The Depressed Dog

A sequel to Cybrawler253's fanfic, Life of Stewie

by LDEJRuff

Chapter 3 - Acceptance


The following afternoon, after Peter introduced Vinny to Glen and Joe at the Drunken Clam, the two sat on the living room couch drinking cans of beer.

"Oh, boy, Vinny," Peter said. "Hanging out with you has been the best. You want another beer?

"No," Vinny responded, confusing Peter. "I'd love one!"

The two laughed.

"What...What the first thing you said was..." Peter began before trailing off to another laugh. "Oh, my God! You're on, you're, like, on another level, Vinny!"

With that, Vinny gave his can to Peter, who then took both cans out to recycle.

"Yeah, another level," Brian repeated, still depressed, getting Vinny's attention. He was sitting by the couch.

"What's wrong, Brian?" Vinny asked, getting off the couch. "You look like a piece of spaghetti on the street."

"I don't want to talk about it," Brian replied.

"What is it you don't want to talk about, B?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it, Vinny," Brian repeated.

"Oh, I see," Vinny said.

"By the way, where are you originally from?" Brian asked him.

Vinny answered, "The Manton Avenue section of North Providence. Used to be heavily-attired, now lousy with Dominicans."

"Well," Brian chuckled, "you and I are pretty much on the same level of racism. I get mine from my father's genes. He got hit by a milk truck."

"You don't say," Vinny replied, wide-eyed. "My father was drowned to death in a bird bath by an officer of the law. His will just said, 'Kick Jimmy in the sack for me. Go Eagles.'"

"My sympathies, Vinny," Brian said, sharing his condolences.

"Don't worry about it," Vinny replied. "He was a scumbag."

"Hey, Vinny, you want to see a puppet show?" Peter called from hallway. "They all got leather jackets!"

"You wanna come see the show?" Vinny asked Brian.

"No thanks, Vinny," Brian shook his head. "You go on ahead. I'm just going to sit here and mope."

As Vinny walked on, he looked at Brian sadly. "Boy, Brian's as sad as I was when I saw Les Misérables."

Cutaway: We're at a movie theater, where Vinny had just seen Les Misérables, and began to shed a tear.

"My, that sure was a sad movie," Vinny whispered. "But it does have a happy ending."


The next day, Vinny sat in the kitchen, about as depressed as Brian was. Lois took notice when she saw him.

"What's wrong, Vinny?" she asked.

"Oh, it's Brian," Vinny answered. "I just can't help feeling sorry for him. He's been moping all day yesterday."

Lois understood. "I know how that feels, Vinny," she said. "Maybe you should go talk to him. He's outside on the lawn."

Vinny looked behind himself and saw that Brian was indeed on the lawn. He looked sadly as he was holding a ray gun that used to belong to Stewie. Vinny took it upon himself and exited the kitchen, going to the back of the house where Brian was. He noticed the gun Brian was holding.

"Brian?" Vinny began. "What are you doing with that toy space blaster?"

"Oh," Brian said, getting up. "It isn't a toy. It's a real ray gun."

"A ray gun?" Vinny repeated, wide-eyed. "I thought it only existed in science fiction. Where'd you get it?"

"It belonged to Stewie," Brian answered.

"Stewie?" Vinny repeated. "Nobody ever said a word about Stewie."

"He died recently," Brian replied. "That's the reason I'm so depressed. He was my best friend. You're not supposed to lose your best friend, ever, even at a very young age."

Vinny finally understood how Brian felt. "Look, Brian," he began, "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but you're gonna be okay."

"How do you know?" Brian asked, about to cry.

"Because," Vinny answered, "I once had a thing, uh, happen to me with some stuff."

"Really?" Brian replied, slightly brightening. "That's what's happening to me, stuff!"

"You know, before your family found me at the shop, I lived with an old man named Leo," Vinny said. "It was just him and me in a tiny apartment, and we got pretty tight. He kinda became my whole world. By the time he passed away, it was real tough."

"So," Brian began, "how did he die?"

Vinny answered, "He tried to go to a yoga class, and on the first pose, his ball sack split in half."

"Really?" Brian asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, it was on Dateline, it was a whole thing," Vinny shrugged. "Anyway, I guess Leo was kinda like my Stewie."

"Well," Brian began, "so, how'd you get over him?"

"Well," Vinny began, sitting down, "I met your family at the pet store. When I saw them looking for a dog, and sensing they'd lost one of their own, I kinda sensed they were all going through the same feelings of loss that I was. And it made me think, 'Hey, maybe I was meant to find these guys. Maybe we were meant to be together.'"

"You know what, Vinny?" Brian said, starting to smile. "I'm beginning to think that may be true."

Vinny chuckled in a gesture. "Bring it in, B."

With that, Brian gave his new brother a heartwarming hug.

"Hey, Brian," Vinny said as Brian let go, "since you and I are brothers and all, maybe you can answer me some'n. Why does your living room smell so much like puke? Somebody throw up a lot in there once?"

"Well, Vinny," Brian chuckled, "you have a lot of stories to catch up on. Most of them are on DVD."

"Oh, cool," Vinny replied. "Like, uh, by season and stuff?"

Brian chuckled. "Well, rather like by volume."


Later that night, after Brian had shown Vinny the first few episodes from Volume One (Seasons One and Two), Lois had noticed that the two were warming up.

"Well, Brian," Lois said, "you seem to be in a better mood."

"Well, Lois," Brian replied, "thanks to Vinny, I think I'll like having a little brother around."

"Okay, Vinny, time for bed," Lois said to Vinny. "I'll tell Peter to turn off the nightlight this time."

"No!" Peter shouted from inside the bedroom. "I need it for in case there's witches!"

"You know, actually, Lois," Vinny began, "I think I'll sleep with Brian tonight."

"Well, isn't that nice," Lois said, smiling. As she was about to walk up the stairs to the bedroom, she continued, "Good night, you two."

As Lois walked up the stairs, Vinny asked, "Where do you sleep, Brian?"

"In Stewie's old bedroom," Brian answered. "I had to sleep all month in Stewie's crib, but I think I'll replace it with a queen-sized bed so I can share it with you."

"Well, that's something," Vinny said.

"Hey," a witch, who suddenly came in, began to the two dogs, "you guys know which room is Peter's?"

"Up the stairs, across the hall," Brian answered.

The witch walked up the stairs. Pause. "Ah, it's too bright in there," she called. "Never mind."


To Be Continued...