When Katie had asked them to do a favor for her, both Marshall and Everest assumed she would be putting them on babysitting duty. That maybe once a day they would go over to her clinic while she was working to keep an eye on Audrey, likely not even for that long. Just however long it took to keep her from being bored out of her mind from loneliness. This, however, was far from what they had anticipated.

While both of them still had a bit of the initial shock and confusion lingering on their faces, Marshall opened the door to their puphouse. As promised, their house had gotten the size upgrade, and it still kept all of their original belongings in their places. Although they had sort of forgotten, it wasn't like this was some sudden piece of news, it was to be expected.

What wasn't expected was the Border Collie running inside with a wagging tail and beaming smile.

"And here's her stuff, it's mainly toys and stuff you guys already have, but you never know. Some of this she might wanna hold onto," Ryder explained, setting down a box beside the entrance of the house. Everest got a bit curious and quickly sniffed the box, catching mostly Audrey's scent with a hint of Katie's before she looked up at her owner.

"So, is she gonna be just our responsibility or everyone's?" The boy didn't seem to have an exact answer at first, which provided time for the husky and Dalmatian to flash quick glances at each other. They could each see the mix of emotions on the other's expression, the most obvious being confusion and excitement.

"Well, no, we'll all pitch in. She's just grown attached to you both so I figured it would make sense for her to stay with y'all. But if you two would rather someone else watch her, I'm sure I could free up some space in my room." Everest darted her head back up to face him, shaking it rapidly to dismiss his offer before it was too late.

"No, no that's not what I meant. I'm totally cool with us watching her, I was just checking. And I'm sure he is too, right, Marshy?" the husky asked, gently nudging him, taking him out of whatever world he had dazed off into and back to the conversation at hand.

"Oh, y-yeah, sorry. I'm okay with watching her." Ryder nodded, patting them both on the head before walking away and leaving them to get her situated. He made sure to remind them that the team would help when needed, this wasn't a mandatory job for them, but neither really paid him much attention. They were too focused on Audrey, who was still waiting for them to join her inside.

"So...she's under our care for the next month, or however long it takes for her to be adopted. Does...that make us her new foster owner...parent things?" Marshall blushed at her specific choice of words, but managed to do what he thought was a good enough job of hiding it. Regardless, it didn't help him at all when it came to speaking.

"I-I...guess so," he barely answered, nearly choking on his sentence. Everest looked at him and smirked at how flustered he was, but never said anything about it. Instead, she walked inside whilst gently swishing her tail under his chin, which although thankfully missed his scar, didn't do much to help his condition. Audrey was a bit more gracious, running to her side with joy now that someone was joining her.

"Well, in that case, we might as well play our parts, right?" Marshall titled his head in confusion as he stepped inside their puphouse, still trying to hide how he felt about this whole thing. The husky only winked at him before gently nudging the pup with her nose, specifically in his direction. "Go on, sweetheart, go get daddy."

With the extra encouragement—even though she probably would've done it anyway—Audrey ran directly to the Dalmatian and began to play with his tail. Even though he wished otherwise, he could feel his face heating up, his tail wagging, and his inner childish self jumping with excitement. Everest giggled at his expression, seeing the heartfelt smile work its way onto his muzzle before he pushed it away as she walked next to him and pressed herself into his side.

"I mean, in my defense, you were the one who agreed with me on being like her new foster parents. But don't worry about it, I won't make it an ongoing thing," she added, furiously rubbing her head against his cheek. Marshall tried to just let himself laugh it off, knowing now she was purposely trying to mess with him.

"I-it's fine, I don't really mind. But don't you dare think that I won't get you back for it." He was mainly playing it off as just a joke, joining in on her fun. But as she told him to "bring it on", her expression slowly melted and she froze like ice. She was still smiling, more or less, but her eyes zoned out to the point where he knew she was somewhere else, not with them.

Already worried over her, he immediately stopped messing around and gently leaned in closer so her head was against his side. Something was on her mind, he was positive, he had seen this look more than enough times to know.

"What's wrong, honey? Are you feeling okay?" he quietly asked, his mind flooding with concern. Whether it was his own anxiety doing this to him or not was a mystery, but with her struggles over the weeks, he couldn't help himself when it came to stressing over her well-being.

"No, I'm alright, don't worry. It's just...kinda funny, isn't it? Looking after a pup together? I know Ryder said everyone would help, but I think we both know she's gonna follow us around most of the time. She's our responsibility." Marshall nodded slowly, his chest expanding as he let out a small sigh of relief that she was fine. Better safe than sorry, as he had learned.

Admittedly, he had also reflected on the poetic irony of the situation, she wasn't the only one to have picked up on it. One day he was in undoubtedly the most grueling times he had yet to experience—although those weren't fully behind him—and the next he was helping his mate watch over a puppy. Funny how one's whole life can change within the simple course of a couple hours.

But that wasn't the only statement she made that he had to dwell on. As happy as he was for this opportunity, she was absolutely right when she said it was a responsibility, and a heavy one at that. It would be wrong to dismiss the importance, this was Audrey's childhood they were talking about, arguably the most crucial part of her life.

"Yeah, you're right, I guess we just lucked out. And I'm sure it'll be fine, we have each other and the rest of the team to help with her. We'll learn as we go." The husky agreed, exhaling as she tried to set aside most of her worries so she could just enjoy the moment while it lasted. It wasn't hard to keep herself distracted with Audrey looking directly at both of them with a smile, completely oblivious to their conversation about her.

"Alright, well, I guess we should unpack all of her things. We can worry all we want later," she suggested, pulling the box inside their puphouse before stopping herself and turning back to him. "Actually, I take that back, try not to worry about it too much, alright?"

"I know, Eve, I'll try my best, you should try and do the same. Now let's go ahead and get all her stuff out before we forget." Everest got right to it, now fully bringing the box inside and allowing them both to look through it all. Up until now, neither realized how much stuff was actually in there.

"Jeez, I guess that's the benefit of living with a vet," she muttered. Marshall rummaged inside the box, which was mostly packed with the essentials. A dog bed, some blankets, a water bowl, along with her collection of toys.

Ryder wasn't kidding about most of the stuff being those that they already had, but they weren't sure if she would want to use any of them. Just to avoid any conflict, they each set everything out next to their own respective belongings, though they were open to her using theirs if that's what she wanted.

"What else is in there?" Everest called out once she finished placing all of the pup's purple blankets onto her bed, which she honestly doubted would be used. The Dalmatian turned around and stuck his paw inside, throwing out most of what was left onto the ground where Audrey eagerly investigated and began playing with her favorites.

"Looks like just a bunch of toys...oh, hey, looks like Katie got her a collar and name tag," he answered, taking out the purple collar and bone-shaped tag that just had her name with the phone number of the Paw Patrol on it. After double-checking to make sure it looked like it would fit, he walked back to the Border Collie and gently clipped it on around her neck.

Audrey looked down at herself in confusion, fidgeting with the collar. After not having any luck, she looked up at the Dally with a questioning expression on her face and her cheeks slightly puffed out, showing just the tiniest hint of frustration. The older two weren't that surprised, they probably didn't act a whole lot different after getting their first collars, although they would've expected her to have worn one sooner.

"Well, I guess that makes the name official. Is there anything else in there besides toys?" the husky questioned again before helping Audrey make her collar more comfortable. Marshall went back to rummaging around inside the box, mostly just seeing random toys that weren't worth noting. It wasn't until his paw pressed against two smaller boxes did he realize that they weren't fully finished unpacking.

"There's...two boxes of liver treats?" The Dally took out both boxes, reading the labels again just to make sure he was right. He wasn't the only one confused either, Everest had to come closer and look at them over his shoulder to see if she had heard him right. Rest assured, they were what he had thought, even the same brand that they usually bought.

"Are they for us? Or does Audrey..." After she cut herself short, both looked at each other with the same spark in their eyes. Marshall opened the box and took a treat out, waving it around to spread the aroma. Within the bare minimum amount of time, the Border Collie stopped messing with her collar and brought her head up, her nose sticking in the air and capturing the smell.

Before he even called out to her, Audrey jumped up, nearly bit his paw off, and stuffed the treat down her throat. The other two were shocked at first but smiled at the revelation. Finally, someone who wouldn't call them crazy for loving liver. And since the box was already open, Marshall took two more out, one of which went to himself.

"Want one?" he asked the husky after finishing his own, even though in retrospect it was a pretty pointless question. As expected, she nodded and caught the treat he tossed to her. Chances were Katie gave them to them as a way to reward the pup for behaving, but surely she knew that wouldn't be the only purpose they would have.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone besides us actually like liver treats, even Jake didn't believe me when I said I liked them," she remarked, placing them on a shelf so they wouldn't be broken into at a moment's notice. Audrey was a bit disappointed now that they were out of her reach, but didn't seem too surprised by it. Katie may have spoiled her, but even if she did, she would keep her healthy to the best of her abilities.

"So, now what should we do with her?" Personally, Marshall didn't really think the pup would care what they did. She was already excited enough as it was, and all they had done was set her stuff around their house.

"I guess we might as well show her around, and then...I don't really know. We'll make up as we go." Everest nodded in acceptance, gently pushing Audrey in the direction of the door as they both walked her out. She was still just as jumpy and hyper once she reentered the lawn, it was a miracle she didn't bolt off.

Marshall made sure she didn't leave them, coaxing her in the direction of the elevator. The Border Collie's head rose as she walked inside, taking in the size of the room. The glass-scaled wall above was mesmerizing to look at for a first-time viewer, how large it was must've been enough to pique her interest.

Without saying a word, they followed her inside and sat down, the Dalmatian wrapping his foreleg around her. Sparing them the pain of having to wait, the platform slowly jerked and began to rise from the ground. Audrey's eyes widened as they got higher, the massive window in front of them showing off the property and the bay around them.

She shook herself out of Marshall's grasp, who just let her do as she wanted—he couldn't blame her for being hypnotized by such a view. Moving her tiny paws as fast as she could, she jumped up on her hind legs with her front paws pushing against the glass. Even if neither of her older companions could see her face, they could only imagine the awe in her eyes until the floor came to a stop.

"Audrey, hey, we're here." The pup spun her head around at the sound of his voice, watching as the glass doors opened and revealed the main room of the lookout. With her star-struck eyes and jaw still hanging open, she darted into the main living room—where some of the others happened to be—and looked up at the large dome ceiling covering them in amazement.

"Aw, hi, Audrey. You like it here so far?" Skye called out, leaping off the couch and walking next to the pup. The Border Collie slowly brought her eyes away from the ceiling and sniffed her, then smiled, acknowledging that she at least recognized her before scooting back to the other two.

Surprisingly, she also let out a few joyful barks, a few other random whines coming out as well. It wasn't words, but it was vocal communication, and it almost looked like she was trying to speak. The Cockapoo returned the expression, slightly wagging her tail to convey the mutual feeling of being glad to see one another before she looked up at the older ones.

"I take it Ryder explained the situation with her to everyone?" Everest asked, earning a small nod from her friend in response, who understandably seemed a bit more focused on watching Audrey.

"Yep, he explained everything. I'm sure it'll be nice to have some extra company around here. Also, cute name you guys came up with. I gotta say, you two would be amazing parents one day." Even if it was just intended to be a harmless compliment, Marshall felt the embarrassment swelling from the inside. The husky brushed it off, mostly ignoring it aside from the tiny blush on her face, one that she actually knew how to hide, unlike someone else.

"Well, w-we should probably finish showing her around. We'll come back and hang out when we're done, alright?" The Dalmatian suggested. Skye smiled and let them go without question, jumping back onto the couch with Chase as they let the three resume their business.

Audrey was the one beginning to take charge now, leading them into one of their personal favorite rooms; the kitchen. As either doing them a favor, or just a careless mistake that had gone unnoticed till now, a small box of treats was sitting on the counter. Usually, Ryder would've been smart enough to put them out of their reach, but that apparently had escaped his mind today.

After failing her attempt to jump and reach onto the counter, the pup looked to Marshall with her pleading puppy eyes. As much as he wanted to give in to that look of here, he saw the chance he was being given. He smirked and winked at Everest, even if she told him it wasn't going to be an ongoing thing, he refused to not live up to his promise.

"Ask your mom, princess." The husky rolled her eyes as he grinned at her, fully aware of what he was doing. Even if it was originally just meant to mess with him and him only, now that she was getting a taste of her own medicine, well, it was a bit of a different story.

"V-very funny. But yes, Audrey, you can have one," she answered with stutters mixed in. After a bit of self-encouragement that she was able with her new limb, she successfully jumped against the kitchen counter and dug her paw into the box, somehow resisting the urge to take some for herself. The pup immediately sat down, knowing that was usually the only way to be given the treat, and Everest turned back and tossed it into her mouth.

After setting the box back into place to hide the evidence of ever being there, the two agreed to resume their tour. The Border Collie decided that instead of walking along, as that was too much work, she'd simply climb on top of Marshall's back for a free ride. Like she had assumed, zero complaints came from him.

There really wasn't a whole lot else to show her, but they figured they might as well go the extra mile. She was shown the rest of the kitchen, like where they all ate and where their water bowls were. For the other rooms, they just showed her the door since they were almost never used by them, those being Ryder's room, the bathroom, and the couple of closets and workspaces they had off to the sides.

The final room they decided to bring her to was the living room, but that was less of a tour than it was an excuse to lay down on the couch where most of the others were relaxing, a handful of them still playing out in the yard. They both settled in, and since he was the closest, Ryder reached his hand over and gently scratched Audrey on the head.

Making the decision that the pup wasn't the only one who should be fully relaxing, Everest wrapped her arm around Marshall. She pulled him closer to her own stomach, using one paw to smother him with a hug while the other gently pet his fur without a single care that others were in the room.

Audrey managed to remain on his head, although she looked at her new temporary owner in confusion. He just shook his head, silently telling her to get used to them being affectionate like this before resuming the pets.

"So, have you guys gotten Audrey settled in?" he questioned them, breaking the silence that had been lingering in the room.

"Yep, we got all of her things unpacked and showed her around the lookout, she should be good to go," Everest confirmed, doing most of the talk herself as to keep the Dally resting while he could. Not to mention the black and white pup laying on top of him, who was only somewhat listening to the conversation, mainly being focused on nibbling his fur.

"That's great. Now, since I know you two are probably gonna be the main ones taking care of her, I won't be very strict with whatever y'all decide to do, but, I have one rule." Both the husky and Dalmatian looked up at him, raising their eyebrows as they waited for clarification. "She can't be left alone in the lookout. It doesn't have to be you two, just as long as someone is watching her. Marshall, I'm sure you know why, right?"

Everest looked back down at him in confusion, the Dally just laying his head back down and laughing. He wasn't the only one either, Chase and Skye—who had also been resting together—caught on and had the same response, although they tried to keep it a secret. If secret was even the right word, seeing as their owner noticed immediately.

"Oh don't think you two are out of it either, you're lucky I don't have the picture of you three with me," he added with a smirk. The husky signed to herself, the only context she could gather was that whenever this incident happened was when there were only the three of them living at the lookout with their owner. And given how young they were, that could only mean one thing; chaos.

"Marshy, I'm almost scared to ask what y'all did." Curiosity was getting the best of her, and the other three who were in on the situation just seemed to be dying to hear his explanation. She couldn't not try to get some sort of answer.

"We may or may not have destroyed the lookout one time," he nonchalantly explained, not even making eye contact with her as began to rapidly scoot his paws around the cushion above his head to entertain Audrey. Everest, meanwhile, sat up, flabbergasted by his choice of words. The mental image of three puppies taking down the tower seemed like a bit of an exaggeration.

"I'm sorry...you three...did what?" Marshall chuckled, jerking his head to the side to look at her confused figure sitting above him.

"Ryder went to run an errand and left the three of us home alone for the first time. And, well, we kinda tore everything up. Long story short, that was when Katie started coming over every time he left." Everest shook her head, unfortunately not even that surprised to hear them wreaking so much havoc.

"Jeez...well it's a good thing I showed up to set you straight then," she remarked, playfully pushing him before smiling to herself at how hypocritical that was, and he knew it too. Quite literally the first thing they did after getting together was prank the others, she wasn't exactly the best at keeping him in check. If anything, she was just his long-term partner in crime.

Suddenly, her ears perked up as her head did the same motion. At first, the memory of their first date night was just the first example that came to mind, but this new idea she had wasn't one to ignore. She excitedly shook Marshall's leg to get his attention, resulting in a questioning hum from his end.

"Get up, there's one more thing we need to show Audrey," the husky ordered, already standing up and jumping off the couch. Although he was completely clueless, he gently got the Border Collie off of him before running to catch up with her in the elevator, the pup not too far behind.

After another wondrous experience of going down the elevator for Audrey, Everest made her way onto the lawn and began walking in a certain direction. The second he saw where she was headed, the Dalmatian beamed and gladly trailed behind, walking with her across the grass until they had arrived at their destination.

By this time of year, all of the leaves on their favorite tree—the very one where he originally asked her to be his mate, along with the choice of spot for countless playdates—had fallen to the ground. The pup looked up, admiring the large branches above her as she walked closer to the edge and stopped. With the wind blowing her fur around, she sat down near and looked across the bay.

Everest wrapped her arm around Marshall, rubbing his fur as they silently watched the Border Collie sitting under their tree and watching the same view they would often try to sneak out and see during the nights of their youth. Even before they were together, they loved just laying here for hours and talking like the friends they were, usually having to ignore the others' teasing if they were caught.

The Dalmatian was the first of the two to walk closer, although the other was right behind him. He stopped directly next to Audrey, sitting down as she laid her head against his leg, this time without him even having to invite her. His mate giggled slightly, taking her place on the opposite side next to the pup while bringing them both into her grasp. The pup let out small, happy whines in an attempt to vocalize herself, which worked about as well as it could.

"How are you feeling now, dad?" the husky asked, having a hard time keeping the smile spreading on her face a secret. Marshall shook his head, a small hint of laughter sneaking out of his mouth before he looked in her direction, though not making eye contact since she was still gazing out to sea.

"Happy," he answered, feeling the glow in his cheeks as he once again added the extra name to his sentence; "mom". Everest nodded in success, setting her own paw in front of Audrey where it was grabbed without hesitation.

"Me too." Marshall allowed himself to lean back with that small bit of reassurance telling him that she was enjoying the moment as much as he was. The light, chilly breeze blew against their bodies, forcing some of the Border Collie's own fur into her mouth. The other two giggled at her, watching as she spit it out in annoyance, only to have it fly right back. The process was repeated once or twice, only for her to give up and make it her temporary chew toy.

From the position of the sun, they could tell it would start getting dark sooner than later. And with the day slowly entering its later phase, they could both say with ease how magical it was. Between everything that had happened today, through the gifts and the new limbs, none of those could come close to this. This strange feeling that neither of them knew they needed.