"Nervous, sweetie?" Dawn asked Lily as she held her daughter's paw, walking towards the school. North Mammalia Elementary, one of the best schools that Dawn and Vernon had looked at within their price range. The end of summer had quickly come, on the heels of Trenton and Qali's visit, with Dawn and Vernon scrambling with the back to school shopping.

"A little," the little mammal said, looking back over her shoulder at the car where Vernon was waiting with Trevor and Alice. Lily was hugging her new backpack with her free arm. It was bright pink and emblazoned with characters from Lily's favorite show, Our Mini Ostriches. Dawn smiled and pulled Lily into a hug, not caring how odd it looked to some of the parents that the little ewe was hugging a child almost as tall as herself. She ignored them as they led their children into the school. The lawn was perfectly manicured in front, with a walkway leading towards the front entrance. The large glass double-doors were wide open, showing a glimpse of the white interior that matched the color of the bricks of the school's exterior.

"That's perfectly natural," Dawn said as she let go and stood back, looking Lily in her deep blue eyes. "But don't you worry. Mommy and Daddy will be here to pick you up after school, and your brother and sister will be here too." Lily smiled at that, hugging Dawn back.

"I'm glad that you became my mommy," she said, making Dawn coo. The ewe released her daughter, kissing her on the forehead before taking her by the paw and walking her to her class. Dawn led Lily to the first grade classroom, which had already filled up with several small children, some of whom where clutching at their parents, crying. Dawn waited with Lily as Vernon did with Trevor, just down the hall.
He had offered to escort Alice to her classroom, but the little wolf excitedly said she could find it herself. She had been embarrassed, but happy, when the much larger wolf had given his pup a hug just before she ran off. He held Trevor's hoof as he led the little lamb to his classroom. Trevor was nervous, which was obvious to Vernon from how he kept trying to hide behind his legs.

"Hey there, buddy," Vernon said as they made it to the door of the classroom, the chattering of children just beyond it. He knelt down right next to Trevor, and opened his arms into a hug, which the black lamb quickly accepted.

"I know that a new place can be pretty scary," Vernon said as he patted Trevor's back. "But I'll be getting off work early today to pick you and your sisters up, with Mommy, of course."

"I know, Daddy," Trevor said, he and Vernon getting a couple weird looks from some of the children entering.

"And no matter what, we love you, and you're gunna make us proud." Vernon's tail wagged at the smile on Trevor's muzzle, and he gave him one more hug before letting go and saying his goodbye. Trevor took an empty seat next to a little cheetah girl, and waved once to Vernon who waved back, before leaving.

Vernon let out a sigh as he got back into the minivan, with Dawn right behind him. He felt a weight settle at the bottom of his stomach, his ears drooping.

"Oh, Puppy Love," Dawn said as she reached over to pull Vernon closer for a hug.

"I didn't think that it would feel this... bad, just droppin' 'em off fer school," Vernon said, a whine escaping his throat before he could stop it.

"That's because we've spent almost a month bonding with our new pups, and now we have to be without them," Dawn explained, standing up to kiss her mate on the muzzle. "You're just being a good father." That made his tail start to thump against the seat, at least a little.

"Maybe... but it still doesn't feel good, Lamb Chop," Vernon said as he started the ignition. Dawn frowned as she buckled her seatbelt.

"I know, Puppy," Dawn sighed as she sat back in her seat, knowing exactly how her mate felt. It was a short drive to their house where Vernon dropped her off before heading in to work. Dawn entered the home and made her way over to her laptop. She smiled at the new desktop wallpaper, which was a picture of Vernon and the pups asleep on the couch. Alice was leaning into his side, his large arm draped over the little wolf's shoulder. Trevor was sitting in his lap, eyes closed as he leaned up against Vernon's belly, right next to Lily, who was curled up into a ball, Vernon's other arm draped over her. They had all fallen asleep watching a movie, and Dawn was the first to wake. She took the picture immediately, before waking Vernon so he could help her tuck them into bed.

Dawn pulled her head out of the heartwarming memory, and checked her emails. The email she had received from the mayor hadn't led to anything concrete, so Dawn checked to see if a few more possible sources had responded back yet, and so far none of them had. She sighed, and instead opened up the latest chapter of her new book. She had a few new ideas she wanted to implement. But just before she got started, a sudden thought of her mother and Audrey popped into her head.

I feel like I'm forgetting something important... Dawn thought to herself, racking her brain over what it was that she had forgotten, before it hit her.

I forgot to send them the pictures of the lambs?! Dawn panicked as she checked her sent folder to find that she had indeed completely forgotten to send them the pictures. She scrambled as she made a folder with her favorite pictures taken so far, her hooves clacking on her keyboard as she typed out the apology, and sent a copy to both of the waiting grandmothers.

"Oh dear," Dawn said aloud, feeling a wave of guilt wash over her. Audrey and Clover had both called, asking about when they would be getting some pictures. Thinking on it for a second, she then started to send out pictures to the rest of their family and friends.

 

 

***

 

 

Vernon pulled in to City Hall, making sure to straighten his tie as he made his way in, heading for the Department of Architecture. Despite the heavy feeling in his stomach, Vernon's tail gave a little wag as he entered the main office, making a beeline for his workspace.

Hopefully a little work can help get my mind off of my pups' first day at their new school, Vernon thought to himself just as a cheerful beaver approached his desk, while Vernon opened up his plans for the new library in Sahara Square.

"Hiya, Vern," Robert said, chewing on one of his apricot-flavored wooden dowels, "got done dropping your kits off for their first day at their new school, eh?"

Vernon's ears drooped back down, his tail attempting to tuck itself between his legs despite the fact that he was seated.

"Something wrong?" Robert asked, taking the dowel out as he spoke.

"I guess I'm just worried about them," Vernon said with a sigh, looking down at the plans.

"Makes sense," Robert said, taking a sip of coffee from his Snarlbucks cup, "there hasn't been a day that you've been here that you haven't gushed about them."

"Well, sure I mentioned them once or twice," Vernon said, looking sidelong at the beaver.

"Once or twice? Nononono, you spent an entire hour wondering how you were going to encourage Alice's love of soccer without making her feel pressured, while also showing anyone who would stand still pictures."

"I was mostly thinkin' out loud," Vernon defended.

"And then you were worrying about letting Trevor watch some of the older, more violent episodes of those Samurai Snakes, and what Dawn would have to say on the matter."

"Well, they are really violent! Especially fer a seven-year-old!"

"And then you went on about how cute you thought Lily following you around was, interspersed with your grumbling after Leona said that she was going to be pretty when she grew up," Robert said, finishing ticking off the different instances on his paw.

"What she said was that Lily was gonna to be quite the beauty with all of the boys clamorin' fer her attention," Vernon let out a huff at the thought, which turned into a low growl. Robert chuckled before taking another sip of coffee.

"My point being," Robert said with a jovial roll of his eyes, "maybe a little time apart from them will be good for you. Probably for Dawn as well."

"Well thanks, Rob," Vernon abruptly said, pointedly turning his attention back to the schematics before him. "But if'n you don't mind, I gotta get back to work on this project."

"Right-o," Robert said, pulling out his dowel from his shirt pocket and strolling back the way he came. Vernon delved back into his project, his excitement slowly growing as the building once more took shape in his mind.

 

***

 

Trevor smiled as he scribbled in the answers he knew to be correct on the test before him. Granted his new teacher, Mr. Hornberg, emphasized how this test was nothing to worry about, it was just to show him where everyone was at in their education, and who needed some help in some places. Trevor always got excited whenever he took a test and knew every answer. Making sure to show his work for the math questions, the little lamb finished by signing his name at the top, along with the day's date, and set his mechanical pencil down.

"Alright, class," the rhinoceros in the sweater vest and slacks said after a few more minutes of scribbling as the last few stragglers finished up as quickly as they could, "pass your tests up to the front."

Trevor did so, catching the eye of a young white tigress. He waved his hoof as she stared back at him. Starting to feel a little self-conscious, Trevor put his hoof down, but still the tigress stared, at least until the teacher cleared his throat.

"Now, class, your first assignment, while I go over your tests, is going to be a writing assignment about how you spent your summer vacation," Mr. Hornberg said, collecting the stacks of papers and carrying them over to his desk. Trevor pulled out his notebook and promptly got started.

This summer, me and my sisters got adopted. Our new mommy and daddy are really nice. Our mommy is a sheep, like me, and our daddy is a wolf, like my big sister Alice. Trevor's smile returned as he wrote.

 

***

 

"Okay, kids, let's go around the class and introduce ourselves to each other." The giraffe, who had introduced herself as Mrs. Dalis at the start of the class, clapped her hooves together as she beamed at the children who were all seated with their desks in a semi-circle around her. "Let's each say three things about ourselves as we do it. Emma, why don't you start us off?"

A little vixen starting at the right end of the semi-circle smiled, missing a tooth. "Hi, I'm Emma Noctus! I lost a tooth a few days ago, I just turned six, and I have a pet salamander named Dragon!"

"Very good, Emma," Mrs. Dalis praised, motioning for the little squirrel boy, sitting in a much smaller desk on a larger desk right next to Emma, going clockwise.

"Uh... I-I'm Timmy. I, uh, I like to go camping with my big brother, I have a goldfish and... uh... OH! I can ride a bike without training wheels!" He said the last part very proudly.

Now it was Lily's turn. She could feel more than a few eyes glued to her, the little panther boy in the next seat leaning back a bit, sniffing the air around her.

"My name's Lily. I like to draw and color, I have a big brother and a big sister, and my mommy taught me how to tie my shoes by myself!" Lily emphasized this by holding up a leg to show off her pink sneaker with the purple butterflies on it. Several of her classmates giggled.

"What are you?" the panther boy next to her asked, leaning in close to be able to smell her better.

"Andrew, it's not polite to smell others," Mrs. Dalis very lightly admonished.

"Sorry," he said, looking sheepish.

"That's okay," Lily said, "wanna be friends?"

"Okay!" Andrew said, looking just as excited as Lily felt.

 

 

***

 

 

"Psst." Alice's ears perked as she looked up from her test to regard the one who had gotten her attention. It was another wolf pup, this one a male with a grey fur coat. "Who was that sheep that came in with you and your dad?" he whispered.

Alice frowned. "That's my baby brother," Alice whispered back, the horse teacher writing on the board, unaware of the conversation.

"But he's a sheep," the wolf said, looking confused.

"So what? You gotta problem with that?" Alice asked, baring her teeth.

"N-no," the little wolf boy said, looking nervous.

"Good, keep it that way," Alice said, turning back to her test.

 

 

***

 

 

The final bell of the day rang, and there was a literal stampede as the suddenly freed students rushed for the exits. Alice hung back, first spotting Trevor and grabbing his hoof in her paw, leading him down the hall. Mrs. Dalis was leading her class out, and Lily was happily talking to Andrew. Alice smiled as she saw her baby sister talking excitedly with the panther boy. Trevor and Alice hovered close to Lily and the group of first-graders as their teacher waited with them out front. The three did not have to wait long. Shortly after they exited, the large frame of Vernon could be seen approaching, his tail a blur behind him. Once he spotted his pups, he dropped to one knee and opened his arms.

"DADDY!" Lily yelled with joy as she ran forward, Trevor, having let go of Alice's paw, rushing just behind her. Vernon scooped both up into a big hug, setting them down just as Alice made it to him, seeing Dawn approaching her to hug as well. Alice blushed, grateful that it wasn't visible beneath her black fur, but hugged back, her own tail wagging.

"So how was your first day, sweetie?" Dawn asked as she held her hoof out for Alice to take, which she did after a moment's hesitation.

"It was okay," Alice said as they all made their way back to the car, Vernon having perched Trevor and Lily on his shoulders.

"Just okay? Not super-duper awesome?" Vernon asked, leaning over as he did so. Alice broke into a smile at his question.

"N-No, it was just fine!" Alice insisted.

"Really now?" Vernon said, amid a chorus of giggles coming from his shoulders as he held a paw up to his chin, pretending to ponder this. "I gotta say, that there's a mighty suspicious smile for a little pup who only had themselves an 'okay' kind of day."

"It's true!" Alice said, her tail wagging.

"And that tail of yers is tellin' a different story too," Vernon said, opening the door of the car. He helped Lily and Trevor down into their seats, while Alice, after letting go of Dawn's hoof, clambered in as well. Dawn was holding back her own laughter. She climbed into the passenger seat, the fluttering sensation in her chest returning as she watched Vernon interact with their children.

"And what about you two?" Dawn asked as she turned in her seat, Vernon climbing in to the driver's seat. "How was your first day of school?"

"Oka--uh, it was fun," Trevor said, looking over at Alice as he said it, who crossed her arms over her chest and tried to pout, but the grin that refused to abandon her muzzle showed her true feelings. "We got to take a test, and I knew all of the answers!"

"That's wonderful, Trevor," Dawn praised. "And what about you, Lily?"

 

"It was great, Mommy!" Lily cheered from her seat. "I made a new friend! His name is Andrew, and he's a panther!"

"Oh really? I'm so happy for you, Lily!" Dawn said, feeling excitement. "Maybe we could set up a playdate sometime?" Dawn directed the question to Vernon, who perked right upon seeing the delighted expression on Lily's face.

"Well, I s'pose," he said, still in that playful voice as he started up the engine. They both took turns talking to the three, asking them about different parts of their day. The trip passed quickly, and soon they were pulling into their driveway. Dawn led them inside, smiling after her lambs as they all scampered up the stairs, peals of laughter wafting back down. She started when Vernon slipped a massive arm around her waist, but slipped an arm around his in return.

"Sorry I couldn't be there to help you pick it up, Lamb Chop," Vernon said, softly.

"That's okay, Puppy, I had it covered," Dawn said, giving Vernon a squeeze, before letting go and rushing off to grab the white boxes from the table in the kitchen. She came back, looking to Vernon with a nod, who wagged his tail, opening his muzzle to call up the stairs, but stopping when their pups all came rushing down, Trevor and Lily pursuing Alice.

"Two against one isn't fair!" Alice shrieked as the other two giggled in response. Alice came to a skidding halt at the foot of the stairs upon seeing Vernon standing right there. Trevor, who had been the closest to Alice, accidentally bowled her over, with Lily laughing and hopping on top of the two of them.

"Alright, you three," Vernon said, chuckling as he waved an arms at the couch in the living room, "go take a seat. We have a surprise fer y'all."

Not wasting a moment, Alice, Trevor, and Lily disentangled themselves and rushed over to the couch, all climbing up in excitement. Dawn walked over and three white boxes, each with one of the lambs' names on it, down in front of them on the coffee table. The children all looked from Dawn to the boxes, puzzled.

"Your father and I decided that you three deserved a special treat for your first day back to school," Dawn said. That was all the explanation that they needed, as each box was hastily plucked from where it sat and opened. Alice ripped her box open and froze. She looked at what was inside, a white jersey with blue trim, The Dragons emblazoned across the front, and the number 05 on the back. There was a matching pair of shorts, socks, and shin guards.

"You got me a soccer uniform?" Alice asked, cocking her head to the side as she looked up to ask.

"Well sure we did, can't go joinin' a team without wearin' the uniform," Vernon said, only getting the words out before a small black missile landed a direct hit right in the chest, Alice clinging to him in a tight hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Alice squeaked. Vernon hugged her back, nuzzling the top of the little wolf's head.

"You're welcome, Princess, but Mommy's the one who went and signed you up and picked out the uniform," Vernon explained, setting Alice down who immediately hugged the ewe. Dawn, looking a little like she was going to cry, laughed and hugged Alice back.

"COOL!" Trevor said, pulling out a player's handbook for a children's version of Beasts and Battalions. Beneath that were a few more books, as well as a set of dice.

"That's my boy," Vernon said. He and Dawn both couldn't wait to help Trevor try out the game. The little lamb set his box aside and hurried down to hug and thank both Vernon and Dawn, Alice having let go of her adopted mother and rushed out of the living room with her box.
Lily was entranced by the contents of her own box. Inside were several sheets of canvas, some watercolor paints, brushes, and a smock. She said nothing, and simply smiled and crawled off the couch to join the hug along with Trevor. Alice returned, now wearing her uniform, letting out a sharp yip.

"It fits!" she exclaimed.

"It suits you, Princess," Vernon said, his phone suddenly buzzing. Vernon unlocked it and saw that he had received a text from his brother Ulric.

Where'd you find a shaved ape?! The interdimensional cephalopods are behind this! it read. Vernon rolled his eyes and elected to respond to Ulric's text later, wondering what he meant by a shaved ape. His phone buzzed again, surprised to see that it was from his brother Yuri.

What? Were they having a three for one sale? Or didja just get a good sale on that weird-looking one? Vernon let out a derisive snort just before his phone buzzed yet again, this time Ada chimed in.

I already gave Yuri an earful about that text. Both of our little nieces and our little nephew are adorable, was the hyena's text. Vernon smiled, glad that Yuri's mate was quick to rein him in, as she usually was.

 

 

***

 

 

"Dori!" Audrey yelled, her tail wagging in excitement. The older she wolf was looking about each room of the ranch as she called for her mate. "Dori!"

"Yes, Auddey?" Dorian rumbled as he entered through the back door, wiping his paws with a towel. He was still wearing his uniform, minus the hat and aviators. The white wolf smiled at his mate, just before he found himself in a near bone-crushing hug.

"They sent us some pictures of our new grandpups!" Audrey said, practically bouncing with excitement.

"That's great, Auddey," Dorian said as he was released, taking a moment to inhale and ensure that none of his ribs had been broken. "Did they explain why it took 'em so long to get around to sendin' us some pictures?"

"I don't know, I can't open the email," Audrey said, thumping Dorian on his shoulder at his rolling eyes. "Don't you start, mister," Audrey said with a sharp look.

Dorian chuckled, rubbing the spot on his shoulder as he strode past his mate, heading towards the living room. He walked over to the couch and took a seat before the opened laptop that Ulric had purchased for her one Mother's Day. His reasoning had been, as he had explained in the card, that the planets were dangerously close to coming misaligned. How that factored in to it, none of them knew. He looked at the email notification and within seconds, had the message opened. A few more clicks, and Dorian had all of the pictures available with a click. Audrey let out a huff as she sat down next to him, Dorian wisely keeping his muzzle shut about his mate's long-standing incompatibility with technology.

Audrey's excitement quickly relit, and she hastily clicked on a picture. They both took in the sight of Dawn and Vernon standing side by side in their living room. Dawn was hugging a little black wolf pup close, both with wide smiles, and Dawn with askew glasses as she rested her chin on Alice's head.

"OOooh! There's Alice!" Audrey exclaimed in excitement. Dorian nodded and chuckled, again, as he took in Vernon. Lily was riding on his shoulders while Trevor was in his arms, being hugged close.

"And there's Trevor, oh he's just gunna grow up to be so handsome!" Audrey said, her tail rhythmically thumping on the cushions of the couch. Dorian's tail also thumped a bit, feeling excitement at finally getting to see his grandpups. His gaze traveled up to the small little mammal riding on Vernon's shoulders, hugging the back of his head tight as she smiled at the camera. Dorian frowned.

"And that's little Lily," Audrey said, taking a moment to get a good look at the little mystery mammal.

"She's certainly... different-looking... but she's just so cute!" Audrey said after a minute of trying to figure out what species she was and giving up. "And from what I've heard so far, she's already a Daddy's Girl!"

"Yeah, they're all mighty cute," Dorian agreed, still staring at Lily's picture. He reached down and clicked on one of the pictures of the individual pups, pulling up a larger picture of Lily, standing outside, wearing a bright pink T-shirt and white shorts, smiling wide for the camera. "What d'you reckon she is, Auddey?"

"Well, I'm not really sure, and Dawn did say that she's registered as an unknown species," Audrey said, already thinking of some fun planned activities to do with her grandpups when they finally came up for a visit.

"Huh," Dorian said, a slight frown to his muzzle. With the image of Lily committed to memory, he pulled up another group picture. This one was of them in the park with Alice kicking a soccer ball to Trevor and Lily. Vernon and Dawn were on a picnic blanket, Vernon laying on his side and holding his phone up selfie-style, with the children playing visible over his shoulder, and Dawn standing up to hug Vernon by the neck.

"Awwww!" Audrey said, unable to resist any longer. She let out a howl of pure joy, and pulled Dorian into another hug. He smiled, despite the troubled feeling he was getting from the little hairless mammal he was looking at. Something at the back of his mind was just nagging him.