“Well, what else do you call it?”
“No, that’s fine. Poop patrol is your job.”
“Jackson,” Colton said, raising his voice to be heard over his brothers’ squabbles, “Please tell me, what’s my nephew’s name?”
The room fell quiet, waiting for Jackson to speak. After smiling at Steel, he said, “We considered a number of names for this very unique wolf. He is the first Dire Wolf born in many years and we wanted his name to reflect his heritage. We settled on this name just a day or so ago. Our pup shall bear the names of his two great-grandfathers…meet Daniel Maximilian.”
Steel heard his father gasp. “You named him after my father?”
“Yes. I never knew him but he’s the kind of man I want my son to grow up to be.”
“Son, this means more to me than you could ever imagine.”
“We’re glad you approve. Daniel was the name of Jackson’s grandfather on his mother’s side. He meant the world to Jackson and we wanted to honor him, too.”
“May I?” Maximus asked, reaching out to hold his grandpup.
“Absolutely!” Jackson said, handing Daniel to him.
“Hi there, big boy, nice to meet you. I’m your grandpa,” Maximus crooned. “We’re going to have so much fun together, Daniel.” Gently rocking the bundle in his arms, he walked over to his wife and showed her their new grandpup.
“Oh yes, Daniel, we all are going to have so much fun spoiling you rotten,” murmured Oracle.
“Hey, I heard that. I don’t think it’s a good idea to spoil him. He has to learn my rules and live by them,” said Steel.
“Your rules?” asked Jackson, in an accusatory tone.
Oracle stepped in before the dialog between Jackson and her son could continue. “Of course he has to learn rules, but we did that with you and Slate…now we get to enjoy our grandpup without worrying about those things anymore. That’s the reward grandparents get. Don’t fret, when Daniel has pups, you will have the same right to spoil your grandpups,” she said.
Steel sighed and Jackson’s laughter rang out. “She’s got you there, babe. I think it’s great our son will know his grandparents. Oh, my gods, did anyone tell Mystia and Jimmy about Daniel?”
“I called them. Mystia was called away but will be back today. Jimmy said they’ll be here as soon as she’s back,” Logan said.
“Thank you, bro,” said Jackson. “Okay, who won the baby name contest?”
It wasn’t hard to figure out when five fingers pointed at Zane. “Wow, was it that program you wrote?”
“Yup, after eliminating all the variables, it was the only name my program gave.”
“Well done, bro,” Jackson said, and then asked, “okay, who won the other bets? Weight? Time of Birth? Day? Color of Eyes? What? You think I didn’t know about it?”
The brothers glanced at each other before looking back at Jackson. “Well, you know how it is. We couldn’t resist…so many…well, hell Jackson, what were we supposed to do?” asked Cody.
“Relax, I’m just yanking your chain. Now tell me, who won what?”
“I won the weight bet,” said Logan.
“I won his hair color,” said Colton.
“I got the day,” Carson said.
“Time for me,” Dakota said.
“Which one did you win, Cody?” asked Steel.
“I bet your pup would have Jackson’s eyes.”
“No shit. Fuck, you nailed that one,” said Steel.
