Walking past the armory Chris checked for Street again, having already checked Black Betty, the weight room, and the shooting range. Not finding him in the armory she headed to the locker room.
"Anyone seen Street?" Chris asked as she walked in to see all the guys except the man in question.
"Not in the past hour." Tan said, shaking his head.
Deacon and Hondo shook their heads and headed to the showers.
"He said he was going to talk to Hicks earlier." Luca informed her.
That worried Chris, they didn't go to Hicks with something before each other. Plus she heard him talking about someone retiring earlier, she never got the chance to ask him about it because they had to roll out.
Their case took them to a house out in the valley, near her old neighborhood. It was a husband and wife and their two sons, one looked to be about five and the other looked to be about twelve. They were fostering the five year old and the cops had been called out there numerous times on suspicion of illegal substances & abusive behavior toward their dog. The five year old, Samuel, was trying to get the dog out of the house when his foster father Trey made him a hostage.
Trey was determined not to get caught. He already had three priors for illegal substances and DUI.
Luckily they were able to talk Trey down and arrest him without harm to his children or wife and dog, who he threatened to kill if Samuel didn't listen.
The dog, Roxy, was so bad she could hardly walk, she had three bumps on her back & Chris could tell she hadn't been brushed in months, seeing all the matted fur. They got animal control out there quickly and they promised to take good care of her, with Chris promising to follow up on their promise.
Walking passed Hicks office she stopped when he called her name, turning to face him.
"If you're looking for Street he asked to leave early, said he had something to take care of but he'll be back, shouldn't be too much longer actually. Hicks told her, checking his watch.
"Thank you! I've looked everywhere and asked everyone." Chris sighed of relief & walked back down to the ring, jumping in with her boxing gloves, ready to train with Tan as she had promised him before they'd had to roll out.
Chris knew Hicks had told her Street would be back soon but she wasn't expecting him to come strolling back in only twenty minutes later and definitely not with a German Shepard at the end of the leash he held onto. Jumping down, she took her gloves off and grabbed some water, walking over.
"Did you join k9 without telling me?" Chris half jokingly inquired with raised eyebrows.
"You mean Reilly? I thought you said you wanted a German Shepard, specifically a retired k9?" Street asked, smirk on his lips.
Chris just stood there bewildered, a million thoughts running through her mind.
Still processing, all she could get out was "What? Where the hell did you find a dog!?"
Street laughed and so did Tan and Deacon, Luca and Hondo just smiled, having already known for months.
"I've been looking for the past six months, my buddy Jackson, in Long Beach knew someone with a retiring police dog. I reached out to him two weeks ago and he put me in contact with Tim, the guy who was able to get me Reilly." Street informed her.
"She's six years old, loves the beach and long walks. She cuddles with a blanket at night and she's great around children." Street continued when Chris still stood there, taking it all in.
Street didn't know what to expect from Chris but it surely wasn't her throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him in the middle of HQ. He gladly excepted it though, returning a kiss to her forehead and handing her the leash.
"I have her toys, food, blanket, and dog bed in my truck so we don't have to buy anything." Street said, as everyone came over to pet Reilly.
"Now Duke has a friend! play dates forever!" Luca exclaimed, excited for his furry best friend.
"So how long did you know? Don't tell me you didn't because you're the only ones who didn't say anything." Chris laughed and turned toward Luca and hondo.
"We helped look but Street gets all the credit for finding her and putting in the work to go get her, we did help him do extensive research for what you need to take care of her since you're gone most of the day though." Hondo explained.
"Thank you." Chris mouthed to Street as everyone surrounded Reilly, who was loving the attention.
"You guys are free to take Reilly home and get settled in, 50 squad is on B shift tonight." Hicks walked up to them & squatted down to pet Reilly.
*******
After showers, changing and packing up their stuff for the three day weekend ahead, Chris and Street returned to the front of HQ and retrieved Reilly from Luca and Tan, who were already giving her plenty of love and attention.
They headed home, stopping for pizza on the way. Arriving in front of their house they've lived in together for the past year, Reilly ran inside as soon as Chris let her out of the truck, as if she'd lived there her whole life.
Chris and Street enjoyed pizza, offering some crust to Reilly who happily excepted and then they took her to the park after unloading all her accessories.
later on, as they got ready for bed, Reilly got in her bed and curled up with her blanket and favorite stuffed elephant.
*********
The next three days were filled with long walks on the beach, playing in the backyard, and Reilly and Duke's first doggy play date.
Chris still couldn't believe Street had enlisted Luca and Hondo's help and managed to keep it a surprise for six months.
It wasn't until Sunday night when they were getting ready for bed again that she remembered wondering who was retiring, now it all made sense and Reilly was the perfect fit, the start of their family.
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Hey! I got this one up pretty quickly after the last one so i'm pretty proud of myself right now. I've been meaning to do this one for a while now but forgot about it and Sharna & I's conversation earlier reminded me of it! Thanks sharnawrites for the title and here's the story you've been waiting on!
