Patch's Adventures in Puppy School

chapter 14: Living Happily Ever After

After the surprise, Lucky decided to take Patch home.

"Well, this'll be a good story to tell your grandpups," Lucky smiled as he walked with Patch. "Maybe you could tell your folks too this summer."

"Oh, absolutely..." Patch really enjoyed this day. "And I'll never run away from home again."

"That's good... Now, let's get some dinner, huh?" Lucky joined Patch to the Fudo house as it was close to dinnertime now.

"Okay, race ya inside." Patch said, challenging the older dog, playfully.

Lucky chuckled. "You're on!"

The two then raced to get inside the house. Patch laughed, he felt so much better and was a lot happier. The door was then opened, letting both the Dalmatian puppy and the older dog in.

"Ha! I so won." Patch said, playfully.

"No way, little guy, I did." Lucky said playfully back.

The dogs shared a laugh and came to the couch. Emily was on the couch with one of her personal soap opera programs, Darla was coloring on the floor with Maisy napping next to her, and Patrick was holding Emily as she cried at some scenes. Atticus decided to join them after closing the door. Then suddenly, there was a knocking at the front door.

"I'll get it." Patrick offered, going over to the door.

Darla hummed as she kept doodling with her pink crayon. When he opened the door, he saw a man a woman and a little girl with orange hair, he recognized that family instantly.

"Oh hello there," Patrick smiled. "Come on in..."

The parents walked in with their daughter.

Darla looked over to the girl. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" the girl asked in return, repeating the question.

"Kids, these are your Uncle Howard, your Aunt Gretchen, and your cousin, Dot Henderson." Patrick introduced.

The Fudo kids were a little surprised.

"How come we haven't met before?" Atticus asked.

"That's what I wanna know," Dot looked to her parents. "Mom, Dad, how come we never met these relatives before?"

"Well, because, dear, we had some travel and meeting problems." Gretchen said.

"That's true..." Dot twiddled her fingers together.

"We'll all discuss this after dinner." Patrick offered.

That sounded fair enough, once dinner was set, the cousins decided to bond as their parents would talk.

"Oh, you're a handsome doggy!" Dot hugged Lucky tight around his neck, not trying to be forceful, but that was just how she was.

"His name is Lucky and this is Patch," Atticus said, presenting the Dalmatian puppy. "And my name is Atticus."

"Sweet," Dot smiled. "I wish I could have a dog..."

Patch could see how much Dot really wanted a dog, but didn't know if the house they lived in was close or not.

"So wait, you mean every house has been sold and you don't have any place to stay?" Patrick asked Howard.

"Not right now anyway." Howard explained.

"When we earn enough money from our new jobs though, we'll find a new place, but we're kinda stuck right now..." Gretchen added.

"Well, why don't you stay here with us, with have extra rooms that have been empty and we have plenty of food we haven't been able to run out at all." Emily said.

"Oh, we don't want to oppose." Gretchen said.

"We insist you three stay here." Patrick said.

"Only if you wouldn't mind..." Gretchen rubbed her arm. "I mean, would there really be room for enough of us?"

"We insist, this is a very prized house and we always enjoy company." Emily soothed.

"Well, okay, besides, Dot could use some friends," Gretchen said. "She doesn't seem to have ay at her school."

"Oh, why?" Patrick frowned.

"She's a little shy," Gretchen said with a soft and quiet smile. "I'm sure though bonding with her cousins will improve her social skills."

"So, um, Dot, is the house you live in close by?" Patch asked the orange-haired girl, not overhearing what the adults were saying.

Dot was a little surprised to Patch. "You can talk!"

"Oops," Patch said before knowing there was no turning back. "Yes, and so can Lucky and all the dogs in Shelter 17, but this is our little secret, Atticus does know that dogs can talk, but you should know that he can talk to animals."

Dot got a little hysterical and blinked rapidly. She pulled off her large glasses, rubbed them against her shirt and looked back, a little surprised. "Really...?" She didn't think this could be real, it felt like a dream, but in fact, it was not.

"Really really." Maisy added in.

Dot rubbed her head. "Ooh... What a day..."

"I know what you mean, this day has been surprising for all of us." Patch said.

"I think I might wanna go to bed early..." Dot giggled, this was strange, new, exciting, crazy, and adventurous for her.

"Understandable." Atticus said.

Dot hugged her cousins and hugged Patch, Lucky, and Maisy.

"I never had a cousin before." Darla smiled to Dot.

"Well, we can hang out and do almost everything together!" Dot giggled.

Patrick, Emily, Howard, and Gretchen then came into the room to tell them the news. The others found that exciting and hopefully they would find a nice place within the time. Dot smiled and pet Lucky on the head again, she seemed to be mostly attached to him than the other pets in the Fudo house. Atticus and Patch looked to each other and knew that Lucky was destined to be Dot's pet.

Maisy yawned and stretched, curling up again into a fluff ball. "It's so nice to have some company over..."

Patch came to his mentor. "Lucky... I love having you around and everything... But I think you would be better off being Dot's pet."

"Are you sure, kiddo?" Lucky asked him.

"Yeah, besides me and Atticus can tell that she's the one that you are destined to be with as her pet." Patch reassured.

"Well... As long as you're sure..." Lucky smiled to him.

Patch smiled back, his Pound Puppy destiny was even set for him as he made them come together. "I'm sure."

Lucky put his arm around the puppy to hug him. "Thank you, Patch."

"Your welcome, Dad," Patch said before realizing what he just called Lucky. "Oh, I-I mean..."

Lucky didn't even look mad, but had a small smile. "It's okay, kiddo... Why don't you call your dad tonight and let him know 'ol Lucky's been takin' care of ya, huh?"

Patch smiled, hugging him again.