Been a long time, but here I am with another story about the tattooed salukifreak.

Special thanks to  qovapryi for his help :)

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April 29th

The saluki sat down on the bed, facing at the view that the Honolulu night offered from his penthouse, letting out a sigh. After managing to clinch the division for the first time in their history, coach Berk has let the big starters rest up for the upcoming days, which meant some were offered a ticket back home to be with their loved ones on the islands in the meantime.

“Is something wrong, Jay?”

Julian looked up at his girlfriend, Saskia, who replied to his concern with a cheeky smile. She always knew how to pick up a mood, he couldn’t help but to flash a smile back whenever she was around. The Afghan hound laid down next to her boyfriend, gazing over the skyline as well.

“Nothing really. Just… thinking over the future...” Julian replied.

“Overthinking, you mean...” she replied. “You’re in your mind a lot, even if things are going well...”

The saluki slightly wagged his tail as Saskia stroked his side. “Yeah like I don’t know, I think...” Julian gestured with his hands. “Of course everything’s going well, but there’s just something that tells me something’s… missing or what can go wrong in a future...you ever felt that?”

Saskia shifted her position to be closer to Julian. “A bit? Of course, there is always one or two worries, but what’s to do other than just commit to the today? Not worrying about life and just going t-”

“Puppies”

“to… what?” the Afghan did a double-take.

“With how Scoonie is set with his own puppy and others around would be settled by at this rate, of course I feel some sense of… is it my time?”

Saskia shook her head. “So much for not liking kids, eh?”

“It is a different experience of your own...” Julian shrugged. With everyone around him being at their stage of life where puppies and commitments were a given, the French athlete rattled his mind around his own stance on the issue; his girlfriend scoffing each time he claimed he “was terrible with kids” and “didn’t see himself with that in the future”, yet knowing her own baby niece, as well as Celine, his baby cousin back in Montreal, loved Julian, and after all the help he offered with Scoonie’s little ottsel, it just seemed that his original view was growing more and more flimsy by the days.

“Eh, you know you would be an amazing daddy...” she smiled and nodded. “It’ll be the same as plenty other puppies you met only… your own...”

"That's what I'm afraid of… when’s the right moment, and if you’re the one for it, as well as you know of my past, and my… resolve…"

"Yeah yeah, better parent than your parents…" Saskia scoffed. "Jay... I've known you for years. And you come a long way…" she massaged his elbows. "You're already better than you think… it's a matter of us saying that the moment is right. And considering where I am in life… It could be a good thing..."

“Hm?” Julian turned to his girlfriend.

The Afghan got flustered. “Like, don’t want to say it’s now now, but well… life’s moving, and it seems like the right time? A good life, a good house… a good boy… It could work...” her tail wagged.

Without saying much, Julian swiftly gave a quick kiss to Saskia's muzzle. He couldn't tell if either the moment or what followed was right, but it was pretty damn good, both could say.

---

May

Julian and Saskia were speechless. Sitting down at the edge of their messy bed, avoiding eye contact for a while, only looking at the floor next to their paws occasionally, but more so at the little stick the Afghan held in her hands, the tell-tale test that marked a small plus sign. This wasn’t quite the news Julian expected while he was on the middle of the playoffs race, but here he was.

"So that means…"

"Yeeeeah…" Saskia replied to her boyfriend.

"And that in a future…" Julian gestured with his paws.

"Some months time. Yes..."

The French athlete fell back into the bed. "Cannot believe this is… happening…” Julian couldn’t express what he felt exactly. It wasn’t dread as he was not feeling bad, neither was bliss as he wasn’t euphoric, he was just… there, trying to process it all. “What do I… do?"

"I mean what's there to do?" Saskia scoffed. “This is going to change it all, sure, but it’s not like it’s the end of the world...”

"Do we end it?" Julian asked absentmindedly.

"Julian!"

"Yeah, ugh, panicked, sorry" the saluki folded his ears at the retort. “I just like… never had this happen and… it’s real now!”

“Awe, Julian...” Saskia replied. With her paw, she directed her mate’s paw to her stomach, making him slowly feel it, even if symbolic. “I’m okay with this… you’re okay with this… and we can handle everything life throws at us. We’re a team...”

Julian smiled, giving a kiss to Saskia’s cheek. “Ouais… ouais, we can do this… but how do we break the news?”

“It doesn’t have to be now.” she said. “You guys are working hard at it, and I want you to be at your best. Plus, I want to wait to see if it’s… good to go.”

“You’re right… I still want you to get to Doctor Nishiwaki and talk this through. It should be safe, and shouldn’t be hounded by the news.” Julian nodded. The last thing that was needed was a media frenzy on top of the playoffs and messing with the teams’ psyche. Plus, Saskia could drive and knew her way around media. She would be fine, right?

“Totally, hun… go kick Santa Ana’s asses, I’ll make sure it’s all fine for… us...” she smiled.

---

July

“Just put it over on a couch, make sure they don’t look...” Saskia insisted.

“I know, Sas, it’ll be fine...” Julian smiled, greeting his teammate Scoonie and his girlfriend Sophie, inviting them to come in. Before they would have been bound towards a lavish vacation somewhere in the Pacific after a grueling playoff run and a finals’ duel that didn’t quite fold for them, the canines wanted to schedule a quick get together in means of a farewell, and something else.

The lunch went over nicefully, and as it came to an end, the afghan spoke up to her friends. “So guys, before you go, we got something to show you...” Saskia commented to her friends gleefully. Julian replied with a smile, but was decidedly somewhat aloof over the meeting, uncharacteristically from him. The girls made her way to the otter’s living room, as the athletes’ pace was decidedly slower. The otter didn’t want to prod in front of the girls, but curiosity got the best of him.

“What is going on, dude?” he asked his friend, lowering his voice in a conspirative tone. “Are we celebrating anything special?”

“Hm?” Julian’s ears perked. “Oh… yeah, it’s totally fine, Scoonie...” the saluki smiled faintly, but the unrelated answer left the otter confused.

“Dude, you could have told us sooner,” Scoonie shook his head, knowing it was best not to ask further and that the canine couple was trying to keep the surprise. “Least we wouldn’t have done this in a rush, with us about to take off for our holidays…”

The afghan called her boyfriend to where his bag was, helping to rummage inside the large compartments. “I know this is like, a bit impromptu, but...” Saskia revealed a gift box, understated, but clearly nicely dolled up. “Just a little thing from us to you guys...” her tailed slightly wagged, as Julian chuckled in amusement.

“For us?” Sophie asked, slightly puzzled. “I was starting to believe you were about to announce you were going to tie the knot, or something…”

Scoonie took the package in his paws, turning it around and inspecting it for anything odd. “So? Why don’t you go and open it?” Julian spoke up, forcing himself to some bemusement in his tone. “It is something we felt it was nice enough...”

The otter tore up the bow with a claw, ripped the paper apart and opened the lid. Inside there were more shredded confetti, forcing him to dig his hands into the box. “What even is...” he dug his hands for anything, finally snagging something and pulling it up. A puppy onesie.

“What’s this?” Scoonie asked. “Ace is a bit bigger than-”

Sophie however, made the connection much earlier, gasping. “NO! WHAT?” she took her hands to her muzzle, looking at the canines.

The otter turned towards his mate, clearly confused. “What even?” he asked. “What are you guys hiding?”

“Don’t play with-Saskia are you, Jay did you guys...” Soph walked over to the afghan, herself and Julian just nodding, letting themselves smile at their friends’ reactions.

“Holy shit…” Scoonie’s jaw dropped. His friend had no secrets for him, even in the sphere of intimacy, yet he’d never hinted once to such a development. “How even...how could you hide this from me?” His tone was mockingly angry, but there was obvious pride in his eyes.

The girls shared a friendly hug, gushing over the details, while Jay sheepishly looked at his friend. “We...well… we wanted to make sure everything was cleared, and it was a long...process. We found out in the middle of the playoffs and didn’t want to say anything until and mess up with the team’s mojo. Just...” the saluki looked away for a second. “Make sure it all was confirmed. But yeah… it is happening. Some months until a new puppy comes”, Julian’s levity returned, his tail swaying while shrugging meekly.

“Love that when it was our turn you had all the time to be scared and stern about it, yet you two went away without telling anyone…” the otter grinned, beckoning his friend close to pull him into a hug. “Proud of ya, Jay. Really am.”

Julian returned the hug, the lutrine feeling like his friend was returning to his old, peppier self. “It was lucky Saskia is not one that shows. It should be arriving before the end of the year. It’s like… three-ish and a half months now?”

“And a canine’s timeframe is a bit shorter and all...” Saskia replied. “Should be a while still.”

“Well,” Sophie cut in, “this certainly shakes up things for you both. And I wasn’t that far with my original assessment…” she said. “Are you looking to get married now?”

Both dogs sheepishly chuckled and looked away. “I mean like… all in due time?” Julian spoke up.

“Let’s deal with this for now,” Saskia said. “We’re all okay now, it’s a matter of taking care of him… or her... ”

“Or them?” Scoonie winked.

“Oh god no!” she laughed. “We know for sure it’s one, Doctor Nishiwaki’s filled us up in most details...”

“I guess it’s a lot to take in in just one sitting, but…” the otter shrugged. “Congratulations, really. If anything, this eases up our worries and all…”

“Heh, you’re talking worries...” Julian shrugged.

“It may seem a bit scary, but you will manage guys. If there is one thing I assure, is that they are going to turn out gorgeous!” Sophie beamed.

“That they do,” the otter convened. “What I meant…” he winked at the saluki. “He or she will need a playfellow, whatcha think?”

“Scoonie!” the girls gasped, laughing. “All in due time...” the weasel replied.

“Aww...I bet we’ve been discussing this longer than these two have been trying,” the otter smiled.

“Ace will be nice to them too...” Sophie quipped.

Scoonie nodded along. “Sure he will. I mean, they’ll probably turn out half his size,” he said. “But damn...this is gonna turn into a Kahuna nursery real soon, by how this sounds. And you got enough experience with him…” he added, alluding to the fact they were both going to help with babysitting as the mustelid couple traveled to French Polynesia and Italy for a much needed holiday.

“Yeah… you’re the first we’ve ever told. We’re going to break the news soon over at home and at media...” Julian nodded. “Isis is so going to freak out...”

“I mean, hard to freak out more than we did,” the otter quipped. “I half thought you were gonna wait on kids and all until your career was over.”

“It just came to us...” the tatted canine replied.

"The moment was right and well… Jayjay here has promised it. He will be a great caregiver. I've seen him before, this'll be a snap." Saskia smiled, kissing the saluki's cheek.

It was a matter of time now...