On Sturdy Legs

Versus Zander Walters

The day was cooler than normal. I dressed in a pair of rarely worn jeans, a race T-shirt for the state finals two years ago, and a camouflage hoodie that I threw in the passenger seat of the car when I left--the passenger seat that Tarq climbed into when I called him. He pushed on the passenger side window controls with his paws until he found the button that unrolled the window enough for him to stick his head out.

When I pulled up in front of the house, the third garage was open for the first time. I suppose that going to James's work took out much of the mystery about what was in it. As I pulled into the second garage, I saw that he had racks of guns. Either his own or ones stored from work, I didn't really care and just parked. I let myself in through the garage with Tarq trailing behind me and only starting his sniff down of the house when I gave him a pat on the head to know that it was okay. When I went to the kitchen, I saw that Elle was outside swinging from a tire swing that I distinctly did not remember from before. When I climbed the stairs and glanced into Lily's room, I saw that she was fast asleep with a baby monitor tied to one of the bars of her crib. Judging by the sound of the shower from the master bedroom, I could guess that James had the other one with him. A moment later, the stream went silent and Lily woke up with a small cry. It was nearly time for one of her evening bottles. I assumed that James hadn't fed her yet and picked her up myself to take her to the kitchen.

Tarq was working his way around the hallway that the stairs branched off of when he saw me coming with Lily in my arms. He had seen more than enough babies on base. After all, a lot of newlyweds had babies. Because Allison loved the idea of tiny, little, new human beings, she was usually the first person who volunteered to babysit when a date night was in order. Tarq knew to be gentle. He put his paws up on the counter so he could get his head high enough to lightly sniff at her. Lily promptly tried to grab his nose with her little baby hands; the surprise made Tarq put his paws back on the floor. I waited for the bottle to warm up and gave it a quick minute to cool down again once it was warm. Enough time with her had taught me to know the right temperature of the bottle by feel alone.

At that moment James came down the stairs, I could tell that he was ready to prove just how much he deserved to keep his girls because they were both his girls in the same way that I was Allison's daughter.

"Looking sharp," I commented as I held Lily's head in my hands and held the bottle while she sucked at it.

He wore the same kind of suit that he usually wore to work, all black except a baby blue button down and a navy blue tie. Tarq immediately ran up to him and put his front paws on James's chest to sniff him.

"Down, boy," James told him and scratched the dog's head when he went back to all fours. That had been a trick of Allison's; she thought it was cute and taught him to gently put his paws on people so he wouldn't scratch them. "You actually brought him."

"He's probably one of the only dogs in the world who will let a little girl put nail polish on him. I know because I did." I told him. "The girls will be fine."

"I already knew that," James said with a smile. "I'm not worried about them," his voice went suddenly soft. "I didn't have to hear anything to know that Walters probably threatened you."

"I'm fine," I insisted. "My self defense lesson came from the same woman who teaches guys how to break into terrorist camps. I can take him."

"I know that," he replied softly and glanced at his watch. "I'll call if I'm back late. Could you close the third garage door for me? We just got a new contract with a few more police stations and a southern hunting club; their orders were a bit much, so I brought my work home with me."

"I'll do that," I said with a grin.

James grinned back before he left through the first garage. The moment I heard him pull out, I went and closed the garage with Lily in my arms. Elle looked to be swinging happily outside, but I was sure that tire swings were more fun if you had someone to push you. I went out to join her and got an instant and very squealy reaction when she saw Tarq.