Later that afternoon, Penelope and Peter were snuggled together on the couch while the Ant Hill Mob were out Christmas shopping for Penelope. They were enjoying some hot apple cider that Peter made, hoping it would help a bit with Penelope's cold and sore throat.

"Thanks for the apple cider, Peter." Penelope carefully sipped her cider. "I didn't realize you were such a good little ole cook!"

"Well, it took me a bit of practice, but not too shabby if I do say so myself." Peter grinned.

"You couldn't be the least bit shabby if you tried, sugar!" Penelope coughed and sneezed a bit before she curled up closer to Peter. "I don't like being sick with colds, but I do like this. Just you and me, peace and quiet, the Christmas tree and the fire, and not dealing with the Hooded Claw."

"I like this too, especially the 'you and me' part." Peter kissed her warm forehead.

Just then, Angel came up to the couch, hoping to join her mistress.

"Oh, Angel-Fish, you wanna come snuggle, too?" Penelope gave Angel a gentle scratch behind the ears. "Alright, girl, just let us put our hot cider on the little coffee table so you don't get burned."

After she and Peter set down their mugs of cider on the coffee table, Penelope beckoned her dog, who hopped onto the couch. Angel soon contently settled into Penelope's arms.

"So warm, so beautiful, still think you're a little ole puppy." Penelope giggled, stroking Angel's fur. "To think it was only yesterday you were that little ole puppy under the Christmas tree."

"Under the Christmas tree?" Peter wondered as Duke hopped on the couch and went to his master. "You mean you received Angel as a Christmas gift when she was a puppy?"

"Yes, I sure did." Penelope replied. "The Ant Hill Mob took her home from the animal shelter and brought her to me."

"Please, do tell me all about it, my dear." Peter was eager to learn about Penelope and Angel's beginning.

"It's my favorite Christmas memory of all time, so I'd be delighted to, Peter."

Looking at Angel and cuddling her closer, Penelope smiled and flashed back to Christmas from two years ago.

"It was three days before Christmas two years ago, shortly after the Hooded Claw started putting me in peril and before I reunited with you and the rest of our Wacky Race friends." Penelope began to tell her story. "My old Yellow Lab, Sunny went to join Mama and Dear Daddy in heaven months earlier, so I missed having a dog around to be my companion and most importantly, to give me protection from that awful Hooded Claw. Little did I know that day, that I was in for a big Christmas surprise."

Three days before Christmas that year, Penelope was peacefully sleeping in her bed on a winter's morning. Six of the Ant Hill Mob tiptoed quietly into her room and paused when they reached her bed.

"Good morning, Penelope." Zippy gently nudged her awake. "Time to wake up."

"Good morning, Zippy." Penelope slowly but surely started to wake up.

"Duh, Merry Christmas, Penelope." Dum-Dum grinned.

"Dum-Dum, it's the 22nd of December." Penelope chuckled. "Christmas isn't for another three days."

"Duh, I knew that."

"I know it's early, but we have a special Christmas surprise for you." Pockets explained. "It's our big gift to you this year."

"What could it be?" Penelope excitedly got herself out of bed and put her slippers on. "And where's Clyde?"

"He's out running a few quick errands, one of them includes picking up your surprise gift." Zippy answered.

"We have clues scattered all over the house." Softy wept.

"Yeah, clues…" Snoozy echoed through snores.

"They're each wrapped up in different spots of the house." Yak-Yak chuckled.

"So it's gonna be a treasure hunt, just follow the arrows." Pockets told Penelope. "Starting with the arrow pointing to the closet."

Penelope looked in the closet and discovered a small wrapped-up present in the shoe storage box. When she took it, she started to open it.

"Don't open it yet, Penelope." Zippy put his hand up politely. "Once you collect all the clues, you can open them up in the living room. I'll take this one."

Penelope handed the present over to Zippy, then went into the hallway, where she saw another arrow on the wall pointing to the bathroom.

"Where oh where in the bathroom could the next clue be?" Penelope looked all around the bathroom and looked in the medicine cabinet.

But when she pulled the shower curtain, she discovered two little gifts in it.

"I declare! Double clues."

"I'll take those to the living room, Penelope." Softy sobbed as Penelope gave him the presents.

Penelope followed another arrow pointing to the kitchen.

"I do hope none of the fellas put my next clue on the stove." She thought.

After looking in the drawers and the cupboards, Penelope looked in the Christmas cookie jar and discovered another gift in there.

"Here, I'll take that one to the living room." Dum-Dum took the gift. "There's another one under the uh, table."

Penelope walked to the dining room and looked under the table. There, she noticed the gift Dum-Dum mentioned.

"Thank you, Dum-Dum." She praised him, handing him the other gift. "Here you are."

Penelope followed another arrow straight to the garage where Chuggaboom was.

"Clyde usually takes Chuggaboom when he goes someplace." She thought to herself. "Either way, it's great to see you this morning, Chuggy."

Chuggaboom sputtered happily as Penelope stroked him.

"Do you suppose you have my next clue?" Penelope sweetly asked Chuggaboom. "After all, the arrow in the house pointed to the garage."

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" Chuggaboom nodded.

"Easy enough, darling. I'll look there."

Penelope looked around inside Chuggaboom, only to notice another present inside the back seat.

"I'll take that present, Penelope." Snoozy snored.

"Thank you Snoozy." Penelope handed the present to Snoozy, then turned to Chuggaboom. "Thank you, too, Chuggy."

The next led Penelope straight to the room where her indoor pool, hot tub and sauna were.

"The clue surely can't actually be inside the pool or the hot tub, and I doubt putting it inside the sauna would be safe."

So she decided to look in the room's locker room, where she saw the next present.

"I'll help with this one, Penelope." Yak-Yak chortled.

After handing the present over to Yak-Yak, Penelope followed the last arrows leading to the living room. When she made it there, she discovered that the presents she found were around the Christmas tree.

"Okay, fellas!" She called the boys over. "I'm in the living room and I'm ready to see the presents I got!"

It was not long before Penelope found a note on the coffee table, so she picked it up and read it.

Penelope,

We went outside to clear the driveway so that Clyde can drive in safely after his trip. Please feel free to open the gifts we got you. We'll be back inside by the time you open the last one.

-Dum-Dum, Softy, Zippy, Yak-Yak, Snoozy and Pockets

"If they say so." Penelope thought.

Penelope went straight to open the little gifts the boys got her. The gifts she opened revealed to be a pink dog bed, a lavender glittery food and water bowl set, a small pink harness and leash, some dog toys, puppy food, treats, a brush, and a pastel pink collar.

"Does this mean…" She did not hear the sound of footsteps in front of her.

"Surprise!" All seven of the Ant Hill Mobsters stood in front of the tree, holding a basket holding a nine-week-old Cocker Spaniel puppy with an evergreen bow around her neck.

"Oh my heavens!" Penelope gasped with an overwhelming amount of surprise and gratitude. "A puppy!"

"A girl puppy, too." Dum-Dum nodded.

"And she came from the local animal shelter, which is where I was when the other guys were doing that treasure hunt with you, Penelope." Clyde explained. "When we first looked at her, we thought she was the one for you."

"Yes, yes she is." Penelope gently scooped up the puppy in her arms and cuddled her.

"Do you like her, Penelope?" Zippy asked.

"Fellas, I love her!" She smiled gratefully as the puppy kept licking her face. "She's such a sweet little ole angel."

Then Penelope felt inspiration.

"Angel! That's just what I'll name her!" She decided on her puppy's name. "I'm so glad you're in my life now, Angel! You'll just love your new home, darling."

She took another look at the Ant Hill Mob.

"Thank you ever so ever fellas! This is the best Christmas ever!"

"You're welcome, Penelope!" Softy cried.

"Angel, come here, puppy." Dum-Dum whistled.

Penelope carefully set Angel down, and it wasn't long before Angel came running to the Ant Hill Mob with happy, excited barks. The Ant Hill Mob also loved Angel to pieces and they played with her and pet her.

"Smart puppy. She already knows her name." Clyde picked Angel up. "Promise us that you'll take good care of Angel and give her the love and friendship she needs."

"Oh I promise I will, Clyde." Penelope vowed. "And I promise you too, Angel."

Penelope spent the rest of the day playing with Angel and was determined to make sure Angel felt at home at the Pitstop Manor. They were quickly becoming really good friends.

"Angel knew immediately who her friends were, but she also knew who her foes were." Penelope continued telling Peter her story.

That afternoon, Penelope was captured by the Hooded Claw and the Bully Brothers.

"What's this?" The Claw sneered, snatching Angel out of Penelope's arms. "Well, isn't she a doll? But she won't be saving you, Pitstop!"

Angel quickly bit the Hooded Claw's hand, causing him to let her go. Angel ran in front of Penelope and started barking at the Hooded Claw and Bully Brothers.

"But we only just met." The Bully Brothers commented. "She can't hate us now."

"Actually, she can." Penelope scowled, picking Angel up. "Leave us alone, you scoundrels!"

She suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter in the air.

"Up here, Penelope!" Clyde called down, releasing a rope ladder for Penelope to climb.

Penelope placed Angel inside her winter coat to keep her safe and started climbing the ladder into the helicopter.

"Thanks fellas!" Penelope grinned as she took Angel out of her coat the moment they got in. "It's high time we got back home."

"We agree, Penelope." Clyde gave Angel a gentle scratch behind her ears.

"Then that Christmas morning was extra special, because Angel was part of it." Penelope kept telling her story. "And Angel got a very special present."

Then Christmas morning that year came, and Penelope took a small gift box with a red ribbon around it.

"It's for you, Angel." Penelope brought the gift box in front of Angel. "Wanna open it?"

Angel used her teeth to untie the ribbon around the box, and from there, Penelope opened up the box and took out a diamond heart-shaped dog tag with Angel's name on it. On the back of the tag was Angel's name and Penelope's home address.

Penelope carefully attached the tag to Angel's collar and took a handheld mirror. Angel looked at her reflection and happily barked into Penelope's arms.

Night came, and Penelope lifted Angel into her arms and brought her onto the bed. After she said her nighttime prayer, Penelope settled into the covers and stroked Angel's fur. As Angel was falling asleep, Penelope tucked her in and laid next to her.

"Happy dreams, Angel." She whispered sleepily. "I promise we will always be the best of friends."

Clyde and his men looked at the girls with warm smiles as they fell asleep. Clyde turned off the bedroom light and silently closed the door.

"It was the best Christmas I ever had, because I received a new friend, and my new friend received a wonderful home." Penelope finished her story. "She since grew to be a sweet, beautiful dog and a great protector, not to mention a great bird dog and a water lover."

"Angel is a very beautiful girl." Peter allowed Angel to lick his hand. "Good looks certainly run in the Pitstop family. After seeing Angel, I decided not to look for a new bird dog. Duke is so in love with her and she really enjoyed our bird hunting training."

"She picks up training easily, and she won a few dog shows, too..." Penelope was growing tired again, so she laid down and pulled the blankets over herself and Angel.

Before long, Penelope comfortably fell asleep with Angel resting her chin on Penelope's stomach as she slept. Upon seeing their slumbering girls, Peter kissed Penelope's forehead and Duke gave a gentle kiss on Angel's head. Not one of the girls moved an inch. Peter and Duke watched over Penelope and Angel as they slept.

The Ant Hill Mob came back inside from their Christmas shopping trip. When they came in the door, they noticed Penelope and Angel asleep on the couch.

"Shh." Peter brought a finger to his lips.

"How is she feeling?" Clyde asked in a quiet voice.

"Starting to feel a bit better." Peter whispered. "Hopefully the rest will help."

"And look who else is all cozy?" Pockets murmured. "To think yesterday Angel was a tiny little pup we gave Penelope for Christmas."

"Penny was just telling me all about it." Peter told the boys. "They've really become great friends. I'm glad Penelope has the extra protection she needs from that nasty old Claw."

"That's one reason we first adopted Angel in the first place." Clyde nodded as he looked at Penelope and Angel, who were sound asleep. "Overall, she is a sweet, gentle pup."