Back at the house, everyone began to play. Most of the dogs were playing "Tug Of War" or "Chase Me", but Michael sat on a lawn chair, drinking a can of Sprite. Then, Dimple came over to him with the puppy eyes. "What Dimple?" He asked. She tugged his joggers and urged him to play with her. "You want me to play with you? Mmm. Sorry Dimp. I'm not a dog, but if I was, I would definately play with you." Dimple howled loudly and fell down, crying. "SHHHH! SHHHHH! Dimple, stop! You're gonna get me in trouble!!" Michael warned. Dylan came running over and comforted Dimple and then said, "You should probally play with Dimple to cheer her up Mike. Or I would have no choice but to ground you." "WHAT?!" Michael cried. "I'm WAY older than you Dylan! What? Like maybe 121 in dog years, so you can't ground me." "Play with Dimple or I'll break you guitar in two!!" Michael gasped and got a MAJOR flashback to when his Mom yelled at him the same breaking threat before he left for London:
'NOW YOU BETTER BEHAVE SON!!!' She (his mom) yelled from the kitchen 'OR I WILL SMASH YOUR XBOXES AND YOUR VIYNLS TO PIECES!!' 'OK OK! GOD! SHEESH! STOP MAKING MY LIFE MISERABLE!!!' Michael yelled back. And he shut the door.
Back in reality, he then began to weep. "OH NO!" Dimple said, feeling much better. "Did Dylan give you Mom flashbacks?" He nodded while his head was in his arms. "Dylan!" "Wha-! Did his Mom threaten to break his things?!" "Y-y-yes!" Michael said. "WOW!" Dylan mouthed. "You best say sorry Dyl." Dolly said. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry Michael, ok?" Michael wiped his tears away. "Ok. Thanks Dyl." Michael picked Dimple and walked off. "Ok Dimp, what do we play?" He asked the puppy. "Um... how about "Chase Me?"" He set her down and dramatclly growled. Dimple ran off and Michael ran after her. After 6 minutes, he caught and and pretended to tie her up. "NOW! I MUST COOK THIS RASCAL FOR DINNER!!" He said, acting. After the game, Michael sat back in his lawn chair and took a big swig of Sprite. He then felt the fimiliar wetness of Da Vinci's paint stains on his hands. "Michael, me and you are gonna spend a whole day together, just me and you!" "Wha.." "Come on, it'll be fun!!" She said.
The first thing they did was paint things. Da Vinci painted a nice looking house, while Michael painted a horrible looking Da Vinci with him in his arms. He groaned in frustration and pounded his face. "I'M A TERRIBLE ARTIST!" He yelled. "Hey, it's ok." Da Vinci said in an understanding tone. "It doesen't matter, because it describes who you are. A struggling boy trying to find his place in the world." Michael breathed through his nose. "You pretty muched described me." She nodded and went back to painting. She then noticed his black, bruised right eye. His Mom slugged him there the day before he left for his "nasty mouth", but he was speaking the truth. He had said she was a "drunken animal", and then KAPOW! A blow to the eye with the belt. "Your eye Mike. How did you - (gasp) Did she..." He nodded. "Oh my God... Mike. If I would've known she treated you that bad, I would've called everyone here and... and..." She began to cry softly. "Aww. Come here Da Vinci." He said. He picked the painter Dalmatian pup up and brought her into a gentle hug. "Shhhhh... it's ok Da Vinci. I'm here. I'm ok now. She's gone now and she can't hurt me anymore." She hugged back tighter. "I can't imagine what you went through." "It was hell, but I somehow managed to survive." She smiled a little and her tail thumped against him happily.
The next thing was a quick race on NASCAR 15 on the Xbox 360. Michael was Jeb Burton and Da Vinci was Danica Patrick. It was a race at Talledega Speedway and it looked like Da Vinci was ahad of Michael by 12 cars. He was in 27th and DV was 14th. "Aww, come on! Move Allmendinger! I gotta get to Da Vinci! Oh foget it! SPIN YOU OUT!!!! BYE BYE SLOWPOKE!" On the screen, there was a caution with 2 laps to go. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" He screamed. "Caution!" Said Da Vinci. DJ came strolling in. "Oooh! NASCAR! You kicking Da Vinci's butt?" She slapped him playfully. "Ow." "No, she's kicking mine!" This caused Da Vinc to laugh. "Ya see? She's mocking me!" "Green flag!" And they raced off.
And when it was the final lap, they anaged to go 1 and 2 to the final corner. "GO! GO!!" DJ yelled. Michael got a run in the tri - oval and zoomed by her for the win of the Geico 500 at Talledega. "YES! YES! BURTON BABY!! IN YOUR FACE!!! WHOO!!!!" He playfully gloated. He danced around the room like he just won the Superbowl for the Jets. Da Vinci congratulated him with a big hearty lunch of steak, wedge fries and soda. He ate it and thanked her by giving her a great, big hug and a kiss to the cheek, causing her to blush red in embarrasment. He had joked that he should call her "Red Vinci". The parents also laughed at this and welcomed him in the family with a little puppy pile thanks to a "trigger word", a certain word they used to round the pups up. Michael said he would DEFINATELY enjoy Puppy Piles.
That night, he, Da Vinci and the rest of the pups all watched "Air Disasters" on TV again, then a few episodes of "SpongeBob" and then they headed upstairs for bed. They entered and all hopped in their puppy beds and Michael got in the master King sized bed. And the same pups lay in th bed with im, and here came Da Vinci, wrapping her arms around his neck and layed on his chest and snuggled her head in his neck, smiling like last night. "I love my life now." Michael mumbled to himself. He said, "Goodnight" to everyone and turned out the light. He heard their soft breathing a felt Da Vinci's tail thumping against him again. He chuckled softly and drifted off to sleep, only to dream and then, have a horrible nightmare...