I do not own 101 Dalmatian Street, a Dalmatian, or any dogs whatsoever.
A mile in my collar
It was another, chaotic day in the Dalmatian home, with puppies running wild and free this way and that. All the while leaving a mess in their wake, a mess Dylan was cleaning as he always did. He didn't mind for the most part, but some days were harder than others.
Today was such a day. Staring down wearily, he realized he'd been vacuuming the same spot on the living room carpet for…he actually had no idea for how long. Dylan sighed with a small cough; all he wanted to do was to lay down, the couch was right there, maybe he could take a small break. Turning off the vacuum, Dylan slowly climbed onto the couch, words couldn't describe the relief he felt once he was laying down. With another cough, he closed his eyes for a quick nap.
"DYLAN!"
Dylan winced with a whine as Triple-D came running into the room "look what Da Vinci did!"
"I'm sorry!" Da Vinci apologized franticly as she rushed in behind them "I-I tripped! I didn't see the chew toy! I'm so sorry!"
"Dylan, tell us you know how to get paint out of silk!" Destiny begged him desperately, waving the fabric in question in front of him "if there was a time for your obsessive-compulsive cleaning to be useful, its now!"
"Maybe…maybe I can turn it into a tie dye style?" Da Vinci offered weakly "e-everybody loves tie dye."
"Hot pink?! With tangerine orange?! Oh, come on!" Dallas snapped at the cowering artis.
"I don't know, I kinda see it" Déjà Vu mused, looking the material over.
"WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" Her sisters yelled, earning a squeak and making her cling to Da Vinci as an irritated Dawkins rounded the corner ready to scold them. He was trying to do some routine maintenance work but couldn't concentrate with all their yelling!
"Girls please keep your voices down…" Dylan pleaded weakly before Dawkins could speak, his eyes remaining closed. His sisters instantly went silent, not because he asked, but because of how bad he sounded. His voice was so raspy, they'd almost hadn't heard him. Even Dawkins paused, his own frustration instantly forgotten.
The five puppies stared at their older brother worriedly as he coughed, noticing for the first time how awful he looked. Dawkins exchanged a concerned look with the girls before hoping up onto the couch.
"Whoa, Dylan" Dolly's voice came as she entered the room, looking him up and down. "Are you actually slacking off?" She teased with a smirk, oblivious to atmosphere "someone call Dante, I just found a sign of the apocalypse!" As she laughed, Dawkins placed the back of his paw against his brothers' head, his eyes widening.
"Dolly" he spoke urgently "Dylan is burning up."
Instantly, all the amusement disappeared from her face. "Move" she ordered Da Vinci and Triple-D bluntly, briskly walking up to the couch. The four complied without a word, Dawkins moving out of the way as she approached, pressing her own paw against Dylans head. "Help me get him to bed" she turned to Dawkins, who nodded franticly.
Fortunately, they were able to get Dylan to bed without incident. Unfortunately, with the number of dogs living in the house, it couldn't be done discreetly. So now all the puppies were gathered watching apprehensively as Dawkins checked his temperature.
Once the thermomotor beeped, he removed it from Dylans ear and examined the readings with Dolly, both sucking in a breath through their teeth. "H-how bad?" Dylan asked, reluctantly, Dawkins showed him the reading "oof, yeah that's…that's pretty high" he grimaced weakly before coughing.
The puppies whined as they watched, Dylan really got sick, least of all this sick. "Is Dylan gonna die?" Diesel whimpered, stirring panic.
"Hey, hey, paws mean pause" Dolly's voice was soft yet firm as she held up a paw. The pups quieted down, but didn't look any more assured.
"I-its…its okay" Dylan lifted his head slightly, giving them the best smile he could "I'm…g-gonna be f-fine." He coughed again, harsher this time which didn't help ease his siblings', least of all Dorothy who was trying to squirm her way out of Dantes arms. Dylan always gave her hugs when she didn't feel good and it always made her feel better, she didn't understand why she couldn't hug Dylan better.
"Dude, try not to talk" Dolly scolded him gently, rubbing his back.
"Yes, save your strength" Dawkins added urgently as he shared a worried glance with Dolly. It wasn't like they'd never taken care of the pups when they were sick before, but Dylan was always the main caregiver, they just helped him. Could they even do this without him?
Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Reluctantly leaving their brothers' side, they were surprised to see Delilah taking the steps two at a time. "Mom? What are you doing home this early?" Dolly asked in shock.
"Dizzy and Dee Dee contacted me through the worldwide woof and told me Dylan was sick" she explained, not even trying to hide her anxiety. Dolly eyed the twins, who looked up at her with shiny eyes.
"Dylan always looks after us when we're sick" Dee Dee explained distraught.
"But now Dylans the one who's sick!" Dizzy finished, equally upset.
Dolly's expression softened as she pulled her little sisters into a hug. She couldn't fault them for being worried, they'd just been trying to help. Honestly, it was a relief to see her Step-Mother.
"What are we looking at?" Delilah asked, instantly in nurse mode.
"I believe it might be his throat, Mother" Dawkins explained professionally despite his anxiety. "He's been coughing quite a bit, and his voice doesn't sound quite right. Also, we just took his temperature and…well…" he held up the thermomotor still in his paws, allowing her to see the readings still on display.
Delilah's eyes widened but she took a breath to steady herself. "Right, I'll take it from here" she said as she turned to Dolly hesitantly "Dolly, dear-"
"I'll watch the pups" she assured her with a firm nod.
"And I'll help" Dawkins promised.
Delilah smiled gratefully and made her way towards the bedroom as Dolly and Dawkins herded their sibling's downstairs. Upon seeing her son, she felt her heat break, Dylan may have been the oldest, but he was still her baby. She wasted no time going to his side, gently nuzzling him. "Mmm…M-Mum….?" Dylan mumbled horsey, blinking awake.
"Shh, Mummy's here now."
Two things became apparent in the days following Dylan becoming sick.
The first was that he wouldn't be getting better anytime soon once Delilah diagnosed him with a bacterial infection.
The second was the house very quickly became a disaster zone without him.
"Yeesh" Dolly mumbled as she avoided the chew toys scattered along the hall like a field of landmines. It wasn't like she excepted the place to stay clean with how many of them there were, but she hadn't thought it'd get this bad this fast.
That's when she spotted Dorothy vigorously shaking her head as she dragged a Kleenex along the floor with her mouth. "Dorothy?" She approached her baby sister curiously, who stopped to look at her "what are…are you dusting?" Dorothy whined, visibly upset. Dollys heart broke, picking her up and giving her a gentle squeeze "I'm worried about Dylan too. But I know he'd be super happy that you're trying to keep this place in one piece" she said gently, giving the puppy a smile before it fell into a grimace. "Dog knows he'd have a heart attack if he saw it now" Dolly sighed "you're right Dorothy, this cant go on. Family meeting!" She called out, setting Dorothy on her back and making her way downstairs "this is not up for debate!"
One by one the pups gathered, confused by the sudden announcement. "What's going on Dolly?" Dawkins asked on behalf of all of them.
"Are we doomed?" Dante asked, glancing from side to side in paranoia.
Dolly sighed in exasperation "no, Dante."
"Did Dylan get sicker?!" Da Vinci asked fearfully, causing a few pups to chatter anxiously.
"No! No, no, no!" Dolly soothed them quickly, setting Dorothy down. "Now I'm sure you've all noticed this place has turned into a pig stye without Dylan" she motioned around what could still optimistically be called their living room. They all grimaced at the ever-growing mess that was their home.
"How could we not?! I can't declutter my mind surrounded by all this clutter!" Deepak cried franticly.
"I can barely get around!" Delgado stomped his paw in frustration.
"Pigs are tidier, if anything" Dawkins snarked.
"Exactly!" She said triumphantly, pointing at them "guys I hate to say it, Dog how I hate to say it, but we're gonna have to clean up." She was instantly greeted with whines and protests "I know, I know" she sighed, having fully expected this reaction "I don't like it either but look at this place!" She swept her paws around the room, emphasising her point. Several of the puppies clearly understood what she was getting at but were still hesitant, not that she blamed them.
The real problem was the Dimitri trio, who still looked defiant "that's so unfair!" Dimitri one snapped, stomping his foot "why do we have to clean?!"
"Yeah! Can't we just wait for Dylan to do it?!" Dimitri two added with a scoff.
Any other day, Dolly would've agreed, but remembering the condition he was in made her see red. "Oh, of course! Idiot me!" She said sarcastically, hitting her forehead "we should just let Dylan take care of it! I'm sure he's looking forward to cleaning this ever-growing biohazard after being as sick as he is!" She hissed with a glare.
The Dimitri trio awkwardly avoided eye contact "do you know what I just caught Dorothy doing?" She asked, pointing to her "trying to dust! Our baby sister was putting her whole heart into trying to keep this place clean cause of how worried she is about our brother." Dolly's expression fell as she spoke before it hardened again "but apparently that's too much to ask."
She worried she was being too harsh, but she was glad to see the Dimitri trio had the decency to look ashamed, lowing their heads. "You're right" Dawkins nodded "it wouldn't be fair to leave this all to Dylan. The first thing he does after recovering should not be to deal with a worse version of this mess. It's the least we can do." Dolly grinned; happy she'd gotten though.
"Yeah, we're doomed" Dante mumbled.
Dolly rolled her eyes "it doesn't need to be Dylan levels clean, just livable" she said casually with a smirk. "C'mon, he does this all the time by himself, there's ninety-eight of us, it should be cake! Now…" she winced "uh…d-does anyone know where Dylan keeps the cleaning stuff?" The puppies all looked between each other, just as lost. In the end it took them an embarrassingly long time to find the cleaning supplies.
…Agreeing to never speak of it again embarrassing.
They made a stop to check on Dylan before they started. He was curled up asleep in the same basket, a blanket draped over him and a cold compress on his head. Delilah was at his side in an instant when he broke into a coughing fit. The sight broke all their hearts, but it also filled them with determination.
If any of them still had reservations about cleaning, they were officially put to rest.
They decided to divide and conquer. Given how many of them there were, it made the most sense to spread out and tackle each task individually then to have them all focusing on the same thing at once. Plus, they'd get more done quicker that way, they were beginning to wonder why they'd even protested.
This would be a cinch.
"Okay, I think I know what to do?" Déjà Vu mumbled uncertainly, her eyes on the tablet where she'd been looking up laundry tutorials "it says we need to separate everything into colors and whites-"
"Ugh, that'll take forever!" Dallas moaned.
"I say we just dump it all in, what's the worse that can happen?" Destiny suggested, already stuffing the various fabrics into the machine.
Déjà Vu looked back and forth between her sisters and the tablet "I mean, it recommends-"
"But its not, like, written in stone, right?" Dallas challenged with an arched brow.
She scratched her head "well, no-" she flinched as her fellow triplets began unceremoniously stuffing the machine, before joining in with a shrug. "Okay" she sighed once the machine was full "now we have to add the cleaning stuff in there." She pointed to the side of the machine, looking back to the tablet as Destiny grabbed the detergent "it says we need to fill one cup-"
"One cup?" Destiny echoed doubtfully "that can't be enough to clean all that" she motioned to where Dallas was still trying to shut the door. "At least two should do it" she decided with a nod, filling the cap to the top.
"It says only up to the line" Déjà Vu informed her.
Destiney looked inside the cap once she'd poured the first cupful in "which line? Theres like, three."
Déjà Vu looked back at the tablet "uhh…there are five different answers." Destiny shrugged and just filled to the top again, sliding the little compartment shut as Dallas turned the machine on
"Oh, well that was easy" Destiny said, exchanging pleased smiles with Dallas "maybe we should tell Dylan he's making it too complicated."
"Uhhh…guys…?" Déjà Vu mumbled nervously. Her sisters followed her gaze, their eyes widening as the washing machine shook and groaned, sudds beginning to spill out the door. "I don't think that's supposed to happen…" she whimpered as all three shrunk back, clinging to each other.
Before they could move, the machine bust open flooding the room and covering the triplets with sudds and soaking wet laundry, the rest spilling out all over the damp floor. Triple-D stood there stunned, covered in the soapy water that surrounded them "we're gonna have to clean this all up, aren't we?" Destiny asked, already knowing the answer.
Dallas gave her paw a shake "yeah, we are. And I think we need to redo the laundry too." She picked a soaked towel off her head with a grimace "…if we can." Déjà Vu nodded before coughing up suds.
"You know, this is a good opportunity to add some much needed Feng Shui to some of these spaces" Deepak mused as he looked around the living room, mind racing with potential.
"Come back down to Earth, dude" D.J. booped his nose "we're just dusting. So…how do we work this thing?" He asked as they joined Da Vinci in looking over the vacuum.
Da Vinci hummed, rubbing her chin. She went to press a button, before pulling away hesitantly "I'm sure I've seen Dylan do this before" she mumbled.
Deepak's eyes squinted as he looked over the buttons "why are there so many? How many ways can you suck up dust?" He questioned, scratching his head.
"Oh, oh! I think I found it!" D.J.'s face lit up as he pressed a button, instantly the vacuum hummed to life. "Yes!" He pumped his paw in triumph "alright, now lets-"
"AHH!" Da Vinci shrieked in terror. Her brothers followed her gaze and their eyes bulged as they watched the vacuum spit out dirt and dust at an alarming rate instead of sucking it up. "Turnitoffturnitoffturnitoff!" She cred franticly, practically jumping onto the machine as she fumbled with the buttons.
"Which button is it?!" D.J. grabbed the vacuum as well, trying to find whatever it was he'd pressed. As they struggled, the vacuum continued making a bigger and bigger mess.
"Why is this even a function?! What does it accomplish?!" Deepak cried in alarm, arms in the air as he tried to shield himself from the onslaught of dirt. He snatched the hose and quickly found himself being flung around as he held on for dear life "THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR MY CHAKRAS!"
"I got ya dude!" D.J. grabbed hold of the younger pup, holding him close. Finally, Da Vinci gave up trying to find the right button, jumped off the vacuum and yanked out the plug, instantly silencing the vacuum. The three stood frozen in terror before slowly backing away with their paws up. "Lets just…forget about the vacuum for now" D.J. said carefully as if expecting it to come back to life if he made the wrong move.
Da Vinci and Deepak nodded franticly "we have feather dusters after all" Deepak added with a strained smile.
"Uh…I don't know how useful they might be" Da Vinci mumbled, rubbing her paws as she took in the living room. Thanks to the vacuum's outburst, everything was twice as filthy as before, even they hadn't been spared.
D.J. sighed, placing a paw on both their shoulders "we're gonna be here awhile, guys."
"We're-"
"If the next word out of your mouth is doomed, Dante, so help me" Delgado cut him off, sighing as he accepted a wet dog bowl from Dante "come on man, its just dish duty. That's not so bad in the grand scheme yeah?" He reasoned as he dried the bowl off.
Dante didn't look assured but nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, okay" he agreed half heartedly as he continued scrubbing the bowls in the sink, his gaze turning to the mountain of dirty dog bowls that remained "have we always owned this many bowls?"
"Well, there is a lot of us" Delgado reasoned with a hum "if it helps, I think we're almost halfway through."
Dante sighed "I hope you're right. My arms are getting sore, and I can feel my paws pruning."
"Should've put on Dylan's gloves" Delgado scolded playfully "but maybe we can take a small…" he trailed off as he looked at the bowl he was holding.
There were black smudges all over it. He looked at his cloth, noticing for the first time that it was covered in the same smudges and a few purple ones. His quickly began examining the clean bowls already put away, finding lingering smudges on all of them. Also, now that he looked closely, the water was a lot murkier than it probably should've been, even with the number of bowls they'd already washed.
"I thought you cleaned these?" He held up the bowl in his paw and a dry one in front of Dante, showing him the stains.
"I did" he argued in equal confusion "how did…?" Both their eyes widened as a thought struck them, Dante quickly pulling his paws out of the water. "AHH!" His eyes bulged at the sight of his arms; the lower halves were back to their natural white with black spots.
"How did your dye job wash out?!" Delgado cried, gaping at the sight.
"I don't know! I've never used dish soap before and I've been scrubbing for, like, three hours!"
"Go put on Dylan's gloves!" Delgado ordered, Dante nodded and quickly grabbed a pair as his brother drained the water "we're gonna have to clean the sink now before we continue." He grumbled, looking back at the bowls already put away, dread filling him "oh Dog, we're gonna have to reclean all these bowls!"
"You're not serious?!" Dante cried, struggling to get the gloves on.
"Would you eat off these?" He asked, gesturing to the shelves.
Dante looked at the questionably cleaned bowls, then back at the ones still left and crumbled to the ground with a loud groan. "You said this wouldn't be so bad" he whined.
"That was before I knew your dye job was a problem" Delgado retorted, already scrubbing the side of the sink "if it makes you feel better, you can say we're doomed now."
"How did we get stuck on bathroom duty?!" Dimitri two complained as he tried to unclog the sink. Behind him, Dimitri three was cleaning the scattered toiletries. Dimitri one was attempting to bath one of the younger litters, who were more interested in making the mess bigger.
Dimitri three glared at his brothers "maybe if you two hadn't complained about picking up the slack. We would've gotten a better job" he grumbled. Dimitri two looked away, a blush on his face as Dimitri three cried out when he got splashed "will you get them under control?!"
"I'm trying!" Dimitri one snapped, scrubbing shampoo into three of the puppies' fur at once while the other three were splashing each other. Satisfied, or at least running out of patience, he grabbed a plastic pail and filled it with water from the tub, pouring it over two of the pup's heads to rinse.
"NOOO!" The third suddenly hollered as he moved to pour water over his head.
"WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?!" Dimitri one cried in shock, dropping the pail, both his brothers freezing equally startled.
"Dylan covers his eyes with a washcloth" one of the puppies explained. Dimitri one sighed in frustration, running a paw down his face before grabbing a random washcloth Dimitri three handed him and going to place it over the puppy's face.
"NOOO!" He cried again before the cloth could touch him.
"Now what?!" He snapped irritably.
"That's not the right one" the same puppy said bluntly.
"Then which is it?!"
"Dylan knows."
"GAH!" Dimitri one threw his paws up, face planting into the side of the tub. Meanwhile Dimitri two had finally fished a large hair ball out of the sink and was gagging at the sight. While Dimitri three slipped on the water, dropping everything in his grasp, including a bottle of conditioner that spilt all over his face.
"Tell me that wasn't Triple-D's expensive crud" he mumbled in dread.
"Are we almost done?" Diesel moaned as he dragged a wagon behind him. Dizzy and Dee Dee were on either side gathering their many dog toys, the majority of which were squeaky, scattered about. Their plan was to gather all the toys and put them all away at once, it seemed easier than putting them away one at a time.
"You're just sad cause you can't dig them" Dizzy reasoned, tossing another squeaky toy into the wagon. Diesel sighed, she was right of course, they'd already tried that, he'd just made a bigger mess.
"But yeah, I think we're almost done on this floor" Dee Dee said optimistically as she threw a rope into the pile. She glanced back at their collection and frowned "shouldn't there be more?" Her twin and brother examined their collection. She was right, while they had a decent pile towering over them, it was much smaller than it should've been.
Diesel scratched his head "where did they all go?"
Dizzy walked around the wagon, her face falling at what she found. "Uh oh" she mumbled, her ears pressing against her head. Dee Dee and Diesel joined her side and their eyes grew. More then half the toys were still scattered about, more so than they'd originally been.
"But…I didn't dig them" Diesel sputtered in confusion "how did that happen?" The twins whined, realizing their haphazard tossing had been the culprit.
"We should've been more careful" Dizzy mumbled.
"Much more careful" Dee Dee agreed.
The three suddenly heard a few soft squeaks. Slowly, they turned to see their pile begin to sway "LOOK OUT!" Diesel cried, grabbing his sisters and throwing all three of them against the wall just as the pile came tumbling down with a loud course of squeaks. The puppies clung to each other, trembling slightly "I think we need more wagons" Diesel suggested, his voice shaking slightly.
"I don't think our plan is going to work" Dee Dee sighed.
Dizzy sighed as well "no it wont."
"Alright" Dolly mumbled, trying to hype herself up.
As the second oldest and top dog, she'd taken up the mantel of garbage duty.
She was absolutely not looking forward to this, but she knew it had to be her. Dawkins would never be able to do it, and the little ones weren't strong enough and likely to make a mess.
Actually, she knew Diesel would make a mess.
With a sigh, Dolly slid the mask over her nose and mouth and adjusted the rubber gloves. Gathering the individual waste baskets was easy enough, but as the large black bag grew, it became harder and harder to carry. "Ugh, my skateboard is going to need serious sanitizing after this" she groaned as she set the garbage bag on her precious board.
Once she approached the large bags in the kitchen, Dolly was nearly knocked out by the stench. "Oh Dog!" She cried with a gag, tripping over herself as she backed away like they were on fire. "Dylan, how do you do this without barfing?! How can you even still smell anything?!" Dolly gave her head a shake "c'mon Dolly! Dylan can do it, so can you!" She scolded herself.
Taking a deep breath, and instantly regretting it as she coughed, she grabbed each overflowing bag as carefully as possible. "Easy…steady…" she mumbled warily, eyeing the bags as they swayed while trying to maintain her balance. Slower than she'd ever moved, she eased them onto her board one by one, sighing in relief.
Dolly pushed her skateboard out of the house at a snail's pace, her gaze going between the bags and where she was headed. All the while, growing more and more nauseous the longer she had to put up with the smell, why was the curb so far away?!
The moment she saw the blessed curb; it was like mana from heaven. "Finally" she sighed, now all she had to do was dump these sacks of toxic waist and take the longest shower of her life.
Dolly took a moment to stretch in preparation then gently picked up the first bag from the kitchen. Unfortunately, she forgot to brace herself against the weight and begin to tilt backwards "oh no" her eyes bulged as she desperately tried to regain balance "no, no, no, no!"
Almost in slow motion, Dolly fell flat on her back, the bag in her grasp falling with her.
…With all its contents splining on top of her.
Dolly lay there frozen, covered in reeking garbage before slowly pulling herself up and out from underneath. Alternating between gaging and gasping, Dolly stiffly walked away from the bags and to the backyard to hose off.
Resisting the urge to scream all the while.
"Well now, that wasn't such a challenge" Dawkins mused in satisfaction as he finished mopping the main hallway "time consuming perhaps but far simpler than my usual repertoire." He only had the one spot left where he was standing "now then…" he trailed as he turned to take a step, but stopped before his paw could touch the newly clean floor. "Um…maybe if I…" he tried again but ran into the same problem. If he tried to take a step, he'd end up leaving a paw print, ruining all his work.
He'd literally painted himself into a corner.
"Oh dear…" he looked around franticly, hoping from paw to paw anxiously. He supposed he could just redo the floor, but he had other chores to tend to, he couldn't keep recleaning the same floor. Surely there must've been around this, Dylan never ended up in such a position!
Then again, Dylan probably knew how to prevent this situation from happening in the first place. "E-excuse me" he called out, clearing his throat "I, um, I require assistance! Somebody anybody!"
"Gross, gross, gross" Dolly whispered as she ran the hose over herself religiously.
"HELP!" Her head shot up at Dawkins cry, abandoning the hose without a second thought and running back into the house.
"Dawkins?!" Dolly quickly rounded the corner, forgetting she was soaking wet as she approached the slippery floor. Before Dawkins could warn her, Dolly went sliding "AHHH! DUCK AND COVER BRO!" She hollered just before crashing into Dawkins, sending them both into the bucket.
Now wet himself, Dawkins lifted the bucket from his head and looked out at the newly dirtied floor from underneath Dolly with a heavy sigh. "I suppose it doesn't matter now" he mused, mourning the loss of his hard work.
Dolly winced once she realized what she'd done "sorry Dawkins, I'll help you dry off."
"Thank you" he sighed half heartedly as she helped him to his feet, and they carefully walked along the floor. "Are…you alright?" He asked, finally noticing her appearance, he had a hard time believing the mop water did all of that to her.
Dolly winced "yeah…ran into my own trouble with the tra-GAH!" As they entered the main room, they found Triple-D also soaked and covered in suds. D.J., Da Vinci, and Deepak covered in dust. The dye somehow missing from Dante's arms. The Dimitris looking haggard, and Diesel, Dizzy and Dee Dee clutching as many chew toys as they could.
Worse, the house was somehow in a worse state then when they'd started.
"What in the world happened?!" Dawkins cried aghast as he took in his siblings.
"…Cleaning is hard" was Dizzy's only reply. The rest of the puppies nodding in agreement, whining at the absolute failure that had been their afternoon.
"I told you guys we were doomed" Dante grumbled, trying to cover up his exposed fur.
Dolly sighed heavily, pinching the space between her eyes before taking a deep breath to regain her composure. "Okay" she said with all the strength she could muster "lets try this again."
After several days of trial and much error, they'd all finally figured out how to get everything done properly and developed a routine. It took a little over a week, but finally the house was properly cleaned…and they were all more exhausted than they'd ever been in their lives.
"UGH!" Dolly groaned as she dragged herself onto the couch, plopping down on the cushions that had never felt softer. The rest of her siblings were in no better condition, all scattered about the living room "why is this place so big and hard to clean?!" She moaned.
"At least its clean now" Dee Dee reminded her with a tired smile.
"Well, its passable" Dawkins mumbled "but don't get excited. I believe Dolly's the one always telling Dylan he can clean until the house sparkles like the hope diamond, but it will just be a mess again in ten minutes."
They all let out a collective groan while Dolly never regretted opening her big mouth more in her life. "Maybe if we lay here long enough, we can make it to eleven" Dante suggested slushily.
"Sounds like a plan" Dolly agreed as they fell into silence.
"…I can't believe Dylan dose this everyday" Da Vinci suddenly spoke up softly, staring at her paint-stained paws with a small frown.
"Yeah, and all by himself" Dizzy added with a small whimper.
"Its no wonder his aura is always so frazzled with this much stress in his life" Deepak mused.
"Or that he's such a nagging, nervous wreck all the time" a Dimitri mumbled.
"Or that his fur and claws are such a travesty!" Dallas added, taking in her own haggard appearance.
"Who has time for self care under these conditions?!" Destiny continued.
"He is so coming with us next spa day!" Déjà Vu declared, her sisters nodding firmly in agreement.
"I take back what I said about Dylan being elevator music, he's an eighties power ballad!" D.J. declared.
"But Dylan's never gets tired from cleaning" Diesel scratched his head.
"Oh, I have no doubt he does" Dawkins reasoned "he's just…used to this...I suppose." His voice became quiet as the implications sunk in. Maintaining all their inventions was hardly easy, but as this experience had shown him, maintaining every other aspect of their home was a different beast entirely.
"He is tired" Dante suddenly said softly "I saw it once."
Delgado looked at the goth "what do you mean?"
Dante frowned at the floor beneath him "I don't remember what happened exactly, but there was an especially bad mess in this very room, he spent half the day cleaning it." He explained, tracing a pattern with a claw "I was gonna tell him one of my predictions and…he looked ready to drop. When he saw me though, he instantly acted like he was fine."
All of the puppies' gazes lowered, a realization hitting them. This was Dylan's day everyday. Always keeping the house clean no matter how big the mess, no matter how long it took, no matter how tired or sore it made him. He'd even been trying to clean while he was sick before giving up.
"How dose he even have time for himself?" Dallas wondered "I see him play with all his nerd stuff, but I don't know how he fits it in."
"Especially since the mess never ends, why even bother?" Another Dimitri questioned.
"…The same reason we did this for him" Dolly replied softly "cause he loves us."
For the first time, all of them thought about the role Dylan had taken on in their family. There were so many things he would probably rather do, but he still rolled up his sleeves and took care of the chores because they had to get done, the house needed to be cleaned, even if it robbed him of his own luxuries. Dylan kept the house tidy so they could do the things they loved freely.
Dylan kept the house clean for them because he loved them.
As the realization set in, the door opened letting them know Doug was home. "Evening dear" Delilah greeted as she emerged from the kitchen.
"Hey sweetie" he kissed her cheek as they faced their many children "you guys doing alright?"
"Yeah, just…tired" Dolly said, still lost in her revelation "cleanings a lot harder than it looks and it already looked hard."
Delilah giggled "well you've all done an excellent job."
Doug nodded "in fact I think you've earned a reward." He smiled playfully, hoping to reignite some of their energy "who want some Kanine Krunchies?" He asked in a sing song tone. The puppies weakly cheered, but the promise of the treat did brighten their mood slightly.
"Do we have enough for everyone?" Delilah asked with a frown, already doing the math in her head.
"There's half a box and two unopened ones on the top shelf where the little ones can't reach. If you break them in half there shouldn't be an issue."
"Oh, thank you Dylan" Delilah said with a smile. "That reminds, Doug, make sure the little ones…" she sputtered as she turned to find her eldest sitting on the steps, rubbing his eye sleepily "Dylan?!"
"DYLAN!" The puppies cried excitedly, instantly finding their stamina again at the sight of their big brother.
"Dylan, Dylan! You're up, your up!" Dizzy and Dee Dee cheered as they all gathered at the base of the stairs, overjoyed to see him out of bed.
"Hey buddy" Doug said softly as he and his wife waded their way through the sea of puppies, just as happy as they were to see his step-son back on his feet "how you feeling?"
"Better actually" Dylan admitted with a small grin.
"You look and sound better" Dawkins agreed.
Delilah approached him, placing a paw on his forehead. "Well, you're still running a temperature, but its definitely an improvement" she confirmed with a relieved sigh and smile, cupping his face "a few more days and you should be right as rain." That was like music to his families' ears "so it would be wise for you to return to bed" Delilah instructed gently.
Dylan nodded tiredly "I just came down to get something to eat" he mumbled.
"I'll bring you some supper, sweetie" Delilah promised softly, kissing his head and shooing him back upstairs. She was happy to hear he had his appetite back; he'd barely eaten since he'd gotten sick. As Dolly and the pups watched Dylan begin the slow trek, their minds returned to their conversation moments ago.
An unspoken agreement passing between them.
Just as Delilah predicted, Dylan's fever finally broke after another couple of days. She had him stay in bed for two more days just to be on the safe side, but he was finally given a clean bill of health.
Dylan stretched with a satisfied sigh, feeling the best he had in almost two weeks. A tiny noise from the door caught his attention and he turned to see Dorothy staring at him. "Hey Dorothy" instantly, she held her paws up to him with a whimper and big eyes "aw" Dylan wasted no time scooping her up into a hug "I missed you too" he said softly as she snuggled closely with a happy sigh.
"Come on" he set her on his head "lets go see the damage." His tone was good natured, but he really wasn't looking forward to the mess that awaited him. As he walked down the hall however, he was surprised to find the house no worse for wear "wow, I wasn't hallucinating" he mumbled to himself.
"There he is!" Dolly cried enthusiastically; arms stretched out "good to have you back, bro!"
Dylan smiled "its good to be back" he said as he accepted the hug, being mindful of Dorothy. As they parted, he looked around again "so…how did you keep this place from falling apart?" He asked playfully, but Dolly could see the genuine curiosity in his eyes.
"Is it so hard to believe we took care of the place while you were out?" She asked with a sly smirk. Dylan's brow arched, not the least bit convinced "all right, fair" Dolly shrugged as they descended the stairs "with a lot of sweat and tears, especially tears."
"Sounds about right" Dylan chuckled, Dolly giggling herself.
"Look who it is guys!" Dolly announced as they joined their younger siblings. Once again, Dylan found himself surrounded, this time without hesitation now that he's back at full strength.
"Dylan, we kept the house all clean!" Dee Dee declared proudly as she and Dizzy bounced up and down.
"Did we do good?" Dizzy asked excitedly.
Dylan smiled warmly at the twins and hugged them tightly "you did a fantastic job! I've never been prouder of all of you!" He declared, making them all beam with joy and pride, Dolly and the older puppies holding their heads high. Dylan meant every word of it, of course he trusted his siblings, but it was heartwarming to know just how much he could rely on them. "But I'm sure you guys are happy that you don't have to clean anymore" he teased as he smirked at Dolly, setting Dorothy down.
"Dude if I never see a sponge again, I'll die happy" she agreed with a chuckle "too bad that's never gonna happen."
Dylan arched a brow, still smirking "oh?"
"Dylan we all learned something these past weeks" Dolly sighed as she slung an arm around her step-brothers shoulders. She suddenly grabbed him and look him dead in the eye "cleaning this place is impossible!" She said bluntly "seriously, I don't know how you haven't lost your mind!"
"Uh…" Dylan blinked, startled as all their siblings spoke up in agreement "w-well its over now, right?" He smiled awkwardly with a shrug.
Destiny gave a harsh laugh as she and the rest of Triple-D shook their heads "ha! Yeah, no."
Dawkins nodded "indeed, we've realized there need to be some changes around here."
"Changes?" Where were they going with this?
"Yeah man, like we realized it wouldn't kill us to pick up after ourselves more" D.J. explained.
Da Vinci nodded "or to help pick up after the little ones."
"We could also lend a paw with the chores every now and again" Delgado continued.
"Also, you're coming with us to our spa day once a month from now on" Dallas said firmly, her sisters nodding again "if anyone's earned a day of pampering, its you."
"But more importantly" Dolly let him go with a wide smile "as of today, Wednesdays are officially your day off!" She declared.
Dylan looked at her like she'd spoken another language "my…day off…?"
Dolly nodded "from now on, we'll be taking care of all the chores on Wednesdays, and you can do whatever you want." She explained, counting on her paws "play your PoodleWolf game, use your telescope, do whatever it is you do with your rocks, but more importantly relax!"
Dylan stared at her, mouth gaping as he tried to process what he was hearing. "Uh huh…" he slowly brought a paw to his head.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, just making sure my fevers really gone."
Dolly rolled her eyes with a chuckle as the puppies giggled. They didn't blame him for being skeptical "I get it, bro, but we're being straight with you." She assured him "we've realized how hard keeping this place in one piece is, more importantly, we realized it isn't fair to leave it all to you."
"Granted our results may very" Dawkins admitted "but we are determined to improve."
"The point is" Dolly said sincerely, her smile softer now "you deserve to have a helping paw, and you definitely deserve a break."
Dylan was speechless, his eyes roaming over his many siblings as they voiced their agreement. "Besides, we already decided" Dolly said playfully "took a vote and everything, so you can't argue. Ninety-eight against one, I don't make the rules."
"In fact" Dawkins started, also grinning. It was just then Dylan noticed his siblings already had most of the cleaning supplies gathered "I do believe today is the official start of our new decree."
"Uh…today's Friday" Dylan pointed out as they began to head off to whatever task was assigned to them.
"Yeah, but you did just get off bed rest. You should take it easy today" Dolly reasoned, giving his head a pat. Before Dylan could utter another word, they'd all left the room to maintain the house.
Dylan stared, still stunned by the new development "huh" he said softly. He looked down at Dorothy still by his feet, picking her up with a smile and nuzzling their noses together. "Maybe I should get sick more often" he teased, making Dorothy giggle happily with a laugh of his own.
Shame 101 Dalmatian Street doesn't have its own section, but oh well.
I watched the show for the first time not long ago, its cute. Again, shame it didn't get a second season, but it did get that book recently, which I bought. That's something right? Considered this an attempt at the "Dylan appreciation" episode we were denied.
I can't promise it'll be my last, in fact I guarantee it won't be, but until then, see you next time.
Oh, and happy Easter.