Even if it was the middle of Autumn, and the water would probably freeze their paws off if anyone tried to stand in it for any longer than a few seconds, everyone had decided to get out of the house and spend the day down on the sandy beaches by the bay. Neither of the humans bothered to bring swimsuits, simply throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts—which may have been an oversight on their end, it still got cold whenever a gust of wind blew their way—and the dogs, well, it wasn't like any of them needed to wear swimming gear to begin with.

Ryder and Katie were sitting on neatly laid out towels, holding hands while they talked about who knows what—though the laughs that would occasionally come from their direction gave everyone else enough evidence to assume that they were having fun.

Everest, as much as she wanted to hold herself up to her usually active standards, just so happened to be the only one of them who could do nothing but lay on the sand with Marshall to keep her company. The conversation with their daughter was now a couple of weeks behind them, and as they always assumed, she was starting to warm up to the idea a little more. That just meant now, they had nothing but time to worry about until they got to meet their precious son.

Chase and Skye happily kept Ruby and Gus entertained, and even if they were still stuck on parent duty, this was still very much considered a break. The pups happily were play wrestling with each other in the sand, and even they would occasionally join in (going easy on them, of course), letting their hair down for the sake of spending as much of the day with their kids as possible.

And as anyone with a brain could've guessed, Rocky stayed with Rubble as far away from the water as possible, even if he wanted to get wet, it was way too cold for his tastes. Meanwhile, Zuma did everything he could to try and get used to the freezing cold water—completely disregarding Marshall and Katie's warnings, not that he ever did stay in for more than a few seconds.

Much to Audrey's joy, Emma also showed up with Katie, with an introduction that started off with an excited hug between them before they ran off and played in the sand—whether that be simple play-wrestling or dragging someone else into joining them.

For the most part, the two of them were having a blast. The only downside was one of them had to run around and act like there wasn't a care in the world, even with the knowledge of the conversation she would have to bring up sooner than later—half because she desperately needed answers, and the other half of the reason just being so she could finally get Katie to shut up.

But for now, at least, she wasn't too worried about that, they already had a third party to distract her from that—even if their owner wasn't exactly enjoying her job, but in all fairness, it was her fault for agreeing to it in the first place.

For what had to be the last twenty minutes, the girl's life was filled with false hope. Every single time she thought her work was finally over and she could have her uninterrupted time with Ryder, one of the pups would arrive at her side with a tennis ball in their mouth, while the other stood close behind with a wagging tail.

"C'mon, Katie, just a few more times and we'll leave you alone, I promise," Audrey begged, even stooping as low as to tilt her eyes and use her puppy eyes (and yes, she had said this probably three times by now, but it had yet to fail her). If it was any consolation to the human race, she usually refrained from such a cheap tactic, but for the sake of impressing...a certain someone, she had to use whatever means necessary.

"And all I asked was to have some time with my boyfriend. You two are such children, you know that? You have three more throws after this one so you two better make the most of it," she answered with a defeated sigh, forcing herself to pick up the ball and tossing it into the sand several feet away. 

With only a small smile given to her as a token of generosity, the pups ran off while the girl rolled her eyes at Ryder, who only chuckled and shook his head—she never wanted to know how he lived with all of those dogs, just two were enough for her.

Meanwhile, simply not bothered by whatever their owner may or may not have been saying about them behind their backs, the pups in question had already locked themselves into a vicious war. The ball was mere inches away, and the Border Collie was just barely in the lead when she dove for it.

To her surprise, she actually managed to scoop it up in her mouth, right before she skid across the sand—which would probably be a pain to get out of her fur later—and landed on her back. With a few tired pants, she smiled to herself, placing the gold medal around her neck as the one and only victor of this round.

But maybe, just maybe, that was all part of someone else's plan; for her to let her guard down under the assumption that she had already won fair and square. Emma, still looking just as invested in the game as before, reappeared in thin air, jumping on top of the collie and planting her paws down against the other shoulder—holding her against the sand while being extra careful that she wasn't putting any pressure on her head (professionals had standards, after all). The shepherd smirked letting out a playful growl as she stared her down, or, mostly the tennis ball in her mouth.

Now, Audrey had every last intention of defending herself up until her last breath. Death before dishonor, that was her strict rule when it came to games, and this was one of the few rules that she had no intention of trying to bend.

The thing that stopped them both from locking in and fighting to the death was what should've been a harmless mistake, one completely out of their control—that being the presence of cold water running against their paws before scurrying back to the safe space of the bay. Emma jumped in surprise, which in her defense was a perfectly natural reaction, but it came with just enough of a price that cost her balance. Not too much, she never fell over, just enough for her to slip and for her nose to end up pressing against the Border Collie's nose.

Audrey's eyes widened in surprise (as did her friend's), her heart skipping a beat as the shepherd froze, probably meaning well despite the fact that she was simply trapping them here. She wasn't sure what she was meant to say, nor was she sure if she was supposed to say something at all, her entire brain was at a standstill while her attention slowly faded away into the other's eyes.

"S-sorry," the shepherd finally muttered, stepping away and moving their heads apart—which of course, totally wasn't disappointing to the collie, no, not at all, not in a million years. After a moment of awkward silence, Emma held her paw out, offering a rescue down to the damsel in distress laying in the sand.

"Wait, can we just sit here for now? I'm kinda tired, plus, I think Katie wants to be with Ryder for a few," she offered with a nervous laugh. As per usual, it was far from a lie, their owner clearly wanted a break with her partner, and she herself was tired, but normally those circumstances wouldn't have fully put an end to their playing. 

The game was killed by her own, now blood-stained paws, but it was all for a good cause. At least, she hoped it was a good cause, for all she knew this would open the floodgates to the worst outcome she could've imagined.

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine with that. It's beautiful out here, isn't it?" The shepherd asked, laying down on her back next to the collie. The black and white pup softly nodded and agreed, though deep down, she was fuming with rage at the horrible cheesy line she almost spat out. Jeez, that would've absolutely killed the mood, but thankfully she was able to stash that away into her own private box of thoughts.

Besides, she had to save most of her voice for later when she actually had to put effort into it—though she doubted it would matter in the long run. She could already feel the bottoms of her paws sweating, her tail nervously moving through the sand as she sorted through her words, knowing she had to choose very, very carefully as if her very life depended on it.

"Uhm...c-can I ask you something kinda random?" Almost immediately, the Border Collie's eyes widened in a weird mix of surprise and horror. This was too soon! She hadn't even had the chance to really think about this, to weigh her options and decide if this whole thing was actually worth it. 

Apparently now it was too late for thinking rationally, the only option she had was to commit to it or somehow make something up on the spot, and honestly, just seeing it through would probably be less embarrassing.

"Yeah, sure, what's up?" Audrey nervously looked over, the sweet tone in her friend's voice as those caring (and definitely not cute) eyes watched her eagerly, a combo that had pretty much become her kryptonite over time. She had thought about this for days now, surely she had something up her sleeves that would at the very least get this over with so she could stop thinking about it every night.

"S-so, you don't have to answer if you don't want to but do you...y-you know, have a crush on anyone?" Audrey mentally faced palmed herself the moment the words left her mouth. Days of planning this in her head, desperately trying to find a way of asking this without being stupidly obvious, and this was what she came up with?

To make matters even worse, Emma's eyes widened as she looked over, only holding eye contact for a split second that would've made the fastest of superheroes jealous before nervously laughing and brushing the fur on her face. She didn't answer as quickly as she normally would, her time was spent pursing her lips and trailing her paw through the sand before she actually got herself together.

"Uhm...y-yeah, actually, I do," she finally admitted, keeping her eyes on the ocean in front of them—meanwhile, the collie was too busy panicking to have even noticed that she still had her eyes on the shepherd. So far this was going... surprisingly well, despite the fact that she was doing almost everything wrong on her end. "Why? Do you like someone?"

"What? No, of course not," she hastily exclaimed, sort of regretting it once she did. She had denied such a claim to herself and Katie plenty of times, but now she just felt like a jerk, spewing out denial instead of owning up to what just may have been her sacred truth. And while she didn't quite catch it, the glimmer of sadness in Emma's eyes would've dragged the words out of her either way. "I-I mean, yeah, sorry. I do too."

The Australian Shepherd softly nodded as she let out a small exhale, her breaths noticeably shaky as the two of them started to fall into another spell of silence—only awkward because of the conversation Audrey had brought up, and she took full responsibility for it. This time, after being able to think for a little more than five seconds, she swallowed her fears and decided to dip her toes a little deeper into these dangerous waters.

"What's yours like?" She tilted her head over curiously, holding up her imaginary clipboard; more than ready to take mental notes to see if anything lined up with the certain someone she was hoping (not expecting) to see a pattern with. Emma glanced over, appearing to be a little calmer now, even giggling at her optimism as she gently smiled.

"Well...they're adorable, Audrey, they just make me feel so warm whenever I'm around them, they're so caring and sweet, they've helped me a lot more than they probably realize. A-and, you know, sometimes they can be a bit hyper, but I know that they would only ever mean the best..." she trailed off, softly smiling down at the sand below her. "But she's perfect in every way that I can think of."

Although it was something she was (hopefully) somewhat good at hiding, Audrey's eyes lit up like a shining light—so far there was already one box checked off the list, and that wasn't even with the personality traits in mind. As far as those went, she could see a few similarities. She would never call herself adorable, but hyper, yeah, she could work with that—a flaw of hers that she wouldn't even bother to try and deny.

"Alright, I gave you details, you gotta return the favor. What's your like?" The Border Collie snapped herself back into reality, once again trying not to absolutely lose her mind as she tried to pick out one of the many answers she could give. It was tempting to make up personality traits to save her the embarrassment, but that was risky, and besides, it wasn't like traits actually revealed this sacred being's identity.

"She's so perfect, she's fun, really nice, comforting, I really love being with her. S-she's just...there for me, I've never felt the way that I do around someone before, you know?" she asked, half wondering if she had said too much—half simply not caring and excited to be gushing over her crush, even if she was playing with fire.

"She sounds really nice, Audrey. I really hope everything works out for you two. Anyone would be lucky to be your girlfriend." Audrey slowly nodded in agreement (with the first statement, she had no plans on giving herself enough credit for the latter), now starting to feel like she was really starting to finally lock away her denial and commit to her suspicions. If her and Katie's assumptions weren't always right, now they definitely were.

"Me too. And hey, anyone would be lucky to be with you too." As the seconds passed on, the two of them sat in silence, the sun shining down on them and the waves occasionally splashing their paws until finally, Emma stood up. The Border Collie jumped up beside her, immediately noticing her nervous expression that she really hoped she wasn't the cause of.

"Hey, I'm just gonna run back to Katie's real quick, I-I gotta use the bathroom. I'll be back in a few, alright?" To her surprise, Audrey managed to gather her thoughts enough to nod and bid her farewells, even if they were a low whisper—it was still better than nothing. "Okay, cool. Y-yeah, see you in a few."

What on Earth just happened? was all she could ask herself as the shepherd disappeared. The pup had gone into this both preparing for and expecting the worst, practically having already believed in her choice before even getting here. But no, she had been treated to a reality check that threw her original assumption out the window, shockingly one of the only outcomes that she hadn't really mapped out in her head despite how often she dreamed of it.

Whether she liked it or not, it was that one final push that didn't give her much of a choice but to accept what she had gotten herself into with open arms. She loved Emma, and from the looks of it, she had a chance. A slim chance, one that was probably closer to zero than it was to one, but it was still a chance.

"Hey, Audrey, is everything alright?" The pup raised her head back up, turning over to see her owner who had probably noticed the shepherd leaving. The Border Collie forced her jelly-like legs up (for once only caused by nervousness) and slowly walked to her, laying down next to the human to receive plenty of pets along her back—from the looks of it, she had been forgiven for the whole tennis ball thing for the time being.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay, Emma just went to the bathroom. U-uhm, can I talk to you? And you have to promise not to tell anyone." Katie gladly nodded after hearing the tone in her voice, more than happy to take her up on the offer—especially considering she was the only one who was trusted with the knowledge of what conversation was planned for today. But after that, the vet only looked over at her boyfriend with a raised eyebrow, it being one that he unfortunately understood.

"Fine, if you're kicking me out at least give me that," he requested, pointing to the tennis ball left all alone in the sand. And although she was sort of confused, the girl humored him and tossed it to him, only for Ryder to throw it near the group of dogs who hadn't been doing anything.

Having not much else to do, Rocky, Zuma, and Rubble went after it—probably all about to fight each other for this sacred honor. Chase and Skye both noticed the ball soaring through the air, and while their temptation was obvious, they ended up shrugging it off and went back to building the sandcastle with their kids, who didn't even notice the ball flying over them.

Marshall barely went for it, he had to look over at Everest for permission since running was completely out of the question for her—laying here in the sand was already a risk due to her leg, being pregnant was not helping her at all. But thankfully, she ended up laughing and nodding, giving him the signature on his permission slip that he needed to run after it.

"...I was just gonna ask him to turn around, but I guess that works too. Anyway, what's up? Is this about you and Emma?" She asked, playfully pushing on the pup's shoulder. Audrey laughed softly, shoving her away as she fumbled her paws together, once again trying to conjure up a decent answer—and already preparing herself for the upcoming teasing.

"Y-yeah, actually. For one, I-I think you were right, I do like her," she admitted, and before she could continue, the girl pumped her fist back in success—only to stop and of course high-five her friend as a courtesy. "But she and I talked, a-and apparently she likes someone too. She said they were cute, and caring, and kinda hyper, s-so, I don't really know what to make out of that.

"Really!? Audrey, that sounds exactly like you, holy sh—" Katie trailed off as a bark echoed through the sands of the beach, its source being Skye whose eyes were staring at her with an obvious death threat behind them—and as anyone would know, a protective mother was never something you never wanted to cross paths with.

The Cockapoo sharply nodded at her pups, who at the moment weren't really paying attention, and were happily placing seashells around the small moat they had dug out around their sand castle while Chase led them on their path, guiding their paws to the ideal spots. And a good thing too, if they had actually heard, Skye would've probably killed her. Katie silently mouthed a quick "sorry" with a sheepish smile, thankfully spared by a nod from the dog as she went back to being with her pups.

"...Shoot, holy shoot. Anyway...you know what this means, right? She's totally into you!" she exclaimed, lowering her voice despite the excitement still being audible. The Border Collie let out a small, nervous laugh, because as crazy as it sounded, her owner might not be wrong. Emphasis on might, of course, the odds were still incredibly low. "When are you gonna ask her out?"

"W-what?! No! I-I'm not asking her out, she could've meant anyone, that doesn't mean it was me," the pup countered, looking over her shoulder to make sure Emma hadn't returned out of thin air—she was already treading on thin ice, and she did not want that breaking anytime soon. Thankfully she hadn't yet, giving them plenty of time to continue talking. This would've been something she probably wouldn't be able to get herself out of if caught.

"Well, you're not gonna know unless you ask. And besides, you have a lot to like," Katie proclaimed, playfully rubbing her shoulder until she was pushed away by the fuming Border Collie—who was simply stubborn about being complimented by, well, anyone really. "But really, jokes aside, you gotta talk to her at some point."

Audrey nodded slowly, leaning back as she started to sink back into her thoughts. She did have to talk to Emma at some point, as terrified as it made her, she couldn't argue herself out of that one. If she didn't, she'd be driving herself insane. But she wasn't quite ready to take that leap of faith yet, as nice as having a girlfriend sounded, she wasn't fully sure that she wanted to risk losing her friendship for that low chance.

For the moment, at least, she just wanted to relax, surely this was enough excitement for one day. As far as she was concerned, the rest of the day should just be spent kicking back and relaxing, she deserved it after all that, didn't she? And she thought that it was a reasonable thought, and worst case scenario, she just wouldn't get what she asked for—no harm in that, that was how life worked. Apparently a foolish thought at the end of the day, however.

"K-Katie, come quick!" a voice suddenly called out, audibly panicked. The girl, rightly startled by the urgency in their tone, stood up and scanned the beach until she followed the voice back to the group it had come from. She slowly motioned for Audrey not to move as she narrowed her eyes for a better look, really hoping that this was a stupid prank, only for them to widen once she got a decent outlook on the situation.

"Oh no...Audrey, stay here," she demanded, speaking with such seriousness that the Border Collie couldn't even move a muscle if she wanted to—even if she was now terrified out of her mind, nothing was scarier than being completely left out of the loop. Without any explanation, Katie abandoned her side and ran to the scene as fast as her legs could take her, bending down to the two in question while pushing the crowd of others away.

"K-Katie, w-what's happening, t-this looks a lot worse than usual. A-are the pains supposed to be this bad?" Marshall asked, clearly terrified as Everest lay against the sand, one leg clutching her stomach while she cried uncontrollably into his side. The girl eyed the dog carefully, bringing her hand down closer to the husky until she darted her eyes at her, growing and showing her teeth until she got the hint and pulled back.

"I-I don't think so, not at this stage. Everyone, get back," she demanded to the rest, once again using her incredibly rare tone of seriousness to her advantage—everyone knew that when the playful one was dropping the act, it would be a crime to not follow along. The rest of the dogs backed up nervously, and then she could finally bring her attention back to what mattered; trying to decide the best course of action. "Uhm...okay, Everest, I know you don't want me touching you, but I gotta get you back to my clinic. Just bare with me for this one."

Unable to even talk, the husky managed to nod while the girl scooped her arms, motioning for Ryder to help her out. A fully grown pregnant husky was not an easy lift, and an extra hand like this was pretty much a necessity—especially in case she suddenly decided she didn't want to be held anymore, which wasn't entirely out of the question. Then again, odds were neither of them wanted to be the one holding an angry husky.

"Marshall, you go get Audrey and meet me at my place, and the rest of you can just follow me as long as you stay behind me." Without a second being wasted, the others nodded and sprung into action, the only hesitation coming from Ruby and Gus who were a bit disappointed to have to leave their sandcastle behind. Unfortunately, as much as the Dalmatian loved his niece and nephew, they weren't exactly his priorities as he ignored them and ran over to his daughter.

"D-Dad, what's happening? Is Mom okay?" The collie asked, completely ignoring Katie's rule to stay put as she ran to meet him and nearly fell into his arms, tightly gripping his paw and quite clearly terrified out of her mind. The Dally looked back at the crowd leaving the beach, only to look back at his daughter with an equally scared look. Seeing him genuinely scared wasn't a common occurrence, and such a rare spectacle was certainly not making her feel better.

"I-I don't know, Princess. I don't...l-let's just get to Katie's, I'm sure she'll figure it out once we're there." His daughter, although very far from comfortable, nodded in agreement—not that she really had a choice in the matter. As if her mind wasn't already preoccupied enough, now this was on top of it, a game against fate that she rarely ever won.

Now it wasn't just Emma she had to worry about, it was her own mother. Two of the already limited beings in this world that she considered extremely close to her, and by any definition, she refused to lose any more of her family.