Puppy Love

[theprawncracker]

I like Gidget. Can we just make this whole thing about her instead?

But really... this is wonderful (go figure). I adore the Rowlf/Kermit interaction, of course. However, i think what I like the most is how delightful Rowlf is to read when he's written by you. It's delightful and dog-gone good. (Had to be done.)

 

[The Count]

: Poke poke poke poke poke. More please?

 

[TogetherAgain]

Oh, hello Ed! I had no idea you were reading this. What a well-timed nag. I was just proof-reading the next chapter for posting. It will be up in a minute!

 

[TogetherAgain]

Chapter Three

“UNCLE ROWLF!” Three young puppies charged across the baggage claim area and plowed into Rowlf’s knees.

Rowlf chuckled and set his bag down to scoop the girls into his arms. “Hello, girls. How much trouble are you getting in?”

“None,” little Taylor said with almost perfect innocence, and her sisters tittered.

“Plenty,” Lacey said with some exasperation as she reached them. “Hello, Rowlf. Thanks for coming.”

“Good to see you, Lacey,” Rowlf said. His sister looked very much like he did, except that her fur was a far lighter shade of brown—closer to the color of chocolate milk. She’d always seemed very motherly to him, but that had nothing to do with the way she dressed. Like many dogs he knew, Lacey had never felt entirely clothed in her own fur, and today’s outfit was a typical example of her style: tight-fitting capris, high heels, and a sleeveless button-down leopard-print blouse.

She put her paws on her hips and gave her daughters a look that was really too amused to be stern. “You girls were supposed to stay next to me, remember? It’s a busy airport, and I don’t want you getting lost.”

“Sorry, Mama,” the puppies answered, not quite in unison, but they were really too busy trying to snuggle into their uncle’s arms to sound contrite.

Rowlf chuckled and pulled the puppies away enough to hold them at arm’s length—or at least, he held Taylor and Riley, and Emma knew to stand between them. “Alright, let me look at you three. How much have you grown now?”

“Lots!” Riley said. “Lots and lots!”

“We’re twice as big!” Emma declared.

They weren’t quite that much bigger, but they had definitely grown. He could still pick one of them up with only one arm, but it looked like it would be more of a challenge now; he wasn’t sure he would want to carry one niece in each arm for more than a few minutes anymore. How Lacey managed three puppies with only two arms was beyond him.

Riley and Taylor really looked very much alike, but Rowlf had never confused the two. They both had fur close in color to their mother, but with black markings on their heads. Taylor had more than just markings, really—her ears and most of her head were black, plus a small black circle around each eye on an otherwise light brown face. Riley had much larger circles around her eyes and a few small markings on top of her head. She was also the tomboy of the sisters.

Emma was the most feminine of the three. She loved anything pink and adored wearing bows, lace, ruffles, and ribbons. Her sisters were content in shorts and t-shirts, but Emma insisted on wearing a skirt at all times. But if she hadn’t been wearing clothes, Emma could have disappeared just by standing in front of her uncle; she and Rowlf had exactly the same color fur.

Rowlf shook his head. “Lacey, what are you feeding these girls? They’re growing up too fast.”

Lacey laughed. “You say that every time you visit, Rowlf, and my answer still hasn’t changed.”

“Well, change their food. They’re growing too fast.”

The puppies giggled over the customary exchange between the grown-ups. Lacey just sighed, and her brother gave her a mirthful grin. She shook her head. “Come on, girls. We’ve got a long drive back home. Let’s go make a pit stop.”

The girls grumbled a chorus of “Yes, Mama,” and then all three of them rushed to grab one of Rowlf’s paws. Emma and Riley succeeded, making it impossible for Rowlf to pick up his bag. He gave his nieces a startled look, but before Taylor had time to pout at not being included, Lacey had scooped her up in one arm and grabbed the bag with her other paw. She gave her brother a half-amused, half-exasperated look at how light his bag was, and Rowlf only had time to shrug before his nieces started peppering him with questions and stories about the make-believe games they played.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

The Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just outside of Washington, DC was the closest airport to where Rowlf had grown up, but it was still over an hour’s drive from the sleepy Maryland town he still sometimes thought of as home. Rowlf and Lacey had no trouble passing the time as they chatted about what was going on in town, at the hair salon where she worked, and at the Muppet Theater in Los Angeles. Of course, they did have a brief, slightly heated discussion regarding the choice of music on the radio, but that was almost more out of habit than anything else.

The puppies had a harder time. Emma was content enough just looking out the window at the passing scenery for most of the trip, but Riley and Taylor quickly started fidgeting. They sighed and groaned about the long, boring drive until Lacey—without even looking—reached into a bag by Rowlf’s feet and held two books out towards the backseat. “Take these, girls. What happened to the books you had on the way to the airport?”

The picture books kept them occupied for a while, but when you were three years old, a whole entire hour was a very long time to sit still in a car seat in the back of a station wagon. By the time they made it into their home town, all three puppies were anxious to get out of the car.

“How much longer, Mama?” Taylor asked.

“Just ten more minutes, Sweetie.”

“Ten minutes?” Emma whined.

“Can we stop first?” Riley begged.

“Not yet, honey. We’re almost home.”

“But Mama, I need to go potty!” Riley said.

“Me too!” both of her sisters chimed in.

“We’re almost home, girls. Just try to hold it in a little bit longer—”

“I’ve been holding it, Mama!” Riley said insistently, and she squirmed in her car seat.

Lacey sighed and glanced at her brother. “Maybe we could stop by Uncle Jack’s shop—”

The puppies immediately cheered.

Rowlf shook his head. “Didn’t they just go before we left the airport?” he asked quietly enough that the backseat wouldn’t hear.

“Mm-hm.”

“And they haven’t had anything to drink since then.”

“Nope.”

“So what are the odds they really need a bathroom?”

Lacey smirked. “Slim. But I don’t feel like cleaning a car seat if I’m wrong. Do you?”

“Good point.” Rowlf felt a little sick at the idea. “How would you even… I mean…”

Lacey laughed. “It’s a project. Trust me,” she said. “So we’ll go see Jack, and maybe we’ll convince him to leave work a little early.”

“That’ll be the day,” Rowlf scoffed.

Lacey turned in at the parking lot for Aaron’s Garage, which had never actually been owned by anyone named Aaron. The original owner had chosen the name as a marketing ploy back when most people found whatever sort of business they needed in the alphabetical listings in the phone book. Since then, the shop had been handed down from one senior employee to another, and now it belonged to Jack the Dog.

“Could you get Taylor out?” Lacey asked as she turned the car off. “I’ll grab Emma and Riley.”

So Rowlf got out of the car and opened the back door. “Alright, Taylor, how do you work this thing?”

Taylor giggled. “You push the button, Uncle Rowlf.”

“What button?” Rowlf scrutinized the buckle holding his niece in place. By the time he got Taylor out of her seat, Lacey had both Emma and Riley out of the car. He shook his head. “Lace, I think I’m slowing you down more than I’m helping you.”

Lacey laughed. “Come on, girls. Let’s go inside.”

Riley was in a hurry and kept trying to pull her paw away from her mother’s grasp. The other two must have felt they needed the restroom as well, because they both hurried along at Lacey’s side without even trying to reach for Rowlf’s paw.

“Hi Ted!” Lacey called as she led their little parade into the repair shop’s reception area.

The man sitting behind the counter glanced up from his magazine. “Oh, hey Lacey. Girls need a pit stop?”

“Yup.” Lacey didn’t even slow her stride as she herded her daughters towards the appropriately marked door.

Then Ted looked at Rowlf and raised his eyebrows. “Well… What have we here? Look who’s descending from on high! Decided to come mingle with us common folks, huh?”

Lacey glanced over her shoulder and shot her brother that worried, protective look he’d always resented—and been grateful for. Then the bathroom door closed.

“Yeah, I came home for a visit,” Rowlf said, and he folded his arms across the top of the counter. “So how are things with you, Ted? Jack workin’ you too hard?”

Ted’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Oh, everything’s fine and dandy,” he said coldly. “I suppose you’ll want to see the boss right now.”

“Sure, if he’s not too busy.” Rowlf moved away and looked through the big windows behind Ted that showed the actual work area of the garage.

He always made at least one attempt at being nice to Ted, but it never worked. They’d been civil enough as acquaintances in high school, back when Ted had been the star of the drama club and Rowlf had played piano in the pit band. After graduation, Ted had made several attempts at moving out to Hollywood to become a star, but none had lasted more than a few months before he’d been forced to either come home or face starvation. His most difficult failure had come around the same time as Rowlf’s big break with The Jimmy Dean Show, and Ted’s resentment for the dog had been stewing ever since.

“So, is my brother gettin’ his paws dirty today, or did somebody wrangle him into his office?” Rowlf asked. “I don’t see him out there.”

“He’s in the middle of a call with a very important customer,” Ted said dryly. “But for you, well, I’m sure you could walk right in, and that wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t want to interrupt,” Rowlf said easily. The trick was to try to ignore Ted’s tone of voice. It wasn’t an easy trick. He went over to the little waiting area and examined the car magazines set out for reading.

“So Rowlf, what brings a big hot shot like you way out here to see us little people?” Ted must have been in a mood to pick a fight today.

“Now why would I need a reason to see my own family?” Rowlf said. He picked up a magazine and started flipping through without really looking at the pages. “I like coming home.”

“Uh-huh. Sure ya do.”

Deep breath, Rowlf, the dog silently reminded himself. Don’t get your hackles up. “I sure do,” he said simply. Maybe that would close the conversation.

“No big Hollywood parties this weekend, huh?”

“Can’t say I’d know if there were.”

Ted scoffed. “And that big variety show of yours?”

“Our show. Kermit always insists that it’s all of ours,” Rowlf said fondly. “That’s still on for this week.” And what would Ted think if Rowlf mentioned that he’d postponed his big piano number for a trip back home? He probably wouldn’t believe it.

The door next to Ted’s desk opened. “Rowlf! Welcome home!”

Rowlf grinned and dropped the magazine back on the table. “Good to see you, Jack,” he said as he went to greet his brother.

“Come on back here. We’ll tell some dirty jokes,” Jack said, holding the door open and letting in the sounds of the shop—a hammer pounding on metal, the whine of a power drill. “How was your flight? Is Lacey here?”

“Yeah, she’s—”

“Puppy pit stop,” Ted cut in, sitting up in his chair.

“Oh, have her bring the pups back to my office, alright Ted?” Jack ushered his brother into the shop without waiting for a response. The moment the door closed behind them, his cheerful composure turned strained and apologetic. “Rowlf, I’m sorry. I’ve got this call on hold I’ve gotta wrap up. I just came to get you ‘cause I saw you were out there with Ted, and—well, I didn’t want you alone out there.”

Rowlf shook his head. Since when was his little brother the protective one? “It’s not that bad. He’s just bitter.”

“He’s a jerk. I hate how he talks to you. If he weren’t so good with the books, I’d fire him. You see that Mercedes there?”

Jack had switched into work mode, so there was no point trying to argue for Ted’s employment. “Hard to miss it,” Rowlf said, taking in another eyeful of the red convertible as they walked past. It might have been a beautiful car if the entire front end hadn’t been crumpled like an old aluminum can.

“I’m on the phone with the owner,” Jack said as he led the way into his office. “Nice guy. Good customer. Complete idiot. Sounds like he already wrecked his next victim.”

“Victim?” Rowlf echoed.

“The new car he got when I explained this one would take more than an hour to fix. He doesn’t bother with rentals.” Jack plopped down behind his desk and gestured for Rowlf to use one of the folding chairs against the wall. “The guy goes through cars like Mom goes through purses,” he said, and he grabbed the phone from its cradle. “Sorry about that, Charlie. You still there?”

Rowlf closed the office door and quietly unfolded a chair. His brother kept the phone to his ear and stared out the big office windows at the crumpled Mercedes-Benz in his shop. He had a pained look on his face as he listened to the customer, and Rowlf wondered if that was from looking at the ruined car or dealing with the person who had wrecked it. He could hear a muffled voice from the phone, but no distinct words.

Then Jack looked at him and let out a sigh that Rowlf knew was really a well-disguised laugh. “Charlie, I hate to break it to you,” he said into the phone, slowly and carefully, “But painting your car with flames and racing stripes does not change the fact that it’s a hybrid.”

 

[The Count]

Yay. Alphabetical listing, yah, working on that. Rowlf not know how to work a seatbelt? The whole thing with the puppies is cute to me cause my best real friend gets roped into looking after his three little nieces sometimes as well. And why would you want to paint flames and racing stripes onto a hybrid you just crashed? Good chapter, now please continue posting.

 

[redBoobergurl]

Yay update! Fun family stuff! More please!

 

[charlietheowl]

Rowlf seems like a great uncle, and I like getting glimpses into his family life. Thanks for sharing!

 

[TheWeirdoGirl]

I love this story so far! Rowlf is a very good uncle.

 

[Misskermie]

Aw, cute wittle puppies! And I love all of them excited to see Rowlfie!

 

[The Count]

Because you mentioned something about posting something new in another of your fic threads...
*Bump. Please post more nice lady. Me need more story! Me got to have more story! Oh, please post more story!
I think she gets the point.
Muppets, 3...
Fanfic, 1.