"Girls, it is good to see you back in the action! It has been a while ever since you two have been in the mail delivery." Beringo talked to Dakota and Hallie as he and the boys were done with their mail delivery today. It was April already and the spring was already here. The snow was softer and mushier, but it was to remain for a few more weeks until it melted entirely.
"I really missed delivering mail after all these months, you know? I just hope that leaving the puppies back was not a terrible idea." Dakota told him, still feeling bad about earlier this morning, only for Indiana to back it up: "Dakota, don't worry! I'm sure that Lewis was doing a good job looking after Max and Audrey! Same for your four puppies, you two."
"Oh, I don't doubt that, I wonder if he has given them a Scottish accent, uh?" Justin joked, wondering how'd his puppies sound like if they had a strange accent. Hallie's additional joke spiced it up: "Next thing you know is that we finally figure out we know what is Lewis saying!" This made all of them laugh, even Beringo, despite the fact that he was not really fond of them poking on Lewis for his thick accent.
"Gee, I wonder what is it going to be like if Shanice and I get to date one another after we become parents. I mean, should any of you be busy, I'm letting Lewis take care of our pups." Roger added something, thinking that the grumpy shepherd was actually fun, something that they had to figure out for over a year. It was never too late for changing minds.
"Say, Roger, how long are we going to wait for your puppies to come? Is it going to be at some point this month?" Hallie wondered when she was going to meet the offsprings of his chubby friend, who went on to count: "Let's see… I've heard that near the end of April or at the beginning of May the puppies will all be here!"
"Hmmmmm, that reminds me, your puppies will be after Scottia and Koyuk's. We'll get to meet them too, what do you say?" Beringo remembered this, knowing that Scottia was for the last few days not seen on streets, but only in her and Koyuk's house for a good reason. A pregnancy was making her too tired to walk.
"I hope they aren't going to mind us, I mean… me at least. I can't say that I get along pretty well with them." Indiana wondered if he was welcome to meet their puppies should that day come anytime soon. Justin asked him: "What's not to get along with them, my friend? They're like us. Sure, they may be classier, but they're nice dogs, remember that!"
"Classier didn't cross my mind if you were wondering." Indiana replied to him, wondering what kind of comment was that coming from him. Then Beringo told them: "Look, I'll go talk to Koyuk and Scottia when I can and I'm sure they'll be fine with you coming, especially you, Indiana." Anything for a friend, they could see it in his eyes.
"We'd appreciate that from you, Beringo! I'm sure that there's always a new beginning for Indy's friendship with them." Dakota liked how Beringo was willingly mending things up for them after everything they'd gone through. They were in front of their home already, with Beringo telling them: "It's the best thing I can do for you right now, honestly."
"Right now, let's go see how Lewis did his job!" Roger was the most curious of his friends, wondering if the grumpy shepherd did the right job and had the puppies asleep or in his mischievous mind, had them frightened and jumping around the room. The answer was… the former. There was no commotion coming in the room, just the peace and humming.
"Ach, welcome back, lads and lassies! Yer just in time!" Lewis wished them welcome when the team of young sled dogs entered their home, with mothers respectively noticing all their puppies sleeping in Hallie's bed, her saying: "Ohhhh, they're so adorable sleeping like this together! How did you tuck them in bed, Lewis?"
"Och, yon was an easy work!" Lewis bragged with his achievement, to the point that he wasn't trying to be quiet, but at the same time, puppies slept soundly, to which he answered: "Ah ha' told the wee anes ane af old country's famous tales: 'Gold-tree and silver-tree'! They ha' fallen asleep while ah was telling a tale though."
"But you did a good job nonetheless! You've got to tell us that story once, Lewis, because I wonder what made them fall asleep listening to it?" Dakota praised the middle-aged shepherd for this accomplishment, to which he answered: "Aye, lassie Dakota. Ah will tell ye ane dae then."
Now that it seemed like Beringo's fatherly figure and two of his classy friends were all getting along, he was thinking that he had his job to do - Roger, Shanice, Lewis, Koyuk and Scottia, they were going to be told about him being with Aniu and having a family with her. Things were not going to be same, but if they were going to understand him, then they were going to be back to normal and he was exactly aiming for that.
Later, that same day, when his friends were back with their puppies or loved ones at least, Beringo decided to see how Scottia was doing. Koyuk was not seen outside often for the last few days, mostly because he made sure his mate was safe and Beringo knew that pretty well. He missed seeing them around so this was his chance, right here, right now.
Making it to their classy residence, Beringo found the doors of the house were open and knowing that there was no other way that they'd be outside, Beringo pushed the doors with his head and once he made it inside, he looked at the room on the right, thinking it was the living room, to which he asked: "Koyuk? Scottia? Are you home?"
"Beringo? Welcome!" Koyuk's voice was heard not soon after he asked about them. Once he was in the living room, among the armchair, coffee table and the two paintings on the wall, that made every citizen of Nome envious of the residents of this place, he noticed two of his friends in the corner of the room, just below one window.
"Hey, you two! How are you doing?" Beringo moved to his friends over there and seeing how Scottia was resting in the basket on the side, there he could notice how swollen her belly was by now as any day soon she was expecting puppies. Nuzzling her to make sure she was feeling comfortable, she answered him: "Thank you for asking, Beringo. We're doing fine, albeit I've been feeling pretty tired lately."
"No wonder, your puppies are going to be there soon, right?" Beringo wondered about his friends' well-being, to which Koyuk let him know: "We are not sure when, but it's been almost two months by now! We've been waiting for this for days now." Beringo noticed how Koyuk was wondering whether this waiting would pay off or not in the end. Most likely, it would.
"Look, you have nothing to worry about. So what if it is a day or two longer? The same thing happened to Dakota and Hallie and their puppies came out just fine, remember? Now Roger's mate Shanice should give a birth to his puppies, sometime soon after yours." Beringo made sure that they didn't have to be concerned over a few days of delay.
"I guess you're right. This delay isn't that bad thing, we've been a bit too worried." Scottia thought that rushing ahead with decisions was not really wise and there was nothing that they could do about it. Then, an urge came to Beringo, seeing his friends who were about to have their family soon… as if he had to do it, tell them something…
"Koyuk, Scottia, there's something I need to tell you." He felt that the urge was too strong right here. Their curious looks were craving for his question, where he had it all - to admit that he wasn't single all this time, that he had a wolf as a mate and that they had a litter of four wolf-dog puppies, living on the old boat.
"Is it something urgent?" Koyuk asked him. The look in Beringo's eyes was revealing, but for some reason neither one of them could figure out what was he trying to ask, even when Scottia asked: "Beringo? Are you alright? What is it that you have to tell us?" Was this a wise choice? Should he finally admit them? Should he possibly sewer the ties with them once he revealed the truth.
Then he said it… but not what he intended: "I was wondering, when your puppies come, would it be fine if I bring over my friends to see them?" Truth to be said, this was not what he intended to say, as if his mind played tricks on him. He felt like as if he heard one thing telling them. Helooked like a fool for building up something promising and ending it up with a ridiculous question.
"Sure, I don't see why not!" Scottia didn't suspect anything and allowed her friend to bring his friends over once the puppies were here. Despite the fact what he said, which he didn't intend, he had to go with the flow, asking: "Really? Even my friends like Indiana and Dakota?"
"You can bring them all, even Lewis if you want to!" Koyuk hoped to see some visitors and have them see their family, hoping for some compliments from them. Beringo still asked: "I was wondering if you'd allow them? You know, there was that one time, at least, when you weren't getting along." Thing was, did they remember that?
"Oh, Beringo, forgive and forget! We know when that happened, but hey, they're our friends!" Scottia brushed that moment off, showing she meant no hard feelings for his friends even if they weren't nice that one time. Koyuk even assured him: "Look, we might not have been getting along with them that one time, but at least we're not spreading lies like Fritz's friends for a loss."
"You're right. I sorry if I sounded dramatic because I didn't know how'd they feel like if they weren't welcome." Beringo explained why he had this unnecessary build-up, to which Koyuk told him: "Remember, my friend, any friend of yours is our friend!" He got this summarized up pretty well in one sentence so he had no other arguments.
"Great! I'll go tell them about the news!" Beringo excitedly let them know about this and after greeting them, he rushed ahead to his friends back home to share away the good news. Sure, that was not intended, but now that he had a chance he'd meet their puppies one day, he was afraid that this truth would cost him a friendship or two.
There were still few days left until the arrival of Koyuk and Scottia's puppies. Beringo was having his casual day with his friends in the living room while the puppies were taking a nap, thinking on none other things than how the mail deliveries were coming to the end soon because how the snow was going to melt and besides, this'd give him more time with his family and the future to think about for them.
"Beringo! We have an idea!" Dakota walked up to him, being excited about something and of course, Beringo responded: "Alright, I'll bite it. What is it?" All of his friends looked at one another and she let him know: "Well, I hope you're not going to be mad at us for saying this, but we've decided to make some kind of bet right here."
"Well, I don't see anything wrong about betting… unless it is something fishy as you are talking about." He looked at them each, stating out 'fishy' right when he was looking at Indiana, who clearly showed no amusement on that. He answered him: "Well… we made a bet on how many puppies Scottia and Koyuk were going to have."
Hearing on what they were betting at, Beringo's uninterested look turned into dumbfounded when he heard this, asking: "You… you were betting on the number of their puppies?! Don't you think that's a bit disrespectful?" Clearly they were expecting that Beringo was not going to take it well.
"Look, we may sound like as if we're hurting them, but we're not! I mean, if they didn't hear it, they don't have to know!" Hallie went first to pour the fire with water, with Justin adding: "Besides, it is not that we are going to take their puppies from them! I mean, we have our families after all! Roger's family will be here soon."
"Right! And besides, if you were to bet on how many Shanice will have, I won't mind it at all!" Roger explained that betting on the number of the puppies was not bothering him that much. Seeing that he was going to have a battle from where he wasn't going to come out as winner, Beringo sighed, already accepting his defeat, saying: "Alright, I'm game."
"Good! Let us tell you what we have placed our bets on!" Roger called him to come over and overall, he heard from him: "So, the thing is that whoever ends up getting the right number of puppies being born, that one will have that same number of meals being given to him or her! If it is five, then that someone gets five meals in a row from each!"
"Alright, now name the bets!" Beringo wanted to hear what was going to be the outcome and Indiana let them know: "I say they're going to have twins!" And then Dakota spoke out: "I say they're going to have six of them, like how we have six together!" She was smart enough not to reveal to Roger that Beringo had his family already.
"Oh yeah? I say triplets!" Roger wanted to place himself somewhere in between as Justin's reply was: "Maybe so, but I think there'll be four of them, like how I have them!" Hallie's number by now was: "Seven, there is going to be seven of them!" This was by far the most far-fetched number of puppies, but was also possible.
"You guys and girls, I think that they're having five puppies! I dare to say that they're going to have more puppies than your litters, but not enough for more than the number of your litters combined!" Beringo craftily spoke his mind and now when they settled down their bets, they admired Beringo's choice of words.
"Alright, remember the rule - whoever gets the correct number, gets that number of meals from us!" Hallie reminded them before all of them had their paws placed on their pile together and all barked, thankfully not loud enough to wake the puppies up. Justin smugly looked at them all, reminding them: "May the best dog in the team win!"
The results were going to be there soon and whoever would win would show off their triumph. Still, if they were going to be show-offs, then they better not overstay their welcome otherwise this would cause the erosion between all of them. As for now, they returned to their usual habits until the mail delivery the next day.
So it was clear that Scottia giving birth to puppies was the very next thing they were expecting before Roger's puppies came to the world. But before that too, it was a matter of time when Beringo was going to have his friends introduce to his family one day because longer they were waiting, more anxious and excited they were.
It was a Tuesday in April as they were all sleeping in their beds, with Dakota's puppies with their parents and of course, Hallie's puppies with theirs. Even Beringo was sleeping here, indicating that the night before he'd been sleeping with Aniu and their puppies. Heck, even Roger was over here, because he was now mostly seen at Shanice's.
What woke them up was not Nash's descending down the stairs and preparing breakfast, but a rather fast-paced panting by the incoming guest, shouting: "Beringo! Guys! Girls! Quick, you have to come!" That was Koyuk, repeating those phrases again and again when he barged into the house through the dog doors.
"Koyuk?! Calm down! Breathe!" Beringo was awakened first, noticing his red-furred friend in their house. As for others, Roger followed soon and so did Dakota and Hallie, with former saying: "Be quiet! Our puppies are still sleeping, Koyuk!" Indiana and Justin followed no longer afterwards.
"I'm sorry, you all! But you have to come over… the miracle happened!" Koyuk panted and between his breaths he managed to tell them what was his rush, to which they were starting to realize, Justin asking: "Are you saying that… no way, today?!" He looked up on the calendar and noticed the date saying "April 18th, 1922".
"Hurry, Scottia wants you to come over and see!" Koyuk beckoned with his head, indicating that even he wanted to be home right now, but at the same time, he couldn't let this go unnoticed. Roger and Beringo had it easy to follow him, waiting for others to come as they were making sure that the puppies weren't going to get upset if they noticed that their parents weren't home.
Once all six of them were together, Hallie let him know: "Lead the way, Koyuk!" For someone who was neither the sled dog nor looked like a lead dog in any way, this was quite surprising to him since he led them all together, especially a dog who never had any interest in being a sled dog in the first place. Long story short, they made it to his residence in no time.
"Just please one by one!" Koyuk let them know the rule as the doors were opened widely enough for one dog to enter. He entered first and let each one of them, one by one, to come in. Once all six of his friends were inside, he let them know: "Just be quiet… Scottia didn't get enough sleep last night and I'd appreciate if you were not to ask any other questions besides names, okay?"
"As if I am going to ask her anything else." Indiana answered him, getting that unamused look not just from him, but others, seeing his response was not fit in the context, to which he answered: "Right, let's get going then!" So their host led them to the living room, where Scottia was resting in the corner of the room, in the basket to be precise.
"Scottia, I made it!" Koyuk walked up to his made and seeing him home, she leaned her head on his chest when he laid down next to her, knowing she needed comfort and rest in this situation. She noticed all six of them in the room, but she couldn't care any less but to say: "My friends, welcome…! Come and see our… new family…"
"Oh!" Dakota's response said it all when she saw in Scottia's bed something by her belly. Red furred newborn puppies and there were five of them! Her response was saying it all about how she found those newborns adorable and so did the others, Hallie being close enough to show that look. Koyuk asked them: "Aren't they adorable?"
"You've got yourselves cutie pies!" Hallie didn't hide her enthusiasm and indeed, for all they'd done and talked to this point, all six of them were sitting and noticing a miracle that came in form of their five newborns, sleeping or being fed by Scottia's milk on the orange blankets. They had those bets in their minds, but they suppressed those feelings in favor for compliments they were about to give.
Beringo knew that he won this bet - five puppies in the litter. Even if he won, it was him who felt the least enthusiastic about it and he decided that should he be given a reward, he was going to ask it for one round instead of five. That was when he broke down his thoughts by saying: "May we know their names, you two?"
An expected question to ask and even Scottia had that strength to mention at least two eldest puppies, for which she had begun: "Our eldest puppy is a male and we've named him Dom. The puppy next to him, his eldest sister… that's Saba." Dom and Saba, something for starters, although Roger asked: "Is Dom short for something?"
"No… just Dom." Scottia answered, as if "Dom" was the very first thing they could think of, not asking if the name was an acronym for other names. Since she desired rest, Koyuk took over for the three younger ones: "See this female next to Saba? That's Manitoba! Pretty interesting name, uh? Apparently there's this distant land called 'Manitoba' on the east. Oh yeah… this is our younger son Seward!"
"Manitoba, Seward… Manitoba, Seward…" Beringo and his friends were trying to memorize those names since they were a bit longer in comparison to Dom and Saba and then Beringo asked: "And what's with the youngest puppy?" They noticed a newborn puppy being fed by her mother's milk, cuddled to the softest spot on the belly.
"That's Jenna." Koyuk said this, as if his words contained the greatest amount of warmth when he said the youngest puppy's name. "Jenna?" Everyone else but Koyuk and Scottia asked, as if the sound of the youngest puppy's name was delightful, even Scottia saying: "You heard it right…!"
"Dom… Saba… Mani… Mani... how did you say your second daughter's name is?" Justin tried to memorize the names, but was stuck in the middle, only for Scottia to let him know: "Manitoba…" so he went again: "Dom… Saba… Manitoba… Seward… and Jenna. Well, that's a pretty fancy choice of names you have, you two!"
"Thanks. We've been thinking about those names for weeks, you know?" Koyuk let them know, watching all five of his puppies from Scottia's back all while she rested her head on the cyan pillow. Indeed, as if their idea of winning or losing the bet was gone, they just wanted to stay here and watch those five newborns crawl around the bed and whine for their mother, but they had other things going.
"I hope you don't mind us, but we've got to take care of our puppies soon!" Dakota figured out there was no time to waste, hoping that their puppies weren't going to be too upset. Scottia took it fairly easily and nodded to them, thus showing they should go back to see their puppies. So did all of them but Roger and Beringo return home.
"I hope you don't mind me either! I just have to go see how Shanice is doing, alright?" Roger soon bailed himself out and of course, they let him go. Thus Beringo was only one among the six guests and unlike them, he asked: "You won't mind me if I stay with you?" To which them beckoning clearly showed they were welcoming him entirely.
"We'd be honored, our friend." Koyuk made him feel like he was the host and thus Beringo spent a good part of his morning talking to his friends while watching five newborns discover the world around themselves in the basket with only touch being the sense they could rely on until other senses were to develop in the weeks to come.