Alright people, I know it's late in the day but I wanted to write a Christmas special. So here we are! Don't worry I'll have regular content out soon enough. Merry Christmas!

Special thanks to  Ratafari for making the thumbnail. Also thank you  GasMaskFox for the awesome art.

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Ellis sat in the passenger side of a white golf cart with his feet kicked up where the windscreen should be. The lack of which was hardly noticed because the golf cart spent most of its time within a massive complex built for the sole purpose of raising Foxtrots. In essence, it was a circular barracks with a large, den-like room in the middle where all of the pups were seated, awaiting Santa’s arrival.

By now, he’d been in a dozen buildings like this, and thanks to rigorous string-pulling, he’d managed to deck out the entire facility with Christmas decorations. A warm smile grew on his face as he admired his handiwork, albeit he didn’t put them up himself. The political maneuvering of convincing his commanders to buy enough Christmas decorations for this place was hard work in its own right.

Tapping on his left shoulder turned his attention away from the declarations and to the fellow Captain sitting to his left. “We’re ready for Santa.”

Ellis turned his head back towards the complex, where he saw at least a dozen enormous anthropomorphic German Shepherd pups sitting around a colossal artificial Christmas tree. Every last one of them was shaking with excitement; all of their tan and black tails wagged with the intensity of an energetic child. “Understood.” Ellis reached for a walkie-talkie clipped to his belt and raised it to his mouth. “Santa actual, commence operation.”

A voice on the other side of the line responded. “Affirmative.” Seconds later, a gargantuan door behind the cart flew open, and in stepped Yula, dressed in a red coat, Santa hat, white beard, and camo pants.”Ho Ho Ho! Who’s ready for some presents?” Although she intended to walk to the tree and drop her gifts, the red canvas sack heaved over her shoulder was too tantalizing for the pups to sit still.

“SANTA!” Screamed one of the female puppies scampering to their feat.

Yula held up her hand in a vain attempt to slow the earth-shaking stampede of excited pups. “Ho Ho, slow down! Santa is- uff” The slue of children tacked Yula leaving her to helplessly fend off her sack of toys until older foxtrot handlers arrived.

Ellis shook his head. He could see the smile on his large, fluffy woman’s face. If she couldn’t have her own pups, babysitting as Santa was a nice compromise or at least a pretty good Christmas gift from himself.

The Captain to his left laughed and cooed at the display. Although after a bit, she posed Ellis a question while still directing her gaze towards the festivities. “So how’d you pull this off? I can’t imagine allocating this stuff was easy.”

Ellis shrugged. “A few good excuses, Raytheon wanted a new look after the mess in Huntsville, and I argued positive interaction is good for the pups.”


The Captain’s smile started to fade as she began transferring her attitude to that of a stern soldier. “I suppose common holidays would help them socialize better. I know they didn’t have a proper Christmas like this until a few years ago.”

Ellis laughed a bit. “Well, yeah, that’s valid, but in actuality, I just made it sound good for the DOD.”

The other Captain chuckled. “If you called the Santa bag modular, you might’ve gotten flying reindeer.”

Ellis crossed his arms. “Now you’re getting it!” After a quick smile, the two officers were quiet for a minute. Seemingly letting the mood dampen a bit along with the now somewhat calm puppies. “They might be bred for war, but it’s nice to see them happy.”

“Of course, captain.”

Ellis looked to find Yula laid out with her head rolled backward and her amber eyes locked onto himself. She tilted her head, requesting his presence. “See ya around, Captain, I gotta take this.”

“Understood, although make sure you don’t become some puppy’s chew toy.” She said, giving Ellis a wave.

After returning the goodbye, he focused on his overwhelmed Santa. With pups crawling over her to either play with their dog-like toys or use Santa like a pillow. Indeed it was ridiculous, but all of them were—even his sweet puppy.

Yula thumped her heavy tail against the ground, and with her ears smooshed against the concrete floor, she was a contender for the most precious creature in the room. “You know I’m starting to like this Santa gig.”

Ellis stopped at the edge of her upside down muzzle, mere feet away from her nose. “I figured you would, Santa.”

Yula smiled warmly. “You know me too well, hun.”

Ellis recalled. “I’m shocked you didn’t call me a Christmas cookie.”

Yula shrugged best she could. “I was gonna work it in, but…” She rubbed the head of a sleepy puppy, resting his head on her tummy. “You sure I can’t take him back to Pensacola?”

Ellis walked up to her nose and leaned into it, scratching her chin at the moment too. “Maybe next year when I’m a General.”

Yula perked up, nearly waking the sleepy child resting on her fluffy stomach. “Really! Ellis, that’ll be the best Christmas present ever!”

Ellis frowned a bit. “Hey, I thought I did pretty good this year.”

“You did fantastic; I’m just greedy.”

“Hardly.” Ellis replied softly.

“Merry Christmas, Ellis.” She finished with a soft lick, dampening yet warming his entire body.

“Merry Christmas, mega mutt.”

Yula canted her head. “Oh, you’re going on the naughty list for that one.”