What if? Chapter 8

Damien came running down the lane with a couple of his friends following him and a dog.  It was a medium sized dog and looked like it might be a spaniel of some kind.  The dog had no collar and acted like Damien was already its owner.  He'd been playing with his friends when the dog came out of nowhere.  

"Dad!"  Damien yelled as he got closer to the house.  "Dad!  Look what I found!"  He opened the gate and the dog went running up the path to the house, stopping on the porch.  Of course Crowley knew what it was the minute he laid eyes on it.  Anyone else would just see a lovely, well behaved spaniel.  Crowley could see the Hell Hound for what it really was.  

"That's a very nice dog."  Crowley said and cleared his throat.  

"Dad, can I keep him?  Please?"  Damien batted his eyelashes at Crowley and tried to look absolutely adorable.  Crowley took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  

"I guess that depends on whether or not you've already named him."  Crowley crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.  He knew that the dog had already been named by the way it looked.  Damien's friends were waiting in the lane to see if he'd be able to keep the dog.  

"I thought I'd call him Charlie."  Damien knelt down and scratched behind the dog's ears.  Crowley tensed a bit but tried to hide it.  The end of the world was days away.  He hadn't done a good enough job to stop it.  

"Alright, you can keep him.  But you have to walk him and feed him and take care of him."  Crowley nodded firmly.  He had a phone call he had to make.  

"Thanks, dad!"  Damien said before giving Crowley a hug.  He had a feeling he'd get to keep the dog.  It was his birthday after all.  

"Just remember to take care of him."  Crowley hugged back and ruffled the boy's hair.  Damien then ran off to go play with his friends, the dog following after him.  

"So that's it then?"  Aziraphale asked as they sat at the kitchen table in the cottage.  

"Apparently."  Crowley sighed heavily.  "I thought for sure I'd done a good job....that he'd turn the dog away...."  Crowley closed his eyes.  

"Are you seriously questioning your skills as a parent right now?"  Aziraphale asked with a raised eyebrow.  

"Maybe."  Crowley muttered before sipping his coffee.  "We have a week at most before the end of the world.  I don't know what else to do."  

"We'll come up with something."  Aziraphale nodded, though he wasn't even remotely sure what.  

"Right.  We always do."  Crowley said a bit deadpan, finishing off the last of his coffee.  The end of the world was literally days away and he was responsible for the one being that was going to start it.  Of course everything would be just fine.