Through the Years

Chapter Fourteen

New Adventures

Part Four

The next day, the partners went to the hardware store and looked at dog doors. They had talked it over with their wives, and Mama Starsky, to make sure they were all okay with the dogs freely roaming in and out of the house. They had also discovered that the area under Hutch's back porch could be made into a rather large doghouse. With a little weather proofing, a raised platform, and a few cushions, it looked downright comfortable. They installed the doors and had the doghouse all set. They waited until the workers were almost done with the fencing to go get the dogs. Nobody told the children what was going on. The ladies had taken them over to visit the Dobeys while the work was being done. Mama Starsky stayed to keep an eye on the fence workers while the boys were working on their projects. On the way to the shelter, they stopped at the pet store to get food, bowls, collars, leashes, and toys. They decided to color code everything. Cocoa would have a brown collar and leash; Blackie's would be black. They picked pink and purple for the two girls, and blue for the other boy. The really felt that would keep things simple and help them tell the two girls apart. When they got to the shelter, they talked to the supervisor for a bit. All the dogs had a clean bill of health, and the first set of shots. They were given information on local vets, and strongly advised to get their new pets spayed and neutered.

"Hey Gordo, did you think about how much these dogs are going to cost us? Food and vet bills could get pretty high."

"Yeah, I have been thinking about that. If we take turns buying food, it shouldn't be too much. What do you think about putting ten dollars a pay in a savings account strictly for pet expenses?"

"I will have to talk to Abby, but that sounds like a good idea. Tell you what I'll do. I want to save most of what is left of Grandad's money for the kids to go to college. I think it would not hurt for me to use some of that to get all the dogs fixed."

"Are you sure Blintz, that could run into quite the bill?"

"Yes Buddy, I know you are doing this for Mama. I have seen how she looks sometimes. Those guys attacking you in your house really scared her. If these dogs give her peace of mind, it is worth it."

They got home with the dogs and set about trying to get them to go in and out their doors. Once the pups saw Cocoa do it, they started running in and out like it was a game. The partners sat on Hutch's back porch and watched them for a while, laughing at their antics. Cocoa had curled up between their chairs and kept a sleepy eye on the pups. Mama Starsky heard the dogs barking and came out to meet them. Starsky saw her coming and pulled another chair close to them. As she started up the steps, Cocoa stood up, almost at attention, and looked intently at her. Mama stopped and reached her hand towards Cocoa so she could sniff. When the tail started wagging, Mama gave her a good scratch behind the ears and sat down. Cocoa came over and sat right next to her. She watched the pups going in and out, and wrestling with each other.

"These are beautiful dogs, boys. Do they have names yet? Which is the one Bobby was so enamored with?"

Starsky reached down and snagged Blackie as he ran by. "This is Bobby's pup; his name is Blackie. The mama already had a name, Cocoa. We thought we would wait a few days to name the other three. See if something seems to fit."

As they were watching the dogs, the phone started ringing. Hutch went in to answer. He barely got a hello out.

"Blondie, I am at the hospital with Diane. She is in labor and something is wrong. They kicked me out of the room and won't let me back in. I can't get any answers. I need my brothers!"

"Hang on Hug, we are on our way!"

He opened the back door and stuck his head out, "Starsk, we gotta go. Diane's in labor, somethings wrong, and Huggy is sending out a mayday."

Starsky jumped up and started towards the door, "Ma, you OK with the dogs?"

"Yes dear, go. Tell Huggy and Diane I am praying for them. Let me know what happens."

At the hospital, Huggy was pacing a hole in the floor. He had tried to return to the room a few times and was rebuffed each time. He could not get anyone to stop long enough to tell him what was going on. He was starting to get frantic when he saw his friends headed his way.

"Starsky, Hutch, no one will talk to me. They won't let me see her. I don't know what's wrong. What if we lose the baby? What if I lose her? I can't lose her!"

He started towards the room again. The boys grabbed him and pulled him towards the waiting room. Starsky and Hutch looked at each other, nodded, then Starsky sat down with Huggy and Hutch walked off.

"Huggy, you have to calm down. Hutch will see if he can find something out. You need to stay out of their way. If they have to worry about what you are doing, they aren't helping your family."

"I know you're right Starsky, but I am terrified. I have to know what is happening. That's my family!"

Hutch came back, "Huggy, the nurse at the station over there is going to try to get some information for you. You need to sit here and wait for it."

"Hutch if that were Abby and one of your kids in there, what would you do?"

"Exactly what you are doing my friend."

Starsky squeezed Huggy's shoulder, "And you and me would be doing for him Hutch and me are doing for you. We gotcha Huggy."

The nurse walked over, "Mr. Brown?"

Huggy shot to his feet, "How's my wife and baby?"

She looked at the three men, "Mr. Brown, I have been asked to take you to the doctor's office so you can have some privacy. Your friends can wait here."

"They come with me; they are family. The doctor can tell us all what is happening."

The nurse shook her head but decided to let the doctor deal with it. She led them to the office and offered them coffee or water. When they declined, she told them the doctor would be by directly, and left.

Huggy was about to bounce right out of his skin, "Something terrible has happened, I just know it."

Hutch put his hand on Huggy's shoulder, "You don't know that. I can't tell you how many times they shipped me off to a private office, not because Starsky was hurt that bad, but because I was making everyone else nervous with my actions while I waited for word. Just wait for the doctor."

As if he had called him, there was a light knock on the door and the doctor entered. He saw the three men and got a puzzled look on his face. "Mr. Brown, I would like to discuss this with you privately."

"Doctor, these are my brothers, they stay. Please, tell me what has happened to my wife and child!"

"Very well, first, I want to tell you that your wife and son are going to be fine."

Huggy jumped up and down and grabbed his friends, "I have a son and they are okay!"

The doctor cleared his throat, "Mr. Brown, please sit down. I want to explain to you what happened." As Huggy sat he continued, "I am sorry it took so long to talk to you. We had to work very quickly. Your wife started hemorrhaging and we were losing the baby's heartbeat. If we were going to save them, there was not time to stop and explain it."

Huggy's face fell, "Why did it happen? Are you sure they aren't in danger?"

"We do not know why it happened. It is not as uncommon as I would like. We had to do an emergency cesarean to find and stop the bleeding and save the baby. Your wife is in recovery right now. You can see her in about an hour. She will need to stay with us for at least a week. Naturally, we will keep the baby with her. In these situations, we generally relax visiting guidelines for the father. Do you have any questions?"

Hutch looked at Huggy, then Starsky, when he got a nod, he addressed the doctor, "When can he see his son? You are sure both of them are going to recover fully?"

The doctor stood, and smiled, "He can see the baby now. I will have the nurse direct you. I will have word sent to the nursery when his wife is settled in her room. There is always a chance for complications, but I don't see any indications anything will happen."

Huggy was still in shock, so Hutch reached his hand out to the doctor, "Thank you, doctor."

The nurse led them to the nursery. She was a little miffed that he brought his friends along, but she didn't have a choice since the doctor approved it. She had them wait at the glass and went inside. She spoke to the nurse inside for a moment, then left. The nurse went to one of the many bassinets in the room, and picked up a little bundle wrapped in blue, and came to the window. She turned so the men could get a clear look at the baby.

"That's my son?" He put his hands up to the window. "Hello, Daddy's little man. He is so small. He's beautiful! Guys, look what me and Diane made!"

Starsky and Hutch were practically holding him up, they all had huge grins on their faces. Starsky found his voice first, "He is beautiful, Hug. He looks like Diane. I remember the feeling when I saw my first kid for the first time. Just wait until you get to hold him. Did you guys pick any names out?"

Huggy grinned even bigger, "Of course, may I introduce you to Theodore Brown. We will call him Teddy. So, I give you, Teddy Bear Brown!"

They both grimaced. Hutch asked, "Are you really going to do that to the kid, Hug?"

"He can choose to leave the 'Bear' off when he gets older, but everyone will know he is The Bear's son!"

They stayed with Huggy until he could see Diane. They stopped in with him to see for themselves that she was good. After congratulating the happy and tired (parents, they went home.

A month had gone by. Starsky had been back to work for a few weeks now. The dogs had quickly become members of the family. The kids decided to name the remaining boy Hershey, and the girls Toffee and Caramel. Blackie had become inseparable with Bobby. Getting the dogs had not had the desired effect though, Mama Starsky still seemed uneasy.

"Hutch, I don't know what to do about Ma. I thought the dogs would make her feel safe, but it does not seem to be working."

"I noticed that too, Starsk. I think we need to take a chance and prove to her they will protect the family."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Simmons and Babcock?"

"Nice."

A few days later, Starsky and Hutch left in the late afternoon. They said they had to meet with someone and would be home in a few hours. What they really did was meet Simmons and Babcock around the corner.

Hutch greeted them, "We want to thank you guys for helping us out on this. We won't be far just in case the dogs get too rough. Don't want you hurt."

Simmons grinned, "We like your Mom, guys. If this will make her feel better, we are glad to help."

Just as it started to get dark, the foursome headed towards the family's area. Starsky and Hutch hung back, while Simmons and Babcock headed for the fence. Simmons had just come through the gate with Babcock right behind him. All of a sudden, a brown blur slammed into him and he went to the ground. Cocoa had knocked him down and now stood over him with a menacing growl. Babcock started towards him to help, when he was bowled over by several smaller versions of the brown blur. Babcock started yelling, those tiny teeth hurt!

Lights went on outside as Mama, Terry, and Abby all came out to see what was going on. Simmons tried to get up and go towards Terry, but Cocoa would not allow him to move. Starsky and Hutch came running through the gate. They got the dogs off their friends, lavishing them with a lot of praise.

Starsky went to his mother, "Ma, we wanted to see what would happen if someone the dogs didn't know came in the yard. Did you see them? They were great! I feel a lot better now. I think these pups will really take care of our family while we are working."

"Oh Davey, they did a wonderful job." She stooped down and called Cocoa to her, "You are such a good girl. You are a good Mama teaching your pups how to protect the houses." She was cuddling and petting the dog as she talked to her.

Hutch put his arm across Abby's shoulders. "What do you think, Starsk? Will they do?"

Starsky hugged his wife, "They'll do partner, they'll do."