Rugrats in Dalmatian Street

Chapter 5 - Sour Puppies - Part 1

"Woah woah woah, time out for a second." Dolly interrupted, holding her front paws up to signal the conversation to be halted.

"You're telling us, that you not only know this human, but that he's able to understand us without those things in the babies' ears?" Dylan then asked. Being able to communicate with dogs with a translation device was one thing but to actually be able to speak and know what dogs are saying without any assistance was another.

"Yep! Believe me, sprout, it was a bit of a shock to me when I first found out about my gift when I was probably Angelica's age! My folks when they found out often liked to call it 'DoLittle Syndrome'!" Tommy's grandpa, Lou Pickles explained as he sat on the couch in the living room. Some of the pups were sat next to him as their faces lit up with growing intrigue.

"Yes, everything he's saying is true." Delilah confirmed as well before continuing. "And why I know him is... Well, he used took in and cared for my great-great-grandfather and grandaunt."

"What?"

"No way!"

"For real?"

Many of the pups exclaimed in a mix of disbelief and wonderment upon hearing this. Lou nodded to confirm what Delilah said before picking up Dizzy and gently scritching her head which made her giggle.

"Was maybe a year or so when Delilah wrote to me actually. Told me she started a big family, and I can see she definitely meant big! Any of these sprouts ever give you any trouble, Del?" Lou further explained before adding a question which made Delilah chuckle.

"Well, they can sometimes be a bit of a handful! Especially when Dolly and Dylan get into a little disagreement over responsibilities." Delilah replied, as Dolly responded by rolling her eyes.

"Ah, so I figured! Well at least it can't be as bad as Pongo and Missy were when I was lookin' after them when they were just Dorothy's age!" Dylan's eyebrows raised at this as he walked a little closer to Lou.

"You mean our great-great-great-grandfather and grandaunt argued a lot as pups?" Dylan asked with growing curiosity.

"Argued? Hah! They made all the fights that Stu and Drew had as babies more like a dang duck hunt! I still remember the time when I found them alone in an alleyway and took care of them on my business trip to London! Tommy's grandma, bless her soul, was back in America watching Stu and Drew. Yes sir, I remember as if it were yesterday."

***

In a town of London not far from Regent's Park, nestled a small business complex, a large window on the front of the building had a simple logo saying "Lou's Magic Wrench – He can fix most anything". Inside, an adult possibly in his 20's sat at his counter and was trying to tinker with an old radio before closing it back up... only for it to break apart, causing several springs to fly out.

Meanwhile, in the back room, a woven basket with a blanket rested in the middle, an old television set standing not too far from it against a wall. Inside the basket were two Dalmatian puppies, one was a boy with black ears, yipping excitedly and pawing at a ball. The other was a girl with only one ear black, the other being with with a single spot. She had very few spots on her body as well with only one on her back and she was chewing on a bone shaped squeaky toy.

The boy pup pounced on the ball, only to make it fly upwards on top of a nearby desktop.

"Augh! Not again!" The male pup said in frustration. Luckily, the desk was only a few paw-steps away from their bed as the girl gave the desk a little kick, enough to make it shake slightly and make the ball fall back into the puppy bed.