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“Huh?” Walter asked in response as he put a hand to his ear like he couldn’t hear me.
“Did you get her fixed, sweetheart?” Lenny said loudly.
“Fixed for what?” the other man asked.
“Oh God,” Ford said from behind me.
“Fixed so she couldn’t get pregnant, Walter,” I explained.
“You think she’s pregnant, Doc?” Lenny asked.
“I’ll have to do an ultrasound to be completely sure but it’s looking that way.” I looked at Walter who still seemed confused and said, “Congratulations, Walter. You and Lenny are going to be grandpas.”
Walter’s eyes went wide and then he was putting his hands over Puddles’ ears. “Doc, are you saying someone had their way with—” He looked at Lenny, then Ford. “It was that no-good wolf!” he declared. “I told you he was leading her on!”
“Loki is neutered, Walter!” Ford said in response.
Walter waved his hand at Ford and then looked at Lenny. “Where’s my phone? If those fellas think her baby daddy is just going to get off scot free—”
“Any idea when she’s due, Sawyer?” Ford asked. “Or how many puppies we can expect?”
“I have a portable ultrasound machine in my truck,” I said. “I’ll take a look before I leave.”
Walter was still in search of his phone when I said, “Walter, I promise you, Loki is missing the necessary… tools of the trade… to get your girl in this condition. Do you know if any neighbors have an unaltered male dog or have any of you seen any strays hanging around?”
“Stray what?” I heard someone ask. Cam appeared in the doorway a moment later. He dropped a kiss to Ford’s lips.
Like with the old men, the kiss lasted longer than it probably should have, considering the situation, but I wasn’t the one who had to do the throat clearing this time. Riley, the teenager that Cam and Ford had taken in earlier in the year, squeezed past the couple. The movement forced Cam to step back from Ford, but I knew what the unspoken promise he sent Ford’s way meant.
“Is she okay?” Riley asked as he plopped down in one of the side chairs. He was eating what looked like french fries. He immediately patted his lap for Puddles and despite her girth, she was in the teenager’s arms munching on a fry in the blink of an eye.
“Hey, no more of the greasy stuff,” Walter said as he snapped his fingers at Riley. He looked at me and said, “She’s gotta have some of that organ food or whatever for her condition, right, Doc? Where’s Nurse Ratchet? He likes that kind of crap.”
“What condition?” Cam asked.
“Do you mean organic?” Riley asked as he fed the dog another fry.
“Seems her highness’s weight gain can’t be solved by putting her on a diet,” Ford said to Cam.
“Oh my god, is something wrong with her?” Riley asked as he gave the dog a squeeze.
“She’s fine, Riley. She’s—” Ford began.
“Knocked up is what she is!” Walter grumbled. He looked at Cam and said, “I want to file a citizen’s complaint against those boys and their no-good wolf. Doc, can we charge child support for each little one she’s got growing inside of her or is it more of a one price per dozen or something?”
“She’s pregnant?” Cam exclaimed.
“Cool,” Riley said. “But isn’t twelve puppies a lot?” he asked me.
“We don’t know how many puppies there are,” Lenny explained as Walter and Cam talked over him. Cam was still trying to make sense of the fact that the cute little dog in Riley’s lap was going to have carbon copies of herself running around in no time.
“I’ll just go grab the ultrasound machine,” I said to no one in particular. It was all I could do to keep a straight face as I escaped the room. Unfortunately, my mood went south pretty much the second I stepped out of the house.
“Hey Sawyer, wait up,” I heard from behind me. I struggled to put a smile on my face before I turned to face Ford.
“Yeah, what’s up?” I asked, then joked, “Is someone bleeding in there?”
But there was no humor in Ford’s eyes. “What happened?” he asked.
“Huh?” I managed to get out even as my throat closed up.
Ford sighed and then took my hand in his. I didn’t say anything or resist as he pulled me toward an open area near the garage where there were several chairs, a bench, and a fire pit. “Sit,” Ford ordered as he pointed to the bench. It was a beautiful piece of wooden furniture with Walter and Lenny’s initials carved into the top slat along with a heart.
“I never noticed this before,” I murmured as I reached out to run my fingers over the initials.
“Cam and I gave it to Walter and Lenny for what would have been their sixtieth anniversary if they’d been able to stay together,” Ford responded.
