Chapter 1: Introductions
"So we really get to meet him, for real life?" Bluey asked excitedly, bouncing up and down in her car seat.
"Yes, for real life." Chilli smiled, turning slightly.
"I can't believe we get to meet our maybe new brother!" Bingo grinned as she peered out the window. "What's he like?"
"Well, we already told you as much as we know about him, but to reiterate… He's five, so he's one year younger than Bingo, he likes playing football, drawing, imagination games, science, and dinosaurs." Bandit rattled off with a smile, remembering the last conversation they'd had with the boy.
"He sounds like he's fun!" Bingo replied.
"He is a lovely boy." Chilli noted.
"I can't wait to meet him; I wanna talk about all sorts of stuff!" Bluey said.
"Well, remember, Russell can't talk the same way we can. He can hear just fine, but he uses sign language to communicate." Bandit said, glancing in the rearview mirror.
"Oh yeah."
"It's okay, we've been practicing and you two are doing okay. Do you remember how to do your names?"
"Oh! Mine's this!" Bingo said. She stuck her pointer finger to her chin before flicking it up and out.
"Very good!" Chilli praised.
"I think mine's this…" Bluey made a letter B with her paw and shook it back and forth before adding the Y sign at the end.
"Just make sure you hold your pinkie out a bit further for the Y." Chilli noted. Bluey nodded in response.
"We'll all learn sign language with time, but for now just try your best. You can still talk to him, but if he's having trouble try restating what you're saying so it's easier for him to reply." Bandit said as the 4x4 pulled to the curb. "Alright, we're here. Everyone ready?"
"Ready!" The girls cheered as they unbuckled. Soon the four were walking up the steps. Bluey pushed the buzzer and Bandit spoke into the intercom.
"Hello, Heeler family here for our family visit with Russell."
"Very good! Come on in!" Sara's voice rang out, the door clicking open.
"After you." Bandit held the door gesturing in Chilli and the girls.
"Hello! Good to see you two again, and these must be your daughters!" Sara smiled as she looked down at Bluey and Bingo.
"Hi! I'm Bluey!"
"And I'm Bingo!"
"Well, I'm sure you're all excited, please follow me." She led them down the hall to the playroom. She opened the door and let them in. "I'll go get Russell, make yourselves comfortable, we'll be back in a minute."
***PT***
Russell saw the orange car appear at the curb and watched the couple get out. It's them! They really came back! He smiled, his tail wagging as he saw the parents leave the car. A moment later two smaller Heelers departed. Those must be their daughters… What were their names again? Russell scrunched his face up as he thought. I don't remember… Did they write it down? He left the window and carefully pulled out the paper from the last time he'd seen Chilli and Bandit. He'd been keeping it in a plastic bag carefully tucked under his mattress. He knew none of the other boys would do anything to it, but it was his special paper and he didn't want anything to happen, so he hid it just in case. He skimmed the notes. Towards the top of the second page he saw that Chilli had written about their daughters, Their names are Bluey and Bingo… And Bluey is the older one. He nodded. He wasn't going to mess this up. It had to be perfect.
He nervously wound his hands together as he balanced back and forth on the balls of his feet. He knew that Bandit and Chilli liked him, but this was the first time he'd ever gotten to a family visit. He'd never managed to get beyond the interview before. What if I mess up with them and they don't like me anymore? He frowned. He knew he was different, and Bandit and Chilli seemed to like him even though he couldn't talk, but he was afraid. What if the girls don't like me? What if they think I'm broken and tell their mum and dad to not adopt me… he could feel his eyes burning as he wiped away tears. No! I'm not broken! I can do this. I can be perfect and nice and they'll like me! He stood tall, pushing back his shoulders as he went over to the mirror and looked at himself. His brown and black fur was bristly, as always, and his half-floppy ears sat cockeyed on his head. He had little control over them, as though he tried to either force them all up or all down, they rarely listened. He looked deep into his own brown eyes and nodded. You can do this, Russell. He heard a knock at the door and turned, it was Sara.
"Hey Russell!" She said gently pushing the door open.
Hello Ms. Sara.
She smiled, signing back. The Heelers are here again with their daughters. They're all excited to meet you. Are you ready?
Ready as I can be… he signed back.
She knelt down and gave him a brief hug. You're going to do great. You're an awesome kid. Just be yourself and I'm sure they'll love you.
***PT***
Sara pushed open the door slowly, Russell again hiding behind her legs as he poked his head in.
"Hello everyone! This is Russell." Sara stepped to the side, revealing the nervous boy. He gave a small wave.
Chilli and Bandit smiled immediately, warmth radiating off them as they gestured for their girls to come over. Bandit looked at Chilli and nodded. They'd been practicing their signing almost non-stop, and while nowhere near fluent, were more prepared than last time.
Hello Russell. Bandit signed, he paused as Russell smiled. We are happy to see you again.
Chilli took over. These are our daughters.
Hi! I'm Bluey. The young blue heeler carefully signed.
My name is Bingo. The younger red heeler said, taking her time as she tried to remember all the gestures.
Can't wait to know better! Bluey roughly signed.
Want play? Bingo attempted, pointing at Russell.
Russell's tail wagged as he looked to Sara.
"Go ahead, have fun!" Sara encouraged.
Russell quickly ran to the girls and the three started off toward a corner of the room with a bunch of toys.
Sara motioned for Bandit and Chilli to come to her. "During this visit I will be observing how he interacts with the girls. You two can get involved, but I mainly need to see how he interacts with your daughters. You can help, but I ask that you let them engage each other mostly on their own."
"That makes sense." Bandit nodded.
"Okay." Chilli agreed.
Over in the play corner Bluey and Bingo wanted to see what Russell wanted to do.
He immediately started signing, What do you want to do?
"Um, Russell, we don't know that much sign language, is it okay if for now we talk out loud and sign sometimes?" Bluey admitted. "We promise we're learning, but when you do it, can you go slow so we can try our best to read it?"
Russell nodded; he understood that they didn't know a lot. But the fact that they were willing to try meant a lot to him. He repeated his signs, going slowly and over-exaggerating some of them. What…do…you…want…to do?
"What do you…" Bluey translated the first few before Bingo chimed in.
"…want to do?" The younger sister completed.
"You like dinosaurs, right?" Bluey said.
"And science?" Bingo added.
Russell smiled and nodded. Yes, I do.
"Awesome, maybe we could play museum!" Bluey suggested.
Russell's smile grew. He nodded happily.
"Russell, do you want to be the tour guide? We can be on a school trip and you can show us the different things." Bluey asked.
Russell looked down at his hands a moment before looking back at the sisters. His face turned to a slight grimace before he waggled his fingers. How?
"You don't have to talk to be a tour guide. The best part of the tour is always the cool exhibits. You can show us and we can learn by what you do!" Bingo said, recalling a recent trip to the museum where their father worked.
Russell thought a moment, Okay… Are you sure?
"Okay, are you something…" Bluey repeated out loud. "Are we sure?"
Russell nodded.
"Of course!" Bingo said. "You're the most science-y, and besides, we're visiting you, you should be the one with the best job."
Russell inhaled before pulling a hand across his face. He immediately took on the demeanor of a tour guide. He smiled politely and gestured for the girls to line up. They did, giggling. He shot a stern glance at them.
"Shh! No giggling in the museum, Bingo." Bluey whispered.
Russell nodded, satisfied they were quiet before he marched across the room to a bunch of stuffed animals. He pulled one out of the pile. It was a green stuffed triceratops. He held it up and pantomimed being a dinosaur. He stuck fingers out of his head as if they were horns and pretended to be in a fight, using them to defend himself.
"I didn't know they used the horns to protect themselves. I thought they used them to hunt prey." Bingo commented.
Russell shook his head, pointing to the triceratops's mouth. He mimed eating a salad.
"They were salad eaters, so they didn't need to attack other dinosaurs." Bluey concluded.
The three continued their tour of the museum, Russell stopping at some toy or item and giving a brief description, either by acting out or occasionally using basic signs to explain. He eventually came to the adults who were sitting at a table. Sara was making notes on her clipboard and Chilli and Bandit were watching the kids. Russell stopped at the adults' table and addressed the girls. He hunched over and stuck out his jaw, acting like a cavedog. He pointed at Bandit and pretended to sniff his armpits, sticking out his tongue in faux disgust.
"Hey!" Bandit said, crossing his arms.
The girls were both on the ground laughing.
"You're right Russell, dad is a cavedog!" Bluey giggled.
"Why else would he be so smelly and hairy?!" Bingo added.
Chilli couldn't help but laugh along.
Bandit rolled his eyes, "Alright mate, fine… But this cavedog's out of his exhibit!" Bandit pretended to be a cavedog, he grunted as he stuck out his hands and started chasing the kids to tickle them. Bluey and Bingo managed to dodge him, running away, but Russell was caught. Bandit tickled the tyke's back and he started shaking, his shoulders bumping up and down as a smile spread across his face. It was clear he was laughing, even if the only sound was occasional heavy breaths. He tapped out and Bandit complied. He rolled over and hugged Bandit.
Sorry, I guess you aren't THAT smelly… he grinned cheekily.
"No worries mate." Bandit ruffled the fur atop his head. He stage whispered, "If you think I'm smelly, just wait until these ones go without a bath… WOOF! The only reason you can stand 'em is we used extra strength soap last night." He jabbed a thumb at Bluey and Bingo.
"Hey!" Bluey crossed her arms. Bingo frowned slightly, but knew it was in good humor.
***PT***
Two weeks later Bandit and Chilli received an email.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Heeler,
After your family visit it is clear that Russell is a good candidate for your family. Pending final approvals, I see no reason why he wouldn't be right for you. It is clear that you both have a great deal of love to offer him, and I could not envision a better home for him to go to. We will be finalizing your case in the next three weeks, and if all goes well the official adoption could be completed within a month.
Sincerely,
Sara Corgi
***PT***
Russell was officially adopted by Bandit and Chilli on April 15th.
He looked down at the certificate, tears in his eyes as he held it close to his chest. Russell Jay Heeler… I have a family… he'd have one more night in the home, then in the morning he'd be with his new family. He couldn't wait for the next few hours to pass.
***Author's Note***
Hello everyone! I hoped you liked this first chapter of parenting! This story will be a longer one and will vacillate between Bandit and Chilli, Stripe and Trixie, Rad and Frisky, and Brandy and their experiences as parents. There will be highs, there will be lows, but it'll all be family in the end. Stick around to see what happens next! If you liked this, please review (and if you didn't, leave a suggestion on what you'd like to see). I'm also working on two other works at the moment, "Society" and a collaboration with Kodiwolf321 "Project New Era". Thanks again for reading!