""We are sorry""

They sang for what seemed like the fifth time in unison the Dalmatian puppies known as Dixie and Dan, towards their mother who was looking very angry.

And how not be!

her two mischievous little treasures had disobeyed her and gone to the park unsupervised and besides, with a human, a De Vil of all things.

She had every right to be very angry and very disappointed with these two.

She nodded firmly, "you two are grounded"

Dan and Dixie gulped, "b-but ... weren't we already?"

She narrowed her eyes at Dan, "Don't be smart with me son", she warned crossed paws, "you two are double grounded"

They gulp and raise a nervous claw, "n-wouldn't that be more like, quadru- I'm shut up", He said and lowered his head when he noticed how his mother intensified her frown in his direction.

"You two will do all of Dylan and Dolly's chores until I decide you've learned your lesson."

"What!? / What?" Dan and Dixie perked up at this new punishment and exclaimed / whispered in unison.

"B-but we don't even know how the vacuum cleaner works", Dan exclaimed and then gestured with both legs towards his sister, "and Dixie's nose is very sensitive, she won't be able to collect the poop, I'll have to do it myself"

"I-I don't want to clean the poop," Dixie whispered, looking away.

"It's not fair!"

Delilah lifted her snout and narrowed her eyes, "well, you should have both thought seriously about all of that when you chose to disobey me and your father."

"Honey", Doug caught everyone's attention as he poked his snout into the room where his wife was scolding their puppies, "do you remember where we keep the towels?"

"They're on the second floor, in the third room on the left, in the same place where we keep the spare blankets and cushions," Delilah said distractedly in her husband's direction while still focusing on Dixie and Dan, "now you two , I want you to think very seriously what it is that you two did wrong and will not do it again. and until you two have learned your lesson, no squeaky toys, the Internet, or hobbies, understood?"

"Yes mom ~"

Delilah nodded firmly again, "before you both leave, I want you to understand that I am doing this because I love you, I don't want to be mean, but what you two did is very wrong and I'm disappointed that you two left without any kind of supervision to the park ..., you two may have been kidnapped again"

""We are sorry""

Both cubs moaned for the sixth time, lowering their heads and ears so as not to see their mother directly in the eye.

Delilah nodded again, "now come here", she said in the direction of her two cubs spreading her front paws for a warm mother hug, "hug"

trigger word

Dan and Dixie slowly and painfully approached with their heads down and their tails between their legs towards their mom so that she could lock them both in a warm and loving hug.

"Don't worry me like that again please," Delilah whispered in a whisper a few tears escaping from her eyes, "neither your father nor I would know what to do if one day we lost any of you"

the sobs of both cubs did not wait as they both responded to their mother's embrace, and buried their snouts in her fur.

"We're really sorry, all we wanted was to go out for a moment and play", exclaimed Dixie sadly, "we didn't intend for you to worry so much about us, we really sorry"

Dan found himself nodding to Dixie's words while still burying his snout in her mom's fur, they just wanted to go out and play and help Hunter as much as possible ... they had no ill intentions in mind.

"I know" Delilah said very softly as she stroked both stained heads, "but even so, both of you betrayed my and your father trust when you both go outside without any supervision, and that's wrong"

this time, instead of apologizing again, both cubs just nodded and hugged their mother, sobbing a little more before she broke the hug to see them straight into the tear-filled eyes with a warm motherly smile.

"Now you can both come down and take your nap in peace, tomorrow morning you will accompany Dylan and Dolly throughout the day to tell you about your new chores, understood?"

Dixie and Dan just nodded silently, accepting their new punishment and assignments.

Tomorrow was going to be a very long day for these two, cleaning the bowls was exhausting enough, now they would have more tasks after doing that.

Delilah silently watched her two cubs retreat from her room, both cubs walking past her nervous husband.

Doug followed both sad puppies with his eyes, wanting nothing more than to hug them in a loving hug to ease some of their sadness, but he held back.

He gulped and loosened his collar, now more than likely it was his turn to be scolded by his wife.


"..dan ", Dixie whispered in her brother's direction as they both kept moving down the hall," ... I'm sorry for bringing you into this "

"... don't apologize for that Dixie ", Dan exclaimed, shaking his head, as he and his sister jumped down the stairs," I chose for myself to follow you ... I just wanted to be able to help someone "

Dixie nodded, the reality was, that she and her brother ... they weren't helpful to anyone, but when they were with Hunter, they felt for the first time in they lives like they could really help someone ... Even if it was only very little.

Something ... is always better than feeling worthless.

they couldn't help their brothers and sisters in any way ... they were always just bottom pups whenever bad things happened.

When Dylan had a nervous breakdown from Dante playing a prank on him ... They just watched silently from afar.

Whenever bad things happened and others felt bad, Dixie and Dan just watched silently from the background.

They really thought they could help at least alleviate Hunter's suffering a little.

But now they can't.

they will have to remain just background puppies with no starring role in anything.

Sometime ... they wish they didn't have such a big family.

It feels horrible to feel like a background character.

Both puppies continued their way down the stairs until they reached the sofa, their bed, and rest in preparation for tomorrow.

When these two jumped up and snuggled together to stay comfortable.

Suddenly both of them opened their eyes in surprise and somewhat alarmed when a gloved hand closed them both in an embrace as if they were both two stuffed animals.

Both pairs of ears perked up at muffled snoring.

When both cubs looked up to see who or what had caught them in a hug, they were surprised to see Hunter's sleeping face salivating from the left corner of his mouth.

Dixie and Dan lowered their heads and shared a puzzled look.

What was Hunter doing here?

"... YOU DO WHAT !? "

Both cubs looked in surprise in the direction where the roar had come from.

They waited a few minutes.

And then both puppies followed their adoptive father with their eyes, who passed them slowly with his head down, directing himself in the direction of the garden.

Doug will sleep in Dylan's tree house today.

Both cubs, unaware of that fact, ended up shrugging their shoulders and only responded to Hunter's hug as they both quickly fell prey to sleep again.

They might even be helpful to someone. that single thought based on probability was more than enough for both tails to start shaking.

(To be continue)


AU: (I want to apologize to all my readers for any grammatical errors you may find in this story.English is not my mother tongue, and I'm still looking for someone who can really help me translate the chapters that I already have written about this story without using any kind of online translator)