Dogster

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They say I'm getting fat! How outrageous!

I WAS fat... but not just that!

I am so excited that I can scarcely keep from trembling!

It seems that the humans were correct... I was getting fat. In fact, I was becoming grotesquely huge, with a belly so large that it seemed to have a life of its very own! As the last few weeks passed, I tried to convince myself that it wasn't so, but soon it was undeniable even to me. How foolish I was!

Every single human who saw me would point out my protruding belly, much to my embarassment. Some would cup their hands around it and smile as they did so... all with the other dogs watching! But soon, I realized that their attention seemed not so much on my stomach itself but on what it contained, and I came to the conclusion that I must have some hideous parasite. But then why all the smiles? Surely they could not be that callous. And indeed they were not!

I was becoming increasingly agitated. Everything annoyed me. The other dogs seemed like clumsy oafs around me, always bumping against my stomach. I found myself suddenly and inexplicably PROTECTIVE of it! But why? It ached, it twinged, and occasionally I felt movement there that made my ears go upright and my tail quiver. Soon the movements became so frequent that I could not help but wonder when the creature or creatures inside would burst free to consume me. But I felt a strange fondness for them, those mysterious presences within me. It was a curious feeling. I felt that I would do anything for them.

Mother always seemed to have her hand on my belly, and would laugh when she felt the movements. She also gave a sad little smile, and I think it might have been because she wished that she had this big stomach with something inside, too. I realized then that I loved the creatures within... and by this time it was undeniable that there was more than one.

Last night, I had a sudden flash of insight. I had a need to find somewhere warm and hidden... it was a strong and fierce inclination. I tried to crawl under the couch, to no avail. I scrabbled about in the blankets on the bed. I sniffed in corners. Nothing seemed right. This strong need to settle would not leave me, and soon it became absolutely urgent! But then, Mother whisked me up (gently) and put me in a crate in the laundry room, with a soft bed of warm straw and a towel. It was very late in the night, and at long last I felt content. She told me goodnight and offered me a treat. I tried to be polite, but the thought of eating it disgusted me. I spat it out and looked up at her imploringly. She nodded her head and told me that she would be back in a little while. The house grew dark and quiet. Khyber went to bed when Mother did, but I was in no mood for his company in any case. There was only the sound of the bubbling aquarium in the bedroom and a soft rain falling outside. I made a nest in the straw and fell asleep.

It was a few hours later that I felt a sudden and urgent need. The creatures were about to emerge! I was alone and frightened, but did not cry out. I didn't want to alarm Mother or Father, and I had a strange notion that they might carry the creatures away from me. I did not want that to happen... I wanted to see them finally and keep them for my own. There was pain and confusion, but something in me took over and told me what to do. It was as if my real mother, my canine mother, was speaking to me in my mind. I had not even thought of her in many months, and even then I only had vague memories of a warm side and caressing tongue. Yet now I heard her voice, instructing me. It sounds insane, but I knew exactly what to do. I felt guided by her and by all of the other dams before her.

With this knowledge came a sudden realization... I was becoming a mother. These were my PUPPIES, being born now just as I had been born to my mother. No strange and alien creatures had dwelled within me... it had been my own children all along! I felt all of the childish and silly thoughts slip away from me as I strongly pushed the puppies out. I cleaned them, and knew that I had never seen anything more beautiful. I don't remember much else of that exhausting night, because I fell asleep with the four puppies nursing at my side. I felt a deep contentment and fierce love that consumed all else.

I awakened before dawn in the sudden light which filled the room, to the happy and surprised cry of Father as he called out, "Shawna, Nado has had her puppies!"

They both came to see, and I was surprised that I did not mind that they handled the babies. I could see that they loved them and would never cause them pain. At the appearance of Khyber in the doorway, however, I lifted my lip and growled low in my throat, "Keep away!" I could not bear the thought of him harming my babies.

In the light now, I could see the tiny forms. Three were black, like me, but the fourth looked strangely familiar to me. A sudden image came into my mind of the handsome brown dog I had met before, Umber. This daughter of mine looked just like Umber, and it was all suddenly so clear that I felt like a fool for ever having had absurd notions about the past two months.

I had become a Dam.

I can't believe it...

Mother said that I was "fat" today! How brazen of her! In fact, how DARE she?!? I am as slim and svelte as ever I was... aren't I?

Father agreed that my belly was growing, and I never would have expected him to think such a thing, much less voice it aloud in my hearing! Mother felt my stomach, smiling all the while, and afterward gave me a nice belly rub. She even put me on a scale and exclaimed gladly that I had gained 3 pounds in the last month. If I was actually getting chubby, she wouldn't be this happy, would she? Mayhap it is some devious scheme, because it simply can't be true.

I met a handsome male dog a little over a month ago, and he said nothing about my weight then. In fact, he seemed quite impressed with my appearance, and I could scarcely keep his paws off me! Now HE was a bold one!

But come to think of it, ever since I met that dashing dog "Umber," I have been feeling a bit sluggish. And content, too, in a strangely satisfying way. This attention is wonderful, but I wish they could see that I'm still a trim and perfectly proportioned little dog. My little stepbrother Khyber wouldn't lie to me, and he told me I was skinny as ever. He did roll his eyes, though...

If I am getting heavy, it is certainly because of all of this extra food Mother has been feeding me. So it isn't my fault, really. As long as my collar still fits.

I've heard that in a few weeks, in early December to be exact, we will be getting a "special surprise." Everyone is talking about it so excitedly, so I wonder what the surprise will be? I guess I'll have to wait and see!

In the meantime, pass the kibble. My belly is rumbling!

~Nado