Chapter 290: Slam Dunk

"Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement." – Charles M. Schulz

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." – Jeff Valdez

"My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can. That's almost 7.00 in dog money." – Joe Weinstein

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult." – Rita Rudner

"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that's how dogs spend their lives." – Sue Murphy

Sydney helped him up the rest of the way and they walked to the door, opening it and chuckling as Donovan took off down the hall. They came out to the kitchen in time to see Amélie giving him another piece of bacon.

"Morning."

"Well good morning you two. I thought I might have to get a fog horn to wake you up today."

"Mom you keep feeding him like that he's gonna be as fat as he was when Weiss first brought him over."

"Didn't make you fat, did it?" Amélie chided.

Vaughn chuckled, "Well, I'm leaner now than I was when I was at home."

"Must be the frosting," Sydney added.

"Oh…that was a low blow," Amélie said, turning with her spatula in hand.

Sydney giggled, "I'm sorry…I couldn't resist…"

"What are we having besides bacon?" Vaughn asked as he sat on one of the stools gingerly.

Sydney retrieved a pillow for him without asking, the task becoming routine.

"Eggs and toast."

"And bacon," Vaughn added for her.

"Right."

"Are they dunkers?" Vaughn asked.

Sydney snorted, "Dunkers?"


Vaughn looked over at her, "You've never heard of a dunker egg?"

"No…should I have?"

Vaughn shook his head, "They're the kind of eggs that you can dunk your toast in the yolks…"

"Basted," Amélie offered.

"Ohhh…"

"Dunkers."

"They've always been dunkers since Michael was a boy…he called them that one day when he was about four. Just decided that was the name they should have because you could dunk the toast in it."

"I understand."

"Yes, he had a number of those names…"

"What else did he have?"

"Yes, mom…feel free to embarrass your son even more…I'll think of fun stories for you too…"

Amélie waved him off, "Oh let's see; he called Ramen Noodles 'Crazy Noodles' because they were long and hard to slurp like other noodles. They're really," she stopped smiling, "curly I believe he used to say."

Sydney giggled, "Curly Crazy Noodles huh?"

Vaughn nodded as his mother placed a plate in front of him, "Yeah well it was dad's fault – he taught me how to slurp in the first place…and spit my gum out the window," he added grinning.

Amélie laughed loudly, "Oh my I'd forgotten about that!"

"What?" Sydney asked intrigued.

"Well Bill occasionally would spit his gum out of the car window. Which I disapproved of…but one day Michael decided he had to try it too…except his try didn't work out the best. He spit it out the passenger seat window in the front and it flew right back in the backseat window and stuck to the backseat."

Vaughn chuckled, "It was pretty funny."

"And Bill couldn't say a damn thing because he was the one responsible. I didn't let him forget it for years."

"Oh…I remember something that dad didn't let you forget…"

Amélie looked at Vaughn, "What is that?"



"Oh…it was just this one time that you had really great intentions and it ended very badly…"

Amélie thought a moment, "Ok, I give, what are you thinking about?"

"OH…September 28th, 1972…"

Amélie thought a moment, "Oh…"

Vaughn nodded, "Mmhmm…" He looked at Sydney, "It was the last game of the great Canada/Soviet Union Summit Series. Eight games…480 glorious minutes of heart-stopping hockey. And Canada won…of course my dad would have never known that…had I not watched…"

Amélie winced, "It was a noble failure."

"I will give you that yes." He turned back to Sydney, "So dad had to work and mom was left with specific instructions to tape the last game of the series…so I sat down to watch and mom was there the whole time, 'cept for the little break we took for Sesame Street…and so anyway…she sat there the whole time editing out commercials faithfully…" he nodded. "It was a great game…"

Amélie chuckled.

"So dad comes home and he's sitting down to watch the game…" he stopped giggling, "And he starts watching…and then asks mom to come in there…and he was wondering why exactly he was being treated to hours of hockey-free commercials…"

Amélie laughed loudly, Vaughn completely immersed in laughter.

"Oh that is so funny," Sydney said laughing as well.

Vaughn snorted, "So I had to recount the whole game, minus the Sesame Street update…the letter of the day on that particular day was M. I've always remembered."

Amélie and Vaughn said it together, "M…M for mistake…dad was more than happy to fill it in," Vaughn added.

Amélie looked at Sydney, "I think I'm beginning to understand why my son doesn't like these stories…"

Sydney chuckled, "Yeah, when it's you it's a lil different."

"Yes." She smiled at Vaughn, "How are the eggs?"

"Great," Vaughn said, dunking his last bit of toast in the yolk.

"Should we tell Sydney about your egg habits?"

Vaughn smirked and looked at Sydney, "I'll just field this one…I like hard boiled eggs – but only the white part…and I like dunker eggs – but only the yolk. And I'll eat egg salad and scrambled eggs with no problems."



Sydney smiled and put her hand on the back of Vaughn's neck, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Thanks," he said smiling.

'Hmph…what the hell's going on here? I was all the center of attention…then they start eating and I become invisible! Where's my funny story and the kiss from the hot doggie?! I'll eat any kind of eggs! Give me some! Damn humans! Play with me!'

'Maybe if I act real cute, they'll play with me…look rolling puppy…cuteness…pet me! FINE. Oh look…a bug…'

"Well…I suppose we should shower and get ready to go…" Sydney said.

"Go?" Amélie asked.

"My landlord called…he had all my mail."

"Well it took him long enough. I do hope there was nothing important in there."

"Yeah me too," Vaughn said nodding.

"Well, why don't you two shower, and I'll pack up…"

"Ok, that sounds like a plan," Sydney said, waiting for Vaughn to join her.

They set off in opposite directions, Sydney giggling as they entered the bathroom and began to strip down for the shower.

"What?"

"Nothing…just…I love hearing about your childhood…I mean I know it was hard for you sometimes…but it always seems that it was so normal…"

Vaughn smiled, "It was…more so than yours Sydney."

She nodded, "Yeah…"

"Come here."

She smiled and moved over to him, stepping into his embrace. "I love you and our kids will never have to worry about our life not being normal…"

She leaned up to kiss him, "Thank you."

"Anytime."



"Come on…we can't take too long, your mom's waiting."

Vaughn whined, "Aww she wouldn't mind…"

Sydney chuckled as they stepped into the shower, "Later…"

Vaughn smiled knowingly, "I'll hold you to that."