“Any second now…” Cheddar Biscuit whispered to herself as she sat in the bathroom, staring intently at the little white piece of plastic she held in her shaking paw.
Colby’s paws, meanwhile, nervously fidgeted together as he waited patiently just outside the bathroom door for Cheddar to give him the news, a million thoughts racing through his head. He would accept the results no matter what they were, but he would be lying to himself if he said he wouldn’t be a little disappointed if she wasn’t expecting. It had been a whole month since Sniffsmas, so the test should definitely be accurate by now, he thought. But the more he considered it, Colby began to worry that they might never be able to have a family together due to his unique circumstances. He wasn’t truly a dog, after all; not originally, anyway. Not to mention he wasn’t even from this universe. Would they even be compatible? He would always love her even if they couldn’t bear a child together, but it would still be a little heartbreaking for him, to say the least.
Suddenly, Colby’s heart skipped a beat as the door finally opened. He and Cheddar looked at each other silently for a few moments; her expression was surprisingly difficult to read. But one thing was clear - she was crying.
“So…?” The yellow Lab braced himself for the answer, whatever it might be.
Cheddar Biscuit held up the pregnancy test in her paw, and a wide grin quickly grew on her blushing face. Colby’s fears were immediately put to rest.
Although they were eager to tell the whole family immediately, they reluctantly decided to hold off on the news a bit longer to wait for an ultrasound - just in case it was a false-positive. But after their confirmation at the hospital a month later with a printed scan as proof of the new life they had created together, Cheddar Biscuit and Colby finally gathered the rest of the family in the living room after dinner for their important announcement.
“Everyone, we have an important announcement.” Cheddar stated as she and Colby stood before the Barkers sitting on the long couch. “A few announcements, actually.”
The Barkers all sat on the edge of their seats in interest.
“First… Colby and I are engaged!” As soon as Cheddar said these words, the family erupted with congratulatory applause; Maw in particular seemed more excited than anyone else by far.
“And second…” Colby said once the noise died down, “Well, you might have noticed that Cheddar’s been acting a little… strange, lately.”
Cheddar shot him a harsh glare as he referred to her recent mood-swings and odd food-cravings over the last few weeks, but her gaze quickly softened.
“Maaaybe I should just let this speak for itself.” The green-eyed Labrador continued as he nervously pulled out the ultrasound image from behind his back, showing the scan of the unborn puppy inside Cheddar Biscuit to the Barkers.
“What’s that?” Tag asked curiously as the rest of the family stared at the paper in speechless awe.
“A PUPPY!!!” The family happily shouted together in response at the top of their lungs, and they all rushed to surround the expecting parents with a congratulatory family hug; their tails were all wagging so fast and hard that they were practically whacking against each other in their circle of familial love.
“Ohmygosh, I’m gonna be an aunt?!” Tag exclaimed in disbelief, hardly able to contain herself.
“I’m gonna be the best uncle ever!” Gilber smugly said with confidence.
“You mean I’m gonna be the best.” Spike replied jokingly, ruffling Gilber’s neatly-combed hair as he teased him.
“And I’m finally going to be a grandmaw!” Maw added as she squeezed her daughter the tightest with tears of joy in her eyes.
Paw could hardly speak through all his emotional blubbering, but Cheddar Biscuit definitely heard the word ‘proud’ in there somewhere.
“You two will make great parents, I just know it.” Grandmaw Marge chimed in, giving her granddaughter a kiss on the forehead.
“You’re growin’ up so much, kiddo.” Mort chuckled. “Stop it, you’re makin’ your grandpaw feel old.”
Yip didn’t understand any of what was going on, but cheered happily all the same.
“Thanks, everyone.” Cheddar Biscuit said, a hint of sorrow in her voice. “...We do have just one more announcement, though.”
The family fell into a sudden hush.
“We’ve thought a lot about it, and with Colby and I starting our own family, we’ve decided that…” Cheddar looked lovingly to her future husband and father of her child before she continued.
“...We’re moving out.”
The whole house was quiet for a few moments as the family took in this less-happy news. While most parents would dream of the day their kids would finally move out, the Barkers were so closely-knit that it was hard to imagine any of them moving away forever. Spike was an exception as he was often up in space, but he still called the Barker house his home.
“...I guess we should’ve known this day would come eventually…” Maw finally spoke, ending the long somber silence. “But please, come visit us as often as you can, you two. We’ll miss you.”
“We will mom, I promise.” Cheddar replied with another warm hug. “This family’s just… getting too big for this house, that’s all.”
“Do you have a place in mind?” Paw said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “How far away are you moving? Not too far, I hope…”
“We’ll still be living in Pawston. This is our home, and it always will be.” Colby reassured them. “And we’re going house-hunting tomorrow, actually.”
When tomorrow finally came, house-hunting was exactly what Cheddar Biscuit and Colby did. Unfortunately, there weren’t very many to choose from, however; in a town as perfect as Pawston, not many dogs ever wanted to move. In fact, there were only three houses in the entire town that were vacant.
The first house they went to was small - much, much smaller than the Barker house. So small that they could hardly fit through the front door without crouching; the previous owner must’ve been a Chihuahua or a Pomeranian. Needless to say, this would not be the house for them.
The second house they checked out was old - nearly as old as Pawston itself, by the looks of it. Floorboards were missing, the water from the kitchen faucet was a rusty reddish-brown, and Colby swore he heard some kind of feral creature lurking in the basement. Some dogs might be willing to take up the challenge of living in a fixer-upper, but not Colby and Cheddar. It was a hard pass.
The third and final house that was up for sale seemed decent enough. It was relatively modern, and they weren’t too big to fit inside the interior. However, when Colby had to use the bathroom as they were walking around, he soon realized that this particular house somehow had no bathroom included. Glancing out the window, he noticed that the backyard was dotted with large patches of suspiciously dead and yellowed grass.
“Nope.” Colby stated bluntly, immediately taking Cheddar Biscuit by the paw with him as they left.
“Well that was a bust.” Cheddar Biscuit sighed in the car as Colby drove them back to the Barkers’. “Maybe if we just stay with my family a little longer, another house might be available soon…?”
“Hang on…” Colby suddenly realized something. “Everything is free in this world, right?”
“Yeah, it’s still really weird to me that you actually had to earn pieces of green paper by working to pay for things in your world. And if you didn’t have this special paper, you wouldn’t get any food, water, healthcare, or shelter?” Cheddar still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of life having monetary value. “Sounds kind of… what’s the word… awful.”
“Yeah, you dogs really have it made here. But anyway, what I was thinking was… why don’t we just build our own house?” Colby looked in the direction of a certain familiar hill just outside of town.
“And I think I know the perfect place.”
And so, work began shortly on building Cheddar and Colby’s new home on the overlook where he first arrived. It took significantly more time, as building a house always does, but they didn’t mind at all living with the rest of their family a little while longer. The puppy wasn’t due until late September, anyway.
Within that time, Colby finally got a job as a part-time lifeguard at the Pawston public swimming pool. It didn’t pay anything, but then again, it didn’t need to. Although he wasn’t even required to have a job in this world at all in fact, Colby felt that it would be a good way to feel like he was contributing something to society.
Before long, the day was April 27th - the first anniversary of the day that Cheddar Biscuit and Colby met. Although they were a bit limited on what activities they could do with Cheddar Biscuit being pregnant as she was, they spent the day together having a romantic picnic of bacon pawnini sandwiches and nachos as they rowboated in the ocean near Pawston Beach. Colby did all the rowing though, of course, to spare Cheddar’s precious energy.
That night, Cheddar got the chance to see her own circus show for the very first time, rather than performing in it. She had limited her role in her acts to perform far less strenuous activities as soon as she first discovered she was pregnant, but needless to say, she was now no longer able to perform at all; Waggles had temporarily filled her role as the lead-clown until she would fully recover.
As the months went on and Cheddar Biscuit’s belly steadily began to inflate like a birthday balloon, a new worry began to set into Colby’s mind. Cheddar was a rather small dog; although she was twenty-one years old now, she was still the same height as her much younger seven-year-old sister and would likely never get any taller. Even her little brother Gilber was quickly gaining significant height on her with his recent teenage growth-spurt, and Colby began to wonder if her petite body would even be able to handle this pregnancy. He wasn’t quite as tall as Paw or Maw himself, but he was still at least a whole head-height taller than his fiance.
“Hey Cheddar Biscuit… how are you feeling?” Colby asked one day while they were watching the construction dogs building their home as they sat on the bench that had been set up in what would soon become their front yard. Their new home still wasn’t quite finished yet, but as the days became weeks, it was showing more progress; the contractors estimated it would be finished and furnished by the end of August. “Do you need anything?”
“I’m okay for now, Colby. Thank you, though.” Cheddar Biscuit smiled back at him, snuggling up closely to her puppy’s father as she rubbed her rounding belly. “It’s still just kinda weird to think I’m actually gonna be a mom soon.”
Colby pressed his forehead to hers before placing his padded palm on her belly as well with a smile in return.
“You already are, Funny Honey-Bunny.”
Just then, both of them gasped as they suddenly felt a hard lump come from within Cheddar Biscuit’s abdomen. Tears of pure joy were shed between the two as they felt their puppy’s first little kicks.
“...Have you thought of any names yet?” Colby whispered, breaking the tender moment between them.
“It’s so hard to choose just one…” Cheddar replied, giving Colby a kiss on the lips. “And we don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl yet.”
“That’s true. Well, we still have time.” He continued to slowly rub her belly as the puppy kicked, suddenly remembering what he was worried about. “...Maybe this is just nerves talking, but I think we should get you a check-up soon. Just to see how our puppy’s doing in there.”
“Your puppy is perfectly healthy.” The teal doctor dog confirmed as he took off his gloves. “Mom’s healthy too.”
Colby and Cheddar Biscuit let out a sigh of relief at the news. But then, the doctor continued, “However, due to your smaller size, the puppy will likely be ready to come out a little early. So keep an eye on that and contact us right away if you have any concerns.”
The expectant parents nodded. This visit did little to quell Colby’s fears, but at least they knew Cheddar and their puppy were healthy.
“Do you want to know the puppy’s sex?” The doctor went on, pulling up a new scan of the womb. Colby and Cheddar gave each other a look; they had already decided.
“No, we want it to be a surprise.”
Yet another month passed, and on June 21st, a noticeably pregnant Cheddar Biscuit now found herself weeping softly with nothing but pure happiness in her heart as she walked down the aisle with Paw at her side and holding a bouquet of red Camellia flowers in her paws. In place of her normal clown rubber bowtie collar, she wore a lacy white bowtie, and Colby wore a black bowtie collar as well at the other end. Their ceremony was being held outdoors in a grassy patch of open field by the river near the Party Tree. The weather was perfect on this beautiful first day of summer, but that was hardly a surprise to any; it was rare not to have a sunny day in Pawston. Although they had considered inviting the entire town at first, they ultimately decided it should be a small and simple ceremony instead, with only the Barkers, Cheddar’s clown friends, Muttfield, and the Pooches in attendance. Tag was Cheddar Biscuit’s Maid of Honor, and Spike was Colby’s Best Man.
Paw gave his daughter a proud fatherly hug once they reached the end of the procession, and with that the ceremony finally began as Mayor Sniffington, the licensed officiant, began to speak to the seated audience.
“Thank you all for coming. We are gathered here today to celebrate Cheddar Biscuit Barker and Colby Barker’s eternal love for each other as they join together in marriage.” She looked to the teary-eyed bride and groom standing before her. “You may now speak your vows for each other.”
The two turned to face one another, holding each other’s paws in their own. Colby spoke first.
“I love you, Cheddar Biscuit. You’ve brought so much joy into my life. You taught me how to be happy again. I promise to always root for you, cheer you on, and be your biggest fan - in the audience, and in life. You’re where I belong. You’re my home. And I promise I’ll always protect my home. Actually, no. Not a promise… a guarantee. You…” Colby took a moment to capture this moment forever, taking in his bride’s radiant glow.
“...You are my universe.”
Cheddar needed a moment to ease her crying before she could bring herself to recite her vows in response.
“When we first met, I fell for you, Colby… literally. As soon as I looked up at you while you held me in your arms, my heart knew you were the one. I promise to be by your side forever, and to always make you laugh when you need one!” Cheddar pulled a clown horn from behind her back, giving it a few playful honks with a big goofy grin on her face. Colby laughed softly, wiping his glossy eyes. “...And even when we’re apart, I promise… you will never feel alone. Thank you for loving me exactly as I am. I love you, Colby.”
Once the vows were concluded, Mayor Sniffington continued with the next portion of the ceremony.
“Do you, Colby, take Cheddar Biscuit to be your lawfully-wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, for as long as you both live?”
“I do.”
“Do you, Cheddar Biscuit, take Colby to be your lawfully-wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, for as long as you both live?”
“I do.”
“And now, the bride and groom would like to do something a little different to pledge their love to each other.” Mayor Sniffington announced, handing them back the rings they had given her prior to the ceremony.
“Cheddar Biscuit,” Colby said, “I give you this ring with the pledge to love you today, tomorrow, always, and forever. It’s a symbol of infinity, and my infinite love.”
Colby held Cheddar Biscuit’s paw, slipping the small metal band on her middle finger.
“Colby,” Cheddar began to repeat the vow as she put the matching ring she had made - with Colby’s help - on his finger as well. “I give you this ring with the pledge to love you today, tomorrow, always, and forever. It’s a symbol of infinity, and my infinite love.”
Mayor Sniffington smiled as she concluded the ceremony.
“By the power vested in me by the state of Mastiffchewsits, I now pronounce you husband and wife!”
As Colby leaned down and gave Cheddar Biscuit a loving kiss to seal their union, the audience cheered in celebration and the clown-dogs honked their horns and noses ecstatically. Paw was crying tears like fire-hydrants out of his eyes as he blew his nose into a tissue with a honk even louder than the clowns.
Cheddar Biscuit and Colby Barker were officially married.
Another month had eventually gone by, and Cheddar Biscuit’s pregnancy symptoms were getting much worse as she reached the third trimester. She was constantly and severely exhausted, with aches and pains all over her body from early in the morning well into the late hours of the night. She could hardly sleep, and always felt short of breath. She spent much of her days in the bathroom.
Colby and her entire family were with her every step of the way, but there was only so much they could do to help ease her pain and discomfort. Grandmaw and Maw by far the biggest help for the expectant mother as they were the most knowledgeable and experienced source of information, of course. But even they weren’t completely positive about what to expect, with Cheddar’s much smaller body far more strained by this pregnancy than theirs ever were.
By mid-August, the new house was nearly complete, and right on schedule. All that remained now was the furnishings and finishing touches. It was quite smaller than the Barker house, but Cheddar and Colby liked it that way, as it was still cozy enough for a family of three. Their home was similar to a cottage in design, surrounded by a colorful garden of beautiful red, blue, yellow, purple, and white flowers. The tree near the cliff was left standing as it was now a part of their backyard, which had a protective white wooden fence blocking access to the edge of the precipice for safety’s sake.
It wouldn’t be much longer until Colby and Cheddar Biscuit’s new house would soon become a home.
On August 24th at 7:28 A.M., during the thirty-fifth week, Cheddar Biscuit’s tired eyes shot wide-open as she laid in bed next to Colby. The mattress beneath her was completely soaked.
“HEY YOU DOGS.” She projected loudly for her sleeping family across the bedroom to hear with an air of urgent panic in her voice.
“TODAY’S THE DAY.”
Sargent Pooch was casually washing her police-car bright and early when she saw the Barkers all frantically rushing out the front door with Cheddar Biscuit yelling out in pain. In a split-second, she dropped the hose in her paw as she knew immediately what was happening.
“Follow me, I’ll give y’all an escort!” The blue terrier hopped into her car and instantly blared her sirens as she quickly backed out of the driveway, and the Barkers all followed in their own vehicles with Colby and Cheddar at the head of the line in what looked like a high-speed parade of cars zooming down the street.
For the next several hours, everything around the Barkers was pure chaos. Just as the doctor had warned, Cheddar’s puppy would be arriving prematurely.
“You’re gonna be okay, Funny Honey-Bunny. I love you so much. You’re so strong.” Colby reassured Cheddar with his paw in hers as the doctors pushed her in a wheelchair down the hallway, her little paw tightly - and angrily - crushing his with a firm iron grip. “You really are strong. Ow.”
“I hate you, Colby. I love you. But I HATE you.” Cheddar winced in tremendous agony as the doctors rolled her through the delivery room doors with Colby close beside her, leaving the rest of the Barkers behind in their wake.
Then, Colby suddenly re-emerged again.
“Maw, Cheddar wants you to be with her too.”
Maw anxiously stood up from the hallway bench the family had taken their seats on as they waited, joining the expectant parents on the other side.
For the rest of the family, the waiting was like torture. Hours upon hours passed with no news or updates from anyone. For a typically loud and rowdy family like the Barkers, everyone sitting on the hallway bench was uncharacteristically quiet. Paw was far more worried than anyone else; he couldn’t bear the thought of his little girl not making it through this.
“You are my sunshine… my only sunshine…” He quietly sang under his breath to comfort himself, his paws clasped together over his mouth as he struggled to keep his fearful tears contained.
“She’ll make it through, son.” Marge placed her paw on his shoulder. “I know she will. Have faith.”
Things were faring no better in the delivery room. Colby was practically petrified with terror as the doctors and nurses surrounded Cheddar, checking her and the unborn puppy’s vitals and taking notes on their clipboards as they connected all kinds of tubes and wires to her.
“We’re going to have to perform a cesarean section,” one of the doctors mentioned to a nurse in-passing.
“A what section?” Cheddar Biscuit asked between strained breaths, clenching Colby’s and her mom’s paws even tighter.
“They’re going to have to make an… incision… in your belly for the baby to come out safely, sweetie.” Maw said, trying to stay calm for her daughter’s sake.
“THEY’RE GONNA CUT ME OPEN?!” The little white Beagador screamed out, beginning to hyperventilate. “I can’t do this, I can’t do this…”
“Look at me, Cheddar Biscuit Barker.”
Cheddar’s teary eyes slowly met her mother’s. Her voice was stern, but compassionate.
“You can do this. You can do anything.”
“Okay, Mom.” Cheddar Biscuit nodded, her entire body trembling with fear.
“Not ‘okay’, Cheddar. You need to say it. Believe it.” Maw firmly placed her paw against Cheddar’s, holding her daughter’s paw with both hands. “You will do this. For your puppy. For your husband. For you. You’re strong. You’re fearless. You are unstoppable. The show must go on. Say it.”
“Th-the show must go on. I… I can do this. I can do anything. I will do this.” Cheddar Biscuit was still scared out of her mind, but her mother’s guidance was reassuring and comforting. “I’m strong... I’m fearless… I’m unstoppable.”
“Good girl.”
The time of birth was 6:03 P.M.
Some time after, Maw returned to the rest of the Barker family from behind the swinging hospital doors, quietly gesturing for them all to come inside.
What they found was a pair of proud new parents holding their newborn puppy together.
Their daughter.
She had a near-perfect blend of Cheddar and Colby’s fur-patterns, with her father’s yellow fur covering much of her body and her mother’s’ platinum white fur on her muzzle running up to the top of her head, as well as a patch of white on her belly to match. She also had Cheddar’s purple ears - though they were more triangular in shape like her father’s - and even inherited a little of her mom’s colorful birthmarks dotted on each side of her white snout in a diamond-like arrangement of purple, red, blue, and yellow.
“She’s so cute.” Tag whispered, her tail wagging behind her as she gently rested a paw on her physically and emotionally-drained big sister’s shoulder.
“You’re amazing, big sis.” Gilber added quietly, placing his paw on her ankle. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I am so, so proud of you.” Paw took his hat - and goggles - off as a show of respect for his daughter. It was truly a rare and special occasion to see him without his goggles on.
“I knew you could do it, Cheddar.” Spike said as he indiscreetly pulled his cap down over his eyes to cover his obvious sobbing. “Wasn’t worried at all. Nope. Not me...”
“What a little sweetie-pie…” Grandmaw Marge whimpered as she lifted her glasses to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Someone’s gonna have to stop me from pinching her cheeks.”
“She’s got your eyes, Colby.” Grandpaw Mort pointed out in surprise - sure enough, the puppy’s eyes did indeed have a uniquely-vibrant green color in her irises.
“Pup-py.” Yip muttered in a hushed voice as he pointed to his niece, finally just recently having learned to speak a little himself. “S’eepy pup-py. S’eepy Cheddur Bissit. Shh…” Yip’s eyed closed, growing sleepy as well just from watching them doze off.
“You did it, my little circus star.” Maw gave Cheddar a delicate kiss on her forehead. “Your best performance yet. You can rest easy now. Everything will be okay.”
“...Sorry to interrupt, everyone, but soon we’ll need to clear everyone out again to look after the mother and her puppy.” The doctor said politely, noticing that Cheddar Biscuit was quickly falling asleep with her puppy in her arms. “They’ve been through a lot, and they need their rest. We’ll also need to keep the little one under a close watch and run some tests just to make sure she’s adjusting healthily. Her delivery was premature, after all.”
“Sure thing, Doc.” Paw nodded understandingly before turning to Colby. “By the way, do you have a name picked out for her yet?” He asked while slowly petting his exhausted daughter’s head.
Colby looked at his sleeping wife and daughter with tears of joy in his eyes, knowing that he would do anything for them. He would gladly die to protect them if he had to. Without hesitation.
“Brie.”
