"I like doggies." I walked to the cages and looked at the first dog, seeing that his coat was pure black. I clicked my tongue and it turned its head. "Ooh, pretty eyes."

The dog turned all the way around and sniffed my fingers. He looked up at me with its green eyes and laid down, pushing its nose to my fingers.

"What's your name?"

"They can't talk." Rocky laughed behind me, making me roll my eyes.

"You're making me sound stupid as if the dog is going to reply, but you're stupider for thinking that I didn't know that already, Rocky."

"Ooh, Lucio just called you stupid." Tony snickered and I felt arms wrap around my waist.

"You already know that I don't like being made fun of, Luci." Rocky nuzzled my neck and I nodded.

"Then shall I call you dummy?" I sarcastically remarked, and heard Rocky grumble.

"Keep pushing me, and you'll know what'll happen, Lucio..." He whispered into my ear and I smirked.

"Mm, I'll keep pushing your buttons if I want to." I turned my head and kissed his cheek, moving away from him.

"Alright, here is the list. Their names are in the packet along with a few things about them. I'm sure you'll be able to tell who is the leader of the pack once you let them out." Georgie took the packet from Rainer and we nodded. "I think it's better that they go out from here so that they don't go to the gym yet because it's a mess right now."

We nodded again, then watched Rainer walk behind the wooden table in front of the room. He flipped a switch on the wall, and the farthest wall in the back began moving up to expose the outside area.

"I'll bring their leashes." The older man left and I went to Georgie.

"What's this one's name?" I looked through the papers, then found the one dog that I had originally looked at first. "So it's a boy. Luther?"

I walked to the cage and smiled. "Luther?"

The shy boy sat up and let out a cute growl. I cooed and looked at Rainer when he walked in.

"Here you go. Their leashes go with their collars." He handed Tony the leashes and sighed. "Alright, I have to get back to work now."

We nodded and I opened up Luther's cage. He jumped down from the top cage and looked around, sniffing the air. I took the dark-blue leash from Tony and quickly clipped it onto Luther's collar.

We then repeated the process with the nine other dogs and by the time we finished, we were tired.

"This boy...is so strong." Georgie caught his breath and asked the name for the biggest dog.

"His name is Sumo." I chuckled and heard my brother do the same.

"Wow, what a fitting name. He's big and strong." Georgie straightened up and started walking towards the back of the room. "Alright, let's go outside."

The others followed and I held onto Luther and Otto, walking forward but then looking back since a pair of eyes followed my movement. "Want to come with us?"

Romeo looked at the floor and cleared his throat. "Uh, sure."

When we reached the outside part of the shooting range, we walked through a gate and closed it. The dogs started going crazy and sniffed around, pulling on their leashes and barking.

"Do you need help?"

"Uh, yeah." I chuckled awkwardly and gave Otto's leash to Romeo. "They're a lot stronger than I thought."

We continued walking until we reached a bigger, grassy field and Georgie read through the list. "Let's take their leashes off first, then call them back."

We did as he said and the dogs started running off as they were freed from their leashes. It seemed like Ajax was the alpha of the pack since the other dogs matched his speed and slowed down when he did.

They sniffed the grass and a few of them went to the trees, doing their business before going back to Ajax's side. They ran around with each other, so I knew that they had spent time with each other beforehand.

"Qui!"

The dogs' ears perked, then they immediately started running back to Georgie.

"What did he say?" Romeo quietly asked me, and I chuckled.

"I thought you would've been Italian, considering your last name is Dal Santo, but Georgie said 'here.' He called them back to him." I explained.

"I am Italian, but I was never taught the language."

"Oh."

"So they were taught the commands in Italian, so that they only take commands from us?" Tony asked Georgie, who nodded. "That's cool!"

"Yeah. I mean, they came from Italy, but they understand English, too."

"What does scare mean?" Vito asked, but I put my attention on the dogs.

"They're so cute." I couldn't help but giggle to myself, patting my knees. "Luther!"

The green-eyed dog turned its head to me, then trotted over. I held my hands out for him to sniff again, and he bumped his snout with the back of my hand. I smiled and kneeled in front of him, gently rubbing and scratching his head and neck which elicited happy whimpers from the dog.

"Aw, who's a good boy?" I kissed his head, then I was tackled down by a larger body. I grunted and looked up, smiling when I saw Sumo. "Are you jealous, Sumo?"

He growled playfully and sniffed my head. I laughed and sat up, patting his head as well. I patted both dogs, but then the others came over since Ajax slowly moved closer to me. I was surrounded by the dogs and received many hand licks and nudges from the dogs since they wanted headpats as well.

"Ok, dog-whisperer." Vito scoffed, and I looked up at him with a smirk.

"Sorry they all love me." I chuckled and stood up, dusting my knees off. "What breed are Sumo and Luther, Georgie?"

"Uh, Sumo is a three-year-old Tibetan Mastiff. Geez, no wonder he's a big boy, wow..." Georgie sighed, then flipped through the packet. "Luther is a Belgian Malinois. He's almost two-years old."

"So they're meant to attack and kill. What would happen if we told them the command?" Vito smirked darkly, and Tony hit the back of his head.

"You dumbass, we'd probably all fucking die since we just met them."

Vito grumbled and glared at Tony.

I walked to a tree and grabbed two sticks from the floor. I went to Georgie and looked through the list of commands to see if there was one for the dogs to fetch. There wasn't, but there was a command for them to watch.

I turned to them and held the two sticks up. "Orologio!"

The dogs stared at the sticks in my hand and I moved them to my right, their eyes following with the movement. I smiled and threw the sticks in two different directions.

"Go get it!"

The pack split up and ran. I watched them run and noticed that Luther and two other dogs were the fastest in the pack.

Luther grabbed the stick and ran around it's packmates, running back to me and dropping it on the floor. The other dog did the same and they all sat, waiting for me to throw the sticks again.

"Well, that was a great test run." I picked up the sticks and turned to the others. "So are you guys going to play with them too, or am I going to have to do this by myself?"

I watched them grab sticks and a dog would follow them. I was left with Luther and Otto and looked for Otto's breed, but it was pretty obvious that he was a Rottweiler because of his fur and coat colors, and because of the way his body was built.

We spent a long time playing with the dogs, and took turns playing with the others so that they all could become comfortable with us. We chased each other around, and a few times were tackled down by the dogs, but they never once showed any type of serious aggressiveness, even with their packmates. Or when they did, it was just playfulness.

The pack had great chemistry, so it was nice watching them play on their own. They fought over the sticks and ran around, but the sun was now setting as we laid on the grass.

"My back is even more fucked up now." Vito groaned somewhere around me.

I smirked at no one and wiped my forehead. "Mine isn't."

"Yeah, I wonder why." Vito replied sarcastically and sat up. "We should go back to the gym. The dogs are probably crazy thirsty and hungry."

We nodded and got up. We grabbed their leashes, but didn't attach it to their collars.

I faced the dogs. "Seguire."

The dogs followed us, trotting happily around us as they panted.

"What did you tell them to do?" Romeo asked me.

"I told them to follow since we're going back to the gym." I answered and he nodded.

When we made it back to the gym, it was a lot cleaner than before we had left. There was more room and boxes that were left were pushed up against the walls.

"Rainer, they need water." I hopped over to him and he looked around us.

"Wow, seems like they bonded well with you boys."

Tony nodded. "They seem to like Lucio more, though."

Rainer nodded and told us that he would be back with their bowls and some water. The dogs sniffed around and a few continued to play with each other, but Luther sat beside my feet, placing his head on my shoes.

I smiled and leaned down to pet his head. "So cute. Are you tired, bud?"

"Hey, are you staring at Lucio's ass?!" I heard Tony's voice behind me.

"No."

I straightened up and turned around, seeing that Tony was staring suspiciously at Romeo. I smirked and walked to Tony's side.

"Why? Are you jealous, Tony?" I nudged his shoulder with my own and he glared at me.

"I can't answer that question."

"You just did." I chuckled, then helped Rainer with the bowls once he got closer.

I set five bowls down, Rainer setting the others down, and the dogs walked to a bowl. The older man began pouring cold water from two jugs, and the dogs quickly drank water.

I checked my phone and saw that I had a text message from my papa. "Mm, my parents are coming over for dinner. They'll be here soon."

"Yes. Uncle Xavier can make delicious dinner for us again!" Vito spun around and smiled like a little kid.

"Let's go home, then. Don't we have cheesecake left over from yesterday, too?" Rocky asked, and I nodded. "We're eating great again today too, then."

"Before you boys leave, can you help me put the dogs back in their cages? I'll let them out again for the bathroom once we finish cleaning a bit more, then we'll lock up the gym." Rainer asked.

"You're leaving them here for the night?" I questioned him, then frowned when he nodded. "Won't they get cold?"

"Oh, no. We should get going before Luci decides to take all the dogs home because he feels bad." Frankie sighed, making me pout.

"They'll get cold at night, though."

"They have their beds, they'll be fine." Rainer reassured me, but I still felt bad for the dogs.

"Seguire." I walked away and the dogs followed me to the armory. I looked through the packet of paper, "Uh, entra nelle tue gabbie."

I told them to go inside their cages, and they started going in. Luther and four other dogs hopped inside and laid down on their beds, the bottom row dogs doing the same.

"Should we put a little bit of food in case they get hungry?" I asked Rainer.

"They have a bit of leftover food, I'm sure they'll be fine with that. They have water bowls in there, too."

I nodded and patted Luther's head. "I'll see you and your friends tomorrow, ok?"

We began closing the cages and I left the packet on the top. We left the armory and went back to the main gym.

"I'll come back for them and bring them home another time." I smiled and Frankie shook his head.

"I'm not taking care of them, then."

I shrugged. "That's fine. I'll do it by myself if I have to, Frankie. I have no problem because they'll love me even more."

"Alright, we're going home, Rainer." Georgie told the old man, who nodded.

"Tell your parents I said hi for me."

I nodded and felt Frankie grab my hand, pulling me away. "Bye, Rainer! Bye, Romeo!"

I waved at the both of them and watched Romeo scrunch his brows together, but then he gave me a small wave back.

We left the gym and drove back home, seeing that my papa's car was already in our driveway. We stepped in and heard voices from the kitchen, so I ran and smiled when I saw my parents cooking.

"Dad, Papa!" I ran up behind them to hug them, but Papa stepped back.

"Woah, be careful, Lucio, I have a knife."

"Sorry," I stepped back and allowed him to place the knife down. He turned around and I jumped in his arms. "I missed you."

"You just saw us yesterday, Luci." He kissed my cheek, then set me down to greet the others.

"Dad..." I called for my dear dad, but he was too busy cutting the potatoes. I whined and placed my head on his shoulder when he didn't pay attention to me. "Daddy, pay attention to me..."

Dad laughed lightly, and quickly washed his hands to hug me. "Sorry, baby, but I'm making dinner."

He kissed my head and I smiled, letting Georgie hug him next.

"Uncle Xavier, what are you making today?" Tony peeked over his shoulder. "Ooh, something with potatoes?"

"We're making something simple for today. Chicken with steamed vegetables and garlic-roasted potatoes." Dad explained and my cousins cheered. "You boys get so excited over the simplest meals."

"Only because you know how to make the food extra tasty." Rocky kissed his cheek, receiving a small smile in return. "And we still have some of Uncle Amir's cheesecake from last night, so we can eat that for dessert, too!"

Dad nodded and told Papa a few things, then my Papa washed his hands. He didn't know how to cook much, so I'm guessing he was just helping Dad cut the carrots and broccoli.

"Papa, can you do my hair like you did yesterday?" He nodded and I smiled. "I'll go get my brush and hair-tie."

I ran upstairs and grabbed both of the items from my bathroom, running back down. I found Papa sitting on the couch, so I handed him the stuff, then sat between his legs.

Papa brushed my hair and then began braiding the hair that was on the left side of my head until it reached the back of my head like yesterday. He repeated the process again on the right side, so that all of my hair was tied back. I made sure to stay still, then felt him tie the rest of my hair that was left so that it was like a short ponytail. I kissed his cheek in thanks, then Frankie moved next to me.

"Can you do a different style for me, Zio?"

"Of course, just move in front of me." I moved out of Frankie's way, and he moved between Papa's legs, facing away from him.

I sat on the couch next to Rocky and he pulled me into his side. "Uncle, did Rainer tell you that the dogs came in today?"

My papa nodded. "Yeah. Have you guys seen them yet?"

"Yeah," Vito quickly nodded, "Rainer wanted us to bond with them first, so we played with the dogs in the field. They liked Luci the most, though."

I heard my papa chuckle. "Are you mad about that, Vito?"

"Maybe..." Vito looked around guiltily. "But there's this really big dog named Sumo. He's a Tibetan Mastiff, which explains why he's so big and fluffy, but he still likes Lucio more than me! And I'm the biggest!"

"That's a lie..." Rocky mumbled, making me laugh quietly.

"Well, Lucio has always been a dog person. Our past dogs used to follow him everywhere, so it makes sense that the dogs like him the most." Papa explained.

He finished up Frankie's hair, then showed him after taking a picture. Frankie had two simple, thin braids that were tied back to keep his hair out of the way. He thanked my papa and moved to sit next to me.

"There's nothing ever interesting to watch on the tv!" Tony groaned and threw the remote across the couch. "I'm bored..."

"See, we could've brought the dogs home and we would be cuddling with them instead of being bored, but Frankie didn't want to." I shook my head and looked beside me.

"I don't want dogs in the house." Frankie grunted, and looked away with red cheeks.

"Why? Because you don't want to be trampled like how you were when we were younger?" Georgie teased him, and Frankie simply nodded.

"Yes."

Papa chuckled softly. "They're trained dogs, Frankie. They won't do anything unless you command them to."

"I know...but still." He huffed beside me.

Vito gasped. "I wanna cuddle with your papa, Luci..."

Papa smiled softly and patted the spot beside him. Vito got up and jumped on the couch next to my papa, receiving a kiss on the head and an arm around him. Papa tugged him closer and Vito laid his head on his chest.

Secretly, not much of a secret really since our whole family knew it already, but Vito was the biggest baby out of all of us. Even Frankie wasn't much of a baby, and he's the youngest. But it was still cute, though. In a way, it fit Vito's personality perfectly, even though it didn't really seem like it.

"Do you boys want snuggles, too?" Papa gave us a sly smirk, since he already knew our answers.

"Yes!"

We sat around him, even sitting on the floor, and snuggled closely to him. I laid my head on his thigh as I sat next to his right leg and closed my eyes.

We spent our time on the couch cuddling with Papa until Dad called us for dinner. We ran to the table and sat down as he placed our plates in front of us. We thanked him, then waited for Dad and Papa to join to begin eating.

"It's good like always, Zio." Rocky smiled, earning a smile in return.

We all quickly agreed, which made my Dad very happy. We ate quietly, then helped my parents clean up the kitchen.

Dad pulled the cheesecake out from yesterday, and cut up some slices, putting them on plates for us. Tony and Vito may have sneaked an extra slice in, but Dad pretended like he didn't see.

Suddenly, the front door opened and we watched Bubba walk in with a small smile.

"Pops," Georgie jumped out of his seat and ran to him, but then slowed down. "What are you doing here?"

"I managed to leave early and leave Alvaro to do the rest of the work for me, so I could come here." He smiled, then smirked when Georgie awkwardly stood in front of him. "Are you not going to give me a hug, Georgie?"

"Yeah..." Georgie shyly wrapped his arms around his papa, but the latter picked him up and kissed his cheek.

"Come on, give me a better hug than that."

My brother hid his face.

The rest of us got up to greet him, and sat back down.

"Do you want to eat, Ami?" Dad asked him, and the latter nodded.

Bubba sat down at the table after we made room for him, but kept Georgie on his lap. He rubbed his back and I smiled to myself, happy that things were going back to normal between them.

About a year ago, Georgie and Bubba had a fight that made things very uncomfortable and awkward between them. Bubba had noticed that Georgie kept getting mad at himself for not doing better on certain tasks while working with our bubba, but in the moment, Georgie had become so frustrated with himself, that he snapped in Bubba's face.

Obviously Bubba didn't deal with that really well, so then he and my brother started going back and forth until Georgie left without telling anyone where he was going. That obviously made our family worry about him, because we couldn't find him anywhere, but Bubba was worried the most. Dad wasn't too worried, because he had a feeling that he knew where Georgie went, but he didn't tell that to Bubba.

Georgie came home late that night and Bubba had stayed up the entire time to wait for him, but he had fallen asleep on the couch of our own home. I'm not sure what happened, but all I know is that Bubba was really upset with Georgie and he had a long talk with him.

Since then, things have been awkward between them, me too for some reason, but we were slowly getting better. Georgie and Bubba's relationship was going back to normal, but it's like something had shifted between them. Sometimes Georgie was really shy around Bubba, but then other times he just didn't really say much to him.

Bubba was the same too at very rare times, so they were just getting used to being around each other again like normal. It might not sound bad, but things were just kind of weird and good at the same time between them. Their relationship was just rocky, I guess.

___________________________________

So Lucio went a little more in depth between Ami's and Georgie's relationship. I'm not too sure if you guys noticed the bit of awkwardness between them in these last few chapters, but yeah. Things are just complicated between them. #daddyissues lol :3

What do you guys think?

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, see you all next time, BYE!!! :))

3736