Buttons and Bows
Chapter Two: Protective Knots

	She should have known.  It made a lot of things make more 
sense.

	She still sat on the examination table in shock.  The doctor 
had delivered the news, talked about prescriptions, and left.  She 
mentioned something about another appointment, but Melinda wasn’t 
really listening.

	She could pinpoint the day it happened.  Day two of the 
blizzard, when they had lost power for hours, she and Steve had 
to generate heat somehow.  Or, at least, that’s what she jokingly 
said to her best friend.  Generating heat had nothing to do with 
their decision…decisions, really.  It had happened more than once.

	But after that day, things were pretty normal for awhile.  
Except for Bows.  She was a friendly puppy, and was playful from 
minute one.  In fact, throughout February she was a bit of a handful.  
But almost that next day after fun in the blizzard in March, Bows 
became more protective.  She ran along at Melinda’s side, almost 
directing her into safer paths.  With the exception of Steve, she’d 
bark when people approached Melinda.  People including neighbors, 
friends, and even Melinda’s parents when they finally came to visit.

	At the time, Melinda had laughed in her head about it.  It 
seems that Bows agreed with her that “Mr. Man” and “Lady” were only 
family by accidents of biology, not because they had earned it in 
any way.

	Then, at the beginning of April, she had started to get sick.  
It had scared Melinda at first.  She wasn’t the type to throw-up, so 
the fact that she did so three days in a row was frightening.  Each 
time it happened, Steve was by her side in the bathroom, holding her 
hair.  Bows was usually forced to be on the other side of the bathroom 
door, where she would scratch and whine.  When the spell passed, 
Melinda always insisted that Steve go out and let Bows know she was 
okay.

	It was amazing the man didn’t think she was crazy, but she 
couldn’t help the request.  For Melinda it almost seemed as if Bows 
understood what was going on around her, like Melinda’s first “silly 
puppy” had.  She didn’t want her new friend to worry.  

	It was the illness that brought her into the doctor.  The 
three days of illness and the four weeks of strange behavior by 
Bows.

	Four weeks.  Bows was better than any test she could buy 
anyway.

	Pregnant.  Four weeks pregnant.  She should have known.  It 
made a lot of things make more sense.


***

	Her Bows was quite the protector.  During her whole pregnancy 
her puppy rarely left her side.  Steve was about as bad.  She had had 
several conversations with them about how she was pregnant not 
porcelain.  It probably wasn’t an odd conversation to have with her 
husband.  It was probably amazingly strange to have it with her dog.

	Bows was going to take such good care of her little one…
assuming Melinda made it through this pregnancy.  Why did everyone 
make pregnancy sound like a wonderful thing?  Illness, leading to 
constant bloating, weird sensations, pain, and being fat.  Your 
center of balance is thrown off.  You waddle everywhere.  And your 
dog and husband act like you are about to break.  Your dog always 
looks worried and your husband thinks you are hormonal mess.

	And she wasn’t!  She had a perfectly good reason for laughing, 
crying, and then screaming, all within three seconds of each other.  
A reason she forgot when Steve gave her chocolate, but she’d had a 
reason!

	A soft bark brought Melinda out of her musings.  Looking at 
the foot of her chair, she saw Bows, head tilted, looking at her.

	“I’m fine, Bows.  You do realize that I’m a big puppy and I 
can take of myself, right?”

	Bows blinked and looked at her.

	“You are just going to watch over me until Steve gets home 
to help you, I take it?”

	This time Bows almost seemed to nod as she barked.

	“And if I told you to go play in the yard?”

	Bows whined.

	“Alright, alright.  You can stay with me.  Silly puppy.”


***

	She should have known.  Bows didn’t just change her behavior 
to be different.

	Melinda’s back had started bothering her at about nine the 
night before.  Thinking it was just another one of those stupid pains 
that this “wonderful” gift called pregnancy kept giving her, she 
ignored it.  The back pain was still with her the next day, but she 
waved Steve on to work.

	Bows was worried about her, however, from almost the moment 
she woke up.  Her dog followed her around the house all day, whining 
and looking concerned.  She actually hadn’t wanted Steve to leave the 
house, it seemed to Melinda, but given that Melinda was trying to 
climb a step ladder while Steve was leaving, Bows stayed with her 
instead of blocking Steve’s exit.  Her puppy didn’t seem happy about 
not being able to stop Steve from leaving.

	It was a good thing that Steve had come back for lunch.  He 
had stopped to check on her in the living room and moved on to the 
kitchen, when Melinda had slowly risen from the chair where she sat.  
The back pain was hurting like hell.  She took two steps – Bows right 
beside here, whining – and then her water broke.

	Bows took off barking to get Steve.  Somehow Steve translated 
frantic puppy barking to “my wife needs me” so he rushed into the 
living room and then rushed her to the hospital.

	Not that they could leave right away.  Bows wanted to go 
with them.  She really did.  It was only Steve bending down to her 
and saying, “Bows, Melinda needs you to look after the house, make 
sure it’s safe for when she comes back.  She won’t be able to do 
what she had to do unless you do that.  Do you understand? Can you 
do that for us, girl?”  Bows had done the bark slash nod thing and 
let them go.

	She should have known she was in labor.  Bows had been 
anxious all day, and Bows didn’t just change her behavior to be 
different.


***

	She didn’t remember the birthing process.  And there was 
no record of it, because she absolutely refused to let anyone tape 
her looking a mess and screaming in pain.  But about ten hours 
later, she had a beautiful baby girl in her arms, and family and 
friends around her.

	Of course, everyone asked her name.  “Cynthia Marie,” was 
Melinda’s answer.

	“Isn’t that a little bit of a mouthful for such a little 
thing?” the proud father had joked.

	“Well, we’ll just follow the family tradition of shortening 
names and call her Cindy,” Melinda replied.

	All in all, the conversation in her private room was normal 
until Melinda turned to her husband and said.  “You should go home 
and tell Bows that Cindy and I are fine.”

	“Tell Bows?”  asked Melinda’s best friend.

	“Who is Bows?” from “Lady”, who had shocked Melinda by her 
presence.  Melinda just assumed that there was no neighborhood 
association meeting that day.

	“Isn’t Bows your dog?” from Melinda’s brother-in-law.  The 
one she didn’t like.  “It’s not like a dog can understand.”

	Steve just shook his head.  “I’m on my way, Melinda.  Just 
rest up and look after Cindy for me.”

	“Mindy, dear,” Lady began as Steve left, “Now that you have 
a little one, you are going to let your dog go, right?”

	Melinda stared at her mother.  “Absolutely not.  I had 
Buttons; I think Cindy just might need Bows.”

	Lady began to talk about something else, but Melinda ignored 
her.  She was so lucky.  She’d had Buttons.  She has Steve.  And now, 
she had her own little Cindy…just a few days before Christmas.  

	Steve did give the best Christmas gifts, it seems.

- to be continued -