A New Dalmatian on the Block.
An Oliver and Company fanfic, starring Dodger, Oliver, Francis, Tito, Einstein, Rita, Georgette, Jenny and many others.
Chapter 11: Safe at last.
For the past 2 days, there was lots of things going on at the Foxworths now that Ryan had be adopted by the rich family, mostly taking care of the Dalmatian himself and getting his very own room organized. Since he didn't have his own room yet, the injured dog had to sleep in the living room since it was quiet and so he doesn't disturb anyone's slumber. With summer break still going on for Jenny, she and Oliver made sure their new family member is welcomed warmly and did their very best to get Ryan healed. Surprisingly, the autistic dog learned a lot of manners before he even met the Foxworths and everyone was surprised by how well he fitted in. They didn't have to train him or anything at all. Though he still felt guilty about leaving his mate and his friends behind at the barge, he was enjoying himself greatly here at the mansion. Not only that, he and Rita's relationship was growing bigger and bigger than anyone expected. They had been going out than ever before and there were rumors that the two of them were going to start a family soon. But those were just rumors.
"Hold still Ryan, you're almost done" said Jenny cheerfully in her own bathroom 2 days after Ryan's party. The young girl was giving the newly adopted Dalmatian a nice, warm bath, being as careful as she could when she got to the Dalmatian's cast that's still on his leg.
Ryan meanwhile was having a good ol' time! He enjoyed the nice soft loofah being rubbed around him full of shampoo and water. He panted happily as he stood still for the little girl.
Rita was outside of the bathroom waiting for her knight in shining armor to come out. She was just stopping by to see how her lover was doing. There was tons of stuff she took that day and since she was done with work, she might aswell go see her true love just to be sure that he was happy. There were even rumors that Rita might join the Foxworths someday so that she could be as close to her mate as ever, but again those were just rumors.
After a while, Ryan's bath was completed and the Dalmatian was dried off before he walked out of the bathroom. His smooth fur was spotless, his face looked as handsome as a male role model and his paw nails were nicely trimmed by Mrs. Foxworth, making Rita's jaw drop as she stared in awe at her mate. Ryan smirked playfully and started posing for her mate. "You look excited, are you excited?" He said as he wagged his butt at Rita, who simply can't speak at the moment.
"Gah…" she said in awe. She thought her mate was as handsome as a role model. As Ryan limped by her, she felt his backside slide against her neck as he flirted with her. The Saluki felt touched and flopped onto the floor with a smile on her face. Well it seems Ryan changed during his time at the Foxworths.
Ryan laid on top of Jenny's bed carefully, not wanting to hit anything against his cast and prepared himself to be brushed. This was one of his favorite things about the Foxworths after getting a bath. He would just lay on the bed or floor and just let the little girl do her magic. Oliver told him the brush feels wonderful and he was right. The soft grooming of Ryan's fur makes him feel like he's being rubbed by his mother, who he still misses her a lot. Though deep down inside him he hated his mom for leaving him by himself, but he loved her more than he hated her.
"There! All done" Jenny said a little later once the grooming was done. As soon as she put his railroad bandana, his license collar and his flea collar back on her male dog, she pulled out a treat from her pocket and gave it to the Dalmatian.
Ryan's eyes lit up when he saw the treat and gently took it away from his master. He was thankful his teeth weren't shattered from the battle with Michael and his henchmen or else he wouldn't be able to eat the crunchy treats he would get for being a good dog. After he was done with his treat, he gave Jenny a lick on the face and took Rita to his room so they could hangout.
"You look wonderful, Ryan" Rita whispered into her mate's ear.
"Nuh uh" Ryan chuckled, "you're more wonderful than me cause you're beautiful and attractive. Even more than 'Miss World Champ' in my book."
Rita blushed and chuckled slightly. Ryan was referring to Georgette, who was busying herself in her room just to ignore the fact that Rita was in the house and another dog that WAS one of Dodger's gang members was with her. She knew the Dalmatian was always careful when being around the French Poodle just so he doesn't get scared of her yelling and to avoid another meltdown which would really be terrible.
"You know she doesn't mean to cause any harm, right?" Oliver said, walking up to his canine friends. He was just getting back after having a nice warm lunch in the kitchen. Since Ryan started living with him, the orange cat gave him a lot of respect to make the autistic dog feel welcomed to the family.
Ryan laughed, "Of course I do. She's just not use to change like me being here, but she'll get over it. I've dealt with change myself and it's hard for me sometimes."
Oliver tilted his head to the side slightly. He was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well" Ryan began, "like other people who have Autism, I may respond in a variety of ways, including withdrawal, repetitive behaviors, tantrums, or even aggression. Thankfully, sometimes, others will tell me before ahead of time so that I know what to expect before that happens. If a person tells me of the change that's going on, then I'll feel reassured about what'll happen next. If not, then you might see me respond in those ways probably or I get scared or worrisome."
"You have Autism?!" Oliver was shocked. He didn't know his new friend was Autistic. "I didn't know that!"
Ryan chuckled, "That's ok kid. It happens to me sometimes."
When the 3 of them reached Ryan's very own room, they stared in awe at the beauty of the room. The room was very spacious, plenty of room enough for Ryan to play with his toy trains. A large fireplace was directly in front of a large luxurious bed across the room from it, with pillows and blankets already on top of it waiting to be used by the Autistic dog. A bookshelf was placed near his bed which was already full of train books that came directly from the Locomotive Preservation Society or from libraries that didn't need them anymore but mostly from the LPS. A large tv set was placed near his bed along with an interesting night light that looked like a railroad crossing with lights and a crossbuck, which Ryan couldn't wait to try out that night! On the walls around him were pictures of trains of all sorts that were, again, donated from the LPS just for Ryan. There was a picture of Ryan, Dodger and the gang that stood on a nightstand next to his train lamp that he also received, which made Ryan smile even more.
"Wow" said the Dalmatian in awe at his own room. He walked around the whole room in amazement. "This truly feels like heaven to me. I don't know if I deserve this or not."
"Of course you do honey" Rita hugged her lover, "you do deserve this. You've been through alot and it's time you get the biggest break of your life. We still get to date of course, you don't have to stay in the barge and you get to hangout with us whenever you want."
Oliver began to rub against Ryan's legs softly. "Yeah. It would actually be a shame if you didn't join us. You're like a brother to me, like Dodger. A brother that I never had and truly love, in a friendly way not in a love love way."
Ryan laughed and gave Oliver a high five while he gives Rita a lick on the cheek. "Thank you so much! I still don't know how to repay you Rita."
"Please, being mates with you is all I ever want" Rita said softly.
Ryan gave Rita a big kiss on the lips for 5 seconds before he got up on his bed carefully. "Rita, I think we make the greatest couple ever."
"Of course we do!" Rita grinned playfully. She hopped up onto the bed and the two of them began to snuggle together. "I love you, Ry!"
"I love you too, Rita!" Ryan smiled and laid his head on top of Rita's.
The two of them snuggled and snuggled for a full hour until it was time for Rita to go back to the barge. The Saluki gave Ryan a loving kiss and promised to visit him everyday whenever she gets a chance before she hurried away back to the barge. Ryan watched Rita hurry away from the front window and gave her a howl/whistle "goodbye". He watched until she was out of sight and limped away to the kitchen to eat his dinner.
"I still can't believe you are going to be living here!" Georgette snorted. "Of all the places you could be living in and you wanted to be here?!"
Ryan rolled his eyes and smirked. "Come on Georgette, you don't think you won't need my help someday, do you?"
Georgette was shocked, "Me? Needing your help?! Hmph!"
Oliver chuckled next to his Dalmatian friend. He thought Ryan's teasing was funny since he knew he was just messing with the French Poodle.
Ryan looked down at Oliver and gave him a wink. When their bowls full of their dinner set down infront of the 3 pets, they all happily ate their dinner until there was nothing left in the bowls. The warm taste of dog food in the Dalmatian's mouth was delicious as he munched it down in pieces. It truly does feel like heaven, but he's not dead yet!
After dinner the 3 pets did their usual thing, Georgette would be in her room being pretty, Oliver would play with Jenny, while Ryan just stayed in his room watching train documentaries on TV and read train books. As Ryan watched documentaries on his own tv set and reading his train books, he began to look back at all the things that happened to him for the past few weeks since he ran away from Little Jack's home. He laughed at some of the events that happened, he frowned a little, shuttered some, but he smiled at most of them, especially when Rita told him that she loves him.
"Thank you father" he said, looking at the painting of his father above the fireplace. "If it wasn't for you, I'd probably never meet all my best friends and my true love Rita. May your legacy carry on in my paws forever. Always. Take care dad, and rest in piece. Tell mom I love her. Forever."
Soon it was time to hit the hay as the Dalmatian put his book away neatly and carefully. While he had been living in his new home, Ryan had shown the Foxworths many tricks up his paw such as carefully carrying stuff without getting drool on stuff, change the channel on the tv remote, fixing the tv antennas and so forth, making the whole family impressed. Heck, he even impressed Georgette a little, but he impressed Winston the most. Some of them might think of Ryan as a big helper, but he would mostly stay out of the way just so he doesn't screw anything up or anything. Limping cautiously, he jumped up onto his bed, laid his head on the pillows and covered himself up with his blankets, with his blanky Dodger gave him being the top one.
"Ahhh" he sighed, "this is the life."
As he began to drift off to a deep sleep with his tv still on, Jenny quietly came in to turn his nightlight on. She smiled softly as she saw Ryan sleeping peacefully. The little girl turned on his nightlight, which blinked its red lights like a real railroad crossing would, and softly kissed Ryan's head. "Good boy. Welcome to the family Ryan" she whispered before leaving the room and shutting the door softly.
Back at Fagin's boat, Rita was just about to hit the hay herself as she listened to Fagin telling her and the others a bedtime story. She smiled as she listened to the story quietly. Although some of the guys were disappointed Ryan was now part of the Foxworths, Rita was glad her lover was happy where he was and can still date despite him being at the mansion. It had been a wild, bumpy ride for the Saluki for the past couple of weeks but it was all worth it and interesting. "Always will be together, no matter what" she whispered to herself as she looked at the empty spot beside her.
"Do you think Ryan is going to be alright?" Dodger asked the Saluki. He was starting to miss Ryan like the others do. The autistic dog had been a big help when he was around and would've begged him to stay with them. But if that's what he wanted, then that's what he gets. Secretly Dodger was angry the Dalmatian couldn't stay, but he couldn't stay mad at his friend forever.
Rita nodded, knowing that Dodger was upset about Ryan leaving. "He'll be fine with the Foxworths, Dodge" she answered. "We'll still be kept in good contact with him and I still get to date him. But who knows, maybe someday I might move in with them just to be closer with my love."
Dodger grinned his trademark grin. "If you say so, Chica Rita" he chuckled and drifted off into a deep sleep.
Rita rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face. She looked over at the toy train she gave Ryan days before his birthday and hugged it. "Look out world, there's a new Dalmatian on the block" she whispered and slowly fell asleep herself. This was going to be an interesting life ahead of her and the others.
The end.
Whew! Another story of Ryan and Company done! What a journey huh? Sorry it took so long to finish. Like "Ryan and Company", I was busy thinking of ideas, settings, life was getting at me and stuff, along with writer block! Gah, I hate writer block! But anyways, another story of Ryan and his friends completed. Stay tune for more stories, both short and long, of Ryan, Rita and all of their friends, both animals, humans and trains. Next story to come will be "Carrying on a Legacy". Thank you all for the support, kindness and views. Stay strong and keep your dreams alive. See you soon. ;) Fan art is allowed of course, as long as it's not negative or anything bad (like mass murder or anything like that). Also if you're making fan art, please let me know and/or link me to the art piece. Plus don't forget to credit me for the character Ryan or something like that.
Have fun reading you guys and gals!
Ryan, Shaun and Marlene belongs to me.
Oliver and Company belongs to (C) Disney.
Please review this story.
Alternative ending. ;)
Sean: Mom, wake up mom! You're dreaming again! It's Christmas morning!
Rita: *yawning* I'm getting up, I'm getting up young man. Where's your father?
Sean: Downstairs with Uncle Shaun and Aunt Marlene. I thought you said he was dead?
Rita: He is. He's been dead sweetie. *walks with her son down to the foyer, gasps in awe and wonder* Shaun! Marlene! How?! How did you both manage to come back?!