The Mothers

A month has now passed since Francis and Tito had joined the gang. During that time, Dodger had taken the role as the gang's leader and Rose became second in command.

Needless to say, their new roles needed a little bit of adjusting. They did manage to gather more respect from Francis; He had been a great influence on the gang. Making Francis and Tito into reliable and capable street dogs was a challenge and it kept them on their paws.

Francis was still getting the hang of car surfing; It did take him some time to get home. He often got lost as he did this. Despite loving that their family has grown, Dodger and Rose enjoyed their time alone, just the two of them.

Tito wouldn't stop following them around wherever they went. Rose would often give him rides on her back, which the tiny dog enjoyed so much. He idolized the two adolescent dogs. The small dog even picked up some of Dodger's flirtatious skills whenever they saw a female pass by them.

Later that evening, Rose and Dodger were out on their own. Everybody else was back at the barge. They had gained a used TV, which Tito and Francis often fought over.

The two mutts were chatting away, showing how close they had gotten since their first meeting. They'd be lying if they weren't starting to have feelings for one another.

After they decided to head back, they came across an alleyway that had a few stray dogs in it.

Rose and Dodger glanced at each other and then back at the small group of strays.

However, both mutts felt their hearts jump into their throats when they saw the familiar faces of… their mothers being fawned over by a few males.

What were the odds of Rose and Dodger seeing their estranged mothers in the same area? At first, the border collie and the wire-haired terrier didn't notice them at first.

Rose dropped her ears as the memories were starting to stir. Her mother, Celeste, had a slender build with her ears folding over the top like Dodger's mother. Her bright blue eyes were hard.

Rose felt her heart rise to her throat. She couldn't seem to move her paws no matter how badly she wanted to run. Her mouth was dry as much as Dodger's was.

Rose had believed that Celeste had gone back to her master. This was something that the two mutts had in common. They were both tricked into thinking that their mother's had simply left to find their owners.

Celeste noticed the two young dogs staring at them. She smiled and approached them . "Hi there, sweeties," she said, then looked at Layla, Dodger's mother, "Look at these two, Layla,"

Layla strutted over to them. Dodger stood there next to Rose, stunned to the bone when he realized that the two she-dogs were making moves on them.

Rose backed up a few steps, clearly uncomfortable with their advances. Dodger also backed up, catching the two she-dogs off guard.

Rose stared at her mother. "Mother?" she said rather sternly.

"Oh, it's you. Almost didn't recognize you. Look at you, all grown up. Looking more like that father of yours. What's your name again, kid? And who's your friend here?" Celeste said with a laugh as she circled the two young dogs.

"I nearly didn't recognize my own son either. The thing is, I can't remember what I had called him," Layla agreed. Rose looked over at Dodger, who was unable to speak.

Celeste and Layla barely knew who their own pups were since they hadn't seen them since they were only a month old.

The group of dogs that were fawning over Celeste and Layla came over to see what was going on.

"I didn't take you two for the maternal types," one of the dogs said with a snicker. "Yeah, the female is a pretty thing, ain't she?" a tawny colored mutt, who had some mastiff in him, said flirtatiously.

He was flirting with Rose, which she hated. "I'm really not. Why don't we go for a little walk?" Celeste said, wanting to be alone with Rose.

Rose glanced over at Dodger; She didn't want to leave his side.

"Aw, come on. I won't keep you from your little boyfriend for long," Celeste said. Rose dropped her tail and reluctantly followed Celeste out of the alleyway.

Rose didn't want to go anywhere with the border collie. It was obvious that Celeste lied to her and Kaiden that she was going to find her master.

However, neither Celeste or Layla were wearing a collar. Rose wanted to wake up from this nightmare; This wasn't happening.

"I see that brother of yours is nowhere to be seen. Looks like you two didn't need a mother around," Celeste said passively, making Rose feel sick to her stomach.

"You… You said that you were going back to your master…" Rose stammered. Celeste let out a laugh and said, "You are as dumb as your father. He was too weak-willed to be any mate of mine. You and that other brat were just accidents. You think I want to spend my life with two needy pups in tow? I didn't mean to get knocked up. Besides, you have that pathetic gang of yours. So I can forget that you and your brother ever existed. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon," Celeste said, dismissing Rose's pang of hurt.

The collie became bored of this and she turned around to go back to the alleyway. "You oughta appreciate that I stuck around you and that brother of yours for as long as I did," Celeste finished with a smirk and she walked away.

Rose was left standing there on the sidewalk, frozen with shock. She dropped her head with both ears lowered. She was trembling, still hearing Celeste's words in her head.

She remembered being a tiny puppy, barely a month old with her twin brother, waking up to greet their mother but they found her gone. She could only share this with Dodger and nobody else.

Sordid memories broke through, something she never wanted to relive ever again. She remembered the very morning her mother abandoned her and Kaiden.

They stayed together for another two weeks before being separated by the threat of a dog catcher. Afterwards, they hadn't seen each other since. Rose never had anybody to look out for her until Dodger and Einstein had found her.

Ever since that time, they became her family. They were always there for her unlike the dog who had brung them life. Celeste only cared about herself and only herself; She was never meant to be a mother.

She had to go back to Dodger; She had to make sure that he was okay. She turned around and started walking in the direction she came down.

Dodger wasn't there from where she last left him. Looking down that alleyway, she could see Celeste and Layla continuing to be flirted with by those males. They didn't have a care in the world.

The shepherd mix felt tears rise in her hazel eyes. She couldn't stand to be there for another minute and moved on to find Dodger.

Rose's tail had little to no movement as she walked down the busy Manhattan sidewalk alone. Her eyes were downcast and her ears were still dropped, showing the sadness that she felt.

She figured that Dodger was back at the barge. She needed time to think to herself. Eventually, she made it to the Brooklyn Bridge and she climbed up on the bridge wall.

She sat down on the wall, curling her long tail around her legs. She could see the ocean for miles and miles along with the Financial District of New York City. She could see the World Trade Center looming over the rest of the buildings of the large city.

Rose laid down on the wall, letting her head rest between her forelegs. She faced the ocean. Tears streamed down her furry face, thinking of all the things her mother had told her.

Rose covered her eyes with her left forepaw so she wouldn't have to look at anything. She sniffled loudly through her snout.

All of this was too much for her to handle. It came crashing down on her shoulders. If her own mother couldn't ever lover her, then what did that make her?

Rita had left the barge after consoling Dodger from his own mother. He said that Rose had disappeared while he was being taunted by his mother.

It was the same as Celeste to Rose, seeing him as nothing more than a burden to her. It hurt him to the core.

The sun started to set by the time Rita had found Rose. The sky had turned from its bright blue color to a beautiful gold color with yellow and shades of pink mixed in.

Rita spotted her friend laying on the wall of the bridge, a paw covering her eyes.

As she walked closer, she thought she could hear the sound of Rose crying. She never cried. Rose didn't hear Rita approaching her; She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to hear the hound mix.

"Rose? Rose, what's wrong?" Rita asked, making Rose jump a bit. She uncovered her face and looked back at Rita, having tears in her eyes.

"Nothing, Rit. I'm fine," she said, looking back at the view ahead. Rita wasn't falling for that though. She jumped on the bridge and sat down next to the grieving Rose.

"What happened, Rose? You can talk to me," she said, but Rose still didn't say anything, "Dodger told me what happened while you two were out. I'm sorry you guys had to deal with that,"

Rose tensed up and sat up on the bridge. She pressed her head underneath Rita's chin and sobbed. Rita followed her instincts and put her paw on Rose's back to comfort her.

"I can't go home, Rita… You wouldn't mind if we stayed out? At least for tonight?" Rose asked, feeling humiliated. "Sure thing, Rose. What're best friends for?" Rita said, remembering how Rose was there for her after her family had left her.

The two she-dogs make their way into Central Park, which had their lights on because it was now night. Nobody was around so they had the whole park to themselves.

When morning came around, Rose found Rita still huddled up next to her. It felt great to have each other's company. Rose saw herself as weak because she showed her emotions to her best friend.

The two dogs found a comfortable place to rest for the night. "How're you feeling, Rose?" Rita asked. "I'm fine, Rita. Guess it was something I needed to get off my chest," Rose replied.

"Rose, I'm not stupid. You were clearly distraught on that bridge. You and Dodger were distraught! Like I told Dodger, don't bottle up your feelings. It'll only make you sick," Rita told her, hackles bristled up.

"I'm sorry, Rita. Everything's a mess; Dodger is the only one who knows how I feel about this. Please don't tell anybody, please. I'm gonna go find Dodger," Rose said, standing up.

She began walking away from Rita, who let her go. There was little to nothing that could be done; They needed to forget that this ever happened and proceed with their daily duties.

Last thing they needed was to make things worse.