Winter Joy
An Oliver and Company fanfic, starring Dodger, Oliver, Francis, Tito, Einstein, Rita, Fagin, Georgette, Jenny and many others.

Chapter 1: Snow a coming.

It was a peaceful afternoon in the Big Apple, as a certain Saluki was wondering towards the Locomotive Preservation Society's museum and headquarters in Brooklyn. The fall season was over and it was the start of the winter season, with a small blanket of snow gathering all over the ground that gave her a sign that winter was definitely here. It had been a busy summer and fall for her and the gang. From starting to date her mate Ryan to having her 5 puppies around the barge. Things haven't changed much for her and her friends at the old boat they still live in; minus the puppies of course, who were now 3 months old. Besides teaching her young ones how to steal stuff, car surf and all that, which surprisingly they're very good at, there wasn't anything new going on.

Bells, whistles and horns rang in her ears as she neared the museum. Finally, the museum full of engines of all shapes, sizes and types, and the museum where her very lovely mate Ryan Dalmatian works at. A lot has changed at the museum, from new engines and displays arriving, to visiting engines that came from time to time. Recently, the engines like Buck and Kyle had been out and about clearing snow off the museum tracks with snowplows the museum owns and operates every winter season. Rita smiled when she spotted a Frisco 2-10-0 sizzling in a siding nearby while a couple of other trains passed by him.

"Hey, the museum looks pretty this time of year" said the Saluki to the old steam locomotive. "I probably don't wanna know what it's like during New Years. Is it like this every winter?" Rita was referring to all the engines that were busy running around the museum, clearing away all the snow and ice on the track, while museum volunteers were melting snow at the switches to keep them operating during the winter.

The 2-10-0 chuckled as he rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, every winter. We're not just working for a museum, we're also working for the docks and industries that we serve. Besides, it keeps us busy and stuff. Hey how's you and Ryan's puppies?"

Rita beamed with pride. "They're fine, teaching them how to steal since they live at the barge with me and the gang. Plus they're excited about seeing snow for the first time ever! It's gonna be a busy month for me and the gang with those excited pups." She then remembered why she came to the museum in the first place. "Uh have you seen my mate Ryan?"

"Yeah" replied the Frisco engine, and gestured behind himself. Ryan was sitting outside of the museum building, waiting for Rita to escort him back to the Foxworths' mansion. He was as cheerful as he had always been, singing Christmas songs in his head as he waited for his love to arrive.

"Awesome! Thanks man" Rita barked happily and walked across the tracks, right infront of an oncoming locomotive! The engine, a Grand Trunk Western U4b, whistled loudly as he came to a screeching halt, with inches to spare from his shrouded pilot touching Rita's face. Rita jumped and looked up at the locomotive, who wasn't looking happy as he stared down at the Saluki.

"Oops, sorry! Didn't see you there."

"Yeah?" replied the U4b, "Well you better watch where you're going filthy mutt, or you might end up being road kill!" He wheeshed angrily at Rita and chuffed away, making the canine jump to the side.

Rita watched the engine leave, angrily. If I had the same number of paw fingers as a human I'd give you the third one. She laughed a little bit before walking over towards her mate.

Greeting his true love with a wagging tail and an exciting bark, Ryan raced over to Rita and the two of them shared a tenderly hug and kiss. Apparently the Dalmatian was very excited about something and something big. "Hey Rita! I just got done with work and now only a couple days left until I'm off for the holidays."

The Saluki smiled more and gave her mate another hug. "That's good, now come on and let me escort you home sweetie." With that said, she started escorting her Dalmatian sweetheart to the front of the museum, just as Buck pulled up nearby. He looked a bit strange that afternoon. He was all decorated in Christmas ornaments, lights and reefs from his pilot beam to the top of his boiler. He whistled "goodbye" to Ryan and Rita as they left, making the Saluki confused. She had never seen Buck dressed up like that before.

"Honey? Why is Buck all dressed up like that?"

"Oh yeah, some of the engines are getting dressed up for Christmas runs at the museum" explained Ryan as he hopped onto a passing taxi cab, leaving more room for his mate to get on. "Sometimes, depending on what holiday it is, the LPS would often dress up some of their engines and rolling stock into decorations and banners to celebrate the certain holiday and often run a few trips such as their popular 'North Pole Special' and 'Independence Day Express'. I really like how they decorated them too! I think they look as good as the parade floats at the Christmas parades in Time Square."

Rita giggled a little. Apparently the museum has more surprises than she knows judging by the lack of knowledge she has about the museum, despite the amount of info Ryan shares with her about the whole museum's history and collection. It was true that she wasn't a huge fan of trains, but at least she listens like Einstein and Dodger does, along with the puppies of course and Oliver too. "So Ryan, what would you like for Christmas?" she asked as the taxi drove onto the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ryan chuckled, knowing what he wants for Christmas. "Well, I've been seeing one of those train sets at the toy store and some pretty awesome train books that were more than 100 pages long, so either one of those would be very cool to have. But other than that, I just wish my mom and dad would come back and pay a special visit." He sighed softly at the thought of his dead mother and father. It has been a good long while since his dad visit him in Australia, mostly to check on Rita who was pregnant when he checked up on him and her.

"Well I'm sure they will make some kind of visit or something, like give you a present or I don't know" Rita said, shrugging.

"That's true" nodded the autistic dog. He noticed a couple of snowflakes start falling from the sky as the taxi roll over the Brooklyn Bridge. One flake landed on his nose, making him jump a little. "Oh! It appears that the snow is a falling down" he said in a French-like tone, making Rita laugh a little.

"Ryan" she cooed flirtatious, "don't be all Napoleon on me on the cars. We got all the time in the world to be doing that."

"Then Dwight D. Eisenhower will have to wait for a little while" said Ryan in a more manly tone. "Speaking of Dwight D. Eisenhower, did I ever tell you there's actually a locomotive named after the president?"

Rita shook her head, smiling. "No you haven't sweetheart. Do tell" she said with interesting. It was gonna be a while to get to the mansion, so she might as well let her mate tell her some history lessons.

By the time they reached the Foxworths, it was nearly time for Jenny to come back from school. It had been a long and busy day for Ryan and was glad that he was home. But he still felt awful for leaving Rita at the boat with the others during the harsh cold winter that was coming. "Honey, I hate to see you be out in the cold at the boat. I think this winter is going to be a bit harsh."

Rita shrugged and shook her head, knowing what he was worrying about. "It's fine Ry. If we managed to get through the winters before we met you, then I'm sure we'll be fine."

But that didn't stop him from worrying. He started to get a little tense as his autism started to kick in and he began to feel a little warm and sweaty. "No I insist you and the gang should come by and stay for Christmas or something!"

"Ryan honey" Rita soothed, "it's not that big of a deal sweetie. I don't want you worrying about me until you end up sick then you'll really be sorry."

The autistic Dalmatian sighed. He knew that if he worried too much, he would end up feeling sick and go to the vet for treatment or something. But he couldn't help but feel bad about his friends and family at the barge going through winter like this. "You're right, but I'm still gonna try and convince the Foxworths to let you guys spend the holidays with us."

"That would be nice actually. Me, the pups and the others would enjoy some luxury and a nice Christmas with you" smiled the Saluki warmly.

Ryan smiled back. The two of them shared a nice warm hug and a kiss on the lips. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow" Rita winked as she started running off towards home. "Love you!"

"Love you too!" Ryan called back before heading inside the nice warm mansion with his specially made backpack behind him full of stuff such as his lunchbox, stress ball, headphones and even his good luck charm, a brass conductor's watch that he received from Flying Scotsman while in Australia. Even though he didn't believe in superstition stuff, for some reason he had several lucky stuff happen to him ever since he received the watch. Examples? He attended the Great Railway Show in Boston, a couple of fan letters from some of his biggest fans, a fan club was started that was mostly about him in New York City which was started by one of the engines at the museum, and Georgette started liking him like she did with Oliver.

Warm air blew infront of his face as he closed the doors behind him, letting him sigh in relief while he wipes his paws on the door mate. He then noticed some mail under the mail slot and picked it up for Winston, who was busy in the kitchen. Ever since Ryan's arrival to the family, he had been a "helping paw" so to speak. He had helped Winston with some chores whenever he needed some help, made sure Oliver was safe and sound whenever the two of them go out for a walk, and even helped Jenny with her homework sometimes. Talk about a smart and helpful dog huh?

Ryan walked into the kitchen where, as expected, he found Winston was watching wrestling on tv while he cleans some dishes. The Dalmatian find it kinda strange about wrestling. It's just a bunch of men or women beating each other for money and stuff. As soon as the match was over, her let out a soft and gentle bark, letting Winston know he's home.

"Ahh Ryan, back so soon?" said the butler as he rubbed the Dalmatian's head softly. He carefully took the mail out of Ryan's mouth. "Thank you boy. You're always there to help others aren't you?" Flipping through the mail, he noticed an apple green mail envelope that had a few stamps on it and some writing on the front that said "To Ryan Dalmatian, from 4472". "Oh Ryan, looks like somebody you know has sent you a letter!"

Ryan looked at the enveloped and instantly recognized the numbers on the front of it. His face soon lit up with excitement as he took the envelope away from Winston carefully. Using his paw nail after putting his lunchbox away, he cut the top of the envelope open and pulled out a postcard that had none other than the Flying Scotsman running side-by-side with Victor and Victoria the R class twins he met while in Australia. Inside the card was some writing that said:

"To Ryan Dalmatian

How are you doing old chap? I hope you and your friends had a great time while in Australia, which is where I am still currently. As much as I'd love to come to America and spend Christmas with you and your friends in the USA, I'm afraid I can't do that this year. Oh well. I hope your puppies and your mate are doing well, and I hope to see you again soon. Take care of yourself, and have a Merry Christmas to you my friend!

From Flying Scotsman!"

Smiling brightly from the famous engine's postcard he sent to the canine, Ryan soon made his way up the grand stairs to his room, where all the magic happens. Putting his backpack to the side and putting the postcard with several other cards he got from other engines across North America, the autistic Dalmatian sat on his bed and turned on the tv to watch some railroad documentaries like always. But no sooner has he just got comfortable in his spot, he heard a faint meow coming from behind him.

"Hey Oliver!" chuckled the Dalmatian as he looked over his shoulder at the orange cat.

Oliver walked on over towards him and snuggled warmly against the dog's stomach, purring softly. He liked Ryan very much. His friendly and kind attitude made him feel like a brother Oliver never had, like Dodger. "You look a bit worn out today" said the orange cat, noticing a bit of sweat coming off of the dog's fur.

Ryan laughed. "Actually that's just melted snow, not sweat."

Oliver stopped snuggling and was about to shake the melted snow off his fur when Ryan suddenly grabbed him and dried the orange cat himself with a towel. Times like this, Oliver wouldn't be surprised if the autistic dog knows how to drive a car or maybe Fagin's scooter. As soon as the kitten's fur was dry, Ryan let him go and placed the towel back where he found it. "Thanks Ryan" Oliver said with a warm smile.

"Anytime Oliver" Ryan winked and looked back at the tv, enjoying the documentary about the Transcontinental Railroad.

During the documentary, Oliver asked the railroad dog about a whole bunch of things about the Transcontinental Railroad, such as what was the purpose, why did they hire a bunch of people from China, who pulled the trains to the Golden Spike ceremony at Promontory Summit in Utah. Ryan, who was happy talk about trains, answered the cat's questions.

"So Jupiter from the Central Pacific and Roger from the Union Pacific both met at Promontory Summit where the Golden Spike was driven on May 10th, 1869, and both of which are now on display at the LPS' museum in California" answered Ryan.

"Wait, why would the originals be in California while the replicas are in Utah?" Oliver asked curiously.

"Ah" said Ryan, "there's a reason for that. The National Park Service wanted to have replicas of the engines, because the originals didn't look like their originals looks since they were modernized. They were suppose to return to their original looks when they were finally bought, but for reasons unknown the idea never came until 1979. So the National Park Service decided to ask a company in California to build replicas while the LPS keeps the originals. It's weird I know, but at least they have engines to operate at the park today."

"Huh."

"Besides, as my father would say..."

"It's better for them to be saved than scrapped" the two friends said together and laughed.

Meanwhile back at the barge, Rita was happy to see her pups again after she brought home some warm hotdogs she stole. The young ones pranced around their mother with excitement, wanting to tell her all about their day with the others. Sean told Rita how both he and Dodger managed to steal a box of pizza for lunch, which was probably one of the smartest things Sean had done so far. Tiffany shared her experience with Francis and how they skated on ice at the park which they both had a wonderful time together, even after Tito managed to get a face full of snow when Francis smacked him after calling him "Frankie", which made the little pup laugh. Then Macey and Tracey told their mother about their time with Einstein and Kholat, which they all spent time down near Wall Street and managed to steal some blankets for the pups to use instead of hogging Rita's most of the time. It wasn't really a productive day, but at least everyone did something.

"So how's Casey Jones Dalmatian doing?" Dodger chuckled, referring to Ryan.

"He's doing good" Rita grinned. "He gotten concerned about us living here during the winter, but he said he'll try to convince the Foxworths to let us all spend Christmas at the mansion."

The pups all barked excitedly. Spending Christmas at the mansion with their father sounds like a wonderful idea! Plus it would be their first Christmas ever and that would make things very special! "Can we do that mommy?! Can we!? Please! Huh? Oh come on!"

"Kids!" Rita barked, making her pups quiet down. "It's not my decision, it's Fagin and the Foxworths' decision. As much as I love to spend the holidays with your father, I'm just not sure if we'll be allowed to do so."

The puppies frowned, "Awwww". Their frowns soon turned upside down, as the sound of footsteps was heard from the stairs and there was Fagin carrying a small box of doggie treats.

"I'm home everyone" he said warmly and shivered. "Ohhh boy is it cold outside. I can barely feel my nose from all that cold weather out there!" Soon he saw all the dogs racing towards him like a tidal wave of fur and flesh, barking exciting and happily upon seeing him. "Whoa, hold on fellas. Wait! Heal you guys! Heal!"

It was no good. Fagin found himself under a large blanket of dogs, from the 3 month old puppies to Einstein! He was soon getting licked on by the canines, mostly by Einstein and the puppies. With all the extra help thanks to the pups, Fagin has been doing his best to take care of his family of dogs as best as he could. It was hard sometimes, but he still manages to do whatever it takes to take care of all 10 dogs, with help from the canines themselves of course. It took a little bit, but soon they were calm down and showed the old man what they stole. It wasn't much, but Fagin was happy to see that they did at least bring some food, mostly Dodger and Sean with some strings of hotdogs.

As all the canines listened to Fagin's bedtime story, Rita and her pups went to bed together. Since winter was coming and the air getting cold, the Saluki decided that her pups should snuggle up to her warm body instead of hogging the blanket like they would do sometimes. It was still nice being a mother of 5 pups and Rita would rather have this than anything else in the world. Her pups yawned cutely as she tucked them under a nice warm blanket- a new blanket Ryan had gave them that was as warm as a steam locomotive's firebox. "Sleep tight little ones" Rita whispered to her puppies, giving them all a goodnight kiss on their heads, and soon she went to sleep.

Soon after Fagin read half of the chapter, everyone was asleep. Einstein was asleep on Fagin's lap, while Tito was sleeping next to Francis, using his chubby cheek as a blanket, and Dodger was asleep in his usual bed. As Rita fell asleep, she started thinking back to the days when Ryan was new to the gang and when he first started dating her after rescuing him from the human society. The thoughts made her smile warmly in her sleep. This was one of the best ways to forget about the nightmares of the Sykes she use to have, along with Michael and his henchmen that almost tried to kill her mate. But thinking about Ryan, her puppies and having some protection provided by Shaun and Marlene, the nightmares was over and gone forever. I wonder if those two will visit us during Christmas, she thought in her sleep, thinking about Ryan's ghostly parents.

Oliver and Company belong to (C) Disney.
Ryan, Shaun, Marlene, Ryan and Rita's puppies, the locomotives and the Locomotive Preservation Society belongs to me.
Please review this. I want to know if I should continue or not.