Just a few hours left ticking on the clock, that's how long it would be until the day really got going. As unbelievable as it may have seemed, after what had felt like the longest week of her life, the following two sped by with lightning speed. And by some miracle, she had never felt more at peace in her life, though that wasn't saying much.

Perhaps it was that she had Marshall back with her? The excitement from the upcoming holiday, now only less than twenty-four hours away? Or maybe, her medication was finally starting to kick in, for once letting her feel better. Not happy necessarily, just less sad. A mix of all the above, that was her guess, but frankly, she didn't care.

She hadn't felt like this for as long as she could remember. Not perfect, still a lot of nights were spent in tears with the occasional mood swing in the day, and of course her...less than pleasant habitual way of coping to work on. But with all that said, it was an improvement, to say the least.

Marshall on the other hand was an interesting case, the physical embodiment of a double-edged sword. Sometimes he seemed lively and joyful, jumping around as the big day continued to creep up on them both, though that was only on the rare special occasion.

For the most part, he was struggling, far more sensitive ever since waking up. He was extremely cautious, and while him being anxious or stressed was nothing new, this was a different story. It was like he couldn't handle it, the weight of his actions set him on edge about anything and everything.

For his own sanity, Everest had made it very clear to the others to not mention his actions from a couple of weeks ago. He barely talked about it with her to begin with, even in his therapy session it took nearly the whole visit for him to admit what he had tried to do. He also refused to take his scarf off, although at this point they all knew what had happened. Still, it remained the unspoken rule of the house, one that no one dared to break. If they did, chances were they'd have a very peeved husky to deal with, and she was terrifying when angry.

"Ryder, when are we going to Jake's?" she asked, a small giggle coming from the Dalmatian who laid on her side. The boy rolled his eyes as he walked by, though still giving her a pet on the head. At this rate, she was having the consistency of a child asking "are we there yet?" every chance she got. Apparently, she had used up all her patience waiting for Marshall to wake up, not an ounce left in her body.

"In just a bit, I need to get a few more things and then we can leave. Same as the last time you asked me five minutes ago." Despite her obvious impatience, Marshall smiled softly as his head sank into her fur. He was excited to go too, he just didn't mind where he was in the moment. Having her paws slowly pet his fur, caressing and cherishing him with every touch, what more could he ask for?

"Ugh, fine," she groaned, flopping herself back down on the couch's cushion. A light shift in her weight cut her pouting session short as the Dally scooted closer. No matter how she might've been feeling, whether she was already upbeat or during her darker night hours, his presence and scent always put a smile on her face. No matter how hard her mind might want to resist. "Excited for the party later?"

"Y-yeah, we haven't really done much like that in a while. I'm sure it'll be nice," he answered, his voice slowly beginning to repair itself, sounding better and better day after day. Everest couldn't have agreed more, if her actions hadn't made it obvious enough, she was on the edge of her seat. Part of her had a strangely good feeling about it, for whatever reason.

Her only concern for the night was the location, being atop Jake's mountain. The cabin was hardly an issue, if anything, she could tell he still loved going there, but practically anywhere else was a very big no. She knew how triggering it was for him to be around the same place of the attack, she'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't get a bit antsy if she thought about it for too long.

"That's the spirit. Just remember, I'll stay with you the whole time, you won't have anything to worry about." Marshall, although trying to convince himself the same thing was easier said than done, only nodded in agreement. It's not like he had plans to leave her, and besides, he was looking forward to the night as well. His mind weirdly just wanted to lean into the thought that it would work out, a strange change of pace, but a welcome one.

"Hey, Everest, you're never gonna believe this." Both dogs brought their heads up, making out their owner with a light smile and bags in hand. The Husky tilted her head, admittedly unsure as to why she specifically. was being called out. "Grab your bags, we're ready to go."

The snow pup's lit up with the brightness of the lights surrounding them. Marshall could see her excitement as clear as day, and he couldn't say he was feeling all too different. They both jumped off the couch, one nearly tripping and slamming her face into the floor, and quickly made their way to the paw patroller. Despite their owner's request, they didn't actually need to bring anything aside from gifts that were already being packed.

Somehow, even with how fast they thought they were, the two were the last ones in. The others were already buckled into their seats, some cuddling—specifically the other house couple—while the rest were squirming in their seats with anticipation. They didn't seem to be the only ones excited, yet another reason why they silently agreed that they should socialize with the others more.

Marshall leaped up into the same seat he always said in, though no one has official assigned seats, the position always remained the same. It always felt like they had that line of consistency going for them. That or just the fact that as dogs, they were naturally territorial, if their scent was on something, it might as well fully belong to them.

Almost the second the vehicle moved, chances were it hadn't even reached a single mile per hour, Rubble stood up and flicked on the radio, shamelessly blasting festive music out of the speaker. It was a blessing that Ryder had the technology to make a sound system that wouldn't shatter their sensitive eardrums. Without any double guessing, they all hummed or bopped their heads along.

Ironically, considering the number of times they had done it in their youth, none of them knew how to sing, not very well at least. Even Marshall had to agree, despite loving his mate with all his heart, singing wasn't exactly her strong suit. She had the voice of an angel, just one that unfortunately didn't choose to show itself every time it was given the chance. Not that he cared in the slightest, he wasn't any better himself, nor would something as small as that change anything.

And besides, it was best to keep the mood high, seeing how dark of a place their destination could be if not handled with the right care.

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Thankfully, the weather was relatively generous to them. Sure, it was snowing—which might have seemed like a Christmas miracle to some, though in reality, it was just the average day in the mountains—it was more than manageable for driving. Having driven in storms and plenty worse in the boy's lifetime made this more than tolerable.

Almost right as their vehicle stopped, in all honestly one could argue that they hadn't even fully stopped to begin with, most of the pups had already flooded out the door. Even Ryder wasn't the last to get out, despite how much unpacking he'd have to do due to the gifts alone, a burden he'd be putting off until later. Even he, the leader of the famed Paw Patrol, wasn't safe from the clutches of procrastination.

And just as luck would have it, the only one still inside was Marshall, looking down at the snow as Everest already gave herself the pleasure of putting her paws in the snow. At this rate, his hesitation was anything but a surprise, in fact she didn't even have to fully turn around to know what was going on. It was like the snow was molten lava, and the second he touched it he'd fade away into nothingness.

"Marshy, come on, we'll be fine. I won't leave your side, alright?" His worries may have been far from out of the way, but as he was told, he slowly dipped his fur into the freezing powder. Keeping her promise, the husky brought herself closer as they made their way to the house.

She could feel his heartbeat just from brushing up against him, it was expected but never failed to break a part of her. Just a few months ago they'd constantly come up here, whether to visit with Jake or as a date. Nowadays he could barely walk in the snow without getting insanely stressed, she was just thankful that stress hadn't evolved into another panic attack. She hated having those with a fiery passion, she couldn't bear the thought of having them as often as he did.

Jake was thankfully thoughtful enough to leave the door open for them, giving neither of them any trouble once they got onto the porch. The others had already made themselves at home, the two humans sitting on the couch as they caught up over a cup of hot chocolate while the pups wandered around and did as they pleased.

Everest carefully steered them both in the direction of the fireplace, laying down as the Dalmatian cuddled closer. She had a feeling it was best to let him relax for a minute, just to calm down before getting back up and interacting with the others. For once being right was helpful, about time that curse paid off.

"See? We're inside, nothing can hurt us here. We're safe." Marshall only rested his head in her fur, as far as he was concerned, "safe" wasn't a word in his vocabulary, as often as he heard it from her. But, this was a holiday, after all, no point in letting the thought linger. Besides, this was Everest's holiday, and a good mate wouldn't rip that out of her paws.

"Y-yeah, I guess. So...what'cha wanna do?" It didn't take any smarts at all to know that he didn't exactly believe her, but she had promised herself to avoid any of those uncomfortable topics for a couple of days. It wasn't worth getting into, and besides, she was already being presented with a million-dollar question. One that she had absolutely no answer to.

"Uh, I don't actually know. I assume we gotta wait for Katie to get here before we all celebrate together. I think everyone's just doing their own thing for now, so I guess we should just do the same?" The Dally shrugged in response, although admittedly, he didn't really know what their own thing was. Outside wasn't an option, and there was only oh so much they could do inside the cabin.

Awkward silence quickly drifted into their little bubble, apparently, she didn't know what that meant either. Unfortunately, neither of them were wizards with the ability to read each other's thoughts, it'd be way easier to team up in the quiet and think of something to kill time. A shame they weren't living in some fantasy TV show, otherwise, that may very well have been possible.

"Oh, I got an idea. Have you been in the attic here? We keep a bunch of random stuff up there, might be something interesting," Everest suggested. This was news to Marshall, his ears perking up at the revelation that they actually did have something to do.

"Not that I can remember," he answered, honestly not even knowing the place had an attic until right now. The husky smiled and slowly stood, looking down one of the hallways where the nearly unnoticeable trap door in the ceiling resided.

"Neither have I, Jake said I wasn't allowed to go up there. C'mon, let's go check it out." The Dally laughed as she walked under the door. They were both intrigued, no doubt about that, there was only one problem. Neither had a clue in the world as to how they were supposed to get up there.

"So...how do we...?" he asked, looking at her for some sort of clarification. It didn't seem like too much to ask someone who used to live here how to access part of her house, but from the look on her face, he had a feeling she knew just about as much as he did.

Marshall turned over, his eyes catching the sight of a door next to him. Without much to lose, he opened it, looking around at its containments. Not much seemed helpful, the only thing going for him was some random wooden pole. As far as he knew, this wasn't even what it was supposed to be used for, but he stuck his head in and grabbed it with his mouth, probably breaking the record for a dog finding the biggest stick.

"M-Marshy, I love you, honey, but I just don't see how you're gonna make that work." Everest considered it a miracle that she managed to get her words out in a coherent manner. Her laughter was beyond being contained, it was amazing that the others hadn't heard them by now.

However, despite her claims, the spotted pup was determined. He tilted his head almost ninety degrees, hitting the walls with the pole in the process. With a little bit of lining up, he carefully jabbed the trapped door, almost instantly sending a small ladder barreling down. Both dogs jumped to one side of the wall, a loud bang emanating off the ground.

For almost the first time in months, Marshall's skills as a firefighter could finally be put to good use. Within seconds he had scaled the ladder, entering the short, wooden room. He turned back, assuming to see his mate not far behind, only to see her on the ground looking up at him.

"I-I don't know if I can get up there, I-I haven't climbed anything without my leg yet." The Dalmatian met her nervousness with sympathy, realizing how a simple task now had to carry so much weight. Though deep down, he knew he wasn't much better when it came to that.

"Here, I got you," he encouraged, laying down on his stomach as he scooted to the edge, extending his paw down as far as he could, which wasn't nearly as much as he wished it was. "Just climb up and grab on, I'll pull you up."

If it was physically possible for dogs to sweat, Everest would've been drowning in it. It was such a simple task, just a few steps, and yet here she was. But that being said, she trusted Marshall with her life, so she slowly took a few steps up, almost laying down on the ladder in the process.

Thankfully, the laws of physics spared her life as she somehow made it to his paw, taking no hesitation to pull herself up beside him. Who would've guessed climbing a ladder would be such a workout.

"J-Jeez...that was exhausting," she muttered, pants interrupting her words. The dally lightly licked her cheek, bringing that tired expression on her face right up with it. She was like a light switch that only he knew the secret to flicking on and off.

"But hey, at least we made it up here," he responded, looking around to find out exactly where here was. Unsurprisingly, it was mainly just a bunch of boxes laying around, not too much different from their own storage room back at the lookout. Everest slowly walked around, taking a few glances inside each cardboard container to see if anything piqued her interest. "Hey, Eve, when was this taken?"

Her head whipped around, her eyes being greeted with the sigh of a picture of her old owner in a jacket and skis, only unlike now where he was fairly tall, he couldn't have been a bit over five foot in the moment. Even if she hadn't been shown these before, she was positive this was an old picture of him as a kid. One that he probably didn't want to be seen by others.

"Wow, he looks young. Guess he wasn't kidding when he said he started skiing when he was just a kid." Both of them looked at each other, letting out a small fit of laughter after looking at the picture for long enough. He looked somewhat the same as he did now, just more so as an awkward teenager. In the nicest way possible, and not at all an insult to his appearance, they could see why this was kept where no one would see.

After setting the picture down, making sure to be careful as not to harm such a photo, they rummaged around the same box. Surely that couldn't have been the only embarrassing thing laying within these walls.

Eventually, Everest's paw finally hit a unique texture, a simple piece of paper. Although it was unlikely to be anything important, she pulled it out to get a better look, not daring to pass up the opportunity she was being presented with. Better safe than sorry, as they'd say.

"Is...is this his report card?" she asked in amazement with Marshall looking over her shoulder. Only a second at most did it take for them to find the detail that obviously would've stuck out, probably the very reason this was tucked away so deeply.

"Is that an F in math—?"

"Marshall, Everest, you two come here!" Both of them froze as they looked up in horror, hearing Jake's voice echo through the hollow area. They both were certain they were in trouble. Their heads and tails lowered as they swallowed their pride, carefully making their way back down the ladder with the man waiting at the bottom for them.

"I-it's my fault, Jake, I was the one who suggested going up there," the Husky stuttered out, her voice empty as her natural fear of getting in trouble took over. Of course, the one time she didn't fully think ahead when doing something risky was the one time she got caught, and this time she had brought Marshall down with her. And even with that mindset, part of her still felt the urge to hide behind him in fear of history repeating itself.

"Huh? You dudes aren't in trouble. Everest, I said you couldn't go up there when you were just a pup. There's nails in the floor and I didn't want you stepping on them," he explained with a bit of laughter, melting the tension between the three like butter with a knife. The worst had been avoided, whether by dumb luck or a poor sense of judgment. They were just glad that he didn't know what they saw, otherwise the outcome would have differed. "Ryder just told me to grab you two, I honestly don't know what it's for, but apparently it's important."

The two looked at each other in confusion, only shrugging it off as they followed Jake to the main room of the house. The others just so happened to be there too, all of which had the same expressions as their own, holding the same questions inside. What in the world was going on?

The boy only smiled as he looked down at them, two in particular. All the time spent planning was about to pay off. Funny how such a life-changing moment was being handed straight to them, quite literally, fully without their knowledge. The odds of this actually working were pretty slim, this whole operation was based on a complete guess. Even then, he was excited himself, and a knock at the door perked that even more.

Ryder stood up from the couch and opened the wooden entrance, revealing Katie with an all-knowing smile and a bundle of blankets in her arms. The two only made eye contact for a split second, but that was all it took to confirm that she had what they needed. All they had to do now was stick to the script, it was showtime.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, I had to do a small favor for a friend of mine," she explained, winking at Ryder as she lightly stroked whatever it was she was holding. "She works at the animal shelter in town, and they always end up getting a lot of strays this time of year. So...she asked me if I could foster one of them to free up some space, and she's too young to be left alone."

Even with an explanation, the team seemed like they were on a different plane of existence, all both shocked and intrigued by her implications of what she brought with her. Katie giggled and bent down on her knees, exposing what she was keeping wrapped up so warmly.

With as much care as humanly possible, she slowly set down a tiny Border Collie puppy, the blankets she was previously wrapped in draping on the ground. She couldn't have been any older than a month or two, and her eyes were a bright, shining blue, comparable to that of a diamond. Despite it being rather short with her age, her black and white fur shifted slightly as she nervously scooted back into Katie's leg, who couldn't help but smile.

"She's a bit shy, but she's such a sweetheart once she gets to know you. She doesn't have a name yet though, I guess that's still to be decided," she informed them, avoiding the fact of why she wasn't given a name.

With small steps, taking caution as if the floor would give out at any moment, the pup ever so slightly moved forward. Her small head tilted slightly as she studied the much larger figures looming over her. Both groups were looking at each other like they were different species, equally interested in one another.

Both Katie and Ryder watched in silence, waiting to see who would react first, hoping for the best-case scenario. They might not have been any detectives, but they both had that gut feeling they were right. If not, well, that would be a bit harder to sort out considering neither of them had it in their heart to bring the pup back to the pound.

The pup moved closer to the rest, sticking her nose up in curiosity. Being the first to have any sort of reaction—and sending fireworks of celebration into the humans' heads—Marshall took a single step forward, erasing the distance between them. They both sniffed each other, the smaller likely seeing if she could trust him, while the other was simply intrigued by her presence, his head overflowing with happy daydreams.

After only a few moments, the Border Collie seemed to have the answer she was searching for, nuzzling herself against the Dalmatian's head. His eyes widened in shock, but with probably one of the most genuine smiles anyone had seen in a while, he gently rubbed his nose against the pup.

Seeing how fast both their tails were wagging, Everest got her own gears turning. Slowly, she walked next to her mate and lowered her head, sniffing the pup who did the same to her. The black and white pup accepted her all the same, licking her nose, but almost instantly after they were introduced, she jumped back to Marshall, rubbing her head on his paw with affection. She had clearly decided her favorite out of the bunch.

The Dally slightly moved his paw around, earning quick interest from the puppy who eagerly chased after her new toy, desperately trying to nibble on it each time she got close. Everest giggled, obviously enjoying seeing Marshall so happy, and she'd be lying if she didn't say she felt the same. It was like the pup's mere adorable presence lightened both of their days.

Katie turned back and looked at Ryder, both of which smiled at the sight. They were right along, the plan was finally in motion. Marshall had wanted a daughter.