Colleen flipped another page of the book she was reading. She was sitting on her bed dressed in red-violet short-sleeve pajamas. The notion of wearing nightwear when it was somewhere in the afternoon- while the sun was still out for that matter -would be regarded as silly, and sometimes cruel when used as a punishment for unruly children. That's what Colleen considered it to be, a punishment for igniting Hunter and Blitz's enmity. The collie was convinced she deserved it; she never knew how much she irritated Blitz with her antics. Hunter's true thoughts about her broke her heart the most.

Colleen didn't feel like crying anymore. She had wept in the bathroom while cleaning her scratches with a gauze sponge and taking a long shower. Every now and then she would sniffle, but not a single tear fell from her doleful blue eyes. The collie wondered if the next time she was cry that day was from the aroma of ham. It was a laughable theory, however Colleen told Exile that she would not appear at dinner to keep a distance from Hunter and Blitz, and, based on what occurred during the egg hunt, she vowed not to leave her room. She figured the best method of inflicting guilt on herself was to sleep on an empty stomach.

The book Colleen was reading, titled "The Lion King", was one of the dozens, if not hundreds, of children's books Exile had for some reason. The husky always appeared to be captivated with each book he read. Everyone thought it was weird but it kept him distracted when they traveled, so they allowed it. Stealing a book from Exile's collection was bad, but Colleen was aware that it would be an extremely long wait for nightfall and she needed at least one source of entertainment, and with no TV in her room, a book was the next best thing.

At the point when the main character fled his homeland, there was a knock at the door. Colleen didn't answer or even looked away from her book. She expected someone to come in and check on her so it wasn't that much of a surprise. Still, Colleen refused to respond to whoever was on the other side.

Another knock came, and again, the collie continued reading. She had silence for only five seconds.

When the third knock came, a familiar voice followed. "Colleen? You in there?"

Hunter? Colleen thought. What the devil does he want? Perhaps to see my cry, the jerk.

A fourth knock came and another voice the collie recognized, one that spoke with an Austrian accent, uttered in a soft voice: "Colleen, please open up."

Blitz is with him? Colleen thought, her sadness now morphing into anger. What's the matter with those blokes? Aren't I making them happy? The least they can do is leave me alone!

Colleen threw the book to the side, lifted the blanket and crawled underneath. Then she hid her head under the pillows and laid as still as possible. Hunter and Blitz probably heard her but she didn't care. She didn't want to see them for the rest of the day, and whatever treatment she might endure in the future, she was determined to ignore it and carry on with her life.

Hunter opened the door as slowly as he could, then he and Blitz cautiously poked their heads in the room. They immediately and carefully walked over to the bed and stood over it. Sitting on the bed was considered at one point, but the likelihood of an attack from Colleen told them not to risk it.

Hunter still took the risk of reaching out and shaking what he hoped was Colleen's arm. "Colleen?" he said. "Hey, Colleen; can we talk?"

The collie didn't respond verbally or physical. She just laid still.

Blitz reached out and shook Colleen in the same spot Hunter shook her. "Colleen, please come out of there," said the Doberman. "We need to tell you something."

From the tone of their voices, Hunter and Blitz sounded repentant. In spite of that, Colleen refused to believe that they were a tiny bit sorry. Her reason was not the contraption that flung her into the tree; it was because the incident opened her eyes to what she perceived as the truth.

With all the bravery he could muster, Blitz grabbed one of the pillows and yanked it away, revealing the left side of Colleen's head. The collie's left eye gazed up at the duo before looking down on the mattress. "Get out already," she murmured. "You've done enough for one day."

Blitz sighed. "Colleen, what happened today was not your fault; it was mine, and a little of Hunter's, but mostly it's my fault."

"Blitz is right, I had my part in this," Hunter added. "I made him angry and jealous in the first place, and when I got angry, we ditched common sense for immediate action."

"I'm sure that's how it happened," Colleen muttered.

"What?" Hunter and Blitz asked in unison.

At last, Colleen sat up and shifted herself to face the cano-sapiens talking to her. "You don't have to lie to me," she told them. "I completely understand; I do, really. I didn't mean to be a nuisance but, if you really had enough of my sense of humor, why didn't you just tell me to stop?"

"Because you were never a nuisance!" Hunter stated. "Not once have you annoyed or angered anybody!"

"Maybe not you, but him, hundreds of times," Colleen said, shifting a finger from Hunter to Blitz.

The Doberman let out another sigh. "You're right, you have angered me in the past," he admitted; "but that was my own doing. You see, the reason I call you-"

"Blitz, you don't have to make things up," Colleen said, hanging her head in shame. "I now know that I was wrong to pretend you were another person, and to call you a stupid name like 'Fluffy' and "Chubby-cheeks", and to kick you into a wall. I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot."

Hunter and Blitz glanced at each other before returning their gaze to Colleen. Yes, both cano-sapiens (especially Blitz) were surprised that they heard the collie call the Doberman by his real name, but they also felt their guilt increase when their friend called herself an idiot. It was true that Colleen would treat Blitz as if he was someone she never met; regardless, the duo standing before her knew that insulting the Doberman was only a small fraction of their feud's origin, and they needed her to understand that they were entirely at fault for everything.

With a deep breath, Blitz told the miserable collie: "Colleen, you're not an idiot. There's no reason to call yourself an idiot. All those times you made fun of me was because I tried to impress you with my looks and personal charm. I guess we can say that my choice of words were very impolite and you were giving me a taste of karma."

Colleen inched her head up and looked at Blitz a little confounded. "You mean that?" she inquired.

Blitz nodded with a small smile.

"Look, we're very sorry how bad things got between the three of us," Hunter told Colleen. "Blitz and I didn't mean to hurt you in any way, whether it be with words or a giant catapult. Exile straightened us out in the basement and we realized that love is not worth fighting for, especially between friends and on a special day like Easter. We promise you that this will never happen again; we cross our hearts."

In the blink of an eye, Colleen's frown flipped upside down, indicating how touched she was by Hunter and Blitz's apology. "Thank you for telling me that," she said. "It makes me feel better."

Hunter and Blitz sat on the bed beside their friend. "We're glad to hear that," Blitz replied; "and I promise, I will be careful what I say in the future. I'm sure Hunter would too, but it's me who has to watch my mouth. I'm not sure my gut and spine can handle more kicks and crashes."

Colleen giggled and then Hunter spoke. "Yeah, I'm going to think before I speak from now on," he said. "But if I'm allowed to speak my mind at this moment, I think another good reason why Blitz and I started arguing over you is because you're the only girl on the team. Maybe we can persuade the Master to add a couple female cano-sapiens to the team; gender equality, right?"

Blitz and Colleen agreed to the idea, even if it would be dismissed before it reached the Master.

"So, you still want to have Easter dinner with us?" Blitz asked.

"I would like that," Colleen responded. "All I hope is the honey-glazed ham tastes as good as it sounds."

"Same here," Hunter and Blitz said at once.

Oddly, the trio sat on the bed for a moment in silence. Maybe they were dreaming about the ham, but Colleen thought of something more different. She reached her arms around the cano-sapiens to her left and right and rested her hands on their upper arms. Hunter and Blitz noticed this and looked at Colleen who had a cordial smile.

Seeing her friends weren't getting the message, the collie pulled them close and bringing them in for a hug. "Come here, you blokes," she said.

Hunter and Blitz smiled and returned the hug.

"Aw, that's more like it," came a voice with a thick Russian accent.

Hunter, Colleen, and Blitz snapped their heads towards the door and saw Exile standing there looking very pleased with the sight before him. Behind him was the unmistakable shape of Shag.

"Aren't you two suppose to be cooking?" Hunter asked.

Shag gave a reply in the form of three barks and two yips.

"An hour and ten minutes," Exile added.

This delighted Hunter, Colleen, and Blitz. The ham was in the oven and, seventy minutes from now, it would be ready to be carved and eaten. Blitz suggested they all head to the basement and wait by playing pool. Everyone agreed and the group set out for the basement.

In short, all five cano-sapiens enjoyed several fantastic games of eight-ball. What made it so great was that a different player won each game, not like in the past when Hunter would win the majority of games played. As a matter of fact, Colleen was the top player in all the games the group took part in. Exile and Shag were quick to note (but not point out directly) that Hunter and Blitz were purposely taking weak shots to give their friend the winning shot. They guessed it was to help Colleen feel better, which was nice of them to do so.

Before they began another game, Hunter got a whiff of something and traced it to the upper level. No one seemed to notice his behavior or even that he smelt something in the air.

Suddenly, Hunter yelled, "EXILE! SHAG! GET UP HERE!"

Exile and Shag stared at each other in horror. They feared that a terrible thing had reduced the ham to something bad. The husky and sheepdog raced up the stairs with the collie and Doberman following close behind.

When all four cano-sapiens reached the kitchen, they were greeted with the sight of Hunter standing next to the open oven and the intoxicating aroma of the ham inside. Shag stuck the meat thermometer in the hunk of meat and waited for the needle to stop moving. One hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit. It was done.

"Alright!" Exile cried. "It's about time we got a start eating this thing!"

Shag ordered Exile to fetch the carving knife and a large fork, and asked Hunter and Blitz to bring the scalloped potatoes and honey-glazed carrots out to the table near the back door (which they guessed was the dining room table). A sense of tremendous excitement filled the cano-sapiens as they set the table for dinner. Colleen gave Hunter and Blitz a hand with their task before placing plates, glasses, and cutlery onto five individual placemats.

"Perfect," Colleen said once she, Hunter, and Blitz had finished setting the table. They made sure to leave a large space in the middle, a spot specially reserved for the ham.

"You can say that again," Blitz replied. "Despite the catapult, we truly made this a wonderful Easter."

"Yeah," said Hunter; "and the best part is we get to share it together; not as friends, but as a family."

Exile appeared with the honey-glazed ham, excellently carved and looking just as succulent as it smelled. The group gathered around the table and took their seats. All it took was one bite of the delicious ham to make all five cano-sapiens happy, and they knew for sure that it had been a wonderful Easter, no matter how crazy their day could have been.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, it's April 1st and this story has ended. Was it hard? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. Was it good? That's up to you to decide. Aside from that, I'd like to wish everyone a "Happy Easter", both those who celebrate it today and on the 8th of April. Thank you for reading my Easter fanfic and enjoy your day!