Toby's mind was in a whirl as he walked up to his father's house. He didn't know what to say or how to say it. The emotional spin of being a father-to-be had robbed him of all but the barest threads of his senses. Sure, he had babysat Loki for much longer than he honestly would have liked, and he and Luna had been doing all right with raising Arrow, but somehow this seemed completely different. All he knew was that he needed advice, and there was only one place to get it.

He scratched at the door, hoping his father would be home. "Dad?" he called.

Rex stuck his head out with a knowing look on his face. "What is it, Toby?" he asked.

So much the same and yet so, so different, Toby thought as he reflected on the time when Rex had asked the same question back when he and Luna first hit puberty. He gulped. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you."

"Okay." Toby went inside and recounted everything as Rex listened with a growing smile. "So it worked out after all?" he asked. "Well, congratulations."

Toby nodded. "Thanks."

Rex's smirk grew. "And unless I miss my guess, you came here because you need some advice."

Toby nodded again. "Yeah."

The bloodhound's eyebrow lowered. "Are you having second thoughts?"

Toby's ears shot up. "What? No!" he blurted. "I love Luna, Dad, and I'm thrilled about the pups. It's just that…well, I don't know anything about being a dad."

Rex nodded. "I had the same problem," he agreed. "Of course, I had the benefit of your mother's experience to draw on. But I suppose your experience raising Arrow will fill that gap."

"I don't know." Toby scratched, more from unease than an actual itch. "Something tells me this is gonna be different somehow."

"Well, you know I'll help in any way I can. The first thing you need to remember is that you'll never make it alone."

"I won't?"

"Not on your life. The first secret to raising kids is that you and Luna have to do it together."

Toby nodded. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

Rex shook his head. "No, you're not following. You have to divide the job between you. For example, when it came to raising you kids, your mother and I each did what we were best at. I took on the careful jobs that called for thinking ahead"―he nudged Toby's chest with his paw―"like giving advice to a certain young scamp when he needed someone to bail him out." Toby grimaced. "Your mother, on the other hand, is good at thinking on her feet, so she handled the things that called for flexibility." He coughed a trifle and added, "Not that I can't think on my feet, mind you, but I have more capability at it when dealing with humans."

"I see. But what if neither of us is that good at thinking ahead?"

Rex chuckled. "Then I suggest both of you stay on your toes. Kids are always coming up with ways to surprise their parents, as I'm sure you know well enough." Toby's face became crossed with a 'don't remind me' grimace as he remembered all the sudden and often un-pleasant surprises of having Loki around. "But my advice still stands. You and Luna have to work together. Build on each other's strengths, and make up for each other's weaknesses. It's just like the way I work with the chief to track criminals. I use my nose; he uses his gun."

Toby nodded, though the analogy between raising pups and tracking criminals struck him as extremely odd. "Okay, teamwork. Is that all?"

Rex laughed. "Not unless you want your kids to end up as strays," he chuckled. "You have to be ready to handle unexpected twists. Pups running off, hanging out with the wrong crowd, getting lost in the woods; it's hard to keep up with them. To put it simply, if you don't keep your eyes open, they'll be everywhere at once and getting into everything."

Toby's ears drooped. It didn't take a genius to see that Rex was referring to his specific exploits, and he had to admit that until now he had never considered their real effect on the bloodhound. "Sounds like a lot of work."

"It is a lot of work, but believe me when I tell you that it'll be worth every minute if you do it right. And that brings me to something I wish I'd done a better job of with you kids. Whatever you do, don't miss a chance to show them how much you love them. I keep thinking maybe if I'd been more attentive, you wouldn't get into so much trouble."

Toby laughed. "Ah, Dad, you did fine."

Rex smiled. "Thank you." He cleared his throat. "Now, that's about all the advice I've got to offer. Don't forget it."

Toby nodded. "Don't worry. I'll give it everything I've got." As they walked together toward the doggy door, he added, "Thanks, Dad. For everything."

Rex beamed. "You're welcome, son. Oh, and one more thing. When your kids give you more trouble than you can handle…"

"Yes?"

"You can come running to me."

Toby laughed. "I'm sure I will, Dad. I'm sure I will."

As he watched his son leave, Rex couldn't shake the feeling there was something they had overlooked, some extra factor which could ruin everything. But what it was, he couldn't say…

Toby wasn't the only one seeking help. Luna had gone to her parents' house, hoping to learn a little bit more about what she was heading for. "Mom, Dad?" she called as she slipped into the house. She looked around. Her parents were curled up next to each other, smiling in their sleep. She crept up and tapped Taya with one paw.

"Huh?" Taya mumbled as she stirred. She opened one eye, yawned, and stared at Luna sleepily. "Luna," she said. "What brings you here?"

Luna smiled. "I thought I'd stop in and say hi," she replied. "That, and I have some news."

Taya got up slowly, careful to avoid waking Copper. "What kind of news?" she asked.

Luna smiled. "How would you and Dad feel about being grandparents?"

Taya, still half-asleep, took a moment to process the question. "You're not!" she gasped.

Luna nodded. "I am. It's too early to show much, but I definitely am."

"But…I thought you couldn't."

Luna shrugged. "So I proved the vet wrong. It's not the first time."

Taya laughed and nuzzled her daughter. "Congratulations," she almost cried. "I know how much you wanted it."

Luna nodded. "Yeah." Then she pulled back. "Listen, I need some advice. There are a few things I need to know."

Taya raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Everything. Aside from raising Arrow, I don't know much about being a mom. How am I supposed to do it when I'm…really doing it? I mean, from the start."

"Hm." Taya bit her lip. "I really wish my mom had been around to answer that question when I was in your spot."

"But you managed to pull it off, right?"

"Yes," replied Taya, looking back at Copper, "with a lot of help and patience from your father."

"Please," Luna pleaded, "I need to know."

"Well, when it comes to having the kids, I don't have much to offer beyond the obvious. And have something to bite on, because it hurts."

Luna grimaced slightly. "As bad as the avalanche?"

Taya shook her head. "Worse," she replied. "A lot worse. Try something along the lines of someone taking a fire-heated knife and slicing you open from chest to rear every time one comes out."

Luna cringed. "Jeez, Mom. You don't have to be so graphic."

Taya chuckled. "I'm just telling you how I experienced it. Now as for raising them, you have to be willing to listen. That's one lesson that gave me a lot of trouble."

Luna eyed her mother's tattered ears. "No kidding?" she asked. She only meant it as a joke, but Taya's face darkened.

"It's not as easy as it sounds." The tension passed from her expression and was replaced by an odd emptiness. "It was hard for me, anyway. When you and the rest of your litter were born, I was pretty new at caring about anyone. Even myself."

Luna nodded slowly. "I guess it's hard to love anyone when you've spent your life fighting for your neck, huh?"

Taya nodded. "I don't know what I would have done without your dad," she replied. "He and you kids are the best things that ever happened to me. So that's my advice. Don't let your kids get too far under your skin. They have things to say too, so give them a chance to say it."

Luna nodded. "I will, Mom. Thanks."

Taya ran her nose along the top of Luna's snout. "Don't forget Toby, either. You'll need him, count on it."

Luna nodded. "I couldn't forget him if I wanted to."

A yawn interrupted them from across the room. Copper raised his head, blinked, and smacked his lips. "Luna, what are you here for?" he asked. "I haven't seen you much since you and Toby…"

Luna's eyes got a playful twinkle. "That's right," she interrupted. "Toby's probably wondering where I am." And she headed for the door…

"Wait." Luna stopped and turned around, and Copper stood up. "Why are you leaving the minute I wake up?"

Luna turned to Taya. "Mom, why don't you take this one?" she asked. "I'd better go see what Toby's up to." And with that, she disappeared through the pet flap.

Taya rolled her eyes. Someday I hope her kids put her through something like this, she thought. As long as it's not too soon. Then a wave of worry swept her mind as she realized that, in her advice, she had completely forgotten about one individual: Arrow.

When Arrow returned, she found Toby and Luna in the living room talking. It was a hushed conversation, but hardly a secretive one. "Toby," Luna was saying, "you don't have to go that far."

"I know, but I want to," he replied. "I just need to find a way to convince Charlie to let me stay here for a while. I want to be here when…" He stopped as he became aware of the third party in the room. "Oh. Hi, Arrow."

"Hey," Arrow said by way of greeting. "What are you talking about?"

Toby and Luna looked at each other for a moment before looking once more at their adopted daughter. "Well…" Luna tried to find an appropriate way of telling her. "You're going to be a big sister," was the only one she found.

The news caught Arrow off guard. She wasn't sure how to respond to it. All she could think of to say was, "Oh."

Luna didn't know what to make of her daughter's response. "Is that a good oh or a bad oh?"

Arrow shrugged evasively. "Good, I guess. I mean, you're smiling. So it's a good thing."

Luna's eyebrows lowered into a knowing expression. "All right, what's the problem?"

"There's no problem," Arrow replied quickly. "I just…wasn't expecting it, that's all."

Luna laughed. "Well, neither was I. The vet said it was impossible."

Arrow tilted her head to one side. "Why?"

Luna was unsure how to answer without saying something Arrow might not be ready to hear. "Well, he said it had to do with an accident I had when I was a puppy. I hurt my back and he said there was nothing he could do about it."

Arrow furrowed her brow in uncertainty. "That doesn't make sense," she said. "What does a back injury have to do with puppies?"

"I'm not sure. It was something about my spine being out of alignment, I think. It didn't make much sense to me either." Then she resumed her radiant smile. "But I guess it doesn't matter, because he was wrong."

"Yeah," agreed Arrow, although her mind wasn't on the vet. She was thinking about the attention she had enjoyed from Toby and Luna of late. Of them being there for her whenever she needed them, not busy with pups from other litters. True, there was the fact that they actually cared about her instead of seeing her most of the time as an added burden like her birth parents had, but there had been a special sort of joy in not having any siblings to compete with. Of course, anyone who has been an only child long enough could see the folly of this with enough thought, but Arrow hadn't been one nearly long enough to know what she lacked.

The vet was wrong, she thought sullenly. And maybe I was too.