Chapter 2: A Housedog's Life.

Monday, February 15, 1925.

A housedog needed to be clean and fresh. Of course Balto was clean, about as clean as a dog could get, since the wolf-dog took semi-daily baths outside his trawler. And Thomas and Evelyn Jones had always been impressed by how clean the street dog's fur was. But now that he was living with them and their daughter, they wanted to be extra careful and precautious. It was time for their pet's first indoor bath.

They regretted not being able to give him one sooner, but the past two weeks had been kinda hectic, what with the epidemic, and their sick daughter laid up in the hospital, and their unscrupulous mayor trying to rip them away from the newest member of their family. But they were giving him one now, and of course the fully recovered, newly energized Rosie wanted to help them get the job done.

He tried not to squirm too much as both husband and wife strained to pick him up (he was a lanky hybrid, but underneath that fur he had plenty of muscle) and lifted him over the soap and water-filled bathtub. Being held just over it, he had only one wish – that they didn't drop him in. Luckily they were gentle, they didn't want to hurt him or splash themselves with water, and when his feet touched the edge he realized the water was actually quite warm – tested by Rosie and her mother beforehand before they called him into their bathroom.

The redheaded girl and her equally redheaded dog watched, smiling, as the half-wolf's feet touched the bottom of the tub (the water rising up to his belly), and he finally relaxed. When her parents moved out of the way, the little girl eagerly ran ahead to do her part.

"The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly begins.

She ran the soap in her hand through Balto's fur, creating a good amount of suds, and while the sensation felt weird and invading at first he got used to it soon enough. By the time she was done, his skin and fur were all slicked up. Then her father handed her a towel she dunked it in the water.

Balto realized, almost too late, that he should close his eyes and he wrenched them shut just as she started to slide the wet cloth across his soapy fur coat. The encompassing warmth, compared to the chilly winter baths he was accustomed to, was incredible.

She rinsed his back first, then his legs, tail, and neck. She was careful around the head, not wanting to get any water in his eyes, ears, mouth or nose (knowing herself how irritating that was), and just when he thought she was done she reached for the soap and started all over again.

By the time he climbed out of the tub, onto the bathmat Tom and Eve had laid out for him, the hybrid was thoroughly drenched and sopping wet – but admittedly cleaner than he had ever felt before. Rosie was on top of him no time, with another, bigger towel in-hand to dry him off.

When bath time was over and the girl admired her handiwork, Jenna couldn't help but giggle (to her husband's embarrassment) when she saw his normally scruffy fur was now poofy and frizzy. She supposed it would settle with time, like he would.

((()-()))

Tuesday, February 16, 1925.

Of course the next day's task was even more worrying for a certain wolf-dog, and nowhere near as comfortable.

He'd known it was coming, prepared for it in his mind, heard stories about other dogs who'd survived it, but that didn't make it any less terrifying.

The fearless canine steeled himself as the town vet came at him with a needle that looked even bigger than the kind hospital staff used.

The doc's reassurances to Roslyn and her mother that Balto's vaccination would be relatively painless didn't placate him, and he was glad the vet's office was the one place in Nome he and his wife wouldn't have to go back to anytime soon.

((()-()))

Wednesday, February 17, 1925.

Balto's intelligence never ceased to impress Thomas.

A lot of dog owners had their pooches bring them the paper in the morning. Every morning while his wife fried the bacon and his daughter took her seat at the table, Balto would stop eating out of his dog dish long enough to go outside and fetch his paper the moment the paper boy delivered it.

Remarkable. It was even more amazing since Tom hadn't done a thing to teach him that trick, he'd learned it all on his own. Just like how he found his way through a blizzard on his own.

Sometimes when he thought about how smart that dog had to be it scared him; but most times it just made him the proudest man in town..

((()-()))

Balto was confused at first as about why Jenna wanted him to sneak under the table with her (not that he didn't enjoy sneaking around), until he noticed a few strips of bacon and pieces of toast waiting for them under the tablecloth - near Rosie's seat. The girl had been sneaking her husky scraps of food whenever neither of her folks were looking ever since she was five; and there was plenty to go around.

Jenna was a dog after his own heart.

((()-()))

Rosie dreamed of being the world's greatest musher; a legend like Gunnar Kaasen. And now she had two of the best dogs in the world to help her. The girl cheered with joy as Balto and Jenna towed her and her new (barely used) dogsled down Front Street, waving to all her friends as they got her to school with time to spare.

Rosie tried to be a modest girl, and she hated show-offs, but like her father she was immensely proud and fond of Balto and Jenna. So when all the kids in school asked if they could pet the dog who saved their lives, she didn't object. They all deserved a chance to thank him like she did every day.

((()-()))

A very tired and frustrated Thomas picked up the oranges he'd been forced to drop on the floor. They were still good, they could always be washed off, but it was going to take forever to put them all back in their box again. Thanks to a certain coworker. A certain coworker who didn't look all that apologetic for bumping into him as their boss scolded the slacker. Jeff was really starting to rub him the wrong way.

((()-()))

Meanwhile, as he was saying goodbye to Rosie and leaving her to the rest of her school day, a very happy-go-lucky Balto ran into his new teammates Nikki, Kaltag, and Star and greeted them like he did every morning.

"Married life treating you well?", Nikki inquired..

"Couldn't be better", Balto grinned, glancing past them to look further down the street at his girl rubbing his wife's head farewell.

"So have you and Jenna… done it yet?", Kaltag asked suggestively.

Balto's attention snapped back to him. If he'd been eating anything he would have spit it straight out. "What?", he asked dumbstruck; though he knew perfectly well what his straightforward companion had said.

Grinning mischievously, the golden yellow dog got closer to Balto and whispered, confidentially, into one of his big ears. "I said, have you and her… done the deed?", he inquired teasingly.

Balto's cheeks felt very, very hot, and very, very red. It was a good thing he had a fur coat, because he was certain he was blushing like a schoolgirl underneath it. "That's none of your business", he retorted quickly. Though it hardly fazed Kaltag.

"Sure pal, I get it. What happens behind closed doors, huh?", he snickered, patting the wolf-dog's shoulder and ignoring his glare as he backed up. He and his compadres (who had the exact same teasing, but well-natured, smirk as the chinook) were ready to return to whatever it was they had been doing before.

"Just try not to stay up too late. My shoulder's good as new now and practice starts again tomorrow", Kaltag informed the annoyed, self-conscious hybrid, mercifully changing the subject before he went.

Most days Balto liked having Kaltag as a friend, easily one of the most pleasant surprises from the serum was that Nikki, Kaltag and Star were pretty good guys underneath it all, and he respected the reformed bully as much as the chinook did him. With that much having been said, the trio of sled dogs could still get pretty annoying sometimes, like when they started asking questions about his love life. Balto thanked god Jenna wasn't around for to hear that. Kal probably would have had a paw-shaped bruise on the side of his face for days.

((()-()))

Balto grinned as a familiar sensation set in – the feeling of being loved to death. Unlike Boris he'd gotten used to Muk and Luk's bear hugs over the years and actually kind of liked them.

"I've missed you guys too", he told the gleeful brothers once they released him (though it had only been a few days since his last visit to the trawler).

The first time polar bear brothers invaded Nome, it's townspeople were in too joyous a mood to notice much. The second time however, the large mammals attracted plenty of attention when they came to visit their favorite half-breed (ignoring Boris' protests about how it wasn't a good idea). Now a few worried parents were starting to pull their kids closer to their sides, as they anxiously walked around the bears that had wandered into the middle of Front Street in the middle of the day.

Both Balto and his father noticed the humans' reaction. "But maybe we should put off catching up until we're in Rosie's backyard?", he suggested nervously. After all, Jenna would certainly be excited to see her favorite cousins again.

((()-()))

So Kaltag asked him how married life was treating him, and Balto's reply may have been a bit of an understatement. A few painful pokes and awkward moments aside, married life was a thousand times better than bachelor life. It made him wish his pals would find their own special someones someday.

The best part had to be when Tom returned from work and Rosie came home from school; when the family would talk over dinner, and the hybrid would get a chance to learn even more about them. Afterwards, the humans would turn-in for the night and he would get to curl up on the rug with Jenna in front of a nice, warm, comforting fireplace. Heaven on Earth.