grin. "I could turn my back," he suggested.

Kodi's face grew warmer yet, and was saved from having to demure a second time by Dusty's hasty admission that she had only been kidding.

There was an awkward silence among them while the background sounds of other shoppers continued unabated. A Pomeranian decked in the uniform of the store, making her rounds, spotted them.

"Can I help you with anything?" she offered.

"No thanks," Dusty replied. "I've got everything I was looking for."

Balto glanced at the shelves and picked up a bottle. "My wife might enjoy this one," he ventured as if to justify his presence to the employee.

Kodi winced. Balto had picked up a bottle of Midnight Passion.

Kodi managed, more or less, to shrug off the unpleasant run-in with Dusty's peers as the day wore on – or so he thought before he went to sleep that night.

In his dreams, he found himself standing on what looked to be a tropical beach; pristine white sand stretching out to either side as far as he could see, salt-scented waves clear out to the horizon, and no sign of any other dogs around. Nothing broke the scene save for a small wooden shack – the kind of compact building they had called "dollhouses" at summer camp.

He had just gotten around to noticing he had a surfboard tucked under one arm when the door to the shack opened and Dusty emerged, carrying a surfboard as well. She was dressed in a swimsuit of a much starker shade of purple than the tinge in her grayish fur – of which the two-piece showed a decidedly ample area. It was the kind of bathing suit a guy could like, but for all the wrong reasons.

"You ready?" she asked him.

"Uh..." was all he could say. He tried to focus on her face, figuring that looking elsewhere was a good way to get slapped.

Dusty, however, seemed unaware of his struggle as she ran past him to the water's edge. "Come on!" she called, waving for him to come after her.

Kodi didn't know what to say. He'd never been surfing in his life, and Dusty's outfit was... well, a little distracting. "I don't know how," he protested.

She smiled. "That's the fun part. Come on, scaredy cat."

With a strangely familiar mix of fear and anticipation, he followed her out into the surf. It seemed like only a moment that he lay on his belly, kicking and paddling, before they were out among the waves. Dusty rose to her feet, and he did the same.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked.

"Relax," she called over her shoulder, slaloming on her board as if she and the wood were a single piece. "Just go with it."

He did, and began to find himself enjoying it. The water rushing all around him was invigorating, and he had to admit, Dusty looked pretty nice as she rode her board, swerving deftly back and forth. He wasn't sure what to make of another strange rush he felt, though he knew it was familiar.

He must have lost his focus, because suddenly the wave at his side was on top of him. He was knocked off his board and tumbled in the surf, end over end like a sock in a washing machine. Then it all stopped, and he found himself lying on his back in the sand. He had only just taken a breath when another wave hit him, dropping something heavy on his chest.

It took him a moment to get his bearings. When he did, he realized that the "something heavy" was Dusty. "Oof, she groaned, "That one was rough."

She lifted herself up with her forearms, and he was struck by the sight of her propped over him with her lower half still lying on the sand like the tail of a mermaid. The sunlight on her soaked fur, and the look on her face as she looked down at him, sent a chill down his spine.

Then he remembered where he had felt that rush, and with that knowledge came two unwelcome realities.

"Oh, man," he groaned as he awoke.

A half hour later, Kodi shook his head, feeling his still-damp fur flip around as he did and making a mental note to get it trimmed. Dusty might like fur she could play with, but track and field season was coming up soon. Also, the feeling of dampness clinging to him brought back memories of the dream, and as nice as that was he still wasn't sure how to handle it.

"Well well," came a famiiar voice behind him.

He spun to find his father leaning against the doorway and regarding him smugly. "Up early, and – gasp – doing your own laundry? You must be getting ready to move out."

Kodi would normally have appreciated the joke, but at the moment he wasn't quite in the mood. "Ha ha ha," he answered drily.

Balto's smug expression dropped. It didn't take a genius to guess the real cause of Kodi's behavior. "Was it that bad?" he asked knowingly. He didn't even have to ask; he just knew Kodi that well.

The younger wolf-husky shook his head. "No, that's not it," he admitted. "I'm just... just thinking."

"What's on your mind?" Long ago, Balto had established what he and Kodi called the "guy talk" policy: when it was just the two of them, there was no such thing as a bad question. Answers weren't a given – Balto had given his share of, "I'll tell you when you're older"s and "I need to think about that"s, and Kodi had delivered a few, "I'd rather not talk about it"s, but either of them could ask the other any question on any subject.

Kodi took a deep breath, considering the old standby, "I don't want to talk about it." He was a little reluctant to discuss this with his dad, but he knew if there was one thing he needed, it was advice. "Well, it kind of has to do with the dream. See, Dusty and I were surfing... or maybe swimming, I'm not sure..." the details of the dream had begun to fade and blur, "... and a wave dumped us on the beach. She landed right on top of me, and she was wearing a bikini, and then I woke up."

"Ah." That was it: just "ah." No "Ah-ha," no "Wow;" just "ah." "And that gets you thinking...?"

Kodi looked away and stared at the clothes going around in the machine. "I just kind of wonder if maybe the others at school are right. Maybe I am missing out."

Silence came from Balto, and for an awful moment Kodi wondered if maybe finally he had said something that actually made his father ashamed of him. Then Balto spoke again.

"I guess some things never change," he said thoughtfully.

Kodi huffed. "That's what you always say."

Balto came over, pulled up a chair, and sat next to him. "You mind if I take a shot in the dark at what 'the guys' are saying?"

Kodi shrugged. "Go ahead."

Balto counted off on his fingers. "They probably don't see the point in waiting..."

"Yeah."

"... and they're surprised that you don't want to at least know what it's like..."

Kodi shifted a little. "Yeah..." he said, more slowly.

"You've probably said some things that were totally innocent, but 'the guys' turned them into dirty jokes..."

"Right again," Kodi admitted.

"And if your peers are anything like mine, you've probably had your honesty and/or your sexuality questioned."

"What?!" Kodi whipped his head around at his father. "Say that again?"

"I said... never mind. I guess you haven't been hit with that one yet."

Kodi frowned. "No, but thanks for the cheerful thought."

Balto shrugged. "Maybe the schools are getting better. Did I miss anything?"

Kodi fidgeted again. "There was a remark about locking me and Dusty in a room and not letting us out until..." he trailed off. "You know what? Never..."

"I get the picture." Balto raised a hand, not looking at all happy. "I take it back; I didn't get that one until college." After a pause, he added, "Son, you should know that your mother and I are very proud of you for choosing to do things right."

"I know," Kodi sighed. "I just wish I could get it over with, you know?"

Balto thought for a minute. "Wait here," he told Kodi. "I've got something to show you."

He left the laundry room, then crossed paths with Jenna, who was fixing coffee.

"I'll be in the laundry room," he told her. With a "You know what I mean" tone, he added, "I realized it's been a while since Kodi and I had a good storytime."

"What story is it this time?" she asked, though she knew Balto would fill her in on the conversation later if it was important.

He smiled. "Ours."

When Balto came back, he had an old book in his hands. Kodi could tell at once, just by the scent, that it was old but well cared-for. The sight of a book didn't surprise him; scrap books and photo albums were almost as standard in their house as lightbulbs. Since Balto had grown up with only scant memories of his own parents, he was determined that his own posterity never have the same void. Kodi remembered the last time Uncle Boris had stopped by, when Balto had shown him the summer camp shots recently added to Kodi's own personal archive. However, he couldn't recall ever seeing the red, faux leather cover before.

"Which one is this?" Kodi wanted to know.

Balto sat down and opened it across his knees. "Well, it doesn't really have a title, but it's more or less about your mother and me."

Kodi