Hunter and Mika were walking.
"Mika," said Hunter, "there's something I want to show you. Something I've been wanting to show for a long while now."
"Really?" said Mika. "What is it?"
Hunter stopped walking and said, "This."
Mika gazed upon the residence of 101 Dalmatian Street and was taken aback by the look of the uniquely decorated house. "Wow! Is this where you live?! It looks like it could pass off as a funhouse!"
Hunter took a deep breath. "Before we go inside, there's something I have to explain to you. What lies within this house is a secret that I've never told anyone about due to how big and sensitive it is. When you see what's inside, you may be overwhelmed by a variety of emotions and will want an explanation. And whether you believe it or not, everything that I tell you will be a hundred percent true. Can you swear not to make any decisions until you've gotten the full picture?"
Mika didn't quite get what Hunter was getting at but had a feeling on what it was about. She knew there were things Hunter hadn't told her. She never indulged on what they were since she had an understanding as to why he wanted to keep them to himself. "Okay. I swear."
Hunter brought Mika to the door and opened it. "After you."
When Mika stepped inside, the sight that came into her view filled her eyes with awe. She was greeted by the entire Dalmatian family as they gladly stood in the foyer.
Hunter stepped inside and stood beside her. "This is a family made up entirely of a hundred and one Dalmatians."
"A hundred and one Dalmatians?!"
"Yes. They have no owner. They look after themselves. And they each have their own unique personalities, skills, and hobbies. I know this because I can understand what dogs are saying, as crazy as it may sound."
The parents came forward towards the kids.
"These are the parents, Doug and Delilah. They both work alongside humans in order to provide for their pups. Doug is a firehouse dog, and Delilah is a medical assistance dog."
The older sibs came forward.
"These are the oldest of the pups, Dylan and Dolly. They help look after the younger pups while their parents are away. A collective of ninety-seven brothers and sisters."
"My word!" said Mika. "They all look amazing! How did you manage to find them?!"
The parents and the sibs placed their paws on Hunter, encouraging him to not be afraid of telling Mika the one thing he was afraid of telling her.
Hunter took another deep breath. "I found them because I was ordered to find them by my great-aunt. A monster of a woman who'd been hunting down this one family of Dalmatians for years. She wanted to do something terrible to them, and she used me, a child and her own nephew, to do her dirty work. I didn't know her true intentions until the last minutes, and I couldn't let her go through with it. So I turned against her and saved them. Now I do whatever I possibly can to help protect them from anything that could threaten their livelihood. And they do whatever they possibly can to help look after me."
"So they're your foster family?"
"Yes. The reason I'm revealing this to you is because they've been wanting to meet you for some time, and I've been wanting for you to meet them as well. But now that you know everything, would you be more than willing to keep this just between the two of us?"
"Well, I will admit that this is a lot to take in," said Mika, "but I do see that you really care about them. So yes, I'll keep it between us."
Hunter smiled. "There's something I want to give you."
"What is it?"
Dawkins came forward and handed a micro card to Hunter.
"May I see your phone?"
Mika handed her phone to Hunter. He inserted the card into the phone's card slot. The B.A.T. (Bilingual Animal Transmitter) app appeared on the screen. Hunter tapped on the icon to activate it.
"Everyone," Hunter said to the Dalmatians, "say hello to Mika."
"Hi Mika!" said the Dalmatians.
Mika gasped. "I can understand them!"
"Yes," said Hunter. "The micro card I inserted into your phone functions as an animal transmitter. It's been set so that you can understand canine speech."
"We're very glad to finally meet you, Mika!" said Delilah.
"Hunter's told us a lot about you!" said Doug.
"Oh!" said Mika. "Well I'm very pleased to meet you all as well!"
"So you two gonna be together now or what?!" said Dolly.
"Dolly! Don't embarrass them!" said Dylan.
Hunter blushed at the mentioning while Mika giggled.
"They're funny!" said the latter.
The sibs felt complimented.
"She thinks we're funny!" said Dylan.
"I like her already!" said Dolly.
"So you all stay in this house all day?" said Mika.
"Yep! Pretty much!" said Dolly.
"We go out sometimes when needed," said Dylan.
"So what do you do to pass time?" Mika asked.
"You may want to sit down," said Hunter. "This will take a while."
The kids sat down on the floor and parents sat next to them.
"Well," said Dylan, "I like space, dinosaurs, and cleaning!"
"And I like skateboarding and being awesome!" said Dolly.
The rest of the pups introduced themselves one at a time.
"I am Dawkins! I like to invent things!"
"I'm DJ! I like to make music!"
"I'm Da Vinci! I like to make art!"
"Um... I'm Dante... I like to be gothic..."
"I'm Diesel! I like to dig!"
"I'm Deepak! I like to meditate!"
"I'm Delgado! I like to race!"
"I'm Dizzy!"
"I'm Dee Dee!"
"We like to have fun!" the twins said.
"We're the Dimitris! We rule at everything!" said the brother trio.
"We're definitely...!" said Destiny.
"Excited to finally...!" said Dallas.
"Meet Hunter's lady friend!" said Deja Vu.
"The Triplet D?!" said Mika. "Oh my gosh!"
Dorothy made her way to Mika.
"This is Dorothy," said Hunter. "The littlest pup of them all."
"... Mi... ka...!" Dorothy said briefly.
"She's adorable!" said Mika.
"That means she likes you!" said Dylan.
"You're part of the family now!" said Dolly.
"And we're very proud to have you be a part of it!" said Delilah.
"We truly are!" said Doug.
"Thank you!" said Mika.
As the rest of the pups continued introducing themselves, Mika felt glad that Hunter was finally able to trust her with his most precious secret, and Hunter was glad that she was able to accept everything. They held each other's hand, formalizing their pact to always look out for the Dalmatians and each other.
