It's the beging of summer break, you got 80+ in most subjects, with the lowest being 73 in English and a 92 in Sciences. Your mom is happy you passed without any problems and said she had some great news to share with you when you get home. 
"Well, I'm going to take a job interview to work as a accountant for a company, the job itself would be home office, but the interview needs to be done in person. I will have to travel to another city and spend two weeks in there..." She says with a bright smile.
"I- I don't understand how being away from you can be good news... I like being with you mom..." You tell her confused.
"That's not the good news, you can't stay home alone for two weeks, so I asked my sister if she could take care of you. You will spend two weeks getting to meet with your auntie, uncle and cousins!" She tells you excitedly.
"For real?!?!" You ask really excited yourself, getting to know more of your family is what you've been waiting for since you got adopted. "But... I will miss you..." You say in a sad tone.
"Oh, don't worry, you will love it there!" She tells hugging you. "My sister and her family are the best, you won't have time to miss me!"

While the main reason you don't want to be away from your mom is because you will miss her, there is another one. You wanted to work cleaning the house of your neighbors so you could save money to buy your mom a new TV. The living room TV has many burnt leds and it's been bothering your mom for quite a while, your plan was to go around and ask the people that know you if you could work for them. You can't be sure this will be possible in you auntie's house, so your Christmas surprise for your mom may not happen... Nevertheless, the days pass and you're taken to your auntie Chilli. As you stand on the door, anxiety builds up in your guts. 

What if they don't like stray dogs, like many of the people that went to the orphanage and looked at you with weirded eyes?
What if they don't accept you and treat you bad? You wouldn't tell that to your mom, you don't want to break the connection she just regained with her family...
What if you act weird, and they feel grossed out?!
What if-! Your negative thoughts are interrupted by the door opening.
"Auntie Brandy!!!" You hear two girl scream and see a blue and a red figure jump into a hug with your mom.
You stay awkwardly behind her, while the two girls get down and look at you, their eyes filled with excitement.
"Are you our cousin Sam?!" The blue one dashs towards you. You nod, not having the courage to speak up yet...
"Nice to meet you Sam, I'm Bingo." The red heeler says hugging you. 
"And I'm Bluey!" The other one says and hugs you too.
"Hi, nice to meet you... I'm Sam..." You say quietly while hugging them back. "Sorry for my shyness..." You tell as they break the hug.
"It's okay, your tail is telling us you're as happy as us." Bingo tells you pointing at your rapidly swaying tail.
"Hehehe!" Bluey and Bing laugh, making you laugh too.
You see everyone going inside and follow them, when you do, you're met with a woman that looks almost exactly like your mom. "Auntie Chilli?" You ask just to be sure.
The woman has her mouth agape, looking you up and down. In her face, an expression that you can only understand as "questioning your existence". She then puts both hands on her cheeks, bites her lower lip and make that face when you see something adorable.
"Oh my God! You're so cute!!!" She says and picks you up in a hug. "Yes I'm Chilli! Your new best auntie!" She says putting you on the ground.
"Hahaha! I'm Sam, nice to meet you." You tell her.
You look to the side and see a blue heeler standing. "Hi, I'm Sam. You must be Uncle Bandit, nice to meet you." You say lifting your hand to a handshake. He pulls you to his arms and hugs you sideways while roughly patting your head. "Nice to meet you Sam, get more excited kid, you're about to have the best two weeks of your life!" He tells you before releasing you.
Everyone is laughing at the scene and you can't resist laughing yourself. Everyone moves to the living room, and in there Bluey and Bingo don't waste any time pulling you into a game while tje adults talk. Bluey pulls a paper fortune teller, and tells you. "This has a couple of question that will make getting to know eachother faster, pick a number!" 
"Hmm, five." 
"One, two, three, four, five! Pick a shape!" 
"The star." 
She opens it and there's a calendar drawing. "When is your birthday?" Bingo asks you. 
"24 of January, at the beginning of next year." you tell them.
"So it's close, I love birthday parties!" Bluey says happily.
"When is yours?" You ask them.
"5 of February!" Bingo says.
"Oh, so it's very close to mine!" You tell her with your tail swinging.
"And mine is 9 of October!" Says Bluey.
Your tail stops swaying and you drop your smile. "Oh... So I just missed it..." You say sad that you couldn't be there.
"But that's okay, we will have two weeks to have all the fun we can have!" Bluey says lifting your spirits.
"Now, pick a new number!" Bluey pulls the origami, ready to continue the interview. 
"Okay, seven."
She counts to seven and shows you the symbols. 
"I alreay chose the star, so I want the triangle."
She opens it and look at Bingo. "What's the dog again?"
"His breed!" 
"Oh right! Sam, dad told us you're not a heeler like us, what are you and what are you good at?"
"I'm a stray dog I'm a mixture of many breeds. My dad's mom was a white labrador and his father was a malinois shepherd. My mom's mom was a black hound and her father a portuguese cattle dog."
"That's a lot of kinds of dogs, what are you good at? We run a lot whitout getting tired!" Bluey says laughing.
"I'm good at everything, if I had to say what we are good at, it would be not giving up during hard times." You say shrugging with a small smile.
"Like what?" Bingo asks curiously.
"Well, don't tell anyone, but I want to work during these two weeks to get money to buy my mom a new TV. I wanted to clean my neighbors houses in exchange for money, now I will try to work for your's. But don't tell anyone, it's a surprise!" You tell them.
"Oh, that's nice of you! But isn't work boring?!" Bluey asks with a grossed out face.
"It is, but I think she deserves it. So I will happily do it!" You say 
"You're so cool!" Bingo says.
"Thank you." 
"Are you good at sports?" Bluey asks.
"Yeah, a little, I personally like volley and jogging. Although I don't play much volley since I have a hard time meeting new people, after I left the orphanage I haven't played much with the people I used to, I live far from the volley court they play now..."
"What's an orphanage, is it like a school?" Bluey asks you.
"It's where kids that lost their parents go since they don't have anyone to take care of them. And if someone wants to, they can go there and take one of the kids as their own child."
"So the reason you're with auntie Brandy is because you can't find your parents?"
"No... It's because... They are with our grandma now... You know..?" You say awkwardly moving your hands.
"Oh... Do you miss them?" Bluey asks with sad tone.
"Yeah, but I'm sure they are happy that your auntie took me in." You say with a small smile.
Bingo touches your arm "Sam, I once dreamt that my mom and dad where not here... It hurt... you must be so sad to not have them..."
"I am, but they loved me. They wouldn't want me being sad all the time, in fact, I can feel them cheering me up when I'm sad. Wherever they are, they are always wishing for my happiness and that I'm smiling!" You tell Bingo smiling brightly. "How about we get back to the 'getting to know each other'? I pick 4."
Bluey and Bingo smile at eachother and start counting.
"One, two, three, four!" Bluey shows you the options and you pick the circle. She opens and there's a drawing of a cake slice. "What's your favorite food?"
You look at them with a poker face. "I don't know yet."
"What? How can you not know?" Bluey asks, you already know it's unusual, but how are you gonna explain it?
"I just haven't decided yet."
"That's weird." Bluey says blatantly.
"I know." You answer just as blatantly.
"Uhhhh, pick another number!" Bluey decides to skip the question.
"One."
"One!"
"The moon." 
"Do you have a dream? Like, I want to fly like fuit bats!" Bluey asks you.
"And I want to be an astronaut!" Says Bingo.
"I already fulfilled it." You say with a smile.
"Really! But how! You're still a child!" Bingo asks wide eyed.
"Simple, my dream was having a family again. Mom, auntie Chille, uncle Bandit, Grandpa, you two. That was my dream, and I'm loving it!"
"Oooooh!" Bluey says cutely and hugs you, Bingo following shortly.
"Okay, pick a num-" Bluey is interrupted by her mom calling.
"Kids! Come say bye to your auntie!" She says.
"I guess it's time for her to go..." You say, a little bit anxious about this whole thing.
You three walk to the front door to say your goodbyes to Brandy.
Your cousins and auntie hugs your mom, your uncle gives her a handshake, and when it comes to you say your goodbyes you hug her extra tight. Afraid that if you let her go you might not see her again.
"Bye mum, I miss you already..."
"Don't worry Sam, you won't even see the time pass. Eat your greens, have fun and be a good boy to your auntie. If you need anything just call me with your phone." She breaks the hug and give you a head pat before walking to the uber, you exchange one last wave of hand and see her car going away. You turn around and look at everybody, Chilli claps her hand together and says.
"Well, I'm gonna start preparing dinner. Bandit, why don't you play with the kids?"
"Gotta be done. Let's go you rascals!" He says motioning for your cousins and you to follow him.
You spend the next hour or so playing with your uncle and cousins, your auntie joining after a while. The only thing still cooking was a roast, she said she left an alarm to signal it was ready. When it sounded off all of you went to the dinner table, everyone helped putting the table and dinner was served. It was roasted meat, rice and salad. 
"This is really good!" You tell Chilli.
"Thank you, I'm glad you liked. You are eating all the salad too, I'm glad you're not a picky eater too." She praises you while nudging bluey's shoulder.
"From what Brandy told us, these two could learn a thing or two from you. This is one of them, this and helping with chores!" Bandit says playfully to the girls.
"NOOOOO!!!" Bluey shouts terrified and Bingo stares at nothing shocked.
"I'm sure they will, but it's better to not rush them..." Chilli says looking sternly at Bandit when she sees your discomfort.
"So, we were thinking, you like helping around the house right?" Bandit asks and you nod. "Well, what if you helped with chores and we paid you for it? This would be a good summer job and these two could learn what working means." He proposes to you the deal.
You smile and look at Bluey and Bingo, they giggle and you turn to Bandit. 
"You see uncle Bandit, that was my plan all along, of course I wanted to work for the entire neighborhood." You explain to him.
"Then it's settled, do you think we have anything to negociate?" Chilli asks you with an amused face.
"Yes, I kinda want to charge minimum wage to clean the houses." You say and they both go wide eyed in shock. "The entire house I mean, since here I will be just 'helping', it can be less..." You change the terms since you think it wouldn't be really fair to ask full price for part of the service.
They sigh in unison and realx, Bingo and Bluey giggle at their quick change in reactions. Everyone finishes eating and you decide to start on helping, you walk to your auntie and tug her arm.
"Do you have a dish washer or do you wash in the sink?" 
"We have a dish washer." She says opening a door that look like a cabinet. "Just put everything in a place the won't fall and everything works flawlessly!" She explains to you and you get to it.
While on it she start to store the leftovers in the fridge, you finish setting the dishes inside and she comes to help you with the buttons. You get the hang of it and you're sure you can do it again alone next time.
"Well, Bandit is giving the girls a bath now, I think we could get to know eachother a little more l  no?" Chilli asks you walking to the living room.
"Sure." You follow her, once you two are in the couch she rests her head on her hand, crosses her legs and turns to you.
"How's my sister going as a mom?" 
"She's great! She's loving, caring, fun and have been doing everything to make me happy and wants me to grow as a great person!" You tell her beaming with gratitude.
"Owwnt! That's great to hear you know, I thought she wouldn't have the courage to start a family through adopting. I'm glad she did, although I was expecting a heeler like us... Not that you're not good or anything!"
"I hear that a lot. But I'm fine, she adopted me because I seemed like a easy first child, and, she wants a little more experience before raising a baby." 
"Really? How did she know you'd be a good first kid?" Chilli asks raising an eyebrow.
"We didn't met at the orphanage, we met at the park. I was sitting alone and she approached asking where were my parents, we talked, I told her my story, she told me her's. I told her to adopt someone young, maybe she could even find a heeler in there. A week later she adopted me." You tell her.
"You... told her to adopt someone else instead of you? Why?" Chilli asks in disbelief.
"Empathy. My, original, grandpa taught me to always put myself in other people's shoes and do what was the best to the others... So I do it everytime I can." You tell her like you told your mom. "I may not have my family anymore, but I spent some time with them... Those kids may never get that."
"That's very kind of you, you truly are a great kid." She praises you while patting your head.
"Thank you."
You two keep talking for a while, your auntie seems very nice to talk to. After a short while though, your uncle comes downstairs with a towel and telling you to go shower. Both of them show you where everything is and leave you to it, you take your bath and go look for either your uncle of auntie. Once you find them, they take you to where you'll be sleeping, it's a spare room with only a bed and a drawer.
"We are still not finished decorating this room, but you'll have to wait till next time to see it." Bandit tells you.
"It's okay, I don't mind. Thank you for having me here." You say and hug them, they hug you back.
"Don't forget to say goodnight to your cousins and us before going to sleep though. We'll leave you to unpack your things now." And leave the room soon after.
You open your baggage and get to unpacking, you brought your phone so you plug it in the charger, a few clothes in case you need, and some other things you brought just in case. Nothing really happens at this point, you go say goodnight to everyone, everyone says goodnight to you, and to your bed you go. You take a deep breath as you pull the covers and wonder how this two weeks will be.
"I never had an auntie of uncle before right?" You think to yourself, Chilli and Bandit are your first experience with this. You smile and close your, they have been so nice to you, surely they will be the best uncle and auntie you could have asked for.