Special Bonus: Slumdog Family History

  Joey gave a yawn as he stretched under a tree. He glanced over at Zak and Duncan dozing beside him, smiling and wagging his stub. The trio were in the park, other dogs playing around them as they dozed. Joey pulled one of his cigarets out of his bowtie, a lighter soon after. The big Doberman dug a small hole by his side with his front paw to use as an ash tray, then lit his smoke.
  He took a deep pull off it and blew up a smoke ring, something he had grown a talent for after he left home. He stopped a moment, then flattened an ear thoughtfully. He couldn't remember much about his home, or who his parents were. He hadn't had much point to try and remember stuff from his past, but he remembered when Zak had shared his past with him. Maybe if he remembered enough to tell him he could return the favor.
  As he started to recall things, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced over. It was his half-brother, slowly opening his eyes and yawning loudly. The tan Doberman was just as big as Joey, as tough, and was very attached to Duncan, his son.
  "Oh hey Joey." Zak yawned. Moments later, his nose scrunched. "I thought you said you wouldn't smoke while we were here?"
  "Sorry Zak, its just I can't go for a long time without smokes." Joey replied, shuffling a hind paw guiltily. "I figured I could try and sneak a quick one in while you guys were dozing... Stupid nicotine..." He grumbled, burying his smoke in the hole beside him the filling it.
  "Its alright." Zak said, stretching as he yawned once more. "I'm surprised you didn't expect me to bring a beer." He shot a smile toward his older bro, who ruffled his head fur back.
  Joey had a thoughtful look on his face, scratching his chin idly with a front paw.
  "Say Zak, you remember when you told me your history a few weeks ago?"
  "Yeah?"
  "I was thinking, maybe we could get the family together some time and share our histories with each other? Y'know, Barkin and Slumdog roots." The pure-breed said, feeling a bit dumb. But to his surprise Zak grinned and nodded furiously.
  "You dunno how long I've ben wanting to hear you ask that." He barked. "I've always been curious, but I didn't wanna bug you about it." He glanced at Duncan. "I'm sure the little guy wants to know also."
  Joey gave a nod, smiling.
  "Does today sound good?" The tan Doberman asked.
  "Yeah. Just try to get as much of the family together as you can." Joey said. "I have a feeling I don't need to tell you that Andrew is an exception?"
  "Thanks, but that one is just a given." Zak said, shrugging. He then reached over and shook the little ball of fur that was his nephew. "Duncan, Duncan get up." He said softly, wagging his stub.
  The little mutt gave a yawn after sitting up, blinking at his dad and Uncle.
  "What's up?" He asked. The two gave a basic summary, and the young mix perked up, wagging his semi-long tail. "That sounds awesome!" He hopped up on his Uncle's back and sat on his head, pointing a random direction.
  "Mush Uncle Zak, mush!" This made Zak grin, and he took off to go find those who would probably like to hear. Joey however went to go tell his mate, Rosa, about the history share.

*
 

  A few hours later, after gathering everyone up, Zak and Joey sat aside, Duncan perched, as usual, on Zak's head. Just as they were getting settled, there was a loud bang to which they all looked at the door. Stepping in was Andrew, Sam trailing behind him.
  "Hey guys, planning on starting the party without me?" He asked, giving a slow smile to all, and his eyes hardened to ice when he saw Zak, but keeping up his smile. "I wanna know what's up with my best pal and my own roots." He said, plopping himself between Rosa and his father, Charlie.
  Charlie looked around at everyone. Almost everyone that lived in the apartment was in there, full of anticipation of the histories of the two joint families, Barkin and Slumdog.
  "So who should start?" His best friend, Itchy, asked. Charlie and Joey looked at each other, and Charlie gave a nod. It was confirmation that his old business partner and step son could start. They had already discussed what the signal would be for Joey to begin.
  "I'll start." Joey said. Over the time of gathering he had regained some of his memories, and was a bit disappointed for how his life was before. But how it was now made up for it, and he smiled. He had a lovely family, a brother who loved to roughhouse, and he liked his life, friends, and his pups.
  "Back when I was a pup, I was a bit of a rebel..."

*

  Will was on his way back home, looking anxious. His mate was at home, pregnant, but a dog had rushed to him before an important match. He had to cancel, and the managers agreed to pick a day he would be available to fight. Right now, bones to bring home were the least of his worries. According to the dog who had fetched him, Melissa was in labor.
  Cutting through every short cut he could, Will panted as he ran. He was built for muscle, not speed or running stamina. It took him ten minutes because he had accidentally ran into dead-ends in his rush. He loped up, tongue lolled out far, into his home in the deserted corner in the park. Shoving his way through the semi-narrow opening (which had seen better days), he saw a sight that relieved him.
  Six Doberman pups laid beside their mother, whimpering, eyes closed and snuggled together, thin fur slightly stuck up from being cleaned recently. Melissa looked up at her panting husband, who looked on the verge of collapse from his run.
  "Come lie down beside them dear." She said, giving that soft smile he loved. Her eyes, those gorgeous eyes the tough guy had fallen in love with, were the color of roses, while his were a light brown. The big dog lay down beside his mate and his pups, watching them climb over each other blindly and occasionally nudging one back into the rest of the pack. He smiled lightly, heart melting a bit at the sight of the newborns.
  "They are beautiful Melissa." He muttered as she rubbed her head against his neck.
  "They will be proud to have a father like you, I am sure."
  "Hope some turn out big and tough like me." He chuckled, licking one of the pups. It shivered slightly after his big lick. He gave a loving smile. "This one is spunky, keeps trying to move away."
  They both smiled as the puppy tried to keep getting away on his own. Will just kept nudging it back, feeling its small paws touching his nose as he did.The two Doberman's eventually lied down beside their pups, keeping the pups closed in the middle to keep them warm. Will's stub couldn't stop wagging until he fell asleep. The big, pure-breed wrestler was a father at last.
  As the weeks went by Will stayed home a lot more to spend time with his pups. His opponents he was supposed to face always brought the prize money bones and dropped half off, wishing him luck with his kids. He wanted to refuse, but he knew that he needed the bones to last his family. Days only seemed to be hours for the big dog, especially when his pups could run around, running him ragged. Yet he loved them to death.
  He noticed one pup was always dominant over the others, wrestling them down. The pup was one of the two who had red eyes, and loved to roughhouse. He smiled fondly, remembering his puppy days when he was the same way. At times he would randomly and playfully flip the pup on its back and put his paw on its stomach to pin it.
  "I win." He would say. The pup would glance up at him and begin gnawing one of his dad's front toes with his milk-white puppy teeth.
  "You just wait til I'm bigger." The pup would reply. "Then I'll getcha daddy."
  "Sure you will Joseph. Sure you will." The pup would then scowl playfully.
  "It's Joey dad." Will would grin at Joey then start tickling him roughly with one of his claws, making the puppy laugh, stub tail wagging as he was tickled. The pup would then go back to gnawing his dad's toes.
  Eventually Will couldn't keep missing work anymore, and started to go to catch up. He would start coming home a bit irritable towards everyone because of the long hours and close losses, and snapped at everyone. It caused tension as the pups grew up, especially with Joey, who he had been so fond of before. He tried his best not to, but he couldn't help it. When Joey was a teen he and Will had a very bad spat.
  "Dad, why can't I go out with my friends?! We're just going out to eat, you do it all the time!"
  "Because you're to young! The other pups parents may let their kids go, but-"
  "I'm not a pup anymore, I can handle myself!" Joey barked. The two glared at each other, paws clenching and unclenching.
  "Joey, go to bed!" Will barked.
  "No, I'm going out with my friends, that's it!"
  "Joseph Victor Slumdog you will stay here at home!"
  "Its Joey you old mutt!" The younger Doberman snarled. Will snapped, and he smacked Joey, making him collide with the wall. Melissa rushed to Joey, having stayed aside til now, to make sure he was okay. Will stood there, shocked by what he had done and also came