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Jake had been seriously stoked when Brian invited him to join his family for the Christmas holiday. He was the only kid at Dogwarts who hadn't been raised in a pack, and even though everybody was friendly enough, he hadn't been around long enough to establish himself. He figured hanging with the pack leader and his family ought to earn him a few dozen coolness points.
Brian moved the box next to a long table along one wall that Felicia had cleared off that afternoon, and opened it to show a pile of bundles wrapped in newspaper.
"I want to help," Ruby said.
"Gently now," Felicia warned her.
"I know, they were Grandma's. I'll be careful. "
The way they slowly unwrapped each piece, Jake was expecting something extra cool, but all he saw was a bunch of decently painted ceramic figures of the usual suspects included in Nativity sets: Mary, Joseph, the kid, the Kings, some shepherds, and an assortment of camels, donkeys, sheep, and cows.
It looked as if they'd emptied the box when Ruby said, "Where's the wolf?"
"Must be in here somewhere," Felicia said, and rummaged around until she found one last wad of newspaper. "You do it, Jake. "
The three of them were looking at him like it
was a big deal, so he took it and peeled off the newspaper to reveal another figure.
He looked at it, and then at their expectant faces. "It's a dog. "
"It's not a dog!" Ruby said. "It's a wolf. "
"It looks like a dog," Jake said. "Kind of mangy, if you ask me. "
"Jake doesn't know the story," Ruby said. "Tell him, Daddy!"
Brian cleared his throat. "In those days, Caesar Augustus sent word that all the world was to be taxed, and each - "
"Dude, I've seen A Charlie Brown Christmas three times this week. I know how it goes. "
Felicia frowned, but relented when Ruby giggled.
Brian said, "Then you know that an angel appeared to the shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem, who were keeping watch over their flocks. And of course, shepherds always had dogs with them. "
"Then it is a dog. "
"Not exactly. Even now, there isn't that much difference between a dog and a wolf - "
"Yeah? So why doesn't anybody in the pack turn into a Chihuahua and party with Paris Hilton?"
"Just listen!" Felicia said sharply.
"Whatever. "
Brian went on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Back then, the differences between types of canine were even less. So it turned out that these shepherds had a wolf to guard their sheep. "
Jake wanted to ask why the wolf didn't just chow down on mutton one night, with shepherd's pie for dessert, but from the look in Felicia's eye, he figured he better not go there.
"When the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see the Christ child, the wolf went with them, and when they were struck with the glory of the Lord, so was the wolf. Being a wolf, he wanted to give praise the best way he knew how. So he howled. "
Jake blinked. He was pretty sure Linus hadn't said anything to Charlie Brown about a howling wolf.
"Naturally, the other animals were afraid," Brian continued, "and the shepherds were going to chase off the wolf. But the baby smiled at him, and waved His hand, and suddenly a man was standing there. And he bowed down with the others to praise the child. It was Jesus' first miracle. "
"Turning a wolf into a naked guy?"
Felicia frowned again, but Ruby giggled and said, "Jake! They gave him something to wear. "
