I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

The Lionhearts

Chapter One: The Days After

By: Gabriel LaVedier

The day began as days tended to. The sun rose gradually, making the city of Zootopia shine, the glass and metal building tops reflecting the growing light. The icy haze rising from off of Tundratown's environment lent a kind of misty glow as the light glimmered through the ice crystals floating up into the fresh dawn. A low wind began to blow across the sands of Sahara Square, whipping up dust to add a slight haze across the surface of the district.

Dawn's eyes slowly fluttered open, her mind a fading haze of sedatives and painkillers. Her midsection ached, a dull throbbing pulsing with the beat of her heart. She had been living in her new world for a long while, but still had to remember that she wasn't the same Dawn. Painkillers and sedatives were powerful things. She barely remembered what had happened after the first dose of drugs.

A small sound from beside her snapped her attention aside. There was an elevated crib beside the bed, with a gate she could reach and lower without too much motion in the bed. Inside, a little lump of blackness wrapped in a blanket. Agnes. A smile spread on her features as she regarded the little half-and-half. A lioness with fleece. Beautiful.

She noticed a memo taped to the gate, pulling it off and close to her, as she was without her glasses. Dawn, enjoy your day. Doctor Saltenlick says nothing more strenuous than going to the bathroom and taking care of Agnes. That may be a bit too strict but you deserve it. Don't worry, you won't be on your own. Enjoy your time with her, and I'll see you tonight. Leodore.

Dawn slowly lowered the gate on the crib and reached in to retrieve Agnes, wincing a bit at the twinge in her midsection. That would be something to deal with over time. Maybe she shouldn't have gone straight for the SI. But then again, Agnes was a bit large. Her future children would likely need the same. She'd need to get used to it.

Dawn pulled up her pink nightdress and carefully positioned Agnes to let her eat. "Hope there's enough for you, little one. Your mother lacks many things and size is one. At least you'll be eating. What did he mean by not being alone?"

"Mrs. Lionheart, are you ready for breakfast?" Judy Hopp's voice emerged from her side-table. Dawn finally noticed there was a baby monitor there, on and transmitting.

"Judy? Sweet lemongrass, what are you doing here?"

"I have time off. I'm a heroine bunny caring for the Assistant Mayor. I could have thrown on my uniform and called it an assignment but I decided to be honest about it. I might not have any children of my own, but I raised enough of my siblings to know how it works. Mom never needed an SI, so she was never out like you. But you still need some help. If you're ready, I've got breakfast."

The rumble of her stomach reminded Dawn that it had been a bit since she had had a proper meal. Most of the previous day had been spent in a stupor; she'd been brought home rather quickly, most likely because the doctor had assured them it would be fine. "Absolutely, Judy. I'm starving. Agnes shouldn't be the only one having a meal in here."

A few moments later Judy opened the door to the bedroom, dressed in her walking-around clothes, jeans and an open pink gingham shirt with a white shirt under it. She carried a moderately sized tray with her, on which was Dawn's Yes Ewe Can mug, a moderately sized silver teapot, her tea strainer and a plate of fried tofu, cheese curds, thick noodles, cress and alfalfa. "Protein, vitamins, minerals, roughage, a little spice and your favorite tea. The Mayor got it from your office and had it out here ready for you."

Dawn smiled as the tray settled beside her on the bed, using one hoof to prepare her tea, while the other supported Agnes. Judy came around the bed to help hold up Agnes while Dawn prepared her tea. "All that and some cress. I was always afraid that bland food was my fate. Meadowlands was very bland under my father. Something spicy makes it much better."

"Well... I see how you and the Mayor are together. Spicy shouldn't be a problem," Judy said, lightly fanning herself with a free hand. "Let's just say you leave the bedroom door closed unless sparkly underpants are a thing you want to see on your dad after the latest birth. Well, it kept them happy."

Dawn nearly spilled her tea as the comment caught her off guard, a bleating laugh following the slight bobble of the cup. "Well... don't spread it around, but Leodore has a pair of genuine Striper shorts. He got them directly from Hu Lin, after giving his measurements to the costume designer. They're sparkly, and underpants, and... form-fitting..."

"I didn't look that long but I'm willing to guess mom would have liked that sort of thing," Judy laughed, stroking Agnes softly as she nursed. "She's so soft. And that's coming from me. I was a fluffy little thing when I was a kitten, so mom tells me."

"She got an interesting manifestation. Almost like your... friend, Officer Wulfberg, except her coat is completely replaced with fleece. Otherwise, she's just a normal lioness, in black. How exotic. Sheep and lion blood combines beautifully."

"She's really a beauty. Being a bunny I... I like to imagine how my own children will look. My family has amazing coat colors. Nice dark ones, very pale ones, patterns. My brother Jake has lots of spots and splotches of dark fur over a creamy body. His fiancee calls him Cookies-and-Cream. He's going to have very interesting children himself; he's marrying a weasel. Her dad owns the general store, and Jake works for him, probably practicing to run it himself."

"Long body, flexible, with speed and dexterity. I think I know where the ZPD will get its next generation of recruits," Dawn laughed, taking some time to eat from the various types of food. "Your family seems... unique. I don't mean to sound ignorant but I grew up in a very... enforced place. It seems like Bunnyburrow would be the same. I mean... if I wasn't a public figure with my own life I could never have started seeing Leodore. And you know about Patty and Chester, and Geta and Melody."

"Bunnyburrow is... it's not the city," Judy said, fingers fidgeting as she fought to think of the explanations for something as central to her as water for a fish. "We've had... a long time of relative isolation, someone once said. We've had time for our prejudices to mutate and develop. Tradition plays a big role. What folks don't like is mostly about what you are and what you always disliked. Take your cousin Sharla's husband, his best friend is a tax, insurance and paralegal black-pawed ferret. His wife is a fox squirrel, daughter of the biggest orchard owner in the Tri-Burrows. His father-in-law rejected him, hard. Not because he was a predator, but because he was a burrower. But once he proved his toughness and determination, he became a solid member of the family."

Dawn considered the words, pulling Agnes up after her suckling slacked, putting her over her shoulder to gently pat her back. "Meadowlands was artificially developed, father made sure of that. Prejudices were enforced, we all had to watch each other, judge each other, keep things exactly as he wanted them. The worst part was that it didn't take much convincing to make others eat each other alive. Metaphorically. It was too easy. It made his lessons seem truer, that fear always works, that divisions were natural because everyone was so eager to do it. It was convincing."

Judy gently patted Agnes on the back, nodding slowly. "The Sheriff of the County is a reindeer doe. She married a wolf, with cultural reasons. In their shared culture, a household has to be made of a couple that fills every gap each other has. Species never entered into it because they had the right cultural contacts. And, loved each other. In Zootopia it feels like it was a direct division. In Bunnyburrow there's a lot of rules, some of them very old. Weasels are a borderline question, but no one in the family ever rejected Princess, she's a good mammal and makes Jake happier than anyone else could. Now you want to talk divisions... well... foxes... and now there's one in the family."

Fear coursed through Dawn's body, her blood going cold, her body giving a twitch so strong she accidentally squeezed Agnes too hard and made her bleat-cry. "Oh! Oh no, baby, please... I'm so sorry Agnes..."

Judy reached out for her, taking the crying lioness-lamb and cuddling her comfortingly. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Mommy didn't mean it. Are you okay, Mrs. Lionheart."

"You're holding my crying baby. You arrested my father for being a terrorist. I think we're fire-forged enough for you to call me Dawn," she said, laughing breathily. "Sorry. The sedatives and painkillers wore off a while ago. The migraines are always going to be there. I should have expected it." She sighed and went to eat a little more, taking a sip of her tea as well. "I don't mean to interrupt. What was that about a fox?"

Judy laughed softly. "Dawn... yes, a fox. Another predator in my family. My brother Kenneth works for the black-pawed ferret I mentioned earlier as an intern. The secretary of the place is an arctic fox from here in Tundratown. She moved out there, they met and... well, she went down the aisle in bounty. You know..." Judy indicated a pregnant belly and smiled. "She was proud of it. Made mom proud, getting a head start on their kits."

The fear and tension slowly drained out of Dawn's body with her laughter and subtle shivering. "That's quite a change. A diverse family, with real marriages, not Division Families."

"They all seem to have embraced the idea even out in the Tri-Burrow area. Plus, it's three kits out of... a lot of them. We barely make up a statistic. It's easy to be kind. Nothing against mom and dad, it's just a fact."

"Just three?" Dawn queried, taking a bite of noodles and lifting a brow.

"Oh, absolutely not. There must be two dozen more at least, my generation and others, all more than zero, like they say at the Support Network. But if you look at the ones that go for predators, or will when they get older, they might stay single all their lives. There just aren't that many predators in the Tri-Burrows, outside of Predburrow but it's kind of a drive to anywhere interesting. Jake got lucky that Princess wanted to date him, and Kenny... his personality charmed the sass and snark out of a Zootopian fox. Now they're like Jack Savage and Skye Walker, except they're actually allowed to kiss. Your cousin managed to grab Gideon before a few of my sisters and maybe one brother went after him."

"Maybe we could sponsor some 'spontaneous' trips to Zootopia. They can come see their sister, meet important mammals and see the sights... meet very nice predators with status and wonderful personalities," Dawn giggled, sipping from her mug and showing off the smiling ewe to Judy. "Outsiders aren't at all shy about it. I actively had to put aside the evidence that Leodore is one, when I should have been certain of it from day one."

"I mean... playing matchmaker? I'll get a headscarf, floral dress and crystal ball. Mom probably has all that in storage," Judy said, passing a calmed Agnes back to Dawn.

"We just awkwardly attended really uncomfortable and forced mixers in Meadowlands. It was less than effective. It sounds like things are a little more... involved and specific out there in the Tri-Burrows. Unless this is specifically a rabbit thing? I know what the Solaterra church does and it was nothing like that."

"You should attend a service in Bunnyburrow. I saw a Meadowlands church service and it was bland as limp lettuce. We use the Lepus rite and it makes it a little more interesting. And our social services are much more open. You know what they did for your cousin. But you're right, it's a bunny thing. A matchmaker has to have gravity, some semblance of tradition. The atmosphere is important, even if it's a lot of theatrics while matching up traits. And watching folks on casual outings. Mom watched a lot of my after school outings with bucks. She... I think she knew how my attraction scale was slanted. I mean... maybe you can relate?" Judy asked with a slight chuckle.

"Like I said, awkward and uncomfortable, and watched closely, sometimes by my father. It wasn't very conducive to anything more than standing in a herd being... awkward," Dawn mumbled. "But, Leodore tells me his mother knew right away what he was. But he wasn't subtle about how he felt about sheep. He said his first crush was a lamb named Wanda. Sometimes I wonder about how her life went and would love to see what she got up to. All he knows is he heard she married well."

"I think I'll probably end up the same. Someday I'll be wondering what ever became of Scarlet Liskuski after she... just sort of gave up on Louis. She explained it, but it seemed odd. She admitted to having a love that was flighty but real. She liked him but knew she would never be as stable as he wanted. Love is... well, you know how it is."

Dawn gently patted Agnes and rubbed her cheek slowly along her daughter's. "Oh I know. I just met this sweet little lamb and I already love her more than I ever thought I could."

Judy smiled at the scene, gently petting Agnes' head. "I heard that both Bongo Waters and Zeke Hepzi- O'Pogo had their mothers in bed for a little while. But I never saw what they did. Do you... have any notions?"

"Well aside from keeping up with feeding and changing Agnes I figured I could do paperwork, use my phone or one of my work tablets to keep up with civic things, maybe read. But I assumed I'd be dragging my sore belly around all day for food and the bathroom. I should have known I'd have a little help. I have friends now..." Dawn looked away quickly, distracted mind still thinking about the world she had left, how divergent her reality was from it. "Y-you can imagine... looking like this and being daughter of a cold ram I wasn't a social butterfly."

Judy placed a paw on Dawn's shoulder, and gave her a bright smile. "Fire-forged friends, right, As- Dawn? You need help, I was happy to do it. After all you did for the city, you deserved it. And you let me get some revenge on that ram that shot Louis with the Nighthowler poison. That meant a lot."

Dawn gently patted the paw and sighed. "I have a fairly good memory. You made the same mistake the other day. Who is this Zeke fellow?"

"When you're mostly the same size and general shape, the really different ones stand out. Those two are the biggest bunnies in the Tri-Burrows. Bongo's sort of tall but really... cushioned. Really, really cushioned. Zeke looks like someone stretched a regular rabbit's torso and legs but left his hips alone. So he's tall and skinny but hippy. He was a Hepzibah but he married Pepper O'Pogo, so I have to keep remembering his married name. She's an opossum and quite possibly one of the cheeriest creatures that ever lived. One of the rare Peacegrounders out in the Tri-Burrows."

"An opossum. Where does she fall? A predator, prey, something else? When I've got Agnes here in my arms, the distinctions seem so unimportant, and also so rigid, but improperly applied. Pigs can be either, they get it assigned to them, and I know it. In Meadowlands, prey. Other places, predators. I know Estee Swinton wants to be seen as something more proper."

"Louis gets all the predator attitudes placed on him, but he's pretty much a total omnivore. He loves all the same food I do. Though, he used to take Scarlet out for fish and such. Being half goat probably let him grow an appreciation for vegetables and fruits."

"That'll be the same for you, won't it, little one?" Dawn cooed, getting a tiny meeh and a smile from Agnes. "You'll have big fangs and munch on salads, and drink Diet Dr. Pfeffa because mommy and daddy are terrible role models."

"Oh you're going to be great role models. And you have lots of other good mammals around to provide a good advice and a powerful work ethic," Judy said, polishing her claws on her shirt.

Dawn laughed so heartily she winced and held her belly with a free hoof. "Oooh, okay... going to avoid the really hilarious comedies for a while. Gutbuster should never be a literal description of a movie."

"Maybe I'm getting too citified. I was never this arro- okay now I'm going too far. I was always so sure. Arrogance is an ugly word but..."

"Confidence is a beautiful thing," Dawn said, smiling brightly. "Confidence. Audacity. That's a much better word. We're audacious. Little guys gotta stick together." She had learned to bear the lashing and rage of her other side, to smile through old memories that triggered her darker self. She had a life to live and things to say, and couldn't hold back based on the petulance of a dark echo of what she had been once.

"Audacious. Confident. That describes a firecracker cop from out in the Tri-Burrows and a hard-charging ewe from the suburbs. Little prey ladies that took this city by storm. And we grabbed some preds that had no idea what to think but just held on while we rushed them along!" Judy cried, punching into the air, eyes shining.

"W-wow... should have expected that out of you, Judy. You remind me of that goat in the movie Leodore and I watched a while ago. Small, cheerful, but tough inside, determined," Dawn said, clapping softly. She patted Agnes' paws together and cooed at her. "Isn't auntie Judy bold? She really will be a good role model."

Judy rubbed the back of her neck and smiled broadly. "That's a title I get a lot. But it's nice to have one more little niece." She tickled Agnes' nose and stroked her soft fleece. "You like that? You like having an auntie Judy? Yeah, looks like you do."

The two went quiet, Dawn finishing her slightly cooled breakfast and her slightly cooled tea, while gently cradling Agnes. "I can't really take up your time. You're a very important cop. Happytown still needs you."

"Really, I have the time off, and they were happy to give it to me for this. What's better than helping to take care of a new life? She might not be family but, I arrested your father and wandered through his house of horrors to help your quest to save this city. We're as close as you can get without blood or marriage," Judy insisted, picking up the tray of dishes and stepping out of the room.

"But I really don't want to be an imposition," Dawn said into the baby monitor.

"You said it yourself, Dawn. You have friends now. Even if I'm not free, someone will be. I'm sure the Mayor will hire someone to help, especially when you go back to work. But for now... again, you have friends."

o o o

"Assistent Bürgermeister, I have come to help you. Kinder have so many needs. No matter their size," Gerhilde Seedsworth noted as she crisply marched into the apartment. The very dark-gray she-wolf was in what amounted to casual clothing for her, dark-colored loose fatigue pants, straps over her torso that would normally be used for holding equipment, and a slate gray tank top showing off her belly, with strips of cloth to cover species-specific personal areas. Over her shoulder was slung a colorful bag of cotton fabric with mesh panels, from which occasionally came the sound of squeaking and slight scuffling. "It is interesting, ja? Sie, klein, und mit einem großes Kind; mich, groß, mit drei kleinen Töchtern."

"We do have a fascinating contrast," Dawn said. She was sitting out in the front room, in a large chair that had been mounded with pillows. Agnes was feeding, placidly resting in Dawn's lap. "I mean... our relationship is a similar thing. Who is large and who is shorter. It's very... I mean... It's sort of surprising. All the time we worked together I never had any idea."

"Mein liebchen is very... professional. When it was no one's business, it was no one's business. When he had cause all should know, all knew," Gerhilde explained, unzipping her bag and smiling into it. "Allo, allo. Guten Morgen, meine Töchtern. Wie getz?"

Dawn smiled, stroking her hoof through Agnes' silky fleece. "Ahh, bilingual children. I should speak another language for Agnes but I can't decide which one. My mother's distant relations have a language that's complicated and seldom used. More common languages would be difficult because... my father raised me with a brutal monoliguality. He insisted I stay with my own species and culture. That probably explains a lot."

"Ja. Such a monster, he could net even bear to speak other languages. But perhaps now you may learn with her? No one is so old they may never learn again," Gerhilde said, reaching into the bag and taking out what looked like a few short ping-pong nets with plastic supports. With a little fiddling she had created a small-scale playpen on a side-table beside Dawn's chair. She took her three larger-than-lemmings wolf-like children from the bag and set them into the little pen, along with a few dainty toys. "I do not think our children may play well..." She said with a small laugh.

"Well, Agnes may be mostly lioness but she's as gentle as a lamb. Mmm, a bit of a selfish cliché on our part but we really are exceptionally harmless," Dawn said, watching the little wolflemming girls with a smile.

"Your evil father was not harmless to the city. Und you were not harmless to him," Gerhilde laughed, tickling the belly of one of her daughters.

"That's the truth," Dawn chuckled, pulling Agnes over her shoulder and patting her back after her meal. "It was a group effort but in one sense or another we proved exactly how forceful sheep can be."

"It was not war, but was. I was not a soldier, like mein Bruder, but I was trained as hard as him. Father was loving wolf, but knew we must be strong to live in Happytown und make our way in this city. We succeeded. Very well, ja?"

"You both are more than a success. You must make your parents proud. His company protects hugely important mammals, and you're part of his elite. You epitomize success in this city."

"Liebchen says it much in the Rathaus. 'See here, how my very beautiful wife und her Bruder have made much out of themselves in this city? They do not control, they serve the city like good citizens must. When they made much of themselves they did it with love for this city, even when it did not love them. Now it loves them, und now they love it more.' He speaks so beautifully. Like the first time I met him..." Gerhilde tucked her muzzle a bit and flattened her pinking ears.

"I'd really love to hear about that. It's pretty obvious you met through work, but... he always confused me, until I got a real grip on what he was all about. It must have been odd meeting him for the first time."

"It was a big day for Bruder. Before Gazelle, when we had proved we had skill. We were hired to prove ourselves for the very important mammals. Rich mammals, important business mammals und city council mammals. He was new, coming from a career in business. Bruder assigned me to him. He stood tall in mein paw, looked into mein eyes und called me Gerhilde, not wolf or guard or Fraulein Howlmeyer. He said I had strong paws, good muscles und beautiful eyes. I was his guard for weeks. He spoke much, talked of how he thought of predators, afraid of how the terrible things done by prey could happen to prey, how he was unsure if it was undeserved. Poor one. Guilt und a stubborn pride rested on him. At first I only listened. This was not what he wished. He wanted mein words, the thoughts I held. He was strong, forceful, a mammal of Wille und Herz. With such a mammal, how could I do anything but fall in love?"

"There's many different kinds of... will and heart I'm certain you said. You'd never think to look at him, but Leodore does too. He and your husband have butted heads like teen rams, I think because they manifest strong heart and will in different ways, that they have to learn to understand," Dawn said. "Leodore has an immense inner strength. His will is focused on what he thinks of as good things, and so is his heart."

"For him, Herz is for those things he loves, Wille is for his mind's knowing. They can be different things, und some days it hurts. But he knows, some decisions are hard. But must be made."

"Efficiency over feeling. It works but is hard. Leodore puts feelings first, and takes the indirect route. It hurts too, just in a different way. What a pair we've got," Dawn chuckled, casually stroking the head of one of Gerhilde's daughters. "What are their names? I should have thought to ask."

Gerhilde pointed to each one in turn, starting with the one Dawn was petting. "Adalwolfa, Gunilla und Mathilde. Cecil says I should name all the children. He finds our names beautiful."

"They're really lovely names. I named Agnes after my mother. My mother I haven't seen since I was a little lamb. She had the backbone to divorce my father and tried to take me with her. But he had drinking buddies who were judges and police. He kept me just to keep me. Because I was his lamb. Just to spite her and show he had all the power. Not much power left behind those solitary confinement bars," Dawn said darkly.

"Ja, I remember when Judy brought his lackey to his knees, when he sat there, drinking, looking as though he did not fear us. He thought so much of his power. Where is it now, Herr Bellwether? I saw your nightmare world in the asylum. Now I smile, with meine Töchtern, because you are now gone."

"You're never going to see her, ever," Dawn said, hugging Agnes tightly to her chest and petting her slowly. "She's going to grow up never knowing she had another grandfather. She'll find out someday, but she'll think of him like the Shadow-Smiler or Desolation Walker. A fantasy, a story that scares little lambs at camp-outs."

"He is no more than the Totenkopf Schwarm, he und his Bande. Nichtnutzig, giftig, und schändlich. Would she care when she learns he lives?"

"I hope not. I suspect I'll have to take her to visit him, out of morbid curiosity. She'll see what a monster looks like," Dawn whispered, flinching as she remembered who was a monster. Not in that world, not in that form. But she was a monster all the same.

"Do not think of it. He will never leave, und you are here. Und so is she," Gerhilde said with a smile, tickling under Agnes' chin.

"Want me to order something in? I shouldn't make any assumptions about your capabilities, but... Judy cooked before I knew she was here, and I assumed she could, being from a farm. But... you were a bachelorette for a long time..."

Gerhilde gave a long, high, howling laugh, her children giggling themselves in response. "Nein, nein, Assistent Bürgermeister, you are correct. I learned to boil water und make the ready meals, or use the microwave. Until I married Cecil I did not cook. I still do not; he worked in the restaurant as a young mammal, und knows many tricks to cook for the large. He does not cook all the time, but it is special for us."

"I'd show you how I can cook but I'm not allowed. All the runners and stairs and things are a bit much for a new mother recovering from an SI. It's kind of bland anyway, and very herbivorous. Meadowlands cooking. I'm learning to be a bit... spicier. Gazelle shared some very nice recipes, and Leodore showed me some of his mother's recipes for fish and insects. He demonstrated them quite nicely. Pizza?"

"Ah, ja. Kale und lox, the kind we have at home. Half und half, of course. Like die Kinder, a lovely thing," Gerhilde said with a laugh.

o o o

"Alright, ladies, another buck on the table, another go," Deidre Howlmeyer said, deftly shuffling and cutting a deck of cards. The central dining table of the apartment had been set out with bowls of snacks, mostly kale chips, sesame crackers and, oddly enough, shrimp-and-fish crackers. Several bottles of Diet Dr. Pfeffa also sat around the table, close to hoof for all. Sitting around the table were Deidre, Dawn and Melody Chamois. Deidre was an average fallow doe, a chestnut back with numerous white spots and a cream underside from her chin down. Her markings were mostly covered by sturdy denim overalls and a tank top with the logo of the company Howlmeyer Personal Protection and Security. She ate out of the bowl of shrimp-and-fish crackers, and tossed a one-buck coin into the center of the table.

"This is why I don't go to Sahara Square. Or the new card clubs in Happytown. I don't know if I lack the skill or the nerve for gambling," Melody muttered, timidly dropping her one-buck bill in the middle of the table. She was dressed in a plain purple dress made of wool. Her bouffant wool-style had been styled and crafted to create two peaks with feathered ends resembling the ears of a caracal.

"It's all in good fun. It's good just to have someone around to help with food and other things. Plus... having friends is just a nice new thing. Growing up the daughter of a complete monster didn't exactly bring in a lot of friends," Dawn noted, throwing in a one-buck bill. She was in a pink silk robe and sitting on a booster chair, beside a pram in which Agnes placidly slept.

Deidre shuffled the deck a few more times and dealt out the cards. "Hey, no problem. I've had some... friends, but I was always too much of a buck-doe for them. I knew what I wanted to do ever since I took apart a go-kart and put it back together. And better, I'll add. Having a group of lady friends is a nice touch, and means I can have some fun on days off from the garage." She looked at her cards, pounded another few crackers and threw in a few coins. "Seventy-five cents."

Dawn tossed in a matching amount after considering her cards. "Call. I'm surprised you're eating seafood crackers. I never knew prey to do it. At least not the ones we know are omnivores like pigs."

"Deer are big on that kind of thing, I hear. We didn't see that in Meadowlands because it was forced on us. We can eat fish and bugs. Most of us just don't... except on special occasions," Melody noted, putting in her coins.

Deidre removed two of her cards and dealt herself two more. She dropped another one-buck coin into the middle of the table and smiled. "One buck, everyone. And she's right. Maybe more than most, so far as I ever knew. Deer are way more comfortable with getting their protein outside of the usual beans and nuts."

"I'll probably try that, sometime," Dawn said, throwing three cards and getting three back, matching the amount in the middle after considering her cards. "I should be able to share things with Agnes. And other children. Judy convinced me that big families can be wonderful things."

"I'll think about that sooner or later, for right now, I'm just loving my job," Melody said, seeking a single card, and throwing in a single bill. "Call."

"A classic impasse..." Deidre mused, looking to the small pot and her cards. She dropped in two coins and said, "Raise, one buck. Any takers?"

Dawn set her cards down and leaned back. "New mothers probably shouldn't gamble. I'm still flooded with hormones."

Melody threw in two bills. "Call."

"Well, there's one ewe feeling a little bold..." Deidre laid down her hand, a pair of fives and a pair of jacks. "Sorry, you may want to save your money next time."

Melody flipped her cards over. A pair of twos and three eights. "Maybe I should take that trip. Happytown is much, much safer with Judy patrolling it."

Deidre laughed long and loud, which woke Agnes and set her to crying. Dawn picked her up and started to slowly comfort her. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay. I'm starting to see why new mothers don't get invited to things very often. I'm thankful that you came here."

"After all you did for the city, and for me, well... besides, your daughter is adorable, and I had the day off. It seemed like a good idea," Melody said, gathering the money from the center of the table.

"I'm a government mechanic, and I don't have too many responsibilities when it's a slow time. Secure employment, union protection, all of that," Deidre offhandedly noted, reaching out to softly stroke Agnes' head. "Sorry there, little one. I got caught out, and it was pretty funny. Doesn't happen very often."

"It feels good to get a win. I guess that's why all those folks gamble. It'll be interesting to go out and do something new like that. I used to be so boring. But I'm a Meadowlands ewe, that's normal for us, right, Assistant Mayor?"

"I wish I could deny it, but... you're right. But the two of us are making up for lost time. That might be a little harder, but... you're just going to make my life better and better, aren't you?" Dawn asked, rubber her nose against Agnes' nose.

"Want to go one more round?" Deidre asked, gathering up the cards and shuffling them repeatedly.

"It's been fun, but maybe we should try something else. I'm trapped on low duty here in the apartment, so I need some entertainment," Dawn said.

"I'll make something that everyone likes, and we can use that nice, giant television to watch a movie. You've got services here, right?" Deidre asked, looking through the cupboards and refrigerator as she made her way around the kitchen area.

"Oh yeah, all of them. I'll admit to being a little indulgent but it helps pass the time," Dawn said with a chuckle, turning on the TV and starting her movie service. She settled Agnes back into her pram, wheeling her to the front of the television.

"Bland is good, sometimes. I don't go in for a lot of... wild movies. Maybe something a little more lamb-friendly. It's just as entertaining," Melody said with a smile.

"Better to get used to it now. I'll be watching them for years," Dawn chuckled as she looked through the animation selection. "Not that it's a bad thing. They're good about making them engaging enough for parents these days. I think that this is going to be great."

Author's Notes

Judy's family members and their relationships- Serious spoiler alert for Interspecies Relationship Support Network: Tri-Burrows Chapter. This world works a bit like Doctor Who, with certain fixed points that simply don't change.

Jack Savage and Skye Walker's restriction- A fiddly little bit of headcanon that adds a bit of flavor and depth to the world. The idea is that there have been open teasing actions in previous Jack Savage movies, but the written or unwritten rule of every movie is that however flirty they might be they are absolutely forbidden to kiss, due to fears of public outcry.

Shadow-Smiler and Desolation Walker- General boogeyman type creatures, but a very clear look into Dawn's Solaterra skew. Images of darkness and desolation would be used as wicked things for a religion of the sun and earth. Desolation is even a mild oath, usually as "Desolation take you" or "Desolation spawn."

Totenkopf Schwarm- Death Head Swarm, a Selenic tale of toxic bugs, a food source that is deadly, a horrifying lie and terrible thing.

Deidre's Job- It's heavily implied by the things she says that she works for the city. As noted in the original Dawn Bellwether series Geta got a new job as a city mechanic when he moved in with Melody. Because both Melody and Steiner have connections, they could have Geta and Deidre working in the same location, to keep friends together. That's why both of them are there, Deidre works with Melody's husband.