West Coast

Epilogue

Cas walked through the school, Mary yanking him along by his hand.

'Come on, Uncle Cas!' she said excitedly.

'Hold on, Mary, Hoagie can't keep up.'

Mary glanced back at the dog, struggling behind them.

A little grey in the snout, Hoagie still dutifully wore his jacket, but wasn't as quick as he used to be.

Mary crouched down and patted him on the head. 'Sorry, Hoagie,' she said.

Hoagie wagged his tail, tired, but still loved the attention.

Mary stood up again, patting Fries the golden retriever as well, so she wouldn't feel left out. She led the way again, slower this time, mindful of Hoagie's aching joints.

They arrived in the art department, where other kids and their parents were milling around.

'That one's mine!' Mary said, jumping up and down, and pointing at her painting on the wall. She let go of Cas's hand and ran over to the wall, where all of her class's art was being displayed.

Cas followed her, navigating through the crowd of people with both of his dogs. He ended up next to a blonde woman and her son on one side, and Mary on the other, beaming at him proudly.

Cas looked up at the wall, frowning, and shook his head. 'I'm sorry, angel, which one did you say is yours?' he asked.

'This one!' She stretched to point at a painting of a big tree, in what Cas guessed was supposed to be her back yard.

'Of course it is,' Cas smiled.

The woman next to him frowned, narrowing her eyes at him. 'You should really pay attention when your kid talks,' she said snidely.

Cas raised his eyebrows, too shocked by her comment to respond, though he didn't need to.

Mary pushed herself between them, hands on hips, and stomped her foot. 'You can't be mean to my uncle Cas,' she said angrily. 'He hurt his head, so he can't remember things. It's not his fault, so you can't be mean.'

'It's all right, she didn't know,' Cas smiled, placating Mary with a hand on her head.

'Sorry,' said the woman, though her expression didn't change. 'I guess that explains the dogs.' She looked down at them, distaste twisting her mouth, though Mary didn't appear to notice.

'This one's Hoagie,' she explained. 'He's helping to teach Fries how to do his job, so he can retire. Right, Uncle Cas?'

'Right.'

'Oh, so you're the famous Uncle Cas?' Another woman with red hair appeared next to them. 'Mary talks about you all the time.'

'Does she really?'

'Oh, absolutely. She says she's going to be an artist, just like you.'

Mary then ran off to find her friends.

'I'm her teacher, by the way,' the red-headed woman said.

'What are you doing at her parents' evening, anyway?' the blonde woman demanded.

Cas shrugged. 'I've been teaching her to paint. She wanted to show me her work was on display, like mine.'

'Oh, you're the one with that gallery in the city,' the teacher nodded. She glanced at the blonde woman.

'That's right,' said Cas.

'You don't have any kids of your own?' the blonde woman interrupted again.