I present to you, chapter twelve :) I've skipped two months. Hehe.

Brooke's belly had grown considerably in size. She was now five months along, feeling little occasional kicks and needing to waddle around everywhere she went. Her mood swings could be terrifying, but most of the time she was in bright spirits. She had the boys running off to grocery stores frequently to buy strange foods for her, but they handled it well.

Today was Brooke's last day of work; her active job meant that she had to go on maternity leave. She would still be paid, but not as much as she had been. James could tell she worried about it, but didn't say much. He, however, was relatively confident they could manage, as they always had. And if necessary, maybe he could find a job somewhere. The was bound to be some idiot somewhere who'd hire him. He could work hard, dammit!

"I still can't believe last night," Logan chuckled as the four walked home from school. "The way the two of them sprung apart like they were our age and we were the parents!"

"It was fucking creepy," James retorted. "And I don't wanna think about it anymore."

Brooke and Dan were officially an item. Of course, James had suspected it for quite some time; they all had. The lingering stares and the dreamy smile during phone calls and the frequent lunch or dinner dates made it very obvious. However, it hadn't been an official known fact until the four boys trooped in from hanging out in the streets with Lucy and Guitar Dude to find them intertwined on the couch; he'd come over to drive her to work. They'd both been dressed, mercifully, so James hadn't been totally scarred for life. However, he was still a bit traumatised as anyone would be. But he was happy for his mother. She deserved the best, after all.

"Don't let it get to you so much," Kendall teased, swinging their held hands a little. "Dan seems like a sweet guy and they get along well."

"Yeah yeah, I know," James chuckled as they passed the apartment blocks where Lucy and Guitar Dude often hovered and made their way along the rows of houses. "It's just weird. I'll get used to it."

"Woah, hey." Logan pointed down the street, frowning and saying, "What's going on here?"

There were two vehicles parked outside one of the grubbier looking houses; a police car and an ambulance. The boys slowly made their way over, watching the paramedics carry out a body on a stretcher, covered with a cloth. Kendall squeezed James' hand tighter immediately, and James felt Logan pressing closer to his other side. A policeman was talking to a young woman standing there, who looked very stressed out.

"Who was living there?" Carlos asked the other three. "Do you know?"

"No . . . wait. I think I might." James walked closer to where the woman was standing. He glanced past her towards the front door of the house. He saw a wooden cane propped up on the porch. "It was this man I saw every now and again. Really old, don't know his name. He had a dog . . ."

"How long do you think it took for him to be foud?" Logan asked in slight disgust, looking over at the woman again. "I recognise her better now . . . she comes here every week or so from outside the estate. He could've been dead for days. Probably had a heart attack or something."

"Not surprising," James shrugged. "He was very old. But . . ." James stepped around over the front lawn. The paramedics and police paid no attention to them, and his eyes fell on the shed at the end of the garden, at the side of the house. It was only an inkling . . . but he was sure that the house itself would've already been searched. He walked down over the long grass, hearing the other boys' light footsteps behind him. He reached for the rusty bolt on the door and yanked it across, rust sticking to his hand as he did. He wrinkled his nose in disgust, before opening the loose wooden door and peering inside. Instantly he was met with a foul smell of mould, and animal. He stepped inside, taking out his phone and shining the screen light around; the window was so dirty almost no light came through.

He saw the man's dog lying against the wall on a ragged oily cloth. He was tied on a lead made of rope to a hook on the wall. There was a bowl beside him; empty. He was lying in a damp and sticky puddle that stank of urine. James, for one horrifying moment, taught that he was dead. But the dog's ears pricked up slightly at the sound of their arrival, and lifted his head a fraction.

"Carlos, quick," James said urgently, moving to the wall and untying the rope from the hook. "Can you help me carry him? He's really thin but he's still big and I dunno how heavy he'll be or if he'll struggle."

Carlos nodded, moving towards him. "What do you want us to do?" Logan asked immediately.

"Go outside, one of you stand at the corner and the other out on the street. You can tell us when it's okay to carry him out," James instructed, lightly stroking the top of the dog's head. It whimpered pathetically and his heart cracked. "Shh, it's okay . . ."

James and Carlos managed to lift the dog to its feet. And as it turned out, James could easily pick him up in his arms, and although he let out some sounds of protest, he didn't struggle. Carlos followed him out of the shed and shut the door behind them. They made their way quietly across the grass, watching carefully for Kendall and Logan's signals. Kendall suddenly beckoned them forward and they jogged out from behind the house. Logan was deep in conversation with the paramedics, who seemed interested enough to answer his eager questions. James' eyes widened when the woman's eyes fell on them. However, she said nothing and looked away again. Perhaps she thought they were doing the right thing. James knew that they were.

He carried the dog home, Carlos and Kendall walking beside him. They were just reaching their front door when Logan ran up behind them, a little out of breath. Kendall unlocked the door and they all walked inside, taking the dog into the kitchen and setting him down on the tiles. "I think the first thing we should do is get him some food and water," Carlos said, going to the cupbaord and finding a plastic cereal bowl before going to the sink and filling it. Meanwhile, Kendall went and dug around in the refrigerator for food.

"Let's see . . . we have leftover meat spaghetti. We have ham slices. We have microwave beef stew and chicken casserole," Kendall said, listing off all the meat containing foods he could find. "What should we give him?"

"Let's start off with just some ham," Logan said, taking the packet Kendall handed to him. "Don't give him rich food or he'll throw it up."

The ham was still very cold but the dog swallowed down what they gave him in seconds. Logan made sure to only give him small pieces at a time, his hand behind constantly snuffled at for more. They gave the dog some water then, watching him lap it all up eagerly when suddenly Brooke walked into the room. "I thought I heard you—" She stopped. And gasped. "What the . . .?"

"Mom, listen—" James began worriedly, afraid of setting her mood swings in the direction of irrational rage.

"The poor thing!" Brooke kneeled down on the floor, despite her heavy belly, and stroked the dog's head looking stricken. "Where did you find it?"

"The man who owned it died," Kendall told her. "Obviously treated it like shit though, look at the state he's in!"

"We don't even know how long the man was dead, Mom," Carlos added worriedly. "So we don't know when he was last fed or anything. And he stinks too."

"Should we give him a bath?" Kendall suggested.

"I think we should take him to the vet," Brooke said, putting her hand on Carlos' shoulder and heaving onto her feet. James gave her a quick hand and she smiled gratefully at him before saying, "Dan is coming over, maybe he can drive you?"

"Would he mind?"

"Of course not! It won't take long, I'm sure there's one nearby. And I'll make dinner for him in the meantime, that should sweeten the deal a bit." Brooke smiled at them. "Now, who of you boys is going to go? You shouldn't all go, causing a commotion in the clinic but obviously one of you has to."

"I think James should go," Kendall said, glancing over at him. "He found the dog and carried it out. He knows it best."

James' cheeks flushed but he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I want to go."

"We'll get things sorted here while you're gone," Brooke told him, reaching her hand up and ruffling his hair. "I'll give you some money to pay for the bill, hopefully it won't be too much . . ."

"Tell them that as much of it that we can do at home, we will," Logan cut in and advised him. "That way we won't be charged for dumb shit that we don't need, okay?"

"Okay," James replied, nodding while Brooke waddled off to find her purse. He helped the dog back to his feet when Dan arrived, Brooke's vet money safely tucked into his pocket. It would hopefully be enough.

"The poor thing is starving," Dan said mournfully as he watched the dog plod along across the floor weakly. "I pass a veterinary clinic for work most days, it's not too far."

"You don't mind taking me?" James asked.

"Not at all, we can go now."

James followed Dan out of the house to where his car was parked. He opted to sit in the back seat, tying his seatbelt and tugging the dog up to lie beside him, head on his lap. Already he felt more attached than he liked to admit.

When they walked into the veterinary clinic, it was practically deserted. The cheery young woman at reception chirpily wrote them in for the next appointment, which she expected would be in only a few minutes' time. "That dog looks a bit hungry," she said glumly, looking down at him. "Beautiful animal though. He's a German shepherd, or Alsatian, whichever you could call it, one of my favourite breeds."

James could only smile and nod, a little overwhelmed by her bubbly persona.

Dan stayed sitting in the waiting room when it was James' turn to go in. He gulped, scooping the dog back up into his arms, and walking into the room. Instantly the lab coat clothed man's eyes were on him, and he smiled nervously.

"Hi, sir," James said slowly, carrying the dog in to him. "I have this dog here . . ."

The vet gave him a stricken and stern look as he placed the dog on the examination table, seeing the state he was in. "Is this your dog?"

"The accusation caught James off guard and he replied quickly, "No, no! He belonged to this man living on my street, but he died. I found him tied up in the shed and took him away."

"Oh." His expression softened immediately. "Any idea how long he'd been there for?"

"No. But probably a while . . ."

"Let's take a look at him." The vet examined the dog carefully for a few minutes, using various equipment that James didn't really understand. He took a careful look at the dog's fur, checked his heart and ears and eyes and teeth, and eventually looked up and said, "Well, I can tell you right now that this dog is very young. I would say she's almost a year old."

"She?" James echoed in surprise, glancing down at the dog.

"She, yes. She's been fixed and all, you don't have to worry about that. Obviously she's quite emaciated but she doesn't seem to have any infections or diseases. Next to no fleas, miraculously, I can get my assistant to give her a flea bath if you like?"

James remembered Logan's advice about avoiding any extra charges, but then he thought of fleas infesting the house and nodded eagerly. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."

"No problem." The vet called his younger assistant over and she took the dog away into anther room. "Alright, so you found her tied up in a shed?"

"Yeah." James nodded. "I'd seen her before, so I figured she must be on the property somewhere . . ."

"And you and your family want to adopt her? Come take a seet with me over here." James followed the vet across the room and watched him take off his disposable rubber gloves and toss them away.

"So." The vet sat down in a chair with James. "I'm not exactly an inspector or anything so it's not my job, but I do care about my animals and this one's been treated horrendously. Her behaviour is good despite her prior treatment but I just want to be sure that she'll be in good hands and a suitable home. So I'm going to ask you a few questions, alright?"

"Of course, no problem," James said quickly. "What kinds of questions?"

"Well, are there any small children living at home?"

"No, we're all in our teens. I'm seventeen, Kendall and Carlos are sixteen and Logan is fifteen." At the vet's puzzled look, James added, "I'm the only birth kid, my mom adopted them." He bit his lip. "And she's five months pregnant, so there'll be a baby soon."

"Well, by then she should've settled in well enough so that might not be a problem. And will there be somebody at home for at least a few hours every day to care for her?"

"Yeah, Mom's finished work after today so she'll be home, and me and the other guys come home straught after school most days. And then there's my mom's boyfriend Dan and he's around sometimes too. He drove me here."

"Right, that's good. And I know you must think I'm treating you like a total child, but obviously your mother can't walk her. She's a big dog and needs a good bit of exercise. You and the other boys are willing to make that effort?"

"Of course! They love her already. And even if they're not . . . I am."

The vet looked pleased to hear that. "I'd like you to fill out a form for me, if you don't mind. And if you want some supplies to care for the dog, we have some here you can purchase."

"Oh, um . . . I'll consider it." No he wouldn't. He couldn't afford that.

The dog returned, washed and dried from her bath, the vet finished up and James led the dog out, paying the bill at the reception and going over to Dan. "All done," he said. Then he spotted the carrier bag by Dan's feet and frowned, pointing to it. "What's what? You didn't have that when we came in."

"Well." Dan picked up the bag and stood up. "The woman at reception talked to me about the dog and I explained it was being adopted, and she suggested we but some supplies."

"But we can't—"

"You can't. I can. It wasn't outrageous and I figured you could do with a hand." Dan opened the bag and showed James what was inside. "I have dog food and treats here, she said they'd help it to gain weight and get healthier. Then there's a collar and a leash, a water bowl and a squeaky bone."

"Oh . . ." James reached into the bag and took out the blue collar and leash, tying it around the dog's neck and holding the handle in his hand. "Thanks, Dan. Mom's gonna be so happy." It was the best he could come up with, but Dan looked over the moon at the news.

"I'm sure she will. Now come on, we'll drive back."


As James, Dan and the still unnamed dog walked in through the front door, instantly excited shouts could be heard from the living room. "Well, how is he?" Carlos roared above the rest of them.

"He's a girl," James called back, taking the leash and leading the dog into the living room. She sat on the floor, tongue lolling out and she gazed at them all with happy eyes. "And she's gonna be fine, so long as we get her strength back up, keep her clean and everything else. Can we keep her inside, Mom?"

"Oh, of course," Brooke said immediately. "We might have to train her a little but I'm sure we can get advice on that. We'll know somebody with a dog. We have to give her a name."

The five of them eyed the German shepherd, and the way she blinked her large brown eyes up at them trustingly. "Sydney," Carlos said at last, eyeing her with a smile. "She looks like a Sydney."

"Sydney Diamond," Logan chuckled. "It's nice."

"Sydney Raye Diamond," Kendall added after a moment of inspiration. "It sounds cool."

"She sounds like a popstar," Brooke laughed, scratching behind Sydney's ears. "She's such a sweetie. Don't worry Sydney, you're in good hands now."

She seemed to understand. And she seemed to be a lot happier.

Brooke brought them all into the kitchen, where they ate dinner together crowded around the table. Sydney was the lucky recipient of a few titbits. Later, after Dan had left to go home and Kendall, Carlos and Logan were in the living room watching television, James went to help his mom put the dishes away.

"You know James," Brooke said suddenly, stacking the plates up. "I'm thinking about calling your father."

"What?!" James exclaimed, dropping a spoon in his shock. It clanged on the floor and he quickly picked it up again, wiping it down. "But why? What's he got to do with us?"

"Trust me, nothing. Or at least, I wish. But . . ." She sighed, "Well, he has a lot of money, and we don't. Especially since I'm working, and we'll have the baby and now we have Sydney too. And he does owe child support money, so . . ."

"You wanna call him for money?"

Brooke nodded, biting her lip. "I mean, obviously I'll be polite about it. I can't see him refusing, it won't make a huge difference to him."

"We'l . . . if you're sure, I guess." He thought about asking her again what it was that split them up. But she was in a good mood and he chose to secure that and keep his mouth shut.

"I'm sure. Now go on, I'm finishing up here."

James went into the living room and saw Kendall slouched back on the couch, bare feet curled up, the remote clasped loosely in his hand. He looked up when James walked in. "Hey." He gave him a quick peck on the lips as the brunet sat by his legs. "How's everything?"

"It's going fine," James chose to tell him, grinning and lacing their fingers together. Kendall beamed at him. "So listen, Blondie, since we all co-own Syd now I thought we could make a walking schedule? Because let's face it, nobody wants to walk her all the time."

"I hear ya." Kendall reached across the floor to where his backpack lay, taking out a notebook and pen and opening to a new page, the corners crinkled and what James though was probably a coffee stain at the bottom. "So, I guess she'll needed to be walked twice a day when she gets her strength up."

James nodded. "I'm thinking a shortish walk before school and then a longer one in the afternoon or evening?"

Kendall nodded, sketching a quick table of 'Walk 1' and 'Walk 2' and the days of the week. "Four people, fourteen walks."

"Maybe two of them can be in compulsory pairs," James suggested and Kendall jotted it down. "You and me, then Carlos and Logan. Then everybody's got the same amount."

"Okay, let's see . . ." Kendall scribbled on the page for a minute or two, biting his lip and clicking his tongue as he worked. At last he turned the page around, showing it to James. "I ordered it oldest to youngest, so you start on a Monday morning, and then Carlos, then me then Logan. And I put the pair walks on Saturdays, nobody has two walks the same day that way."

James looked over it. "This looks good. We can stick it on the refrigerator. Should we show it to Carlos and Logan first?"

Kendall nodded, getting to his feet and taking the notebook. "They're upstairs, they went up a while ago."

James and Kendall walked up the stairs one after the other. James couldn't help grinning at the perfect view he had of Kendall's ass. Then his cheeks turned bright red. He and Kendall hadn't done anything of that sort yet; they weren't in any rush. Well, Kendall wasn't. James wasn't either, not exactly. But he was very eager and couldn't wait for it to happen. He'd been thinking about it for a while, before they even got together. But he respected Kendall and wanted him to be happy. It's not like he was desperate anyway. He could deal.

Kendall glanced briefly into James and Carlos' room as he passed, but the door was wide open and they weren't in there. Kendall and Logan's door however, was closed, and he could hear some faint noises behind it. Kendall strolled forward and opened it up, then he walked in. Then he shrieked. James ran in after him, "What— OH!"

Carlos and Logan's faces were red, and they were lying in a position that they couldn't spring away from at a moment's notice. Unfortunately for them. Logan sat up slowly and untangled his legs from Carlos, getting off the older boy's chest and folding his arms. Carlos sat up too, mouth slightly but unmistakably swollen. "H-hey, guys . . ."

"And what were you to up to?" Kendall managed to demand at last, folding his arms and tapping his foot off the floor. "While we were downstairs, busily making a dog walking schedule?"

"Sorry we didn't tell you," Logan mumbled.

"Logie didn't want to," Carlos traded, pinching Logan's cheek. "He's too shy."

Logan batted his hands away, scowling. But they could see the smile he was trying to force down. James couldn't help smiling at them. They were cute. Much like Kendall and himself . . .

"Well, I don't have a problem," Kendall said at last, shrugging. "Just don't do anything on my bed."

"Why would we go near that?" Carlos quipped, raising an eyebrow. "The chlamydia bed?"

"I do not have an STD you twat!"

James and Logan glanced at each other, rolling their eyes. It was play fighting, but with those two's terrible record, they could never be totally sure.