Chapter 6: Comforting You In Illness

With Nero admitting his love towards Amanda, the thrills and the chills were spreading throughout both of their families, knowing that they were making the stronger bond between and the fact that their ancestors, once archenemies, were going to be closer to each other than ever before.

Sure, Nero had been receiving lots of praise from his relatives, but there were two of his relatives he wanted to have word with - the ones from where it all this started. And that were none other else than his grandfather, the hero of Nome, and his mate - Balto and Jenna.

"You have really come to the right dogs to discuss about this, Nero!" Balto called his grandson cheerful, wrapping his leg around his shoulder as he was seeing them in Rosy's house. "Tell us everything that your heart desires and we can help you!" Jenna also seemed energetic and cheerful as ever.

Nero watched them proudly, and at the same time, shyly, as he was a bit clueless from where to start first. But he came to speak up: "Grandma Jenna, grandpa Balto... I have been thinking, Amanda and I have been doing really well for the last few months and I believe we are heading towards the point of no return... I hope you get me."

Jenna smiled on what was Nero trying to say so she responded: "I can say that the way you're approaching Amanda with love is fascinatingly well. Though never rush with your relationship, step by step that is!" That advice was seeming to be accurate logically.

Also, looking at his grandparents, he was wondering how both of them were equally aged. Then he remembered that he was around double the age of Amanda's current age. It really urged him to ask this question: "I just can't believe that I'm double the age older than Amanda. Never thought that'd be the thing."

That made Jenna raise her eyebrow, and eventually smile, as she wrapped her paw around Nero's back and let him know: "Just look at me and Balto. You'd never say we're elderly dogs, but that we are sled dogs actively in duty, right? What can you come up with this?" Watching his grandparents, Nero was not giving away any answers.

"Just to let you know, it is not the age, it is the mileage." Balto laughed cheerfully as he was patting his grandson's back. That made sense a lot to Nero, seeing that the age was not mattering at all. Just the way how his grandparents had aged was incredible... as if they were half the age younger than they were.

Later on, that same day, as Balto and Nero were hanging out like any other grandfather and grandson were doing, they were watching on the beach how Dingo's team, or now formally being Kassan's team, were training for the upcoming season. The reason why it was Kassan's team was because Dingo and Dana, along with the other teammates but Tayer, had retired from the sled service.

"You know how different my life would have been if I had been an official sled dog." Balto let Nero know, looking how these young dogs were training hard to achieve the places in the sled team. No worries, Kassan and Harath were going to make in into the team. Tayer was the part of that team for a good while.

"I believe you, grandpa Balto. Just to think how no one would ever say that you are elderly now." Nero joked on his grandfather's account, with Balto accepting the joke. Looking at the the dogs on the beach, the other three ones were Sarah, Atta and Ian, the latter two being the daughter and the son of Shira and Yang. Both of them were quite eager to become sled dogs. "We can go see them when they are done."

And truth to Nero's words, they were actually done with their daily training. Spotting Atta and Ian resting with each other in the snow down there, Nero beckoned to his grandfather to come. Eventually the two young siblings spotted them coming.

"Hey, you two, nice practice run you have done!" Nero gave the compliment to two of his cousins there. There was also Shen, Atta and Ian's older sister, who had no desires into being a sled dog. Putting his paws on their backs, Nero furthermore said: "Keep it up, the bright future awaits you!"

Atta just laughed it off out of fun by saying: "Come on, Nero! The season won't start till in September!" Also, Balto laughed a bit upon hearing what was the youthful dog saying by adding: "You may not take this all seriously, but Nero does his best to support you." Ian and Atta both blushed.

Ian then stopped blushing for a short while by saying: "Nero, I just hope that I am going to make it into the team... But besides that, how are you doing with Amanda?" He knew it that he was going to be asked just that. Truth to be said, they were doing great with each other, being boyfriend and girlfriend to each other... But the thing was...

"Amanda and I are doing well with each other. Just I haven't seen her in days, mostly to support you two for this." He wasn't lying. Giving some moralistic kind of support was something Nero'd always give to the ones who need it. Atta broke the silence by saying: "Then what are you waiting for? Go see how she does!"

Even Ian agreed with his older sister by saying: "If she means a lot to you, then you should go see it." Not wanting to rush the things yet, hoping to tell Amanda why he hadn't seen her in days, he looked at his grandfather. But like his cousins, he was like: "I must agree with what they are saying." Three to one, he had to see Amanda, at least today or tomorrow.

"Okay, okay. I shall go see her tomorrow early in the morning. You all have my word." Nero finally decided. He didn't visit her in days, and was now asking himself... "She's my girlfriend! What am I doing to myself! I hope she is not going to resent me..." The others around him welcomed his decision.

The next day...

As soon as he was finished with his breakfast, Nero bolted out of his house in order to go see Amanda. But as he left the house, he surprisingly came across Jenna and as Balto had told her about Nero's plans, she just went to ask him: "I take it you're going to visit Amanda, yeah?" Nero nodded.

"No worries, I'll come with you and make sure that there's nothing that'd go wrong." Jenna continued with a warm grandmotherly smile towards her grandson, patting him by his back. Nero blushed slightly by his grandmother's affection and just said: "Oh well, grandma Jenna. Let's go see Amanda."

With nothing else to be said, both Jenna and Nero decided to head towards Amanda's place. On their way to there, Nero was thinking and thinking, something that was tingling in his mind. Being unable to keep it for himself anymore, Nero looked at Jenna and asked her that question: "Grandma Jenna... when you and Balto were in relationship before my dad was born... were there these days when Balto wasn't seeing you?"

Thankfully, judging by Jenna's face, he was knowing that her answer was going to be relieving, with Jenna responding: "Don't worry, my dear Nero. There were the days I wasn't seeing your grandfather, but I have never resented him for a such thing. Don't be afraid, Amanda won't resent you!" Her words seemed perfectly soothing for him.

"Oh well, now I can say that I feel much more relieved, grandma." Nero nuzzled Jenna out of affection, being at least happy that his black thoughts were no longer in his head. Suddenly, they saw the white female dog passing next to them, right towards Amanda's place. Nero instantly recognized her.

"Noir, hey!" Nero called Noir, Amanda's younger sister. Just as he expected, Noir turned around and greeted Nero upon seeing him. But the look on her face wasn't showing any happiness at the moment, but some kind of distress. Nero and Jenna both could have noticed that, but Nero was faster: "Noir? What's wrong? You seem distressed."

And then, Noir revealed to him why by answering: "I'm going to Amanda... I don't know if you have heard, but Amanda's ill! She's been dealing with high fever and cough." Upon hearing what was not right with Amanda, the look on Nero's face was showing the utter shock.

"No... no... Amanda!" Nero at first refused to accept that fact, but now that his girlfriend was ill... he couldn't stand there anymore so he was rushing towards Amanda's place. Noir and Jenna looked at each other quite amazed, seeing how fast Nero could go. They followed him to Amanda's.

In the matter of the seconds, they were there, at Amanda's doorstep, watching how Nero was going inside. Eventually, with seconds passing, both Noir and Jenna decided to follow him inside. They knew how upset he was at this state.

As Nero entered Amanda's house, he was looking everywhere around the living room to make sure where his girlfriend was. Of course, it came to him to bolt his sight straight at Amanda's bed, where he noticed that the blanket was quite bumped up, meaning she was in there.

"Amanda, are you awake?" Nero asked her, hoping for the best of his girlfriend. At this state, he was literally worried that she'd be in a much worse state. Though, upon asking her, he received a response in the form of coughing before being able to understand: "Hey, Nero... Yes, I am..." Then she coughed some more.

Coming to her, she was laying on her side as she was coughing. While being covered in blanket, the tired look on her face was saying that she was exhausted from coughing. She just said: "I... I don't feel well, Nero... This cough has been irritating me for days..." But that didn't stop him from laying down in the bed with her, much to her surprise. She responded: "Nero, I may get you ill!..." She coughed again.

But now that Jenna and Noir had entered the house, none of that was mattering to him, causing him to say: "I don't care, Amanda. If I get ill, then I shall share the same pain as you do. I want to be by your side as you recover." Amanda looked at him literally surprised while Jenna and Noir had these kinds of smiles that made them gasp in joy.

Knowing that she was ill, Amanda at least was able to move closer to Nero so she could rub her head against his chest. But Nero's face was showing some kind of distress, as if there was something he had to say. But it was Noir who revealed that: "Nero, I know this is between you and Amanda, but why the long face?"

Saying "long face" made Noir actually feel embarrassed, as if she had said some kind of profanity. Thankfully, none of them was looking that way. Nero knew what her sister was trying to say so he spoke to Amanda: "Amanda... you know how we haven't seen each other for days... I'm sorry for that. I really am, it's just that some of my cousins are going to be the sled dogs so I was giving them moral support all this time."

And of course, knowing how big his family tree was, Amanda was touched by Nero's apology, but he was not mad at him. She just smiled as she was rubbing his chest again by saying: "Don't be sorry, Nero. I understand that very well. They need your support now." It could be said that Nero exhaled in utter relief.

"Just don't think that Amanda got ill because you haven't seen her in days." Jenna let her grandson know and despite Amanda coughing after accepting Nero's words, she found Jenna's line quite funny enough to make her laugh. Then again, she was coughing, with Nero embracing her and saying: "There, there..."

As he was embracing her and while Noir and Jenna were looking compassionately at their sister and grandson respectively, the dog doors were heard creaking, revealing two guests. As much as Amanda was adored by Steele, there was no denial that he was one of the guests, accompanied by Elizabeth respectively.

"Oh, we have guests here?" Steele asked upon entering his daughter's house, not really expecting the guests, especially not Jenna. Though he could expect at least one of Amanda's siblings there. Trying again, Steele coughed and said: "Hello Noir, Jenna... I have come to see how is Amanda doing."

"Amanda is dealing with the illness now, dad." Noir let her father know, letting him pass to Amanda's bed, while Elizabeth sat between Jenna and Noir, saying: "You know how impacted Steele is feeling now? You know how much he adores Amanda, Jenna?"

Jenna took a short glance as Amanda was rubbing her father's chest while he was embracing her carefully, ignoring her cough, as if it didn't matter to him whether he was going to get ill himself or not. Looking back at Elizabeth, Jenna added: "As much as Nero does it."

While Steele could have seen that Nero was Amanda's side, at first being a bit surprised, Elizabeth didn't notice Amanda wasn't alone there. Walking to the bed, now she could have spotted how Nero was taking care of her daughter, so she said: "Nero, what a surprise to see you here!"

Nero, while blushing from the presence of both her parents, did his best to remain confident enough to leave one good impression on them. They were already in the loving relationship, but they weren't still going above when it came to love. Basically, Nero just said: "Well, Amanda is my girlfriend, I didn't want to leave her alone here."

This was the obvious sign for both her parents so Lizzy decided to head straight to her mate and whispered something in his ear. Steele's face turned into surprised expression into that, but eventually it was revealed to be pleasant surprise, with the benevolent smile on his face stretching from one cheek to another.

Amanda, while not being able to hear what they said, could at least ask what was going on by saying: "Mom, dad, what's all this about?" But none of them responded to her, instead, Steele kept smiling benevolently and just let his daughter know: "Oh, nothing... just how this reminds your mom when we were dating each other."

But Amanda knew that Elizabeth was saying something else, something that was including Nero and Amanda's relationship, as if it was going to get upgraded over the time. But she didn't want to argue with her parents as she was dealing with the bad cough so she just said: "Oh well... if you say so..."

Both Nero and Amanda were knowing what they were saying, but Nero was not going to let himself get fooled about this. What if both Steele and Elizabeth were meaning something like his relationship with Amanda was going to get few steps further and eventually turn into the new chapters of their lives.

Looking at Jenna, who had some kind of mischievous smile on her face, with Noir doing the same thing, Nero couldn't let this slip out so he was saying: "Grandma Jenna, I think that I know what they mean. Do you think that I caught them in their minds?" But Jenna's face was not letting out that mischievous smile of her face.

"I don't know, Nero. It is on you two to find it out!" Jenna responded, leaving Nero to find the right words to use in order to leave a good impression in front of Amanda's parents. Sure, they were relying on him, but even this kind of reliance could be a bit unstable when put on test.

Looking at Amanda, who was doing her best not to cough into her boyfriend's face so she'd not spread her illness, Nero was finally able to say: "Amanda, I know you don't resent me for not seeing you in days. Truth is... hadn't you been ill now, I'd have asked you to for the third date. But I guess I should wait till you recover."

Now that she heard how her boyfriend wanted to ask her out again, she felt quite flattered by that offer. Moving her head to his chest, she was rubbing it again and she said: "Nero... I know it'd mean a lot to both of us... but even if this isn't the real date out... being with you makes my heart melt..."

After she coughed again, she was resting her head on his chest. Feeling a bit embarrassed to be in that position, Nero looked around and noticed how the others were smiling in an approval for his next action. It was simple, he wrapped his paws around her and started cradling her by his side.

Then, the other four dogs in the house got on all of their fours and were ready to leave the house. Though, that did catch Nero's attention so he asked them: "Where are you going now? I'm just doing my best to take care of her!"

And indeed, the others knew that very well. Elizabeth was knowing it the best so without any doubts, she just said: "We shall leave you two lovebirds be. After all, if you love Amanda so much, then we believe we can leave you two alone, no?" With that said, she followed Steele, Noir and Jenna outside.

Once these dogs had left the house, it was obvious that Nero and Amanda knew what her parents were whispering to each other. The secret couldn't be kept anymore. Amanda was the first one to speak: "Nero, I believe you know what my parents are trying to tell us."

Of course, he could not argue against Amanda. It was obvious that he had to tell her what he had in mind. To make sure no one was eavesdropping out of "accident", Nero looked straight into Amanda's eyes and started: "Amanda, you know how I wanted to ask you out for the third date." She nodded in response, knowing that pretty well.

Exhaling and inhaling few more times, it was on Nero to say: "It seems that this cannot be surprise anymore. The thing is... Amanda, have you ever thought to be my mate?" After he said that, he kept looking into her eyes, but the anxiety was starting to brew inside his body.

Thankfully, for Nero, Amanda smiled sweetly and licked Nero's cheek. Although she was weak to ooze the euphoria, she was quite joyful upon that. Then she just said: "Nero, we have been doing great with each other. And yes, I'd love to be your mate! But the thing is: we should let my parents know about it."

He couldn't argue against that. If it was going to be like that, then Nero was going to talk with Steele and Elizabeth about it. Knowing that Steele was no longer the enemy of his entire family, he was hoping for the best. Same with Elizabeth, knowing how caring and motherly she was. Then he said: "Alright. When the proper time comes, we shall ask them at once."

With that said, seeing how her boyfriend was confident about her father, she embraced him once more and he wrapped his paws around her again to cradle her by his side. As the two lovedogs were enjoying each other's company, Steele, Elizabeth, Noir and Jenna were observing them from outside, doing their best not to pass out of cuteness.