Memories part 2.

"So... What's so special about this picture?" Lucky asked. The picture in question was simply one of Perdita smiling at the camera with the note "Perdy, 1 week." under it.

"Well do you know what that means?" Perdy asked her pups.

"It means...One week since you were married?" Penny guessed.

"No darlings. It means I was one week pregnant." She answered.

"Pregnant? With what?" Patch asked.

Perdy chuckled. "With you of course!"

"Ooh." Was all Patch could say.

"That was just one week though. Puppies arrive in about nine." Perdy let out a deep breath as she remembered each day. "And no offense my dears but...Let's just say carrying all fifteen of you is a time I'm glad is past us."

"Were we heavy?" Lucky asked.

"Very. But it was worth it." She pulled him close and let him sit between her forelegs. The next photo had a picture of Perdy sleeping on top of Pongo in their bed. This one had a note that said, "3 weeks."

"I remember that day." Pongo said. "You came up to me like a little puppy, said you felt sore and asked if you could lay with me. I said of course and the next thing I knew, you were on top of me, snoring like a train."

"Sorry love." Perdy said. "But I was dead tired."

"I didn't say I didn't like it." Pongo assured her. "I was glad I could give you some form of comfort. I sometimes felt a bit useless to you."

"You weren't useless." Perdy said. "You helped me in every way you could."

"Why'd you feel useless Dad?" Patch asked.

"Son. When it comes to bringing children into the world, it is solely on the mother. She carries them, she feeds them, and during that phase, there's not much a father can do except make sure his wife is as comfortable as possible."

"And you did." Perdy assured him. "Your father worried about me endlessly."

"Can you blame me?" He said. "Even I could tell you were carrying a big litter."

"You didn't need to worry about mother, Dad." Penny said. "She's a very strong dog."

Perdy smiled and nuzzled her daughter's ear. "Thank you darling."

"I know she is." Pongo said. "But still. There were days I wished I could do more."

Perdy turned the page, on this page was a picture of Perdy simply sleeping on her side. This one read "6 weeks."

"Snrk!" Came a sound from Patch, trying to contain his laughter.

"What's so funny?" Perdy asked.

"I'm sorry mother it's just, you're as fat as Rolly in this picture." Patch said as he kept giggling.

In the picture, Perdita's pregnancy had made itself well known. As evident by her stomach.

"Well, what do you expect? I had fifteen puppies inside me!" Perdy said.

"I think you look pretty mother." Lucky said.

"Thank you darling. Although. I will agree that I was more than a little round there."

"Not to mention you were eating for sixteen." Pongo said. "Still, you were carrying them very well."

"Also." Perdy said to Patch. "Don't make fun of your brother behind his back. It's rude."

"Sorry." Was all Patch could say.

On the next page was a picture of Perdy laying under the stairs in the basement. This one said. "Nine weeks."

"Oh. That's when we knew you would arrive any day. Nanny made me a bed under the stairs and we just waited...Until...One night in October..."

"A crazy night." Pongo said. "Storming and everything."

"I felt a sharp pain in my stomach...And the next few minutes were a blur. What I do remember, I can't share with little puppies present."

"Did it hurt when you had us?" Penny asked.

"It did but not for long." Perdy assured her. "All I remember was hurting for a while, and it all going away the moment I saw your darling little faces."

The pups smiled and cuddled up against their mother.

"What was Dad doing?" Lucky asked.

"I was upstairs." Pongo said. "Worrying like a mother hen."

"Were you scared?" Penny asked.

"I was. All I could do was wait with Roger until we heard something. I remember trying to listen into the door to hear anything. Roger, goodness, Roger was as nervous as I was. I licked his hand and he nearly jumped out of his skin."

The pups laughed. "Why was he so scared?" Patch asked.

"A lot of things can go wrong during birth." Perdy said. "And every new father is nervous before his babies arrive."

"You should have seen us both when Nanny announced that you were here." Pongo chuckled. "I jumped into his arms like a frightened cat! But the moment she said you had arrived...All the worrying and the guessing. It all vanished and was replaced by a single, joyous thought..."

"What was that?" The pups asked.

"I was a father." He replied happily. "I was the father of fifteen puppies. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would happen."

Perdy flipped the page to a picture of her and Pongo sleeping peacefully while fifteen spotless, white newborn puppies lay around them. Some nursing from their mother, some sleeping, one was snuggled up right next to her chest. Under this picture was the caption that said. "Definitely fifteen!"

"What's that mean, mother?" Lucky asked.

Perdy read the caption again...And suddenly remembered a very frightening moment in the midst of that night.

"Oh my, Well." She looked at Pongo who simply nodded his head.

Perdy took a deep breath and continued. "Alright. Lucky, have you ever wondered why you were named the way you are?"

"Not really."

"Well. You were the last one born of your brothers and sisters. And like them, Anita laid you in front of me so I could see you. You were so small, smaller than the others. I licked your face as with the others...But something was wrong. You didn't move. I tried again but, nothing...You didn't react in any way...Than I noticed...I couldn't hear your heartbeat...I couldn't feel your breath...I did everything I could think of to get attention. Anita noticed I was upset and picked you up and then..." She stopped to let a small sniff escape her.

"What was wrong with me mother?" Lucky asked.

"Anita looked you over and I saw her face change to one of pity...She looked me in the eye and told me something that still saddens me to this day." She pulled her littlest son closer before continuing.

"She told me you were dead."

"What!?" Patch cried.

"That can't be right." Penny said.

"But I'm not dead!" Lucky said. He then quickly looked himself over. "Am I?"

"No darling." Perdy said as she kissed his head. "But you almost were."

"What happened?"

"Sometimes...Something happens inside a mother's womb that's not supposed to. I could be anything, things you're too young to talk about, regardless. Something happens and sometimes not every puppy makes it."

"And that happened to me?" He asked.

"We think so."

"But it couldn't!" Patch protested. "Lucky's right here!"

"Just listen. After she told me that. I didn't know what to do...How could one of babies already be gone...I let my head fall and just cried..."

"But I'm right here, mother." Lucky said as he snuggled closer to her.

"I know...And what happened next...I can never thank Roger enough for..."

"Roger?"

"What'd he do?"

"Preformed a miracle." Perdy said. "From what Pongo tells me."

"Maybe not quite a miracle." Pongo said. "But He saved our littlest one that night. I had just gotten over my initial shock of being a father when Nanny came up and sadly told us we had lost one...I didn't know what to think...She handed you to Roger and he told me it was just one of those things...I just stared at you...I thought. Why? Why something so small? Why take him when he's so new?...I was just ready to accept it...Until Roger said 'and yet I wonder' and he began rubbing your back...He was trying to stimulate your lungs, let air get in...I thought it didn't work...Until the blanket started moving...And you crawled out and brush up against my nose."

The pups just stared in awe.

"Roger saved me?" Lucky asked.

"How'd he know what to do?" Penny asked.

"I thought he was just a piano player." Patch mumbled.

"From what he tells me. He picked up the technique from a book he read about dog health." Pongo chuckled. "He said had to try something. He said he hated to see us upset."

"He saved my baby's life is what he did." Perdy said. "And I can never thank him enough."

"And that's why my name is Lucky?" He asked.

"Yep. You were the luckiest one that night." Pongo said.

"What did you do when they brought him back down, mother?" Penny asked.

"When they brought you back down to me, I couldn't believe it. Anita told me he was okay...I thought I would have had to say goodbye before I even said hello...And the moment I smelled his scent on you...His and your fathers. I knew he had done something...That crazy, wonderful, piano player had saved you...And just cuddled you...And I promised myself I would thank Roger the moment I could...And then Pongo came down and we slept there."

"All fifteen of puppies...Safe and sound." Pongo said.

The pups were quit for a while.

"Wow...What a crazy night." Patch said.

"You ain't kidding." Pongo agreed.

Perdy flipped the page. Across both pages of the book was a picture of all fifteen puppies. Each one with their names under it.

"I'm sorry to say my dears, but the story behind your names aren't near as...How shall we say, dramatic."

"Figures." Patch said.

"Most of you. Like you and Penny, didn't get named until your spots appeared. Freckles got his name because spots appeared on his face that looked like human freckles. Pepper got his name because it looks like some sprinkled him with pepper."

"So, Jewel got her name because she has spots around her neck like a necklace? And Dipstick cause the tips of his tail is black?" Lucky asked.

"Mm hm. Though, like Lucky, Rolly earned his name early on. He put on weight faster than all of you. And the way he was always hungry led Nanny to start calling him 'Roly- Poly.' The name just stuck."

On the next page were pictures of puppies playing or running around.

"Patch. We knew you'd be the rowdiest. The moment you found out how to use your legs you learned to run before you could walk."

"And you were always chewing on things." Pongo added. He pointed to a picture of Roger holding Patch and a shoe with a large hole in it. "Roger said he went through at least three pairs of loafers with you alone."

Patch just blushed. "I can't help it." He said.

"Lucky was a little, more calm." Perdy said. "No doubt he was a natural born fighter, but he preferred to sit quietly or watch tv. I didn't mind too much, it put my mind at ease."

"There was so much that could go wrong in the first few works for new born pups." Pongo said. "We were lucky none of it happened. You all were as bouncy and playful as puppies should be."

"You were such curious little things too." Perdy added. "Anytime we went to the park you'd run around and chase squirrels...I know you still do but...It's amazing how much you did with how little you were."

"Did we get into trouble a lot?" Penny asked.

Both Pongo and Perdy had to hold in laughter.

"You could say that." Pongo said.

"With fifteen of you, you were more than a handful." Perdy agreed. "But you made our lives so incredible."

"Indeed." Pongo said. "After meeting each other. We didn't think we could be happier. But you came along and told us just how better life could be."

The pups smiled at each other.

"We really made you that happy?" Lucky said.

"More than you will ever know." Perdy said as she nuzzled her littlest son.

Penny and Patch both snuggled up their parents.

"You make us happy too." Penny said.

"C'mon!" Patch said. "Turn the page! I wanna see more!"

"Alright, alright." Perdy said. She flipped the page...

And the whole Dalmatian family froze...

"Oh no..." Pongo said.

"I-I didn't know they kept these." Perdy gasped.

"Wait. What are these?" Patch asked.

The parents looked at each other.

"Well Perdy...We've avoided this long enough." Pongo said.

Perdy sighed. She knew this was coming...But she dreaded it just as much now as she did back then...

On the pages were newspaper clippings that had been cut out and pasted in the book. The first one had a picture of her fifteen puppies playing in their basket...

And the headline read "Fifteen Dalmatian puppies stolen."

~AN~

Part of the reason I like this franchise is, for how cute it is. The deep, family drama that is implied is borderline hardcore. I mean, Perdita was afraid of Cruella taking her children from the start, one of them almost dies before he's born and then their children are kidnapped by the very woman they were afraid of... It's kinda heavy if you think about it.

Anyway. Who's ready for some good, old-fashioned, angst?