Gwen's POV

"It's an animal shelter?" Alexander asks in awe as I park the car.

"Yes, I volunteer here when I'm not teaching" I tell him. "Now most of these animals have not been tested with children. So no trying to pat any without permission" I tell him.

"Awe, but I want too" he says with a pout.

"I know, but I don't want you to get hurt. Promise me you won't try and touch any animal without permission?" I ask.

"Ok, I promise" he says and I smile ruffling his hair. "Hey not the hair" he whines shooing my hand away. I chuckle and we get out of the car. I lead him inside.

"Hey Gwen, who's the kid?" Jack asks. His the manager of the shelter.

"My nephew, he's visiting. I hope it's ok I brought him?" I ask.

"It's fine, we have some new members that could use some attention" he says handing me a folder. I smile sadly. It seven border collie pups.

"Why are they here?" I ask him.

"Accidental litter" he says with a shrug. "But do your other tasks first, they're sleeping right now" he tells me. "We're trying to find foster carers for them, if you're interested" he states.I nod and lead Xander away. I never turn down fostering animals in need. Especially the young ones.

"Ok Xander, firs we're going to clean some enclosures, then prepare food for some of the animals. Then have lunch ourselves and if you've been good. You'll get a special reward in the afternoon" I tell him.

"What sort of reward?" he asks me excitedly.

"You'll find out later" I tell him. We get to the set on enclosures.

"Where are the animals?" he asks me.

"Out on a walk, training or socializing with others. We need to clean the pens before they get back" I tell him.

"Just us?" he asks looking at the thirty pens. "But there's so many, how will we be able to clean them all?" he asks me.

"Others will be here shortly, and we only have to do ten of them" I tell him. I grab the broom and hand it to him. "Please start sweeping the first one while I prepare the mop bucket" I suggest.

"Ok mum, sorry I mean Auntie Gwen" he corrects himself. He goes into the first pen and starts to sweep it. I head over to the sink and prepare the mop bucket. I then grabbed the mop and another broom. Before joining Xander in the pen. We continue to clean, him asking me questions every now and again about my life. I in turn ask him some about his.

(Time skip)

Xander and I are enjoying lunch. Jack had got us all pizza to celebrate one of our long term residents being adopted. "So do you have any pets in New York?" I ask Xander.

"No, dad says they cause to much trouble" he says pouting. I laugh lightly.

"They can, but if trained properly and with right amount of exercise. A pet can be a wonderful companion. In my book every kid should grow up with a dog or cat. Which do you prefer?" I ask him curious.

"I've always wanted a dog" he tells me. I smile.

"I grew up with two dogs, they were my best friends growing up" I tell him. "When I moved out here after college, my only companion was my dog. But she passed away last year" I explain.

"That's so sad" he says with a frown.

"It was, but I've been thinking of adopting a new one. But for there's one in need of fostering" I tell him.

"Fostering?" he asks me confused.

"It's when someone takes care of an animal in their own home. Until they are ready to get adopted or need to move to a new foster carer" I tell him. We finish eating. "Remember the no touch rule?" I ask him and he nods his head. "Well here, you may pat whoever you want" I tell him. And we enter the room.

"Puppies!" he says excitedly. The puppies rush to the fence to greet us. He goes to pat them.

"Not yet Xander" I tell him and he looks at me in confusion. "They need to learn manners, only pat them if they are calm and not jumping. If they jump ignore them" I tell him. He nods his head and we enter the pen. The pups jump at us. "Ah ah" I say firmly and most stop.

"Good pups" Xander says patting a couple that are sitting down.

"Very good Xander" I say happily as all the pups settle. They each get a pat. Then we start to play with them. "You know they don't have names yet" I tell him.

"We can name time?" he asks me.

"Mm hm, but we're up to the letter R. So all names have to begin with R" I tell him. "We have three boys and four girls" I state. We start to name them. The boys Ryan, Rover, and Ranger. The girls Roxie, Rexy, Rori and Rose. I wrote them all down. "So I have to take one of them home to foster, which should I choose?" I ask him.

"Rexy" he says as he hugs her. I smile and nod my head. I gather her things and let him carry her. We go to Jack's office.

"We named the pups and are taking Rexy home to foster her" I tell him.

"Excellent, thanks for the excellent work today" he tells me. I told him it was no problem and we left. I put Rexy in her travel crate and her stuff in the boot. Before driving to my house.

"Where are we going?" Xander asks me confused.

"My house" I tell him.

"I thought you lived in an apartment" he says.

"I do when I'm in the city. But I have a house in the suburbs, that's where I stay with foster animals. As the apartment building doesn't allow pets unless they're an emotional support animal or helping someone with a disability" I tell him.

"Oh" he says. We arrive as the sun begins to set. We let Rexy go to the loo before going inside. I made us dinner and set up the spare room for Xander. We watched a movie and he fell asleep. I carried him to the spare bedroom and tucked him in.

I kiss his forehead. "Sweet dreams Xander, we'll contact your father tomorrow" I state. I then went to bed. I soon feel someone crawl under the covers beside me. "What's wrong?" I ask Xander.

"I had a nightmare, can I please sleep here?" he asks me.

"Of course" I tell him and he snuggles into me.

"Good night mum" he says tiredly.

"Sweet dreams Xander" I say resting an arm around him protectively. Then we both drift off to sleep. Not knowing that we'd be having a visit from his father in the morning.

Third Persons POV

Damien landed around lunch time and was greeted by Parker. "Where are they?" he demands.

"I don't know, I checked the park, her work place and the mall. No sign and they haven't returned to the apartment" he states.

"What about her house in the suburbs?" Damien asks.

"Not there either" Parker tells him.

"If anything has happened to my son Parker" Damien sneers.

"He's got his watch on sir, but only you can access the signal" Parker tells him.

"That's something" Damien mutters and turns the app on. He logs in and locates his sons signal. "Damn they're four and half hours away" he growls.

"That's a two hour drive from her apartment, why would she drive so far?" Parker asks confused.

"It's only forty minutes from her house" Damien states as they reach the car. "She only comes into the city on weekends to see her friends when they visit. Otherwise she lives in her house" he explains.

"Man how much information do you have on the poor girl?" Parker asks.

"Enough" Damien states and programs the GPS.

"Are we going to go get him now?" Parker asks.

"Not tonight, I don't want to disturb his sleep. But we'll be there first thing in the morning" Damien states. He didn't want to leave his son with the woman. But he didn't want to cause a huge scene. He wanted to be calm when they meet, so he doesn't do anything he'll regret later.

A/N

Picture above of the pups Alexander gets to play with and picture in chapter of Rexy.