Family of 102

Chapter 12: Looking Back

It had been a few hours since I returned home from the Bulgari Hotel where Dodie Smith was staying in on holiday. Neither mum nor dad had come back yet so it would still be a while until I could tell dad that Dodie said "Hi". I had thought about the old photos Dodie had shown me of her past and that gave me the idea to look back at some of my own memories with the Dalmatian family. It didn't take long for me to find the photo album neatly placed on one of the bookshelves before I took a seat and opened it at the latest page.

The most recent photo of course was one taken on my 21st birthday. Still can't believe that was only a few days ago. As I kept scrolling backwards through the pages, my eyes would glance across photos of my siblings' birthdays including Da Vinci's, the Triple D's, you name it. It was there that I realised the album was bigger than I thought it was with how many photos were taken of all the family's special occasions. Quick as a whistle however, I laid a finger on one page, stopping it as I looked at the photo on said page. The photo was of a ten year old me with Da Vinci and DJ by my sides as we stood at a balcony, the bright lights of London illuminating the night sky as snow could be seen slowly falling behind us and a little inscription at the bottom of the photo.

'First Christmas with Cody'

[Flashback – 11 Years Ago – December 24th]

The whole of Dave's house was absolutely bustling with other human people and anthros alike, and that wasn't just from my Dalmatian family, the other anthros were no doubt friends or relatives of the other guests here. Dave's home wasn't anything too fancy, but I was more surprised at how much space there was left with how many guests were here. Working as a doctor really does have it's benefits, especially when you're working with a well-trained nurse Dalmatian.

"And the next thing you know, me and Dolly were almost about to be shipped to Serengeti!" Mum told Dave as they both shared a laugh from the story she was sharing. I myself was a little shy from the amount of unfamiliar faces here so I just stuck to the sofa with my glass of warm milk. Amongst the chatter, I could hear some disoriented mumbling and giggling as I turned to see Dimitri 2 stagger in front of me, looking inebriated.

"He...Heyyyy Codyyyy?" He slurred at me with a quivering smile. "Do... Do you really think Santa's real...? I mean... He... How can he even go down da chimbley if ya live in an apartment?!" Dimitri 2 laughed, nearly collapsing behind the coffee table before Dylan caught him.

"Dimitri 2, have you been drinking mulled wine?!" Dylan stared mortified at the tipsy teen Dalmatian. "Awww come on, Dylaaan, it's Christmaaaas...! I'll stop tomorrow!" Dimitri 2 protested as he quickly grabbed another bottle of wine and tried to open it. "You'll stop right now!" Dylan declared in frustration, trying to grab the bottle from Dimitri 2, only for him to hastily run out of his reach and try to make off with the bottle with Dylan in pursuit. "Dolly! Stop Dimitri 2 before he drinks even a drop of that bottle!" I heard him call out as I could no longer see the two within the crowd, Dimitri 1 and 3 meanwhile watching while snickering.

"Man, I love Christmas!" Dimitri 1 said, plopping next to me on the sofa. "Especially when you wake up tomorrow and get so much cool stuff!" He then beamed, no doubt excited for tomorrow morning. "Uh, you know Christmas is about giving, right?" I pointed out to him as Dimitri 3 sat next to me and pulled me into a one-arm hug. "Oh, that's riiiiight! So how about you give everyone here something? Oh, I know! Remember that Bowie song you and DJ did at the park?" Oh boy, were they suggesting that I sing in front of everyone? Then again, I was able to sing to a whole crowd back in Regent's Park so it wouldn't be any different. Dimitri 1 seemed to read my mind before standing on the sofa and facing the guests.

"HEY EVERYBODY!" He yelled out before putting his fingers to his mouth and whistling loudly, making me have to cover my ears as I saw many of the other guests cringe at how loud it was.