“Hey!”

Sarah looked up from her book and Jacob turned his head to look at Marcus.

“Uncle Rex wants to have lunch today. He wants to know if we’re all free.”

Jacob looked over to Sarah, who was grinning. “Marcus, you know we had nothing planned today. It’s Sunday and all we’re doing is going to the gym before dinner,” Sarah rumbled.

“Oh, right,” Marcus looked down at his phone and tapped on the screen. “I take it that’s a yes?”

“That’s a Fuck Yes, Marcus,” Jacob barked. “We haven’t seen Uncle Rex in weeks. Of course we wanna have lunch with him.”

“Awesome,” Marcus woofed as he tapped furiously on the screen. “Lemme find out where he wants to meet up.”

The reply back from Uncle Rex was almost immediate. Marcus blinked at the text. Under the address of the restaurant they were meeting up at, there was a separate sentence.

It simply read: “Bring the key.”

-

An hour later, the three found themselves on the sidewalk outside Thebos, a new pasta restaurant that none of them had been to yet.

“So,” Sarah sighed. “What, if anything, do we tell Uncle Rex about our little Dr. Laz adventure?”

Marcus shuffled his footpaws and looked up at the bright blue sky. “Uh. Nothing? I dunno. It feels weird keeping anything from him, but I thought about it. He won’t believe what happened, anyway. Besides, he trusts us. I think. And no one got hurt.”

“Most beasts wouldn’t believe what happened yesterday,” Jacob added. “Hell. Even I am having issues with believing what I saw.”

“Okay, good,” Sarah took a deep breath. “Uncle Rex would have us sent to a mental institution if we tried telling him what went on last night.”

Jacob spotted Uncle Rex strolling up the sidewalk.

“Awright, ‘kids,’” Jacob barked. “He’s here.”

-

The four of them were seated in a large booth near the front windows of the restaurant. Uncle Rex was cheerier than usual, putting the three of them at ease. They chatted lightly before the waiter returned to take their orders. As the waiter spun on his heels and strutted to the kitchen, Uncle Rex cleared his throat.

“So? How was your first Solstice together?” Uncle Rex smiled as he took a sip of his latte.

Jacob, Sarah and Marcus looked at each other nervously before Sarah spoke.

“It was quieter than we thought it would be,” Sarah spoke softly. “We did a lot of relaxing and lounging around. Oh, and we ate a lot. Like, a lot of food. And thank you again for the gifts. They were all so very thoughtful.”

Uncle Rex beamed. “You’re most welcome. Perfect. Now that sounds like the ideal Solstice. I went over to my brother’s house where I had a rather stilted conversation over dinner with Marcus’ parents. The best part was when I left to go home. No offense, Marcus.”

Marcus smiled. “None taken.”

Uncle Rex smiled. “You brought the key, Marcus?”

The younger shepherd nodded, smiling.

“Good boy. All will be revealed after lunch.”

-

Bellies full, the four of them started to walk down Avenue Empirica.

“When’s your move-in date, Marcus?” Uncle Rex asked as they strolled slowly down the sun-drenched avenue.

“Middle of next month,” Marcus replied. “They need to do some work on it and won’t charge me for the full month.”

“And it’s up here on the same street you live on now?”

Marcus nodded. “Yeah. I’m super excited. Having problems finding someone with a vehicle to help me move, though.”

Uncle Rex put a paw on Marcus’ shoulder. “I’m sorry I turned you down when you asked. I will be away on business that week. I can’t help driving your things to your new home.”

“That’s fine, Uncle Rex,” Marcus barked, tail wagging. “I’ll figure something out.”

They turned up the street that Marcus lives on and walked about thirty meters before Uncle Rex stopped in front of a commercial structure with a couple of garage doors facing the sidewalk.

“Dig out that key, Marcus.”

Marcus was a bit perplexed, but stuffed his right paw into the pocket of his shorts. He pulled out the key that Uncle Rex had gifted him for Solstice.

Uncle Rex took the key in his paw. “As someone who’s been in security for decades, sometimes the best form of security is the simplest. This key is pretty secure, unless someone takes it and makes a copy of course.” The big shepherd turned towards one of the garage doors and stuck it into a box that was affixed to the wall. He turned it and the front panel of the box opened, revealing a camera lens. “But, they’d find it pretty difficult to make a copy of your iris.”

Marcus blinked.

“Go on,” Uncle Rex gestured to the lens. “Put yer eyeball up to it. You know how these things work.”

Marcus smiled and padded over to the lens. He bent down slightly and the panel beeped. Almost immediately, the garage door started rumbling open.

Inside the small garage was a car, identical to the make and model of Uncle Rex’s new electric vehicle, but in black.

Marcus stood there silently, maw agape.

“So, um,” Marcus finally spoke, sounding bewildered. “This is my Solstice present from you?”

Uncle Rex smiled. “It is, but only if you want it, Marcus. I know how much you liked the car I bought for myself and I had given it a lot of thought. I know you get around fine without one but now and then I know having a car would come in handy. Also, I am going to need you to drive for work now and then. Client stuff, that sort of thing. I can’t have you taking visiting CTOs and whatnot around in a work van.”

Marcus smiled. “Ah. I knew there was a hidden agenda.” He softly elbowed Uncle Rex. He took a deep breath and looked at the sedan, not sure of what to say next.

“Well?” Uncle Rex grinned and extended his arms. “Do you want it or should I take it back to the dealership?”

“Yes!” Marcus barked happily. “Thank you, Uncle Rex. This is the most amazing gift I’ve ever received from you. Well, except for a lifetime of putting up with me and helping me get through things. And being there for me. Always.” He woofed happily and gave his uncle a tight hug.

“Oof. Well, that’s a relief,” Uncle Rex barked. “I have a five-year lease on this garage that would have gone to waste.” He dug into his pockets and pulled out two sets of car keys. “Here’s the keys, Marcus. I know yer gonna love getting around Malaka or wherever you go. You might even wanna take some weekend trips out of the city. It gets about 500 kilometers on a single charge, so there’s lots of places you could drive.”

Jacob pointed to the back of the garage. “Oh, sweet. There’s a charging unit on the wall.”

“Yeah,” Uncle Rex woofed. “I made sure to charge it up yesterday. Should be ready to roll.”

Marcus unlocked the car with the remote on the keychain.

“Well,” Marcus happily barked. “Shall we take a spin?”