Memories.
"No way..."
"I'm sure it's her."
"But she's so small."
"What are you three doing?"
Three Dalmatian puppies turned around to see their mother.
"Oh. Nothing mother. We're just looking at old photographs." A puppy named Patch said.
"He doesn't believe this is you." One named Penny said.
The mother, whose name was Perdita, walked over to see what she meant. In the dusty old book was a picture of a small Dalmatian puppy with a blue collar and a bow.
"Oh my, that is definitely me. I didn't know Anita kept those old pictures."
"No way!" Patch protested. "That pup is too small to be you."
"Well I was small too you know." She said as she sat down. "A long time ago."
"You mean you were a puppy too?" Penny asked.
"Yes. All dogs were puppies at one point. Me, your father, even the Colonel was a puppy once."
"Yeah, a hundred years ago." Patch mumbled.
The pup turned the page to find a picture of a young girl holding the same puppy.
"Oh my." Perdita said. "That was a long time ago."
"Who's that?" The third puppy, named Lucky, said.
"That's Anita. We were both so young..."
"Anita was small too?" Patch asked.
"Everything was small at some point my dear."
The next picture was of Anita and another girl...A girl with a strange pattern in her hair...
"Who is-"
"Let's turn the page." Perdita said.
"But-"
"Please."
Patch shrugged and did as he was told.
"What's wrong mother?" Penny asked.
"Like I said...Everything was small at some point..."
The next page was an assortment of pictures of Anita with Perdita.
"She never seems to put you down." Lucky said.
"Anita was a lonely girl. Her parents gave me to her when she had just finished high school. They said a dog is one of the most faithful friends a girl could have."
"Were you?" Penny asked.
"I should hope so." Perdita chuckled. "Me and her were almost inseparable. She took me with her to college, I was there when she got her first job, her first boyfriend(who was a pain) and several other big steps in her life...For a while...It was just me and her..."
"Too bad some crazy, ol' fool had to butt his head in." A new voice said. "And ruin all that."
The father Dalmatian walked over to his wife and pups.
"Oh Pongo. You didn't ruin anything. I'm just being a little nostalgic." She reached up and licked her husband's face.
"Ew!" Patch said.
"Mush!" Lucky said.
"Oh hush." Penny said.
Ignoring them, Pongo returned his wife's kiss.
"Nostalgic eh? Nostalgic for the days when you could go for a walk and not end up in a pond?"
"Oh stop. You know that was the happiest day of my life."
Patch raised his eyebrow. "The happiest day of your life was a strange dog wrapping up your pet in his leash and dumping you all in a pond?"
Perdita started to say something...But thought for a minute...
"Okay. It does sound a little odd when I hear it out loud like that."
"Only slightly." Pongo agreed.
"Well it was my happiest day in hindsight." She continued. "After that we got to know each other a little better."
"Did Dad try and be all romantic when he was courting you?" Penny said.
"He tried..." Perdita answered. "Tried' being the key word."
"Hey." Pongo protested. "I thought I did pretty well with the whole courtship business."
"Darling. When your first impression is 'falling into a pond' the whole romance thing loses a bit of its luster." She looked down at her daughter. "Make a note of that Penny."
Pongo feigned offense. "Well. Something must have kept you around. And if it wasn't my personality...Then I just gained a renewed confidence in my looks."
Perdita chuckled. "Well I think it was something else."
"What?" He asked cautiously.
"I just fell madly in love you." She said as she nuzzled him.
"Again. Ew." Patch said.
"But who fell in love first?" Lucky asked. "You and Dad? Or Roger and Anita?"
"Definitely me and your mother." Pongo said.
"In fact." Perdita added. "It was our budding romance that gave them the confidence to pursue theirs. They felt that they couldn't keep us apart."
"It started off just meeting in the park...Then he took her out to dinner a few times...One thing led to another." Pongo leaned down and leafed through the pages in the scrapbook until finding a picture of him and Perdita with their pets at the park.
"Our first real date." He said. "When we finally admitted to ourselves how much we liked being around each other."
"Finally is the right word." Perdita agreed. "It took Anita forever to admit that this, awkward, lanky, musician, was the first person to ever make her happy."
"What about you?" Penny asked. "How long did take you?"
Perdita looked at Pongo who seemed to await the answer just as nervously.
"Darling...I knew Pongo was the one for me the moment we got ourselves out of that pond."
"Really?" Everyone including Pongo said.
"Oh yes. You see. As much as I love Anita, life with her was getting a little...Formulaic."
"What's that mean?" Lucky asked.
"It means our lives could be summed up to 'Wake up, Anita goes to work, She comes home, we got for a walk, and go to bed.' Nothing changed much. Oh sure, every now and then, something would happen but...Nothing really changed...Until...Some big, klutzy dog and his pet sent us into a pond."
Pongo smiled sheepishly.
"And it was like a change came over both of us...Like this one, little, awkward moment was some...Devine signal...A moment most would brush off as strange at best...We just knew we found something worth taking a second look at."
The pups looked at their dad.
"I knew your mother was the one for me the moment I laid eyes on her." He said. "I wasn't even looking for love myself. But when I saw her...A new world opened up."
"He was trouble...And lord knows Anita and I needed some trouble in our lives."
"She was like every beautiful thing I could imagine...When I saw her, I wanted to believe in love, for real."
The two gazed into each other's eyes...
The pups stared at the parents...
"I will never understand romance." Patch said.
"You will son...You will." Pongo said.
"So... Who proposed first?" Penny asked.
"Hm?"
"Y'know. Who asked to marry first? You or Roger?"
"Oh. Well." Pongo said. "Technically. Roger got the idea first. Yeah, he came in one morning, in an absolutely giddy mood, and told me his plan. He was going to ask that woman to marry him! I thought it was a wonderful idea, the two seemed to complete each other. The only thing I was worried about was if your mother felt the same way."
"You were afraid she didn't like Roger?" Lucky asked.
"More like I was worried that she wouldn't think Roger was the best for Anita." Pongo clarified.
"Human sometimes make rash decisions when they're emotional." Perdita added.
"Right. So. One evening, during one of our walks, I took your mother aside and sort of, well, sort of spoiled the surprise. I told her what Roger was planning to do and if she thought Roger was right for Anita."
"Did you?" Lucky asked his mother.
"Of course. Mind you. There were, and still are, things about Roger I find a bit...Odd. But seeing how happy he made Anita...I knew it was meant to be. I told him that if Anita would take him, so would I."
"Aw." Penny said. "That's so cute."
"What happened next?" Lucky asked.
"What happened next?" Pongo said. "What happened next were the most terrifying moments of my life."
"Why?" The pups seemed to say at once.
"Ooh. May I tell them?" Perdita asked. "I love this part."
"Of course." Pongo said. "You probably remember it better than me, I was to focused on not passing out."
"Well. What your father did next was the most romantic thing he has ever done. After I answered him about Roger, we didn't talk for a moment. We just stared at the sky...And the he asked me, in a very shaky voice. 'Do you feel the same way about me?' And I just stared at him."
"What do you mean?" Penny asked. "Weren't you two in love?"
"Oh of course. But that's the tricky thing. Just because two dog's pets are getting married doesn't mean the dogs have too. Some dogs just become good friends or already have mates. Some can't even stand each other."
Patch, who up until this point was indifferent to what he considered "just another mushy story" was now fully invested. "So what did you say? Were you ready?"
"Just listen." Perdita said. "I was a bit surprised by his words but I let him keep going. He said. 'I'm sure that you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me! I wake up in the mornings happier because I know you exist!' "
"Wow. Dad you were a little new to this, weren't you?" Penny said.
"I was doing my best!" Pongo said defensively.
"Anyway." Perdita continued. "I said.' I feel the same way but, why bring this up?' And he said. 'Because...Well. Just because our pets will be married doesn't mean, well-' and he stammered the rest so badly I couldn't make out what he said."
"Like I said." Pongo interrupted. "Most terrifying moment of my life."
"I finally said. 'Pongo. What are you trying to tell me?' And he said. 'I'm afraid to ask in case you're not ready.' And I said. 'Pongo. Life with you has been the most wonderful experience I have ever had. You give me new meaning. New purpose. I think...No. I know I love you.' And he smiled. Took a deep breath. And started over."
"Ugh!" Patch groaned. "How long is this story?!"
"Hush you." Perdita said. "So. He said. 'Just because are pets will be married. Doesn't mean we will.' And that's when I knew where he was going. I said. 'Yes. And?' See at this point I was leading him on a bit. And he said. 'And I want to know if you...If you think Roger is good enough for Anita. Am I good enough for you? If not you're not obligated to take our relationship anywhere do you want to.' And finally said. 'Are you asking me?' And your dear father turned whiter than he already is said. 'I guess I am... I guess what I've been trying to ask is...Perdita...Would you marry me?' And I smiled at him and did the craziest thing I ever have or will do in my entire life."
She turned to her husband and smiled.
"I said yes."
Pongo sat down next to his wife and they rubbed noses. "And on that day, I became the happiest dog in the world."
"Not as happy as me." Perdita said.
The pups sat there, wagging their tails in anticipation.
"So? What happened next!" Lucky said.
"When did Roger propose to Anita?" Penny asked.
"And when did you get married?" Patch added.
Pongo and Perdita just laughed. "My, my." Perdita said. "And here I thought you pups didn't like 'mushy' stories."
"Well you can't just leave it a cliffhanger." Patch said. "I hate those."
"Alright, but first." She nodded to Pongo. "We'll need a different scrapbook."
Pongo nosed through a stack of books before finding a large, blue one. He grabbed it in his mouth and dropped it in front of the pups. On the cover was the title "Our new family!" in gold letters.
"Now." Perdita said as she flipped the book open. "Let's see here." She flipped to a picture of Roger and Anita sharing a kiss as Anita showed her new engagement ring to the camera.
"Oh. That's the day he asked." Perdita said. "He took her to the park, where else? And asked right at the spot where we met."
"And if you thought I was nervous, hoo! That boy barely held himself together." Pongo said.
"I think he did alright." Perdita said. "He asked her the usual questions, how long had they been together, asking if she enjoyed it, y'know. Anyway. Humans have this odd thing they do when they want to ask someone to marry them. They get down on one knee, and they offer the person a ring."
"Why?" The pups asked.
"Apparently, a ring is a sign of affection amongst humans. Regardless, as I'm sure you can guess, she said yes as well. And they asked a photographer in the park to take this picture."
She turned the page where a picture of Roger and Anita leaving s church was.
"Unfortunately, there's not much to say about their wedding. Neither of them had many friends or family and, neither of them had much money. So, they where married at a small, private ceremony at the church near the park. Anita didn't even wear a gown."
"Where are you?" Penny asked.
"We were watching from the window and sort of, followed along." Pongo said.
"It was more like we got the leftovers." Perdita jokingly added.
And on the next page. It showed the two humans and dogs in front of the small brownstone house the family lived in today.
"And that's it. We moved into this house and have lived happily together since." Perdita said.
"We hired Nanny a little later and, well it's a little cheesy but, we lived happily ever after." Pongo said.
The pups looked at each other.
"I thought romance was supposed to be a little more dramatic." Patch said.
"I thought it was a lovely story." Penny added.
"Did anything exciting happen after that?" Lucky asked.
Pongo and Perdita just began laughing.
"Did it?" Perdita said. "The most exciting thing of our lives happened just five months later."
"We thought there was no way we could be happier." Pongo said. "But something happened that proved us wrong."
"What?" The pups asked.
Perdita flipped the page in the book to show a picture of her. Nothing to special about it, she was just laying in a basket bed and smiling up at the camera.
Underneath the picture, however, someone had written 'Perdy, 1 week.'
"Let me tell you our favorite story." Perdita said.