Enter the Hound: The Origin of Inu

Prologue: Take Good Care of My Baby

 

            “There are things you need to understand,” said the man in the trench coat as he adjusted the rather large fedora on his head.  “Strange things, dangerous things; things I hardly know how to explain without endangering the lives of my wife and unborn child, and even yourselves.”

            The couple seated across the table from him exchanged uneasy glances.  They wondered if sending their lawyer out into the hall had been wise.

            “My wife, unfortunately, is unable to attend any of these proceedings.  She and I both suffer from the same condition—nothing contagious, mind you—and she is in the advanced stages.  She refuses to be seen in public anymore, and for good reason.  It just isn’t safe, hence the decision to give our child up for adoption.  We don’t know if the fetus has been will inherit this condition or not; but even so, it would be dangerous for the child to remain with us.”

            The younger man, Joseph Boyce, leaned forward and fixed the trench-coated man with a hard stare.  “Dr. Pembroke, what do you mean by ‘dangerous’?  What is it you’re not telling us?”

            Dr. Pembroke sighed and shook his head.  Joe and his wife, Tawnie, weren’t too much younger than he was, but those few years made all the difference.  The young couple was determined and energetic, and very close: the very things Dr. Pembroke and his wife had hoped to find in adoptive parents; and yet they had so much to learn.

            He reached up and removed his hat, revealing a pair of pointed dog ears, much like those seen on corgis and cairn terriers.  Tawnie gasped and clutched at her husband’s hand, but did not avert her eyes.  Joe’s eyes widened with shock, but he remained calm and didn’t move a muscle.  Dr. Pembroke was pleased.

            “What I’m telling you,” said the doctor as he placed the hat back on his head, “is that much worse than this awaits the child should it remain with us.  That is all you need to know, and all I’m going to say.”

            Tawnie tugged lightly at her husband’s sleeve, her eyes determined and her mouth set in a firm line.  “Joe, we have to do this,” she said.  “We can’t let anything happen to that child.”

            Joe gazed thoughtfully at his wife.  He loved it when she was like this: firm and strong, and ready to fight for what she felt was right.  She would make a wonderful mother.

            “As if you had to tell me that,” he replied with a soft grin.  He got up and went to the door to call the lawyer back in.  As he did so, Tawnie reached across the table to rest her hand on Dr. Pembroke’s in a comforting gesture.

            The doctor smiled.  He knew he and his wife had made the right decision.