It was a warm Saturday in Petropolis. Dudley, Kitty and the kids were at home relaxing. Johnny was playing Epic Mickey on the Wii, Atticus was reading his book Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (which was the second book in the Cirque Du Freak series,) Dudley and Kitty were just relaxing on the couch and Autumn had just come into the living room with a glass of milk for her mother. Now you may be wondering why Autumn is serving her mother. Well, let me put it to you this way; Autumn wasn't serving one, but TWO people.
That's right; Kitty was pregnant with her fourth child!
It had been a little less than nine months since Kitty had discovered that she was pregnant. Her stomach had grown day by day and any day now, the baby would arrive. She remembered when she and Dudley had told the three kids and they had celebrated by jumping up and down and saying things like, 'I hope it's a boy!' 'I hope it's a girl!' Autumn delivered her mother's glass of milk and looked at her stomach. She got onto her knees and put her face close to it.
"I hope you're thirsty." she said to the baby. "We can't wait to see your face." Kitty suddenly felt the baby gently kick and grunted but smiled at the same time. Johnny paused his game and Atticus closed his book. Dudley and the kids all gathered around their mother and gently felt her stomach. They smiled when they felt the baby gently kick.
"I guess he or she heard you!" Johnny said to his sister. Autumn smiled. Ever since Kitty's gut had started growing, the kids and Dudley had talked to the baby every day. Kitty knew there was no question about it; this kid would be surrounded by love.
"Hey there." Atticus soothed. "Do you remember me? This is your brother Atticus." The baby gave another kick.
"Hey, it's me Johnny. I'm going to teach you how to play basketball, whether you're a boy or a girl. Would you like that?" Once again there was a little thump.
For one moment everything was peaceful with the whole family until Kitty let out another grunt. This one was different however; this one was filled with pain.
"Kitty, are you okay?" Dudley asked.
Kitty let out a sound like someone had kicked her in the stomach. "Dudley, it's time!" she cried.
The kids knew the drill and immediately grabbed their shoes and a couple blankets. Dudley led Kitty to the TUFF mobile, while trying not to freak out. The kids quickly followed. Kitty was in pain all the way to the hospital, Dudley did his best to drive carefully and the kids were sweating buckets.
"You guys ok?" Atticus whispered to his siblings. He was the calmest, although that wasn't saying much, out of the three of them since he had already seen this happen twice.
"Yeah… I guess." Johnny managed to say.
"I'm scared." Autumn said. Being the youngest, she had never witnessed anything like this happening to her mother.
"It's ok Autumn. This is what happens when a baby is about to be born. It will all be worth it in the end." Atticus said, quoting his father from before Johnny was born.
"Really? I thought something was going horribly wrong." Autumn whispered so as not to scare her mother.
This made her brothers nervous, but they did their best not to show it as they assured her nothing was going to go wrong.
When they finally reached the hospital, Kitty was immediately rushed into a hospital room. Dudley followed and stayed in there with her. The kids were instructed to stay out in the hallway.
The kids tried their best to find a way to keep themselves occupied as Kitty was struggling in the room. They could find little to nothing to do so. Atticus had brought his book he had been reading earlier but he could hardly concentrate on it, although the most exciting part had come.
"What do you think our new brother or sister will be like?" Johnny asked.
"Right now, I just hope everything is going ok." Autumn practically hyperventilated.
"Autumn, everything will be fine." Atticus said, although he was nervous too.
The kids heard a loud scream from the room, which gave them a jolt (the boys had to hold Autumn back from sprinting into the room) and suddenly it was silent. A few seconds later the sound of crying was heard.
A baby crying.
The kids' hearts raced. They all had the urge to sprint into the room, but they forced themselves to remain sitting. After a few minutes, which felt like hours, Dudley came out of the room with a huge smile on his face and a few joyful tears in his eyes.
"Kids, come meet your new baby brother." He whispered.
The trio immediately stood up and quickly, but quietly walked into the room. Their mother was in the hospital bed, holding a blue blanket. She revealed the little brown kitten. He looked at his family blankly with his blue eyes and he had a small tuft of white hair on his head. The three quietly walked over to their mother and new brother.
"He's adorable." Autumn whispered.
"He's a champ. I can tell." Atticus said.
"You're telling me." Johnny agreed.
"What's his name?" Autumn asked. Even the baby looked at his mother as if wanting to know the results.
"Well, we decided to wait until you guys came in to decide." Kitty whispered as she handed the baby to Dudley. They all looked at the newest family member, trying to decide the perfect name.
"Well, we were all really worried." Autumn said after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"I'll say." Johnny agreed once again.
"I was so nervous, I couldn't concentrate on my book, and Darren was about to fight the Wolf Man!" Atticus exclaimed, trying to stay quiet.
Suddenly, a smile grew on Kitty's face. "Darren…"
Dudley smiled. "That sounds good to me."
"Darren Puppy. That's definitely a keeper." Atticus said.
"It's got a ring to it." Autumn said and Johnny nodded. They all looked at the baby.
"Do you like that name?" Johnny asked. The baby smiled and made a small cooing noise, causing everyone in the room to go 'Awwwww.'
"Darren it is." Kitty said.
In just a couple days, Darren Dudley Puppy was introduced to his home. Peg was introduced to her new grandson and they both loved each other from the very start. Daisy, Nikki and Robbie immediately liked the newest Puppy and knew they were going to have good times together.
One thing was for sure; everyone knew that, just like the other members of the Puppy family, Darren had major potential.
The End
