School kept them insanely busy as the year began to fly by. Erin finally managed to get Grayson to agree to be his boyfriend after five failed attempts, thirteen interruptions, and a flash rain storm.

Yeah, it was that bad.

But now they were an item, and he was ecstatic about it. Tonight was their first official date though, and he had a surprise he desperately hoped would be liked. In fact, he had to slip out early just to be sure that he could get it and make it back to Gray's house before he was late to pick him up.

Erin literally ran up the steps of the orphanage and through the huge double-doors, smiling from ear to ear. The woman at the receptionist's desk grinned up at him and he returned the gesture as he quickly signed in and then ran down the hall she was pointing towards.

"Be sure to have him back by seven!"

"Yes ma'am!"

He ran to the back door, slowing when he got to it so that he could be careful pushing it open. Warmth overtook the brief chill he'd gotten from the air-conditioner as he stepped back outside and immediately felt something pawing at his pant-leg. Looking down with an excited grin, Erin saw Flip eagerly trying to get his attention, yipping every few seconds as he danced around his legs.

"Hey there, you. Miss me?"

He gave a little howl, making him chuckle as he knelt down. The pup didn't waste any time scrambling up onto his bent knee before putting his little paws on his shoulder and licking his face like he hadn't seen him in years. Erin quickly wrapped his arms around him so that he wouldn't fall, then enjoyed the little kisses and puppy breath for a minute before dropping down onto his backside and snuggling him to his chest.

"Tonight's a very important night for Gray and I."

Flip looked up at him, but he knew that his attention was only half there as he began nibbling at the nice white dress shirt Erin had put on.

"Now's not the time to play, bud. We've gotta be men and completely win the heart of my new boyfriend!"

His newly-furred tail thumped against Erin's knee in excitement... and then he rolled over in his lap and lifted his paws over his head.

"It's not time for belly rubs, Flip!"

The little pup whined, eventually deciding to just bite his back foot since Erin wouldn't at least scratch his belly.

"Stubborn kid."

Erin swatted the paw out of his mouth and poked his pudgy belly with his finger.

"You know the doctor said no chewing on random appendages."

Even though it looks absolutely adorable when he does it. Shoving that thought aside, Erin got himself up, holding Flip in his arms before going back inside. Instead of leaving right away, he took a right into a small changing room and sat him down on a table sticking out of the wall. Of course he tried to run, knowing exactly what was coming, but the stink must be removed!

Smirking to himself, he grabbed Flip's scruff gently and carefully undid the sides of his diaper until it fell to the table beneath his fuzzy butt.

"Ewwww."

Every time I do this I curse my elephant's sense of smell.

Tossing the diaper in the trash can, he made sure that the lid secured back over it before grabbing some wipes and getting busy. For such a small puppy he sure knew how to fill diapers fast. And he always made sure they were extra messy for him.

"I don't know where you get all that poop from, but you're a master."

Right as he was finishing up with his bum Erin heard the tell-tale sound of pee on paper.

"Aww, come on. We've been potty training you, couldn't you hold it till we found some newspaper?"

Flip tilted his head slightly and glared, making Erin look down at the table.

"Oh. Newspaper. Good... job?"

Flip huffed a little woof as Erin shifted him away from the wet spot and cleaned up his paws with another wipe. With that finally done, he got him on his back after changing the newspaper and slid a new diaper beneath his bum, then fastened it on and carefully tugged his tail through. Himself or Grayson always came after school on Mondays to clip enough diapers for Flip for the week so that his tail didn't risk getting infected again being stuck in the diaper when he had to go bathroom. The orphanage didn't have many shifters so they tended to forget to do it.

"There we go, all clean."

Erin was just about to pick him up again when he remembered something important.

"Oh! Here, you're gonna need this."

Grabbing something from his back pocket, Erin quickly nudged it right beneath Flip's neck and fastened it around.

"Perfect. You look so handsome."

Flip evidently didn't think so since he was already starting to try and swat the bow-tie off his neck.

"Just keep it on for tonight, please?"

Erin knew that he didn't really understand him, so he just quickly picked Flip back up and carried him out the front doors. After fastening him into his car harness, he dropped into the driver's seat and got them heading toward Gray's. Everything about tonight had to be perfect, especially after so many screw-ups. He didn't want anything to go wrong.

His eyes darted a glance in the rear-view mirror and he immediately blanched.

"Flip, stop trying to eat your bow!"

He just got an annoyed huffed grumble in response.

Darn it.

About twenty minutes later they were pulling up outside of Gray's house. He had intended to go up to the door and get him, but Grayson was already running down the steps before Erin could even put the car in park... and the excited grin and twinkle in his eyes was totally making his heart melt into a tiny puddle of mush. Erin had cleared the front seat for him, but the second he saw Flip he dove into the back and unbuckled the puppy, snuggling the insanely hyperactive wolf pup in his arms while his face got cleaned from forehead to chin.

"I brought you a fuzzy present... and he had a present for you, too, but I left that at the orphanage in the garbage cause. I figured it was for the best."

Grayson laughed as he nuzzled his nose against Flip's, making the puppy yip happily and wiggle its butt, tail and all, like a mad-dog. He knew that the little guy liked Gray a little more than him, but that was totally fine. They just clicked, like they were meant to be father and son. He did, too, but it took a little bit longer.

"Ready to go get some dinner?" Erin asked with a grin back at his boyfriend.

"Yeah!"

"Alright, seat-belts and harness then!"

They left as soon as he heard two clicks from the backseat and headed for downtown. At first he had planned to take him to the same place he had taken Arron on his birthday, but then he realized that would definitely not be smart. So, he decided to switch things up and go with Chinese food. When he pulled up outside of the take-out place, Gray furrowed his brows in the backseat, unbuckling his seat belt hesitantly before getting Flip into his arms.

"We're... having take-out?"

Definitely didn't sound impressed. Well, eh, neither would he if his boyfriend brought him here on their first official date, but he had a plan to complete.

"Trust me, don't worry."

Erin quickly hopped out and shut his door before running around and helping Grayson with Flip, out. Once the back door was shut and the car was locked, he took his free hand and walked with him into the small restaurant. They could technically eat there since there were a few little tables and chairs, but he had other plans.

"Get whatever you want."

Grayson gave him an awkward smile and ordered some crab rangoon and pork egg rolls, then Erin got some rice, sweet and sour noodles, and some barbecue pork for Flip. Once they had finished paying, he grabbed their bag of food and headed right back out to the car, setting it in the back on the floor so that it hopefully wouldn't fall over. Grayson slid into the backseat and buckled himself and Flip in, but then eyed Erin with confusion.

"Don't worry, I promise you'll love this."

He looked skeptical, but seemed to shrug it off as he unclasped his keys from his waist and dangled them above Flip's head. The little pup was immediately enthralled in his favorite game of try to eat the jingling metal stuff. Well, at least that kept them occupied for the last few minutes of the drive down the street. Erin hopped out the second they were there and ran around to grab the food with a big grin. Grayson was looking around and undoing Flip's seat-harness when Erin opened the back door.

"We're... at the park?"

"Yup, come on!"

Erin grabbed the blanket from his trunk and winked as Gray finally realized what was going on.

"You're such a dork! This is like, the most cliche date I've ever read about."

Erin stopped for a second, then smirked.

"You read romance novels?"

Grayson's entire face turned red as his jaw dropped... and promptly got a slight french-kiss from an overly-excited Flip.

"Ah, Flip! Eww."

Gray wiped his mouth and made a face as he stalked past Erin. He was perfectly okay with his boyfriend leading the way, though. It gave him more time to stare at his pretty backside. He'd done a lot more than look on certain occasions... when Grayson went into heat.

"You coming, pervy elephant? Or are you just gonna stare at my butt all day?"

Oops, fell behind. Heh.

"Yes and yes?"

Grayson rolled his eyes as Erin ran to catch up, stealing a kiss with a chuckle before he could duck away.

"Right here."

Gray hit the brakes and turned, eyeing the spot Erin was now spreading the blanket over. It was right up against a huge tree with roots sticking out everywhere. Not exactly the best place for a picnic.

"Set him down."

He did as told, though didn't really look impressed. Well, that is until Flip began scrambling up onto one of the roots, then bounding around to the next, and the next, and the next, then sliding down that one with an excited yip. Instead of getting the food ready right away, Erin tied the bag and set it aside, then sat down and grinned up at Grayson.

"Shift."

His face paled considerably before he shook his head.

"No way! Flip is here and I remember what he did to that stuffed toy mouse we got him last month."

Erin rolled his eyes and grabbed Gray's hand, tugging him down into his lap for a hug... and maybe a bit of hand-roaming. Leaning over after a few moments, he placed a chaste kiss on his cheek and smiled.

"I'll be here. I thought this would be the best place to try since he loves climbing so much and always wanted someone else to play with."

Erin could only ever play in his human form because he was too afraid of hurting Flip with his elephant and Gray had been too afraid to try his mouse.

"But I don't wanna be the squeaky toy. I'd only squeak once!" he groaned, leaning back against Erin even though he could tell he was a bit miffed that he hadn't told him what he was going to pull earlier.

"I promise I'll keep you both safe... but I have something else as a reason why I wanted to do this tonight."

They had been hanging out for a long while and getting to know each other so even though they just made it official, he pretty sure that they had been a couple for a good while... or at least a couple with some pretty adorable benefits. Pushing those thoughts aside before he replayed last week's benefits in his head, Erin quickly fished out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and unfolded them in front of Grayson. The gasp was totally expected as he took the papers and read over the first one quietly.

Dear Grayson. This may come as a surprise, or perhaps not so much, but I think since school will be ending soon and I'll be getting that paid internship after graduation, I think now would be the perfect time to test Flip with your mouse.

It was a short message, but as he moved it behind the other pages, his eyes went super wide. They were adoption forms for Flip, completely filled out in Erin's name with spots for a co-signer... Grayson, in all the important places. While he knew that they were still a bit young to consider it, he just felt like them finding Flip that night had been exactly what was supposed to have happened.

Heck, they had even named him when his chip didn't show any. They decided on Flip because he would always get so excited when he saw them that they thought he'd start doing back flips.

"I think he's been ours from the beginning. His parents were just surrogates for our family to begin."

It had taken awhile for him to come to terms with not being able to have a calf of his own, but he was never going to put Gray at risk for such a selfish reason. Besides, they had the perfect little pup right in front of them... hanging from a low-lying branch by his teeth as his butt wiggled with excitement.

Yup. Definitely ours.

He watched as Gray quietly set the papers aside and licked his lips, eyes lifting to where Flip had just flopped down into the mowed grass.

"I guess I could try..."

"Here," Erin reached forward, cupping his hands on the ground. It was their normal signal for I'll carry you. Gray slowly nodded and, after a few deep breaths, let his body disappear inside of his clothing. It was only a few moments later that a little fuzzy grey head poked out of the shirt collar and squeaked up at him.

"There's my adorable Gray."

He huffed and Erin grinned, picking him up even though he knew that he hated being called adorable. It was too bad that he was the most adorable little mouse. Considering that Erin hated mice at the beginning of the year, he pretty much didn't a complete one-eighty.

Or is it more that that since I'm technically screwing the mouse? Boy does that sound awkward in my head.

Anyways, Erin whistled quietly to Flip, getting his attention before he tromped over and plopped his fluffy, diaper-clad bum in front of where he sat. He seemed a little confused as to where Grayson had gone, but when Erin opened his cupped hands and showed him the mouse, he immediately pounced.

"Whoa!"

Erin jerked Gray up, lifting him over his head so that Flip couldn't get his paws on him... though the little pup was trying his best!

"Flip! Sit!"

He surprisingly did as told, but his eyes were glued to Erin's hands.

"Flip. This is Grayson."

Hearing Gray's name immediately had his ears perking up and head tilting sideways, confusion clear on the puppy's face. Erin slowly lowered his hands again and let Gray peek out from between his fingers a little.

"Flip. Grayson."

The pup leaned forward, sniffer going like crazy as he tried to figure out how the little mouse was suddenly Grayson.

"Can you be nice, Flip? He wants to play with you."

The word play made the pup jump back and give a little bow, diapered-bum wiggling happily in the air along with his tail. Erin chuckled and carefully set Gray down, watching very carefully as the two inched towards each other. Flip was crawling on his belly while Gray walked on his tip-toes... obviously trying to seem higher than two inches tall. It wasn't working.

When the two finally met, Gray got up on his hind legs and pressed his tiny front paws to Flip's nose while Flip sniffed Gray's, huge black nose to tiny pink one. It was probably one of the cutest things he'd ever seen... and then it just became absolutely hilarious when Flip jumped back, did a play bow and gave a little bark, then lifted one paw and swatted Gray's poor little face right down into the dirt.

Erin was seriously laughing his ass off, but he knew that it was wrong. His eyes were blurring over a little as he wiped at them and watched Flip nudge Gray, curious as to why he'd suddenly fallen over when he tried to play with him.

"You have to be gentle, Flip."

The pup looked up, then back down at Gray, who was now back on his feet and rubbing his head feverishly. Flip licked his nose and lifted a paw again, dangling it above Grayson's head. When the poor mouse finally looked up, the paw came down, bopping him for a second time into the dirt.

Well, at least it had been gentler?

Gentle my butt!

Erin smirked at Gray's response and licked his lips.

You liked it rough last time. I didn't think you wanted it gentle.

If a mouse could blush, he totally would be right then judging from the jumble or unintelligible words Erin could hear coming through their bond. While Grayson grumbled at him mentally, Erin watched as he got back up, shaking his head to clear it before looking up at Flip.

He's curious, but eh, he's not trying to attack you at least.

It was definitely turning out better than he had anticipated. Grayson's mouse nodded, but instead of trying to play again, he shifted back and scooped up a surprised Flip and hugged him to his chest.

"You're a little brat, but I still love you."

Grayson grinned and kissed Flip's head before setting the pup down. Erin took him shifting as a sign that it was time to eat and got busy unpacking their meal on the blanket. Grayson tugged on his boxers before digging into his food the second he got the lid off, and Flip literally dove into his... sauce and all.

At least he's dark enough so that we don't have to really worry about stains? And the orphanage can give him a bath.

He was a bit evil, but Flip always dove into his food so it was kind of foreseeable. Giving a quiet chuckle, he got his own food out and relaxed against the tree, eating as his eyes wandered over his hopefully, soon-to-be, family.