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"Look, there are plenty of other groups you can join if this one doesn't work out," Jamie assured her son. "Keep a positive outlook, right, but if things aren't working out, you just have to call me and I'll come pick you up, okay?"

Quinn, named after his grandfather, looked up at his mother with big eyes, ears half-flat.

"Don't give me that. I spoke to the club leader, and he knows you're different. But he promises you'll just be one of the guys in no time."

He looked down and to the right, contemplating, then nodded up at Jamie. With a half-hearted wag of his tail, the eleven-year-old ran to join the club leader, a twenty-five year old Whippet nicknamed "Big Joe". He wrangled the local chapter of "4All", an outside-of-school organization for anyone, just like it said, focused on building an authentic community for people of all stripes and backgrounds. They boasted be welcoming to anyone regardless of sex, orientation, gender identity, number of legs, socio-economic status, or breed.

As much as Jamie had claimed there were other groups Quinn could join, if he didn't fit in 4All, he wouldn't fit in anywhere. The poor kid wasn't just a four-legger, he was an exceedingly rare mixed breed. His father wasn't just a feral, he was a pet - a mindless animal. Jamie bit her lip, thinking back to the biggest mistake of her life. Her pastor said she couldn't blame herself, because she was just a kid and didn't know what was going on, but she still did.

The boy's father, Rot, was Jamie's neighbor's dog when she was growing up. She'd always been amazed by the dog, who was a Rottweiler like her (albeit on four legs), and always said "hi" and gave him a treat on her way to school. But she'd picked the absolute worst day to climb through the fence into her neighbor's yard. She was just thirteen, and hadn't realized she'd just gone into heat, when she started playing ball with Rot for the first time.

It had started off innocently enough, but once the big dog got a whiff of her scent, he began nosing around her tail end. With only vague knowledge about sex and mating, Jamie hadn't realized what was happening until the dog yanked down her panties. Pushing her to the ground, the large, feral Rottweiler had his way with her then and there. No one was close enough to respond to her pleas for help in time, and by the time her mother made it to the fence, the big dog had already tied. Jamie could still remember the look of horror and disgust on her own mother's face as Rot pumped her full of his puppies.

Getting rid of the puppies was out of the question for her religious mother, so Jamie gave birth three months later to four little four-legged Rottweilers. The plan was to give them to the State to take care of, but there was one check that had to be done first, and the puppies had to be weaned. Usually, mixed pet and person puppies were also pets, mentally. But sometimes, they could think and speak and talk just as well as people.

The other three pups tested normally on the I.Q. test. They were just dumb animals, and Jamie was happy to give them away to the state. But Quinn tested somewhere in between. She could try to give him up for adoption, but what family would take in a mixed breed who couldn't even speak? So, she raised him herself. He was a smart boy, but he never could make his vocal chords form words. He spent his days in silence, going to school, but unable to write or say his answers. He had his own special education services to try to interpret his understanding.

Needless to say, he hadn't really made a lot of friends. Kids made fun of his parentage, and they barked and whined at him instead of speaking. Jamie felt sure that 4All was his last and best chance to ever fit in somewhere, and she suspected Quinn knew that, too. She bit her lip again, trying to focus on Big Joe's confidence that his group of kids would be accepting of someone so different.

Jamie kept waiting for the call from Quinn's collar, sitting on the couch at home with her car keys in hand, but hours passed, and the call never came. Could it be? Was it really going well? She took a deep sigh of relief. She needed it to work out almost as much as he did. She was just a twenty-four year old single mother trying to make ends meet working at the DollarBuy. He needed her in so many ways that she had no time for her own life. Maybe if he joined 4All, she could think about dating, or even going back to school!

Wiping her tears away, she realized it was time to pick Quinn up. The drive was quiet, but she was trembling. It had to be okay - it just had to be! With a squeak of her tires, she pulled up to the 4All building. There were other parents picking up their kids. There were little Pomeranians and Corgis and Dalmatians, mostly with two legs, but a few with four, going home with loving parents. But she didn't see Quinn.

Big Joe was waiting for her, scratching his head. The whippet said, "Ah, Jamie. Don't worry, Quinn's in the building still. He really went all out, today."

Relieved, the black-and-caramel young woman said, "Oh, thank goodness. He got along with the other kids? Even though..."

The man nodded, opening the door and leading Jamie to the back. "We had a couple of new members today, and after we did the ice-breaker, he was right there alongside the others."

But when Jamie finally saw her son, she froze. He was wearing a collar, yes, but also a leash. He was restrained to a desk! "Um..." Jamie started.

Big Joe quickly explained. "Don't worry, ma'am. He's just playing along with today's challenge. He was the most dedicated of all our members."

"Challenge?"

"The ice-breaker was to act like a pet dog. I figured it should be something he could join in with. The kids really got into it, and I promise it was all in good spirit. Right, Quinn?"

Jamie didn't look convinced until she saw her son grin, his wide, Rottweiler muzzle opening up as he wagged his long tail. Big Joe continued, "You won the whole game, Quinn! The other kids loved him. I kept getting asked if he was going to be back next week."

The young mother was astonished. "Well, yes, of course!" she said, her own tail wagging. "I'm so glad it went great, son," she added, kneeling next to Quinn and removing the leash. He jumped and hugged her, more excited and less shy than she'd ever seen before. He really had friends, for the first time in his life.

But when she said, "Come on," and started walking back toward the car, Quinn turned around and headed over to the toys lining the wall, sniffing and nosing them. "Quinn?"

Big Joe looked chagrined. "He's still, um, acting like a pet dog. He kept it up all night.