Zootopia Short Stories: Nick's Girlfriend Returns III
Here we go again with another short story about Nick's old girlfriend Candy! Believe it or not, this time the vixen has got herself into a bit of a jam that only Nick's current girlfriend Judy can help her with! This is the third and last short story in the series.
I do not own the rights to Zooptopia or any of its characters. This story was written solely for the reader's enjoyment and without any profitable purposes. The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this story are fictitious.
Chapter 1: Surprise!
It was early in the morning in downtown Zootopia and the city was already bustling with life as mammals of all sizes rushed towards their daily grind, cars honked in the day's first gridlocked traffic jam. Down a shaded alleyway, a beat up old van was parked in the cool morning air and its owner, a middle aged fennec fox yawned as he lit up his first cigarette of the day. Finnick hesitated as he saw his companion, an attractive red fox vixen who was hunched over further down the grimy pavement. "You look terrible," he commented and his ears flicked at the sound of the other fox's retching. "Don't tell me you still got that stomach flu?"
"Started about a week ago and running," Candy complained as she caught the bottle of water the smaller fox had tossed to her. Opening its cap she rinsed out her mouth and spit before sitting down on the dented tailgate. "Every morning just like clockwork, but sometimes in the afternoon too, and I'm so tired!"
"Every morning?" Finnick asked from within the van, where he was buttoning on his favorite black bowling shirt, the one with the red stripe. He hesitated as he looked back at the vixen, who was now slumped against the van's door frame. She was wearing a looser shirt then usual and her normally tight jeans were unbuttoned. "Are you gaining weight too?"
"I've been just a little bloated," she sighed as she sipped on the bottle of water.
Finn's ears drooped as he nervously asked, "Candy, you and big Al are…how should it put this? Well. You and Al are using protection right?"
"Come on Finn! He's a wolf and I'm a fox, so what possibly could happen? We're not biologically compatible, I mean he's not another fox or even a coyote," she scoffed at him.
"Sometimes you're just so dense girl!" the fennec fox snapped back as he finished buttoning his shirt, before passing her as he jumped out of the van. "You're gaining weight…morning sickness…Candy, it sounds like you're knocked up!"
"You know I can't be," she chuckled. "It's just a virus."
"Yeah I'm sure it is, but we're going to double check," Finn growled in almost a fatherly manner, causing the vixen to sit up in surprise. "You are marching down to the drug store and getting a pregnancy kit!"
Ten minutes later they entered in the small corner drug store, Finn grabbed a box from the shelf and pulled her by her paw towards the cashier. "Bill can Candy use your bathroom?" he said to the possum at the cash register as the fox pulled a wad of cash from his pocket to pay for the kit.
The possum in the white pharmacist jacket looked first at the pregnancy kit on the counter, then at the red fox vixen and finally down at the fennec fox in surprise. "Did you get Candy pregnant?" Bill asked as he rang up the sale and handed Finn back his change. "Isn't she dating big Al, that huge wolf? He's going to kill you!"
"It's not me!" the fennec fox protested as he handed the kit to the vixen, who sullenly made her way towards the store's bathroom.
The pharmacist passed the small fox a Styrofoam cup full of coffee as they waited, which wasn't that long, Finn had just lifted the cup to his lips when he heard a mournful yowl from the vixen, which almost made him spill the brew on himself. "I can't be pregnant!" she whined out from the backroom.
It took another ten minutes before the sobbing vixen joined him at the store's from counter. "What…what… what am I going to do?" she sniffed. "What am I going to tell Al?" Her cheeks were matted wet from her tears and the possum handed her a tissue.
"I'd try congratulations, you're a father!" Finn sarcastically replied.
"Actually, there is a greeting card just for that occasion on aisle five," Bill offered, only to shrug when he saw the look the vixen gave him. "Sorry, I'm just trying to help."
"But he's a wolf, how did this happen?" Candy wailed out again as she twisted the tissue in her paw.
"Look girl, I may be eight years older than you, but I'm not going to give you the old the birds and the bees speech," the small fox grunted as he sipped on the coffee.
"We have a pamphlet about that on aisle three," the possum said and when he saw the look both foxes now gave him, he took the opportunity to go back behind the counter and straighten the chewing gum. "I was just trying to help," he softly muttered.
Across town, a big black muscular wolf in a pair of light grey mechanics overalls stepped back from the newly restored royal blue 2001 Bronco Mustang convertible as he set the can of wax down on a workbench before he crossed his arms. "Think she'll like it Nick?" he asked the smaller red fox in the green tropical shirt. "I mean when she finally gets her driver's license."
"First you need to keep her grounded," the fox snickered as he ran his paw approvingly over the car's hood. "No more jumping haystacks, but she should do fine next time. Does she finally understand why the city pulled her learner's permit after that crazy ride you two took?"
"She's still being a little grumpy about the whole thing and blames Judy," Al said as he began to unfold a large tan cloth tarp. "I know it wasn't her fault that Jerry and Steve didn't finish the brakes before we took the car, but that's the breaks."
"Was that supposed to be a pun?" Nick chuckled as he grabbed one end of the tarp and helped the wolf pull it over the car. Then when the wolf cocked his head in confusion, he added, "Brakes and the Breaks…get it?"
"Oh!" the wolf said with a laugh. "No pun was intended."
The fox momentarily looked over at the other vehicle in the barn, it was an old blue pickup truck with the faded words Hopps Farm painted on its side and engine was laid in pieces on the table next to it. He knew that Al and the wolves were planning to help him rebuilt the pickup as their next project. "That's an awfully powerful engine you put in the Mustang, are you sure that Candy will be able to handle it?" the fox asked as he finished pulling the tarp over the car. "She is a little heavy pawed on the gas, but then again the last time I saw her driving, the car was a tad out of control."
"Nick you saw how she maneuvered that car. I don't think either one of us could have pulled off the stunts she did," Al said as he followed the fox out of the barn and closed the doors. "I take it that Judy's still mad at her, it wasn't Candy's fault that she flipped the police cruiser while you two were chasing us. How'd your boss take it?"
"A lot better after Old Jeb offered to fix the cruiser at cost," Nick shrugged as they crunched across the gravel walkway towards the shop. "We're still both on parking duty until you guys finish the work."
"I heard rumor that there was a red menace loose downtown with a ticket book," Al laughed. "So that was you that they were talking about, you gave a ticket to Ella May last week and she's not happy about it." Their conversation was interrupted at the sound of a van rumbling down the road.
"Speaking of vehicles that should get a ticket," Nick remarked as he and Al stepped outside of the shop and watched the large beat up old van as it backfired before turning onto the gravel driveway.
"How does he see out of that thing and still work the gas and brake pedals?" asked the wolf as he winced at the grinding noise that the brakes made before the van finally came to a complete stop. "He's not leaving here without me changing those rotors." The van sputtered a few times after the little fox turned it off.
Finn peeked out from inside the van, peering under the steering wheel before unbuckling his seat belt. Candy gave him a grim look and sighed before opening the van's passenger door and hopping out. "Al…" she started to say, but the wolf rushed over and passionately kissed her before she could say more.
"Come on Candy, I got something to show you in the barn!" he eagerly announced as he practically carried her down the driveway and across the street.
"Come on Nick!" Finnick yelled to the red fox as he took off running after the wolf and the vixen. "You don't want to miss this!"
"Miss what?" Nick asked as he trotted after small fox. "How do you know about the car?"
"What car?" Finn yelled back. "Come on slow poke!"
They arrived just as Al excitedly pulled the tarp off the blue sports car and proclaimed, "We built you a new car, I mean all the guys and I, along with Nick did! Isn't she a beauty?"
Candy's eyes widened in wonder at the sight of the car and her tail wagged, until she remembered what she came to tell Al. "It's gorgeous, but I think we might need something a little bigger honey," she sighed as she put her head on the confused wolf's chest. Her ears were flat and her tail dragged the ground as tears began to form in her eyes. "Something that's bigger than a four seater which can carry all of our car seats."
"Huh, what do you mean?" Al asked as he looked down at in a perplexed manner.
"She means that you need a mom van and not a sports car chump!" Finn sarcastically called out as he pulled a cigarette from its packet and stuck it in his mouth.
"I don't understand," the wolf asked again as he looked down at the tears in the vixen's eyes.
"I'm…Al, I'm pregnant," she sniffled out.
It was quiet for a few moments before Nick muttered in a surprised voice, "Damn!"
The fox's voice snapped the wolf out of his shock and he looked over at the red fox. "Did Wilde knock you up?" he growled out to the vixen as he clutched his large fists.
"It wasn't me!" Nick quickly objected as he put his paws out and backed up towards the door. Then the wolf's fangs were bared as he looked down at Finn.
"Yeah, I'm a foot and a half tall and she's almost four feet!" Finn laughed. "Do the math, dummy!"
Candy reached up and put a paw on his muzzle, gently she pulled his gaze back towards her. "I haven't been cheating on you Al, they are your pups."
"But that's impossible!" the wolf angrily protested as he gripped her by both her shoulders, Nick looked over at Finn with concern that the angry wolf was going to hurt Candy. They both knew that he could be brutal in the past, but when Al realized that he was hurting her, his grip loosened and he gently released her. "Wolves can't get foxes pregnant!"
"Of course they can," a commanding voice said from behind everyone and they all looked over to see Old Jeb standing there, leaning heavily on his cane. "You're an eastern timber wolf, pup! Don't you know anything about your breed? You should know that you have a hell of a lot of coyote blood in you and coyotes can have puppies with foxes, that's why Sheila kept telling you two to be careful."
"I just thought that she was worried that Candy might have some kind of disease," Al replied and then winced at the look the vixen gave him. "I knew you didn't babe!" he quickly added as he reached down and gently put his paw back on the vixen's belly. "So these are really my puppies?"
"All but the ones with the big ears," Finnick joked as he pulled out his lighter.
His humor was rewarded by the gentle whack of a cane upon the back of his head. "Not funny fox!" the older wolf snapped. "Are you also trying to blow us all up?"
The fennec fox looked at where the wolf was now pointing his cane and saw the bottles of flammable fluids and oil. "Oh sorry," he muttered as he put the lighter back into his pocket. "I was caught up in all the drama and wasn't thinking."
"Not thinking seems to be a problem for you foxes," Old Jeb grunted as he looked over at the vixen snuggled in the much larger wolf's embrace. "I think it's time we leave those two alone to THINK about their future, besides your van desperately needs a brake job and I not letting you take that deathtrap back on the road without one."
"You're not my Alpha," Finn angrily growled as he looked up at the wolf.
The much taller wolf just raised his right eyebrow as he stared back at the small fox, causing Finn to blink and then nervously look away. "I'm sure Officer Wilde will have to give you a ticket if you try to leave without the brakes being repaired," Old Jeb flatly stated in a no-nonsense manner.
Finn began to reply using a string of obscenely creative curses, until the wolf's eyebrow rose again. "Fine!" the fennec fox finally huffed out as he dug into his pants pocket for his keys.
Previous stories in the series:
Zootopia Short Stories: Nick's Girl Friend Returns - The movie does not tell us much about Nick's family background except he was traumatized as a child, had a mother, a friend named Finnick, and that he had once upset a very powerful gangster. It's a full year after the movie and our favorite duo are good friends and partners, but Judy comes face to face with a secret the fox doesn't want her to know. (Completed -Rated T)
Zootopia Short Stories: Nick's Girl Friend Returns II - Look out Nick! The fox's ex-girlfriend Candy is back in another misadventure when the vixen decides to learn how to drive and "The Big Z" may never be the same. Clear the road folks because there's a student driver loose on the streets! I had so much fun with the first story that about the vixen I just had to write another one. (Completed - Rated T)