Chapter 3 Stewie's Frenemy

Stewie

"Oh, don't you dare look back,

Just keep your eyes on me.

I said, You're holding back.

She said-"

"SHUT UP AND DANCE WITH ME!" Stewie scream-sang from an exasperated Brian's shoulders as he and most of Quahog watched Lily, Sadie, Jasper, and Miles do a practice performance of their finished routine. It was night three, and everyone had pitched in to put this get together into action.

They had it at Joe's pool, and he was watching Lily Sanders perform. Right next to his house!

The performance was perfect even though Lily and Sadie warned that it might not be. The only annoying thing to Stewie was that all the idiots from his hometown were there. All the dancers look relieved that they pulled it off as they managed their final pose at the end of the song.

"Whoo! I love you, Lily Sanders!" Stewie called over the cheering.

"Take your top off!" Quagmire yelled from where his dad's group of friends was. Lily just shrugged helplessly.

Brian finally got tired and put him down. "Stewie you're worse than a girl," he chided.

"Am I?" Stewie gestured to where Lois and the other wives were standing away from their husbands so they could have more fun.

"Hey, Miles! Take off your shirt!" Lois screamed.

"Yeah, and throw it!" Bonnie's annoying voice chimed in.

Miles, a professional dancer who typically ripped off his shirt of a routine basis on the show, actually seemed a little embarrassed. He shrugged and paced around the stage, waiting for the requests to blow over.

Lily came up behind him and, with the sexiest smile ever, ripped his button up shirt open. All the women screamed at the brief exposure to Miles' perfect body. Lily and Sadie spread their arms to present Miles and walked off to where Jasper and Ricardo, the DJ for the event, were.

Jasper whispered something to Ricardo. Ricardo rummaged around, and eventually, Magic Mike stripper music started to play. Miles seemed reluctant, but he finally imitated the worm seen in the movie. He dipped Lily, Magic Mike style, as a finale and quickly left center stage.

"That was really sexy, Lily!" Peter's voice called from amongst his group of friends. "We understand you can't take your top off, because of public exposure and all!"

Stewie pulled himself up on stage and ran to Lily. "Oh, that was wonderful! I'm your biggest fan! How do you do it?"

"Aw, you are so cute, Stewie!"

Stewie sighed, sadly reminded she couldn't understand him. He let her pick him up and give her a hug.

Brian was close behind him. "Stewie, what are you doing?! Sorry, Lily. He ran away from me. I can take him back."

Stewie bunched up in Lily's arms. "Take your filthy paws off me! I'll get down when I'm damn well ready!"

"It's okay. We're done," Lily assured Brian.

"Thank you!" Stewie chimed to Lily.

Sadie's voice came from behind him, and in front of Lily. "Hey, Lily! Look who's here!"

Lily gasped in admiration. "Emma!"

"What the duce?"

Stewie turned around slowly to see Sadie bring another intelligent-looking two year old toward them. Emma was pretty enough. Pale with light brown hair tied back in a short, thick braid with a thin headband. She wore a comfortable white dress with little pink shoes. She looked like an angel, but her expression said otherwise.

Lily filled him in. "Stewie, this is my niece. Emma. She's about your age. She will be visiting me a lot here in Quahog."

Before Stewie could respond, Emma got away from Sadie and jerked Stewie out of Lily's arms. "Get off of my aunt! Who do you think you are?"

She quickly crawled into Lily's arms to replace Stewie as he fell to the floor.

"Emma!" Lily scolded.

"Hey!" Stewie stood up and shouted at the girl, who was smirking at him from Lily's arms. "I was up there!"

"And if you get up here again, I'll personally shoot you with a gun from my weapon's closet!"

"Bring it on, bitch! I've got an array of weaponry. I'll even let you choose the weapon you want to die by. What weapon sounds good to you? Hmm?!"

Stewie got even more irritated when he realized that Lily had already carried Emma off, leaving him to hear Brian and Sadie having their own conversation.

"Hahaha! That is hilarious! Is she some kind of evil genius, too?" Brian joked.

Sadie smiled at the joke. "Yes. She and Stewie are so alike."

"Hey, what is it with all these toddlers planning world domination and then slowly losing their motive, huh?"

Sadie giggled. "You know, I'm beginning to think one in ten infants are-"

"Oh, my god…. Why can't you two come up with your own topics..." Stewie got an idea. "Actually, Sadie…answer me this. Are you and Emma best friends?"

"Yeah, but I think that only happened because I'm one of the few people who can understand her."

"Yeah. And…does she have any special inventions?" Stewie asked, thinking of his time machine.

"I think she'd be mad if I told you," Sadie said.

Stewie thought that answer over. What if she had one, too? "Damn!"

Peter suddenly came onto the scene, nearly drunk. "B-Brian….We're playin'….Spin the Bottle….and you're…you're it. You got a dare to kiss Sadie!"

"Peter, we were not even playing!" Brian tried to reason.

"B-B-Brian…It's bad luck to go back on a dare… You-You gotta kiss Sadie…"

"Give me one example where that's bad luck!" Brian yelled.

Peter narrowed his eyes.

…

This guy stood in front of the doors to a bar, glaring back at his group of friends. The empty beer bottle was still pointed at him.

"I'm not doing this! Screw this! I'm not hitting on a transvestite! You're terrible friends, anyway. You can all go to hell!"

He swung open the doors and walked into the street. Almost immediately, he was hit by a bus.

…

"Kiss her! Kiss her!" everyone cheered.

Except Quagmire. He was calling, "No, Sadie! Don't. He's a jerk!"

Brian sighed and turned to Sadie. "Uh, can I…?"

Sadie gave him a cool smile. "Yeah."

This surprised Brian. "That's it? Just yeah?"

"Yeah," Sadie said again.

Brian smiled back at her. He lifted her chin and kissed her right there in front of everyone. It actually turned into a pretty long kiss. They actually seemed to forget where they were.

Peter laughed and pointed. "See? See. Told ya! They totally like each other."

"I knew it!" Jasper squealed.

"Hey!" A flattering, but angry voice called to Stewie from behind. Stewie turned to see Emma yelling at him from her aunt's arms. "What's your filthy mongrel doing with our dog?!"

Suddenly, Brian's recent love affair became Stewie's favorite thing. "My filthy mongrel wants to get with your purebred, $1,000 show dog! And she wouldn't have it another other way! What's up now, bitch!"

Emma tilted her head very slowly. She had a normal head, so it didn't work like it did with him. But it was still pretty scary. She slowly crawled out of Lily's arms and walked toward them.

Meanwhile, Brian and Sadie were caught up in the romance. They weren't kissing anymore, but they were looking into each other's eyes. Brian had his hand on her cheek as they laughed at the entire situation.

It all got ruined when Emma suddenly punched Stewie in the face. Stewie fell back and held his cheek in one hand, surprised at how much it hurt. Then rage took over.

"Ahhh!" He leapt on top of Emma. The impact knocked her down. Stewie had just enough time to punch her back before Sadie and Brian realized what was happening and broke them up. Lily and Lois hadn't even had time to get over there yet.

Brian jerked him away from Emma. "Stewie, stop! What are you doing?"

Sadie sat Emma on her feet, but didn't let her go. "Emma! Why did you do that?"

The redness in Emma's face disappeared uncommonly fast. "No, no. I-I was wrong. I just got jealous, that's all. I'll go apologize," she calmly assured Sadie.

"Dammit, Stewie! She's a girl!" Brian scolded.

Stewie calmed down. He had a plan of his own. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll apologize…"

"You'll apologize?" Brian asked. Sadie seemed to be scolding Emma some more.

"Okay, yeah!" Stewie agreed hastily.

"Yeah. Yeah, I understand…." Emma brushed Sadie's scolding off at the same time.

Brian and Sadie let them go at the same time.

"Aaahhh!" Stewie tackled Emma away from Sadie and Brian, and the fight immediately resumed.

They fought a few more seconds, bent on destroying one another. This time, it was Lois and Lily that broke them up. They both had to tear the thrashing toddlers apart.

Stewie still managed to hold on to Emma's braid and give it a few good pulls until Lois smacked his hand.

"Let go of her hair!" she yelled. She was fairly upset with him.

"Emma! Give Stewie back his shoe. Right now!" It was the most Stewie had heard Lily raise her voice. He looked down, only to realize that he was indeed missing his left shoe. Emma resentfully threw it back at him, successfully hitting him in the head.

"Emma!" Lily scolded. She and Lois stared at each other, at a loss of how to handle this.

"They've got just be tired," Lily suggested.

"Yeah, that's gotta be it. Come on, Stewie. It's bedtime." Lois carried him off.

"You too, Emma."

"It's not my bedtime yet!" Stewie tried to tell Lois. When she didn't respond, he looked over her shoulder to see Emma glaring back at him. "This isn't over! I'll get you for this!" he screamed.

Lois sighed and shoved a pacifier in his mouth. Stewie tried to resist the hypnotic powers of the pacifier as best as he could but, as always, he was gradually forced into a heavy sleep.

…

About three weeks had passed since Lily and Sadie moved to Quahog. And they still remained the talk of the town. They had been on the News a few more time with Tricia. It was fun watching Lily and Sadie try to adjust to the unusual town that was Quahog. They always seemed caught off guard by Peter's shenanigans, Mayor Adam West, the News, Quagmire, the fact that Herbert was still running around freely, and the greased up deaf guy.

But once they got settled in, they fit in pretty well. Lily started her marine biology program. They all left briefly for the Club Med commercial, which was a hit, and returned home. Miles eventually came back. Unfortunately, Emma left and returned again. She and Stewie spent many afternoons glowering at one another from a few houses down.

Brian and Sadie bonded more and more every day. Even though it had only been a few weeks, it was easy to tell that Brian was very taken with Sadie. And shockingly enough, she liked him back! Stewie was beyond excited about their relationship because Sadie was Lily's dog, awesome, and just the amount of famous that still allowed a normal life.

One day, Brian and Sadie were spending time apart to be with friends. Stewie was playing with his toys in the yard, only to notice that Emma was also playing outside a few houses down. When she looked up, he grabbed his toy and turned his back on her while glaring over his shoulder. It actually happened to be the start of a brilliant invention and there was no way he was going to let her see it.

"Rupert, I think it might be time to add a name to the old list," he explained to the teddy bear he always kept with him.

Suddenly, he felt someone picking him up. "Come on, Stewie. We're going shopping while your dad and Brian go to the Clam."

Stewie let Lois settle him in his car seat. He managed to shoot Brian a smug smile. "So…. You and Sadie….?"

"Great. We're having dinner at her house tonight," Brian answered as he flipped the page of a newspaper.

"Sooo…. Does that mean you'll be staying over?"

Brian flipped the newspaper and ignored the question. But the game was twenty questions, and Stewie could think of a lot more than twenty.

…

Sometime later, when they were finally done shopping, Stewie looked out the window as Lois pulled up to the Clam to see if Peter and Brian were ready to go.

Stewie wasn't sure exactly what happened, but Sadie burst out of the clam and covered her eyes as she quickly ran down the street. Lily and another girl he didn't recognize chased after her. Brian burst out shortly after. It seemed like he was calling for Sadie to wait. He frowned hopelessly when he realized that it was too late.

Lois eventually decided to let Meg, Chris, and Stewie get out with her when Peter and his friends came outside to join Brian but didn't come to the car.

"What's going on?" Lois asked.

"Sadie thinks I cheated on her," Brian said in a shaky voice, staring in the direction that she had gone.

"You kissed another girl! Of course you cheated on her! Be honest for once, Brian! God!" Quagmire instantly lit into him.

"Well, not really… She talked to him and he said, like, two sentences back and she kissed him. Chicks are used to Brian being available, so she really came onto him," Peter analyzed.

"Sadie just happened to walk in when it happened, so no matter what you say it's going to look like cheating to her," Cleveland pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not though… I mean, what was Brian supposed to do? Hit the chick? Because then he'd go to jail!" Joe emphasized.

"He could have dodged it somehow and mentioned he had a girlfriend," Lois pointed out, quick to add her two sense.

"I think it's cheating," Meg chimed.

"Shut up Meg," Peter replied.

"Brian! You had one job! Stay with Sadie!" Chris added. "What was she doing there, anyway?"

"Wanted to check out the Clam with her friends, I guess," Cleveland suggested.

"Yeah, what the hell, man? How do you mess that up?" Stewie yelled at his best friend. He'd been listening all that time in disbelief. And now he was just…angry.

"I've got to try to explain myself to her…" Brian thought out loud.

"I'm sure the last thing she ever wants to hear is you saying anything," Quagmire responded, projecting his own wishes onto Sadie.

An argument broke out in the middle of the street then over what to do. Somewhere in the middle of it, Stewie crossed his arms and glared at Brian.

"I am not ever speaking to you again," he said.

…

"C'mon, Stewie… J-Just let me tuck you in."

It was Stewie's bedtime, and he was still furious with Brian. Not just because of whatever happened, but because Brian had done absolutely nothing about it to help. In fact, he hadn't been completely sober since they drove home from the Clam.

"No! Go to hell! I can climb anything. Surely I can climb into my crib without you! I never want to speak to you ever again!"

Stewie slammed the door on a half-drunk, half-devastated Brian and tried to climb into his crib. He tried his grappling hook, but ended up swinging himself out the window and into the trashcans below. He returned later, all banged up and exhausted, and tried every jump and flip he knew. He almost had it one. Once! But his hand slipped on the railing and he fell.

He finally sighed and lay down on the floor with his faithful teddy bear, Rupert. "Damn. Rupert, how do adults understand how to work this thing! Seriously, it's beyond me!"

"Metal bars, pieces of wood, and a mattress….actually," said a voice from the darkest part of his room.

By sheer reflex, Stewie pulled out a machine gun and fired rounds at the corner. "Who is that? Come out! If you're that old pedophile from the street corner, I'll-"

"You wish I was the old pedophile, don't you?" Emma stepped out of the shadows to reveal that she had her hands up. Stewie narrowed his eyes in suspicion and fired again. She had to have something: a grenade, concealed weapon….

She easily dodged the bullet with a sly smile. "Oh, don't be so intimidated, Stewie. I have a very important question to ask."

"I'll perish before I tell you how to access my Weapon's Room!" Stewie yelled.

Emma narrowed her eyes. "Not that, fool. I need to know what your mongrel did to our dog…"

Stewie was taken aback by how soon Emma noticed. But Sadie must have come home just as upset as Brian was. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not telling you anything about my dog-"

"You will. And then we're going to fix whatever it is your mongrel has done to my dear Sadie. They must get back together."

Stewie tilted his head, once again suspicious. "You hated the idea of them before. Why the sudden interest?"

Emma reached into her backpack and pulled something out. "This is why! I believe our interests will align once you see this?"

Stewie pointed the gun at her. "Slide it over."

Emma seemed to have no issue doing it. Stewie approached it cautiously and examined it. His eyes widened when he recognized what it was.

"Oh, my god!" he exclaimed in exasperation. "Alright, you win. You know Sadie. I know Brian. We work together."

Stewie lowered his gun. "Yeah, so Sadie is upset because she basically thinks my dog a pretentious, cheating bastard…. And depending on who you ask about the situation, you might say she is right. Others, particularly men, might say she is wrong…."

He casually explained what Brian told him happened at the bar. Emma listened. At the end of their discussion, she seemed to be thinking.

"So I think the easiest approach to this might be time travel…" Stewie opened his time machine. "Get in. And don't you touch anythiiiiing!"

"Perhaps, but at least he didn't particularly mean to…" Emma theorized.

Stewie didn't see where she was going. "Okay, you're not acting like most girls here…. He didn't exactly try to prevent it, either, Emma. I don't think Sadie is interested in hearing a justification on this."

"Oh, but she might! And what if this is one of those experiences they needed? Your dog might really learn from this, Stewie!"

"Em-Emma, he doesn't even roll over. It's, uh, it's just been eight years and he still doesn't roll over. Em, I…I just don't think so. Alright?"

…

Peter and Brian (Six months ago)

Peter held a treat in one hand so Brian couldn't reach it and made the motion with his finger. "Roll over!"

Brian just sat there, staring blankly at the treat. He put a paw on Peter's knee in an attempt to get the treat.

"No! Roll over!"

Brian stared blankly at him, and reluctantly sat down. Peter rubbed his forehead.

"Roll over, dammit."

Brian barked. He and Peter both stared at each other because they didn't know what they were doing anymore.

"I forgot what we're doing. I'm gonna eat this," Peter said casually, walking off.

"You bastard!" Brian yelled after him.

…

"Now get in." Stewie already had the coordinates ready.

"Look, Stewie. Brian is supposed to be at our house for dinner in ten minutes. Maybe, if we talk him into it, he will at least try to get Sadie to hear him out."

"He's drunk!" Stewie pointed out.

"Yeah, I've had that problem with Sadie and Lily a few times, too. So I invented a sober-up vaccine. I brought some with me." Emma rummaged around in her bag.

"Whaaaaaattttt…?" Stewie was truly surprised.

"Look, Stewie. If this plans blows up, we go back in time and do it your way."

"Alright. But you have to answer one question. You have a time machine, don't you?"

"No. I have a teleportation device."

"A what?"

"A teleportation device. It means that, if I decided I would rather be in Italy than here, I could whip out the device and be in there within the next five seconds. Sadie and I have taken so many vacations!"

I'm still the greatest! "Oh, that's cool…." Stewie actually thought about doing it. "On second thought, we will do that your way first. I would rather you not have access to my time machine. Let's go. Brian should be in the kitchen, drinking like he always does when he's depressed."

He led Emma downstairs, careful to avoid any adults that might catch Emma and foul their plans. They found Brian where he'd predicted. A bottle of jack and a few shot glasses were spread all over the table. He didn't even notice them come in from the side.

Emma had the vaccination ready. "Okay, just follow my lead."

He and Emma snuck up behind Brian. Emma expertly stuck him in the side of his neck with the needle and administered the vaccination before Brian could even flinch.

"Ow!" Brian rubbed the side of his neck as Emma put the needle away. He turned and stared at them. "Emma? What are you doing here? Dammit! I'm sober again."

Emma slipped her hands in his. "I sobered you up because I'm here, and I want to go home. I need you to take me."

"What? Agh…" Brian sighed and reluctantly stood up from the table.

Stewie gave him a bouquet of red roses that he noticed sitting in a vase. "You could drop these off as a sorry. Just sayin'."

Brian took it from him. "Well, I was going to give them to Sadie tonight… Guess there's no need in wasting them. At least she can throw them in the trash… Alright, Emma. Just let me get the house keys."

Stewie spread his hands as soon as he left. "What the duce?"

Emma gave him a walkie talkie. "Stewie! I think I know just what to do… I'm going to keep mine on so you can hear. And if this plan falls through, I'll radio you to let you know that we will have to resort to Plan B."

Stewie took it just as Brian came back in and took Emma's hand. "Alright, Emma. Let's go."

Stewie watched as Emma looked over her shoulder. When they disappeared around the corner, he heard the front door shut. He instantly ran to his room and switched on the walkie talkie.

…

Brian

He was a little relieved that it was Lily who answered the door. She seemed a little taken aback that he'd dared to show up.

"Oh, hi… Brian…. What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Lily. I'm here to bring Emma back. She…somehow ended up at our place."

Lily gasped and snatched Emma into her arms. "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry. Thank goodness, she's okay. She was here five minutes ago…"

"Yeah, it happens…." Brian trailed off, thinking of Stewie.

By this time, Miles came to the door. "Hey, is that Brian? Hey, man! You're just in time for dinner! Come on in…"

Apparently, he hadn't heard about what happened with Sadie yet. Lily tried to inform him otherwise. "Uh… Miles…."

"What? Did he cheat on her, or something?" Miles chided cheerfully. "Come on in!"

When Brian and Lily hesitated, Miles got the message and turned to Brian. "Already, man?"

Brian had had enough of this whole thing. "No! I mean, Sadie has every reason to think so. But that's not what happened. I was at this bar, I guess it didn't help that I was drunk, and I guess this girl next to me thought I was coming onto her and…kissed me. Sadie walked in, and didn't give me a chance to explain… I mean, I guess I should've stopped her, but… I didn't know what to do. I mean, I'm not used to stopping chicks from kissing me. Anyway, I'm really sorry, and… I was hoping you could give these to Sadie for me. I know she doesn't want to see me."

Lily didn't seem as convinced, but Miles just seemed confused. He looked at Lily. "That's not cheating!"

Lily was fairly patient with him. "Miles….Miles….look at this from Sadie's point of view. If you walked in a bar somewhere, and I was kissing a guy…. How would you feel?"

"You're a chick! You could slap him in the face and it's pretty much okay. If a guy did that… I mean, I think we should at least let him try to explain. I mean, what do you think about it, Lily?" Miles demanded.

Lily's expression softened. She opened the door a little wider for Brian to enter. Brian hesitantly stepped inside, still holding the flowers.

Lily set Emma down. "I think it would be best if… I talk to Sadie first. Maybe you and Miles can set the table?"

Brian nodded, relieved that he didn't have to stand there and wait in suspicion while Lily dragged Sadie downstairs.

Emma

Emma prattled into the bathroom and radioed Stewie. "Stewie, this is Emma. Do you copy? Over."

A little static. Then Stewie's voice. "Finally! Someone that gets the code. This is Stewie. Over."

"I'm going to plant the….thing….in here. And lead the right person to find it because I don't see this talk working out. You'll know when they find it. Over."

Emma tossed the object into the bathroom trashcan and returned just in time for dinner.

Brian

Brian was just setting the last plate when Lily came in with a very upset Sadie trailing behind her. Sadie still had on the scarf she was wearing earlier.

"I told her what happened and Sadie agreed to at least eat," Lily said pleasantly.

Brian cautiously approached her. "Sadie, I'm so sorry. I got these for you."

Sadie sighed and took them. He expected her to dump them in the trash behind her, but she tossed them on the table instead. "Brian, I still don't know how to feel about this whole thing. Let's just eat."

Brian took his seat across from Miles. Sadie reluctantly sat beside him and picked at her plate without looking at him. Brian put a hand on his forehead.

Emma suddenly burst out of her seat with an unusually high pitched giggle and ran into the bathroom. Miles chased after her. "Jail break! I'll get her! Emma, don't touch the trash…that's…."

Suddenly, the whole dinner went turned into a complete disaster. Miles burst into the kitchen with a pregnancy test in his hand. "Who's pregnancy test is this?!"

Brian startled. "Oh, my god. Is that thing positive?!"

Miles ignored him. "Who's is it?!"

Lily tried to calm him down as Sadie gasped. "Miles, just-"

He held it up to Lily. "Tell me it's not yours! Tell me it's not yours!"

"N-No…." Lily trailed, just as confused as anybody.

"Miles, stop it! It's mine, okay?" Sadie wailed. "It's mine!"

She instantly began to sob. Brian's heart stopped. "Wh-What?"

He tried to count down the time in his head. "Sadie, is it… Did it happen when….?"

"Yeah," she sobbed. "But you don't have to worry about it because if I can't get rid of them, I'll…put them up for adoption, okay? Lily, I'm so sorry!"

Sadie covered her eyes and ran from the room. Brian stood up, still lightheaded from shock. "Sadie, wait!"

A moment passed as everyone at the table sat in complete silence except for a distant voice that sounded like Stewie coming from Emma's direction.

Miles still held the test with a guilty expression on his face. "Okay, now I feel like a dick…"

"You are!" Lily chided, snatching it away from him. "Gimme that!"

She took a breath and changed her tone. "Um, Brian. I've got to ask. Did you two not use a-"

"It broke," Brian answered in a shaky voice. "We were…a little drunk. So we didn't make it into a big deal. I'm such an idiot!"

"It happens to everybody, man. That's why I was freaked out," Miles said.

"It was when you went out for drinks a few weeks ago, right?"

"Yeah."

"The timing is about right," Lily sighed. She stood up and put her napkin on the table. "I'd better go talk to her."

Brian held up a hand. "Wait. I… I want to try to do the right thing here. And I think it would be easier if Sadie and I can…get back on the same page. Can I please talk to her first? Just give us a chance to talk through how this could work."

Lily finally nodded. "Okay."

Brian quietly made his way upstairs and knocked on the door to Sadie's room. There was no answer, but he could hear muffled sobbing inside. He quietly pushed the door open and found her lying in the darkened room.

"Sadie?"

"Just go away Brian," she sniffled.

Brian stepped inside. "Sadie, I-I'm sorry… For everything. For this whole situation. I'm such an idiot for not…making sure…."

"It's not all your fault…" Sadie answered, quickly wiping her eyes.

Brian went over and cautiously sat on the bed so he could see her face. She didn't do anything, but he didn't dare touch her yet. "Please, Sadie… Give me one more chance to show you that I would never hurt you. I want to do the right thing here. I love you, and if you can forgive me, I want to help. Look, from now on if that happens… I'll just punch the girl in the face and serve my time. How does that sound? Is that better?"

He was actually being very serious. Sadie raised her head to reveal a tear stained face with tired eyes. When she realized he wasn't being sarcastic, she gradually began to laugh a little. Brian did the same.

He noticed that she was curled up with a worn out shirt that smelled like Lily. He pointed to it. "Aw… Do you get upset when she leaves, too?"

Sadie tried to laugh, but it only seemed to make her cry again. "Sometimes."

Brian put a hand on her shoulder. She surprised him by laying her head in his lap. He decided to pop the question he knew had to be asked. "Are- Are you really set on getting rid of them? I mean, I know our families can't keep them all but… Maybe there's something we can do…"

Sadie sat up into a sitting position. Brian was a little nervous from her body language. "Sadie, I'll do anything I have to, okay? I won't go to the bars anymore. I'll quit-"

He stopped in his tracks when he realized what he was saying Sadie burst into as much laughter as she was capable of at the moment. "Were you going to sit there and tell me you were going to stop drinking?" she managed to say.

"Y-Yeah…"

Sadie laughed even harder, and Brian forced a nervous laugh and tried to avoid the subject. "I know we didn't have a lot of time to build trust before, but what can I do to help you trust me again?" he asked.

Sadie spoke softly. "I'd like to think about…everything for a few days, Brian."

"I know tonight's probably not the best time, but would you like to try to spend some time together? Maybe tomorrow?"

Brian waited as Sadie thought it over.

"I'd like that," she finally answered.

He got off the bed and offered her his paw. "Can I take you back downstairs? I'm probably not going to stay and make you pretend like everything's okay… I know Lily wants to see you. And Miles is…sorry."

She wiped away the remaining tears and took his paw. He could sense that she was nervous as they made their way down the stairs. "She's just worried about you," he said.

Before they rounded the corner to the dining room, Brian gently kissed Sadie on the temple. Everyone stopped eating when they noticed them come into the dining room.

"Hey. Did you two work everything out?" Lily asked.

Sadie's eyes welled up with tears again as she nodded in response. Lily instantly got up from the table to embrace her best friend.

"We're sorry…" Sadie sobbed.

"It was an accident, Sadie. We'll…figure it out, okay?" Lily picked her up.

"Thanks for dinner Lily," Brian said. "I'm going to go, and let Sadie have some time with you. I'll be back sometime tomorrow. Whenever Sadie's ready."

Lily understood. "Okay, Brian."

Miles tiredly threw up a hand. "Bye, man."

…

Stewie

Stewie sat by the walkie talkie for what seemed like hours listening to Miles try to calm Lily down while Sadie and Brian talked. For a while, there was only static. He played with blocks until he heard Brian say that he was coming home, and that there was a possibility that things would work out.

He still thought things would have turned out a lot happier if they'd just used the time machine.

He heard Brian come home, but he didn't come upstairs to sleep with the rest of the family. Stewie assumed he needed some time alone downstairs.

Shortly after, Emma's voice sounded clearly over the walkie talkie. "Stewie? I think we were successful. It is very likely that they will keep the puppies if your mongrel plays his cards right. I'll rely on you to make sure that happens. Over."

"Fine. At least I don't have to risk you seeing into my time machine," Stewie joked in an attempt to rub one last one in. "Over."

"Stewie...

I have a time machine…..

Over."

And then the walkie talkie went silent.