Moving as quickly as they could through the cold, they made their way back to Luna's house. Toby announced their arrival, even though they were still a block away, drawing irate stares from anyone out on the streets. He didn't care, though. All he cared about was getting back to Luna. With Arrow close behind, he ran up the steps, leapt at the dog door…

And fell back with a crash as it held firmly shut.

"Dad!" cried Arrow. "Are you okay?"

Toby stood up in a daze, rubbing his head with a paw. "What happened?" he asked, sounding a bit foggy.

Connie looked out the window and shook her head. "Sorry, Toby," she chided, her voice muffled by the glass. "The vet said no dogs around while Luna's having her puppies."

"Luna's having them?!" Toby shrieked. He ran at the door and butted it again. "Connie, I know you can't hear me, but you've gotta let me in!"

"Come on, Connie, let him in," protested Eugene. "They're his too, you know. And speaking of puppies, mine's out there with him."

The conversation was punctuated by a cry from the background, prompting Toby to begin clawing at the door. "Luna!" he called. "This is crazy," he growled in the back of his throat. "I just took down a wolverine and now I'm being stopped by a little girl!"

"Mom, are you okay?" called Arrow. "I'm sorry I ran away. I promise I'll never do it again!"

"No," Connie insisted. "The vet said she might be upset if it was too crowded. And stay away from that closet, she needs her privacy!"

"Connie, Eugene, stop it," commanded Jarrett.

Eugene was silent for a moment, then protested, "What about Mom?"

"She has to keep an eye on Luna to make sure she's doing all right," their father insisted. "And I'd rather not have you kids see some of what's going on in there."

Luna cried out, as if to prove his point, although to human ears it was a very shrill howl.

Toby's claws were shredding the door like a wood chipper, tearing splinters away, and he was completely oblivious to any which stuck in his paws. "Luna!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Luna let out another cry, and then all was silent within the house. "Are they here?" asked Eugene. "Can I look now?"

"You don't want to," warned Shenoah. "There's a lot of blood. I'll clean it up and then you can look."

"Blood?!" Toby gasped. The impact of the one syllable drove him back like a blow to the face, as if they had just announced that Luna had died. Luna… No, it wasn't possible. Or was it? "Luna!" he cried out, his voice echoing up and down the street. "Answer me, please!"

"Dad, what's wrong?" persisted Arrow.

"I don't know," Toby growled. "But I'm getting in there even if I have to turn this door into a pile of toothpicks!"

He continued to claw while Arrow sat by, completely helpless to do anything. She didn't know how bad the situation was, but she was bombarded by an irrational and completely unshakable feeling that it was all her fault. Desperate for something to do, she began to howl. Their silent follower watched, unseen even from a few feet away, simply shook his head in wonder as he stepped through the closed door to see to Luna.

Inside, Luna lay still, her breath coming in weak, ragged gasps. While she was pregnant, she had sought advice from several dogs who had already had puppies, from her mother and aunt Dusty to total strangers she had met by chance. All of them had told her giving birth would hurt, but the pain of actually having her pups was worse than they had described, worse than she had ever imagined. It felt as if she were dying, and even now she was so exhausted from the effort that she could barely move her head. Weakly, she looked as best she could out the corner of her eye at the puppies now nestled against her stomach.

"Luna, are you okay?" asked Connie. Her voice sounded distant even though she was right there. Luna let out a whimper to let the girl know she was still alive. It was all she could do. "Mom!" cried Connie. "Luna's really hurt!"

"Get her some water and a warm blanket," ordered Shenoah. "And Eugene, get your coat on and bring Charlie here. Take the back door so Toby doesn't slip in. Quickly!"

"Right!"

Luna dimly heard running footsteps as Connie dashed off to get the necessary items. Where=s Toby? she asked through the haze of wild thoughts and residual pain. In her labor, she had barely been lucid enough to hear him outside. I hope he's okay, she thought, imagining what kind of effect her cries of pain must have had on him.

Connie's parents knelt next to her, wanting to help but not sure how. "Do you think she'll make it?" asked Shenoah.

Her husband shrugged. "I don't know," he said quietly. "The vet said she might not."

What? thought Luna. Why didn't they mention it sooner? She was dimly aware of the man picking up her pups, and watched as he set them down again next to her in a different order. It was all she could do to not growl at him in spite of herself.

She heard Connie come running back. "Here!" the girl yelled. "I got them!"

"Good," said Shenoah. Carefully, she arranged the blanket on top of Luna so that it covered her body but left her stomach and the puppies exposed.

"Why aren't you covering them?" asked Connie.

"They need air, and plenty of it," she replied. "Now, let's give her some water and see if that helps."

Jarrett set the bowl near Luna's head. Slowly, trying not to disturb her pups, Luna moved her snout over the bowl and began to lap up the water, relishing the soothing sensation as it drenched her parched throat.

"She's drinking!" cheered Connie. "She's okay!"

"Let's hope so," murmured her father.

A loud bang sounded through the room as Toby slammed his weight against the door from outside, accompanied by Arrow's plaintive cries. "Can we let them in now?" asked Connie.

Jarrett nodded. "If this keeps up, they'll be coming in anyway." He strode to the door, grasped the knob, and paused to look at his progeny. "You'd better stand back,' he advised. "If he's anything like I was when you kids were…"

As soon as the door was open a crack, Toby bolted in with such force that the door hit Jarrett in the face and sent him tumbling to the floor with a crash.

"Honey! Are you alright?" asked Shenoah.

He nodded, looking slightly dazed. He touched his forehead to check for bleeding and then he laughed. AI guess some things are the same whether you're a human or a dog," he commented as he closed the door with his foot and looked over at Toby, who was standing several feet away from Luna. He looked nervous, timid, eager, and excited all at once. "Just like I was, all right," the man chuckled.

Luna smiled at Toby. The instinctive paranoia of her pregnancy was apparently gone now, leaving nothing but an anxious desire to have him close again. "It's okay, Toby," she whispered. "Come on over."

Toby approached slowly and looked down at the five fine-haired puppies lined up along Luna's stomach as neatly as stockings on a mantle. There were no words in the world to describe the swirl of emotions he was feeling. "They're beautiful," he whispered. "Absolutely beautiful." After a pause he asked, "Are you okay? It sounded like you were dying from out there."

She took a deep breath. Her body still ached, but she was beginning to regain just a little of her strength. "I'll live," she answered. "It takes more than this to kill me." She rubbed her muzzle against his and flicked her tongue across his nose. He kissed her back, but the tender scene was interrupted by the door opening. Toby instinctively dropped to shield the newborn puppies from the icy blast of air as two pairs of snow-caked boots rushed in.

"Are they here?" asked Charlie's voice.

Connie nodded. "Yeah, they're here."

Charlie knelt next to Toby while Eugene stood behind the group. "Good job, boy," he said, patting his dog on the head.

"What's he congratulating you for?" asked Luna. "I did all the work."

Toby chuckled. "When I figure that out, I'll point it out to him." After a pause he added, "And I'm going to remember you said that in case you ever try to blame any of this on me."

Luna groaned. "You've been practicing your bad jokes," she noted.

"What should we call them?" asked Connie, interrupting the discussion.

"You remember our deal," answered Charlie. "I name the boys, you name the girls." He looked over the pups. "Which ones are boys?"

Connie's father pointed to the three on the left. "These three," he answered. "I put the boys and girls lined up so we'd know which ones were which without picking them up too much."

Charlie nodded. "Good thinking," he said. "I was hoping there'd be three boys," he added with the air of one who had thought things out beforehand. Pointing to each one in turn, he said, "Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior."

Connie made an odd face. "Those are some pretty weird names."

Charlie shrugged. "They were the names of the three wise men."

"But how will anyone learn to say their names?" asked Eugene. "Casper, Belshazzy, and Melcho? See, I can't even say them."

Charlie shrugged. "They can use shorter ones," he replied.

"Caspar and Mel would work fine," observed Jarrett thoughtfully. "But Bel would come across as a girl=s name."

Charlie sagged. "I guess I never thought of that," he admitted.

"How about Zar?" suggested Shenoah.

Charlie brightened. "That's good!" he agreed.

Connie looked over the girls, thought for a moment and asked, "What does Luna mean?"

Toby smirked mischievously. "It's only missing the 'tic' on the end," he said.

Luna took a second to put it together, then shot him a warning glare. "Watch it, buster."

"I think it's Latin for moon," replied Jarrett.

Connie thought for a moment. "Okay, then I'll name her Star."

"Wasn't there a dog on the medicine team with that name?" asked Eugene.

"Now that you mention it, there was," said Jarrett. "But I'm pretty sure that team was all-male, though."

"Well I say her name is Star." Connie looked at the second girl with a hand to her chin. "What about you?" she asked. "What should I call you?"

"Angel?" offered Arrow. She had no idea where the name had come from, but it seemed to fit.

"How about Angel?" suggested Eugene as if he had understood her.

Connie smiled. "That's a good name," she said. "How did you think of it?"

Eugene shrugged. "I guess it just came to me," he replied.

Connie nodded. "Well, it's a good name," she decided. "Angel it is."

"So which one do we put on the tree?" Charlie joked.

Connie's eyes widened. "You leave those puppies alone!" she cried as Charlie laughed at the look on her face.

Luna just stared at Arrow. "How did you do that?" she asked.

The pup shrugged. "I dunno," she admitted. "Maybe he guessed what I was thinking, like a miracle or something."

Toby's gentle smile could have pacified a rampaging bear. "I think that's what this whole thing is," he replied. "A miracle."

"All of it?" asked Arrow. "Even all that noise Mom was making?"

Luna nodded. "Oh, especially that."