her.”

         Toby groaned and let his head fall to the floor, taking the rest of him with it.  “I tried that already.”

         “Then give it some time and try again.  What have you got to lose?”

         “My best friend, my girlfriend, the best diplomat I could ever hope to have when it comes to wolves...”

         Rex's face twitched.  “Alright, so maybe that wasn't the right question to ask.  Still, it's the best plan I can think of.”

         Toby nodded.  “Well, you are the expert on ladies around here.”

         Rex chuckled.  “That's true.  At least I have a pretty good idea of how ignorant I am on the subject.  Anyway, I think you'd best get a good night's rest.  After everything you've been through, you deserve it.”

         Toby rose to his paws and yawned.  “Yeah, now that you mention it I am pretty tired  Night Dad.”

         “Goodnight son.”

         Meanwhile, Luna was feeling pretty confused herself.  A little voice in her head was asking her the very question she least wanted to think about.

         Why did you turn him down?  This has been your dream ever since you two started dating.

         'Oh, shut up,' she retorted.  'I haven't felt that strongly for that long.  You make me sound like Haley or Phoebe.'

         Then when did you start wanting him to pop the question?

         'The amnesia incident.'  Why she was wasting her brain cells arguing with this unwanted voice in her head, she'd never know, but far be it from her to let herself win an argument by default.  'The way he coached me back to a full memory after fighting Pete to get me back, that's what got me thinking about something long-term.'

         Okay, so what about that little 'comment' after the snafu with Loki?  You said he'd make a great father someday.

         'I was teasing him.'

         Teasing that gave you dreams about you and him raising a litter of puppies?

'         Just my stupid subconscious.  Which is probably what you are, only you're the version with extra stupid.'

         Says the girl who thought, 'Wow, I love that guy!' when he kissed you for the first time.  And speaking of kisses...

         “We're getting off the subject,” she snapped without meaning to say it out loud.  Then she wanted to hit herself.  'Good grief, I'm losing my mind.'

         “Luna?”

         She groaned inwardly.  She'd know that bark anywhere.  'Leave it to Dad to be in earshot right when I go off the deep end.'  “Hey Dad.”

         “What's the noise about?”

         Luna turned to see Copper rounding the corner in her direction.  “Just having an argument with myself.  Where's Mom?”

         “She's already home.  I decided I wasn't quite tired yet, so I went for a stroll.”  Copper, being a quarter wolf, had always been more given to night time strolls than his mate.  Sitting down in the snow, he resumed his previous question.  “So, what are you and yourself arguing about?”

         Luna sighed.  “Well, it's about Toby.”

         “Ah.”  Copper looked around.  “Where is he anyway?”

         “Probably looking for me.  Speaking of which, can we walk?  I'd rather stay ahead of him just now.”

         Following her lead, Copper raised an eyebrow.  “You want to avoid him?  What's going on here?”

         “Toby asked me to marry him, that's what's going on.”

         Copper sat down to scratch an ear.  “I must be losing my hearing.  You want to avoid him because he popped the question?  Why?”

         “Because...” Luna frowned.  This would be so much easier to discuss with her mother.  “Because he put me under arrest so I wouldn't follow him on that trip.”

         “Yes, but you sorted that out, didn't you?  He said such good things about you on stage tonight.”

         “After I proved myself, yeah.  That's the problem; he wouldn't even listen to me until I pretty much cornered him into it.”

         Copper scrunched his face, considering her complaint.  “From what I heard he was just trying to keep you safe.  Not to mention protect your reputation.”

         Ordinarily Luna would have considered her father's point.  Being out of sorts as she was, however, she looked away and muttered, “I should have known you'd take his side.”

         “Is that what you think?” asked Copper.  “Okay, young lady, let's go.”

         “Go where?”

         “My house.  Maybe you'll listen to Taya.”

         Luna was more than ready to argue, but then again, she knew well enough that her mother, of all dogs, never hesitated to speak her mind.  'Maybe she'll back me up,' she thought.

         What she failed to consider was that Copper knew Taya far better than she ever could, and with good reason.

         After Copper had nudged Taya awake, he had Luna explain everything to her too.  In response, Taya shook herself.  “Kids,” she muttered.  “Haven't changed a bit.”

         “I'm not a pup anymore, Mom.  I'm a grown-up, and I want to be recognized as someone who can make her own decisions.”

         Taya nodded.  “Oh, I realize that.  You want a relationship where you and Toby will talk things over as equals, not just him always having his own way all the time.  Right?”

         “Yeah.”

         “Then tell me something.  Were you ready to hear his side of the argument when you wanted to go?”

         “What?”  Taya was making about as much sense as gravel in a food dish.  “Of course I listened to him, but he was wrong.”

         “Maybe I'm not making myself clear.  Were you willing to consider his point of view as openly as you wanted him to consider yours?”

         “I...” Luna stopped, for she found she had nothing to say.  “I don't know.  I just wanted to go with him because I was worried about him.”

         “And he wanted you to stay because he was worried about you,” put in Copper.

         Luna gave her father a look.  “Dad, no offense, but this is girl talk here.”

         “Really?” Taya asked with a raised eyebrow.  “I thought it was family talk.”

         Luna snorted.  “Now see?  That's what I want things to be like for me and Toby – backing each other up, not arguing all the time.”

         “Do you argue all the time?”

         “More than you and Dad.”

         Taya shook her head.  “Sweetheart, you have no idea how much your father and I argue.  Half the times we left you and the others with your grandparents were because we needed to sort things out.  Now I wish we had let