Chapter Text
Merry Christmas to everyone !!!
Before I start, I once again want to apologize for taking so long to publish this story.
Not only for the delay of 2 years, but also for taking even longer this month.
Today (December 25, 2024), it should be the last day of a sequence of days posting the 6 parts in which I divided the text (which otherwise would be huge), but unfortunately I had problems with my computer.
I will try to post everything until the 31st, but I have no way to ensure that I will do it. My goal is to post at least the beginning, the end, and two versions of the middle (gift exchange), and if I don"t get time to finish editing the other two, I will post in the 2nd week of January, along with the new This Means War chapter (which now will have a new cover art)
Once again, I"m sorry, and I hope you enjoy this special.
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DOUG
It"s the night of December 24th, and things are very busy at 101 Dalmatian Street.
December is the busiest month for the residents, as they have to deal with Da Vinci"s birthday on the 9th, Dylan, Dolly, and Dorothy"s birthdays on the 14th, Dee Dee"s birthday on the 18th, and after all that the Christmas and New Year festivities.
On this very special day, the residents are scattered around the house preparing for the festivities, and at one point Doug went to check that everything was in order while Delilah made sure little Dorothy got enough sleep before the family festivities.
This would be the fifth Christmas since Doug and his kids came to London, and the third since he married Delilah and the two got a family of 20 Dalmatians living under the same roof.
And considering the previous two Christmases, Doug really hopes this one will be a wonderful Christmas.
Although the Dalmatian family around the world followed the family traditions started by Pongo, Perdita, Missy and Prince, most households created some variation in the way they celebrated Christmas, and this caused a lot of friction in Doug and Delilah"s family"s first Christmas.
Danny and Delilah raised their children with their variation of Christmas celebration, just like Doug and Camila did with their children, but these two ways of celebrating Christmas were quite different for one big reason:
Camila"s family.
Camila came from a Dalmatian family that spent generations in Dalmatia, and because of that she and Doug raised their children with a mixture of British Christmas customs from the Dalmatian family and Croatian customs due to Camila"s cultural heritage.
At the same time, Danny and Delilah celebrated Christmas with a mixture of Dalmatian family traditions and some US customs, as Danny came from there.
On the new family"s first Christmas, the pups argued a lot about what was the "right way" to celebrate Christmas, which added to everything that happened that year, meant that they couldn"t enjoy Christmas very well.
Their second Christmas was much better, but it was clear that the pups were having a hard time adapting to the changes necessary to find a common ground and not leave any of the traditions behind.
However, in this third year things were going well until now, so well that Doug"s obsessive side was making him worry a lot all the time to make sure all the pups were happy.
The firedog"s concern eased a bit as he went downstairs, appreciating the decorations around the house.
Everywhere there was some adornment, made out of whether metal, plastic, glass, ceramics or paper, not to mention the colored lights and wreaths and other decorations made with plants.
After reaching the bottom of the staircase, Doug made his way to the dining room, naturally passing the living room first, taking in the decorations in these spaces.
Although the living room didn"t have much decoration, the dining room was full of Christmas decorations, with the table set with plates, glasses and cutlery set and a large Christmas tree in the background.
The tree was synthetic, something that caused some discussion the first Christmas as Dolly and her siblings wanted a real pine tree. However, to please everyone, most of the ornaments originally belonged to Camila"s family, with the majority being golden fruit-shaped ornaments that had been in her family for generations.
Around the base of the tree were 20 wrapped gifts, with the packages being of various sizes, shapes and colors.
Following the tradition of the Dalmatian family, a gift exchange will be held after lunch on Christmas Day, in which each of the residents will receive and give a gift.
This is something that was established by practicality when the four adults of the first generation created a family with 101 members, and which is now known by all in the Dalmatian family as "Secret Relative".
Over the fireplace there was another decoration that followed Dalmatia"s tradition, with five wreaths united in the shape of a paw and a purple candle in the center of each wreath.
A smile appeared on Doug"s face when he saw the wreaths, since unlike the first year, when only Camila"s children made this decoration, this time all the siblings spent time together to make the wreaths.
Satisfied with the dining room, Doug then headed into the kitchen.
Although Doug"s keen canine sense of smell allowed him to smell from the parents" bedroom, as he approached the kitchen the smells were even more intense, with some being more noticeable.
But the sight he had upon entering the kitchen was even more pleasurable.
The oldest of the Dalmatian couple"s children were working together in the kitchen, with Dylan, Dante and DJ manning the pots on the stove while Dolly, Dawkins and Da Vinci were getting ready to bring the finished dishes to the dining room table.
And Doug couldn"t help but feel proud and smile to see the six of them so close.
Two years ago things were quite tense between the pups, as not only were they getting used to the consequences of the formation of the new family, there was also the issue of Hauser"s actions, the revelation of Dylan and Dolly"s secret relationship, and mainly what DJ did by switching his meds for Dylan"s.
While most of the issues were resolved within a few weeks, it took nearly a full year for all the pups to trust DJ again, which was another reason their first Christmas was so rocky.
But now, not only were all the pups getting along, they were closer than ever.
Doug arrived just as Dolly, Dawkins and Da Vinci were about to leave the kitchen, being immediately noticed by them.
"Oh, hi dad." Da Vinci said, smiling with a little bit of embarrassment.
Hearing what Da Vinci said, the other three turned, and all six looked at Doug.
Dolly in particular raised an eyebrow.
"Don"t tell me you came to check everything again?" Dolly then looked at the clock on the wall, checking the time. "It hasn"t even been 20 minutes since the last time you came here."
At this, Doug looked away while smiling awkwardly.
"HeHe. Sorry, pups. I"m quite restless today."
Dolly and DJ huffed and rolled their eyes, while Dylan, Dante, Dawkins and Da Vinci all chuckled.
"Hehehe. Don"t worry, dad." Dylan said, turning off one of the flames on the stove and taking one of the pots out of there. "The food should be ready in twenty minutes, so you can go get the others if you want."
Doug nodded, quite grateful that Dylan had helped him out of this awkward moment.
"R-Right. S-See you later then, pups."
Doug then waved awkwardly, then headed for the hallway.
Although Doug knew that his overprotective mode made most of his pups uncomfortable, he couldn"t help but worry.
Halfway down the hall, Doug stopped in front of the door that leads to the basement, then opened the door and went downstairs.
As the firedog descended the stairs, he could hear voices and laughter, which immediately made him smile. And when he reached the basement, Doug"s heart almost melted with such tenderness.
Supervised by Deepak, all the pups were watching a Christmas movie being projected on a white screen, with the six triplets sitting together and sharing a blanket, while Deepak, Delgado, Diesel, Dizzy and Dee Dee did the same with another blanket.
Doug didn"t want to interrupt such an adorable moment of his children, but when he saw the film he realized that it was the classic red-nosed reindeer animation from the 90s, and it was almost the end of the film.
Quietly and unobtrusively (quite unexpectedly from someone with such a large physique), Doug sat down not too far from the pups, opting to wait for the film to end and go upstairs with them to the dining room.
After all, everything was perfect this Christmas.
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DIESEL
Tongue out and tail wagging, Diesel exuded excitement.
It was the morning of the 25th of December, and much to the delight of the youngest pups, the Dalmatians woke up to find the backyard covered in snow, something the older ones said was rare in London.
To take advantage of this special moment, Delilah had most of the pups in the backyard, while Doug, Dylan, Dante, Dawkins and DJ were preparing the family"s Christmas lunch.
Diesel was already quite excited about the plans for today, but this moment of playing in the snow was being a lot of fun for him.
For a long time, Delilah stayed with Dorothy (who was so wrapped up in winter clothes she could barely move) away from the other pups, while Dolly, Da Vinci, the Triple D, Dizzy and Dee Dee faced Deepak, the Dimitri trio, Delgado and Diesel in a snowball fight.
After spending nearly an hour throwing snowballs at each other, Da Vinci suggested a new activity that the others readily accepted: making snowdogs.
While Da Vinci went to work alone on a very elaborate canine-shaped snow sculpture, the others split into groups, with the six triplets working together to make a trio of looking-alike snowdogs; Dolly, Dizzy and Dee Dee trying to make a tall snowdog; and Delilah, Delgado, Diesel and little Dorothy making a snowdog together.
Diesel was very focused on what he was doing when Delilah caught his attention.
"Are you liking the snow, Diesel?"
It took Diesel a moment to realize the matriarch was talking to him, but then he looked Delilah straight in the eyes with a smile on his face.
"It"s so much fun, Mom! It"s softer than sand and easier to mold than mud!"
Delilah gave a light laugh, and with one hand stroked Diesel"s head affectionately.
"HeHe. Glad you"re having fun, sweetie."
Diesel smiled, enjoying the affection he was receiving. At a time like this, he felt even more excited about his plans for today.
Sure, the food would probably be as good as ever, and playing in the snow was really fun, but Diesel was really excited about what was going to happen after lunch.
As Diesel learned, following the family"s tradition, everyone would exchange gifts after Christmas lunch.
Due to Diesel"s years of abuse and neglect from his biological grandparents, the feral pup only learned about Christmas after being placed in the care of his uncle (now technically grandfather) Hauser, who gave the pup various gifts to make up for all the Christmases he never got to enjoy.
And after being adopted by Doug and Delilah, Diesel learned the Dalmatian family"s Christmas traditions, but because he still didn"t understand very well he needed help choosing gifts in his two previous Christmases.
But this year will be different.
Ever since Diesel was adopted, everyone has treated him with the same love and care they treat each other, and he decided that this year he would show how grateful he is to be part of the family by choosing a perfect gift for the dog he took in the name draw.
And being sure he chose a perfect gift, Diesel was pretty excited, looking forward to when he will give the gift.
It didn"t take long and Dylan opened the back door, then spoke loudly.
"Lunch is ready!"
With the exception of little Dorothy, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards the door, then headed inside.
With the exception of Da Vinci"s snowdog, all other snowdogs were incomplete, being left as they were.
And as he headed inside, Diesel continued wagging his tail, now even more excited.
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DIZZY
"It"s dessert time!" Dylan and Dolly exclaimed with joy.
Just like Delgado, Diesel and Dee Dee, Dizzy got really excited and started wagging her tail.
The two young adults came out of the kitchen shortly after everyone had finished eating their Christmas feast, each one carrying a round tray with several small plates on which the said dessert was.
Following the tradition of the Dalmatian family, after the Christmas meal each one receives a Christmas pudding for dessert, made with a recipe that was co-created by great-grandmas Perdita and Missy 60 years ago.
However, like Doug and Delilah, some tend to vary the shape of their puddings a bit, and this year the older siblings made bone-shaped Christmas puddings with a white cream frosting, which almost looked like chew toy bones.
Although Dizzy liked the traditional Christmas dessert of their family, the real reason the youngsters were so excited was the surprise factor.
Following tradition, a silver coin is randomly placed inside one of the puddings during preparation, and whoever finds the coin will be the first to exchange gifts.
As soon as Dolly set the plate in front of Dizzy, she promptly picked up a spoon and began to eat, always making sure to tap the plate with the spoon to check that the coin was in her pudding.
Doug, Delilah, Dylan, Dolly, Dante, Dawkins, Da Vinci, DJ and Deepak chuckled lightly and rolled their eyes as the younger pups pounced on their Christmas puddings, with the parents also serving Dorothy her pudding so the little one wouldn"t swallow the coin by accident if she got the one with the coin.
While eating, Dizzy occasionally glanced at the Christmas tree, feeling a little more euphoric from looking at the gifts.
Although Dizzy knows who she is going to gift after the draw, the girl was quite curious to know who took the little piece of paper with her name, as well as the gift she would get.
And looking around briefly, Dizzy pondered a little about who could give her the best gift.
All the siblings learned to save consciously, and they all had funds coming from:
A small allowance they received from their parents;
Lots of money for Christmas and birthdays, coming from their late Grandfather Hauser through Oliver;
And in the case of some of the older ones, with profitable activities like the six triplets" WoofTube channel.
And despite being only nine (almost ten) years old, Dizzy already understood that what really determines the gift is how much you know who you are going to gift.
Dizzy was sure she knew well who she got, but considering this was the third Christmas since her parents" marriage, she knew that some of the siblings didn"t know each other that well yet.
Therefore, she was sure that the best gift choices would come from her blood siblings or from Delilah, who has known her the longest, or from Dee Dee, with whom she spent most of her time.
Dizzy"s curiosity was getting stronger, so much so that she only realized that her pudding was over when she heard the sound of the metal spoon hitting the porcelain plate.
Coming out of her thoughts, Dizzy felt a little disappointed after realizing that she hadn"t found the coin, but that was only for a moment, as she was soon excited to see that almost everyone had finished eating their puddings.
While waiting, Dizzy kept thinking about the possibilities, more and more anxious to know what she would get.
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MAKE YOUR CHOICE
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Now the next part will be optional.
I made four versions of the gift exchange, and I leave it up to the reader to choose which of the four occurred in the main timeline.
(Please leave a comment on your favorite version, even if it"s just a word, an emoticon, etc, just so I know which was the most popular)