(Two Months Later)
(November 1990)
Some time passed, Rose and Whisper were on the verge of having their puppies. Roses' belly was a bit hard to see because if her long fur. Whisper was visibly pregnant, heavy with puppy.
It was obvious that both dogs would have theyre litters any day now. Whisper would often complain about her back hurtjng her. The gang would constantly make jokes about that.
Rita had announced that she would be having another litter as well, making Ryan very happy.
However, there was a slight problem. Einstein had been sick for the last few weeks. It was mostly because of his old age. He seemed to also lose his memory, sometimes his own past.
Even the time when Rose went just as crazy as Whisper when she beat that St Bernard and how he had to stop her.. It was quite saddening for the gang.
Einstein would often staring at a wall as if it was a threat, would constantly pace back and forth, wouldn't sleep properly, would be disoriented, meaning the gang would have to pull him back so he wouldn't get hit by a car. He would forget where he was constantly.
Being 12 years old, it was obvious that Einstein wouldn't live for very long. The two expecting mothers decided whoever has their puppies first, they would name them after Einstein.
They wanted his legacy to continue on, which is the least they could do for their old friend.
(Birth of Roses' puppies)
It was late in the day, Rose had been feeling kinda off since that morning. She knew it was the first sign of labor since she felt like this when giving birth to her first litter.
She laid down on her bed in the barge, panting heavily. Her stomach had become hard, making her whimper quietly. Dodger stayed with her after letting the gang know that's where'd they'd be until the puppies would be old enough to come out of the barge.
Whisper found a spot in an abandoned building near the barge. Beau would remain there for when she would give birth. Rita would be there too to guide her through it.
Rose stood up, pawing at her bedding, her swollen belly hanging down along with her tail.
"You feeling alright, Rose?" Dodger asked, raising his ears, noticing her uncomfortable stature.
Rose panted heavily, unable to catch her breath. "Dodger... it's time," she said, looking up at her mate. Dodger stood up, knowing what was gonna happen.
He helped her lay down. She laid down on her right side, feeling slightly much more relaxed. Her belly was sticking up and out, making her look bigger than she already was. Her head was stretched outwards.
Jst like last time, it would be a little while before she'd give birth. But she was definitely having more than a few.
After a few hours, Rose felt her water break, making her jump up for a minute. After that, she felt a sharp pain in her backside, meaning a puppy was coming.
"Dodger, hold my paw..." she said, groaning. Dodger did so, telling her to push. She strained as she pushed, lifting her tail up. It hurt a lot, making Rose fear the pup might be stuck.
She felt that the pup was starting to come out. After a few minutes, the pup was born. The pup was a female who was mostly white with black on her back, hind legs, black socks on forelegs. Light brown on left foreleg up to shoulder, lower half of her head and muzzle, dark chocolate brown on top of head and pointed ears. Has Rose's eyes. Short tail like Dodger's. After cleaning her, Rose let the pup nurse.
After about 5 minutes, Rose felt that same pressure. She pushed as hard as she could, lifting her tail up. She even felt some blood as she gave birth to their next puppy, a little boy this time.
He's a reddish tan color with a tan muzzle, tan underbelly, and tan socks on all four legs. Black, semiflopped ears and black spot. Long tail like Rose's. He has dark chocolate eyes like his mother.
Rose laid her head down, losing breath as she pushed her next puppy out. It was another boy.
Black with brown markings around his neck, lower half of his legs, mixed in his back, brown on his back, muzzle and up between his eyes. White on his cheeks, over his eyes, on his shoulders, left foreleg, and on hind hips and legs. His ears are like his mother's. His eyes are blue like Dodger's.
The next puppy was another boy. He was brown with white on muzzle and up between his eyes. White chest. Black mix-matched ears like his mother, black socks on all four paws and black on back. Light brown eyes.
The last puppy was another girl. She has bown with white socks, white underbelly, white muzzle. A black spot onleft eye that covers left ear, black on back. Her eyes are light brown.
All four puppies were born and were asleep after nursing. Rose fell asleep after that hefty birth. Dodger smiled happily at his next litter, looking as they were all curled up and asleep.
"Get some rest, Rosie. You earned it," he whispered, laying down in front of his mate and pups.
Later that night, the youngest boy opened his eyes, seeing the world for the first time. He saw his parents for first time. His siblings were asleep still.
Dodger rolled over onto his back, letting his head hang back. The pup giggled at his father. "Siwwy, papa," he whispered. Rose heard this and opened her eyes.
She smiled down at her youngest son, seeing the dopey yet innocent nature of him. She knew that this pup would take the name Einstein Jr.
A little while later, all four puppies were awake and now playing , except for the youngest boy. He stuck by his parents, who watched from the sidelines. They would name the pups here soon.
"So, what names were you thinking of?" Dodger asked. "Well, I kinda have an idea for him," Rose said. Dodger's ears rose in interest. "You'll have to wait until later," Rose teased.
Dodger let out a sarcastic gasp. "How could you keep a secret like that from me? I thought you loved me!" Dodger fake sobbed, rolling on his back.
The puppies laugh at their father because of how he whined. "Daddy ish really funneh!" The eldest girl said.
"No, he's a whiner," Rose chuckled in a joking way. Dodger pouted and dropped his ears. "We're just joking, Dodge," Rose laughed, nuzzling him on the cheek. Dodger laughed back.
The next day Rose and Dodger gathered the pups up so they could pick their names. "Now what to name you guys," Dodger said, tilting his head.
"I wanna be Dewey!" The second boy asked, bouncing around with his tail wagging. Rose laughed and said, "How about Axel?" "Even bettah!" Axel said enthusiastically.
"Great name, baby. Why didn't I think of that?" Dodger asked with a smile. "Because I'm a faster thinker, plus I pick the best names," Rose said, tilting head with a cheeky smile.
"Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Now its my turn. Who wants to get a name next?" Dodger asked his pups. The eldest girl raised her tiny paw. "Oh, me, mea! I wanna name!" she barked, jumping on her younger brother.
"Owie! T'at hu't!" he yipped, growling at his sister. "Alright, thats enough, you two," Dodger scolded. The puppies apologize to their father. "Now, back to business. I think your name can be Stella," Dodger suggested.
"You mean after your sister that you told me about?" Rose asked, sitting up. "Yeah," Dodger answered. Rose looked at the oldest pup, seeing the name fitting her perfectly.
"Youre right. Its perfect," she said. Stella jumped up and down and exclaimed, "Me ush Stewwa!" "Dat's pwetty name!" The youngest pup laughed, tongue hanging out.
"What about me?" the youngest pup said with a whimper. "Hmmm... How about... Toby? You look like a Toby," Rose suggested. Toby looked at his mother, tilting his head. His semi-flopped ears folded back a little. He didn't say anything, but he nodded.
The parents saw how timid he seemed to be, which was so different from his other siblings. They soon learned he was mute. "Whats our youngest gonna be?" Dodger asked, wondering what their youngest boy was gonna be named.
"Well... he has the same face as Einie. And we did agree that one of our pups would be named after him. I dont even know if Whisper had her pups yet. Maybe we'll hear it from Rita or someone else from the gang. So hes definitely Einstein Jr. Or EJ for short," Rose suggested.
Dodger smiled and licked he. "Its perfect," he said.