PAW Patrol: Road to Recovery || Book Two

(C29) Her Forever Family

Disappointment throughout the room was practically a promise with the sudden bullet of a statement, the originally encouraging atmosphere had faded away from their grasp. Audrey's head sunk to the ground upon hearing the news, with her immediate reaction being to crouch down and duck behind Marshall's leg. She refused to look at the boy, with the mindset of him not being able to see her if she couldn't see him. The tactic seemed to work during hide and seek, but she had a feeling her cloak of invisibility wouldn't save her this time.

"Listen, I'll give you guys a few minutes to yourselves, but try not to take too long. I need to do something upstairs real quick, so I'll be back. Hope everything goes well," he attempted to compromise while backing away and slowly shutting the door. The three were left in awkward silence, the only audible noise coming from the room was the pup's soft whimpering that was muffled from her muzzle being lost inside the Dalmatian's fur.

"I-I don't wanna," she quietly murmured, the way she kept nervously gripping his leg supporting her claim. They were used to her being more on the physical side with them, whether that be through hugging or playing with their fur, but her current actions showed a much different tone. She felt desperate, she was almost pulling them away from the horrors that lay behind the door.

"I know you don't, we don't either. But you just gotta be brave, you're good at that, aren't you?" he attempted to encourage her, gently stroking the top of her head. The pup only frowned and kept her eyesight on the ground below her, slightly shaking her head in denial.

"I'm not bwave. N-not like you and Mommy." Audrey slowly raised her head, eyeing her two caretakers while they glanced at each other. Even without watching her, the dally wrapped his leg around her before his caring gaze made its way back down to her.

"Of course you're brave, you're still a puppy and you've done so much that most would never be able to. I'd even say you're braver than us." The pup, not believing what she was hearing, tilted her head. Surely they were just over exaggerating, this comparison felt way out of her league.

"W-weally? B-but I'm scawed, that doesn't make me bwave," she countered, feeling rather confident in her argument, though that confidence only seemed interested in siding with her worries instead of making this easier for her. However, Marshall only shook his head, cutting through the cold of her doubt with his warm smile.

"You know, my Mommy and Daddy always said that being scared meant you were about to do something brave. You might not understand it until you're older, but you've done so much that we could've never done at your age." Although she still very much doubted him, she nodded slowly, reaching her paw out for the doorknob. There wasn't much of a point in trying to argue, it wouldn't do any good this time. All she cared about was getting this over with, if she couldn't hide from it, she might as well get past the pain.

"Hang on, don't get too ahead of yourself. C'mon, let us see that smile," Everest instructed her. Hesitantly, the pup weakly grinned, almost instantly gaining her a high-five from the husky. The action finally got a small giggle out of her, which quickly gave them the response they had been searching for. "There's our girl! Let's try to be excited, you're gonna make new friends, you might really love it with her."

"Mommy's right, she's gonna be excited to see you, it'll be fun. Just take a deep breath, Audrey." The collie, although far from enjoying this as her guardians encouraged, nodded, deeply inhaling and exhaling. But before leaving the safe haven of their home, she quickly wrapped them both in a quick group hug and gifted herself with the feeling of their furry legs grasping onto her, their hold protecting her from the demons she'd soon face. All of her worries could disappear within the softness of their fur, but that only lasted until she forced herself to raise her head.