Chapter Text
“Should we keep it?” Sam whispered to Cas, acting as if the animal sat in front of him could understand what he was saying. The poor dog (which Sam had found hidden under a bush on his way home from the store) was drenched to the bone. It looked as if it hadn’t eaten in days, and its fur was matted. Sam couldn’t help but feel sorry for the pup.
“Well, we can’t throw it in the rain,” Cas responded, a caring look on his face. He reached forward to stroke the dog, petting its head gently. His fingers got tangled in the fur, and the dog yelped as he tried to pull them free. Sam bit his lip as the dog whined; he hated seeing a dog in pain. In a perfect world, he’d keep it, nurture it, love it - but reality called, and there was no way Dean would share a roof with a dog. Besides, a puppy as gorgeous as this probably had an owner looking for it.
“We should take it to the vets, see if it’s micro-chipped,” Sam said hesitantly. He didn’t want to see the dog go. It had been only twenty minutes, but he’d fallen in love with it. Cas looked at Sam and saw the longing look on his face. Smiling gently, he took hold of Sam’s hand and squeezed it. Sam glanced down to where their hands were joined, then quickly up to Cas’ tender eyes.
“Tomorrow,” Cas told him with a firm nod. Sam smiled gratefully.
The dog remained sat on the table, looking between Sam and Cas expectantly. Dean stormed into the kitchen moments later, a bag of groceries in each arm and a grumpy look on his face. Sam quickly jumped in front of the dog so that his brother wouldn’t see it. He was glad when his plan seemed to work, as Dean just dumped the groceries all over the side. Then an apple spilled out of one of the bags and onto the floor, and the puppy’s tail started wagging in excitement.
Sam frowned. He couldn’t keep Dean from seeing the dog, especially if it kept jumping around like it was. Cas seemed to sense Sam’s distress, because he quickly shuffled over to Dean and began to distract him by “accidentally” knocking over one of the bags and then tripping over a fallen box of macaroni straight onto Dean. With a wink aimed at Sam, Cas began to flap about, causing Dean to groan in frustration. It was perfect - Sam could easily smuggle the dog to his bedroom!
He darted down the corridor, dog pressed tightly to his side, and headed straight for his room. Usually, he’d liked to detour through the library, but he sensed that would not be an option. When he reached his room, he made a makeshift bed on his armchair using one of Cas’ pillows. The angel wouldn’t mind - he didn’t really sleep, anyway. Most of his nights were spent spooning Sam and keeping nightmares away.
Cas joined Sam minutes later, a smug look on his face. He pressed a kiss to Sam’s jaw, and Sam hugged him in return. The dog barked at them, tail wagging more furiously than before.
“Dean’s gone out to buy more pasta sauce,” Cas told Sam, trying hard not to laugh. “I broke all the jars. But at least it gives us enough time to clean up…” he trailed off. They hadn’t though of a name for the dog, not even something temporary until the real owners were found.
“What should we call him?” Cas asked, staring at the dog. Sam could think of a hundred names on the spot, every one something he’d come up with in childhood. He’d been desperate for a dog for a long time. The dog didn’t quite seem to fit any of these names, though - it wasn’t gold or blue eyed or particularly well behaved. All it had done so far was bark and wag its tail. Not even the generic “Bud” seemed to fit it. Sam thought.
“I don’t know,” Sam pouted. He was usually so good with dogs, why couldn’t he think of a good name? “I mean, we don’t really know him that well, do we? He’s lucky to even be alive!”
“Well then, for now, we can call him Lucky,” Cas reasoned. The dog - Lucky - seemed excited at the name, and Sam guessed it fit pretty well. So it was settled. The dog was Lucky.
While Dean was back at the store, Sam and Cas got to work making it presentable. Sam started by shearing off all of the matted fur, leaving only a little hair around the dog’s face. They found that Lucky was definitely male and then decided that, despite the fact they had gotten most of the dirt off, he still needed a bath. They bathed him in the sink, as he was still small enough to fit in there. However, his size did not prevent him from making a big mess - he splashed about so much that he flooded the bathroom.
By the time he was dry, Lucky was yawning and could barely keep his eyes open. Sam felt just about the same, was ready to drop, when Cas guided them to the bedroom. Sam all but collapsed into bed, dragging Cas and Lucky with him. Curled up together, Sam felt like a happy little family. He was at peace.