“It’s okay, Shambhala. She’s fine.”
Shambhala gave him a hard look, and he had to acknowledge an awful lot of guard dog remained in her. Setting to work, he ascertained she remembered her basic training. Then he worked on several others he had looked up after finding out he was coming after a War Dog. A few more he needed to work on to see if she would listen as well. He needed her off-leash and in a fenced area for that. She had all the regular commands down pat, and he was really proud of her for that.
When they walked back with her heeling properly and at his side, her ears picked up and more energy was in her step as they headed to the sandbox, where Daniela and Sari were waiting for them. He smiled, reached down and scratched Shambhala between the ears.
“You really do love that little girl, don’t you?” Her tail wagged faster and faster the closer they got, and, as soon as they made it to the sandbox, she hopped in and nudged the little girl.
“Doggy, doggy,” Sari cried out and wrapped her arms around the dog.
“You know something?” he said to Daniela. “We may have a harder time separating them than we’re thinking.”
“I can tell,” she said. “I was just thinking that when you came back toward us. The dog was obviously happy to be coming this way.”
He nodded. “Let’s head home.”
She smiled. “That sounds great. But how will you get Sari to do that?”
“Easy,” he said. “Sari, come on. Time to go back to the house.”
She looked up at him and shook her head. “No.”
He looked at her, surprised, then looked at her mother, who stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and a big grin on her face. “I guess you don’t have to, but Shambhala and I are going home.” He called Shambhala to his side. Reluctant but obedient, she complied. Then he turned back to look at Sari. “We’re leaving now and going back to the house.”
As he and Shambhala turned and walked away, Sari started crying and screaming.
He stopped and looked back at her. “So does that mean you’re ready to listen and to come home with us?”
She nodded and reached up her hands. Daniela picked Sari up and caught up with Weston and Shambhala.
Weston turned to the little girl. “I’m so glad you came with us. Do you want to ride on my shoulders?”
Immediately the clouds disappeared, and the sun shone once more.
As soon as Daniela put her up on his shoulders, he reached up with one hand and said, “Now, you’ve got to grab hold of my ears, and I’ll hold on to your feet.” Her legs were just long enough that he could grab both of her feet with one hand. He looked at Daniela. “Does she have any experience being carried like this?”
She shook her head and, with one hand, gently pushed on the little girl’s back to show her how to sit up straight. “I’ll just walk back here,” she said with a laugh. “The last thing we need is to have her fall backward.”
Slowly the procession made its way back to the house.
The next morning, Weston woke up and went downstairs quietly, not wanting to wake either Daniela or Sari. As he walked past her room, he could hear Sari gurgling. He stopped with a smile on his face as he listened to the sounds of a baby waking up. It was something he had never heard before, and it was special. Very special.
He noted that Shambhala lay on the floor by the child’s bed.
Soon, he slipped down the stairs as quietly as he could, not sure what Daniela’s morning routine was, Shambhala following him. Once in the kitchen, he watched as Shambhala headed to her empty food bowl. He filled it for her and then set about making coffee. When it was ready, he watched as Shambhala returned to Sari’s room, while Weston stepped outside onto the patio, where he enjoyed his first cup, watching the sunrise.
He wondered if Daniela was intent on staying up here in Alaska. And then another thought came. If he wanted to keep up a relationship with his daughter, was he prepared to move here? There were things he would have to sort out.
He was amazed at the bond between Shambhala and Sari. Though there was a little tug at his heart when he first met Sari, there hadn’t been that immediate, overwhelming connection of “This is my child. I need to be there for her.” A part of him wondered if something was wrong with him because that hadn’t happened.
He sat here contemplating fatherhood, wondering if someone adapted to having it suddenly sprung upon them. He knew a lot of guys who were baby crazy. It was funny to see, and, while he’d seen many more women who were that way, seeing it in the occasional male was compelling. He hadn’t ever had anything to do with babies and didn’t feel any need to turn into a simpering idiot because a baby showed up.
At the same time, she was his daughter, and something was between them. It was up to him to foster it, so a bond could form between them. Maybe it was seeing the bond between Shambhala and Sari happen so fast that made him expect something like that for himself. But obviously he needed a fur coat in order to fit the bill. He snickered at his own joke.
“Well, it’s nice to see you’re having a good morning,” Daniela said, but her voice was cross. “Do you think you could give me a hand for a second?”
He bounded to his feet and turned to face her. She had Sari in her arms, only Sari was cranky and wouldn’t sit properly. He reached out his hands, taking Sari from her, putting her on his hip. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Daniela said,
