Eventually, it was time to go back home, so they went with the father back to the trailer park while Opal rode her bike, and they were soon in the house and Opal turned on the TV, sitting on the couch with Annabelle, Amber, and Darla.
"This is a nice place you have." Amber said.
"It's not much, but it's home." Opal replied.
"India Opal, huh?" Atticus asked Mr. Buloni about his daughter's name.
"Ah, yes," Mr. Buloni replied. "I was stationed in India before she was born, and Opal was her mom's name."
"That's a very interesting name." Cherry said.
"Uh, thank you," Mr. Buloni replied. "You can call me Daniel."
"Uh, okay." Cherry said.
"Opal, come on!" Daniel eventually called out. "No TV until you put some of that stuff away."
"We'll help you." Annabelle smiled to Opal.
"Yeah, that way, it'll be done faster." Amber added.
"Thanks..." Opal replied softly.
Daniel soon went to work on his laptop computer while they would do that. Opal sighed as she seemed to be a little bit homesick.
"Feeling homesick?" Darla guessed.
"Maybe a little bit..." Opal replied as she took out a framed group photograph.
The girls looked at the photograph that Opal took out. It seemed to be Opal among with a group of other girls for a baseball team.
"I'll bet they already have a new pitcher." Opal groused about moving away.
"We're not moving back to Watley," Daniel told her. "I know it's hard movin' all the time, but that's part of my job."
Darla could only imagine how hard it could be to move from one place to another because of her parents' jobs. Patch laid his head in Opal's lap which gave her great comfort because it seemed like she needed a dog's love. Opal gently pet him as she appreciated the comfort. This gave Darla and the others an idea that a pet may be perfect for Opal.
Eventually, before they knew it, it was time for bed, and the girls wanted to stay with Opal, and they insisted that Patch stay too.
"Well... Is that okay with you?" Atticus asked Patch about staying with the girls for the night.
"It might be," Patch replied. "Besides, Opal seems like she could use an animal companion."
"Well, all right," Atticus replied. "Stay out of trouble then. I'm just worried because I know how much you love sleeping at the foot of my bed back home."
"I'll be alright; after all, I have a feeling she'll get her own dog sometime soon." Patch smiled.
"All right, boy," Atticus smiled back. "We're going to a hotel. See you guys later."
"Later, Atticus." Patch said as he waved his paw.
"This is going to be fun." Darla smiled.
Opal soon took out a mattress big enough for two girls to sleep in while she would sleep in her bed with one of the other girls.
"Pillow fight!" Darla giggled, hitting Opal with her pillow to make this fun for her since she seemed moody. Luckily, it seemed to work.
Opal soon hit Darla back with her own pillow with a small smirk. The girls then laughed as they had a pillow fight together before they all soon fell asleep together. Darla slept in the bed with Opal while Amber and Annabelle shared the mattress on the floor and Patch also kept them company for the night, and where his thoughts of what the perfect pet for Opal would be was in his dream.
Patch found himself wandering around for a bit in his dream and there seemed to be another dog far away from him, but right now, all he could see was the shadow of the dog because it was further away from him.
"Who's that?" Patch asked.
'Keep going... Go to him... He needs you...' A voice told him.
"Cookie?" Patch asked before looking around and then smiled to the female Pound Puppy who was like a surrogate mother to him like Lucky was like his surrogate father. "Cookie! It is you! ...Wait, how are you here?"
"This is a dream, I must make you feel comfortable." Cookie replied.
"Well, I do feel comfortable now, but what do you mean he needs me?" Patch asked.
"That dog needs a human of his very own..." Cookie replied. "I believe you are visiting a lonesome girl?"
"Yeah, she lives in a trailer with her dad." Patch said.
"Then I think we may have a match... Though this dog causes trouble at times." Cookie replied.
They soon walked closer to see the mysterious dog who seemed to be a bit scruffy.
"That's a... Um... What's the name again?" Patch asked.
"Berger Picard." Cookie told him.
"Yeah, one of those dogs, and he seems a bit scruffy." Patch then said.
"Lots of dogs that breed are." Cookie told him.
"Yeah, but I mean like dirty scruffy." Patch said.
"Well, he's had a rough life... No pun intended," Cookie replied. "I'm sure you can help give him a proper home."
"I sure will." Patch said.
Cookie nodded.
"What's his name?" Patch asked.
"I'm not sure why, but he likes one grocery store so much that he wants that to be his name." Cookie informed.
"Really?" Patch asked, looking confused.
"I'm not sure why, but that's just what he likes." Cookie replied.
"Well... Okay then," Patch shrugged. "So, what is the grocery store that he wants to be named after?"
"I believe over here, it's called Winn-Dixie." Cookie replied.
"Interesting name." Patch smiled.
"It does sound interesting doesn't it?" Cookie replied. "I'm sure you can help him and the girl get together."
"I'll make sure of it," Patch replied. "Like me with Atticus... Lucky with Dot... And Madeline with Genevieve."
"That's right." Cookie said.
"Thanks, Cookie," Patch replied. "Um, is Headquarters going okay without me?"
"It's going just fine," Cookie reassured. "Rebound and Cupcake keep asking and asking us though when they can hang out with Oddball again."
"I can only guess it's driving you guys a little crazy, right?" Patch guessed.
"You have no idea..." Cookie rolled her eyes slightly.
"I'll take that as a yes." Patch said.
"Mm-hmm..." Cookie replied.
"Well... Tell them to be patient," Patch suggested. "Patience is a virtue. My dad taught me that."
"I'll tell them, although knowing them, their patience may be a little limited." Cookie said.
"I'm really sorry, Cookie..." Patch replied. "Um... I'll see what I can do. Maybe Jessica and Christopher will come home for Christmas."
"Hopefully." Cookie said.
"Anyway, thank you for showing me Winn-Dixie... I guess I know what I have to do now," Patch said. "Boy, ever since I moved away from London, my dreams are becoming more and more complex."
"I can only imagine." Cookie said.
Patch soon smiled to her. "So, uh, how have you and Lucky been?"
"Oh, we're fine..." Cookie smiled back, bashfully.
"Have you had some fun?" Patch smirked with a wink.
"Patch!" Cookie gasped as that seemed like a suggestive question from the way he asked it.
"Just curious." Patch said.
"Hm..." Cookie replied. 'We're doing just fine, thank you for asking."
"Great." Patch smiled.
"Good luck, Patch." Cookie told him.
"Thanks, Cookie," Patch smiled. "See you, Lucky, and the others later."
Eventually, the dream ended which would mean it was time for Patch to wake up, and when he did, he saw that Opal wasn't in the room, and she seemed to wake up before everybody else. Patch was curious of how she was awake before the others. He decided to go and see where Opal had run off to and the girl was shown to be making homemade orange juice. Patch was impressed that Opal could do that with someone at her age.
"Up and at 'em, Daddy!" Opal called out, but her father didn't seem to come out right away. "Up and at 'em, Daddy! I made orange juice! Daddy, I made orange juice!"
Patch followed Opal into her father's bedroom which was empty, and there seemed to be a note for Opal on the fridge, asking her to go to the grocery store for him, and where this seemed like fate's work doing it's magic as he knew that the dog he saw in his dream would be there. Darla, Amber, and Annabelle eventually came out.
"Daddy must be in town for something..." Opal said to them. "I gotta run to the market."
"Can we come with?" Darla asked.
"If you don't mind." Opal replied.
"We wouldn't mind at all," Annabelle smiled. "I love shopping with my dad."
"Well, okay, come on then." Opal smiled back as she took her father's note as it had a list of food he wanted her to get.
"Here we go." Amber smiled.
"Come along then." Opal replied as she went out of the house with them.
Cherry and Atticus came out of their hotel while Opal got ready to go on her bike. Little did anyone know, Opal would make a brand new friend in the grocery store that very day. The other girls luckily went by Atticus's car as he decided to go to the store himself to buy something to keep in their fridge.
Opal wandered around the aisles with the girls and picked up a box of macaroni. They soon saw some workers running somewhere almost as if they were in a panic.
"What's with them?" Darla asked.
"Must be a huge mess in one of the aisles." Amber guessed.
"I'm gonna go check it out." Opal decided as she carried the box of macaroni.
"Okay." Annabelle said.
Darla felt nervous as they walked along to see what the ruckus was all about. Opal began to pick up a couple of tomatoes before glancing over as the workers ran after someone, and one of them ran into another which made them fall and the blonde girl giggled to that as it was kind of funny. Darla also found this to be kind of funny.
"Who could be causing such chaos?" Annabelle wondered.
"Well, it can't be Discord." Darla replied.
"We'll have to find out." Amber said.
They walked a bit closer as the workers were running around hysterically, and soon, out came a dirty and scruffy dog that Patch had seen last night who seemed to stop right in front of Opal.
"Will somebody grab that dog, please?!" The manager demanded. "Somebody grab that dog! Somebody-"
The dog soon jumped over the produce aisle and tackled the manager down to the floor and began to lick his face. Patch smirked as the manager had that coming.
"Patch, what're you doing here?" Darla whispered sharply. "Dogs aren't allowed in grocery stores!"
"Get him off of me!" The manager groaned. "I don't like dogs! Somebody get him off of me!"
'No big surprise why he doesn't like dogs.' Patch thought to himself with an eye roll.
Darla tried to make sure Patch wouldn't be seen. Cherry and Atticus came by with a cart, then saw the manager before snickering as they saw what had happened to him.
"It's okay, sir," Opal said, a bit amused. "All that dog wants to do is get face-to-face with you, and thank you for the good time he's havin'."
"Call the pound!" The manager groaned as the dog kept licking his face. "Mike, call the pound!"
"Wait! Don't call the pound!" Opal suddenly cried out. "That's my dog!"
"It's true!" Amber and Annabelle added.
Opal looked surprised at herself for saying that, she wasn't sure why she did, but there was no way she could take it back now. "Here, boy!" she then called out to the dog as he looked up at her. "C'mon, boy!" she then glanced over to see a logo before calling out, "Here, Winn-Dixie!"
The dog soon ran over to Opal like it was true that he was her dog and she soon pet him.
'What a coincidence.' Darla thought to herself.
"Who named the dog 'Winn-Dixie'?" The manager scoffed.
"Me!" Opal smiled innocently. "It's his name, honest!"
"Don't you know better than to bring a dog in the grocery store?" The manager glared while wiping his face from dog slobber.
"Sorry, sir. It won't happen again, I promise," Opal told him before looking down to the dog. "Come on, Winn-Dixie!"
"It's true, sir, it won't happen again." Amber said.
"Please... Just leave..." The manager groaned as he felt hurt and humiliated.
The workers and patrons watched the girls and the dog leave before looking at the manager as he sat there.
"W-W-What're y'all lookin' at?!" The manager cried to them. "That dog almost ate my face off!"
"He was just licking you." Darla said.
The man grunted and groaned as they soon left the store.
"That girl helped me... I like her..." The scruffy dog smiled as he began to follow Opal.
Patch smiled as he knew Opal was destined to be the scruffy dog's owner.
They soon rode back home while Cherry and Atticus continued their own grocery shopping.
Opal parked her bike and looked down to the dog. "Sit!"
The dog then smiled and sat down in front of her.
"Stay here, I'll be right back." Opal then said.
"Okay!" The dog barked once.
"Hmm... Very obedient." Darla smiled.
Opal soon came inside of the house with her friends while the dog waited outside. Daniel was shown at his work desk and he seemed to be a bit stressed out.
'He seems a bit stressed; maybe now isn't a good time.' Amber thought to herself.
"Daddy?" Opal gently called.
"Yes, what is it?" Daniel replied. "W-What is it, Opal?"
"I found a dog and I wanna keep it." Opal told him.
'Oh, please, yes, that she can keep him.' Darla thought to herself.
"You... A dog?" Daniel replied. "Now, we have been through this before. You do not need a dog."
"I know it," Opal frowned. "I know I don't need a dog, but this dog needs me!"
"Oh, he doesn't neither need you." Daniel said.
"He does too!" Opal retorted before calling out. "Winn-Dixie! Here, boy!"
The scruffy dog soon came into the room after hearing his name.
"The last thing we need is a-" Daniel told Opal firmly before yelping.
The dog barked as he soon came in, happily and excitedly. "Are you Opal's dad? I like you too!" he then barked happily while licking the man's face.
"Aw! He likes you." Darla smiled.
"This isn't a dog, it's a horse." Daniel muttered.
"He's homeless too." Opal pointed out.
"Well, he's got a stink to him too." Daniel said as he managed to get the dog off of him.
"We can give him a bath." Annabelle said.
"That is... If Opal can keep him..." Amber said. "I'd love to have my own dog, but my mother's allergic. Also, my aunt has lots and lots of dogs of her own."
"He needs all the help he can get, right?" Opal added. "I could be doing my duty!"
"Yeah... Well-" Daniel muttered before yelping as the dog rubbed up against him and soon seemed to smile at the man.
'Please say yes.' Patch thought to himself.
"Look! He's smilin' at ya!" Opal beamed to her father. "Don't ya love a dog with a sense of humor?"
Daniel looked to her before looking at the dog who soon whined and held out his paw at the human. "Oh, would you run and get the tweezers?" He then asked his daughter as he took the paw. "He's got somethin' stuck in his paw."
'That explains why the dog looked like he was smiling.' Darla thought to herself.
Daniel soon put on his glasses to take a closer look and Opal handed him the tweezers once she got them and he began to help the dog out.
"He's a nice dog, isn't he?" Opal smiled hopefully.
Daniel didn't say anything.
"He's a great dog, isn't he?" Opal continued.
"You can't keep this dog, Opal." Daniel sighed once he got a sharp rock out of the dog's paw.
"But isn't it a little lonely with just the two of you?" Amber asked him.
"I don't like to talk about that." Daniel sighed about his wife.
"Oh, please, Daddy, look at him!" Opal pleaded while her father just kept trying to decline. "He's skinny! He's needs to be fed well. And bathed, too! You liked Darla's dog in Church!"
The dog let out a small whine as he looked up to the man.
Daniel soon sighed as he seemed like he had no other choice. "All right, he can stay here while you're trying to find him a home or you figure out where he belongs."
'He just agreed in keeping the dog without knowing it.' Atticus thought to himself.
"He can stay?!" Opal beamed.
"Temporarily," Daniel reminded his daughter. "You're not keepin' him, Opal. This is temporary, so don't go getting your hopes up."
The dog barked as if to agree.
"I know it, sir," Opal replied before looking to the dog. "We're not gettin' our hopes up, are we, Winn-Dixie?"
"I guess we should make some signs now." Amber suggested.
"Yeah, I guess." Annabelle said.
"Come on, Winn-Dixie!" Opal beamed to the dog.
"And a bath and a shower." Daniel muttered slightly as the smell of the dog really got to him.
