Chapter 4: Daydreaming

Bluey's POV

The alarm clock on the table next to my bed goes off, even though it's not a school day. I usually get up before noon to avoid wasting most of the day. I shut off my alarm and do a couple of stretches before grabbing my phone and heading out of my room. I peek into my little sister's room to see she's still asleep. I gently push on her shoulder to wake her up.

"Hey sleepyhead, come on it's time to get up." She lets out a few groans and turns to look at me. "Whoa, Bingo you don't look good."

"Yeah, I feel like shit."

I put my hand on her forehead, "Yeah it feels a bit warm, I'll let Mum know you aren't feeling too good."

"Thanks, Bluey."

"No problem, Bingo."

I left her room and shut the door before heading into the kitchen, seeing everyone sitting at the table, chatting and eating.

"Morning Bingo!" Mum said to me.

"Yeah, morning kiddo."

"Hey, Bingo." Shaun and Amy said.

Chilli looked around the room, and noticed a certain red Heeler was missing. "Hey Bluey, where's your sister?"

"She said she isn't feeling too well, I think she might be sick."

"Oh, poor Bingo." Amy said sympathetically.

"Yeah, I wish my healing powers could cure sickness, but they don't." Shaun said, taking a bite of unnamed food.

"Well, me and Shaun are going out to pick up some clothes for him. I'll get her something to make her feel better."

"Can I come too?" I asked.

"Sure! The more the merrier. Amy, Big Fella, would you mind keeping an eye on Bingo?"

"Sure, Hun, but don't call me Big Fella."

"It's no problem, Chilli."

I joined my family, and Shaun ate with them before we headed out into the city. We got to the mall and headed inside.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get something for Bingo to make her feel better."

"Aww, good on you Bluey. I'll call you when we are about to leave."

I walked in a different direction from Mum and Shaun and made my way to where all the music stuff was. As I got closer, that was when I saw him. Only for a second, a blue dog with folded ears walked down the same aisle I was about to go down.

"No, it couldn't be…"

I picked up my step and turned the corner into the aisle and I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Hello, Jean-Luc."

The dog turned around when he heard me and had the same reaction looking at me.

"Quoi? Bluey!"

Jean-Luc pulled me into a big hug, and I hugged him back of course. I hadn't seen him since that camping trip years ago.

"C'est si bon de te voir! I've never thought I would see you again!"

"Me either, and your English is really good!"

"Thanks, have you learned any French?"

"Just a bit, uhh, Je m'appelle Bluey."

"Very good, I could teach you some more now since I live here."

My tail began to wag. "You do?"

"Yeah, me and my parents moved here a couple of weeks ago."

"That's awesome! I can't wait to hang with you more." A small blush came across my face. "I-If you want to."

Jean-Luc smiled. "I would like to. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm here with my Mum and Shaun getting some medicine for Bingo. I was about to get some music for Bingo but then I bumped into you."

"I think I remember Bingo, she's your little sister, right? But who's Shaun?"

"Oh, he's… a friend that's been staying with us. He's pretty cool."

"I think I'd like to meet him."

"Well, after I find what I'm looking for, we can go meet up with him and Mum."

Me and Jean-Luc chatted while I looked at the CDs for something to give to my sister. I found a Slipknot album I don't think she had yet, so I grabbed that one.

"Find something?"

"Yep, I did. Let's go catch up with them."

"Allons-y!"

Earlier…

Shaun's POV

After Bluey left, me and Chilli headed to the medicine aisle, they call the pharmacy, the 'Chemist' here. When we found what we needed there, we walked to the clothing part of the mall to find me some clothes, because I couldn't just keep wearing Bingo's clothes all the time. Plus, they were still a bit big on me. I was looking at everything they had, trying to find something I liked and would fit me, when I heard a familiar voice.

"Hi, Shaun!"

I turned my head and smiled, it was the coyote girl I had met in the Library.

"Hey, Millie! What are you doing here?"

"I'm just doing some shopping, looks like you are too."

"Yeah, just buying some clothes."

"Oh, I see."

Chilli, who was nearby looking at some stuff for me approached us. "Hey Shaun, I found some clothes you might like." She then looked at the coyote standing next to me. "Hi there, you must be Millie, Shaun talked about you."

"I am, Shaun talked about me huh?"

"Mhmm, I think he likes you."

"Mo- Chilli!" I covered my face in embarrassment, I almost called her my mom, what's wrong with me? I have to admit, thinking about Millie did get my tail wagging.

"Aww, that's cute." Millie chucked. "So, are you his mom?"

Chilli stopped for a moment. "Um, no, I'm not. Me and my husband are watching him while his parents are out of town.

"Nice save, Chilli." I thought to myself. I looked at Millie. "Hey, could I… get your number? I would like to talk to you some more." I said while letting my face get a little red.

Millie smiled. "Sure, I can give it to you." She took out a pen and a small notepad from her purse, wrote her number on it, and then handed it to me.

"It was nice talking with you Shaun and Chilli, but I should be heading back to my grandparents. Ttyl!" She said as she waved and walked away.

"See you later!" After she turned the corner, my tail stopped wagging, I looked over at Chilli with a slight scowl.

"What?" She said playfully.

"You know what you did."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Chilli replied with a cocky smirk.

"You really had to tell her I liked her?"

"It's all in good fun, plus, you asked for her number. So I think you're making the first move."

I was about to say something back, but Bluey's voice interrupted my train of thought.

"Mum! Guess who I found!" She yelled out.

Chilli and I turned to where she shouted and saw her walking up to us with a blue Labrador. I didn't know the dog, but the look on the red Heeler's face tells me she does.

"Bluey? Is that Jean-Luc?"

"It is mum! I met him when I looking for something for Bingo!"

"Ravi de te revoir, Chilli. I said it's nice to see you again." He extended his hand to Chilli.

She shook his hand. "Very polite, it's been so long since we've seen you. Bluey was sad for a while when you left."

"Mum, could you please not." She said, looking away.

I patted Bluey on her back. "It's okay, she did the same to me."

"You mean with Millie? We saw her when walking over here, she seemed pretty happy about something."

That made my ears perk up, maybe she feels the same about me? After we all talked for a while, Jean-Luc had to go but not before giving Bluey his number, which made her smile. We bought what he came to get and headed back home. We walked inside and saw Amy talking to Bandit and Bingo was on the couch.

"Hey Bingo, you feeling any better?" I asked her.

"I'm a little better, but my head hurts a bit."

Well, I got you some medicine that should help with that." Chilli said, handing her the bottle of headache pills.

"Thanks, Mum."

"I also got you something that I think will cheer you up." Bluey handed her the bag with the CD in it.

Bingo took what was in the bag out and her face beamed up.

"All Hope Is Gone!" I've been meaning to get this! Thanks, Bluey!"

"It's no problem." Bluey replied, smiling.

Bandit tapped my shoulder and motioned me to talk to him outside the room. I nodded and followed him.

"Hey B, what's up?"

"Me and Chilli did some thinking, and we want you to have this mate."

Bandit handed me a small box and I opened it, inside was "A phone?"

"Yeah, a small thank-you gift from all of us for being with us and helping out."

"Oh Bandit, I can't accept this."

"What? Nonsense!"

"And don't worry about paying us back for the clothes either." Chilli said, walking into the room. "We like having you around."

"Thank you, all of you, for letting me stay here."

"You're welcome, Shaun."

I don't know why, but I found myself pulling the two dogs into a hug. They were shocked at first. But they quickly brushed it off and hugged back and the rest of the afternoon was spent eating dinner and talking.

Later that night...

Chili's POV

I woke up needing some water, I got out of bed slowly so I wouldn't wake Bandit and walked into the kitchen. While filling up a cup with some water I saw Shaun as a dog outside on the deck. I grabbed another cup and filled it with water.

"Hey, Shaun. Would you like some water?"

"Hey there Chili. Sure, thank you."

Shaun grabbed the cup and took a sip.

"You know you don't have to be a dog when you're here in the house."

"Yeah, I know, it's just being a dog I can smell things I've never noticed, and hear the quietest sounds. I heard your bedroom door open and close."

"Well, we do have our perks, you do too, being a human. It must be nice having five fingers."

"It is, it was a little weird only have four, but I got used to it." He said moving around his other hand.

"While you're here, I do have a question but you don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable."

"What is it, Shaun?"

"When you cut your finger, you looked like you were thinking about something. Are you okay?"

"Oh…" My ears dropped slightly.

"I'm sorry Chili, I didn't mean to make you upset."

"It's okay, you should know." I looked down at my cup of water and finished the rest of it. "I was thinking about Baxter."

"Who's Baxter?"

"When Bandit and I first moved into this house and before we had Bingo and Bluey, I got pregnant. We didn't mean to but we were both really happy. Bandit was setting up the room you are staying in for him and I was in the kitchen making us lunch when I suddenly got sharp pain in my body, I looked down and saw a lot of blood. I yelled out to Bandit right before I passed out. I don't remember what happened after I did, but Bandit said he carried me to the car and carried me inside the hospital by himself. I woke up in a bed and a doctor told me I had a miscarriage. I don't think I ever cried so much before until that day."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you."

I looked at Shaun and smiled. "It's fine now, I had Big Blue there to help me through it. I still find myself thinking about him from time to time.

We both stood there not saying anything, just enjoying the night for a bit in silence.

"Y'know I was thinking about someone I lost that day too."

"Who were you thinking about?"

"My mom, it was just me and her back then. Before I first died and became a guardian. When I was a kid, we lived in a decent town in Louisiana. We weren't rich but weren't poor either. She would always work so we could keep living happily and I understood that. I think that makes me cherish the days we spent together even more special to me. We would go out to eat at our favorite restaurant, She would order pizza and we'd watch a movie, or we would just play board games all day." Shaun had a sad smile on his face.

"What happened to her?"

"Remember what I said about the Traveler? Its enemy, the Darkness, years later when I was 18, found its way to us. Disease spread through a lot of towns and cities all over earth. So many people died. It spread to our town and my mom was one of the first several to die."

I listened to everything he had to say, it seemed like he was holding all of this inside himself for a long time.

"I buried her in our backyard, I wanted a proper funeral for her, but more people were dying, and I had to leave. I was heading to a place where they were putting people on spaceships so we could escape and find another planet to live on, far away from the Darkness. I got stuck in a traffic jam. I went off the road and tried driving along the side, but something was wrong with my car, I couldn't control it, and I ended up driving right into a tree and got thrown out the windshield, that was when I first died."

I saw tears falling from Shaun's eyes. I put my arms around Shaun and hugged him. Shaun was surprised but he hugged me back.

"Sorry for crying. It's this body, it makes me feel different when I'm like this. I think that's why I called you mom earlier today; I see a lot of her in you."

"Thank you Shaun and you don't need to be sorry." I pulled away from the hug. "And you know what? I think your mum would be proud of the man you've become."

Shaun let out a small chuckle. "Thank you, Chili, I needed that. I think Baxter would be proud of you for being such a good mom to Bluey and Bingo."

I smiled again. "Thank you so much, Shaun."

Shaun finished the water. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep. Goodnight Chili."

"Goodnight Shaun." I replied.

…

High up in the sky, a small ripple in the fabric of space and time opened up above the city and out flew a shimmering light that hung around for a few seconds, before dissipating in the air...