Family of 102

[Author's Note: This fanfiction is a sequel to my earlier 101 Dalmatian Street fanfic, "Family of 101". If you have not read that yet, I strongly reccommend you do before reading this one.]

Chapter 1: New Age, New Adventures

"Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet." - Angelina Jolie

...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CODY!"

The in-sync exclamation of every one of my beloved family of Dalmatians said out loud a second after I had flicked the switch to the kitchen light on after formerly finding it pitch black. One of the oldest of my ninety-nine siblings, Dylan walked over to me, a cake with lit candles on top in his hands and a smile that matched those of all my siblings. To say that I was surprised was an understatement, I swear I even wiped a tear of joy from my eye. I should probably explain:

Hi. My name's Cody Dalmatian, formerly Cody Wester, the reason for my former name being that I am the first and only human member of a family of anthro Dalmatians. It all started eleven years ago when my abusive biological father had ultimately decided he had had enough of me and threw me off a bridge with the intent of leaving me to die, unaware however that I would later be discovered by two of the family of one hundred and one dogs, Dizzy and Dee Dee who would later become my two sisters alongside their siblings. Their mother and father, Delilah and Doug were sweet enough to take me into their family when they both learned that I otherwise had nothing to fend for myself with and as a result, I ended up with probably the best family any person could ask for. Other than my birth dad finding out much later that I was still alive and kidnapping me with the intent of murdering me to possibly save his own skin and me actually almost dying from the injuries he gave me, my life took a turn for the best and it has always been that way ever since.

"Alright bro, give one heck of a blow and make your wish!" Dolly who had just appeared next to me and wrapped an arm around me said, her cheek pressed against mine. I briefly closed my eyes in thought before inhaling and gently blowing at the candles, extinguishing the tiny flames. Everyone cheering and clapping as I returned the smiles they all had.

Sometime after I had been officially adopted into the Dalmatian family, a childcare agency was kind enough to provide my new mother and father, Delilah and Doug respectively a few details about me including my date of birth, which was March 24th. Honestly, I had almost forgot that today just happened to be that very day, especially given that I had the day off from my job at the London Art Shop, otherwise Mr. Hanworth would've wished me happy birthday. Speaking of which, I was lead to the kitchen table to which two of my many sisters, Dizzy and Dee Dee both gave me a tight birthday hug as I noticed a pile of wrapped boxes on the table top. I went for the smallest at the top to find it was from Dylan, I opened it and inside was a necklace with small grey rocks and jewellery shaped like stars, even with Dylan not explaining, I could tell the stones were moon rocks.

"Ugh, really bro? Only total nerds would appreciate that gift." I heard Dolly complain as I tried the necklace on. "It's alright, Dolly, I actually like it. Thanks Dylan!" I reassured. And I was right, the necklace was definitely unique and since I liked stars to begin with, it was a nice accessory. I reached for the next wrapped box, managing to notice Dylan give Dolly a smug grin most likely from my feedback out of the corner of my eye. Ripping away the paper revealing a very professional looking paint set, containing many different paintbrushes and probably more than twenty available colours. I couldn't help but gawk at it with a grin, the set must've been pretty expensive from the overall quality of it. It was a no-brainer on who got me the set. "Thank you, Da Vinci! I'll make sure to use it well!" I hugged my painter sister as she giggled and returned the embrace. "I know you will." She replied.

Da Vinci's outfit looked almost exactly the same as it had when I first met her as an eleven year old pup. The only noticeable differences being that her purple shirt had rolled up sleeves and was more of a crop top as it revealed her stomach area. Her denim pants matching the ones she had worn back then and she still had the same pink bandanna around her neck.

DJ's gift was next and compared to Da Vinci's, his attire was very different. Whilst he still used the familiar pair of red and black headphones, he ditched the black hoodie for a light grey tank top with the front bearing a blue and red thunderbolt made to resemble the one seen on David Bowie's face for the cover of his album, Aladdin Sane. DJ also had a necklace with the jewel being a small black medal with a white circle in the middle. My eyes widened as I saw what the gift was, as did many of my siblings. It was a pack of golden headphones, but not cheap ones, the front of the box labelled them as 'Pioneer HDJ-X5BT-N Gold Headphones'.

"Holy crap, DJ, how did you afford these?!" I asked, stunned yet amazed. The music loving Dalmatian merely smirked, trying not to laugh at my reaction as he replied. "Let's just say I have my ways. Enjoy them, bro!" He winked at me after saying that. I didn't even get a second to look at what was next on the pile when one present was already shoved into my hands, courtesy of Dallas of the Triple D. Like everyone else, they had grown out of the outfits I had first met them in. Dallas was now donning a light pink pea coat with a diamond charm on the front with a white shirt underneath, tight denim jeans and hot pink loafer heels. Destiny's outfit was composed of a light pink sailor top with a heart pattern on the collar, a magenta dirndl skirt and ankle boots. And last but not least was Deja Vu who went with a fuchsia tank top and a light purple mini skirt, black leggings that ended at her ankles and peach mule heels. She still wore the same necklace with the circular pink charm with the 'X' in the centre.

"Like, what are you waiting for, your next birthday? Come on and open it, I think you'll find it totes amazing!" Dallas urged me as I went ahead and unwrapped it, revealing a heavily detailed painting of me flying high in a sky background with Dallas above me and Deja Vu and Destiny flying next to me, all four of us having angel wings. I was stunned to find that the painting was framed in what appeared to be pure gold. "How did you…?" I asked the triplets whom let out small smiles. "We had a bit of help." Destiny explained, glancing over to Da Vinci. I couldn't help but smile and nod at her and the trio for the nice looking gift.

It was then that the Dimitri trio pitched in with their gift. Unlike my other siblings, they went with adult sized versions of their old clothing that was numbered white-sleeved black varsity jackets and grey pants, with Dimitri 2 as usual having his jacket tied around his waist with that gold '2' chain still on his neck to this day. Of course they had gotten the same clothes at an adult size. There was one difference in Dimitri 2's clothing however and it was that he now donned a grey beanie which if I remember, he started wearing at eighteen years old. Their gift was a varsity jacket just like theirs, but the number on the front was instead a '4'. I smiled as I instantly knew what the three meant by this as I removed the blue hoodie I was currently wearing and tried the jacket on. It fit very well and even the Triple D looked impressed seeing it on me as the Dimitris walked up behind me with proud grins on their faces.

"Hell yeah, now you're really one of us!" Dimitri 1 exclaimed, patting my back. "Thanks, guys!" I thanked as I pulled them to my sides in a hug.

"Alrighty Codester, I'm next!" Dolly announced, handing me a large rectangular gift. For her clothing, she still had those recognisable blue and orange trio of collars on her neck, but her short-sleeved shirt and shorts were replaced with a simple blue tank top and a tighter variant respectively.

"Woah!" was all I said when I saw what Dolly's gift was. My very own skateboard! Actually, upon second glance, it was much longer than a skateboard and both ends looked slightly squashed so that if you looked at it from above, you could see it's wheels. "What you have right there bro is what's called a longboard!" Dolly explained before continuing. "Way faster and smoother than a regular skateboard and it's perfect for cruising!" She grinned as I looked at her with the same expression. "Dolly, I love it! Thank you!" I said, wrapping an arm around her in a hug. "Awww, don't sweat it, bro!" Dolly laughed as she returned the one-arm embrace.

"Looks like I'm next. I hope my gift will guide you through your darkest times, especially should the inevitable happen." The recognisable voice of Dante rang out behind me. He wore a leather tank top with fishnet sleeves and spiked cuffs and baggy black pants with chains around the waist pockets. I opened my gift with slight apprehension and found the contents to be a bracelet composed of a pattern of ceramic jewels shaped like skulls and Chinese lucky coins. It was definitely an interesting gift as I tried it on, and even smiled at how cool it looked. "Thanks, Dante and Deepak. I'll be sure to keep this on me." I assured Dante and the Zen Dog in question, having figured out that the lucky coins were Deepak's idea whom bowed in response.

Finally, there was Dawkins who handed me a small rectangular box. The grown prodigy inventor himself donned a white lab coat with a light blue shirt, the front of said shirt had a design based on the CH3 molecule and black pants. I opened the wrapped box and what was inside left me in stunned silence.

It was a very modern looking flip-phone, but it didn't resemble any of the official known flip-phones available such as those made by Samsung, it actually looked custom made. My assumption was proven right when I opened it up as the home screen flashed on the top screen with the bottom having a digital keyboard, I did however see some transparent flaps in front of the top screen which I gently gripped and pulled apart, the left showing a digital clock that said the current time while the other had an accurate representation of the current weather.

"I call it the 'D-101G Flip'!" Dawkins said as I examined the device. "This was something I have been working on for a few months and I figured you'd be the first to get an official prototype, the shell made of a combination of polyamide and polypropylene to give it more durability than the average smartphone! And the transparent time and weather tabs? High strength polycarbonate. And you won't even have to charge it over night as the battery life only takes a whole week to drain entirely!" He explained as Dizzy interjected with an "Ugh, nerd stuff! Barf!", no doubt having picked that up from Dolly. Nonetheless, this was the gift I was very impressed with. To think that Dawkins may have just made the smartphone of the future. I pulled Dawkins into a grateful hug which he returned as we finally went ahead with the party.

The party was just as crazy as my others were, it was like none of my siblings ever lost their childlike energy even with the majority of them now adults, the one exception being Dorothy whom was twelve years old. I think the fact that most of them had at least two slices of cake was what gave them an energy boost, so it was fortunate enough that Dylan had managed to bake the largest cake possible to suit one hundred and one Dalmatians and a human. The games consisting of many rounds of Mario Kart and Twister. And before you knew it, evening had already arrived and almost all of my brothers and sisters, especially Dylan were all wiped out. It had been a great party overall and now was definitely a good time to rest. While everyone else was resting however, I was outside in the back garden sketching a portrait of me and many of my siblings on my sketchbook with the use of my new art set Da Vinci gave me. Over these eleven years, my drawing had improved well to the point where I was able to do well-detailed backgrounds. Even Da Vinci pointed out that my drawing skills were doing well.

"Hey Cody! Sorry I'm late, but happy birthday!" I blinked upon hearing that recognisable voice, I looked up to see a man in his early twenties in a red trench coat and long beige hair behind one of the walls. It was none other than the one human I had been best friends with ever since we met when I was ten.

"Oh hey Hunter! And thanks! How was work for you today?" I greeted with a question as Hunter climbed over the wall and walked over to me, holding out a fist which I bumped. "Oh, you'll never believe it. I got promoted today! They moving me up to vice manager!" He announced eagerly with a smile on his face. "Really? That's great, man! Congrats!" I praised as he nodded before replying with a question of his own. "So, how's life been with the family since we last talked? Dizzy and Dee Dee get any scrapes during their roller-skating days?" Despite those two now both being nineteen years old, they still had a long way to go from being as flawless, well, almost flawless as Dolly made herself to be when it comes to skateboarding, but they both took up roller-skating instead. "Well, Dee Dee did get a scrape on her thigh but she got right back up again and kept going! ...I could tell she was trying to hold in the pain though from the look on her face." I snickered at my response, recalling to that moment when Dee Dee didn't even utter a word when she scraped her leg and tried to hide the fact that it legitimately hurt. Hunter shared a laugh with me too. "Haha! They always look up to Dolly, don't they?" Hunter asked with a grin, of course he was right. The one sibling in their family that Dizzy and Dee Dee always wanted to follow in her footsteps was Dolly and it made sense since she was the most ecstatic fun-loving of the bunch.

"Oh yeah, and Dawkins gave me this!" Remembering my gift from the aforementioned Dalmatian, I showed Hunter the custom flip-phone as he let out an impressed whistle. "Wow, that's like a phone from the future!" He complimented as I let out a chuckle. "That's what I thought too! Say, wanna exchange numbers?" One look at Hunter's face told me that he thought that was definitely a great idea as we exchanged out phone numbers and after some more small talk, Hunter checked his watch.

"Ah, gotta get going. Late night discussion regarding my promotion! See ya later, Cody!" Hunter rushed back to the wall and hopped over as I waved to him before coming back inside.