Every night for the first week of living with little Sweets, I had to administer a powerful sedative and painkiller to her. As part of the cloning process that I had gotten done, the clone would start out as a pup, just like the original. But, unlike a natural-grown pup, when the clone was in REM sleep, she would grow rapidly. Very rapidly. But the catch of this was the fact that if the clone was woken during the growing process, it would halt permanently. I couldn't let her nap during the day, because if she went into REM sleep, she would have had to stay out.
So, every night, at about ten, I had to give her the pill, which took effect within ten minutes, and then I would take her into the bedroom and lay her on the bed. The second day we had her, she had grown in size by maybe fifty percent. The third, another fifty percent. And this cycle repeated each and every night for eight days, until, at last, she was the height and weight of the original Sweets.
During that time, Sweets herself and I planned a get together so that her and Rich could see her, or their, daughter as a full grown wolf. During this time, the absolutely funniest thing I had and have ever seen happened. I'm still not sure it actually happened, and I just take Kodi's and Jenna's word for it that it did.

* * *

One of these nights, before Sweets was fully grown, she and Kodi were playing around. I'd guess that this was the sixth day of her living with us, so she had already attained a good size. Scar was awake, watching some TV show, and during Sweets' and Kodi's game, Sweets apparently thought it would be fun to try to sneak up on Scar. Scar was laying on her bed, fixated on the TV, and Sweets crept around the back of the couch, making no noise. I was sitting on the couch, with Scar's bed on the opposite side of it from me, so I couldn't see her. But I could see her if she stood up, and I definitely heard her yelp as if stung by a bee. I did my damnedest to keep a straight face, but I couldn't bear it any longer. I burst out laughing, and so did Sweets, jumping up on the couch to laugh with me. Scar looked up at us, an angry look that made us laugh even more on her face.
"Don't do that, Sweets! You almost gave me a heart attack!" she said hotly.
"I'm sorry, Scar..." Sweets giggled, her eyes bright as usual.
Scar shot her a glare, then went back to her bed and curled up as she had been before. Once her attention was once again fixated on the screen, I whispered into Sweets' ear.
"Do it again," I said.
Once I'd said it, I glanced over to see if Scar had heard me. She apparently hadn't, because I didn't detect any movement.
Sweets jumped off the couch, and went over to engage Kodi in play, sort of like a ruse. A few minutes later, she broke off and crept around the couch again.
Right on cue, I heard and saw Scar jump.
"God damn it!" she swore. "Sweets, I told you not to do that!"
I just sat there on the couch and laughed, Sweets doing the same on the floor.
"Okay, Sweets, you think you're so funny? Huh? Well, then, let's see you do it while I'm expecting it!"
Sweets, although possessing the body and intelligence of the original, had her own spirit and personality, and she wasn't one to turn down a challenge.
I relocated to the dining room, so that I could watch this. I saw Sweets go over to Aleu and talk to her for a moment, then go start playing with Kodi again, who by now was getting really annoyed. She calmed him with a few words, and he nodded, apparently accepting her plan. Sweets started jumping around and play growling and snarling with him like she had been earlier, and at a good point, when she was close to Aleu, Aleu switched places with her. She mimicked Sweets' growls and snarls really well, leaving Sweets with ample opportunity to creep behind the couch again. Scar was listening to this, ears perked up, and I had to not smile, lest it give the plan up.
No more than thirty seconds after the switch, Sweets pounced on Scar from behind the couch.
Never before had I heard Scar swear like a sailor. Kodi, Aleu, Jenna, Bolt, and I all just stared at her, aghast. Sweets just giggled at her accomplishment.
Then out of the blue, Scar shut her mouth and put her paw on Sweets' shoulder.
"Sweets," she said, "I hearby, irrevocably, appoint you Alpha of this house, effective immediately." The mood in the house went from us staring at Scar in shock to one of extreme confusion. Then it sank in.
"Scar? What are you saying?" Sweets asked uncertainly.
"I'm saying that you're Alpha now."
I looked over at Jenna and she just shrugged. I stood up and approached Scar.
Kneeling down beside her, I rubbed her ears in that special way. "Are you going soft on me?" I asked jokingly.
Her answer stunned me. "Yeah, I'm getting older for a wolf, and the Alpha's of the pack need to be hardy and young. That's you."
I glanced once at her face, to see if she was serious. She was.
Later on that night, I filled in Sweets' mother on what had happened.
To say that she was surprised was the understatement of the century. She was stunned beyond belief.
"But I'm an Omega!" she said. At least twice.
Eventually, she came around to the idea that her daughter was a ninja. It took a while, but we got there.
That night, Sweets and I cuddled together with newfound confidence in her abilities.