me."

Kodi looked on as Balto opened to a page marked, "First Date" in Jenna's flowing script. "You were taking pictures back then?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Balto admitted. "Around the time we got engaged, Uncle Boris said we should reenact some of our earlier moments – same places, same clothes, all that. I have to admit, it was kind of fun."

"Uh-huh." Kodi's eyes fell on a snapshot of Balto sitting on Grandpa Watson's couch across from Grandpa – well, not Grandpa back then – who sat calmly in his usual chair tinkering with some kind of long object. "What's that Grandpa's working on?" he asked.

"Uh..." Balto coughed. "That would be a rifle."

The look on Kodi's face was indescribable. "You're joking."

"No, no I'm not. He really did work on a rifle while I was waiting to pick Jenna up for our first date – but that wasn't the part I was looking to show you. This is." He pointed to a piece of paper, creased nearly in half, in the corner of the page opposite the rifle photo.

Kodi perused the hand-written paper. "A list of rules?" he asked.

"He gave that to me that evening too."

The red husky shook his head. "I thought lists like this only appeared on T-shirts."

Balto laughed. "Well, let's just say I think I know who came up with those shirts. Anyway, he gave me that list, told me to put it someplace where I wouldn't lose it, and asked me every time I took Jenna out if I still had it."

Admittedly, the rules didn't seem too draconian to Kodi. On the other hand, it was hard to find one that his classmates wouldn't consider downright ridiculous. "Did you actually follow all of these?"

"We did, and it wasn't much more popular then than I'm guessing it is now. Doing things right is hardly ever easy."

Kodi shook his head. Even basic stuff like not sleeping together had made him and Dusty a laughing stock already. He didn't even want to think about what his peers would say if he tried to live by the whole list, and he said so.

"I'm not saying you have to live by the whole thing to the letter," Balto replied, "although I'd have a hard time finding anything in there that didn't benefit me when it was my turn. We've done our best to raise you into someone who can make the right decision with as few rules as possible. We can't tell you what to do your whole life."

The words "make the right decision" brought a knot of worry to Kodi's stomach. He knew well enough that being responsible for his own choices could be a lot less fun than it sounded. "So it's up to me and Dusty whether we kiss or not?" he ventured, noting that this was one of the "don't"s on the paper.

"Yeah, pretty much." Balto's face took on a slightly worried expression. "Have you...?"

"No," Kodi replied, though he would have been lying if he'd said he'd never thought about it. "Not yet."

"Well, just because Jenna and I followed that rule doesn't mean you have to – although it did make things more interesting when we finally-"

Kodi cleared his throat.

"Sorry. Listen, before I say something that embarrasses us both, let me just point you to something towards the end." He leafed through the pages past more pictures, some of them bearing meanings Kodi couldn't begin to guess at. "Ah, here it is." Balto pointed to another copy of the list. This one, however, had been torn down the middle.

"Did you rip it?" asked Kodi.

"No. Your grandfather gave me that copy the day Jenna and I got married. He said now he only wanted me to follow two rules."

Kodi looked up from the page questioningly. Balto just smiled. "Turn the page over."

The page, as it turned out, was transparent; both pieces of paper had been laminated. On the other side, Kodi found writing on the backs of the torn pieces:

I trust you now.

Take good care of her.

"See, son," Balto explained, "your classmates and Dusty's might be having a good time now, but unless they start using their heads they'll never get to enjoy that." He pointed to the two rules, and the wedding shots on the next page. "I got to that point because I proved myself to him – and I'll admit, it wasn't easy." His right hand strayed up to the back of his head; the site, as Kodi knew, of recurring headaches. "In fact, some of it I hope you never have to deal with. The point, though, is that what I've got now was worth the whole wait: a family I can be proud of, a beautiful wife, in-laws who trust and respect me... and under all of that, a clean conscience. I didn't have to drag a lot of dirty laundry into married life or parenthood – and I pray every night that you never do either."

A knock sounded at the door. "You almost done in there?" came Jenna's voice. "There's too much breakfast out here for me to handle alone."

Balto laughed. "I forgot to mention her cooking." He patted Kodi on the back. "You good, son?"

Kodi flipped the page back over and studied the rules. "Yeah, I'm good," he agreed, closing the book and getting up. As Balto reached for the doorknob, he added, "Dad?"

"Hm?" Balto turned, and wasn't particularly surprised as Kodi drew him into a hug.

"Thanks."

The wolf-dog smiled and patted his son on the back. "Anytime, Kodi. Anytime."

And thus we conclude another chapter of "What's Love Anyway?" In case anyone's wondering, I'd have to say that yes, some elements in the chapter were pretty extreme for me. I hope, however, that my readers will be sufficiently inspired and edified to justify that.  My ultimate intention was to show Balto coaching Kodi through some aspects of life which, I think, a lot of guys struggle to handle (or if they don't struggle, it's because they've gotten all the wrong directions and are following them at top speed).

Please read and review! If you have any suggestions for later chapters, don't hesitate to ask.

btw, it may be quite a while before the next update; I have no definite plans for this project until Christmas at this time. Please take the time to check out some of my other projects, and stay tuned for more of White Legend Reborn and a new Zootopia fanfic called "Something Stinks."