I watched the casket being lowered into the ground once again, her name was Lilliana - she was the great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of my original owner William Crenshaw.

William was my creator- a mad scientist if you wish to call him that- but to me, he was more than that. He was my father, my hero, my protector, and my best friend. He gave me a mission to watch over the next generation in his family.

He had one beautiful wife, Margret, and had three handsome sons, Quinton: the youngest, Jeremiah: the middle child, and Sloan: the eldest.

When William had died he had written in his will that the eldest, Sloan, would inherit one fourth of his estate and me; his greatest creation, Nayko.

As Lilliana’s service ended, her son Nicholas, took me by the leash and led me to his car. And as we sat there his eyes welded up with tears and began sobbing uncontrollably.

I kissed him, trying to cheer him up as I did when he was crying inconsolably as a child. But he didn’t stop crying. ‘I know it’s hard, Nick. It’s hard on me too.’ I thought wining in pain, as I watched Nick cry.

He was like this on the day his father, Clint, died, too. Ten years ago.

And now, Nick being an orphan; I’m sure he doesn’t know what to do. He’s 18, but still has yet to graduate from high school. He’s lost.. but at least he has me.

When Nick finally stopped crying he looked at me and gave a soft smile, “you’re a good boy, Duke.”

I wagged my tail, ‘I love you, kid. You’re not alone, not as long as I’m here.’ I thought as I kissed him again.

He laughed and pet my head. “Alright Duke, let’s go home.”

As we pulled up into the driveway, Nick’s smell became sad again. I could tell he wanted to cry again, so I put my head in his lap and tried to comfort him. He pat my head and as he moved to undo his seatbelt, I moved my head. Then we headed inside.

The house was more empty than ever, even with us in it. Nick’s mom kept the place afloat. Over 2,000 square feet with ten acres, all taken care of by a 39 year old woman. She did good. Kept every dust particle off the crown molding and every dog hair cleaned off the floor, every day after a long shift at the hospital.

Nick walked into his room, I watched him. ‘He needs comforting, but needs to be alone right now.’ I thought.

I went into the kitchen and began putting the dishes on the counter from inside the dishwasher. Thankfully my second to last owner trained me to be a service dog. I can lead the blind, do dishes, transfer laundry, fetch drinks and snacks, and open doors.

Lilliana’s dad, Warren, was a wounded veteran who served in Iraq, he became blind after a chemical weapon exploded next to him, and lost his left arm in an explosion right after he became blind. When he came back, he couldn’t do much. Especially since his wife at the time decided she didn’t want to take care of him. The training was hard and unending it felt like. But in the end, I helped him survive and led him to meet his wife, Catherine. Quite literally. But that’s a love story for another time.

I walked to the laundry room after finishing putting the dishes on the counter, and put the laundry in the washer and placed a tablet inside of it. Pressing the start button with my nose.

I’m a tall dog, if you want to call me that. By breed standards I’m a mutt; I have the height of a Caucasian shepherd, the looks of a cane Corso, and a coat like a German shepherd; but the intelligence of an adult human. And I’m over 157 years old, human years; but I don’t look a day over three in dog years.

Graduation finally came, and while regular dogs weren’t allowed; I was. I was his only family, and he registered me as his service dog; or more, emotional support animal. I walked onto stage with him as he received his diploma. ‘I couldn’t be more proud’ I thought as I looked up at him as he shook the Principal’s hand.

When we got home a car was parked in the driveway; I growled. Nick looked at the car and said “yeah, I see it too.” As we got out of his car, a man emerged from his. He was dressed in a casual tux, and smelled like leather and old spice cologne. ‘If he wanted to leave a good impression, maybe he should have chosen a cologne that didn’t smell like roid rage.’ I thought.

As he approached, I put myself in between him and Nick. The man looked down at me, ‘I don’t like him. He’s up to something no good.’ I let out a low growl.

Nick tensed up, he caught was I was saying. “Can I help you?” Nick asked the strange man. “Yes, are you the owner of this house?” Nick nodded, “I just got the house through the will of my mom. She died about half a month ago. Can I ask what this is about?”

The man smiled, I growled again. He looked down at me again, “easy boy.” He reached for my head, I smelt maliciousness, I snapped at him. Ensuring I didn’t bite him; the man stammered back. He cleared his voice and looked to Nick again, pretending he didn’t just pee a little.

“You need to leave this estate. There is another person claiming to have inherited it.” The man said, I turned my head. ‘What the hell is he going on about? The only one who could have gotten the house years ago is… oh no!’ I looked at Nick and whined. Nick acknowledged me, “that’s not possible. My dad inherited this place from his father and so on and so forth. I am the only child of my father.”

“Not according to this.” The man stated. Handing Nick a folder. He sat down on the stairs of the house, opening it as I stood in front of him staring the strange man in the eyes. ‘Touch him and I’ll tear your face off.’

“Who is Garret Slovaki?” Nick asked. The hair on my back stood up, ‘him? No.’ I turned to Nick, his face showed his absolute confusion. ‘No. No! Not him!’

I grabbed the folder from Nick’s hands and tore it up. ‘He will NOT get this house, and he will NEVER get me again!’ I thought as I tore through each paper, all the while Nick tried to stop me. But I didn’t relent. When every paper was torn apart I put it out at the feet of the strange man.

I looked him in the eye again. I growled, then barked at him. He stammered back. “Duke is never like this. Which means something isn’t right.” Nick stated defensively. ‘Thank you! You’re such a good boy, Nick!’ I thought. I wagged my tail letting him know he was right on track.

“You can go now. Whoever it is you are.” Nick said. The man nodded, “sure. And forgive me, I failed to give you my name. I am an estate attorney, Mr. Benjamin Ross.” He put his hand out to shake Nick’s but Nick only stared at him, ignoring the gesture.

“You can get off my property, Mr. Ross. Because this is my home, and if we have to go to court; we will. I reject this other party’s claim to this estate. We have no family by that name, and given that my dad never had this issue; I won’t either.” Nick was firm in his tone and unwilling to back down.

I barked, backing Nick up with what he said.

Mr. Ross nodded, “then my client and I will see you in court.”

As the man left, Nick looked down at me. “Do you know that Garret guy?” I whined then barked. “‘Kay. Then we will have to hire an attorney, to ensure we don’t lose our home.”

Nick found the best attorney, and they worked out the kinks and planned the defense for the case. They had a solid plan, but the only issue was that they still didn’t know who Garret was. So I decided to help them.

I went into the basement and found a box of Warren’s stuff. As I grabbed his main journal, Nick began calling for me.

I walked out from the basement and into the living room where Nick sat with the Attorney. Holding the journal in my mouth, I sat it on Nick’s lap. Barked at him and sat.

Nick opened the journal and read the first entry. “This is my grandpas journal.”

As they read through they found an entry with Garret Slovaki mentioned, a crazed man who was hell bent on taking over the estate. Warren was tricked into signing an estate contract while drugged.

“According to Warren, Garret wasn’t interested in the estate; but rather the family dog - Rosco.” Nick stated before looking up at me. “Are you, Rosco?” I barked once, wagging my tail. The attorney looked at me the Nick; “what’s so special about the dog?” He asked. Nick looked at him, “well, Duke here has been in my family for a while. Obviously he was my dad’s dog and my dad said he got him from his dad. But I always thought he meant that his dog had puppies and he took a pup from the litter.”

The lawyer looked at me, “he answered you a second ago with a bark, as if he knew what you asked. Ask him another question, see if he will answer you again.” Nick nodded, “Duke. One bark for yes, two barks for no. Understand?”

Bark.

Nick and the Lawyer looked at each other then began asking questions.

“Do you know Garret?” -Bark.

“Is he a good guy?” - Bark, Bark.

“Did he do something bad to you?” -Bark.

“Did he hurt you?” -Bark.

“Wonder why?” Nick said, the attorney told him to ask more questions. As Nick read the journal he asked me questions and my answers alligned with what Warren wrote.

The lawyer and Nick discussed and came up with an even better defense for court.

……..

Court day finally came.

“Your honor, my client was supposed to inherit the estate from Warren Crenshaw when he passed away, but Garrett being the kind hearted man he is - decided not to take the estate due to Warren’s family grieving. We have provided the court with proof of the agreement with Warren’s signature. May the judge review the document.” Garret’s laywer states confidently.

“The defense may now present their counter argument.” The judge stated a few minutes later.

“Your honor, my client is the orphan of Clint Crenshaw and Lilliana Crenshaw; Mr. Crenshaw found the journal of his late father in the basement and we have provided a printed copy to the court. In these journal entries, you can find highlighted entries about Mr. Slovaki and the atrocities and crimes Mr. Slovaki has committed against him and the family dog, who was named Rosco at the time; now named Duke. According to Warren, Rosco was dog napped and experimented on by Mr. Slovaki for over two months; and because Duke comes with the estate to the inherited person, Mr. Slovaki is after the dog. Not the estate; but using the Estate as a means of reapprehending the dog in which he stole.”

The judge reviewed the evidence from each case, and took time to consult the jury and called for a recess. After two hours they all came back in, and announced that the court has shown favor on the side of Nick Crenshaw.