Surprise news
By
Shawn Tigges
 
Road Rovers are Copyright Warner Borther's Productions, Samantha, Abby, Molly, 
Vicki, Kyra, Roger, Linda and Ben Maddog, Otto, Rupee, and Uncle Buford 
copyright Robert Baer Jr., Mosty Maddog is copyright Bart Walls, Maruader 
copyright Jeremy Bass, Dylan is copyright Dylan Rinald, Dervish is copyright 
Casey Johnson.
 
Samantha Maddog smiled as she rolled out of bed. Normally the collie cano-sapien 
would spend her nights in canis-fermilar form with her husband, Otto, curled up 
next to the bed of their masters. Last night however, they had stayed in 
cano-sapien form after the dual weddings of Samantha's brother Roger, and sister 
Linda. She smiled as she thought of all the things that had happened up to and 
during the wedding, but thankfully, her siblings were safely married. Roger to 
Kyra, a sheltie/collie-mix that Roger had fallen for on first site a few years 
ago, and Linda to Marauder, a black lab. Both couples were now enjoying the 
first few days of their lives as husbands and wives. All though there was some 
grumbling about the whole wedding situation from Samantha’s two rather snobbish 
and elitist sisters Vicki and Abby. Samantha had no doubt that the marriages 
would work.
Samantha giggled slightly as she heard her husband Otto, a rather powerful 
looking German shepherd, mumble something and toss over on his side fitfully. 
That always happens Samantha thought with a smile. As soon as she left his side, 
be it curled up in canis-fermilar form with their masters, or here at the 
complex under her family’s mansion, Otto would become restless and wake within a 
few minutes. It was comforting to Samantha when she thought about it, to know 
that Otto preferred being by her side, even when he was asleep.
Well, she told herself as she stood, I best get ready for the day. She padded 
across the room, taking collecting some undergarments from the drawers and a 
towel as she made her way towards the bathroom. She closed the door to the 
bathroom, but did not lock it. After all, the only person that would walk in 
while she was taking a shower would be Otto, and that was quite fine by her. She 
turned on the shower ad adjusted the water till it was quite warm and relaxing, 
but not exactly hot. She then shed her silk nightgown, folded it neatly, and put 
it in the small bathroom closet along with her other clothes. Samantha stepped 
into the shower and gave a content sigh as the warm water rained down on her. It 
always felt so good to take a shower. While both Otto and she bathed quite 
regularly in canis-fermilar form, there was just something about this that was 
so enjoyable.
Samantha smiled as she finished, turning of the water and stepping out of the 
shower, reaching for the towel to dry herself off. That was the only real 
problem with showers that she could find. When your body was covered in fur, it 
took a bit longer to dry yourself off. However it was nothing more than a mere 
inconvenience and within moments she had finished and slipped on her 
undergarments.
It was then that her stomach decided to play a wicked trick on her. One moment 
she was feeling fine, the next, her stomach felt like it had rolled over and 
done several somersaults, causing bile to rise in her throat. She was ever so 
glad that the toilet was in such a convenient distance as she bent over it, her 
stomach finally deciding it had had its fun and she retched. Samantha rarely 
threw up like that, and it was not a very pleasant feeling, in fact, there were 
tears at the corners of her eyes as she struggled to catch her breath the 
experience had been so bad.
"Sam?" a the deep voice of her husband called out in concern directly behind her 
as a large hand rested softly against her shoulders as she was still bent over 
the toilet. "I detected that you were in distress as I woke up, what is wrong?"
Samantha would have laughed if it hadn’t have made the quesy feeling in her 
stomache worse. Otto was not your normal run of the mill dog, or even 
cano-sapien for that matter. At one time he had been a guard dog, and a quite 
good one at that. Till one day, he was hit by a car chasing a burgler out of his 
protectorate. His former master had simply left him for dead, figuring that he 
was no longer of use to him. It was then that Uncle Buford, found him and took 
the shattered but still alive shepherd back to his research facility. There, 
Otto had been basically rebuilt from the ground up sso to speak. Reminiscent of 
the Six Million Dolor Man, Uncle Buford repaired Otto’s injuries, weaving 
experimental electronics, titanium bone replacements, and micro-super computers 
into his body. The process saved Otto’s life, but it also gave him certain 
abilities, some would say powers, that made him stronger and faster than anyone, 
along with a sensor array that allowed him to detect almost anything that was 
within range, and make rough medical diagnostics. All this made quite a few 
people nervous around the shepherd, many referring to him as the "robot," 
"android," "cyborg," or just simply "borg." If there was anything Samantha truly 
hated in this world, it was those names, she found them demeaning to her 
husband, who she only thought of as a Loving and caring man. She fought almost 
constantly to work against those perceptions of him.
Samantha slowly nodded her head as she gained some measure of stability back in 
her stomach. "Yes Otto, I think, I might have had a bit too much last night."
"Love, you only consumed a thirteen cubes of cheese, three small biscuits a 
slice of pineapple and two glasses of champagne," Otto said rather 
matter-of-factly as Samantha turned to face him. He had rushed in as soon as he 
had been alerted, he was still just in his boxers.
"It was probably the champagne that did it Otto," she said with a week smile as 
she looked at her husband. His computer implants allowing him to keep precise 
records of events around him for later recall. "You know I rarely drink anything 
with alcohol in it, in fact, this was the first time since our wedding that I 
have had any. My system probably just did not like it. In fact, I don’t think 
I’ll have anything with alcohol in it again for quite some time," she said with 
a frown appearing on her face.
Otto nodded solemnly. "That would be prudent, after all, Alcohol dose produce 
rather adverse effects on your body," the shepherd returned in his mater-of-fact 
tone.
Samantha laughed, though it was probably not the best thing to do as she felt 
the awful queasiness return and she spun towards the toilet again. This time it 
was no where near as bad as the first, and she recovered quickly. Otto’s hand 
rested on her shoulder lightly, in a protective, and concerned matter. Samantha 
smiled. Yes, that was all Otto was, no super human, just a loving, devoted and 
concerned husband.
"Will you be all right? I could call Colleen, she is most likely still at the 
complex," Otto inquired.
"No… No, you don’t have too, I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes and I’ll 
be fine," Samantha said with a shake of her head. "Why don’t you go down the 
hall to one of the unoccupied rooms and take your shower. I’ll join you in the 
cafeteria."
Otto nodded solemnly, though Samantha could tell he was still not quite 
convinced. But he kissed the top of her head lovingly and then turned to leave 
her be, casting a quick glance over his shoulders. Samantha nodded as he 
collected some clothes and a towel and left the room. At which, she promptly 
turned toward the toilet again as the now familiar feeling returned.
***
Molly Maddog smiled as she washed her hands thoroughly. She had gotten up early 
to do some tinkering with one of the vehicles in the compound that was acting 
up. She thought she had the problem down, but wanted to get breakfast before she 
made sure. She collected an assortment of foods from the cafateria refrigerator, 
then moved to the small group of tables. There she saw her sister and 
brother0in-law sitting down. Otto chomping on a set of biscuits and bacon, human 
biscuits, not dog. Her sister however, only had a glass of milk in front of her, 
and looked positively, well, as the old saying went, green around the gills. The 
color was drained from her face and it was clear from the expression on 
Samantha’s face that she was not feeling good at all."
"Hey Otto," Molly said as she sat down. "Sammy, you don’t look too hot, 
something wrong?"
Otto was about ready to reply but Samantha smiled weakly at her sister. "The 
champagne apparently did not agree with me," she said.
"Yeah, I only had one glass and I still felt a buzz, good thing no one in our 
family drinks anything alcoholic accept at weddings, us Maddog girls sure do not 
have good reactions to the stuff.
Just then, Dylan, a german shepherd-mix and Dervish, a sheltie, walked through 
the door. Like most of the other Road Rovers, they had stayed at the Maddog’s 
mansion/underground complex, over night. The two were followed by two of the 
other Maddog sisters, Vicki and Abby, with stars in their eyes. Molly hrmphed as 
she watched her two sisters. The two were rather hypocritical when they 
complained and plotted because their brother and sister were marring 
non-collies, but found no qualms in chasing after Dylan or Dervish. Molly felt 
sorry for the two men at times. Vicki and Abby had contrived many schemes to get 
the two’s attention, but luckily, neither were exactly rocks in the head, and 
had already made there intentions clear that they had no interest in the two 
Maddog girls.
 
After both collected a cup of coffee, Dylan and Dervish turned and saw the trio 
and smiled, walking over. "Hey Otto, Molly, whoa, dude, Sam, you okay?" Dylan 
called out as he sat down.
"I’m fine Mr. Dylan, sir," Samantha said in her classic politeness. "I just 
don’t think the champagne agreed with my stomach all that much."
Dylan smiled and dervish snorted a bit, the orange sheltie had always been a bit 
of the comedian, and he found Samantha’s politeness amusing at times, but not 
demeaning. He liked the collie, liked her a lot, in fact, it was almost 
impossible not to like her in both Dylan and Dervish’s minds.
"Well, now you know why I only drank the Dew," Dervish said with a smile as 
leaned back in his chair.
"And if I remember right, you were hyper the entire rest of the night from the 
massive amount of the stuff you drank," Molly said playfully and Dylan snickered 
a bit.
Dervish shot a playfully hurt look at Molly, but before he could respond, Vicki 
and Abby caught up to the two male canos. "High Dervish," Abby said
"Hey Dylan," Vickie chimed in at the same time. At the sound of the two Maddog 
girls, both Dervish and Dylan shot each other a look that Molly found hilarious. 
The two probably hadn’t realized that her sisters had followed them in. Both let 
out a silent groan and turned back to the two standing Maddog sisters.
"Um high girls, well, we’d like to stay, but we um…" Dervish began, stumbling 
for an excuse.
"Need to go check up on the Sky Rover we brought, make sure its flight ready," 
Dylan picked up instantly, and with that, both men stood, and left, leaving two 
rather dejected looking collies to take up their seats.
"Samantha! You look horrible!" Vicki called out with her usual lack of tact and 
Molly let out a silent groan.
Samantha sighed. She was feeling a lot better than she had only a half-hour ago, 
but she figured her face still displayed the nauseated look. I am probably going 
to have to keep explaining this for the next few minutes. "I think the champagne 
made me sick," she said simply.
Vicki laughed silently and Abby smiled. "Our sister can't hold her drink," Abby 
said with a playful tone.
Molly grumbled at her sisters taking comic jabs at Samantha’s discomfort, but 
Otto, quite for most of the conversation, spoke up before Molly could. "I recall 
that both of you were quite sick after the first sip last night and spent 
fifteen minutes of the reception in the hall restrooms."
Vicki and Abby stopped smiling immediately at that. Molly couldn't keep from 
laughing anymore and burst out with a sharp laugh, which garnered a bit of a 
growl from her two sisters. Just then Samantha's face turned a bit worse and she 
excused her self politely, heading for the restroom. Molly raised her eyebrow 
but Otto simply shrugged.
"Good morning Girls," Ben Maddog, the sisters' father, and the most influencial 
trial lawyer in Atlanta, said with a smile. His other daughter Misty walking 
next to him, holding her head as if she banged it on something.
"Misty, are you okay?" Molly asked in concern and her younger sister held up her 
hand and motioned for Molly to keep her voice down as she sat in the chair 
Samantha had vacated.
"I think I have a hangover," she said quitely.
"You only had one glass!" Vicki exclaimed and Misty winced at the volume.
"I know Vicki," Misty growled softly at her sister, and her father patted her on 
the shoulder. "So sue me, I've never had anything alcoholic before."
"And there is nothing wrong with that Misty my dear, as your sisters can tell 
you, none of them exactly had pleasant reactions to the champagne last night, 
unless Samantha didn't have any problems this morning. Did she Otto?"
"She was quite sick from nausea, in fact, she is in the restroom right now," 
Otto said.
Ben smiled lovingly at Misty. "See child? It isn't just you."
"Good Morning Papa," Samantha said as she trudged back from the restroom, the 
color a little bare in her face still. She sat down in a chair Otto pulled 
around for her. All of the Maddog girls sighed heavily, each one vowing silently 
never to take another drop of alcohol for a very long time. If such small 
amounts could effect each one this bad, the each shuddered at the thought of 
what might happen if they ever for some unforeseeable reason, consumed more than 
one or two drinks. Samantha however, looked the worse of the five.
"Samantha, you have a physical at the vets office tomorrow, I believe it would 
be prudent for you to enquire of the doctor is there is anything else wrong," 
Otto commented as he wrapped his arms around his wife lovingly, and with a 
rather protective manner.
"All right Otto, I will," Samantha said with a week smile as she rested her head 
against his shoulder. "I will."
***
Samantha sighed as she lay on the examining table of her vet. She was in 
canis-fermilar form. She had had another rough morning that day, waking up on 
curled up next to Otto, and immediately feeling nauseated, she had galloped to 
the bathroom as quick as she could, hopping she did not ruin her masters' carpet 
before she got there. She had then spent the next hour swing back and forth from 
nausea, to felling semi-all right again. After that hour, however, she had felt 
perfectly all right, which surprised her, normally when she was sick, she was 
sick for quite a while. She hadn't even had a bowl of milk, even though the day 
before, the simple glass of milk in the morning had helped.
"So, Doctor sir, do you have anything safe you can give me for this incase it 
happens again?" she asked as the vet turned back to her after typing a few 
commands into a computer.
The vet smiled and produced a small bottle of pills and placed them next to the 
collie. "Here you go Sam, these pills should help a bit, and they are perfectly 
safe, and I have a feeling you are going to be needing them for the next few 
months."
"Why do you say that Doctor sir?" Samantha asked in confusion as the vet made 
some final notes in her file.
"Simply put Sam, this nauseating feeling you are having, it is not a bad 
reaction to the champagne you had at your brother and sister's wedding. It's 
morning sickness dear," the vet said with a bright smile. "Your pregnant Sam."
Samantha's eyes went wide as she heard the words 'your pregnant' and her name 
said together. Her head spun and she shook it gently and looked at the vet in 
confusion. She had not just heard him right, had she?
"Are you sure sir?" she stammered out through the shock.
"Yes quite sure," the doctor said as he opened her file up again, taking his 
reading glasses out. "From what I can tell, you are about a month and a half 
along."
That was that then, Samantha thought as she climbed down from the examination 
table, her legs a little shaky from the news. "Thank you doctor, thank you very 
much," she said as she looked up and gave him the biggest smile she could 
muster. Although this was quite unexpected, Samantha was starting to feel 
happier and happier each moment.
"Do you want me to call Otto in here and give him the news?" the doctor asked as 
he put the pills in a bag and sat them down next to Samantha so she could carry 
them in her mouth.
That stopped Samantha cold in her tracks. Otto! What will he think?! Oh I don't 
want to break this to him all of the sudden, it would be wrong of me, Samantha 
thought. Her high sense of politeness combined with her natural shyness causing 
her to be quite timid about even telling her husband, her wonderful caring 
husband.
"No, no, I'll tell him my self, thank you again sir, thank you very much.," 
Samantha returned as she picked up the bag and turned to the door.
"It was my pleasure dear, my pleasure," the vet returned, but Samantha didn't 
hear him, her mind was too focused on trying to find the perfect way of telling 
Otto the news.
Samantha's mind was running at a dizzying speed as she walked out of the office. 
So fast that she almost bumped into Otto as he stood and walked over to her from 
where he had been laying on the floor. She looked up and saw the caring and love 
in his eyes and she sighed contently. If anyone would be a good father, it would 
be Otto, she thought to herself. But I don't want to just spring this on him, I 
have to find the right time, she thought as she felt Otto's muzzle nuzzling up 
against the side of her face.
"Did the veterinarian find what was wrong?" Otto asked softly.
"Nothing is really wrong darling," Samantha returned, in truth, because if 
anything, pregnancy was probably the most right thing for a female to go 
through. Still, she wanted to talk to her father about it, find out how mama had 
broken the news to him. If anything she wanted it to be perfect for Otto. "Come 
on, we are eating lunch at the mansion, papa and the others are probably waiting 
for us."
Otto nodded. He was tempted to use his bionics to scan Samantha, but he 
discarded that thought as soon as it entered his mind. He would not scan her 
with her permission. She said she was fine, and he would believe her. Otto shook 
his head. He was being over protective, admittedly Samantha had no problem with 
that what so ever, but still, he had to be careful not to get carried away.
"All right love, lets go, it isn't that far of a walk, I suggest we use a more… 
normal form of transportation than we normally use," Otto said as he nuzzled his 
wife one more time, and then smiled and motioned for the door.
Samantha smiled at her husband and nuzzled him back, then the two walked for the 
door. She smiled brightly as she thought of the having a child with Otto was 
probably about the best dream she had had in a long time. And now, however 
unexpected, it was coming true. Now all she had to do was find the best way to 
tell him.
***
Ben Maddog smiled as he looked at his family, well, minuets his newly married 
children, gathered around the dinning room of the mansion. All of them had 
chosen cano-sapien form, and Ben was quite content as he watched his daughters 
converse of their lunch. Emily, I wish you could see how your daughters have 
grown into such beautiful women, he thought as he hid his muzzle behind a glass 
of milk. Every time he saw his daughters, especially Samantha, he was reminded 
how beautiful his wife was. With that thought, he sighed, and evoked a strange 
look from the terrier mix sitting next to him in the dining table."
"There is something wrong Benjy?" she asked softly in an Indian accent as she 
placed a hand on top of his. Her soft eyes showed concern and the collie smiled 
at her.
"Nothing my dear, just old thoughts coming back," he said with a smile. Setting 
the glass down and patting her hand lovingly.
Thoughts about Emily again? Rupee's voice called out in his mind, using her 
telepathic abilities to keep the conversation between them private. You are 
missing her again?
Ben sighed and let his eyes flick to the beautiful terrier mix. He had been 
involved with her for quite a while. While Emily would never leave his heart, 
but in the time he had been with Rupee, she had become just as close and 
important to him as his wife had. Yes Rupee, he thought, knowing she wold pick 
up the thoughts, I was thinking about Emily, actually, how proud she would have 
been of her daughters. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. But no worries, 
I miss Emily yes, but you are my love now, and nothing will change that.
Rupee smiled warmly, and then her eyes flicked toward Samantha, then back to 
Ben. Samantha is nervous about something, she stated still through her 
telepathy.
Oh? Ben thought back to her
Yes, I didn't even look, it is coming off her like a beacon. You may not be able 
to tell it from her outward composure, but she is definitely nervous about 
something, Rupee explained. And she wants to talk to you in private, the terrier 
mix continued after a short break in thought.
She dose?
Yes, she just opened that up to me, she wants to tell you something in private, 
she says it is rather important, but can wait till after lunch, Rupee answered.
Tell her of coarse I will wait till after lunch, Ben said with a small smile. 
And tell her to relax, she could have told me anytime she wanted.
I think she wanted it to be private between you and her, that is why she hasn't 
said anything yet, though she has told me it is okay for me to be around.
Ben nodded. Well, what ever Samantha had to say, it would wait.
"So Sam, how was your checkup?" Vicki asked as she chomped down on a buiscute, 
flipping through some court affidavits. She had done it out of hand, but Ben, 
now that he was alerted, noticed a slight pause in his shy daughter.
"Oh, fine Vicki, nothings wrong," Samantha returned and smiled, but Ben saw it 
was a rather nervous one. 
Just then, Otto's collar began to beep and the big German shepherd reached up 
and touched it. "Hey Otto buddy, need your help, we're moving some prisoners 
from a state prison to Leavenworth Maximum Security wing," Hunters voice called 
out from the collar.
"Do you need Sam's assistance as well?" Otto asked as he looked at his wife.
"Naw, she can stay home on this one, we just need you to get here right away."
"All right, I shall be at you location momentarily," Otto respond, then tapped 
the collar again. He smiled at his wife and kissed her gently. "I shall be back 
shortly," and with that, he tapped the collar one more time, and with a loud 
bang that rattled the decorations Otto was gone.
"You know, I really wish that whole transporter thing Uncle Buford came up with 
was a bit quiter," Abby growled, and then stood. "Well Dad, I Vicki and I have a 
case in an hour, we should probably get back to the office," the young collie 
said as her other sister stood and nodded, both excusing themselves. They walked 
for the passage that lead to the secret complex so they could change back to 
normal dog form.
"Yeah, I need to get ready for my case to dad," Molly said as she too stood, 
Misty standing as well.
"I think I am going to go work on a few things over at Mission Control while the 
others are gone dad," Misty said and she too left the table, leaving Samantha, 
Ben and Rupee alone.
Ben smiled and stood, then looked at his daughter. "Samantha, let's go into the 
sitting room, I think it might be a bit more comfortable."
"Yes Papa," Samantha said as she stood and allowed her father to escort her to 
the next room, sitting down in the big chair she had always enjoyed, even as a 
pup.
Ben sat down not in his normal chair, but the couch, with Rupee sitting next to 
him. He leaned forward and smiled warmly at his daughter. "Now Samantha, what 
are you so anxious about?"
Samantha looked down at her hands for a quick moment, then looked at her father. 
"I have some news, well I received some news today at the veterinarian's 
office," she began. Not exactly sure how she was going to phrase it.
"Something is not wrong is it Samantha?" Ben asked with concern creeping in his 
voice.
"No, no papa, nothing is wrong, I guess, well, you could say something is quite 
right," she said as swallowed. Well, here goes, she thought as she took in a 
breath, then let it out with a sigh. "Papa, I am pregnant, the veterinarian says 
I am about a month and a half along."
Ben lept to his feet and rushed to his daughter, enveloping her in the biggest 
hug he could. "Oh Samantha that is so wonderful!!! You here that Rupee, I am 
going to be a grandfather!" the collie said as he looked back at the terrier 
mix, who was simply smiling very warmly at the younger woman. "Have you told 
Otto yet?"
"No Papa, I haven't, you two are the first I have told, I wanted to ask you, how 
did mother tell you she was pregnant with my sisters and myself? I don't want to 
just break this on him, that would be wrong."
Ben sighed and sat down again next to Rupee. "Well child, she was a lot like you 
in some ways, worried about how her pregnancy would effect me, even though we 
were married. She told me over a candle light dinner, her voice very low and 
quite, but I remember my reaction been even more energetic than the one I just 
had to your announcement. Something similar might be a good way for you and 
Otto."
"Thank you Papa, tonight, tonight I'll tell him like that," Samantha said with a 
weak smile.
***
Otto frowned as he watched the prisoners being transferred. The Roar Rovers were 
ready to transfer the last prisoner, and Otto would be happy to get back to 
Samantha. It had been quite easy really, and the other Rovers had apologized to 
him for calling him out. Otto however had just shook his head and told the 
others they had asked for his help, and he would provide it.
It was at that moment that Otto's presence became deadly necessary. From out of 
no-where, the last prisoner, a Prvt. Jason Margsman, a rabble-rouser that Otto 
had really no idea why was in Maximum Security, smiled and broke out of his 
cuffs, throwing the hapless Blitz over his shoulder with surprising strength. 
"You really think a bunch of dogs could transport me when the US Military was 
afraid to do it?" the Margsman asked sarcastically as he punched both Exile and 
hunter out, displaying strength totally out of proportion with his size and 
build. You see, they never told you what I was, I am an experiment, bionic limbs 
and the such, but I didn't exactly turn out how they wanted, I was a little 
wilder than they thought, so they locked me away. Though I must thank them for 
not infoming you properly, now I will be free again."
"I bloody well doubt that wanker," Colleen announced, and charged forward, but 
was thrown back as a beam of energy emitted from Marksman's hand, throwing him 
back.
"Now, now, now, none of that," Margsman said with a smile. "That was after all 
only the stun setting, you don't want me going to the lethal side of things.
"You will surrender yourself Private, and you shal not be harm," Otto said 
simply as he walked towards the enhanced man.
"Now I don't think so," Margsman said as he fired at Otto, who just simply shook 
it off and continued to walk forward. "Your weapon was designed by the creator 
of my implants, I have dampers installed to counter act its effects."
"Oh?" Margsman said with a smile. "Well, you may have those dampers, but, I am 
afraid to tell you, the Army boosted the power on this thing quite a bit from 
the prototype they bought from Dr. Lovejoy, like I said, it now has some quite 
leathal settings.
The man concentrated for a brief moment, then, he smiled. Otto could sense a 
definite power spike from the man, now his bionics, who had obviously been 
dampened, were in pure evidence. Otto had no idea weather his damping field 
would work against higher power levels, but he would not take the chance. He 
surged forward on super speed, his opponent did get a fairly poorly aimed shot 
off before Otto reached him. Smiling slightly, Otto found that the Army had 
copied many of Uncle Bufords designs, including the cut-off mechanisms, which 
Otto deactivated rather easily through radio transmitter.
"What!! No!!!" Margsman yelled out as his limbs became limp, unable to move, he 
slumped to the ground as Hunter and Exile recovered quickly, grabbing the man 
roughly.
"Thanks Otto." Hunter said then looked at the German shepherd and gasp. The shot 
Margsman had gotten off had hit Otto. There was blood and charred flesh under 
his uniform, the bionics underneath struggling to repair the damage, but unable 
to keep up and the powerful cano dropped to his knees.
"Tell Samantha, and get me, to Uncle Buford," Otto called out simply and then 
collapsed. Colleen rushed to his side, activating the transporter in the collar, 
causing the two to disappear.
"You heard the man guys, let's get Sam," Hunter said in a concerned tone as he 
tossed Margsmen to the guards, and then ran for the Sky Rover.
***
Samantha smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had elected to have 
the dinner she was planning for her and Otto at her family's mansion, and Papa 
had agreed to make sure all the others were scarce. She had also elected to wear 
her nicest silk gown that Father had bought for her for times when she was in 
cano-sapien form. The dress was very modest, but still flattering, exactly 
something Samantha loved to wear. She then looked over the dinner that she had 
prepared herself and sighed in content, yes, this was all perfect. The table was 
set with some of her father's best silverware and two candles provided a gentle 
light. Now all she needed was her husband.
Samantha almost jumped at the beap of her collar, and almost took it off to keep 
it from inturrupting the evening. She however decided to take the call.
"Hello?"
"Sam?"
"Oh, hello Mr. Hunter sir, is the mission over?" Samantha asked with a smiling, 
hopping that her husband would be on his way back now.
"Um… yeah, but there is a problem… Otto was wounded rather badly, in fact he is 
unconscious…"
"WHAT!!!" Samantha exclaimed quite loudly
"Um, yeah, Colleen took him to Uncle Bufords…"
Samantha didn't even listen to the rest of what Hunter was saying. She touched 
her collar and with a boom, was in the foyer of Uncle Burford research facility. 
Colleen was standing there next to Uncle Buford, apparently explaining the 
situation. Buford nodded slowly and turned and entered his operating suite.
Samantha rushed forward and almost tackled Colleen over. "'ey o' Sammy, watch 
where yer goin now, Otto's…"
"WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!" Samantha exclaimed, no longer any shred of timidness in 
her as she gave Colleen a look that told the other collie that Samantha would 
not put up with any other answer than the one she wanted.
"'E's in there gov, but ya can' go in yet… Bufords ah working on him as we 
speak."
Samantha blew past Colleen, who rally didn't have much want to bar the 
determined collie from her objective. Samantha entered the room and startled 
elder man as he put away rather advanced looking medical instruments. "Sam, 
dear…"
"How is he?" Samantha saked rather pointedly as she rushed to her husbands side 
immediately, taking his hand. She let her eyes trace over the bandages that 
covered his side.
"Well, it is quite serious my dear… he may be unconscious for some time."
Samantha could feel a tear running down her cheek as she bent over and kissed 
her husband gently. With that, Otto stirred, and his eyes fluttered open and 
turned to his wife. "Sam…what are you doing here?"
Samantha almost laughed at Otto's voice. "Being at my husband's side, what dose 
it look like?"
"I don't believe it," Buford breathed in astonishment. "Otto should have been 
unconscious for at least a few hours."
"A wife's love," Samantha said simply and kissed her husband's cheek.
Otto smiled and then took a good look at his wife. "You are dressed rather 
eloquently for the situation Sam," he said with a mater-of-fact tone.
Samantha laughed lightly. "We were supposes to have a nice, romantic candle 
light dinner tonight, because I want to tell you something that is very 
important to both of us. Unfortunately this little injury ruined it."
"I am sorry love, I did not…"
Samantha put a finer against his muzzle. "Nothing for you to apologize for 
dear."
"What was so important that you were planning this dinner for?"
Samantha stopped short. Oh, this was probably about the worst time that she 
could have for telling him. She hated it, this was all wrong, it was wrong to 
tell him like this. Samantha sighed, she had let a bit of the secret out, now, 
she had to tell it all to him. To do anything else would be wrong in its own 
right. Samantha sighed, then looked at her husband and gathered as much courage 
as she could.
"Otto, darling, when we were at the veterinarian, I was truthful with you, 
nothing was wrong. There, there is something actually quite right. I found out 
that I am pregnant, I'm going to have your children."
Samantha looked on nervously as Otto looked at her without a word. Then, his 
muzzle broadened with the biggest smile Samantha had ever seen, even bigger than 
when she had said yes to his proposal to marry him. "You are, correct, I have 
just scanned you, you are pregnant, with our children."
Otto then reached up and wrapped his arms around his wife pulling her close and 
giving her a passionate kiss. "Children with you would be the only thing that 
would make my life any better than it already is. I cannot think of anything 
better. I am sure our children will be beautiful with a mother as wonderful and 
lovely as you."
Samantha laughed with tears in her eyes, tears of joy. She wrapped her arms 
around her husband and simply lplaced her head on his chest. Her husband, not a 
machine, not a Cyborg, but the loving and devoted father of her children.
End