laughed.  “Who’d have thought,” he chuckled.  “My life is on the line, and Pete of all dogs saves the day.”

 Arrow smiled.  “You’re not so different,” she told him.  “He wanted to be a sled dog too.  And he loved his Dad, just like you.  He still does.”

 Toby stared at her.  “Really?” he asked.

 She nodded.  “Maybe it runs in the family.”

 He laughed.  “Well, speaking of families,” he said, “Let’s get back to ours.”  As they walked back to town through the snow, he asked, “So how did you get him to come anyway?”

 She shivered.  “It’s a long story.  Got an hour or two when we get home?”

 He smiled.  “For you, all the time in the world.”  Then he shivered too and added, “After we get back home.”

Moving as quickly as they could through the cold, they made their way back to Luna’s house.  Toby began announcing their approach at least a block away, drawing irate stares from anyone out on the streets.  He didn’t care, though.  All he cared about was getting back to Luna.  With Arrow close behind, he ran up the steps, leapt at the dog door…

 And fell back with a crash as it held firmly shut.

 “Dad!” cried Arrow.  Are you okay?”

 Toby stood up in a daze, rubbing his head with a paw.  “What happened?” he asked, sounding a bit foggy.

 Connie looked out the window and shook her head.  “No, Toby,” she chided, her voice muffled by the glass.  “The vet said no dogs around while Luna’s having her puppies.”

 “Luna’s having them?!” Toby practically shrieked.  He ran at the door and butted it again.  “Connie, I know you can’t hear me, but you gotta let me in there!”

 “Come on, Connie, let him in,” protested Eugene.  “They’re his pups too, and speaking of puppies, mine’s out there with him.”

 The conversation was punctuated by a cry from the background, prompting Toby to begin clawing at the door.  “Luna!” he called.  “This is nuts,” he growled in the back of his throat.  “I just took down a wolverine and now I’m being stopped by a little girl!”

 “Mom, are you OK?” called Arrow.  “I’m sorry I ran away, I promise I’ll never do it again!”

 “No,” Connie insisted.  “The vet said she might be upset if it was too crowded.  And stay away from that closet, she needs her privacy!”

 “Connie, Eugene, stop it,” commanded their father.

 Eugene was silent for a moment, then protested, “What about Mom?”

 “She has to keep an eye on Luna to make sure she’s alright,” Mr. Calvin insisted.  “And I’d rather not have you kids see some of what’s going on in there.”

 “AAAAAAGH!” Luna cried, as if to prove his point, although to human ears it was just a very shrill howl.

 Toby’s claws were shredding the wood like a wood chipper, tearing splinters away, completely oblivious to any which stuck in his paws.  “Luna!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

 Luna let out another cry, and then all was silent within the house.  “Are they here?” asked Eugene.  “Can I look now?”

 “You don’t want to,” warned Mrs. Calvin.  “There’s a lot of blood.  I’ll clean it up and then you can look.”

 “Blood?!” cried Toby as if they had just announced Luna was dead.  The impact of the one syllable drove him back.  Luna… no, no it wasn’t possible.  Or was it?  “Luna!” he cried out, his voice echoing up and down the street.  “Answer me, please!”

 “Dad, what’s wrong?” persisted Arrow.

 “I don’t know,” Toby growled, “But I’m getting in there even if I have to turn this door into a pile of toothpicks!”

 He continued to claw while Arrow sat by, completely unaware of what to do.  She didn’t know how bad the situation was, but she was bombarded by an irrational and completely unshakable feeling that it was all her fault.  Desperate for something to do, she began to howl.  Their silent follower watched, unseen even from a few feet away, and simply shook his head in wonder as he stepped through the closed door to see to Luna.

 Inside, Luna lay still, her breath coming in weak, ragged gasps.  While she was pregnant, she had sought advice from several dogs who had already had puppies, from her own mother and her aunt Dusty to total strangers she met by chance.  All of them had told her giving birth would hurt, but the pain of actually having her pups was worse than they had described, worse than she had ever imagined.  It felt as if she were dying, and even now she was so exhausted from the effort that she could barely move her head.  Weakly, she looked as best she could out the corner of her eye at the puppies now nestled against her stomach.

 “Luna, are you okay?” asked Connie.  Her voice sounded distant even though she was right there.  Luna let out a weak whimper to let her know she was still alive.  It was all she could do.

 “Mom!” cried Connie, “Luna’s really hurt!”

 “Get her some water and a warm blanket,” ordered her mother.  “And Eugene, get your coat on and bring Charlie here.  Take the back door so Toby doesn’t slip in.  Quickly!”

 “Right!”

 Luna dimly heard running footsteps as Connie dashed off to get the necessary items.  ‘Where’s Toby?’ she asked through the haze of wild thoughts and residual pain.  In her labor, she had barely been lucid enough to hear him outside.  ‘I hope he’s okay,’ she thought, imagining what kind of effect her cries of pain must have had on him.

 Connie’s parents knelt next to her, wanting to help but not sure how.  “Do you think she’ll make it?” asked Mrs. Calvin.

 Her husband shrugged.  “I don’t know,” he said quietly.  “The vet said she might not.”

 ‘What?!’ thought Luna.  ‘Why didn’t they mention it sooner?’  She was dimly aware of the man picking up her pups, and watched as he set them down again next to her in a different order.  It was all she could do not to growl at him in spite of herself.

 She heard Connie come running back.  “Here!” the girl yelled.  “I got them!”

 “Good,” said her mother.  Carefully, she arranged the blanket on top of Luna so that it covered her body but left her stomach – along with the puppies – exposed.

 “Why aren’t you covering them?” asked Connie.

 “They’ll probably need air, and plenty of it,” she replied.  “Now, let’s give her some water and see if that helps.”

 Mr. Calvin set the bowl near Luna’s head.  Slowly, trying not to disturb her pups, Luna moved her snout over the bowl and began to lap up the water, relishing the soothing sensation as it drenched her parched throat.

 “She’s drinking!” cheered Connie.  “She’s okay!”

 “Let’s hope so,” murmured her father.

 A loud BANG sounded through the room as Toby slammed his weight against it from outside, accompanied by Arrow’s plaintive cries.  “Can we let them in now?” asked Connie.

 Mr. Calvin nodded.  “If this keeps up we won’t have a front door in five minutes.”  He strode to the door, grasped the knob, and paused to look at his progeny.  “You’d better stand back,” he advised.  “If he’s anything like I was when you kids were…”

 As soon as the door was open a crack, Toby bolted in with such force that the door whacked Mr. Calvin in the face and sent him tumbling to the floor with a crash.

 “Honey, are you alright?” asked his wife.

 He nodded, looking slightly dazed.  He touched his forehead to check for bleeding and then he laughed.  “I guess some things are the same whether you’re a person or a dog,” he commented as he closed the door with his foot and looked over at Toby, who was standing several feet away from Luna.  He looked nervous, timid, eager, and excited all at once.  “Just like I was, alright,” the man chuckled.

 Luna smiled at Toby.  The instinctive paranoia of her pregnancy was apparently gone now, leaving nothing but an anxious desire to have him close again.  “Come on, Toby,” she whispered.

 Toby approached slowly and looked down at the five hairless puppies all lined up along Luna’s stomach as neatly as stockings on a mantle.  There were no words in the world to describe the swirl of emotions inside him.  “They’re beautiful,” he whispered.  “Absolutely beautiful.”  After a pause he asked, “Are you okay?  You sounded like you were dying in here.”

 She took