Jesse dodged yet another attack from one of the dogs, wiping his face of the slobber that had landed on it. Of course, it hadn't been an attack of the vicious kind – the dog had been determined to lick Jesse's face for the past ten minutes. But he was equally determined not to have any part of it. "Ugh, Danny, where are those dog treats? This canine over here needs to learn the basics of training; namely sit, stay, and stop licking!"

Danny petted another of the dogs, who had curled up into a ball at his feet. "They're on the end table."

"Thanks." Since he was already sitting on the couch next to the end table, Jesse leaned over and pulled a bone-shaped treat out of the box. Holding it above the dog, who was on her hind legs with her paws on Jesse's knees, he commanded, "Sit!"

Of course, the dog didn't listen. She just stared at Jesse, her eyes wide and pleading.

Danny laughed. "I guess Mr. Flood never trained them."

"I guess so," Jesse snapped. "Okay, now sit! Sit! Sit!" When the dog still wouldn't listen, he threw the treat in the corner of the living room and ordered, "Fetch!" The canine bolted to the corner and gobbled the treat up. "Sure, that you understand."

Joey, who was sitting on the floor at the base of the couch, chuckled. He was giving Minnie a belly rub. "So what are we going to do now? Can we keep them?" His face had lit up at the prospect, much like a small child.

"No!" Danny and Jesse cried simultaneously. Clearing his throat, Danny calmed. "I mean, uh, think about this, Joey. Comet sheds enough to form a Cousin It made of fur. There's no way I would be able to keep up with six canine's worth of dog hair!"

"But they're so cute! Yes you are," Joey switched to a playful voice, vigorously rubbing the dog nearest him. "Yes, you are a cutie little…" He lifted the dog by his fore legs. "…boy! Yes you are!"

"I don't care how cute they are," Jesse huffed. "They're a bundle of fur balls just waiting to leap into my bed." He distinctly remembered how Minnie had given birth to Comet and his siblings in his bed. He'd had to throw out the sheets afterwards.

At the word "bed," Minnie's ears seemed to perk up. She then dashed up the stairs. The men knew where she was going. Jesse rolled his eyes. "See!"

"Well, you're the one who reminded her," Joey joked.

"I have an idea." Danny leaned forward on the easy chair. "The thing is, I don't want the girls to see the dogs and get excited. They won't return from their 'bonding day' with Becky for another hour, so here's what we're going to do. Joey, you put the dogs in your room, just in case the girls get home early. Then Jesse and I will start calling animal shelters listed in the phone book."

"No-kill animal shelters," Joey reminded him.

"Of course," Danny agreed. "It shouldn't be long before we find a shelter who will take them. Then we'll take them to a shelter tonight, or we'll have to keep them in Joey's room until the morning. I just know if the girls see the dogs they'll want to keep them. Michelle and Stephanie aren't old enough to realize the complications of raising a large number of animals."

"Well, Stephanie probably is," Joey put in. However, he did understand. It would break the girls' heart to have all these cute dogs in the house and not get to keep them. And he knew watching Michelle with a broken heart would be enough to make Danny not only keep the dogs but buy her a pony as well.

Jesse clapped his hands. "Okay, so we have a plan to get rid of the mutts, and it doesn't involve them sleeping in my bed. This is a very good thing!"

Just then, Comet zipped into the living room. He had been outside in the backyard doing what dogs do there, and now skidded through the door that led to the kitchen. He froze at the sight of his family in the living room. He gave a loud bark, as if he knew who they were.

Danny smiled. "Guys, I think we're about to watch a canine family reunion."

Sure enough, Minnie slowly approached Comet. The two stared at each other for a long moment, before she then touched her nose to his. Then Comet followed Minnie, both dashing further into the living room to be greeted by the other four dogs, whose tails couldn't have been wagging any harder.

Joey sighed. "Okay, all together now."

Joey, Jesse, and Danny exclaimed, "Aw, how cute!"

Danny stood up, being careful not to step on a nearby dog's tail. "Okay, you two herd the dogs into Joey's room, and I'll finish making dinner."

At the word "dinner," six pairs of canine ears perked up in anticipation.

Noting this, Jesse commented, "I hate to tell ya, Danny, but I don't think that measly two pounds of meat is gonna cut it!"

"So, Dean, you want some juice?" D.J. walked into the kitchen through the back door, accompanied by her very hunky temporary science partner. She turned around just for a quick look at him. He's so hot. That perfect brown hair, deep blue eyes, Dean…what a cool name Dean is! Then again, it makes sense. I've never heard of a geek named Dean.

Dean shrugged, taking a seat at the table. "Um, sure, thanks. You got apple?"

D.J. opened the fridge, praying with all her heart that they did. "Yeah, we do." Taking the container out and getting a cup, she asked, "So what do you want to do our project on?" Their science class was studying animals among their own kind. At first when D.J. heard the first part she was happy, since she could always observe Comet. But the whole "among their own kind" was where she was stumped.

After thinking about a minute, Dean suggested, "Squirrels? Birds, maybe? There's a park nearby."

D.J. smiled as she went over and handed him his juice. Not only was he as handsome as the next male billboard underwear model, but he was smart, too. "That's a great idea! You want to walk there now…together?"

Dean flashed her a grin. She was almost blinded by his shiny teeth. "Sounds good." Downing his juice, he stood up. "You ready?"

D.J. nearly ran out the door, but stopped. "Um, yeah, one second. I have to tell my Dad we're leaving. I think he's upstairs – he probably hasn't realized we're home from school yet."

Suddenly, a round of barks resounded from the basement. Dean glanced at her. "You have dogs?"

D.J. wrinkled her brow. It did sound like multiple dogs down there. "Uh, no, just one. Comet."

"Right, you mentioned him when we were talking about the project," Dean recalled. "The only reason I'm asking is that I'm sort of allergic. When it's only one dog and not so much fur, I'm okay. If I walk into an animal shelter, I'll need at least three boxes of tissues."

On her way to the stairs, D.J. giggled. "Well, don't worry. With Comet, the most you'll need is half a tissue box."

Danny paced his room, in front of a concerned Jesse and Joey. "Guys, Operation Find-a-Shelter is a no-go. I repeat, Operation Find-a-Shelter is not working."

Chuckling, Joey mockingly saluted Danny. "Sir, yes sir! Do you suggest an alternative plan of action?"

"At ease, soldier," Danny retorted. Becoming serious, he explained, "I called practically all the shelters in the phone book. Either they weren't no-kill or didn't have room for more animals, especially not five grown dogs."

Jesse plopped down on Danny's bed. "So we're stuck with the mutts. Great."

Joey was elated. "Yeah, isn't it? We're going to have to tell the girls about the dog now, right?

"I guess we have to," Danny sighed. "We can't keep them in the basement for too much longer."

Joey nodded. "That's for sure. I woke up this morning to six tongues licking my face. Do you have any idea how disturbing that is? I vote they sleep in Jesse's room tonight."

"No way!" Jesse protested. "They can sleep in the munchkins' rooms. I'm not waking up to dog slobber!"

Danny held out a hand in a motion to stop the arguing. "We'll figure that out later. For now…I guess I'll ask around at work tomorrow if anyone's looking to adopt. Maybe we can at least find a home for one of them."

"Until then we take care of the mutts?" Jesse asked.

"There's nothing else we can do," Danny replied. He paused. "I think I hear movement downstairs. One of the girls must be home."

"Dad?" D.J.'s voice came up the stairs. "Dean and I need to go to the park to do a project for science. Is that okay?"

Danny shared a glance with Jesse and Joey. "Who's this Dean?" When the other two indicated they didn't know, he headed for the door. "Then I say we find out." He then called. "Yeah, but hang on a second. We'll be right down." He could almost hear D.J. gulp nervously.

D.J. walked back into the kitchen, where Dean was waiting near the table. "They're coming down. It'll just be a minute." Hopefully.

"They?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah, my dad, my uncle Jesse, and my dad's best friend Joey," D.J. explained, realizing she hadn't told him how her household was run. "They moved in after my mom died four years ago."

Dean lowered his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry about that." Then, he sneezed. A really loud sneeze. "Are you sure there's only one dog down there?"

D.J. nodded. "Yeah…pretty sure…" Then again, in this house you never know.

Dean sneezed again. And again. And again. Soon enough he was in the midst of a sneezing fit. "Maybe – " He was cut off by another sneeze. "Maybe you should check."

"Okay…" Sure by now that something was going on, D.J. opened the basement door. Comet, his brother's and sisters, and Minnie stampeded into the kitchen, nearly knocking D.J. and Dean over.

Dean stared at the dogs in amazement. "You really didn't know they were here?" When D.J. nodded, he told her, "I'm sorry, D.J. Can we go to the park tomorrow? I'm going to have to go home and get some allergy medicine."

D.J. shot him a weak smile. "I understand. See you in class tomorrow." When he was out the door, she refocused her attention on the dogs, who were now running all over the place. "Whoa baby!"