Chapter 15: Babysitter Putdown


"If anything, I think humans like you are nothing but a plague."

"If you really thought I would ever love a human, think again."

"You're not welcome here, and you NEVER will be."

Those phrases among the many others that Hailey had said to me kept echoing through my mind like a broken record. A broken record of hostility and lies. Even with the audible running water from the shower flowing down my skin like heated raindrops, I could still hear those words clearly.

Chilli… Bandit… Bluey… Bingo… They've been doing everything they can to help me recover emotionally from that very night. It's been… I can't remember at this point. Over a week since that event? Feels like it was only yesterday.

In all honesty, I'm not hurting as much as I was on that very night. The Heelers have done good so far in helping me combined with my memory of what Wendy had told me when we first met.

But… It's almost like I'm recovering from a broken limb or any other serious injury. The worst of it is fading, but I still feel a lot of hurt. I can still feel the cracks in my heart, actually, they're more like scars, and we all know how long those take to heal.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm just not one hundred percent better yet. I feel like I'm getting there but on the other hand I feel like I'm just stuck in a bout of misery.

Is it really possible for someone to move on and recover from being humiliated when the person who duped you into thinking they loved you all did it because they think you're a joke?

I guess I'll never know…

I blinked as I shook my head a little to shake out the lingering thoughts of Hailey's insults before turning the shower off. I need to do something to help take my mind off it, hopefully that would help.

With Bandit and Chilli going somewhere tonight, it was just going to be me, Bluey, Bingo and whoever it was they had hired to look after us. I suppose getting to know the babysitter would make for a good distraction.

...I can only pray that they don't freak out or pretend to be friendly towards me.

"Nathan, you alright in there, mate?" Bandit's slightly muffled but recognisable voice called out from outside the bathroom.

"N-No, everything's fine, Bandit!" I called out half-truthfully. I didn't want him to worry too much about me whilst he's out with Chilli. I know he needs some time to himself and Chilli as well. Young kids can be a handful after all.

Drying myself off and putting on a new set of clothes on, I exited the bathroom and made my way down to the TV room, turning the set on as it showed a live newscast. The reporter being the same one I saw on the day Bluey snuck me to school.

"And so it seems that many of the citizens of Canistralia are already prepared for the upcoming funeral ceremony for the fallen mother and father of Canistralia's newest human ambassador, Nathan Faulkner. Flowers have already been left at the memorial area whilst our highest ranked investigators are still analysing the site of the plane crash that claimed the lives of Nathan's parents in hopes of uncovering the possible cause of the crash to begin with."

That's right… Mom and dad's funeral, I had almost forgotten about it. The fact that almost all of the dogs of Canistralia were pitching in to set up the ceremony did make me smile a little. I still miss them, but I had to remember to abide to what Wendy told me and stay strong for them.

Maybe… if they were still alive, they'd encourage me to stay strong and not think about what Hailey said to me.

My train of thought was immediately cut by the sound of the doorbell. That could mean only thing, that the babysitter was here. Turning the set off, I headed for the front doorway, stopping halfway as I was met with a rather odd sight.

A masculine adult dog was holding the front door slightly ajar as he was peering behind it. What made the sight odd was his fur colour, a natural orange fur colour with a lighter shade, the bottom half however was a contrasting mix of shades of blue, almost like an ocean wave. To top it all off, the fur at the sides of his head stuck out like a double mullet and a tuft of some lighter orange fur sticking out from the forehead.

What this one dog did however was even odder. After glancing around as if to make sure the coast was clear, he stepped right in, closing the door behind him and quickly ducking behind a red chair just next to the front door.

"Uncle Rad's here!" Bingo exclaimed excitedly, dashing past me and straight for the front door, opening it.

"Hi, Uncle Ra..." Bingo's words fell as she realised no one was actually at the door, but then seconds later, the hidden older dog sprang out from his hiding place and grabbed Bingo's sides, making her squeal.

With a held-back gasp of concern, I was about to rush over until I heard Bingo laugh as the dog tossed her into the air and tickled her stomach.

"How ya doin', Bluey?" The dog asked as he held Bingo in one arm.

"I'm Bingo!" Bingo corrected, making the sand and ocean furred dog hold her upside down by the leg with a "Really?". That was when I felt a finger tap my shoulder, making me look aside to see Bandit gesture to me, as if signalling me to follow him with Chilli walking up ahead of him, Bluey following in between.

"Yeah! That's Bluey!" Bingo responded with a giggle as she pointed to the young blue heeler in question whilst Bandit waved to the stranger.

"Aw, yeah! 'cause he's blue!" The stranger realised as he turned to face us, still holding Bingo by the leg.

"I'm a GIRL!" Bluey immediately retorted with obvious offence to which the stranger shrugged off with a "Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Are you putting us to bed tonight, uncle Rad?" Bingo asked the stranger, which confirmed to me that this was the "Rad" that Bingo mentioned as she raced for the door seconds ago and that he was a member of the Heeler family which washed some relief over me.

"You bet!" Rad answered with a thumbs up, earning a "Hooray!" from Bingo.

"Not hooray..." I just managed to hear Bluey mumble rather sadly. I was about to ask her what was wrong until Chilli spoke up.

"Bluey isn't keen on babysitter putdowns, uncle Rad."

"Don't worry, Bluey! Who better to do a babysitter putdown better than your uncle Rad?" Rad asked as he walked over to Bluey and kneeled down to her before glancing up and finally noticing me as he greeted me with a friendly smile.

"Ah, yeah! You must be-!"

"Hello!" Rad was suddenly cut off by a feminine voice, taking my focus away from Rad to the front door, where another adult dog was stood at.

Her fur ranged with streaks of white, cream and orange with just one strand of fur protruding at her ankles. Her ears, wherever they were were hidden with longer fur at the head which was styled as a ponytail held back with a blue band.

"Frisky!" Bingo and Bluey, the latter with newfound eagerness called out before running over to the lady dog as she kneeled down to hug them.

"Hey, girls!" The woman dog replied, bringing in the hug a little tighter before the three broke apart and the youngest two turned to Rad.

"This is uncle Rad!" Bingo introduced to the girl. What followed was a very brief silence between the two new faces, (Well, new to me anyway) before exchanging a "Hi", then being followed by more silence.

"Frisky, have you met Bandit's brother, Radley before?" Chilli asked in an attempt to break the ice. The lady dog whom I now knew as Frisky pondered for a moment.

"Ummmm, yeah. Didn't you fall in the pool at the wedding?"

"Probably."

Well, that was an interesting bit of history to learn about the Heeler family.

"Frisky is Bluey's fairy godmother!" Bingo said to Radley. I could only blink with confusion with what Bingo meant by that.

"Sorry, Frisky, uncle Rad got in touch last minute and said he'd babysit. You must've got my message." Chilli explained, that alone made me realise the situation pretty quickly.

"Oh! No, I didn't." Frisky revealed whilst taking a phone out of her bag. "That's fine. Um… I'll just go." Right after she said this, Bluey and Bingo quickly reached out to her.

"No! Not go! Both babysit!" Bingo pleaded. Man, she must really like Rad and Frisky a lot. The latter of which stammered an answer.

"A-As long as it's okay with uncle Rad!"

"Fine by me." Radley merely said, earning another "Hooray!" from Bingo.


We all waved bye to Chilli and Bandit as they drove off in the family car with me standing next to Radley. Said dog turned to finally address me.

"So, you're the "human" Bandy's told me about. Told me you survived in the woods for a few days after a plane crash like a real survivor!" Radley complimented with an impressed smirk as I couldn't help but scratch the back of my head with a nervous blush and laugh.

"Ahaha yeah… It wasn't easy to be honest. Especially after… well..." I sighed a little as I quickly remembered what the aforementioned crash had cost me.

"Ohh yeah. Heard about the funeral. Real sorry, mate..." Radley apologised, patting my shoulder which did earn a smile from me before he knelt down to Bluey.

"Now, Bluey… Tell me why you're not keen on babysitter putdowns." Bluey responded by holding her hands together at the waist.

"Well, I had one before and I didn't like it..." She explained. Though I did wonder why she didn't like it. Perhaps it was something she didn't want to talk about.

"Aw, why not?" Frisky asked her exactly what I was thinking, only to get this as a response:

"It's just… too… different." That answer was a lot more hesitant than the previous one. Whatever the reason was, it must be too much of a bad memory to recall.

"Well, your fairy godmother and I will make this exactly the same as a mum and dad putdown!" Radley reassured, but Bluey evidently wasn't fazed judging by the response she gave next.

"I don't know you as well as mum and dad."

"Oh yeah, good point. Well, you just need to get to know us better!" Radley said.

"I know! Let's play twenty questions!" Frisky suggested as Bingo replied with a "Yeah!" of approval.


"Wait… What's twenty questions?" Bingo wondered as we were now in the playroom, sat on the kiwi rug with Radley and Frisky sitting opposite of us.

"Well, you ask us questions about ourselves and we answer them!" Frisky explained the instructions before Radley encouraged us to start as Bluey was the first to ask.

"Why don't you have a wife?"

"Bluey!" Bingo scolded Bluey in a hushed tone, making Bluey flinch with an "Oops…!"

Ouch.

I know Bluey never meant any harm to me with a question like that, especially since it was aimed at Radley, but I still felt a pang of hurt when that question was enough to repel my mind back to the night with Hailey. I shivered a little as the hurtful words she said came flooding back despite my hardest attempts to block them out.

"Nathan? ...Are you alright?" Frisky asked me with worry. Figures she'd know my name if Chilli had told her about me.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. Carry on." I nodded, not wanting to make the moment anymore awkward. And it seemed like Bingo didn't want that either as she was quick to ask Frisky a question instead.

"How many friends have you got?"

"Oh! Umm… Three?" Frisky answered, making it pretty obvious she didn't know the actual number of friends she had.

"That's not many."

"Why do you only have three friends?" Bingo and Bluey said respectively as Frisky scratched the back of her head, unable to think of a solid answer before encouraging us to ask Radley a question. The two young girls looked up at me, giving me the message that it was my turn to ask.

"Did you fall into the pool by accident?" It was probably a bizarre question, but I was rather interested in the context behind the incident.

"Oh. Well… Let's just say grown ups can get a bit carried away at a wedding." Radley explained rather sheepishly. Whether it was an accident or if Radley had… a little too much, I'll probably never know.

"Why is your hair so pretty?" Bluey then asked. To my surprise, we got an answer from both adults.

"Almond milk shampoo!" Rad and Frisky replied in unison, feeling their own hair with a hand before glancing at each other.

"Do you wanna have children?" Bluey then asked. There was a bit of silence as Frisky and Rad glanced at each other again before answering with a firm "Yes!", leading to Bluey asking yet another question:

"Will Bosco be the daddy?"

"Umm… No. Bosco and I aren't friends anymore." Frisky explained with a rather meek smile.

"Who's Bosco?" Rad asked exactly what was on my mind.

"No one." Frisky abruptly retorted before encouraging the next question.

"Bosco's her true love!" Bluey answered Rad's question, earning another hushed reprimanding from Bingo.

Don't think about her. Don't think about her. Don't think about her. Don't think about her.

"Not anymore!" Frisky affirmed.

"But true love is forever!"

"Bluey!" Bingo scolded again, looking frustrated that Bluey hadn't heard her before. Frisky meanwhile began to stammer some more, looking evidently anxious and uncomfortable. Bluey had gotten so indulged in the 'twenty questions' game that she wasn't taking any notice of Bingo.

"...Is true love not forever?"

"NO! NO IT ISN'T!"

...I… I have never snapped like that before. There have been moments where I have been angry long before I met Bluey and Bingo, but those were mere annoyances compared what I had felt just seconds ago.

I was shivering now. Trying to control my breathing as I looked over at Frisky and Radley, both of their faces streaked with worry.

I then turned to the two young girls next to me. And their faces made my heart almost shatter.

I could sense not just worry but a bit of fear in their eyes as they looked at me.

What the hell is wrong with me?!

"I-I… I-I'm so sorry… I didn't mean..." I spluttered out as my eyes began to get hazy, possibly from tears glazing them. I never wanted to scare them like that and I just…

Without another word, I stood up and rushed off. No matter how fast I ran, the growing guilt I had was going to cling onto me like glue.

"N-Nathan, wait!" I faintly heard Bingo call out to me but I still kept running, my feet hitting every step of the stair case before I soon tripped and fell over, finding myself in Bluey and Bingo's bedroom.

I just laid there on the floor, unable to get the image of me screaming in anger from Bluey's questions regarding love. There was no excuse for that. She's only a six year old child who barely knows any better.

It must've been at least less than ten minutes when I heard footsteps. The source of them came up until they were at my side as I slowly looked up at find it was none other than Frisky.

"...Bluey and Bingo told me what happened between you and Hailey. I… I know exactly how you feel." Frisky explained in a gentle tone as I sat up.

"...And I scared them both." I mumbled miserably as I felt Frisky's hand on my shoulder.

"I think they know you didn't mean it. They're both really worried about you." She reassured me.

She wasn't wrong. As someone who was like an older brother to them in their eyes, I suppose it was kind of their job to think and worry about me at best of times.

"It's normal to be sad after a bad relationship, especially for a long time." Frisky then said to me. It was now my turn to speak.

"Yeah… But… I'm trying my hardest to move on from it. But it's hard. It's like… whenever you hear a song or watch a scene from a movie or a TV show about a broken heart. They're right. Even if it doesn't hurt as much as it did at that night, I still feel something bad where my heart is, like it's cracked." I slowly explained before feeling two soft arms wrap around me in an embrace, courtesy of Frisky.

"I thought the same thing when Bosco left me. I thought my heart was going to hurt forever, but I had friends to help me get through it. And you do too. I know it's hard and it definitely can hurt still when you're reminded of it." She said as I returned the hug before hearing two more pairs of footsteps which were lighter, making me turn to see Bluey and Bingo, the former looking absolutely downtrodden.

"I'm… really sorry I made you mad, Nathan." Bluey mumbled sadly. All I could do to respond was pull her into a gentle hug.

"...I'm sorry too, Bluey. I know you didn't mean to." I heard Bluey sniffle a little as I felt her arms on me in response to the hug I was giving her before I remembered way back to what the girls and I did after the talk with Wendy.

"Bingo, checklist." I instructed as the young red heeler lit up and gestured holding an invisible notepad.

"First, have a little cry." I wiped Bluey's eyes carefully with a finger.

"Check."

"Pick myself up." I then stood up, helping Bluey up with me.

"Check."

"Dust myself off." I brushed a bit of my own shirt with a hand.

"Check."

"And keep going. The show must go on." I then affirmed with a newfound determinant smile, which made Bluey slowly give one of her own before letting out a small giggle, my blind spot catching sight of Radley who stood at the bedroom doorway before making his presence known to the young girls.

"Hey, let's play in the backyard!"

"Yeah!" Bluey and Bingo both cheered, now filled with newfound happiness before running for the back door as I followed behind, only briefly stopped by Radley's hand on my shoulder.

"Good work, Nate." Radley whispered to me, adding a wink as all I could do was smile back.


After a rather fun evening of playing a game called "Torchmouse" where the aim was to have one group, the kids and I aim a keyring torch like a spotlight on the ground whilst the adults, Radley and Frisky pretended to be cats and try to catch the light like a mouse, I was now outside the bathroom with Bluey whom was brushing her teeth with Radley by her side, whilst Bingo was inside the bathroom herself doing the same hygiene task while Frisky was brushing her ears.

"Torchmouse is fun… But I don't want you to do anything else that's different please." Bluey urged Radley, seems like she was still not used to "Babysitter putdowns" just yet.

"What about… this!" Radley however seemed to have other ideas as he grabbed Bluey on her sides, flipping her over and lifting her up until her feet touched the ceiling like she was standing on it.

"This is weird!" Bluey exclaimed with a giggle.

"Yeah, but before you know it… you get used to it!" Radley replied as I watched Bluey hold out her toothbrush and let go of it, gravity did it's job as the brush feel to the floor. To her, it must've been like it was flying straight up as she laughed.

Meanwhile, I couldn't help but snicker a little as this reminded me of a scene from a movie I watched a few years ago as I hummed under my breath, still able to remember the tune of the song lyrics in that scene.

Spider-Dog! Spider-Dog!

Does whatever a Spider-Dog does!

Can she swing… from a web?

No, she can't. She's a dog.

Look ooooooout! She is a Spider-Dog!

"Do me!" Bingo, having saw this little game held her arms up, wanting Frisky to help her onto the ceiling.

"Oh boy… I'll give it a crack!" Frisky held Bingo in the same manner and lifted her up to the ceiling, struggling a little bit due to her being slightly shorted than Radley.

"Bingo! You've… gotten… heavy!" Frisky strained as she tried in vain to get Bingo's feet onto the ceiling.

"Come and sit by the campfire!" Bluey called out to Bingo as she was now sitting on the ceiling, her hands out near the ceiling light.

Holding back a snicker, I paced over and placed my hands on Frisky's arms to help her hold Bingo up, which succeeded in her sitting on the ceiling.

...At least for a good few minutes before Frisky finally gave in to Bingo's weight and we both found ourselves lying on the floor, thankfully Bingo was left unscathed as she laughed.

"How about a story?" Frisky suggested.


"And then the prince knocked the dragon out with a big prince punch!" Radley exclaimed before leaping off of Bluey's bed and landing onto the floor, striking a fist down onto the edge of a book which made a plush toy of a dragon that was sitting on the other side get catapulted into the air.

"Hooray!" Bluey, Bingo and even I cheered as Radley then climbed up the small ladder to the window ledge where Frisky was sat.

"Princess, I have rescued you! Now we shall marry!" Radley boisterously exclaimed to Frisky, holding a hand out to her.

"And the princess replied "No thanks!"." Frisky then said before shuffling to turn away from Radley, which made Bingo and Bluey giggle. Even I couldn't stop myself from smirking as a conversation began between Rad and Frisky.

"What?!"

"She didn't like the look of him!"

"Why not?"

"Well, his hair was a bit messy and he was a bit too muscly! You know what I mean, kids?"

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a laugh at that, neither could Bluey or Bingo. Even funnier considering most girls at my school in Denver would always fall for the more brawnier jocks.

"Hang on. I prince-punch the dragon, take you back to my castle and we get married. That's business!" Radley stated a bit smugly.

"Hey, I didn't ask to be rescued!"

"You'd rather stay here with a stinky dragon?"

"I'm getting used to him!" Frisky crossed her arms and legs at that statement. Imagine if Mario got such a response from the princess after kicking Bowser's head in for like the seventy-fourth time.

"Okay, I'll wake him up!" Radley rolled his eyes and hopped back down, reaching for the dragon plushie.

"Wait, no!"

"Eh, didn't think so!" Frisky then brushed some of her hair-fur back with a scoff.

"Ugh, princes are all the same! She thought."

"No we're not! There's good princes and bad princes, m'lady! Everyone knows that!" Radley pointed out. I could name a few bad princes certainly to prove his point.

"Which one was this prince?" Bluey asked, Radley being quick to answer.

"He's good! He rescued the princess!"

"Only because he likes prince-punching dragons! Tomorrow, he'll be in search of another princess!" Oof. Heck of a comeback from Frisky there.

"Eh, this princess is hard to rescue!" Frisky muttered loud enough for us to hear, earning another laugh from the youngest of us.

"Well, while the prince figures it all out, she grabs a nice book and lives happily ever after! The End!" Frisky concluded, pulling out a book and laying down on the ledge for emphasis.

"What?!" Bluey and Bingo both sprang up from the floor.

"That is NOT the end!"

"In mum and dad's stories, they get married in the end!" Bingo and Bluey corrected, leaving Radley unsure of what to do.

"Okay, fine! For the sake of the children, they get married! The End!" Frisky finally relented, jumping down from the ledge and taking Radley's arm, thus making the two girls cheer.

Right after that, it was now bedtime for the girls. Just as Radley was tucking Bingo in, the latter was already sound asleep as evidenced by her snoring, which made me chuckle a little.

"Frisky? You won't watch TV after I fall asleep, will you?" Bluey asked the adult female dog in question, her tone laced with concern.

"Oh, uh, no, we don't have to."

"You promise?"

"Ahh, hang on. Was your last babysitter putdown with nana?" Radley seemed to realise something as he asked Bluey that question, earning an honest "Yeah." from the blue heeler.

Chris babysat Bluey and Bingo once? And whatever happened there was the reason Bluey wasn't excited about having a babysitter? Looks like Rad, Frisky and I were finally about to get the answer.

"And let me guess, you woke up and the TV was too loud." Radley theorised, another "Yeah" from Bluey confirming this.

"Mum can't hear very well so she turns it up loud." Radley explained to Frisky. I wasn't too surprised by that to be honest. Elderly people have a higher chance of losing their hearing or their sight. One of my grandparents was a victim to hearing loss.

"She was watching something scary..." Bluey mumbled, still with that sad and worried tone.

My heart sunk a little as I put the pieces together. Chris had evidently decided to watch a horror movie after the kids had gone to sleep and had the TV volume high because of her hearing and unbeknownst to her, Bluey had woken up at just the wrong time.

God knows what sound effects, whether it be people screaming or a knife cutting into flesh followed by terrifying music would've assaulted poor Bluey's ears. God help her especially if those sounds were enough to give her nightmares.

"Look, you just had a bad one, kid. This one will be different."

"We promise!" Radley and Frisky reassured her respectively, the former gently patting her bed with a hand.

"But how can I know for sure it won't happen again?" Bluey asked, only slightly worried now.

"You can't. But… you have to give it a go anyway, or you'll be stuck in a tower with a stinky dragon forever." Bluey looked downwards in thought at that response before finally giving a response.

"Okay. I'll give it a go."

"That's my girl." Frisky praised before patting Bluey gently.


With me being older, it would be a bit of a longer while before I retired for sleep. Recalling what the news had said about my parent's funeral, I went back to the TV room and turned it on, making sure the volume was low enough so that Bluey wouldn't be able to hear it.

"And so the question we have now regarding the young human ambassador is… Who will serve as his new mother and father? As far as we know, he is still only a child that needs parental care and guidance now more than ever."

The reporter wasn't wrong. There was still the issue about whether or not Bandit and Chilli would adopt me and so far, it doesn't seem like they've been able to make a decision yet. Even if we still had a few months left, the clock was still ticking.

I just hope they'll be able to make a decision before it's too late.

After watching some more of the news to see if there was anything else regarding my existence in Canistralia, tiredness started to overtake me and I knew well enough that it was time for me to sleep. So after turning the TV off, I made my way to the bathroom…

...until I heard two muffled voices. My attention diverted, I followed the voices to the kids' bedroom to find the lights now off.

The balcony door was open which was currently occupied by Rad and Frisky, the two sat down and engaging in deep conversation as they looked up at the night sky.

I couldn't help but smile a little at the sight. Seemed like princess Frisky relenting and "marrying" prince Rad during the story did a lot more for them both than we thought. I can certainly see them both becoming close friends.

...Maybe even more.


A/N: Five months. Good. God. Five months at best it took me to finally make another chapter for this story. But you know what, I'm glad I finally managed to pull through and just do it. It was definitely fun writing this one.

In other news, as a bit of shameless self-promotion, I've made a dedicated TV tropes page for this fanfic with an included 'YMMV' tab. If you want to read it for yourself, just Google "TV Tropes I Among Dogs", it should be the first result.

Now as for Nathan's current relationship status, I'm going to be honest. I'm not exactly sure on whether I should actually write Nathan a legitimate girlfriend or not. It'll still be a while before I can decide on that.

With all that being said, see you all next chapter where Nathan may finally be able to build bridges with a certain Collie. Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel.