"Rose, let me come with you." Dodger pleaded. I was up a couple of steps and I look back at my mate. "I'll be alright, Dodge. You don't need to worry about me." I answer, giving him as much assurance as I can. Today was the day I get the gang some food until Fagin returns to us.
"Let the girl go, Dodger man! An old lady like her needs her exercise." Tito barked. Both of us look at the chihuahua and I give him a growl. "You better shut up, you little rat." I growl, hated being called an old lady. I hate being called that term and he knows it.
"Be careful, okay?" Dodger reminded. "I will. Don't worry. I'll bring back something good for us." I reply, giving him a smile. Dodger smiled and nuzzled me on my head. "I love you." he whispered. "I love you too." he replied, giving me a lick. "Bring back something worth eating, okay?" Rita reminded, giving me a smile.
"You know it, Rita. Tito, if you behave, I won't bring you newspaper burritos." I tease. "Ay, you better not!" the older chihuahua growled. We all laugh at this. He still despised the newspaper burrito fiasco. And with that, I make my way upstairs and back into the city.
I had made it into the city. The traffic was thriving along with the abundance of humans walking down the sidewalks. The sun was shining down on everything in its path. I had my fluffy tail lifted up as I trotted down the street. I would go easy on finding food this time and just look through trash bins in the alley ways.
But when I get to an alleyway, there was a distinct rustle in the area. I stop in my tracks and both of my ears strain for the sound of the creatures movements. I could have sworn it might of been a stray cat or maybe even a rat scrounging for food.
I put my nose to the concrete and begin to smell around. The scent was as if something recently died in here. The trail of the scent led me to a small make shift shelter that was towards the back of this alley way.
"Please don't hurt me..." a small voice whimpered, getting me to stop. What I saw in that shelter made my breath catch in my throat. There was a small red husky puppy no less than two months old and... a fully grown one that looked like she was nursing the pup. Her nipples were swollen some.
The pup looked like she was an only child since I didn't see any other pups in sight. She was shaking with great fear. It broke my heart to see that this pup mother was dead. Probably hit by a car or something of that matter.
"Oh my word... how long have you been out here on your own, sweetheart?" I whisper in a gentle voice. I laid down on the pavement with both of my forelegs in front of me. The pup didn't answer me and still shook, clinging close to her deceased mother.
It became quickly apparent however that this pup would need someone to look after her. She's still very young and can't go without a mother. "I want my momma... momma please wake up." the young pup said, licking her deceased mother. I sigh and look on with a disheartening glance. "She's not coming back, sweetheart. She is in a better place now..." I tell her. The pup took a moment to realize this and she somberly walked over to me.
She nuzzled up against me and whimpered sadly. Instinctively, I lick her to give her comfort. Just like how I calmed my own pups when they were her age.
She closed her eyes, not letting herself give into the temptation of crying. This poor, innocent pup was left behind by her own mother like mine did to me. She shook like a fragile leaf against my chest as she tried desperately to get warm.
She was so small… it reminded me of my children when they were young. Maybe I could care for this pup as my own child? Surely Dodger would approve. We would become parents again. I would take her in and raise her to be like one of us. I know I thought differently when it came to my little brother, Kaiden and my own children. But… this pup was different.
"Do you have a name?" I softly ask her. "Wh-Whisper…" she whimpered. Whisper? That's a perfect name for this pup. "Well, little Whisper, how about we get us some food? I did promise my family that I'd find some." I say. Then, the small puppy looked up at me with a look of enthusiasm. She started bounding around while yipping.
"I'll take that as a yes." I chuckle, standing up to my paws. I then pick up Whisper by her neck hide and put her on my back. She crawled up to my head so that she was in between my ears. "Just hang on kiddo." I say happily. She started to laugh as I began to walk from the alleyway. "This is fun!" she laughed. This pups little laugh was contagious yet adorable. I just knew that they guys will adore her.
After a bit, I find a bag of hamburgers that just so happened to be sitting on a table. I grabbed it while the humans weren't looking. "Miss Rose? Why did you take that?" Whisper asked, puzzled of my actions. I set the bag down so I could answer her. "It's for my family. Being a street dog is not easy and that's how we have to find food. If my family accepts you, you'll learn all kinds of things in order to sustain the ways to survive in this city." I explain.
"Like what?" she asked. "Besides skillfully taking food from unsuspecting eyes, learning to car surf also. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it." I say, picking up the bag again and start heading off towards the barge.
Seeing the barge in the evening did always look pretty eerie. It certainly scared Whisper. "This place is scawy…" she whimpered, hiding in my fur. "Don't worry. This is where I live." I assure, looking back at the pup with a soft grin. "What if your family don't like me?" Whisper said nervously. "Trust me, they'll love you." I reply.
Walking down the steps, I hear the sound of the TV on. 'Great. Francis has got his soaps on again.' I think to myself in annoyance. Even at my old age, I still despise those shows. But they get good when Tito makes a crack about it much to Francis' displeasure.
"Aye Frankie! Put the game on! This is so boring!" Tito barked. "No way, pipsqueak. This is my TV time." Francis growled back. "Knock it off you two. I'm too old to hear you guys bicker over the tv." Rita growled. Whisper hid deeper in my fur at hearing them bicker.
I make it downstairs to the inside of the barge. "Hey, cool it you two. I found us dinner." I say, breaking up the fight. My voice got everyone's attention. Dodger trotted over to me and gave me a welcoming nuzzle. "What took you so long?" he asked.
"Well, I had a bit of help." I say, feeling Whisper crawl on my head. The others were baffled that there was a pup on me. Rita approached us and looked at the pup. "Where'd you find this cutie?" she asked me. "I found her in an alleyway." I answer, trying to be subtle about how she wound up in the alley way.
Rita instantly knew what I was saying. I lower my forebody to let Whisper slide off my head. The little pup looked at everyone curiously. That was until she looked at Einstein and she quickly hides underneath me. "Oh don't worry little one. Einy won't hurt you. He's the gentlest out of all of us." Rita assured to the pup.
"He look scawy…" Whisper said in a whimper. "Nah, he wouldn't hurt a fly." I say, looking down at her. Dodger takes a good look at the scared puppy. I knew she wasn't used to being around other dogs because of her age. Her own mother abandoned her not to mention so it's no wonder she's frightened by all of this.
"Can she stay Dodger man? Can she? You have been saying that you and Rosa wanted more kids." Tito said, getting both of us to look at the aged Chihuahua. "Tito!" I shout, feeling slightly embarrassed. Tito knows that I can't reproduce anymore. "Let's talk about this up on the dock, Dodger." I say, lowering my voice to him. He nodded.
"Miss Rose, don't leave me!" Whisper begged. I lower my head to look at the young puppy. "It'll be alright, dear. Just stay with Rita. She'll look after you. Trust me, she's not gonna hurt you." I assure, looking up at Rita, who smiled down at the puppy. "It's alright little one. I'll take care of you." she said motherly. Whisper reluctantly went to Rita all the while looking back at me.
Dodger and me went up onto the dock to have a word with one another. "Rose, are you wanting to raise that puppy at your age?" Dodger asked. All I did was close my eyes and caress my muzzle with his as I answered, "Of course Dodge. That pup has nowhere to go. Her mother didn't come for her. What else could I do?" I whisper. Dodger nuzzled me back and gave me a few licks.
"You did the right thing by rescuing her. That pup needs a family to take care of her. And since you did rescue her, we'll raise her to be like us; the perfect progeny of a street dog. Don't you agree?" Dodger said, giving his usual self-confident smirk that he wore so well. "Yes, I mean, we did raise three wonderful puppies together. And I would love to do it again." I reply, lowering my voice. Hearing what Dodger had said made my heart warm because he was willing to be a dad again. Even if it's not his own blood.
"I love you Dodger…" I say happily, feeling my tail wag. He ends up pinning me down against the old wood of the barge and gives me that same look that made me fall in love with this streetwise dog. "I love you more Rose." he said, giving me a loving lick on my head. "What do you say that we let the gang know about our newest member?" I say, giving my mate a charming smile which he adored. He nodded and got off of me so I could stand.
We both go downstairs into the barge. Whisper was on top of Einstein and was chewing on his floppy ear. Seeing this made my heart swell. When she saw me, she wagged her tail and got off of Einstein to come over to us. "Welcome to the family, little Whisper." I say, affectionately nuzzling her. Those words made her very excited and she started bounding happily with her little tail wagging vigorously. "Yay! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she barked happily. "Alright calm down little one. You're with us now. Trust us, you will love being in this place. You will learn a lot on how to survive the mean streets of New York." Rita said, bending down so she could be within eye contact of Whisper.
"Really? I can't wait! It sounds like fun! When do we start?" she asks, her blue eyes gleaming with excitement. "In a couple of days. For now, why don't we have some of those burgers Rose brought in?" Dodger suggested. We all agreed with that and we all devoured the hamburgers that I got. I looked at the red and white pup. She was Dodger and I's new daughter now. We'd show her the way. She'll grow up to be a great street dog. She has found a great place to live out her years.