Ah, there was just something about the winter morning air whipping through your fur, wasn't there? A nice brisk jog to start out the day, just enough to work up a good floppy tongued pant! The jingle of your collar tags and the only—
What was that? Was that a CHIPMUNK? On HER block? Adora skidded to a stop, a growl building in her throat.
"Come on, Adora. We can't keep stopping. I want to get back before everybody else is awake."
That was her human, Bow, from the other side of the leash. At least, Catra called Bow and Glimmer their humans. Adora thought of them and more like litter mates. But he was right, this wasn't their normal morning jog anymore. She let the chipmunk off with a stern glare.
They were nearly home when she smelled it. Something unfamiliar. She froze, scenting the air.
"Adora, can we please—" Bow began, but another human started barking nearby, pulling his attention.
"Morning, Bow!"
"Oh, hey! Good morning, Mrs. Spinny! How are you?"
Adora's nose instantly recognized their neighbor, who always smelled like a nice summer breeze. She didn't bother to turn around, still trying to make sense of that unfamiliar scent. Not horse, definitely not cat, but maybe some new weird kind of dog?
"Oh, we're fine, same as always. But how are you two? Hanging in there?"
"We're good." Bow made one of those noises the humans did when they thought something was funny, like a tail wag they made with their mouths. Catra called it laughing. "Tired, but good."
Mrs. Spinny laughed too. "I'll bet! Well, you give our love to Glimmer and let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Once things are a little more settled, maybe Netty and I can bring over dinner, come and meet the baby."
"That sounds great! The first two days were… chaotic, but I think we're sort of getting the hang of it! Maybe. Or… not really."
There was another dog on the other side of the street, and Adora barked over to it. Hey! Do you know what that weird smell is? Because my brain is is saying it's dangerous but it smells like dog so how could a dog—
"Shh, Adora, that doggie is working. She can't talk to you right now." Bow reached down and scratched Adora's head. Across the street, the other dog barely glanced her way, which seemed rude until she noticed the harness.
Oh! That wasn't just some regular dog. That was a hero dog! Adora watched the other dog guide their person down the street and around the corner. She couldn't help but make the tiniest little whimper once they were out of sight.
"Aw, does she want to go play?" Mrs. Spinny stroked her back. Adora gave her a half-hearted tail wag, still watching the spot where the hero dog had disappeared around the corner.
"Probably. That could have been her, actually. But things didn't quite work out that way." Bow scrunched her ears affectionately. "My little service dog drop out. But, if she hadn't flunked out, I never would have seen her again and I would have missed her a whole lot, so maybe she just had a different destiny."
Bow was saying goodbye to Mrs. Spinny and tugging her back along the path to their house. She followed, but her mind was still back on the hero dog. It was all she'd ever wanted for as long as she was old enough to want anything. Or at least she'd thought she did. But when they took her to meet her new human, she missed Bow so much and that she couldn't remember her training.
Not a good fit, they'd said, but she spoke enough human to know what it meant. All that training had been for nothing. Her best wasn't good enough.
And, at first, she hadn't minded so much. Now that they didn't have to bother with training anymore, they had more time for morning runs and fetch at the dog park. And she still had plenty of hero-ing to do. Every morning when it was just the two of them, she took Bow out for a run to make sure he got his exercise and played fetched with him so he wouldn't get bored. She guarded the apartment when Bow went to work, barked at people who knocked on the door and cleaned up any bits of food on the floor. And now that they had the big house, she kept the chipmunks in line and made sure nobody walking by even THOUGHT about coming close to the place.
And, she didn't like to brag but, when Bow and Glimmer had had that fancy party at the house with all the flowers and dresses and stuff, she'd been the only dog they trusted to guard those little tiny collars they wore on their fingers! She'd carried them on a little lacy dog bed they'd tied to her back all the way down the long aisle while all the people watched, her head and tail held high. There was a picture of it on the mantel.
It had been the proudest moment of her entire life.
But sometimes she wondered. If one day she wasn't a hero dog anymore… then what was she?
What did she even want, if not that?
She'd barely noticed they'd arrived back home until Bow unhooked her collar. Usually after a run they goofed around for a little while, maybe lay on the floor and wrestled. But this time Bow wiped off her paws, hung up her leash and was already halfway upstairs before she realized she was standing in the foyer alone.
Where did he..?
Oh, of course! The puppy! How could she forget? She galloped up the stairs. Someone was moving around in the room where Bow and Glimmer slept, so she nosed open the door.
"There are my girls." Bow leaned down and kissed something on the bed.
"Wha— Oh! Hey. Sorry." Adora could hear Glimmer from somewhere in the pile of blankets on the bed. She sounded all scratchy, as if she'd been barking too much, like she always did in the morning. "She woke up, and I was feeding her and I guess I just completely passed out again."
"It's OK, I've got her. You sleep." Bow hung up his jacket, and Adora tried to figure out where the puppy was. It wasn't in the little crate they had for it by the bed.
"No, you should. You were with her for hours last night too."
"I'll sleep later when my dads get here. My body didn't go through what yours did this week. Get some rest." Bow was switching his shirt to one of the soft ones he always wore when he was taking care of the puppy.
"Alright…" The mound of blankets stirred. "You're the best, you know that? I love you."
Bow smiled in the direction of the bed. "I love you, too."
Ah, OK, so the puppy was on the bed next to Glimmer. It made one of those tiny sigh sounds it made sometimes in its sleep. Not that it seemed to sleep very often, as far as she could tell.
Adora leaped up onto the bed. The mound of blankets immediately flipped down, revealing Glimmer, her head fur all disheveled. Sure enough, the puppy was there, wrapped in its little blanket, snuggled up against Glimmer's side.
Adora had been so worried they'd be upset when they saw there was only one puppy. The poor little thing was so strange looking, tiny wrinkly years, no fur except a little on its head, hardly any snout at all! But if Bow and Glimmer loved their weird little puppy, then so did she.
Adora nosed at it, trying to find its face. Glimmer reached over and pulled the puppy closer, out of Adora's reach.
"No! Adora, down! Bow, can you-"
"Got it." He'd scooped up the puppy and started for the door.
Glimmer disappeared back under the mound of covers. Before she had the puppy, Adora would stand guard over Glimmer in the mornings, lay right next to her on the big bed so she could make sure nobody bothered her. But now that the puppy was out…
She jumped down off the bed, nosed the door open and followed the sound of Bow's soft barking down the hallway to the puppy's room.
"There we go. That's better. Nice and dry and now we're all dressed for the day. Mommy wants to put you in the cute outfit that Pops and Granda got you, but Daddy has gotten wise to your tricks, so we're not going to put that on until they actually get here. So if you want to spit up all over this one, you go right ahead. You can keep going through five outfits a day if you want, that's fine with me. You do you. It's just a laundry problem, right?"
Was he… talking to the puppy? It's just that Bow usually talked to her when he walked around the house. Adora followed him around the puppy's room and out the door. Maybe he didn't realize she was here. She lay directly in front of the stairs so he couldn't possibly miss her.
"Shit!" Bow's foot collided with her back and he stumbled over her, landing hard on the first step.
Adora yelped and jumped to her feet. It hadn't hurt that much, but Bow didn't even stop and make sure she was alright, like he usually did when he crashed into her. He just sat down on the step, holding the puppy close, panting like they'd been out on a run.
"Whew! Wow. That was almost really really bad. But it's OK. Everybody's fine. We're all good. I'm sorry, buddy." Oh, OK. She should have known he hadn't forgotten her. Adora's tail started wagging automatically. "Daddy was very scared just then. He doesn't usually curse like that. Mommy, on the other hand…"
Aw, it's OK, I forgive you! And you don't have to be scared about me, I'm fine! Adora nuzzled her face into Bow's and licked his cheek, but he got up and started downstairs.
"Adora, you almost killed us just now. What the hell? Lay somewhere else!"
Adora stared after him for a long while before following him down into the kitchen. She couldn't see the puppy but Bow had pulled its high up crate into the kitchen so it was probably in there. She heeled him as he moved around the kitchen, chattering to the puppy.
"Daddy is actually going to resort to caffeine today. Shocking, I know! What can I say, desperation makes—Oof!" Bow turned, and she didn't move fast enough. He crashed into her, sloshing the water from his mug all over the counter. He huffed out a long breath and then shook his head. He started mopping up the water, muttering something that sounded a lot like "crazy dog."
Or maybe he'd just said something like "thirsty dog." Yeah, that was probably it. Her best buddy was probably just worried because she hadn't taken a drink after their run like she usually did. She went over and lapped herself up every drop of water in her dish. She looked over at Bow to see if he noticed she'd properly hydrated, but he didn't seem to even have noticed.
Bow sat down at the kitchen table. He stared at the mug in his paws. Then he started looking around the room.
"Where did—" He got back up and opened the microwave. There was a banana inside. He pulled that banana out, shook his head, and then put the mug in there instead. He turned the microwave on and started the eat the banana. Adora waited patiently at his feet, but he didn't even offer her any. "Whoo, boy. You know what, little buddy, Daddy is not operating on 100% right now. You think maybe you could actually take a real nap this morning instead of one of those long blinks?"
Bow finished his breakfast, tossed out the banana peel and grabbed his mug from microwave. He put a spoonful of something into it— all Adora knew was it didn't look like peanut butter, the only thing worth eating off of spoons— and sat back down next to the puppy. Whatever he was drinking smelled like that stinky coffee stuff Glimmer was always saying there was no barking before.
"Just a few more hours. Then Pops and Granda are coming over to hang out with you." He was talking to the puppy again, doing that thing he did when he talked to it where he made his eyes big and smiled a lot. "You're going to really like them. They are lots of fun! Yeah, they are! They also have WAY more experience with babies than Mommy and Daddy, so maybe they know how to get you to sleep."
The puppy didn't reply. Adora watched Bow drink his coffee and stare at the wall like it was something really interesting, like a squirrel or a movie with a dog in it, but she didn't see anything there.
After a while, she got worried. Had he forgotten all about the puppy? He hadn't even given it a water dish or a bowl of kibble or anything! She lay her head on Bow's lap and whimpered. He reached down and pet her without moving his eyes from the fascinating nothing he was looking at.
OK, this was ridiculous. You are doing a terrible job of caring for this puppy! You haven't even taken it for a walk or played fetch with it since it got here! Well, she knew what to do at least! She trotted out of the kitchen.
Let's see, where was it?
Hey, Adora. What are you doing? Catra was somewhere above her, probably in the Christmas tree or knocking the cards off the mantle again. Normally she'd convince her to come down and cuddle and stop making trouble, but she was on a mission.
Taking care of the puppy! Adora saw Catra's tail flick out of the corner of her eye. She was up on the back of the couch, sizing up a leap to the Christmas tree. Have you seen my squeaky ball?
I told you, dummy! It's not a puppy! It's a tiny human. Let Lap and High Up take care of it and when it's bigger, we can train it to do stuff for us like the others do.
Adora ignored Catra. She liked to act all cool like she didn't care about the puppy and was only annoyed that Glimmer had had a lot less lap space for her in the last few months, but she'd been just as excited about the new member of their family as anyone. But even she just couldn't seem to understand that Bow and Glimmer meant well, but they obviously didn't know what they were doing and the puppy needed someone to save it.
And that someone was her.
Ah, there it was! She grabbed her ball from under the big chair and gave it an experimental squeak. Yes, perfect. The puppy was going to love it.
She ran back into the kitchen. The puppy was making little squeaky noises from its crate. See? She knew it! Puppies want squeaky balls and fetch!
She dropped the ball into Bow's lap, but it rolled right off onto the floor. She tilted her head. Was he… asleep? Just laying on the table like that?
She got really close to his head and barked. Not too loud, just enough that he jumped a little.
"Wha—" He sat bolt upright and looked automatically over at the puppy. Adora retrieved the ball and dropped it back on his lap. Bow exhaled and scratched behind her ear. "Adora, buddy, please. No fetch. Not right now. I am barely alive. I'm sorry about yelling at you before. I know it wasn't your fault but you don't understand… Of course you don't, you're a dog." He lay his head back down on the table. "Tell you what, you watch the baby for a bit and I'll nap right here."
Yes! Adora's entire body was shaking, her tail was going so fast. Finally! She trotted over to the puppy's crate and stood guard, tall and proud. Now… how was she going to get the puppy out of there so she could—
CRASH! Something in the next room smashed to the ground, a sound that had become very familiar in the last two weeks.
"Damn it, Catra!" Bow dragged himself up from the table. He turned to Adora. "Why can't you keep your girlfriend away from the Christmas tree?"
Like she listens to me either? Adora followed Bow into the living room, and he nearly tripped over her again when he turned back around to grab the puppy. He just picked up the whole crate, puppy and all, and brought it with him into the living room.
"Come on, sweetie. Kitty cat knocked down the Christmas tree again. I know! You wouldn't believe how many times she's done this. Every year, Mommy warns me but, yet again, Daddy has been undone by his own hubris." Bow set the puppy's crate in the space between the big chair and the couch and went over to stand the Christmas tree back up. Catra was sitting on the widow sill grooming herself. Her expression said she had no idea what had happened to the Christmas tree. In fact, she'd only just gotten here! But there was a strand of tinsel wrapped around one ear which ruined the effect. Bow glared at her. "You're not fooling anyone. Stay out of the tree! Actually, you know what? I'm going to go grab my tools, right now, and attach the tree right to the darn wall so you can't keep doing this."
Ha! Did you see that? He was so mad. Oh, it's too easy! Catra cackled as Bow disappeared down the basement steps.
It's not funny, Catra! Adora watched the basement door. He hadn't taken the puppy with him. Well, that was fine. She was here to watch it. Not that she could actually see it from here or anything. All she could see was its little paws flailing around above the edge of the crate.
What are you doing? Catra asked. She'd stopped grooming herself and was watching Adora climb up onto the big chair.
I can't see the puppy from down there. She stood all the way up on the chair, but she couldn't really see it from here either.
Stop fooling around and come play with me! Catra was batting the balls that had fallen off the Christmas tree around the room. Let's see how many we can wedge under the radiator before Bow gets back!
Catra! You're not supposed to be messing with the tree stuff! It's my responsibility to make sure you don't go near it, so cut it out! She hated to yell at Catra like this, but all this puppy stuff was really stressing her out. Bow and Glimmer were acting weird, the routine was all messed up, no one wanted to play fetch, and still nobody had given this poor puppy any kibble! Catra ignored her and pounced on stuffed moon. I! Said! Stop! It!
"Adora! Knock it off!" Bow was back, his toolbox in one hand, some twine in the other. "No barking! Come on! Glimmer's trying to sleep!"
But you said… Catra was… She could hear Catra laughing from where she'd disappeared under the couch to chew her prize down to fuzz. But Bow wasn't even paying attention, he was already working on the tree, wrapping the trunk in twine and tap tap tapping it into the wall.
The puppy made a tiny sound, like a small howl. Well, if Bow wouldn't watch it… Adora climbed up onto the arm of the chair and leaned as far over as she could, but she still couldn't see into the puppy's crate. She really needed to get closer, give it a proper sniff. Make sure its nose was the right temperature and its ears weren't flopped inside out or anything.
She reached her paw across the distance, resting it on the side of the puppy's crate. So far, so good. Then she put her other paw on the side and leaned forward until she was right over the crate.
There! That was much better. Now she could finally—but the crate tilted away from her and before she knew it, she was falling, throwing her forelegs out in front of her. She hit the ground hard, her paws stinging. But she didn't have time to worry about that because half a second after she hit the ground, she could only watch as the puppy's crate tipped over, hit the arm of the couch and then clattered to the floor.
Oh, no! Adora jumped to her feet and ran over to sniff the crate, but it was empty. Where had the puppy gone?
Whew! There it was! The puppy must have rolled out of the crate and onto the couch before it hit the ground. It was lying on its belly howling like it usually only did in the middle of the night. The noise was loud and painful, and all Adora knew was she had to make it stop.
Aah, no no no, shhh, puppy! Don't cry! It's OK! Auntie Adora is here! She licked the puppy's face, but that only made it yowl louder. She knew dimly that Bow was shouting something and the Christmas tree had crashed down again, but whatever else was wrong with this puppy, its howls were nice and loud and they were all she could hear.
Then Bow was there, shushing the puppy as he scooped it up and held it close. He was saying something to it, but it was too soft for Adora to hear. The puppy kept wailing, and Bow started bouncing it in his arms. He did that thing again, blowing out big puffs of air like he'd been running.
Poor puppy! Adora needed to get in close enough so she could make sure it was alright. She jumped up onto the couch next to them, but Bow turned the other way and she couldn't reach. OK, fine, then she'd try something else.
"It's OK. Daddy's here." Bow kept repeating. The puppy had finally gotten quiet again. Bow leaned down and kissed its little puppy forehead before slumping down onto the couch. He stared at the ceiling. "We are having some morning, aren't we?"
Let's see, what would the puppy like? Ah! She trotted over with her rubber bone and dropped it on the puppy's face. There, a little chew makes everything better. But the puppy just started yowling again.
Bow's head whipped back up. He looked at Adora, tossed the bone clear across the room and then made a sound that was kind of like a laugh, but not a good kind of laugh.
"That's it. Out." He grabbed her collar and dragged her to the back door. Before she understood what had happened, she was outside. The door slammed shut. She could still hear the puppy howling from all the way out here.
Bow had never been that mad at her before, not even that time when she'd chewed on his new phone and cracked the screen because she thought it might be some new dog cookie she hadn't tried yet. But he was her best buddy, her litter mate. He couldn't really be that mad at her, could he?
Bow? She barked, but the door stayed closed.
She didn't want to be outside right now! How was she going to watch over the puppy from out here! She whimpered and waited for the door to open, but it didn't. She went to the window, but all she could see was Catra looking sympathetic.
I tried to tell you, dummy.
Catra! I want to come back in!
I know, babe, but High Up's in a big snit right now, and the puppy is still screeching, so it's boring in here. She yawned. I'm going to go for a nap, anyway. Go bark at some cars for a while, you'll feel better and High Up can cool down.
OK.
Catra disappeared and Adora slumped down into the grass. She was just trying to help. But she'd almost hurt the puppy and messed everything up, and now everyone was mad at her.
Some hero dog. She couldn't even take care of one little puppy. She sucked in a snout of air and blew it out again, watching the grass dance in her exhale. If she wasn't a hero dog, what even was was she?
Wait a minute. That smell! The weird one from before. It was back and stronger now than before.
What WAS that?
She sat up, frozen, her ears tuned to something.
HELP! Someone! Please!
She jumped to her feet and ran to the fence. She wasn't supposed to dig but… She only hesitated for a moment before jabbing her paws down into the dirt, tearing up the grass around the bottom of the fence.
"Adora!"
A familiar voice, but far away. Adora looked up, disoriented. She'd only meant to lie down for a moment, just to rest, but she must have fallen asleep. Everything felt thick and stiff. The bite on her back still hurt pretty bad and her muzzle was all scratched up, but it was worth it. She looked down at the kitten, nuzzled into the soft fur of her belly. It looked up at her with sweet wide eyes and she licked its head, making the fur on the top flop down over its eyes.
You OK? She asked it. Whatever that thing had been, it had beat her little pal up pretty badly.
Am now. The kitten's little mews were so tiny. Adora nuzzled her nose into its side, memorizing its smell. Her tail thumped against the floor of the old barn where she'd fought that thing. Fought and won.
"Adora? Adora!" Wait. Was that Bow? "Oh, it's all my fault. I was so tired and she was underfoot and driving me crazy and just would not leave the baby alone and I got mad and I put her outside and I shouldn't… she's never done that before, dug under the fence or run away or… my poor bestie! What if she got hit by a car or—"
"Babe, we'll find her. She's a smart dog… mostly. She knows this area. She won't have wandered far." That was Glimmer. Where were they?
"I know, but dad said they saw a coyote on the way over— wait a minute, was that Catra? Now she's out too?" Bow did not have a tail but, even if he did, it did not sound like it would be wagging right now. "Damn it, Ca-"
"It's OK. I let her out. If anyone can find Adora, it's her. Those two are drawn to each other like a magnet. Go on, Catra. Go find Adora."
Catra? Adora sat up.
Adora? Hey, dummy, where are you?
Catra! Adora tried to get to her feet, but apparently she'd scratched up her paw worse than she realized. We're in here!
We? Catra appeared in the barn's doorway. Oh. Hello.
Hi. The kitten rose to its feet and went over to Catra. Adora expected her girlfriend to make some sarcastic comment, but she just watched it, transfixed. The kitten rubbed itself against Catra's side. What was most amazing of all was that she let it.
You should have seen it! Adora was so excited she could barely talk, her tail going a mile a minute. There was this big thing, like a dog but wild, and it was chasing the kitten but not like playing, like it thought it was food and I was like, Bad dog! That's not food! and it was all, IS FOOD, and then it was going to attack so I was just like, No! You! Don't! and I was all like WHAM and POW and BITE and then I did it, Catra! I scared it away!
Catra was watching the kitten as it stalked across the barn. It batted at the straws at the bottom of a broom. That's my Adora. Always got to play the hero.
Adora just smiled, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. The kitten pounced on the bristles, causing the broom to topple over with a loud smack. It leaped into the air and ran, hiding under Adora's front paws.
Protect me!
I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you. Adora licked the kitten again, tucking it securely under her paw. I promise.
Catra was watching her and the kitten, her tail tall and still.
Babe, you're a mess. We've got to get you to the vet. Let me go get the humans. Catra started for the door of the barn.
Wait. Catra. She lowered her voice so the kitten wouldn't hear. We're keeping it, right? There isn't anyone else.
Of course we are. She'd never seen Catra so serious.
Do you think the humans will mind?
Catra smirked.
I'd like to see them try to stop us. If they get one, so do we. The kitten had gotten brave again, stalking an ancient piece of hay. It smacked it, sending it right back into its own face. A second later it was back under Adora's paw, hiding from the evil straw. But you know that little stinker's going to be a lot of trouble. Someone will have to watch it all the time, keep it in line, show it how the universe works. A real project for the two of us. Is that really what you want?
Adora looked at the kitten and then back at Catra.
Yeah. Actually, I think that is exactly what I want.
