Are You My Mother?

Seth yawned as he opened his eyes and gazed down at Dean who was awakening himself and prodding his nose against Seth's belly and opening and closing his mouth. Seth knew by now that it meant that Dean was hungry. Again.

For the past couple of days since Dean had been brought into the house by their owner. Seth and Roman had barely left his side. To everyone's surprise, Dean much preferred to snuggle with Seth rather than Roman and made whimpering noises whenever Seth so much as moved a foot away from him. Dean did cuddle into Roman's furry side every now and then but after a while he would whine for Seth and wouldn't stop until Seth came back again.

Needless to say this had worn Seth out over the last few days not to mention the various bruises he had sustained from Dean's prodding and poking when the pup tried to look for milk that wasn't there. Seth meowed loudly for their owner, Christian, who finally got the hint and looked in on the three animals and could see that Dean was hungry.

"You hungry little buddy?" asked Christian as he gently caressed the top of Dean's head.

Seth swiped at Christian's hand and hissed crankily, "Of course he's hungry you idiot! Now go and get the milk before this pup causes me severe injury!"

"Oww, Seth," explained Christian as he rubbed the scratch on his hand and got up to go to the kitchen, "Why are you always so cranky?"

"You'd be cranky as well, human. If you hadn't slept well in 48 hours," hissed Seth at Christian's back.

"Want me to take over, Seth?" asked Roman sleepily as he yawned and stretched, getting up as well.

Seth glanced over at Roman and then down at Dean who was now rubbing his head against Seth's upper belly. Seth put one of his front paws gently on Dean's head to try and keep the pup still and started to lick his face. However, Seth's plan was unsuccessful as Dean began to wriggle around only after 10 seconds of sitting still. Seth swore under his breath, why did this pup have to be in constant motion?

"Seth?" asked Roman again.

"Nah, why don't you go outside first and take care of business and then after the little whelp is fed, I'll go. He's less fussy after he's been fed," determined Seth.

Roman slowly stood up on all fours and then stretched his back again before heading towards the door. "You know today's the day he might open his eyes," barked Roman lightly at Seth.

"He may," agreed Seth, "so I guess you better hurry because you should be the first one that he sees."

"Why do you say that?" asked Roman cocking his head at Seth quizzically.

Seth lifted his eyes to the ceiling. Lord, give me patience with dogs. "Because you're a dog, he's a dog, well half, but that's close enough," explained Seth, "you should be the first thing he sees so he can recognize you as his alpha or whatever you dogs call your pecking order."

"You mean his mother?" asked Roman who was now thoroughly confused, "Seth, the first thing I remember seeing was my mother, not my alpha," snorted Roman. Cats, Roman thought, think they know everything when in fact they know nothing!

"Mom?!" meowed Seth loudly, looking at Dean now worriedly. "In that case you definitely need to be the first thing Dean sees. I can't be his mother!"

"Why not, you practically already are," barked Roman smugly as Dean nestled between Seth's front paws and let out a contented sigh. "Well I'm going out for some fresh air, be back in a bit."

"Wait, Roman, I changed my mind. I want to go out first. Roman? Roman!" hissed Seth furiously but Roman was already gone. Darn it! Seth thought. Dean can't recognize me as his mother, it's a ludicrous notion. The pup is going to be bigger than me in a few weeks time. He's going to want to hunt me when he's fully grown. Roman better get back here soon.

"Okay little guy, feeding time," declared Christian softly coming back into the room with a freshly made bottle of milk.

"It's about time," meowed Seth sarcastically who was not impressed by his owner's actions.

Instead of moving the puppy, Christian just held the bottle out to Dean who had situated himself between Seth's front paws and let the puppy drink his fill while Seth started to clean Dean's back. Despite himself, Seth let out a small smile when Dean gave out a tiny burp after his meal. If anyone asked, Seth would say that he didn't care much for the little furball except that wasn't true. If Seth was being honest with himself, Dean had already carved a space in Seth's heart and there was nothing that Seth could do about it.

After Christian left the room, Seth nudged Dean onto his back so that the cat could lick the pup's belly to encourage digestion. All of a sudden, Seth heard a different noise coming from Dean that he had never heard before.

"Ma…ma…ma…"

Seth stopped licking for a moment and glanced at the puppy's face. Seth meowed in surprise when he realized that little Dean was beginning to open his eyes for the first time.

"Roman! Roman! Master! Anybody!" meowed Seth wildly as he frantically tried to think a way out of this. This could not be happening. This pup could not imprint upon him of all animals!

"Ma…nah…ta…"

Seth also realized that the little pup was also trying to speak. Seth leaned over Dean's face to try to hear better and gave the pup an encouraging lick and it was at that moment when Dean's eyes flew open and latched onto Seth.

Seth gasped. The bluest eyes he had ever seen were staring right back at him with pure love and innocence and Seth knew right then and there that he would look after this puppy for the rest of his life. Despite all of Seth's natural instincts, Seth couldn't help but love this adorable, little furball.

"What is it Seth?" barked Roman bounding into the room, "is the pup okay?"

"Puppy's fine," meowed Seth uneasily as the weight of what just happened came crashing down on him, "it's just…he…opened his eyes," finished Seth as Roman trod over and glanced down at Dean.

By this time, Dean had rolled slowly back onto his belly and awkwardly stood on wobbly legs as he looked up at Roman.

"Hello, Dean," murmured Roman as he sniffed the little puppy.

"Ta…nuh…ha…nah" mumbled Dean as he tried to take in everything at once and was getting a little overwhelmed. On shaky legs he tried to take a step forward to Roman but then collapsed as he tripped over his own legs and fell onto the soft blanket. Whining, Dean looked back and spotted Seth who had remained where he was. Now that he had a target, Dean got up again on his legs and half crawled, half walked back to Seth.

"Ma…ma…ma" said Dean in his little voice over and over as he reached Seth. "Mama," said Dean as he snuggled into Seth's side once more.

"What?! No, not your mama, Dean," meowed Seth indignantly as he got up quickly causing Dean to flop over onto his side. "Roman it's your turn to take care of him," declared Seth as he began to make his way out of the room.

"Ma…ma," whined Dean as he struggled to get his legs under him and began crawling on his belly in the direction towards Seth.

"Come on little guy," said Roman gently as he picked Dean up with his mouth and plopped him down beside him.

Dean protested though and began to wiggle furiously trying to escape from Roman's side. "Nah…ma…ma…ma" whimpered Dean as he tried to climb over Roman's legs.

"No, Dean," said Roman as he nudged the little pup back into his side, "Seth needs a break."

"Ma! Ma! Ma! Mama! Ma!" Dean cried in distress as he realized that he couldn't get away from Roman.

"Dean…" Roman began trying to reason with the puppy, but Dean just started crying louder drowning out Roman's words.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," snapped Seth as he appeared back at Roman's side and began to lick Dean's face furiously which instantly calmed the pup down.

"Mama, mama, mama," said Dean over and over as he lifted one of his little paws trying to touch Seth's face.

Seth stopped after a second and gave the puppy a hard stare, "It's Seth, Dean, not Mama," he meowed.

"Mama," said Dean as he walked under Seth and plopped himself right down under the cat.

Roman couldn't help but laugh at the entire scene as Seth tried over and over to convince Dean he was not his 'Mama' while Dean kept refuting Seth's claim and following the cat around the blankets. Eventually, Seth gave up trying to reason with the one and a half week old pup and hunkered down while Dean climbed onto his back and began to play lightly with Seth's ears.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're a wonderful mother, Seth," barked Roman teasingly.

Seth narrowed his eyes at Roman and hissed, "Shut up, Roman! You're just jealous that Dean likes me better than you."

"Keep telling yourself that, Seth," barked Roman wryly as he looked at them both with fondness, "Keep telling yourself that."

"Mama," said Dean sleepily as he curled into a tiny ball on Seth's back and drifted off to sleep once more.

I realize that I am taking some artistic liberties with my depiction of animals and how puppies develop and mature, but I hope everyone reading this will forgive me for them and just enjoy the story for what it is :)

Please let me know what you think of this chapter, it's always nice to receive reader feedback. Peace!