1 x 1 with It.Will.Rain

[Boomer]

"They can stay..." said Maria quietly, "Right, Mare?" Mary lightly shook her head. "Maria, they don't need to be here for this." said Mary lowly, "They'll be okay with Jake." She stood up and looked to her pups. "Jake is going to take you all back to his house." she informed them, "I want everyone to be on their best behavior. Treat him like you would treat me. Is that understood?" The pups nodded to their mother as they stood up and walked to Jake and Alessa. They knew that their mother meant business when she spoke to them in a low tone. Cybil even knew not to tease her brother, even though she never did it to be truly mean to him. They stood in a line next to Alessa. "Is she dying?" asked Alessa, looking to Mary. Mary changed her tone with the girl. "No, she isn't dying." said Mary quietly, "There's just been a scare with the pups..." "What pups?" asked Alessa, "I know Cybil, Cynthia, and Vincent are your pups... but Maria doesn't have pups." The younger pups looked to each other, clearly confused. Of course their mother didn't tell them all of the details of how pups come into the world, they at least knew how they are born. The little pups looked back to their mother, still confused about how Alessa didn't know. Mary then looked to Jake, then mouthed 'sorry' to him. She hadn't meant for Alessa to ask about the subject.

[it.will.rain]

Jake looked at Maria and Mary. "Keep us updated and don't worry about these three. They will be fine." He said and looked at Alyssa as she asked questions. He knew he would have to talk to her about this later. 'It's okay.' He mouthed back to Mary. He was not really sure how to explain it to Alessa, but he would have to figure that out soon. "We will talk about that later." He said to Alessa. He looked at the pups. "Let's get going." He said to the pups and walked to the elevator. He still had Alessa's paw. He got in the elevator and hit the first floor before he walked outside and started to walk towards his house glad it was not raining.

[Boomer]

Alessa let Jake lead her out of the room. The little pups waved to their mother and aunt before following after them. Mary left the room to speak with Maria's doctors. She was concerned about her sister's pain. Maria sighed quietly as she stared at the ceiling. "This sucks..." she muttered. Maria suddenly felt something wrong, then pinned her ears back. "M-Mary!" she called. She normally wouldn't call her sister by her real name unless it was important. Mary returned and looked under Maria's sheet. There was blood all over. "Oh god..." she winced, trying to stay calm. In a matter of minutes, Maria was brought to the OR. Mary had to fight her way into the scrub area; she was going to stay with her sister no matter what.

[it.will.rain]

Jake took the pups to his house and got the younger ones set up with a TV. "Alright. You three stay here. I need to speak with Alessa for a minute." He said and started away from the pups. He grabbed a thermometer to check her temperature to see if it was too high. He explained to her about Maria's pups. He took her temperature and read it off before writing it down so they could track it easier.

[Boomer]

The pups sat on the couch and watched TV as Alessa walked with Jake. She was nervous about the thermometer at first, but was relieved that she could just hold it in her mouth. She had a small fever, but nothing dangerous. As Jake talked about Maria's pups, she put out her paws. "Wait... wait." she said quietly, "You're telling me that my mother carried me for all that time?" Alessa then sat in her chair, holding onto Scarlett. "So... when the doctors said I couldn't have pups, they meant I can't carry pups like Mary and Maria, right?" she asked, looking up at Jake.

[it.will.rain]

Jake was glad that she was starting to get it. "Yes your mother did." He said and watched her as she spoke. "Yes that is what they meant. You can always adopt pups like I did so that I could have you in my life. You can have as many pups as you want as long as you adopt them." He said to her. He hoped that it helped her. "Do you understand now?" He asked her. He was glad the talk was not as bad as he had thought that it would be.

[Boomer]

Alessa understood most of what Jake said, but she still had questions. "What if I fall in love with someone and they want pups, but not adopted ones?" she asked quietly, "I'd have to tell them, wouldn't I?" Alessa was worried that she wouldn't find someone that would want to be with her. The pup jumped as Jake's cellphone rang. Alessa picked it up off of the table and looked to the caller ID. "It's Mary..." said Alessa softly, giving the phone to Jake.

[it.will.rain]

Jake looked at her. "Yes. You will have to tell them and if they don't accept it, then you don't need them in your life because you are perfect just the way you are." He said to her. He looked at his phone and answered it. "Hello?" He asked waiting for Mary to speak. He was worried about the news. He just hoped everything was okay. She had called not too long after they had left.

[Boomer]

Alessa nodded to him as she watched Jake closely. She wondered what Mary was telling him. She couldn't hear her voice on the phone.

"I'll need you to keep the pups for tonight." said Mary, watching the doctors move the pups out of the OR. She had been kicked out because they had to operate on her sister. The tiny pups were struggling to breathe, which made Mary concerned. They were far too young to be in the world, but they had no choice. Mary was a bit distracted as she followed them down to the NICU.

[it.will.rain]

"Okay. That is no problem. How is Maria?" He asked. He was hoping that everything was going to be okay for her but he was not sure. Things had gotten really bad really fast. He was not sure what to tell the pups so that they would not panic but knew they would ask questions. He just hoped that he could say something that would not scare them. He had to figure something out and fast.