do you and I, for that matter.”
“We won't be long,” Toby replied, picking up Caspar and walking out the door.
As Toby set Caspar down, the pup's tail was whipping again. “That was really great, Dad,” he said. “How you took down that Lawrence guy, and got everyone back safely, and...”
Toby stopped him. “Well, it wasn't all me, remember,” he said. “I was only as good as Luna and the team. They all had skills that played a part in getting us to him and capturing him.”
“Yeah, but you were the best,” said the pup. “Someday I'm going to be smart and brave and strong, just like you.”
Toby placed a paw on his son’s back. “Let me ask you something,” he said. “What makes us strong?”
The pup shrugged. “Exercise, good diet, fresh air,” he replied, listing the things Luna had always said would make them big and strong.
Toby shook his head. “I don’t mean that kind of strong,” he explained, “although those are important too. But the kind of strength that really matters is from others.” He grew quiet then, speaking in a soft tone. “Inside you is a part of everyone who loves you. First your mother and me, then your brothers and sisters, then Charlie and Connie and even Eugene and their parents.”
“And Grandma and Grandpa?” asked Caspar.
Toby nodded. “And them too,” he agreed. “Everyone who has ever loved you and everyone you’ve ever loved is inside your heart, and as life goes on you’ll get more and more of them.”
“But I’m not big enough to have anybody inside my heart,” protested Caspar.
Toby wanted to hit himself over the head. “I didn’t mean it that way,” he admitted. “It was a figure of speech. It’s like, your mother and I, your brothers and sisters, everyone who cares about you is a part of you, and you’re a part of them. It’s all those parts, working together. That’s where real strength comes from. Does that make sense?”
Caspar thought about it. His parents being part of him made sense; he’d always known from the way he and they smelled that he was somehow a mix of them. And it made sense that his brothers and sisters were part of him too, in some different way. It didn’t all make sense, but he knew one thing for sure with the kind of certainty only a child can have. He knew that if his father said it, it was true. “Not all of it,” he admitted. “But I think I understand.”
Toby smiled. “Atta boy,” he beamed, patting his son on the head. “Always remember, wherever you go, I’ll always be here…” he removed his paw from Caspar’s head and brought it down until the tip touched the pup’s chest. “…and here.”
Caspar smiled. “I will, Dad. I promise.”
Toby yawned. “Well now, it's time for us both to go to bed. Let's get you inside, okay?”
“Can you stay tonight?” pleaded Caspar.
“You know I have my own home with Charlie and the Winters family,” he replied as he escorted his young progeny inside.
“Please?” begged Caspar. “I like having you there when I go to sleep.”
Luna's ears pricked. “I wouldn't mind the company either,” she added encouragingly.
Toby shrugged. “Well, I guess I can stay for a while,” he conceded. After all, he knew even if he wanted to forget that all too soon the pups would go to new homes and family moments like this would be gone. As he nudged Caspar into the basket and assumed his usual position with his head over Luna's back and his eyes on the pups, he added, “But Charlie will want me there in the morning.”
Caspar smiled, yawned, and nestled up among his brothers and sisters. As Luna began to softly croon a lullaby, Caspar rolled his father's words around in his head. “Your mother and I, your brothers and sisters, everyone who cares about you is a part of you, and you’re a part of them. That's where strength comes from. Always remember, wherever you go, I'll be right here.”
Dad's a part of me, he thought, smiling. And someday, that part is going to show itself, and I'll be the best dog there ever was, just like Dad!
The following morning, Luna was sleeping peacefully. The only break in her slumber had been waking up for two minutes when Toby got up to give her a quick goodbye lick and then return to Charlie's. But she was about to experience a much ruder awakening.
“Geronimo!” came a loud call.
“Huh?” asked Luna groggily. But that was all she had time for, because the next thing she felt was an impact in the middle her back. Startled, she rose, and the pressure slid down her side into the middle of the sleeping pups, setting off an eruption of protest.
“Hey, no fair!” cried one. “I almost had that rabbit this time!”
“I was after a caribou!”
“I was dreaming about having a good dream!”
Amidst the roused barks of his siblings, Caspar lay where he had landed, belly up, grinning sheepishly at Luna, who wanted to laugh at how cute he looked in spite of her great annoyance.
“So, she asked, her warring sides settling on a truce with a stern expression, “What was your dream, Caspar?”
Rolling over, he withered slightly under her gaze. “I was, um, sleepwalking?” he ventured.
“Nice try,” Luna pressed. She didn't like to get mad, especially at her own pups first thing in the morning. But Caspar's hesitation prompted her to suspect something else. “Were you playing at being Toby?”
He shrank slightly. “Maybe,” he replied.
She heaved a sigh. Be supportive, he thought. “What story?”
The slight softening of her tone heartened him. “I was practicing my jumps,” he said. “Like when you and dad used to play in...”
“The storage lot, I remember,” she interrupted. Her back still hurt every time she thought about it. “Caspar, did-” but she was interrupted by a nudge at her side. Looking down, she saw Melchior pushing his nose against her stomach. “Yes?” she asked.
Mel looked up. “I'm hungry,” he said. This prompted the other pups to look up at her expectantly too.
Luna sighed and rolled onto her side. Apparently any further discussion of Caspar's antics would have to wait until after breakfast.
Finding the chance to talk to Caspar didn't turn out as easy as Luna had hoped. After breakfast, the pups all wanted to play. Since she didn't want to embarrass Caspar in front of his siblings – a major faux pas, according to advice previously gathered from several experienced parents – and since Toby hadn't arrived yet, and since she didn't want to send the rest of the pups off to play unsupervised, Luna decided their discussion would have to wait. Until then, she located a rag and let them have at it.
Toby did arrive later that morning, somewhat later than usual. He was grinning openly over a game of fetch with Charlie. “Hey, honey, I-”
“Daddy!” the pups cheered, dropping the rag and crowding around him.
“Hey, kids,” he laughed, sticking his muzzle into their midst.
“Wanna play rip-the-rag?” asked Star.
“Mom and Dad are too big to play that with us,” Arrow pointed out. “We need a game adults can play.”
“How about caribou hunt?” suggested Luna brightly. “Daddy can be the caribou.”
“Yay!” the pups cheered. “Dad's a caribou!”
“What about you?” asked Toby, looking at Luna.
“I'll be along soon,” she replied, putting a paw on Caspar's tail to hold him back. “You can go ahead and I'll catch up.”
Toby noted her position and Caspar's pinned tail, raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged, knowing Luna would fill him in on the details later. “Okay, then,” he said, turning to the pups. “Catch me if you can!” And so saying, he made a mad dash for the pet flap with the pups fast on his heels.
As the last of his siblings exited, Caspar looked up at Luna, looking hurt. “Why can't I play too?” he asked.
“You can,” she told him, “But first we need to talk.”
His ears drooped. “Did I do something bad?” he asked.
“Well...” she hesitated. She didn't want to tell him he shouldn't be like his father – after all, she reasoned, there were few better role models for him to emulate, and certainly a number of worse ones. “I just wanted to ask you about your talk with Toby last night.”
Caspar smiled. “It was great,” he yipped cheerfully. “He told me about how even though there's other people and dogs inside me, he's a part of me too.”
Luna was confused. “What?”
Didn't she hear me? he wondered. “I said he told me about...”
“I got that part,” Luna cut him off. “I just don't know what you mean. What exactly did he say?”
Caspar concentrated, trying to remember every detail of the conversation. “Well,” he said, “We were talking about the story he told last night, and he said that there were other dogs who had skills that helped stop that Lawrence guy. Then he started telling me about where real strength comes from, bits of everyone we like inside of us working together.”
Luna was getting confused. “That doesn't make any sense,” she replied.
Caspar was disappointed. Why couldn't his mother understand? It all made sense last night when Toby told it to him. Maybe I can't make sense