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OK! Well, things, even when approaching the time of year you'd assume would be associated with pools, tanning, relaxing, sleeping in, and all that things only get more hectic! If that's the case for anyone else, maybe take a moment and enjoy a read (this might be good lol). Sorry for the long time lapse

"Dad...can you help me with this equation?" Chris asked, running into his father's personal room with a paper in his paws. The pup was growing up so fast he could hardly believe it. Chris had just started his freshmen year but the pup hadn't quite hit a major growth spurt yet. He was still a few feet shorter but stout in nature; just like Marion had been at that age.

It had been close to a year and a half now; since Chris came into his life, or since he came into Chris's. In that time though, they had grown closer. Marion knew fully well that he had a son, and it made him the happiest he had ever been. Ever since Chris had first called him 'dad' they had only grown closer. It was rather astounding. Since that day it was like their bond increased on an exponential level. Everyday, every moment with Chris seemed to have a value that words were incapable of capturing.

The pup was close to him too. Marion was quite sure Chris didn't realize it sometimes, but the pup was very touchy; in a physical sense. They could be on the couch watching TV and Chris might lean over and rest his head on his shoulder. Nothing the pup did annoyed him, in fact, he enjoyed it every time. His favorite was when Chris would fall asleep and he'd get to let his son rest in his lap.

There was so much to life now. Marion wasn't quite sure how he'd lived before now; or if he even had. Perhaps the pup did not feel the same, but Chris was nearly his best friend. Though they were friends, the position of father and son was primary. But he was quite sure that the pup considered them friends too. They could joke around, prank each other, and talk about things; even if Marion found himself mostly relaying his younger days with Chris.

Marion minimized his tasks and spun around in the chair, "Of course...I was actually just finishing up in here, what is the subject?"

"Chemistry...we're doing something called stokechemtry,"

Marion cocked his head, "I'm sorry...what?"

"Do you not know it?"

"I don't know anything in chemistry called that," Marion admitted and could only assume his son was butchering the pronunciation. He also couldn't help but feel a bit insulted his son didn't think he'd know anything they taught in basic high school chemistry--after all, his job was basically chemistry. The paper landed on his desk and he stared at it. The top clearly read 'stoichiometry' and he chuckled lightly. "Well, first off, it's pronounced stoy--key--omm--me--tree,"

"Ok...so...you know it?"

"Yeah, this is actually a simple concept once you get it down. It's really not just a chemistry thing but something you'll need to know in nearly every profession. It's about translation of physical properties from one unit of measurement to that of another, or of transitioned elements to their next formation. What seems to be the problem?" he asked, and felt that maybe he could've skipped the small introduction because the pup was cocking his head.

"Uhh...I don't get how I'm supposed to know how many moles of one thing there are when I have two weights and each one gives a different value,"

"Limiting factors?" Marion asked.

"What's that?"

"Did your teacher not explain this?" Marion asked, finding it hard to think the teacher would give them homework on a subject they'd yet to learn.

"No...I mean...he kind of just talks," Chris admitted and shrugged his shoulders.

"OK, better question...do you try to pay attention?" Marion asked, narrowing his eyes at the pup.

Chris let his eyes shy away and his father's sigh was heavy on his ears.

"Chris...you know you should pay attention," Marion said, not sure just how many more times he could stress this. Chris was so intelligent, but also so apt at turning his attention away from the matters on the blackboards.

"It's not my fault...he's a terrible teacher,"

"Oh, OK...why didn't you just say so?" Marion asked, and smiled brightly. "I mean...you know, that makes all the difference,"

Chris scowled, "Jerk," he told his father. Over the past year they had come to not just be closer but to become a family. He had a father and he loved him, something that years ago had just been a dream.

"What? I mean, I had terrible teachers too; my parents jut coddled me when I said that was the problem,"

"I didn't realize chemistry was understood back in the stone ages," Chris shot back, scowling still at the older wolf. His comment made his father grimace, but otherwise take the hit with grace, just like he always did. The quips were commonplace, and he always found himself laughing with his father.

Marion sighed and shook his head, "OK...come-on, take a seat next to me..."

Chris went around the side of the desk and plopped down next to his father.

"OK...now you see this...what is it?"

"Silver Nitrate,"

"And this? Here on the reaction side"

"Sodium Nitrate,"

"Right...now we will use a conversion chart--which is going to look like this," Marion began.

_____

Marion sighed and leaned back into his chair, whistling a happy tune to a song he'd heard as he dropped Chris off at school. He couldn't help but bob his head to the music. The pup liked some strange music. Chris certainly had Nancy's taste in music because he was so original. The pup hated rap, didn't like rock, and seemed to only know about the most 'out there' bands there were. Then again, Marion wasn't quite sure if they were unknown or if his taste in music had simply shifted over the years.

Still, that music was beginning to grow on him. The lyrics tended to be nice enough, perhaps a bit dull in some songs, but it was always pleasant on the ears. The pup didn't seem to enjoy songs that were terribly loud, which he couldn't help but remind him of how Nancy had hated loud songs too. The pup was like her in so many ways, and yet at times he was sure he was watching a clone of himself. The pup had his way of thinking many times, was in love with mystery shows and books, but was a thrill seeker just like Nancy. It very well reminded him of being back at the amusement park during their vacation.

"Would you like to try it?" Marion asked, staring up at the contraption and feeling his legs go to jelly. He didn't want to ask, he really didn't.

"Can we?" Chris asked in reply, grinning at the tower.

No, no, no, no, no! "Sure," Marion said, unsure what evil part of his vocal system had said 'yes' while his entire brain screamed otherwise. The contraption in front of them was forebodingly tall, dark looking, and evil; or so Marion thought. His son apparently saw it as a candy factory or something.

The ride itself was called a "Drop Tower". Its primary goal was to drag the rider up in the air and then release them--inducing a heart attack and killing off nervous parents. Well, that's what Marion felt the primary function was; Chris probably thought it was fun. Surely he hadn't felt the same when he was a pup--there had to be something in the school food to make children crazy if they thought this looked fun.

He should've told the pup he was scared of heights, but it wouldn't matter. Chris was old enough to go alone but he couldn't allow himself to do that; besides, it could be a bonding experience. Nothing said 'we're closer now' then screaming at the top of your lungs and letting everyone known just how what a terror scream sounded like. It didn't matter though. Marion found himself strapped into the seat all too soon with Chris at his side, still grinning.

"Dad...after this can we get a funnelcake?"

The question could not have been more illplaced. For a few seconds Marion was sure the pup had planned it that way, that Chris was toying with him. His fingers were white with the death grip on the handles of the railing as he stared down at the earth which had been under his feet just a minute or so ago. "Sure......." he said hesitantly, trying not to think about food, or drinks, or anything related to the digestive tract.

Oh no, no no no no no Marion thought through the entirety of the countdown, and afterthat a single yelp escaped his muzzle when they were dropped.....

Marion chuckled at the memory of it, and could still remember having to waste two dollars on a bottled water so he could rinse his mouth out afterwards. The tower had done its job most excellently, resulting in the loss of everything he'd had for breakfast. There had been an odd sense of relief that Chris just laughed at him for throwing up and didn't get embarrassed by it.

"Someone is in a good mood today," Mary stated, swiping into work.

Marion looked up and smiled brightly, "Morning Mary,"

Mary smiled and nodded back. Marion had probably been the happiest wolf for the past few months. She could only guess he was going through that 'I'm a father!!' stage of life. The wolf was always telling her about how Chris had done on his last test, what type of music they listened to on the way here, or about what the pup was going to do later. Honestly sometimes she knew more about Chris than she did the very person she worked next to; Marion himself.

"How's it going?"

"Not bad," Mary replied with a chuckle. "You?"

"Excellent,"

"Aren't you always now?" Mary asked with a small chuckle.

Marion shrugged his shoulders, "What are you gonna do?"

Mary rolled her eyes and moved to put on her lab coat, "I'll be in back,"

"OK..." Marion replied and twirled his thumbs a bit and smiled as he thought about a song he could see Chris liking. The mornings were usually pretty dull, which meant there was time to just think or catch a small nap. Marion looked around and saw a clerk walking down one of the aisles, yawning and scratching sleep out of his eyes.

Today would probably be really boring as far as work went. If Chris didn't have too much work then maybe they could do something? He planned to cook for the pup tonight; maybe he could try stir-fry or something? Then again, the last time he'd tried stir-fry they had ordered a pizza.

"Excuse me?"

Maybe he could test out his food on Mary first--tell her he would bring in lunch? That would work twice maybe, before Mary caught on that she was a lab-rat of sorts. And then there was the fact that Mary would get her revenge somehow or another; probably by leaving him with doing inventory for the next month.

Ignoring the idea of cooking Marion moved on to other things to ponder. Chris had a test coming up soon in chemistry. Maybe he could show the pup a few cool tricks. Of course he didn't want to be overbearing on his son's school work either.

"Hello?"

Also, he didn't want to come across as too much of a nerd to him did he? Well, why not, he was his father, what was there to lose? His son would do great if he taught him a bit on the side he was quite sure. Chris had liked it when he showed him how to make glow sticks, though they weren't very bright, and had only lasted ten minutes.

"Hey...you there?"

There wasn't any real fear of Chris thinking anything bad about him, was there? After all, he and the pup, over the past few months, had become so close. Chris and him spoke rather freely together, about what they wanted to do, or where they wanted to go.

"Umm....hey...I'm talking to you..."

Marion opened his eyes and quickly shuffled out of his chair, "Sorry Sir!" he said and tried to put on his best behavior, "Welcome to FurMed. How may I help you today?"

"Bernardus...last name Vaughan,"

"Mr. Vaughan," Marion repeated and looked up. He cocked his head and smiled, "OK, may I see your license and some form of secondary identification?" he asked. The bear had on flannel and there was something to him that just seemed familiar. There weren't too many bears in the Greensburg area after all. He knew about twenty that had business with them, but this one seemed a bit different. It wasn't that the bear himself stood out, but that something about the bear stood out.

"Of course..." the bear said and pulled out his wallet and tried to hand the wolf the card. He waved it and cocked his head, "Hello?"

Marion shook his head and nodded, "Sorry," he said and took the card. After a moment he looked up at him, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

The bear looked up and cocked his head, "Excuse me?"

"I think I've seen you around before," Marion explained. It was more like he knew the bear from an event, that the event itself stood out and that the bear had simply been in the room at the time. Much like remembering everyone who had been at a party, the party was what you remembered, but the people at it were part of it too.

"Well...I've just now switched to this medical company...so I don't know how you would,"

"Oh..." Marion said and tried to not come across to strangely. He looked up the bear's name and information casually but kept wondering where he knew the bear. Suddenly it came to him like a light bulb going off, "...oh, that's it! You helped me find ice pops one day," Marion said, hoping to not sound too creepy, especially since that event was nearly a year ago.

"Umm....O...K...." the bear replied, a bit put off by the wolf's behavior. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever get his medicine or if he'd have to answer a thousand questions.

Marion smiled dumbly at the bear for a few moments before realizing just how odd he was acting. He quickly looked back at the computer, glad his black fur hid the blush. The only reason that Marion remembered was because it was the day that Chris had finally called him dad. That day was special to him. Everything that day stood out to him, he could remember what the temperature had been.

A second passed slowly.

Marion realized he wasn't doing anything and looked down quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Umm...OK, here we go...we should have your albuterol in,"

"Thank you," Bernardus replied and pulled out a wallet. He pulled out a slip of paper and looked back up at the wolf, "Umm excuse me...I have this too,"

Marion looked down and cocked his head, "What's it for?"

"An inhaler--uhh, I think my doctor called it Air'olone,"

"Oh, those are the new, host-response-system ones aren't they?" Marion replied. Inhalers were rather simple, and ti wasn't like the technology behind them was a real breakthrough. They were simply a new type of inhaler and as usual the government was making people jump through loops. Just looking at the prescription and then back to the bear he couldn't help but wonder if the bear's doctor just wanted the bear to have trouble getting things.

"Yeah,"

"Oh...umm, well, we don't have any of those in stock, you are supposed to call a week in advance in order to notify us for shipment details. They're just not something that we usually have in stock by mass due to the difficulties in shipping and their relative newness on the market--sorry sir," Marion replied.

"Oh," Bernardus said and seemed a bit distressed at that fact. "I just recently threw away my other inhaler...I was really hoping to get that one today,"

Marion frowned and sighed. This was already troublesome. He couldn't really live with himself if he sent someone with asthma away with medicine but no way to treat themselves. "May I see that prescription sir?"

Bernardus nodded and handed it over. He seemed really disappointed. "Is there anything I can do...co--"

"I can give you a few disposable inhalers--and I'll go and put this order in right now for you; would that be OK?" Marion asked, wanting to please the bear. Of course he wanted to please any customer, but the bear was nice and kind of good looking if he had to admit it. He still got a bit of eye candy, but he couldn't help but feel that after Chris his wish for physical company had diminished greatly.

Bernardus's face lit up, "Could you?"

"Yes sir," Marion said.

"Thank you...that's a real relief," Bernardus said, smiling lightly, the look of worry gone.

"It's my job to ensure your health," Marion replied with a chuckle and sounding like one of the terrible posters that had the lie of a pup smiling after getting a vaccination shot.

Bernardus sighed in relief. "You're really saving my fur here...it won't get you in trouble, will it?"

"No, in times where there is misunderstanding and stuff like this it's our job to ensure your health...and so I can give you some disposable ones, but mainly because you have a prescription and it's not like I don't know you have asthma," Marion replied, knowing it was stretching the limits a bit but not caring too much. "But...I do need you to pay for them,"

"Of course..." Bernardus said and his eyes moved down to his wallet again. He pulled out a debit card and smiled.

"So...while I'm waiting for Mary to get your medicine ready..." Marion said and shrugged his shoulders as if to cast off his more professional demeanor; which he'd stumbled to pull on at the beginning anyway, "Bernardus, that's a really uncommon name,"

"Yes...I was named after my grandfather," the bear replied. "I never caught your name,"

"Well, I guess I'm no better off for uncommon names; mine is Marion," he said, pointing at his nametag. He had the feeling that the bear was just being nice by asking; it wasn't too hard to notice the bright red lettering after all.

"Not a bad name," Bernardus said with a smile, "You can call me either Ben or Bernard though...I much prefer those anyway,"

Marion smiled and felt his tail swish a bit behind him, "Which one do you prefer Mr. Vaughn?"

The bear laughed and shook his head, "Just Ben is good for me,"

"OK Ben it is," Marion said and looked back towards the window. Mary was being strangely slow right now. He saw her ears from the window and knew that she was working, and that she knew there was a customer. Giving a sigh he moved from his spot and looked back at the bear, "One moment...let me go see what the wait is; it's not normally so terrible,"

"OK," Ben replied. He leaned against the counter and watched the wolf go off. He was attractive, not to mention the blue eyes were a real knock-out for him. Perhaps the service was a bit slow, and the wolf was a bit odd, wanting him to remember the most simple of meetings (a shopping one no less), but nice on the eyes nonetheless.

Marion walked into the room and looked at Mary, "The albuterol ready yet?"

"Yeah, it's been ready,"

"Been ready?" Marion asked and scowled, "Mary...don't jus--"

"Well, you've been having such a fun conversation," Mary said with a giggle, "and don't look now but I think that bear is checking you out,"

Marion felt himself turning but the rabbit stopped him.

"Don't turn around!" she said as if they were back at middle school and still afraid of cooties.

Marion rolled his eyes, "Oh-come-on, he isn't checking me out," he said and tried to look back but Mary stopped him once again.

"You should ask him out...he's cute,"

"I don't like cute," Marion replied.

"Fine...Mr. I-won't-say-cute, he's hot...handsome even,"

Marion sighed and looked around, "Where is his medicine?" he asked, trying to change the topic. The idea of dating someone was enticing, but no more than an increase in his paycheck; though the two seemed inversely related in his mind. After all, dates cost money.

"You agree?" Mary asked, a bit shocked. Marion was still fun to compare notes with on attraction. It was a small game they had; a customer would come in and they would compare what they found attractive or not attractive about that person--except near the end of the month when all the senior citizens came by; then they just did their work and tried their best to not compare.

"What? N--I mean...Mary!" Marion said and scowled, "He's a customer!"

"That's not a no," Mary hummed with a small giggle.

"He's a customer Mary...and one that you're making wait...not very good etiquette,"

"Aww...do you care?"

Marion scowled and forced his way past the rabbit, "You are such a child,"

Mary scrunched up her face, "Oh, come-on, you should date someone again Marion,"

"Mary...I'm a single father...does it seem like I have time to date?" Marion asked, turning back on the rabbit.

"You didn't seem to mind being a single father before,"

"What?"

"Before it was your blessing and now you're using it as an excuse,"

"It is not an excuse," Marion growled.

"Ok Ok," Mary said quickly, realizing she'd gone a step too far by making it seem like the wolf was using Chris was just an excuse to not do things. She put her paws up as if to drop any blame and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm just sayin' you know,"

Marion rolled his eyes and looked around before seeing the bag with Ben's medicine in it. He knew Mary was right, and it wasn't like he didn't have free time whenever Chris went over to a friend's house or was staying late for practice at school. Grabbing the bag hastily he shook his head of the ideas and walked out. He wasn't sure if he was angry that she had said he was using being a father as an excuse or if because he really did like Ben. It wasn't hard to admit that the bear was attractive.

"Is there a problem?" Ben asked.

Marion looked at the bear and felt his scowl fade very quickly, "Of course not...why?"

"Oh...well, it just seemed you and your co-worker were talking or something..."

"Ahh," Marion said.

If that's what the bear meant, then yes; there was a problem. He shook his head, "She was just telling me about a date," he replied. There, that was good, it wasn't a total lie after all.

"Oh, I'm sorry...I must sound rude. I was...just worried that I might be getting you in trouble,"

Marion chuckled, "Not at all...why would you think that?"

"I've screwed up on my prescription," Ben explained, his round ears flicked a bit as he spoke.

"Oh, that's OK, don't worry about it," Marion said with a smile.

Ben's face lightened up and he smiled, "OK...are you sure?"

"Yeah...please, it's really not a big deal--we all make mistakes," Marion told the bear with a happy tone. Maybe Mary had a point. The bear was pretty attractive. The thought was gone as quickly as it came though, as he busied himself to get the temporary inhalers. He got a few for the bear and began to scan them. "Your total comes to $35.12, OK?"

"Yeah...OK," Ben said and handed over a card.

Marion swiped the card and waited for it to go through. After a minute it did and he smiled back at Ben, "OK...very well..."

"Good...well...I guess that's it?"

"Yes," Marion replied. He handed over the bag and just as Ben tuned around he began to speak again, "Oh, but could I get your number?"

Ben turned back to the wolf and cocked his head, "Huh?"

"Uh...I mean...you know, so I can call and tell you when the inhaler gets here. Not like...like I was asking you out or som--I'm sorry, just ignore me," Marion replied hastily. He mentally reminded himself to give Mary a whack upside her head; now she had him thinking about dating!

Ben cocked his head and stared at the wolf. There was an odd silence and the wolf at the counter looked very nervous; like he'd said something he hadn't meant to. After a second a small smile covered his muzzle and he chuckled, "OK...that makes sense...do you have a pen ready?"

"Ok," Marion replied and scrambled for a pen, his face red beneath his black fur, "OK, I'm ready,"

"OK, eight, nine, seven, six six two five...use this area code if you need to,"

"OK, I got it," Marion replied and capped the pen with a nod. "Thank you,"

"Uh-huh...call me when it's ready..." Ben said and stood there for a second. He caught the wolf's eye and smiled, "Or...well, you can call me before it's ready too--you know, if you want," he told the wolf and gave a swift wink and turned to walk off.

Marion watched the bear turn around and walk off without saying another word. Had that really just happened? If the bear hadn't winked it wouldn't have been as easy would it? The wink pretty much told him that Mary had been right. You don't go and wink at someone who you aren't interested in--well, do you?

"Told you," a sing song voice said behind Marion.

Marion turned around and wished his tone matched his stone face, "Shut it,"