Lady trotted outside the house which had become home to her, taking care to head down the steps one step at a time, to stop herself from tripping over them as she had done so many times at that point. She shivered happily in the cool, crisp morning air, feeling it's breeze cut through her coat. She enjoyed it for only a moment more, before settling down on the lush, green spring grass.

Jim Dear with his bushy brown mustache, Darling with her sweet and tender singing and all the other wonders that came with being indoors was something that she would be infinitely grateful and happy for, but save for their daily walk in and around the neighborhood and occasionally to a secluded section of the park, Lady never really got much time out of the house. So when the previous day, her owners had introduced her to a strange flap built into the door, which she had quickly realized was a door meant just for her, she'd taken the liberty of letting herself out in the morning. Not needing to whine to her owners whenever the need to go outside arose. Of course, she would always be back to wake up Jim Dear and Darling as had become her custom, but until she heard the rooster calling out to signal the start of a new day, her matters lied elsewhere.

A flock of pigeons had flown by and started searching the garden for food, cutting through her thoughts. Lady eyed them thoughtfully and enviously. Birds were always a curious thing to her. They were the only creatures she had ever known that could leave the ground beneath them in favor of the skies, a feeling she wished she knew of and the way that they solemnly pecked at the ground, occasionally finding a seed, or two. Whenever she got too close they would suddenly take off in flight, the first time had left her startled. Every subsequent time had left her annoyed, it seemed impossible to sneak up on them, as anytime they weren't stalking across the ground, they were wisely sitting in the trees, far out of her reach. And so she'd given up on stealth and had instead simply began chasing them, wildly and until she was out of breath. That was what she was preparing to do now, rump raised in the air and nose planted firmly on the ground, mouth ready to open and release a cacophony of squeaky, immature barks.

Before she could though, a white object caught the attention of her peripheral vision. A splintered white bone, from last night's supper. She could recall waiting patiently as Jim Dear and Darling ate, when they were done they'd tossed her the bone and while by then she knew it wasn't nearly as appetizing as dog food, donuts and coffee, it still felt good to sink her teeth onto something even remotely hard. When she was satisfied, she did what any sensible dog would do, kicking up dirt in a spot amongst the flowers. She'd made sure to give the ground a good stomping afterwards, ensuring that the bone would be safe and sound for later use. How it had risen from it's deep grave, she had no idea, but seeing it simply sitting there, alone and neglected was no good.

Ignoring the pigeons in that moment, Lady trotted off to deal with the rogue bone, taking it on between her teeth and sniffing around, trying to find a new, safer spot for her bone. Once she was happy with the spot she had chosen, she dug once more, uprooting a flower in the process.

*Cuckoo* *Cuckoo* *Cuckoo*

The sound of the roosters calling out the start of a new dawn, made her lift her head up, just as she was finished patting down the ground and muddying up her paws. Excitedly she turned back towards the house, intent on waking up her owners, much to their own personal chagrin.

"Excuse me Miss," somebody cleared their throat behind her.

Lady froze up, taken a back by the sudden presence of someone else, another dog most likely. She felt a sense of danger, an urge to bark and a reluctance to turn around all at once. If they were talking to her, that meant that they had to be a dog, only dogs seemed to speak to dogs after all. What was a dog doing in her lawn? She could bark and alert her owners, but that might put her and them in harm's way if this dog was well and truly dangerous. Turning and facing them might have provided the same result.

In the end though, the third option won in the midst of the rapid thoughts passing through her mind and the out of control beating of her heart. Slowly she turned to face the dog. Surprise etched itself into her features when she realized that there wasn't just one dog, but two. A tall, brown one with a long, wrinkled face, complimented by floppy ears and something pouring from his mouth and a shorter, black one with bushy eyebrows, an even bushier mustache than Jim Dears' and a wondrous face, complete with high cheekbones and small eyes.

"Excuse me Miss," the taller one spoke again, slow and cheerful voice thick with a Texan accent. "I do apologize for intruding, it's just that me and my friend Jock here couldn't help but notice you all out here on your own and well...seeing as you've been in the neighborhood for quite a while now, we figured that it was about time we made, uhm, proper acquaintances."

The short one, 'Jock' apparently, stepped forward, "Aye' lass, we figured it best ta' leave ya on your own for a little while, didn' want ya to feel too crowded."

She stood there dumbfounded for a few moments, taking in their presence and carefully coming to the conclusion that they were probably no threat.

"So, uhm, may we have your name, Miss..."

"Lady," she answered shortly, figuring that they were trustworthy enough for her to at the very least reveal her name. "My name is Lady."

"Why I've never heard of a more fitting name for any dog in the whole wide world," the taller dog smiled at her, "My name's Trusty and this right over here is Jock, although you already knew that."

"Jock and Trusty," Lady repeated their names sitting down, as if both were a foreign language completely new to her. By then she was completely calmed, no fear present in her body language. "How did the two of you get in here?"

Trusty pointed his head in the direction of the black palisade gate, the one she purposefully stayed away from when she realized how easy it was for her to slip through the spaces, "You'd be surprised to know that I could fit through there any day of the week, Jock too. Although normally we just use the front gate, whenever your dear owners leave it open for us."

"You know my owners?"

"Course we do lassie, our owners know your owners an' your owners know our owners," Jock spoke up again, with a chuckle. "It's only natural that they'd know us an' vice-versa," he cleared his throat and suddenly looked past her, "I don't mean to question your abilities to do certain tasks, but I couldn't help but notice that your bone hiding skills could use some work, what with how shallow that hole ye' dug was."

She looked over them to the spot where she had buried her bone, "Really?"

"A course lass, and with an expert such as myself, that stubborn bone of yours will be buried good and proper in no time at all."

Lady sat quiet again, by now thoroughly fascinated by both dogs. Both of them were so...unique and different. That coupled with the fact that this was the first ever time she had really interacted with any other dogs made her mind spin with a flurry of questions. She had been just about to ask one of those many questions when suddenly she remembered Jim Dear and Darling's sleeping dilemma, "I'm so terribly sorry, but I must get going right away, my owners need me. Please excuse me," she said so out of politeness, but either way was already beginning to back up.

"Don't let us keep you. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Lady, might we be seeing you again later?" Trusty asked, just as politely.

Lady thought for only a split second, she had important things to deal with and she had just met the two dogs, but she supposed that there was no harm in at least taking the time to see them again, "Why of course."

Sensing her want to head back inside her home, they stood up and left, leaving her to watch them for only a few seconds before bursting indoors and rushing up the steps, faltering only once. She slipped in through the partially opened bedroom door and leapt up onto the bed, yipping, yapping and pulling the blanket which covered both humans firmly between her teeth. In no time at all both Jim Dear and Darling were wide awake and ready to start their day...

"You know Darling, when we got that dog door for Lady I had hoped that it meant we might actually be able to sleep late on a Sunday," Jim Dear yawned and stretched out, arms lifting high and waving into the empty air.

"Well I suppose that on any day, a dog is better than an intrusive clock," Darling said, before leaving the room to prepare a breakfast.

"I suppose that is true," Jim Dear muttered quietly to himself, while gently petting Lady, whose own thoughts were filled with what specific questions she might later ask Jock and Trusty, two dogs who she was very much warming up to the idea of becoming friends with.

"And just remember," the gray mutt stopped at the gate and turned back towards all three of them one last time, smug and arrogant look all too present on his glowering face, "when the baby moves in, the dog moves out."

With those words he took his leave, strolling steadily through the open gate and down the pavement up until Lady could no longer see him, the idea to run after him for just one more glimpse briefly fluttered in her mind, yet she found herself stuck in place. She was unsure of what to say, or do for several moments, the sudden intrusion having caught her entirely off guard, considering the supposedly innocent talk she had been having with her two friends only an instant before that. Jock's angry and foreign yapping broke her out of her mystical trance.

"I cannot believe that such a dirty mongrel would have the gall to simply barge in here and rudely interrupt a proper conversation between three proper dogs. And even worse was the way he spoke ta' ya lass. How dare he, the dirty cow!" the black Scottie seemed to have an absolutely mortified expression morphed into his features, combined with the rage flaring from his eyebrows. Two interesting details that Lady couldn't help, but take note of.

Trusty started to sniff the ground where the mutt had been sitting and walking over, he came up with a bright and enlivened look on his face, "I've got the perp's scent, it's real strong too. We could track him down in no time and hand out some justice if it would please you Lady, mam."

"I don't think that will be necessary Trusty," Lady stopped the idea from being entertained in any way at all. "He only spoke with the three of us is all he did."

"In an incredibly rude and uncivilized manner," Jock made sure to mention.

"And he was trespassing, considering this yard had no business or meaning to him," Trusty pointed out, furthering the proposal.

"Yes, but..." she trailed off, completely lost for words and especially unsure of why she was defending the street mutt. From her extremely limited knowledge, his kind spent all their time on the streets, with no owners to look after, or care for them. How they ate, or drank, or slept without a bed, bowl or a home, she had no idea. On the rare occasions that she actually spotted one of his kind, she always made sure to ask Jock or Trusty about them. Inquiring with as many questions as her puzzled mind could clue up. Unfortunately her two friends seemed, dare she say, biased against those kinds of dogs, always insisting that they were dirty, untrustworthy and stupid when compared to proper, civilized pedigrees, like themselves. If they were so stupid, how did the one that had just been on property that was not his own, know what a baby was when she didn't? It just didn't add up, "b-but, I feel as though the two of you were unnecessarily harsh towards him. Perhaps he was just lonely and in need of a good talk himself? If he really does live all on his own, I imagine he must get lonely from time to time."

Trusty shook his head remorsefully at her, "I hate to tell you this Miss Lady, but Jock is telling the truth. The day I trust a street dog like that fellow is the same day that Ol' Reliable stops being so...reliable. Speaking of which...I don't quite recollect, have I ever told you the story of Old Reliable?"

"Aye' Trusty ye have," Jock sighed. "More times than I can count."

Before Trusty could respond, all three dogs made out the sound of a gate swinging open and somebody walking along the path towards the house. Likely Jim Dear, returning from a short, but probably challenging day of work.

"We best leave ye to greet your master lassie," Jock paused, then quickly thought to add. "Try not to disturb Darling too much, babies can make humans like herself grumpy, seen it plenty of times myself," he began to steadily lead himself and Trusty out of the yard.

"And if you see that no good mutt again, just shout for help. No way will he get away with the same crime twice, trespassing that is," Trusty said, while leaning down to her level, before straightening up and following Jock, leaving Lady to her own conflicted thoughts. Upset thoughts.

"I don't understand that dog- that street dog. I don't have much of anything to do today. Darling is still likely upset with me. And worst of all, I still don't really know what a baby is! But if it's anything like what that dog said..."

She shuddered and gulped, absolutely dumbstruck as to why her sweet, loving, dear owners would want something that sounded so vile and devilish. A beast, a demon from the deepest depths of whatever came below the grass and dirt underneath her paws. There was an odd sense of looming failure which filled her, chastising her for allowing such an unjust and dangerous thing to take place with no resistance at all. But then again, what exactly was it that she could do? Her, a dog, against the wishes and freewill of her owners.

"Well aren't you just in the best of moods today girl?" Jim Dear couldn't help sarcastically asking her. "I don't suppose that this has anything to do with what Darling told me happened earlier?"

Lady didn't say, or do anything.

After greeting Jim Dear at the door and performing a small trick for him, as was the routine, she had spent the afternoon by his feet, both outside on the porch, against the old rocking chair and inside in the living room. The only place she dared not venture alongside her owner was into their room, which by then felt like an uninhabitable grotto. It was a puzzling thought to think that she may no longer have been allowed to go in there, let alone sleep there. The spare room, old sheet of newspaper and the basket which had laid untouched since the day she arrived would have to suffice. Just for that one night though. Once she was on good terms with Darling once more, the situation around their dynamic would return to normalcy.

"A word of advice girl," she heard Jim Dear speaking to her, "these next few months are quite frankly going to be, forgive my language, hell on Earth. So I would suggest trying to stay on Darling's good side. That means no running around indoors, no barking too loudly, no getting in her way, no bothering her and especially, just for now, sleeping in a bed of your own." He sighed, "You are a dog though and as a dog you probably don't understand a word I'm saying, but all I can do is hope that you get the message sooner rather than later, for your own benefit, not ours."

He pet her head and stood up, folding the newspaper which he had been reading and tucking it under his armpit. Lady watched him quietly walking up the stairs to tend to his moody and unpredictable wife.

"...you probably can't understand a word I'm saying..." except she did. She understood every last word that had come from his mouth, everyone of the new rules that he had just established, "no running around indoors, no barking too loudly, no getting in her way, no bothering her and especially, just for now, sleeping in a bed of your own..." Those were all things that she had done perfectly fine and without problems before, why now did this beast-baby thing have to change the way she lived her life?

Her ears went limp flattening themselves on the carpet while she thought about how confusing and contradictory humans, her masters especially, were. She loved them, yes, but they were still confusing all the same.

Lady thought back to the gray street dog for the seventh time that day, suddenly regretting not even attempting to ask his name. She was fascinated by him if nothing else. Apart from the story he'd told her of the baby, he seemed fairly pleasant all together...except for the way that he so rudely interrupted their conversation and for the way that he spoke to Jock. Maybe her friends were right about him, maybe he didn't deserve to be trusted, not even the chance to be trusted, but she would have at least liked to know him a little further before being forced to agree with Jock and Trusty. Maybe one day she would see him again, it might be the next day, or the next month, or approximately six months and a handful of days, from whatever day of the week she was on at that very moment and if she did, she vowed to at least give him a chance.

And that vow, an unexpected business trip and two mischievous cats would just so end up being the way that she would come to know of The Tramp.