Chapter Four:

Felicity lay sprawled out on her front porch, idly watching the gate of the Italian brother's house. Giovanni was napping beneath the hanging swing that decorated the porch, curled up and breathing deep in the cool shade. Droopy ears twitched at the sound of raised voices, and Felicity turned just in time to see Feliciano rush out with Lovino right on his heels.

"Do we really have to leave them?" Whining, Feliciano stopped to kneel down and run his hand over Felicity's head. She gave a light lick to his finger tips, earning a giggle from the Italian. "Can I just stay home? You don't really need me at the meeting! You always handle my stuff anyways!"

"All the more reason you especially need to go!" Slamming the door shut behind him, Lovino shot his brother a look before making his way to the car. "I can't keep doing both your projects and mine! It's only for a few days, anyways. Plus, you got your damn German boyfriend's brother to come check up on them anyways."

Felicity watched her owner whine before peeling away from her and rushing after Lovino. "Lovi, he's not by boyfriend! He's my friend, just like you and Antonio!" The little spaniel dog gave a chuckle as she settled back down on the porch. Lovino's face had made it to several shades of red before she had turned away, and now the Italian was sputtering nonsense while slamming his car door.

"That tomato bastard is not my friend! Now get in the car or we'll miss our train!" With a huff, Lovino glanced over to the spaniel siblings resting on the porch and his frown softened. "…they'll be fine… Giovanni, keep Feli in line!"

As the car pulled away, Felicity sighed and glanced over to the cat stirring under the swing. "I wish they would have left us at Blackie's house. It's so scary here all alone!" She got up to move beside Giovanni, curling up with a soft whimper and earning a lick to her nose. "Do you think the bird man'll stay with us tonight?"

"Doubt it and hope not. He's worse than Meathead 1." Rolling his eyes away, the tabby gave a light yawn before falling back asleep beside Felicity. "Last thing I need is my own house smelling like them."

Felicity put her head down with a softer whine, looking up and over at the fence. She watched from her hiding spot as neighbors walked past the Italians' house as if it were invisible to them. Several familiar faces passed by, ranging from their neighbor Antonio to the mailman and beyond. But still no comforting smells of her owner or loud Italian voices came to calm her, and she realized how truly lonely the house could be without the Vargas twins.

As twilight came about, Giovanni had moved inside the house through the little door in the back. Felicity opted to remain on the porch, wagging her little tail as strangers wandered past the house only to droop her ears as they kept walking. Hope failing her, she eventually made to walk into the house, when a loud German voice wafted down the street. She jumped to her paws, rushing at the gate and barking as she ran in excited circles when the Bird-man made his way towards the gate.

"Doggie!"

The young voice caused Felicity to skid to a halt, and she plopped her butt down to look up at the gate. Indeed, the silver-haired German was smiling down at her with a twinge of sympathy, but there was a new face with the man in the form of a toddler clinging to the man's shoulders and neck. "That's right, little dude. We're watching Feli's doggie."

Making his way into the gate, Gilbert carefully detached the child from his side and bent over to help his son stand. He stood back, hands on his hips while carefully watching Felicity sniff around the young Fritz before eagerly licking at the child's face, egged on by the child's laughs. "Hey now, don't want your mom to get mad at me for you smellin' like a dog." Chuckling, the albino kneeled down to give Felicity a pat before picking his son back up. "Come on girl, let's go inside. Mini-me is probably gonna pass out on me soon."

That was how the spaniel found herself sprawled across Gilbert's lap as the man idly flicked through the channels, his fingers rubbing just that right spot behind her floppy ear. Upstairs, Giovanni had opted to stay with the now sleeping Fritz, child and cat tucked up together in the guest room. Eventually finding a channel he was content with, Gilbert tossed the remote to one side of the couch and leaned back.

"This is the life, right girl?" Chuckling, the albino glanced down at the spaniel staring back up at him. "The old ball and chain's out for the night with her brother, I got a beautiful lady to keep me company, and something good is finally on the TV." Swinging his feet up onto the coffee table, Gilbert leaned his head back with a soft sigh and exhausted laugh. "And all I want to do now that the kid is asleep is pass out! Is this what old age feels like?"

Felicity watched Gilbert for a moment, tilting her head as she heard him begin to gently snore. With a little stretch, she jumped down from the couch and trotted outside, fully intent to find that long lost bone she had misplaced a week ago.

Instead, she found three dogs looking back at her through the iron fence of her master's yard.

The spaniel froze, halfway through her dog-door as her eyes connected with the bright red of the white shepherd from before. The large dog spared her a slanted grin, stopping where he stood to look back at her. "Aw look, it's the Little Liebe! Need a break from the domestic life of the collar club? We got room for one more party member!"

Felicity's eyes shifted further down the path, noticing the other two dogs staring her down. She recognized the golden collie from before, his long tail wagging as he smiled softly at the spaniel.

"It's alright, amie. Gil's all bark and no bite." The collie's voice managed to coax Felicity into the yard.

The Shepherd pushed the collie out of the way in his excitement, ignorant to the other's eyeroll. "Come on, it'll be fun! We get the whole town to ourselves at this time, nobody bothers us!"

"…a-are you sure?" Creeping towards the gate, Felicity spared a glance back to the house as if expecting to see if Giovanni was glaring out a window. Turning back to the dogs, she weakly began to wiggle her nubby tail. "Well….it does sound fun…"

"That's the spirit, fillette." Chuckling, the collie moved down along the fence. He paused just beside the gate and hopping up to his back feet, slipped open the hinge lock on the gate with his muzzle. As it swung open, the two hounds stood grinning at Felicity. "Just through the gate."

Sparing a final glance back to the house, Felicity tucked back her ears and slowly trotted outside her fence. She stood with a light cower, hips and rump tilted down until she was almost sitting, and stared up at the larger dogs before her. They only smiled back.