Life is like a Hallmark movie

Meet the new Doctor

Castiel toweled the dog off as much as possible and dug in the box on the floor labeled "Bathroom." He pulled out the blow dryer and a large toothed comb and began working on the furry creature. The dog sat obediently, all the while wagging her tail. Castiel was impressed and began saying common dog names trying to see if the dog responded to any. Even though the dog was in such a sorry state, she seemed to be perfectly healthy. He'd have to ask around and try to see if she still belonged to anyone.

After cleaning the tub and wiping down the floor, Castiel headed back to the kitchen and his dinner. He pulled a second chicken breast out for the dog. He really had nothing much else to offer the poor creature tonight. He grabbed a serving bowl and filled it with water. The dog greedily consumed several gulps.

Castiel pulled out a second pan and poured a little chicken broth in as it heated, before placing the second breast in it. He returned to his pan that was just heating up to a sizzle again. He stirred the contents until the potatoes were almost done and put in the chicken, some fresh minced garlic, the green onions, a bit of broth and a splash of his wine. Finally, he tossed in the broccoli. He cut himself a beefy tomato and sliced up a cucumber, tossed in fresh spinach and quickly mixed up a vinaigrette to go over it. He sliced a bit of fresh baked bread he had picked up from his favorite bakery before leaving the city and cut himself a few slices of cheese. He was suddenly famished.

When all was set at the table and he'd refilled his wine glass, he sat down and put the dog's chicken breast down. Obviously, the dog was as hungry, if not more so, than he was.

By the time he'd finished eating, cleaned the kitchen, emptied the majority of the boxes and showered, it was well past midnight. The kids could finish emptying the few boxes left. Most of it was their toys, books and clothes anyway. Castiel locked up, refilled the dog's water bowl, turned out the lights and headed to his new bedroom. He was surprised that the mattress was actually perfect for him, not too hard, not too soft. He checked his alarm and was just rolling over after turning off the light when the dog jumped on the bed, did two circles and settled down to sleep next to him with his chin on Castiel's hip. Cas gently massaged the dog's head, smiling to himself, and promptly fell asleep.

Castiel had woken with a start when his alarm went off. He'd forgotten there was a dog in bed with him. He opened the kitchen door for the dog and found it was still raining. The dog ran out anyway, but stayed against the house under the eaves. Castiel saw the dog squat down, do her business and quickly run back inside.

"Well," he said to himself, "looks like you might have yourself a dog, Castiel Novak."

He fed the dog another chicken breast, gave her fresh water, made himself a quick bowl of cereal with sliced banana and some green tea. After cleaning the kitchen, he took a quick shower and readied to leave. He opened the door to see if the dog would leave. The dog would not go outside and just sat there looking at him expectantly.

He went to the cupboard, poured some Cheerios in a bowl, filled the water bowl again and left to his car. He came back inside, turned the television on to Animal Planet, pet the dog on its head and left again. He hoped he would not come home to find the sofa eaten or the door scratched up.

Castiel Novak loved his work. He really enjoyed meeting and helping people. He just was in an awful mood because this was not the venue of his choosing. He tried to clear the grumpiness out of his head as he drove to the clinic. He missed the twins, even though it'd only been one day since he'd seen them. He really needed to get them settled, find things for them to do, find out more about school and get them comfortable in their new home. He really wanted them to be happy and needed to change his own attitude starting right now, before they sensed how he felt and ruin any excitement they had over moving to the country.