When it's Not Right

Chapter 11

Cory parked close to the house and unloaded the four bags of dog food two at a time. The rest of the groceries took another couple trips, and he had to keep telling Penny and Tank to leave the new bags of dog food alone each time he came back in the house.

        It had been two weeks since Carlos had adopted Shield, and Tank was still sad about losing the puppy. Penny moving into the house had helped by giving the older dog a younger one to look after, but Tank still hadn't gotten back to herself yet. Cory understood completely. His birth mom had died before he could really remember her, and his dad had married who he'd always thought of as his mom when he was five. People outside of his home town were surprised whenever they found out Cory's dad had been married before, especially after meeting Jenny because of how much she looked like Cory. Then his folks had been killed in a car crash, and almost his sister along with them, and he'd left active duty to help his sister through rehab from the crash. She'd gotten better and he'd gone back on active duty, but there wasn't a day he didn't miss his folks.

        As for Tank, the vet said it looked like she'd had at least one litter of pups before, and that her attachment to Shield likely meant that she'd lost the litter or had them taken away early. Her maternal instincts transferred nicely to Pensive, but Cory could easily see the familiar signs of grieving over the latest loss.

        He got the dog food locked up and the groceries put away, made a small pot of coffee (enough for one cup), and then went and sat out on the porch with Sir to discuss potential puppy options. Tank was spayed when she'd showed up in the yard, so she wouldn't be having her own litter again. Cory reasoned that he should get in touch with the local shelters to see if any of them needed a foster mom for any puppies.

        The first snowfall of the season started as he was chatting with Sir, and the old dog huffed a grumble at the flakes when Cory brought his attention to it. Sir didn't have any interest in coming into the house, but he'd been happy to move onto the enclosed porch. Cory had finished siding it so that it was fully enclosed, and then put on a door that he modified with spring hinges so the bottom half swung freely, ensuring that Sir could come and go as he pleased. The old dog hadn't even hesitated to follow along when Cory moved his blankets out of the lean-to.

        He was debating going inside when his phone rang. Jenny's face and phone number were shining up at him when he checked the small screen.

        "Hey, little sister," Cory answered the call.

        "Wrong. Please hang up and try your call again," Austin stated. Cory smirked and disconnected the call. His phone lit up again a half-minute later. "You're an asshole," Austin said before Cory had a chance to say anything. Jenny was laughing in the background. "Here I am, doing you the fine courtesy of calling to let you know that we're at the hospital, and you hang up on me."

        "Is everything okay?" Cory asked, immediately worried because Jenny had been having her worst pregnancy yet.

        "So far, yup," Austin confirmed. "Jenny went into labor about an hour ago. Mom's hanging out with the kids until we get home. We just wanted to let you know."

        "Isn't that a few weeks early?" Cory asked. She hadn't been due for another two and a half weeks. He'd been counting.

        "According to the medical norm she's running early, yeah," Austin answered. Cory could almost hear him shrug.

        "I'm so done with this pregnancy! We're having Conner today!" Jenny called out in the background. Austin chuckled into the phone.

        "We'll call with updates," Austin said.

        "Thanks," Cory said. The call disconnected before he could push the button to hang up. As with every time Jenny was pregnant, Cory was glad his best friend had married his little sister. The thought of navigating airports and strange hospitals because he didn't trust anyone to take care of Jenny except Austin... "Looks like I'm going to be an uncle again," Cory told Sir and gave the old dog's ears a thorough scratching. Sir smiled up at him from where he was lying, but Cory couldn't tell if it was from the good news or the ear scratches.