'Wait for me!' panted Amber as she ran up the hill after Bailey, Candy and Kenny. Usually she'd be able to get ahead of them but for the past seven weeks she'd been hiding a secret. A secret she shared with Bailey. She knew she wouldn't be able to hide it soon but continued to cover it up with her cheerful personality.

She finally reached the top where Bailey stood waiting for her. The others were lying down a few meters behind panting.

'Are you ok?' Bailey asked, worriedly.

'I'm fine!' Amber chuckled, 'No need to worry so much!'

She licked Bailey's cheek when the others weren't watching and batted his nose with her tail as she turned to follow Candy and Kenny. Bailey grinned at her before following her.

'Hey guys!' called Candy, 'Let's play hide and seek, girls against boys!' Amber nodded and laughed, trotting over to Candy. Kenny went up to Bailey. He glanced at him quickly before pawing at the snow.

Bailey still hadn't forgiven him for getting Candy into trouble with the wolves but they were still friends.

'Ready?' he asked Kenny. Kenny grinned, knowing that he could feel safe again.

'You bet!' he said.

'You hide first!' Candy called.

Bailey and Kenny ran off to hide while Candy and Amber retreated to the trees to count. Amber was about to start counting but Candy stopped her.

'Hey, Amber?' said Candy, looking a bit nervous.

'Yeah, hun?' replied Amber.

'I know it's a silly and rude thing to ask, but how come you've put on weight recently? I mean usually you're really skinny and fast but for a little while I've noticed that you've been slowing down.'

'U-uh, well, err...' Amber didn't know what to say. She didn't want to tell Candy the truth just yet but she didn't want to sound like she was lying.

'Well, I've been eating more recently. I thought that eating more would make me run faster, i guess.' said Amber. She smiled and felt relieved when Candy seemed to bewlieve her. But really Candy didn't think Amber was telling the truth. She decided not to ask again and the two dogs went to look for Bailey and Kenny.

 

The next day, Bailey was on his way to Amber's house while Candy went to get Kenny. When he got there, though, Amber wasn't standing on the porch so he crept through the dog-door and went to whwere she slept. She was awake but didn't seem to want to get up.

'Hey, Amber!' said Bailey. Amber jumped and turned round. She smiled when she saw Bailey.

'Hiya, sugar.' she said, nuzzling his cheek.

'Why weren't you waiting?' asked Bailey.

'I was just thinking. Sorry.'

'S'ok!' said Bailey seeing her slightly sad face.

The two dogs walked out of the room leaning against each other till they got to the dog-door again. Amber crawled through first and Bailey gave her a nudge when she got stuck. He crawled out after her.

'Being pregnants not the best thing if ya can't get out of the door!' stated Amber as she picked herself up. No-one was around so Bailey licked her face a few times and Amber rubbed her head against his chest. They layed down on the porch together for a few minutes.

'So, what were you thinking about?' asked Bailey as he snuggled up closer to Amber.

'As if that's not obvious. Our pups!' she said. Bailey chuckled.

'I'm excited!' he said, nuzzling her.

'Me too!' said Amber, sighing, 'But I just hope we'll be good parents to them. Sometimes I feel that we're too young to be parents.'

'Don't you worry. We are gonna be the best parents ever!' He looked at her face and wrapped his tail round hers.

They closed their eyes for a few moments before Bailey reminded Amber that they needed to go. They got up, reluctantly and made their way down the alley. Amber started running and Bailey chased her to the main street. However, they didn't know that someone had been watching them the whole time.

'Where have you guys been?' asked Kenny, impatiently, 'We've been waiting forever!' Bailey was about to say something but Amber interrupted him.

'I went to sleep late last night and Bailey had to come wake me up!' she said, grinning sheepishly. Candy sighed. She had a small idea what was going on. She knew Bailey liked Amber.

He was probably asking her out, she thought and sighed.

she thought and sighed.

A week later, Bailey was taking a stroll on the outskirts of Nome. He was thinking about Amber and their soon-to-be pups. He moved further out and padded through the snow. His paws sinking deep into the snow left his large pawprints, deep in the snow.

Another dog was watching him. It was the same dog as before. He jumped out of his hiding place and lunged at Bailey. He slashed his nose and Bailey yelped. He turned round to see another dog getting up out of the snow. This dog was larger than him, almost twice as big. He was black and white with a black strip going down his nose and patches round his eyes. His eyes were the palest ice blue and he had massive paws.

'Who are you?' growled Bailey.

'I'm Blake, the oldest and strongest son of Steele!' barked the dog in reply, 'And unless you leave Amber alone, I'm going to have to kill you!'

'What are you talking about and why should I leave Amber alone?' asked Bailey.

'I know that you two are expexting puppies but there is something you didn't know! Amber is my girl and no-one else's. If I see you with her again, you are DEAD!' he snarled and walked off. Bailey watched him until he was out of site. He walked round the edge of the city and ran down an alley. He ran through a maze of alleys till he got to Amber's house. He looked around quickly before running up onto the door and scrambling through the dog-door. Amber's owners were out watch an evening race so he could go see her without being disturbed. He ran into her room and saw her curled up asleep on her cushion. Her tummy was very large now and she hadn't been out for a couple of days claiming that she was ill. Bailey slowly walked up to her and layed down next to her. He curled his self dround her so that their noses were almost touching. He snuggled close to her and closed his eyes. Every so often he'd feel her tummy move slightly and smiled. Sometimes Amber would wriggle round a bit and snuggle up to Bailey. He sighed and smiled as he felt her warm breath against his cheek and puppies squirming inside her tummy. He soon drifted off to sleep. He awaoke when Amber shifted.

'Hello, sugar.' she whispered.

'Hi.' replied Bailey. The two looked at each other but shot bolt upright with their ears pricked up when they heard a clatter from somewhere in the house.

Suddenly, Blake flew through the door and pounced on Bailey. They rolled and crashed into the wall. Amber jumped back and gasped. Blake kicked Bailey in the ribs and in the back until he fainted. He turned to Amber and grinned slyly. She backed away, afraid.

'Amber!' Blake said, rather slyly yet softly, 'Where have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!'

'Just stay away!' cried Amber, 'Why did you attack Bailey?'

'I warned him not to come near you again because, as we all know, you're my girl!'

'I am not your girl! Just because I liked you for a while doesn't mean I still do!'

'No need to get all fussed up! I'm leaving anyway!' He walked up to her and licked her acoss the face and nuzzled her cheek. Amber jumped back and snarled at him. He just chuckled.

'Later, sweetie-pie!' he said, walking out of the door. Sweetie-pie was an old nickname he'd given her when she used to go out with him as a teenage pup. She used to go all fluttery inside whenever he called her it but now she hated it.

Two days later, Amber slowly walked along the beach. She hadn't seen Bailey since the incident with Blake and was hoping he still wanted to see her. She decided that she should stop worrying and that if she was to be a good mother then first she had to keep fit. She started jogging a little but stopped after a few moments to catc her breath.

'I can't exercise with puppies in my tummy. I'll have to stop.' She started to walk again but slipped on the ice and fell onto her side hard.

My puppies! was the first thing she thought of. She started crying hard and heard someone running up to her.

was the first thing she thought of. She started crying hard and heard someone running up to her.

'Are you ok?' a sweet but scared voice asked. It was Candy. She helped Amber up, but she just sat down again, crying.

'Amber, are you hurt?' asked Candy.

'No,' she sobbed, 'But I think I hurt them though!'

'Them?' said Candy, confused. Amber decided that now was the time to tell Candy about her and Bailey's puppies.

'We've been hiding it for the past nine weeks because we didn't think you would approve of it. You've always been so protective over Bailey so I thought you'd turn on me. And now I think I've hurt the pups and I don't know if Bailey still loves me or what!' explained Amber after telling Candy about the puppies.

'Oh, Amber, ' said Candy, 'I wouldn't turn on you! You're my best friend! And besides I get to be an auntie!' She smiled and Amber giggled at the last statement. But her face fell again.

'But what about Bailey and the pups?' she said.

'Listen, you don't have to worry about Bailey. He's been talking about you non-stop. He's worried sick. All he says is that he wished that he could have protected you from that other dog! Besides, if you take it easy for a while I'm sure the puppies will be absolutely perfect!'

She said it so firmly that Amber had to blink a couple of times to make sure that it was the same sweet Candy that she was talking to.

'Thanks, Candy!' she said at last. The two of them walked up the frozen beach and bak into the town. Candy and Amber walked past all the other dogs to Bailey's house.

'I don't think I'll be able to fit through the dog-door!' said Amber.

'Don't be silly! Our dog-door is beigger than yours because this one was made for a massive dog that lived here before us! I'm sure it'll be

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