make Angel and Arrow prove they were sorry.”

Luna was nearly at a loss for words. “So you've been faking this whole time, pretending to be sick, having me and your father and the rest of us bend over backwards for you? And all the while, you've been eating away at not just your chances of finding a good home, but your siblings' too!” She couldn't help herself; her voice was rising by the minute in her shock that the pup she had thought so well of was capable of such deception. “And to top it off you have been worrying all of us – me, your father, your brothers and sisters, even the Calvins – sick just so you could... could...” she faltered, hindered in part by her daughter's tears, but more so by the question of how she could be mad at her for wanting to stay with her. There was no excusing the fact that Star had made a lying, vindictive con-artist out of herself, no denying that she had sabotaged not only her repentant sister but her innocent brothers as well. But to yell at her like this was simply unconscionable.

Star, meanwhile, had broken down completely. “I'm sorry,” she sobbed between loud sniffles. “I didn't mean to make trouble, I just... just...” the rest wouldn't come.

Luna sighed. Later she would wonder if it had been entirely smart to trust words from someone who had already fooled the whole family for weeks. But she couldn't stay mad anymore. “I'm sorry too, dear,” she said, nuzzling the top of her daughter's head. “I didn't mean to get so angry. You did the wrong thing, a lot of wrong things, in fact, but so did I.”

Star looked up. “Am I going to be punished?” she asked.

Luna shook her head. “I'll have to talk that over with your dad,” she admitted. “But you will have to tell everyone what you did and apologize to them, just like Arrow and Angel did to you. It's not fair if they do it and you don't. Do you understand?”

Star nodded, drawing in a loud sniff. “Think they'll be mad at me?”

Luna shook her head and sat. “I don't know. They might be. But you can't change what you did. All you can do now is do the right thing. The rest is their responsibility. Okay?”

The pup took a deep breath. “Yeah,” she squeaked.

“Good.” Luna rose to her feet. “Do you want me to go out and get them right now?”

Star nodded. “I guess so.”

Luna started for the door, then turned back and rubbed the top of Star's head with her muzzle. “It's okay,” she whispered. “Whatever happens, I forgive you. Alright?”

She nodded. “Okay,” she whispered, returning the nuzzle.

Star's confession was difficult, to say the least. Admitting it to her mother, who had caught her red-pawed already, was one thing. But to her entire family, all together, when they didn't yet even suspect anything, was so daunting that it took her three tries just to start. By the time she was through, expressions ranged from shocked to infuriated.

“You mean you've been making us baby-sit you this whole time and you were just fine?” demanded Balthasar.

“Only a week,” she pleaded, in hopes of covering her guilt.

“Like that makes it better!” snapped Caspar, his eyes trained and ears laying low like a canine sniper's. “You've been playing us for chumps and...!”

“Hey hey hey,” Angel cut him off, “It's not like she did anything worse than me.”

“Yeah,” Melchior retorted, “But she did it to us, right?”

“Right,” agreed Zar. “I was looking forward to getting a human and now...”

“Now what?” Angel demanded, getting in his face with her hackles up. “I lied and stole, and I was just as mean to her as she was to us. So if you're gonna be mad at her you should be mad at me too.”

Zar backed down, disconcerted by Angel's unexpected reaction. “Yeah, but...”

“But nothing,” Toby interrupted. “Boys, it's reasonable for you to be angry at her. But Angel's taken the worst of it when Star was sick and when she wasn't, so she's got more right to be angry than the rest of you put together.”

“Doesn't mean we have to let it go just because she does,” grumbled Melchior.

“No, it doesn't,” Arrow agreed. “You should forgive her anyway, because she's sorry.” She looked at Star then, her eyes full of conviction. “Admittedly I'm not very happy with you right now either. But if Angel's going to forgive you, I guess I can't let my little sister be more mature than me.”

“Yeah,” Zar retorted, “But you don't have to worry about humans not wanting you. You've already got one.”

Star was dumbstruck as she watched the exchange. If there was any doubt before that Angel, or Arrow for that matter, had really been sorry, here was the proof.

Caspar looked around and took a deep breath. “You guys do what you want,” he said, addressing his brothers. “Star, I'm not mad at you.”

“Really?” she asked.

He nodded. “I know what you did was wrong, but you're sorry now, and I don't think you'll do it again. So I forgive you.”

What Star did next surprised everyone, herself included. “Thank you!” she yipped, leaping out of the basket and catching him head-on, sending the both of them tumbling head over heels. He responded with a playful nip to the ear, and a moment later the two of them were having a joyful romp all over the living room.

Toby was smiling so broadly, it hurt (no mean trick for a mouth as big as his). He'd never seen Star so happy. Ever. “That's my boy,” he sighed wistfully.

“Our boy,” Luna corrected him.

Toby nudged Angel's tail with a paw. She turned and caught a wink he sent her way, which she passed on to Arrow. With no further prompting, the two of them joined their kin gamboling about the room.

Toby cleared his throat to the two remaining boys. “Well,” he asked, “You two want to join the fun, or are you not interested in playing with a brat?”

The two of them looked at each other. “Hey, wait for me!” barked Zar. He ran to join the frisking pups, with Mel close behind.

Toby had to blink away a tear. “Are you as proud as I am right now?” he asked Luna.

She nuzzled his cheek. “Believe it, love,” she whispered. Surveying the room, she murmured, “This is the best day of my life.”

Upstairs, the Calvins had been in the process of bedding down for the night as all this was going on. Mr. Calvin, already in his night clothes, walked over to Connie's room and knocked on the door. “Go quiet those dogs down, please,” he called.

Connie got out of bed and went downstairs, rubbing her eyes. She had been restless lately; a certain boy in her class was the son of a musher, and she had told him he could have the pick of the litter. But with the pups in quarantine, she worried that he might get upset with her.

“Okay, it's time for...” she started to say as she turned into the kitchen. She stopped, confused at what she saw but not really knowing what was going on. Then, shaking her head, she began to pile the pups into the basket.

Of course if you know anything about dogs, you know that trying to put active puppies in a basket is like trying to keep water in a bucket with no bottom. “Star,” she groaned, “Stay there. I've put you in the basket three...”

She stopped. Star? She stared at the wriggling pup in her hands. It was! And whatever had happened to her, she was as healthy and energetic as ever. “Mom! Dad!” she yelled. “Star's okay! She's better!”

Star could hardly have said it better as she finally settled down to sleep that night. She didn't have to fake being sick now, her brothers and sisters finally liked her again, and best of all, she didn't feel like some fat, lazy user. Sure, she was going to have to leave soon now that the Calvins knew she was well, but somehow even that didn't bother her now. Everything was perfect.

After her brothers and sisters had gone to sleep, Star stealthily crawled up to Luna's face and nudged her until she stirred. “Wha...?” Luna groaned slightly and blinked sleep away from her eyes. “Star?” she asked as her senses began to register.

“Yeah.”

Luna yawned. “What is it?”

Star sat down, all smiles. “Remember when I got into Connie's makeup and made a big mess?”

“Mm-hm.”

“And remember how I said I wanted to look pretty like you?”

Luna nodded again. “What about it?”

“Well, when all of us were playing, I felt pretty. I felt... oh, I don't know how to say it.”

Luna's eyebrows raised, drawing the corners of her mouth after them. “Try,” she whispered.

Star took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. “Well, after Lily said I looked like a boy, I felt ugly, like there was something wrong with me. Like I was some kind of goof-up, you know?”

Luna nodded; she had felt the same way for a little while after finding out she was related to Steele, especially after she and Toby almost stopped being friends over it. “Yes,” she whispered, “Go on.”

“I've felt that way ever since. First I felt ugly on the