Chapter 1: The Funeral
Josephine Grey let out a long sigh, one arm gently wrapped around her son's shoulder as the two sat on a bench at Zootopia Central Station. Chris Rowan's death had taken a great deal out of the two, though the young tod kit that was leaning into her seemed the most heart broken. Jo had lost an old lover, but Kody had lost his father.
The funeral was the worst part for the kit. He'd sniffled and whimpered through the service, holding onto his mother and his stuffed Robin Hood doll. Deep down, Jo was happy she hadn't told him to leave it at his grandparent's apartment. It was probably the only thing keeping him from outright breaking down and crying, not that the vixen would blame him if he did. That all changed when they lay his father to rest. He'd openly sobbed, his arms wrapping around his mother's legs as he whimpered out how it wasn't fair that his daddy was gone. This of course only drew eyes to Jo and Kody, though Kody couldn't see them.
The wake had been the very pinnacle of awfulness for the funeral. Because of Kody's outburst, he'd been forced to meet many different people whether he wanted to or not. He'd met foxes and wolves and domestic dogs and domestic cats and mice and rats and squirrels and horses and elephants and hippos and giraffes and antelope and lions and tigers and bears. Each and every one of them specifically came to see him, all of them curious about his outburst as his sire was laid to rest.
The tod was already skittish around strangers, and having to meet all these different people only scared him more and more to the point where he'd actually hidden behind his mother, using her tail and thigh to conceal himself. Jo was able to shield her kit from the barrage of questions, though many were disappointed that Kody wasn't answering for himself and was downright refusing to come out of hiding.
"Mama, I wanna go home," he'd whimpered into the back of her thigh as his body quivered. Jo couldn't tell her son no. He was frightened and miserable.
"All right, sugar fox," she'd said before picking him up and walking over to Richard and Ruby.
Kody's grandparents had been chatting with a group of people, mainly some of Richard's long-time clients who were expressing their condolences. Ruby was the first to see Jo and Kody approach, though, her expression immediately changed when she saw the distress on the reddish-yellow vixen's face.
Jo didn't even have to say a word. Kody's grandmother leaned in to tell her husband that it was time they left. Richard had to lean backwards to take a look around a very large hippo couple to see why they needed to go. His grandtod's face was buried against his mother's collarbone, whimpering and whining and crying in a display that only made the elder tod remember his youngest, Mike, doing the exact same thing at his grandmother's funeral.
"If you will excuse me, I need to make an announcement," the fox said as he slowly slid from the pack of mammals to make his way over to a nearby table only to scramble atop it. Richard reached down to grab a fork and a glass, clacking the two objects together to get everyone's attention.
The entire room slowly turned to stare at the vulpine, most holding onto drinks as others kept drinking. "Ladies and Gentlemammals, I want to thank you all for coming," the tod started out. "I know Chris would be happy to have said goodbye to all of you, but now," he paused as he looked down, "Oh! I didn't know this cheese plate had cheddar!"
Ruby let out a mighty cough that caused the fox to regain his senses. "Oh! Yes. But now, I hate to say that we need to call the wake to a close. Thank you all for coming. Please! Take some food home with you!"
Ruby rolled her eyes as the ark of mammals slowly began to disperse, a few of them walking over to tell Ruby and Richard goodbye before sauntering off. In the end, there were only six left in the room; Jo, Kody, Richard, Ruby, as well as Kody's uncle, Mike, and his girlfriend, Helen.
"It's a good thing we don't have to clean this up," Richard said with a smile as he slowly slipped off the table to make his way back over to Ruby, Jo, and Kody, "Aren't you glad that I made the reservation at the Palm Tree?"
His wife let out a long, deep sigh and shook her head as her son and his girlfriend made their way over to them.
"Are you heading back to the apartment, dad," Mike queried as he held onto his girlfriend's hand. Ruby slowly nodded, before she realized something important. "Oh! Mike! I don't believe I've introduced you to Josephine," she said but Jo was smiling, Helen was giggling, and Mike shook his head, "You don't have to introduce me, mom. Helen, Jo, and I were in the same classes at ZU."
His mother blinked a few times before she looked over at Jo, who just nodded her head. Mike and Helen smiled warmly at the reddish-yellow vixen who was holding a cherry red tod kit.
"It's nice to see you again, Jo," Helen said warmly, the black and silver vixen slowly moving in closer to look at Kody. "It's nice to finally meet you, Kody," she churred as a hand gently brushed the top of the kit's head, "Your mother told me a lot about you."
Mike, Ruby, and Richard blinked, but Jo's face flushed. "What," the second youngest tod in the group let out as he stared right at his girlfriend. The silver fox giggled, "You didn't wonder why I still had Jo's address and number?"
Mike shook his head, "Well, I just thought that, ya know, you two were good friends in college and everything."
Helen shook her head, "You can be really dense, you know that."
Jo giggled softly, "Wez kept in touch. Helen wuz a might curious what it'd be like having a kit."
The boyfriend blinked a few times. Mike hadn't expected that, then again, he probably should have. Helen had a number of friends, but Jo was the first one to get pregnant, so it was only natural that she would get curious. Then again, part of him was wondering if she'd gotten interested in finding out about what it's like to have a kit because she was wanting one or two with him.
"Oh… I… uh… I didn't know that," the tod stumbled over his words as he looked at his girlfriend who was chuckling softly. She turned her attention to the young kit who seemed to become less and less frightened.
Jo looked down at her son, his eyes staring up at her. "Kody, this here's yer Aunt Helen," the reddish-yellow vixen said softly as the silver and black vixen continued to smile at him. The cherry red tod's attention slowly began to move towards Helen, staring at her for a few speechless seconds before muttering, "H… Hello Aunt Ellen."
The other vixen giggled, "It's Helen, Kody."
Jo shook her head, "He's gots trouble with his h's, but he'll git it right one day."
The silver and black pelted female nodded as she slowly stood back up to grab her boyfriend's arm. She tugged the tod over to Jo and Kody. "This is my boyfriend, your Uncle Mike."
The two tods stared at one another, not blinking for a few seconds. Mike felt like he was staring at a miniature version of his older brother. Slowly, the red-orange furred man spoke, "Hello, Kody."
"H… Hello Uncle Mike," the kit replied hesitantly, still holding onto his Robin Hood doll.
"Do you like Robin Hood," the elder tod said as his attention turned to the stuffed animal in the other fox's arms.
Kody raised and lowered his head slowly, "Y… Yeah."
"I like Robin Hood too."
"G… Grampa Rick said Iz r'lated to'm."
"We both are," Mike replied before adding, "You and me that is. We're both related to Robin Hood. Your Grandpa Rick is my dad."
There was a hint of understanding now as the kit remembered Richard say something about how he, his father, and another tod used to play Robin Hood. Slowly, the tod began to wriggle against his mother, signaling he wanted to be put down as he began to release his death grip on her.
Jo slowly knelt down, helping her son down onto the carpeted floor. The vixen kept kneeling as her son slowly turned to stare up at his uncle. "Grampa says you and daddy and him used t'play Robin Ood."
"We sure did when I was your age." Mike smiled as he started to remember him and his brother and his father running around in the park. The two kits had always fought over who would be Robin Hood and who would be Will Scarlet. Richard had had to force them into a compromise where they would take turns; Chris would get evens, Mike would get odds. They were still good memories though.
"Do ya wants t'play Robin Ood with me, Uncle Mike?"
The elder tod smiled, "I'd love to, though, I'll have to take a rain check right now."
"Rain? Check?" The kit tilted his head in confusion, but his mother leaned in to whisper, "It means he wants t' but cain't rights now."
Kody let out a long, "Oh," before he looked up at the elder male, "Okay. C'n we play Robin Ood t'morrah?"
His uncle chuckled, "Not tomorrow, Kody, but I promise we will next time you come to visit."
The kit nodded his head as he smiled, "Okay, Uncle Mike."
Jo slowly stood up, her hand moving to take Kody's. "Ya still wants t'go home, sugar fox?"
Her son looked unsure at what he wanted. He'd wanted to go home when he'd been surrounded by strangers, but now, well, now he wasn't sure. "Can… can we gits ice cream on the way, mama?"
Richard grinned as he let out a warm churr at the thought of ice cream. "MMm… I think Kody's idea is wonderful! Let's get ice cream!"
His wife rolled her eyes and shook her head. The eldest tod in the room had the innate ability to act completely childish sometimes. She was just about to say something when her husband continued with, "And you've been such a brave tod today, Kody. I think Robin Hood would be proud."
"R… really grampa?"
"Of course. And because you've been so brave, would you like to go to the toy store?"
Kody's face lit up as he looked up at his mother. "Can we, mama?"
Jo smiled softly as she leaned in to give her son a kiss on the top of his head, "Course we can, sugar fox."
That was how that day, the previous day, ended. Though they weren't able to find anything the kit wanted at the toy store, the ice cream and the promise to mail Chris and Mike's old Robin Hood toys to him made the kit smile.
