes, the expression on his face turned defiant when he spotted Flynn.

  “What you want, pendejo?”

  Flynn cocked an eyebrow, scratching at his beard. “Now, did your mother teach you to start a conversation with an insult?”

  The kid’s expression turned mutinous and he crossed his arms over his narrow chest. He wore a thick black sweatshirt with faint wings running down the back. The garment almost seemed too small on the boy, and Flynn wondered how many years he’d been wearing it.

  Flynn tried to soften his look. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I’ve seen you here a good bit.” Something occurred to him as he looked at the scrawny white dog standing beside the kid. “And I wanted to give you this.”

  Reaching to the rear floorboard, he pulled a can of dog food from the canvas bag he kept with him. He tried to hand it out the window to the kid, but the boy just stood there. Maya licked Flynn’s hand, as if she knew he were trying to do good.

  After several long seconds when nobody moved, Flynn tossed the can out the window to land before the boy’s feet. “Your dog looks hungry. That’s good stuff. If you need more you can go to the vet’s office right there.”

  He made a motion to Willow’s office, wondering if he was making the right decision.

  Starting the truck he pulled away from the curb, watching the kid in the rear view mirror. Just before he lost sight of him, the boy bent down to pick up the can of food. Flynn smiled to himself, wondering what his story was.

  Mateo stooped down to examine the can, wondering what the hell had just happened. Ranvir leaned against his leg, unsure as well. Picking up the can, he turned it in his hands, looking for punctures or anything to indicate that the gringo had messed with it. The name he recognized, and he knew it wasn’t a cheap can of food. But he didn’t see anything to make him think it had poison in it or anything.

  Wedging his finger beneath the ring, he pulled the lid up. Ranvir smelled the food immediately and started to wag his butt against Mateo’s leg. It had been a couple of days since he’d been able to sneak Ranvir food, and the dog was hungry. Starving. Finding a rock on the ground, Mateo poured out a little of the food.

  Ranvir inhaled it quickly, looking up at Mateo with pleading eyes for more. He gave in, letting the dog eat the entire can. The dog licked the rock clean, then rooted in the dirt for more. Mateo wished he could give him more.

  He looked across the street at the white brick building. There was a big glass window in the front as well as several cars, but it was the sign that appealed to him most. There was a lady on it with several animals crowded around her legs, their noses lifted to the attention she gave them. Willow James, DVM, it read. He knew the V probably meant veterinarian, but he wasn’t sure about the other letters.

  Mateo had dreamed about being a veterinarian for years. There were animals all around him and his family, but he had no way to help them if they got sick or injured. He had learned long ago not to get attached to any animal, because it would probably not be around long.

  Ranvir flopped over onto his side, asking for a belly rub. Ranvir was the only one he’d allowed himself to feel for, and if his father ever found out about the dog, Mateo would be in a load of trouble. Dogs were animals, bred to be used and killed as man saw fit. They weren’t pets. That was what his father always said.

  Mateo would never say it out loud, but he didn’t agree with his father. His mother didn’t either, but she didn’t dare say anything against her husband. Maria slipped him scraps as she could, but food was too precious to waste on an animal, his mother said. So, when Mateo got something for dinner, he made sure to keep a few bites in his pocket for Ranvir. Paulo, his older brother, had seen him doing it a few times and Mateo had caught him following him, just to see what he did with the food. To throw him off, Mateo had thrown a piece to one of the kennel dogs. The next thing he knew, Paulo had snatched him up against the wall.

  “Don’t feed the dogs,” he’d growled. He slapped him just for good measure. Paulo was a few years older than Mateo, but not much bigger. The slap hurt, but not like what their father could do.

  It was getting harder and harder to slip out. Mateo kept Ranvir in a deserted house lot, tied to an old outbuilding so that he could visit him on the way home from school. The dog could tunnel underneath for warmth and Mateo made sure he always had a huge bucket of water in case he couldn’t get back for a few days. Now though, with the September nights getting colder, he would have to try to see him every day. The water would start freezing at night, and just the other day it had been frosty when he’d woken up.

  His chores had grown recently, and he worried about getting to his dog. Maybe it would be better to take him into the shelter he’d seen a couple miles away. Then at least he’d have a chance for a normal dog life.

  But Mateo couldn’t part with him. Ranvir was his only friend, the only bright spot, in his world. If he lost him Mateo would have nothing worth living for.

  He stoked a hand down the dog’s lean, white side. Every rib was visible.

  Looking at the office across the street, he shook his head. It was stupid to come here. Somebody was bound to see him at some point and let his father know. Probably Paulo. He would love to get Mateo in trouble. Then his life would be over.

  As much as he loved watching the busy-ness and the variety of animals going into the place, he needed to be more protective of Ranvir.

  He would not walk him this way again.

  On the fourth day after he’d spoken to the kid, Flynn decided he’d probably made a tactical error. Rather than letting the kid know that there was help available, he’d spooked him. Twice now he’d caught Willow looking out the window toward the tree. She’d turned away quickly, but she was too softhearted to be able to hide her disappointment.

  Flynn was at a loss as to what to do. The worry about the boy and the dog had settled into her heart.

  When he caught her looking again the
next day, he touched her shoulder. “Let’s put a couple of cans of food under the tree. That way if he comes back he’ll see it there.”

  With a smile and a nod, she disappeared into the back to retrieve a couple of cans. Then, holding her spare hand, he walked her across the busy street. She set them out so they could be seen from under the tree, but not from the street or sidewalk. Only the kid would see them if he returned.

  Willow squeezed his hand as she crossed the street with him again. “Thank you, babe. I feel better already. I think he’ll be back.”

  “Hm. We’ll see.”

  Chapter Four

  Three days later the food was gone, so Flynn left a couple more cans. He told Willow and happiness lit her golden eyes. “Excellent! His dog was too bony.”

  Flynn checked on Oscar every day and the dog continued to improve. He wasn’t sure, but he appeared to be some kind of Pit Bull mutt. Willow insisted he was beautiful, standing firm when Flynn shot her an incredulous look. “What? He has a beautiful disposition, so that makes him beautiful.”

  Shaking his head, he wrapped her in his arms to love her. “Okay, if you say so.”

  The next day when Flynn stooped to peer into the dog’s cage, Oscar wagged his tail at him. “Okay, dog. No buttering me up,” he warned.

  But the dog climbed to his feet in spite of the pain he had to be in and stepped forward to the door. Reluctantly, Flynn opened the cage to pet the poor thing. The dog stood for a few minutes, taking what love Flynn would give him, then moved to lay down again.

  Maya, his ever present shadow, crept forward close enough to lick at the other dog’s muzzle, as if she too were giving him the love he needed to keep going.

  Ruffling her fur, Flynn pulled her back and shut the cage door.

  The next day when Flynn opened the door, Oscar carefully stepped out of the cage. Making a spur of the moment decision, Flynn let him out to explore. With gentle coaxing, the dog followed him through the office and out the back kennel door, then Flynn led him through the gate to the grass yard that was shared between the office and the house. As soon as Oscar was in the sunlight, he tried to stretch, but it seemed painful. Wandering around, he peed on a few posts, then sat down near the gate. Then he laid down and seemed to just be absorbing the warmth of the sun on the chilly day.