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Some songs are for specific scenes, and some are just there to add to the tone of the story. I claim no ownership of any of these songs.\nChapter 8, in order:\n\n'Pawston At Sniffsmastime'\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjYZtK8mKukv]Icedream[/url] - Minnutes\n\n'What Sniffsmas Is All About'\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MwDDK3jodw]Glow[/url] - Eric Whitacre\n\n'A Puppy For Sniffsmas'\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvK1X9mvhY]At Last[/url] - Leftover Cuties\n\n'Merry Sniffsmas, Colby Barker'\n[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1inNGHln5g]You Got a Bike[/url] - Kate Micucci\n", "description_bbcode_parsed": "It's Colby's first Sniffsmas, and he wants to make it extra special for Cheddar Biscuit and the rest of the Barkers - but nothing seems to be going as planned.
(Also on AO3)

Each chapter has it's own "soundtrack"; these are completely optional to listen to, but I feel that these add to the experience as much of this story was partly inspired by music. Some songs are for specific scenes, and some are just there to add to the tone of the story. I claim no ownership of any of these songs.
Chapter 8, in order:

'Pawston At Sniffsmastime'
Icedream - Minnutes

'What Sniffsmas Is All About'
Glow - Eric Whitacre

'A Puppy For Sniffsmas'
At Last - Leftover Cuties

'Merry Sniffsmas, Colby Barker'
You Got a Bike - Kate Micucci
", "writing": " Over six months had passed since Colby’s birthday, and today was December 24th - Sniffsmas Eve. The umbrella-shaped trees were all covered in a thick fresh layer of glistening white snow, dogs were joyfully singing carols together in front of the giant Sniffsmas tree that overlooked Pawston as they warmed their paws with hot cups of apple cider and hot chocolate, and the entire town was overflowing with an abundance of magical Sniffsmas spirit.\n\n “...[i]There[/i], I think that should just about do it.”\n Colby spoke to himself proudly over the Sniffsmas music playing on the tennis ball-shaped radio as he slid the large turkey into the bottom oven before closing the door. “So that should take about… five hours to cook, give or take?” He looked around at the mess he had made in the kitchen before grabbing the cleaning supplies. This was his first Sniffsmas in Pawston - his first Sniffsmas [i]ever[/i], technically - and everything needed to be [i]perfect[/i]. His birthday party Cheddar had thrown for him had been so thoughtful, he figured that making a nice Sniffsmas Eve dinner was the very [i]least[/i] he could do for her and the rest of the Barkers while they were out getting last-minute presents. \n [i]‘Luckily, [/i][b][i]I[/i][/b][i] got everything I needed [/i][b][i]early[/i][/b][i].’[/i] He thought, remembering the box of his presents for the Barkers he’d hidden in the storage attic that he’d gotten months ago. Thankfully money was no object, since the concept of money didn’t even [i]exist[/i] in this world. He still didn’t understand the appeal of burying the presents in the snow and then digging them up rather than just placing them under the tree, but as it was clearly a ‘dog thing’, he knew it was something he was just going to have to get used to. \n “A dog thing…” Colby mumbled, stopping in place as he sprayed cleaning fluid onto the countertop. Sometimes, he still forgot that he was a dog now. The reality sank in that this would be the first time he’d be celebrating the holidays without his old family and friends back home - the one this version of him had to leave behind forever. Faint memories of old times flashed vividly in his mind, reminding him that he’d never get to see their faces again. No photos, no mementos, nothing but his distant memories from lifetimes ago. \n Colby shook his head as he snapped out of his temporary existential crisis, continuing to distract himself by spraying the messy countertop. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now, so why waste his emotions on things out of his control? The Barkers had graciously accepted him as one of their own; [i]they[/i] were his family now, and there was nothing else to it. \n “I should get their presents from upstairs…” The yellow Labrador said to no one but himself once he finished cleaning the kitchen. He’d gotten into the habit of talking to himself when no one was around. It helped him not feel so… alone.\n \n When he made his way upstairs, Colby flicked the light switch to the attic on the third floor. However, it was still fairly dark; the light wasn’t working. \n “Dang…” he whispered, stacking a few sturdy boxes to reach the bulb on the ceiling. He [i]could [/i]use his plasma abilities to illuminate the room, but he preferred to avoid using them on trivial things like this as much as possible. It was dangerous, after all.\n Colby checked the bulb, but it didn’t seem broken. Rolling his eyes, he went all the way back downstairs to the first floor to grab a spare bulb from a box in the garage.\n He went back up the two flights of stairs, replacing the bulb. But still… nothing. \nThe yellow Labrador then went back downstairs [i]again[/i], entering the laundry room where the circuit-breaker was and opening the panel to check the switch positions. Except, he soon realized that they weren’t switches at all - they were [i]buttons[/i].\n “Dammit, I can’t understand [i]any[/i] of these.” Colby squinted at the illegibly scribbled writing on each of them, assuming they must’ve been written by Marge based on the handwriting. “Is it… [i]this[/i] one?” He pressed a button that looked like it might’ve said ‘attic’, and it suddenly began to flash a red light several times before turning green and then off again. \n “Green means ‘go’…” He groaned sarcastically to himself before going back upstairs, flipping the switch again. Nothing.\n “Ugh, come [i]on![/i]” Colby was becoming increasingly-frustrated with this damn light, heading back downstairs for the third time in a row. \n “[i]This[/i] one, this [i]has[/i] to be the one.” Colby pressed another button; just like the other, it flashed red before lighting green and then turning off. \n Going back upstairs one more time, Colby let out a sigh of relief.\n [i]“Finally.”[/i] He praised the heavens as the glorious light above was finally on. “Okay, so where’s that box…”\n The more Colby checked every box from every angle, the more he began to worry. He could have sworn he labeled a box ‘PRESENTS’ in big black bold lettering. It’d be hard to miss. It [i]had[/i] to be here, [i]somewhere[/i]. \n “Don’t do this to me… where the heck are you…” He sighed as he kept looking… and looking… and looking. Before long, he’d checked inside every single one of the many boxes in the small attic. “Maybe someone in the family knows where it went.”\n\n The Barkers were all walking out of the Pawston Mall together with bags in each of their paws, filled to the brim with everything they’d planned for the gift-giving tomorrow. Cheddar Biscuit was the first to notice as a familiar red and orange car drove through the barking lot towards them before parking in the nearest spot, the brown-haired yellow dog inside jumping out and approaching them at a hurried pace with a slight look of nervous panic in his eyes. \n “H-hey Cheddar, everyone. Did any of you happen to see a specific box in the attic earlier? With a big label written in marker that said ‘presents’ on it?” Colby mimed the shape of a big box with his paws as he asked, to which Cheddar Biscuit set down her bags and ‘grabbed’ it instinctively to examine the invisible object closer. \n “[i]Ohhh no.[/i]” Maw sighed with a look of regret. “That was your box of presents for [i]us[/i], [i]wasn’t[/i] it?”\n “Yeah, why? Do you know what happened to it?” Colby said with a growing look of concern as he got a bad feeling from the tone of his adoptive-mother’s voice.\n “I’m so sorry Colby, I thought that was the box for ‘Presents for Pups’ and I sort of… donated it last week. We make a donation every year.” Maw’s shoulders slumped, and not because of the weight of the bags in her paws. \n [i]‘Shit.’[/i] Colby said in his head. He was undoubtedly disappointed to hear this news, but he could hardly bring himself to ever be [i]angry[/i] at Maw. He just wanted this Snifffsmas to be [i]perfect[/i], and he’d feel terrible if everyone got him something while he had [i]nothing[/i] to give them in return.\n “Oh, that’s okay Maw, it was for a good cause, after all. I’ll just… get new presents at the mall. No need to worry!” Colby smiled weakly as he glanced at the mall behind them, though inside he was still in full panic-mode. Today was Sniffsmas Eve, and he had to hurry fast if he wanted to get everything back he had lost. With everything being free in this world, there was no [i]telling[/i] how fast supplies would run out. \n “I’ll go with you, Colby.” Cheddar picked up her bags again. “I feel like I haven’t seen my sweet boyfriend-brother [i]all day[/i].” She stepped closer to him, standing on her tiptoes and affectionately pressing her cold wet nose up against his with a tender smile.\n “Thanks, Cheddar.” Colby replied, feeling a little better that she’d be with him. He hated being alone. “Maaaybe don’t call me your ‘boyfriend-brother’, though...” He muttered in embarrassment before they walked into the mall together as the rest of the family continued to their respective cars. He spoke again once quietly once they were out of earshot.\n “...Not in [i]public[/i], anyway.”\n\n “Sold-out.”\n “[i]Sold-out.[/i]”\n “[b][i]Sold-out.[/i][/b] You’ve gotta be [i]kidding[/i] me.”\n Colby pressed his forehead against the empty shelf in utter disappointment. After over an hour of searching, [i]nothing[/i] he had gotten for the Barkers was still left in stock. He had put so much thought and care into them, too. Not the new motorcycle helmet for Grandmaw, the foot-massager for Grandpaw, the blimp-shaped kite for Maw, the set of multicolored drumsticks for Paw, the magnetic gloves for Spike, the miniature vault for Gilber, the ‘Sam Whippet Racer 8000’ for Tag, the vaguely-familiar blue dog plush for Yip, and the ukulele for Cheddar Biscuit with primary colors that perfectly matched her bowtie. None of it.\n “It’s okay, Colby.” Cheddar placed a paw on his shoulder. “You really don’t [i]have[/i] to get us anything.”\n “Of [i]course[/i] I do!” Colby slightly raised his voice in frustration as he turned to her, but instantly calmed himself when he saw the stunned look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m just a little upset at this whole situation, not at you or Maw. You’ve all done so much for me, and I just want to make this Sniffsmas perfect for all of you.” He held her much smaller paws in his. “I’ll just have to find something else to get you all. You go ahead and join the rest of the family at the… where are we meeting up again?”\n “Well, they should be at the ice rink right now, and then later tonight we’re all going to see the lighting of the Sniffsmas tree at the town center. But Colby, I really think you should just-”\n “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I have to get something for you too anyway, so I don’t want you to see it when I do. You go and have fun ice-skating with the family, take the car and I’ll meet you there as soon as I can. If I don’t see you there, I’ll meet you at the tree tonight.” Colby barely gave her time to speak, giving her a quick kiss on her canine lips before he hurriedly ran to another store to find something decent. “I love you, Cheddar Biscuit!”\n “I love you too, Colby…” Cheddar said to herself with a sigh as she stood alone in the store, picking up her bags before she reluctantly left for the car.\n\n “Presents… presents…” Colby mumbled to himself as he scanned the rows upon rows of aisles. Being that it was now well into the afternoon, pickings were clearly getting slim. It still needed to be something with some thought put into it, otherwise it would just seem like he just lazily picked something random off the shelf that they wouldn’t even [i]use[/i]. But no matter how many shelves he went through, he could never find anything that seemed[i] just right.[/i] \n “I guess I could [i]make[/i] them presents…” The yellow dog suddenly remembered; after all, back in the old days, [i]most[/i] gifts were hand-made. “But then, what would I make?” \n He thought about it for a while, weighing all the different options. \n [i]‘Pretty much every dog loves bones, balls… and cars.’[/i] He pondered as he looked through the shelves of crafting supplies. [i]‘But there’s no way I can make all of them an actual car like Cheddar made for me… Maybe a model car, then?’[/i]\n No model cars in stock. Of [i]course[/i] there weren’t. But it was then that Colby noticed there was still plenty of paint and modeling clay left.\n ‘Yeah… yeah, that could work.’\n It would take him time to build them, but it would have to do. It was at least [i]something[/i] to give his family tomorrow, and it had some thought put into it. That was the important thing. \n With his mind made up, Colby grabbed as much of the paint and modeling clay as he figured he would need - plus a little extra in case he made mistakes - and returned home in a rush, having only a limited time to make all nine presents.\n\n Once he returned home, Colby immediately got to work. He’d remembered the basic details of all of the Barkers’ favorite vehicles by heart - Grandpaw’s green tow-truck, Grandmaw’s yellow motorcycle, Yip’s purple tricycle, Maw’s yellow blimp, Gilber’s red buggy, Paw’s yellow car, Spike’s moon-rover, Tag’s purple and yellow motor-scooter, and Cheddar Biscuit’s multicolored unicycle with the white flower protruding from the back. He wasn’t an [i]expert[/i] with clay by any means, but the crudely shaped figurines had some level of quality to them - at least enough that they were recognizable as the vehicles they were meant to be. Colby even had enough clay left over to make small simplistic versions of each of the family members to put inside them. The more he looked at the lumpy model versions of his family, the sillier and more childish he felt; it certainly wasn’t his [i]ideal[/i] idea for gifts, but what other choice did he have? Give them [i]nothing[/i]?\n By the time he had finally finished, the sun had long since set over the horizon. It was only five o’clock, but with the cold winter months came much longer nights. \n “I should probably check on the turkey now.” Colby told himself, reminded by the time as he looked at the clock on the living room wall. “It should be done pretty soon.”\n When he entered the kitchen, he noticed something… odd. Surely, he would have been able to smell the turkey cooking by [i]now[/i]. His nose wasn’t quite as sensitive as most other dogs’ naturally acute sense of smell, but it was still much better than it ever was back when he was a human. \n When Colby glanced at the oven clock, a horrible realization set in. It was repeatedly blinking 00:00 in red lights. \n “Nonononononono…” He opened the oven door, his Sniffsmas spirit feeling completely broken as he looked at the turkey inside.\n It was still completely [i]raw[/i]. \n “FUCKING [i]DAMN IT![/i]” He slammed the door shut again in frustration, his back slumping against the cold oven in exasperation and defeat. Colby soon realized that while he was fiddling with the circuit breaker buttons earlier, he had unknowingly reset the power in the kitchen; not long after starting to cook the turkey, he had accidentally turned the oven off by pressing the incorrect button the first time. \n He felt like he wanted to cry, though no tears would come out. [i]‘I told them I had it covered…’[/i] Colby silently cursed himself, rolling onto his side in a fetal position. [i]‘I told them “I cOuLd Do iT, nO PrObLeM”… and now there’s [/i][i][b]no[/b][/i][i] turkey for dinner, and I’m giving them all fucking [/i][i][b]kindergarten art-projects[/b][/i][i] as presents.’ [/i]\n “...I’m so [i]useless…[/i]”\n “Don’t you [i]ever[/i] say that again, Colby Barker.”\n Colby looked up in surprise at the voice coming from the kitchen doorway to find Cheddar Biscuit standing there.\n “Cheddar? What are you doing here? …How much did you hear?” Colby stood up again, dusting the bits of stray fur and kitchen floor crumbs off his body. “I thought you were at the ice rink.”\n “We were, for a [i]while[/i]. And then we went to see the lighting of the tree, but we never saw you there, so I figured you might be here.” Cheddar held Colby’s paws in hers. “ I got here right when I heard you say something like ‘fucking damn it’ from outside the house.”\n Colby looked back at the oven, disheartened.\n “I’m so sorry, Cheddar, I messed everything up. The turkey, it’s…”\n “[i]Just[/i] a turkey.” Cheddar Biscuit stood on her tiptoes, planting a soft kiss on Colby’s lips. “It’s just a turkey, Colby. And trust me, no matter how bad you think [i]this[/i] is, I guarantee that you’re a [i]way[/i] better cook than me. This one time, I was supposed to make ‘nachos on a stick’ for one of our Barker family ‘Bring-Your-Own-Bowl’ dinners. It’s [i]supposed[/i] to have taco meat wrapped in a crumbled tortilla and deep-fried, like a corndog. But the thing is, I sorta took the name a little [i]too[/i] literally and just jammed the wooden skewers through a bunch of nacho chips.” She chuckled at herself, thinking back on how embarrassed she felt as well when she saw the family’s confused expressions. “So yeah, needless to say, cooking is [i]not[/i] one of my strong suits.”\n “But it’s not just the turkey…” Colby continued, her anecdote not making him feel any better. “I wasn’t able to find much at the mall, just a bunch of clay. So I tried [i]making[/i] some presents for you all out of it, but now it just feels kind of embarrassing to think about, and…”\n “It doesn’t matter how perfect everything is, you should know we’ll all love it anyway. Because it’s something from your heart.” Cheddar moved her paws up to her boyfriend’s cheeks, desperate to get it into his stubborn head. “What matters is that you [i]thought[/i] of us. Don’t you know the old saying, ‘it’s the thought that counts’?”\n “Yeah, but still… I just… wanted to make this a perfect Sniffsmas. For all of [i]you[/i].” Colby’s eyes began to water, still feeling like he had ruined everything. “You’ve all done so much for me, so I wanted to do something to make this Sniffsmas special for everyone.”\n “We all really missed you today, you know.” The little white dog reminded him. “[i]I[/i] missed you. I really wanted to go ice-skating with you, but you were so focused on getting us ‘the perfect presents’ that you didn’t really seem to care about anything else.”\n Colby was silent, looking down in shame and reflecting on how this day had gone; he wished he could have done things differently. \n “Come on, I wanna show you something.” Cheddar said as she held Colby’s paw, leading him out of the house and to the car. \n\n Snow had begun to gently fall as they reached the giant Sniffsmas tree in the center of town, which warmly illuminated the night with the breathtaking glow of thousands of dazzling rainbow-colored lights amidst the personalized ornaments placed by the citizens of Pawston. Every other dog in town was now gathered around it, admiring the beautiful sight and reveling in the sense of magical Sniffsmas spirit that it gave them. Cheddar led Colby to where the rest of the family was, bringing him up close to the tree as she pointed out a specific ornament hanging from a low branch. \n \t“[i]This[/i] is what Sniffsmas is all about, Colby.”\n \tColby lifted the ornament up with his paw, looking closer to see what it was - a miniature drawn diorama of the whole Barker family inside of the glass ball. And at the front and center of them all was the Barker family’s newest member, surrounded by the ones who loved him.\n “Family.” Colby whispered as tears began welling up in his eyes, feeling like a complete fool for focusing too much on all the wrong things. \n “Exactly.” Cheddar Biscuit nodded. “We don’t [i]need[/i] a turkey dinner or fancy presents. What we need is [i]you[/i], Colby. You’re a part of our family. So don’t [i]ever[/i] think you’re useless.” She hugged him from the side, leaning her body against his; Colby noticed how, even in the night winter air, Cheddar felt especially warm tonight. “You’re the best present I could have ever gotten. I have all I could ever need right here.”\n\t “You’re all I need too, Cheddar…” Colby rested his cheek on her head as they looked at the ornament together, the soft snow gently tickling his fur.\n Cheddar took Colby by the paw with a smile, leading him back to the rest of their loving family in the crowd.\n\n “Do you still… miss them? Your old family?” Cheddar asked out of the blue after some time had passed as they continued to look up at the tree.\n “...Of course I do. I’ll always miss them. I think this… is the time of year I’ll miss them the most.” Colby sniffled. “But [i]you’re[/i] my family now. You, and [i]all[/i] of the Barkers. And that’s all there is to it.”\n They stood silently together for a few moments as they held each other’s paws, the beautiful powdered snow. Cheddar looked down at her stomach, holding her little paw against it and slowly rubbing it up and down. Her grip on his paw tightened as her heart began to beat faster. \n [i]‘Family…’[/i]\n “Y’know… Colby…” The little white Beagador began to blush as she looked up at him at her side. “I’ve thought of… something [i]else[/i] you can give me for Sniffsmas.” \n “Hm?” He looked down at her, wondering what she could possibly have in mind. Licking her dry lips before leaning up and lifting his floppy brown ear, Cheddar whispered something into it.\n\n “A puppy? But where am I gonna get a-” It took Colby a second to understand exactly what Cheddar Biscuit had actually meant. “Oh. [i]Oh[/i]. [i][b]OH.[/b][/i]”\n The rest of the Barkers and a few other dogs nearby glanced at him the louder he spoke. \n “Sorry, sorry.” Colby apologized before bringing his voice back down to a secretive whisper as he leaned in closer to her. “Cheddar Biscuit… are you… [i]serious?[/i]”\n Cheddar only nodded, the radiant light of the Sniffsmas tree making her appear to be glowing as the fluffy white snow fell softly on her equally white fur. \n “You’re… absolutely [i]sure[/i] this is something you really want?” Colby’s head began to feel like it was suddenly spinning the more the idea really set in. Truthfully, his mind had hardly even crossed the [i]notion[/i] of starting a family with Cheddar. Not to say he was against it; in fact, it was quite the opposite. \n Cheddar nodded once again, hardly able to contain her eager smile. They could each feel the subtle shivering in the other’s paw, and it wasn’t from the cold. \n Colby said nothing, but held her trembling paws in his with a nervous smile on his blushing face; after a few moments to think about it, he gave her a subtle nod in return.\n “Hey, Mom?” Cheddar Biscuit looked over to her mother standing beside her. “Colby and I are gonna head back now. There was a slight mishap with the turkey, so I’m gonna go help him get something else ready for dinner. And we’re gonna put [i]buns[/i] in the [i]oven[/i].” She quickly came up with an excuse that would discreetly give Maw the hint that they needed some time alone together.\n “Oh, okay sweetie. The Pooches invited us over for eggnog after the Barkapellas’ Sniffsmas concert, so take [i]all[/i] the time you need.” When Maw turned her head, Colby could have sworn that she gave him a subtle wink. With that, Cheddar enthusiastically dragged Colby by the paw to the car, and they returned home. \n\n It was decided that it would be pizza for dinner. It wasn’t anything fancy, but [i]everyone[/i] loves pizza, so it was just as good a choice as any turkey. They had pizzas in the freezer, but they decided instead to make a fresh home-made pizza from scratch. Cheddar wasn’t much of a cook on her own, but with her and Colby working together side by side, they had made a delicious looking six-meat pizza - pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, steak, and kibble. Colby didn’t mind the addition of kibble; in fact, he had grown to enjoy it during his time as a dog. Once all the other side-dishes had been cooked to go along with it and Colby carefully wrapped his clay model gifts for the family before burying them under the snow in the yard, he and Cheddar finally went upstairs to form the ultimate union of love.\n \n The bedroom looked a little different now than it did six months ago. The shared family bed was still the same, as there wasn’t much space to make it even longer; however, Colby had been given his own twin-size bed added to the far corner of the room to share with Cheddar, who had spent nearly every night prior sleeping on top of the headboard. It wasn’t exactly the [i]roomiest[/i] mattress, but it was just about as much space as the [i]rest[/i] of the family had to sleep. And with Cheddar Biscuit snuggled so closely to him every night, Colby never minded in the slightest.\n Colby’s heart began racing as Cheddar led him to their bed, the moment finally imminent. The little white Beagador sat on the edge of the mattress, giving him a seductive look as she opened her legs.\n “This is a [i]big[/i] decision, you know.” Colby leaned towards her, resting his shaking paws on the mattress on each side of her hips as he inched his face tantalizingly close to hers. “Are you sure you’re ready? If we do this… there’s no going back.”\n “You’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, Colby.” Cheddar brought her paws up to her boyfriend’s chest, sliding her paws down his fur. “There’s no one else in this world but you for me. I know I want a family, my [i]own[/i] family… with you.”\n “I feel the same way about you, Cheddar Biscuit…” Colby reached his arm behind his back, pulling out something small. “I was… trying to think of a good time to give this to you, but I guess now seems like as good a time as any…” He opened his paw, revealing a small band of steel big enough for Cheddar’s finger. \n “Thanks, Colby!” Cheddar Biscuit was grateful for the gift, but looked a little confused as she took the piece of metal from his paw. “...What [i]is[/i] it?”\n “It’s a ring.” Colby replied with a raised eyebrow, unsure what was so confusing about it.\n “...What do I [i]do[/i] with it?” she asked curiously, examining it closer at multiple angles. “Is it like for one of those ring-toss games at the Amusement Bark?”\n “...I guess you don’t really do rings here, huh?” \n Cheddar shook her head.\n [i]‘So [/i][i][b]that’s[/b][/i][i] why I couldn’t find rings anywhere.’[/i] Colby realized, having needed to make this ring himself using tools in the garage.\n “Well… where I’m from, people usually give someone a ring when they ask them to…” Colby swallowed anxiously, his voice lowering. “...marry them.”\n Cheddar Biscuit gasped; her soft white fur could be seen spiking up her entire body as she felt a shockwave of goosebumps at those words. That day she had first met him felt like it was only yesterday, but after spending every day with him for the last seven months, she felt like she had known him her entire life. \n “...And if they say ‘yes’, they… put it on their finger.” Colby continued shyly, hoping she would say yes. \n Cheddar immediately slid it on her index finger. \n “...It’s a perfect fit.” She whimpered, suddenly started to become visibly jittery with the hair on her back raising up. She got on all fours, sprinting around the bedroom and constantly spinning in circles as fast as she could the entire time. Colby simply looked on with a smile of amusement at her canine disposition as Cheddar Biscuit was barking like crazy and practically bouncing off the walls in what is commonly known to most as \"the zoomies\". Without even slowing her momentum when she knocked over the bedside lamp, she threw herself into Colby’s arms as tears of joy suddenly burst out of her. “Yes, yes, [i]yes![/i] Of [i]course[/i] I’ll marry you, Colby!” \n They held each other tenderly for a few minutes more until Cheddar finally spoke again after regaining her breath from all the overexcitement, both of them wiping their tears of joy.\n\n “Now… let’s make the Barker family a little [i]bigger~[/i]”\n\n Cheddar Biscuit ripped off her bowtie collar before pulling her future husband on top of her as she laid down on the bed, an airy giggle escaping her lungs as Colby began to kiss her neck. With each kiss, his lips slowly moved down to her chest, then her stomach, and finally between her legs as her giggles progressively turned into moans. He held his fiancé’s little legs up with his paws as he helped himself to her flavor, pressing his nose into her as he did and savoring the sweet aroma of her wonderful white fur as he inhaled. The yellow Labrador’s excitement was quickly becoming visibly apparent with each passing second of pleasuring Cheddar with his tongue, her whines of ecstasy like music to his ears as her hips suddenly lifted up involuntarily against his muzzle. \n Cheddar’s wagging tail swished back and forth rapidly against the sheets as her legs began to quiver and shake from Colby’s touch, turning her head and biting down on her thumb bashfully as her eyes rolled into the top of her head. She ran her other paw through the brown hair on top of Colby’s head, tightly gripping the strands between her fingers as she felt a tingling pressure building at the base of her spine. \n “C-Colby, stop-!” Her eyes widened, and he pulled himself away immediately.\n “Is everything okay?” Colby asked, thinking he might’ve done something wrong.\n “Yeah… yeah…” Cheddar Biscuit panted with a smile, flipping over onto her stomach before giving him a kiss. “It’s just [i]my[/i] turn, that’s all.”\n Understanding what she wanted, Colby knelt upright on the bed. With her prize right in front of her, Cheddar leaned in and reveled in her beloved yellow Lab’s strong natural scent as she passionately pressed her nose firmly against his puppy-maker before beginning to instinctively sniff him. From her hypersensitive dog-nose, she could immediately tell just how pent-up he was; Colby was definitely ready… and [i]potent[/i]. He rested his paw on the top of her head when he let out a quiet groan, the sound of his voice permeating the quiet stillness of the dark bedroom as Cheddar Biscuit’s warm breath gently blew against him when she began dragging her tongue lustily upwards. Bringing his other paw to Cheddar’s sensitivity, Colby gasped out as he felt himself enter Cheddar’s mouth entirely.\n Being the dog that she was, she never [i]could[/i] resist the taste of such a delicious bone. \n “[b][i]Ah![/i][/b] Did you just… [i]bite[/i] me?” Colby yelped in surprise.\n “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Cheddar Biscuit apologized profusely, pulling back. “I hope I didn’t hurt you, I just couldn't… resist. I didn’t mean to…”\n “I-it’s okay.” Colby pet the top of her head with his palm letting out an awkward chuckle. “It… actually kinda felt good, in a weird way. It just surprised me, is all. You can do it again if you really want, just… gently, please.”\n “O-okay.” Cheddar sighed in relief before resuming, lightly clamping and grinding her teeth down as her tongue took care of the rest. \n It wasn’t long of Cheddar’s stimulation before Colby finally pulled himself back as well, a deep blush on his face as it bore an expression of pure lust unfamiliar to the little clown-dog. \n “Lay back,” he demanded, encouraging her by grabbing her smaller body in his arms and gently leaning her onto her back himself. Cheddar Biscuit felt her heart racing faster as he showed her this assertive side of himself; she wasn’t sure why, but something deep inside her canine brain [i]loved[/i] obeying his commands. Being subservient to him. Obedient.\n “Who’s a good girl…” Colby huffed with a lick of his lips as he spread her legs without even thinking twice about it, ready to bury his bone in the hole presented before him. “...[i]Who’s[/i] a good girl?” \n “M-[i]me[/i]…” Cheddar’s tail whipped furiously from side to side, her dog-like panting becoming heavier as she felt a yearning ache between her thighs. She needed to [i]breed.[/i] “[i]I’m[/i] a good girl… [i]I’m[/i] a good girl…”\n “Yes you are… my hot little Biscuit…” Colby inched his hips forward slightly as he seductively called her by his dirty nickname for her, loving these pet-and-master roles they were playing. “You’re such… a good… [i]girl[/i].” With one more thrust, he grunted as he entered her completely. \n From there, Colby simply let his body take control. For a while, everything felt like a passionate blur of touches, kisses, whispers, and soft laughs of pleasure as fur rubbed against fur. Whatever he wanted, she gave it. Whatever he needed, he took. Now wasn’t the time for second thoughts or what-ifs; all that mattered right now was their love. Colby imagined how beautiful Cheddar Biscuit would look with a round pregnant belly as she bore their child, and what that future puppy might look like. Would it be white yet colorful like Cheddar? Or simple and yellow like him? Would they have a son or a daughter? Regardless, he would give them all the love in the universe he could possibly offer, and [i]then[/i] some. Colby knew deep in his heart that this was a decision he wouldn’t ever regret. He was ready. \n \"You're definitely receptive tonight. I can... [b]smell[/b] it.\" Colby grunted deeply with each motion of his hips, a hint of a wildness in his eyes as he found himself salivating. Thanks to his newly-heightened sense of canine smell, he was being overwhelmed with the intoxicating scent of Cheddar Biscuit's pheromones. \"I'm so ready to put a puppy in you...\"\n “I- I’m getting… I’m getting close~!” Cheddar Biscuit gasped between loud breathy moans, gripping the pillow under her head as Colby’s pace got faster within her.\n “Me… me too~!” \n Not holding anything back anymore, Colby locked himself firmly inside Cheddar with no way out. And with a little luck, they would soon be parents. \n “Colby~” Cheddar cooed, pulling Colby’s head closer to hers; she was now completely [i]drunk[/i] with lust. “I want you to put a [i]litter[/i] in me! Pump me full of your puppies!” Clenching tightly onto him as she wrapped her arms and legs around the love of her life, she locked her lips fiercely against his in quite possibly their most passionate kiss yet.\n In that exact moment, Colby’s body stiffened and spasmed in their embrace. He gave her exactly what she wanted.\n And now, all they could do was wait. \n\n After cleaning themselves up, Colby and Cheddar met the rest of the family at the Pooches’ house for eggnog; when they returned home, the Barkers all had their family dinner of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, stuffing, buns… and pizza. \n And everyone loved it. \n “By the way, Colby…” Cheddar asked once she swallowed her bite of six-meat pizza, “What did [i]you[/i] ask Sandra Paws for for Sniffsmas? You never told us.”\n \tColby paused for a moment before he leaned in to quietly ask her a question - for the sake of the younger ones in the room.\n “Just to be sure, is this ‘Sandra Paws’ real? Like [i]really[/i] real?”\n “Oh yeah, of course she’s real!” Cheddar Biscuit replied without a hint of sarcasm. “Tag helped her save Sniffsmas one year.”\n “Ah, right. Makes perfect sense.” Colby said with a smirk before taking a minute to think about what he would want. “...You know what? I have everything I could ever want right here.” He looked at Cheddar, then across the table to the rest of his family. “Just being with all of you is more than enough for me. But I guess if there’s anything I’d want to ask Sandra Paws for, it’d be for you all to still get the presents I had gotten for you in the first place. That’s all I’d really want.”\n\n\n Sniffsmas Eve night came and went, and Sniffsmas morning arrived shortly after. Tag was insistent to wake everyone up bright and early, of course. But on Sniffsmas, everyone was just as excited as her. They all rushed outside to dig up their gifts from each other; just as Cheddar had said, the whole family genuinely [i]loved[/i] Colby’s thoughtful clay models of them and their vehicles. \n \tOnce presents were all exchanged, the family all opened up their gifts left by Sandra Paws saved for last. But it was then that the Barkers noticed something was [i]different[/i] this year. Instead of just [i]one[/i] gift, there were now [i]two[/i] - the second of which had shiny gold wrapping paper. Not only had they all gotten the gifts they’d asked Sandra for, but there was also a new motorcycle helmet for Grandmaw, a foot-massager for Grandpaw, a blimp-shaped kite for Maw, a set of multicolored drumsticks for Paw, magnetic gloves for Spike, a miniature vault for Gilber, a ‘Sam Whippet Racer 8000’ for Tag, a square blue dog plush for Yip, and a ukulele for Cheddar Biscuit with colors that perfectly matched her bowtie.\n “It looks like there’s something here for you too, Colby.”\n Cheddar Biscuit handed him a small gold envelope she had dug up with his name written on it. He opened the fold, pulling out a small card with an ornate golden design and opening it. \n\n [i]“Across dimensions, your hearts intertwine. A family's love transcends all space and time. Merry Sniffsmas!”\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- S. P.[/i]\n\n Included in the card was an old photo of himself, back when he was human, alongside his old family. \n This is…” Cheddar Biscuit began to speak as she looked at the photo beside Colby, who was even more surprised than she was. He gazed up at the delicately falling snow with a smile on his face. \n\t\n “The perfect Sniffsmas.”", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "           Over six months had passed since Colby’s birthday, and today was December 24th - Sniffsmas Eve. The umbrella-shaped trees were all covered in a thick fresh layer of glistening white snow, dogs were joyfully singing carols together in front of the giant Sniffsmas tree that overlooked Pawston as they warmed their paws with hot cups of apple cider and hot chocolate, and the entire town was overflowing with an abundance of magical Sniffsmas spirit.

           “...There, I think that should just about do it.”
           Colby spoke to himself proudly over the Sniffsmas music playing on the tennis ball-shaped radio as he slid the large turkey into the bottom oven before closing the door. “So that should take about… five hours to cook, give or take?” He looked around at the mess he had made in the kitchen before grabbing the cleaning supplies. This was his first Sniffsmas in Pawston - his first Sniffsmas ever, technically - and everything needed to be perfect. His birthday party Cheddar had thrown for him had been so thoughtful, he figured that making a nice Sniffsmas Eve dinner was the very least he could do for her and the rest of the Barkers while they were out getting last-minute presents.
           ‘Luckily, I got everything I needed early.’ He thought, remembering the box of his presents for the Barkers he’d hidden in the storage attic that he’d gotten months ago. Thankfully money was no object, since the concept of money didn’t even exist in this world. He still didn’t understand the appeal of burying the presents in the snow and then digging them up rather than just placing them under the tree, but as it was clearly a ‘dog thing’, he knew it was something he was just going to have to get used to.
           “A dog thing…” Colby mumbled, stopping in place as he sprayed cleaning fluid onto the countertop. Sometimes, he still forgot that he was a dog now. The reality sank in that this would be the first time he’d be celebrating the holidays without his old family and friends back home - the one this version of him had to leave behind forever. Faint memories of old times flashed vividly in his mind, reminding him that he’d never get to see their faces again. No photos, no mementos, nothing but his distant memories from lifetimes ago.
           Colby shook his head as he snapped out of his temporary existential crisis, continuing to distract himself by spraying the messy countertop. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now, so why waste his emotions on things out of his control? The Barkers had graciously accepted him as one of their own; they were his family now, and there was nothing else to it.  
           “I should get their presents from upstairs…” The yellow Labrador said to no one but himself once he finished cleaning the kitchen. He’d gotten into the habit of talking to himself when no one was around. It helped him not feel so… alone.
          
           When he made his way upstairs, Colby flicked the light switch to the attic on the third floor. However, it was still fairly dark; the light wasn’t working.
           “Dang…” he whispered, stacking a few sturdy boxes to reach the bulb on the ceiling. He could use his plasma abilities to illuminate the room, but he preferred to avoid using them on trivial things like this as much as possible. It was dangerous, after all.
           Colby checked the bulb, but it didn’t seem broken. Rolling his eyes, he went all the way back downstairs to the first floor to grab a spare bulb from a box in the garage.
           He went back up the two flights of stairs, replacing the bulb. But still… nothing.
The yellow Labrador then went back downstairs again, entering the laundry room where the circuit-breaker was and opening the panel to check the switch positions. Except, he soon realized that they weren’t switches at all - they were buttons.
           “Dammit, I can’t understand any of these.” Colby squinted at the illegibly scribbled writing on each of them, assuming they must’ve been written by Marge based on the handwriting. “Is it… this one?” He pressed a button that looked like it might’ve said ‘attic’, and it suddenly began to flash a red light several times before turning green and then off again.
           “Green means ‘go’…” He groaned sarcastically to himself before going back upstairs, flipping the switch again. Nothing.
           “Ugh, come on!” Colby was becoming increasingly-frustrated with this damn light, heading back downstairs for the third time in a row.
           “This one, this has to be the one.” Colby pressed another button; just like the other, it flashed red before lighting green and then turning off.
           Going back upstairs one more time, Colby let out a sigh of relief.
           “Finally.” He praised the heavens as the glorious light above was finally on. “Okay, so where’s that box…”
           The more Colby checked every box from every angle, the more he began to worry. He could have sworn he labeled a box ‘PRESENTS’ in big black bold lettering. It’d be hard to miss. It had to be here, somewhere.
           “Don’t do this to me… where the heck are you…” He sighed as he kept looking… and looking… and looking. Before long, he’d checked inside every single one of the many boxes in the small attic. “Maybe someone in the family knows where it went.”

           The Barkers were all walking out of the Pawston Mall together with bags in each of their paws, filled to the brim with everything they’d planned for the gift-giving tomorrow. Cheddar Biscuit was the first to notice as a familiar red and orange car drove through the barking lot towards them before parking in the nearest spot, the brown-haired yellow dog inside jumping out and approaching them at a hurried pace with a slight look of nervous panic in his eyes.
           “H-hey Cheddar, everyone. Did any of you happen to see a specific box in the attic earlier? With a big label written in marker that said ‘presents’ on it?” Colby mimed the shape of a big box with his paws as he asked, to which Cheddar Biscuit set down her bags and ‘grabbed’ it instinctively to examine the invisible object closer.
           “Ohhh no.” Maw sighed with a look of regret. “That was your box of presents for us, wasn’t it?”
           “Yeah, why? Do you know what happened to it?” Colby said with a growing look of concern as he got a bad feeling from the tone of his adoptive-mother’s voice.
           “I’m so sorry Colby, I thought that was the box for ‘Presents for Pups’ and I sort of… donated it last week. We make a donation every year.” Maw’s shoulders slumped, and not because of the weight of the bags in her paws.
           ‘Shit.’ Colby said in his head. He was undoubtedly disappointed to hear this news, but he could hardly bring himself to ever be angry at Maw. He just wanted this Snifffsmas to be perfect, and he’d feel terrible if everyone got him something while he had nothing to give them in return.
           “Oh, that’s okay Maw, it was for a good cause, after all. I’ll just… get new presents at the mall. No need to worry!” Colby smiled weakly as he glanced at the mall behind them, though inside he was still in full panic-mode. Today was Sniffsmas Eve, and he had to hurry fast if he wanted to get everything back he had lost. With everything being free in this world, there was no telling how fast supplies would run out.
           “I’ll go with you, Colby.” Cheddar picked up her bags again. “I feel like I haven’t seen my sweet boyfriend-brother all day.” She stepped closer to him, standing on her tiptoes and affectionately pressing her cold wet nose up against his with a tender smile.
           “Thanks, Cheddar.” Colby replied, feeling a little better that she’d be with him. He hated being alone. “Maaaybe don’t call me your ‘boyfriend-brother’, though...” He muttered in embarrassment before they walked into the mall together as the rest of the family continued to their respective cars. He spoke again once quietly once they were out of earshot.
           “...Not in public, anyway.”

           “Sold-out.”
           “Sold-out.”
           “Sold-out. You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
           Colby pressed his forehead against the empty shelf in utter disappointment. After over an hour of searching, nothing he had gotten for the Barkers was still left in stock. He had put so much thought and care into them, too. Not the new motorcycle helmet for Grandmaw, the foot-massager for Grandpaw, the blimp-shaped kite for Maw, the set of multicolored drumsticks for Paw, the magnetic gloves for Spike, the miniature vault for Gilber, the ‘Sam Whippet Racer 8000’ for Tag, the vaguely-familiar blue dog plush for Yip, and the ukulele for Cheddar Biscuit with primary colors that perfectly matched her bowtie. None of it.
           “It’s okay, Colby.” Cheddar placed a paw on his shoulder. “You really don’t have to get us anything.”
           “Of course I do!” Colby slightly raised his voice in frustration as he turned to her, but instantly calmed himself when he saw the stunned look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m just a little upset at this whole situation, not at you or Maw. You’ve all done so much for me, and I just want to make this Sniffsmas perfect for all of you.” He held her much smaller paws in his. “I’ll just have to find something else to get you all. You go ahead and join the rest of the family at the… where are we meeting up again?”
           “Well, they should be at the ice rink right now, and then later tonight we’re all going to see the lighting of the Sniffsmas tree at the town center. But Colby, I really think you should just-”
           “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I have to get something for you too anyway, so I don’t want you to see it when I do. You go and have fun ice-skating with the family, take the car and I’ll meet you there as soon as I can. If I don’t see you there, I’ll meet you at the tree tonight.” Colby barely gave her time to speak, giving her a quick kiss on her canine lips before he hurriedly ran to another store to find something decent. “I love you, Cheddar Biscuit!”
           “I love you too, Colby…” Cheddar said to herself with a sigh as she stood alone in the store, picking up her bags before she reluctantly left for the car.

           “Presents… presents…” Colby mumbled to himself as he scanned the rows upon rows of aisles. Being that it was now well into the afternoon, pickings were clearly getting slim. It still needed to be something with some thought put into it, otherwise it would just seem like he just lazily picked something random off the shelf that they wouldn’t even use. But no matter how many shelves he went through, he could never find anything that seemed just right.
           “I guess I could make them presents…” The yellow dog suddenly remembered; after all, back in the old days, most gifts were hand-made. “But then, what would I make?”
           He thought about it for a while, weighing all the different options.
           ‘Pretty much every dog loves bones, balls… and cars.’ He pondered as he looked through the shelves of crafting supplies. ‘But there’s no way I can make all of them an actual car like Cheddar made for me… Maybe a model car, then?’
           No model cars in stock. Of course there weren’t. But it was then that Colby noticed there was still plenty of paint and modeling clay left.
           ‘Yeah… yeah, that could work.’
           It would take him time to build them, but it would have to do. It was at least something to give his family tomorrow, and it had some thought put into it. That was the important thing.
           With his mind made up, Colby grabbed as much of the paint and modeling clay as he figured he would need - plus a little extra in case he made mistakes - and returned home in a rush, having only a limited time to make all nine presents.

           Once he returned home, Colby immediately got to work. He’d remembered the basic details of all of the Barkers’ favorite vehicles by heart - Grandpaw’s green tow-truck, Grandmaw’s yellow motorcycle, Yip’s purple tricycle, Maw’s yellow blimp, Gilber’s red buggy, Paw’s yellow car, Spike’s moon-rover, Tag’s purple and yellow motor-scooter, and Cheddar Biscuit’s multicolored unicycle with the white flower protruding from the back. He wasn’t an expert with clay by any means, but the crudely shaped figurines had some level of quality to them - at least enough that they were recognizable as the vehicles they were meant to be. Colby even had enough clay left over to make small simplistic versions of each of the family members to put inside them. The more he looked at the lumpy model versions of his family, the sillier and more childish he felt; it certainly wasn’t his ideal idea for gifts, but what other choice did he have? Give them nothing?
           By the time he had finally finished, the sun had long since set over the horizon. It was only five o’clock, but with the cold winter months came much longer nights.
           “I should probably check on the turkey now.” Colby told himself, reminded by the time as he looked at the clock on the living room wall. “It should be done pretty soon.”
           When he entered the kitchen, he noticed something… odd. Surely, he would have been able to smell the turkey cooking by now. His nose wasn’t quite as sensitive as most other dogs’ naturally acute sense of smell, but it was still much better than it ever was back when he was a human.
           When Colby glanced at the oven clock, a horrible realization set in. It was repeatedly blinking 00:00 in red lights.
           “Nonononononono…” He opened the oven door, his Sniffsmas spirit feeling completely broken as he looked at the turkey inside.
           It was still completely raw.
           “FUCKING DAMN IT!” He slammed the door shut again in frustration, his back slumping against the cold oven in exasperation and defeat. Colby soon realized that while he was fiddling with the circuit breaker buttons earlier, he had unknowingly reset the power in the kitchen; not long after starting to cook the turkey, he had accidentally turned the oven off by pressing the incorrect button the first time.
           He felt like he wanted to cry, though no tears would come out. ‘I told them I had it covered…’ Colby silently cursed himself, rolling onto his side in a fetal position. ‘I told them “I cOuLd Do iT, nO PrObLeM”… and now there’s no turkey for dinner, and I’m giving them all fucking kindergarten art-projects as presents.’
           “...I’m so useless…”
           “Don’t you ever say that again, Colby Barker.”
           Colby looked up in surprise at the voice coming from the kitchen doorway to find Cheddar Biscuit standing there.
           “Cheddar? What are you doing here? …How much did you hear?” Colby stood up again, dusting the bits of stray fur and kitchen floor crumbs off his body. “I thought you were at the ice rink.”
           “We were, for a while. And then we went to see the lighting of the tree, but we never saw you there, so I figured you might be here.” Cheddar held Colby’s paws in hers. “ I got here right when I heard you say something like ‘fucking damn it’ from outside the house.”
           Colby looked back at the oven, disheartened.
           “I’m so sorry, Cheddar, I messed everything up. The turkey, it’s…”
           “Just a turkey.” Cheddar Biscuit stood on her tiptoes, planting a soft kiss on Colby’s lips. “It’s just a turkey, Colby. And trust me, no matter how bad you think this is, I guarantee that you’re a way better cook than me. This one time, I was supposed to make ‘nachos on a stick’ for one of our Barker family ‘Bring-Your-Own-Bowl’ dinners. It’s supposed to have taco meat wrapped in a crumbled tortilla and deep-fried, like a corndog. But the thing is, I sorta took the name a little too literally and just jammed the wooden skewers through a bunch of nacho chips.” She chuckled at herself, thinking back on how embarrassed she felt as well when she saw the family’s confused expressions. “So yeah, needless to say, cooking is not one of my strong suits.”
           “But it’s not just the turkey…” Colby continued, her anecdote not making him feel any better. “I wasn’t able to find much at the mall, just a bunch of clay. So I tried making some presents for you all out of it, but now it just feels kind of embarrassing to think about, and…”
           “It doesn’t matter how perfect everything is, you should know we’ll all love it anyway. Because it’s something from your heart.” Cheddar moved her paws up to her boyfriend’s cheeks, desperate to get it into his stubborn head. “What matters is that you thought of us. Don’t you know the old saying, ‘it’s the thought that counts’?”
           “Yeah, but still… I just… wanted to make this a perfect Sniffsmas. For all of you.” Colby’s eyes began to water, still feeling like he had ruined everything. “You’ve all done so much for me, so I wanted to do something to make this Sniffsmas special for everyone.”
           “We all really missed you today, you know.” The little white dog reminded him. “I missed you. I really wanted to go ice-skating with you, but you were so focused on getting us ‘the perfect presents’ that you didn’t really seem to care about anything else.”
           Colby was silent, looking down in shame and reflecting on how this day had gone; he wished he could have done things differently.
           “Come on, I wanna show you something.” Cheddar said as she held Colby’s paw, leading him out of the house and to the car.

           Snow had begun to gently fall as they reached the giant Sniffsmas tree in the center of town, which warmly illuminated the night with the breathtaking glow of thousands of dazzling rainbow-colored lights amidst the personalized ornaments placed by the citizens of Pawston. Every other dog in town was now gathered around it, admiring the beautiful sight and reveling in the sense of magical Sniffsmas spirit that it gave them. Cheddar led Colby to where the rest of the family was, bringing him up close to the tree as she pointed out a specific ornament hanging from a low branch.
           \t“This is what Sniffsmas is all about, Colby.”
           \tColby lifted the ornament up with his paw, looking closer to see what it was - a miniature drawn diorama of the whole Barker family inside of the glass ball. And at the front and center of them all was the Barker family’s newest member, surrounded by the ones who loved him.
           “Family.” Colby whispered as tears began welling up in his eyes, feeling like a complete fool for focusing too much on all the wrong things.
           “Exactly.” Cheddar Biscuit nodded. “We don’t need a turkey dinner or fancy presents. What we need is you, Colby. You’re a part of our family. So don’t ever think you’re useless.” She hugged him from the side, leaning her body against his; Colby noticed how, even in the night winter air, Cheddar felt especially warm tonight. “You’re the best present I could have ever gotten. I have all I could ever need right here.”
\t           “You’re all I need too, Cheddar…” Colby rested his cheek on her head as they looked at the ornament together, the soft snow gently tickling his fur.
           Cheddar took Colby by the paw with a smile, leading him back to the rest of their loving family in the crowd.

           “Do you still… miss them? Your old family?” Cheddar asked out of the blue after some time had passed as they continued to look up at the tree.
           “...Of course I do. I’ll always miss them. I think this… is the time of year I’ll miss them the most.” Colby sniffled. “But you’re my family now. You, and all of the Barkers. And that’s all there is to it.”
           They stood silently together for a few moments as they held each other’s paws, the beautiful powdered snow. Cheddar looked down at her stomach, holding her little paw against it and slowly rubbing it up and down. Her grip on his paw tightened as her heart began to beat faster.
           ‘Family…’
           “Y’know… Colby…” The little white Beagador began to blush as she looked up at him at her side. “I’ve thought of… something else you can give me for Sniffsmas.”
           “Hm?” He looked down at her, wondering what she could possibly have in mind. Licking her dry lips before leaning up and lifting his floppy brown ear, Cheddar whispered something into it.

           “A puppy? But where am I gonna get a-” It took Colby a second to understand exactly what Cheddar Biscuit had actually meant. “Oh. Oh. OH.”
           The rest of the Barkers and a few other dogs nearby glanced at him the louder he spoke.
           “Sorry, sorry.” Colby apologized before bringing his voice back down to a secretive whisper as he leaned in closer to her. “Cheddar Biscuit… are you… serious?”
           Cheddar only nodded, the radiant light of the Sniffsmas tree making her appear to be glowing as the fluffy white snow fell softly on her equally white fur.
           “You’re… absolutely sure this is something you really want?” Colby’s head began to feel like it was suddenly spinning the more the idea really set in. Truthfully, his mind had hardly even crossed the notion of starting a family with Cheddar. Not to say he was against it; in fact, it was quite the opposite.
           Cheddar nodded once again, hardly able to contain her eager smile. They could each feel the subtle shivering in the other’s paw, and it wasn’t from the cold.
           Colby said nothing, but held her trembling paws in his with a nervous smile on his blushing face; after a few moments to think about it, he gave her a subtle nod in return.
           “Hey, Mom?” Cheddar Biscuit looked over to her mother standing beside her. “Colby and I are gonna head back now. There was a slight mishap with the turkey, so I’m gonna go help him get something else ready for dinner. And we’re gonna put buns in the oven.” She quickly came up with an excuse that would discreetly give Maw the hint that they needed some time alone together.
           “Oh, okay sweetie. The Pooches invited us over for eggnog after the Barkapellas’ Sniffsmas concert, so take all the time you need.” When Maw turned her head, Colby could have sworn that she gave him a subtle wink. With that, Cheddar enthusiastically dragged Colby by the paw to the car, and they returned home.

           It was decided that it would be pizza for dinner. It wasn’t anything fancy, but everyone loves pizza, so it was just as good a choice as any turkey. They had pizzas in the freezer, but they decided instead to make a fresh home-made pizza from scratch. Cheddar wasn’t much of a cook on her own, but with her and Colby working together side by side, they had made a delicious looking six-meat pizza - pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, steak, and kibble. Colby didn’t mind the addition of kibble; in fact, he had grown to enjoy it during his time as a dog. Once all the other side-dishes had been cooked to go along with it and Colby carefully wrapped his clay model gifts for the family before burying them under the snow in the yard, he and Cheddar finally went upstairs to form the ultimate union of love.
          
           The bedroom looked a little different now than it did six months ago. The shared family bed was still the same, as there wasn’t much space to make it even longer; however, Colby had been given his own twin-size bed added to the far corner of the room to share with Cheddar, who had spent nearly every night prior sleeping on top of the headboard. It wasn’t exactly the roomiest mattress, but it was just about as much space as the rest of the family had to sleep. And with Cheddar Biscuit snuggled so closely to him every night, Colby never minded in the slightest.
           Colby’s heart began racing as Cheddar led him to their bed, the moment finally imminent. The little white Beagador sat on the edge of the mattress, giving him a seductive look as she opened her legs.
           “This is a big decision, you know.” Colby leaned towards her, resting his shaking paws on the mattress on each side of her hips as he inched his face tantalizingly close to hers. “Are you sure you’re ready? If we do this… there’s no going back.”
           “You’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, Colby.” Cheddar brought her paws up to her boyfriend’s chest, sliding her paws down his fur. “There’s no one else in this world but you for me. I know I want a family, my own family… with you.”
           “I feel the same way about you, Cheddar Biscuit…” Colby reached his arm behind his back, pulling out something small. “I was… trying to think of a good time to give this to you, but I guess now seems like as good a time as any…” He opened his paw, revealing a small band of steel big enough for Cheddar’s finger.
           “Thanks, Colby!” Cheddar Biscuit was grateful for the gift, but looked a little confused as she took the piece of metal from his paw. “...What is it?”
           “It’s a ring.” Colby replied with a raised eyebrow, unsure what was so confusing about it.
           “...What do I do with it?” she asked curiously, examining it closer at multiple angles. “Is it like for one of those ring-toss games at the Amusement Bark?”
           “...I guess you don’t really do rings here, huh?”
           Cheddar shook her head.
           ‘So that’s why I couldn’t find rings anywhere.’ Colby realized, having needed to make this ring himself using tools in the garage.
           “Well… where I’m from, people usually give someone a ring when they ask them to…” Colby swallowed anxiously, his voice lowering. “...marry them.”
           Cheddar Biscuit gasped; her soft white fur could be seen spiking up her entire body as she felt a shockwave of goosebumps at those words. That day she had first met him felt like it was only yesterday, but after spending every day with him for the last seven months, she felt like she had known him her entire life.
           “...And if they say ‘yes’, they… put it on their finger.” Colby continued shyly, hoping she would say yes.
           Cheddar immediately slid it on her index finger.
           “...It’s a perfect fit.” She whimpered, suddenly started to become visibly jittery with the hair on her back raising up. She got on all fours, sprinting around the bedroom and constantly spinning in circles as fast as she could the entire time. Colby simply looked on with a smile of amusement at her canine disposition as Cheddar Biscuit was barking like crazy and practically bouncing off the walls in what is commonly known to most as "the zoomies". Without even slowing her momentum when she knocked over the bedside lamp, she threw herself into Colby’s arms as tears of joy suddenly burst out of her. “Yes, yes, yes! Of course I’ll marry you, Colby!”
           They held each other tenderly for a few minutes more until Cheddar finally spoke again after regaining her breath from all the overexcitement, both of them wiping their tears of joy.

           “Now… let’s make the Barker family a little bigger~”

           Cheddar Biscuit ripped off her bowtie collar before pulling her future husband on top of her as she laid down on the bed, an airy giggle escaping her lungs as Colby began to kiss her neck. With each kiss, his lips slowly moved down to her chest, then her stomach, and finally between her legs as her giggles progressively turned into moans. He held his fiancé’s little legs up with his paws as he helped himself to her flavor, pressing his nose into her as he did and savoring the sweet aroma of her wonderful white fur as he inhaled. The yellow Labrador’s excitement was quickly becoming visibly apparent with each passing second of pleasuring Cheddar with his tongue, her whines of ecstasy like music to his ears as her hips suddenly lifted up involuntarily against his muzzle.
           Cheddar’s wagging tail swished back and forth rapidly against the sheets as her legs began to quiver and shake from Colby’s touch, turning her head and biting down on her thumb bashfully as her eyes rolled into the top of her head. She ran her other paw through the brown hair on top of Colby’s head, tightly gripping the strands between her fingers as she felt a tingling pressure building at the base of her spine.
           “C-Colby, stop-!” Her eyes widened, and he pulled himself away immediately.
           “Is everything okay?” Colby asked, thinking he might’ve done something wrong.
           “Yeah… yeah…” Cheddar Biscuit panted with a smile, flipping over onto her stomach before giving him a kiss. “It’s just my turn, that’s all.”
           Understanding what she wanted, Colby knelt upright on the bed. With her prize right in front of her, Cheddar leaned in and reveled in her beloved yellow Lab’s strong natural scent as she passionately pressed her nose firmly against his puppy-maker before beginning to instinctively sniff him. From her hypersensitive dog-nose, she could immediately tell just how pent-up he was; Colby was definitely ready… and potent. He rested his paw on the top of her head when he let out a quiet groan, the sound of his voice permeating the quiet stillness of the dark bedroom as Cheddar Biscuit’s warm breath gently blew against him when she began dragging her tongue lustily upwards. Bringing his other paw to Cheddar’s sensitivity, Colby gasped out as he felt himself enter Cheddar’s mouth entirely.
           Being the dog that she was, she never could resist the taste of such a delicious bone.
           “Ah! Did you just… bite me?” Colby yelped in surprise.
           “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Cheddar Biscuit apologized profusely, pulling back. “I hope I didn’t hurt you, I just couldn't… resist. I didn’t mean to…”
           “I-it’s okay.” Colby pet the top of her head with his palm letting out an awkward chuckle. “It… actually kinda felt good, in a weird way. It just surprised me, is all. You can do it again if you really want, just… gently, please.”
           “O-okay.” Cheddar sighed in relief before resuming, lightly clamping and grinding her teeth down as her tongue took care of the rest.
           It wasn’t long of Cheddar’s stimulation before Colby finally pulled himself back as well, a deep blush on his face as it bore an expression of pure lust unfamiliar to the little clown-dog.
           “Lay back,” he demanded, encouraging her by grabbing her smaller body in his arms and gently leaning her onto her back himself. Cheddar Biscuit felt her heart racing faster as he showed her this assertive side of himself; she wasn’t sure why, but something deep inside her canine brain loved obeying his commands. Being subservient to him. Obedient.
           “Who’s a good girl…” Colby huffed with a lick of his lips as he spread her legs without even thinking twice about it, ready to bury his bone in the hole presented before him. “...Who’s a good girl?”
           “M-me…” Cheddar’s tail whipped furiously from side to side, her dog-like panting becoming heavier as she felt a yearning ache between her thighs. She needed to breed. “I’m a good girl… I’m a good girl…”
           “Yes you are… my hot little Biscuit…” Colby inched his hips forward slightly as he seductively called her by his dirty nickname for her, loving these pet-and-master roles they were playing. “You’re such… a good… girl.” With one more thrust, he grunted as he entered her completely.
           From there, Colby simply let his body take control. For a while, everything felt like a passionate blur of touches, kisses, whispers, and soft laughs of pleasure as fur rubbed against fur. Whatever he wanted, she gave it. Whatever he needed, he took. Now wasn’t the time for second thoughts or what-ifs; all that mattered right now was their love. Colby imagined how beautiful Cheddar Biscuit would look with a round pregnant belly as she bore their child, and what that future puppy might look like. Would it be white yet colorful like Cheddar? Or simple and yellow like him? Would they have a son or a daughter? Regardless, he would give them all the love in the universe he could possibly offer, and then some. Colby knew deep in his heart that this was a decision he wouldn’t ever regret. He was ready.
           "You're definitely receptive tonight. I can... smell it." Colby grunted deeply with each motion of his hips, a hint of a wildness in his eyes as he found himself salivating. Thanks to his newly-heightened sense of canine smell, he was being overwhelmed with the intoxicating scent of Cheddar Biscuit's pheromones. "I'm so ready to put a puppy in you..."
           “I- I’m getting… I’m getting close~!” Cheddar Biscuit gasped between loud breathy moans, gripping the pillow under her head as Colby’s pace got faster within her.
           “Me… me too~!”
           Not holding anything back anymore, Colby locked himself firmly inside Cheddar with no way out. And with a little luck, they would soon be parents.
           “Colby~” Cheddar cooed, pulling Colby’s head closer to hers; she was now completely drunk with lust. “I want you to put a litter in me! Pump me full of your puppies!” Clenching tightly onto him as she wrapped her arms and legs around the love of her life, she locked her lips fiercely against his in quite possibly their most passionate kiss yet.
           In that exact moment, Colby’s body stiffened and spasmed in their embrace. He gave her exactly what she wanted.
           And now, all they could do was wait.

           After cleaning themselves up, Colby and Cheddar met the rest of the family at the Pooches’ house for eggnog; when they returned home, the Barkers all had their family dinner of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, stuffing, buns… and pizza.
           And everyone loved it.
           “By the way, Colby…” Cheddar asked once she swallowed her bite of six-meat pizza, “What did you ask Sandra Paws for for Sniffsmas? You never told us.”
           \tColby paused for a moment before he leaned in to quietly ask her a question - for the sake of the younger ones in the room.
           “Just to be sure, is this ‘Sandra Paws’ real? Like really real?”
           “Oh yeah, of course she’s real!” Cheddar Biscuit replied without a hint of sarcasm. “Tag helped her save Sniffsmas one year.”
           “Ah, right. Makes perfect sense.” Colby said with a smirk before taking a minute to think about what he would want. “...You know what? I have everything I could ever want right here.” He looked at Cheddar, then across the table to the rest of his family. “Just being with all of you is more than enough for me. But I guess if there’s anything I’d want to ask Sandra Paws for, it’d be for you all to still get the presents I had gotten for you in the first place. That’s all I’d really want.”


           Sniffsmas Eve night came and went, and Sniffsmas morning arrived shortly after. Tag was insistent to wake everyone up bright and early, of course. But on Sniffsmas, everyone was just as excited as her. They all rushed outside to dig up their gifts from each other; just as Cheddar had said, the whole family genuinely loved Colby’s thoughtful clay models of them and their vehicles.
           \tOnce presents were all exchanged, the family all opened up their gifts left by Sandra Paws saved for last. But it was then that the Barkers noticed something was different this year. Instead of just one gift, there were now two - the second of which had shiny gold wrapping paper. Not only had they all gotten the gifts they’d asked Sandra for, but there was also a new motorcycle helmet for Grandmaw, a foot-massager for Grandpaw, a blimp-shaped kite for Maw, a set of multicolored drumsticks for Paw, magnetic gloves for Spike, a miniature vault for Gilber, a ‘Sam Whippet Racer 8000’ for Tag, a square blue dog plush for Yip, and a ukulele for Cheddar Biscuit with colors that perfectly matched her bowtie.
           “It looks like there’s something here for you too, Colby.”
           Cheddar Biscuit handed him a small gold envelope she had dug up with his name written on it. He opened the fold, pulling out a small card with an ornate golden design and opening it.

           “Across dimensions, your hearts intertwine. A family's love transcends all space and time. Merry Sniffsmas!”
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- S. P.

           Included in the card was an old photo of himself, back when he was human, alongside his old family.
           This is…” Cheddar Biscuit began to speak as she looked at the photo beside Colby, who was even more surprised than she was. He gazed up at the delicately falling snow with a smile on his face.
\t
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