A/N: I wasn't too sure how I wanted to continue this.
Chapter 2: Inescapable
Judy felt warmth surrounding her. It was so comfortable that she didn't want to wake up. A heavenly feeling. "Carrots, wake up," Nick said.
She opened her eyes. "Morning, Nick." She noticed that Nick's tail gripped her possessively.
Judy and Nick arrived in Bunnyburrow yesterday, to her delight, her family was more than accepting of Nick. Her siblings greeted Nick enthusiastically. "I still can't believe that you actually have two-hundred and seventy-four siblings." He was still recoiling from the memory as they eagerly embraced him.
"Nick, I have two-hundred and seventy-five remember? You saw them all, I thought you knew everyone. Were my siblings too much for you to remember?" she teased.
"I remember them perfectly, isn't it a bit too soon to think of expanding the family already?" Nick said. "What do you think they would look like?"
"I didn't know you were so eager," she laughed. That was a unique way of offering although this was Nick's first visit to Bunnyburrow. She didn't know that Nick could be so bold or subtle.
They decided to get out of bed. The first order of business was breakfast. Since Nick was visiting, they dined in a large room able to fit the entire family. It was there she counted, two-hundred and seventy-four, Nick was right. She was no longer certain of herself. "Mom, can we talk privately?"
Bonnie led Judy to a secluded part of the house. "Did you and Nick have any fun on your first night here?"
"MOOOM, we haven't gotten that far yet. Isn't it a bit too soon?" She blushed with embarrassment as her mother was too upfront with her questions.
"You're lucky to find such a caring boyfriend," Bonnie said. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Nick thought I had two-hundred and seventy-four siblings when I actually have two-hundred and seventy-five," Judy said. This minor discrepancy had been nagging her. She thought that Nick was just being himself in teasing her at the start.
"We have two-hundred and seventy-five kits, Nick's right. Everyone in the burrow was there for breakfast."
"But …" She trailed off, not sure how to continue her response. She couldn't have been wrong, could she?
"Who do you think is missing?" Bonnie asked. Judy heard the concern in her voice. Bonnie went on to list each sibling she had. "If someone was missing, wouldn't I know it? What was that kit's name?"
"You're right, I do only recall two-hundred and seventy-four names." Judy couldn't think of who was missing. Bonnie didn't think anything was wrong or amiss.
"Maybe, you want to have kits of your own?" Bonnie said.
"It's too early for that, mom," she replied.
"Foxes mate for life you know, you should catch him and never let him go."
It was true that foxes mated for life, that's why she and Nick never did the deed yet. "I know that mom, that's why I want to make sure that it's what he really wants. I can't believe that this visit is going so smoothly."
"Let's get back, shall we?"
Judy and Bonnie returned to the dining room. Nearly everyone was finished eating when they arrived. Nick enjoyed the blueberry pies they served. "Carrots, what took so long?" he asked.
"Nothing important." She decided it was best to not linger on the matter. She was simply wrong in this case. She started munching on the carrots in front of her one at a time.
"Tell us a story," Zachary said. He was around seven years old. An inquisitive sibling of hers that displayed no fear towards predators.
Everyone was in attendance since this was Nick's first visit and Judy's prospective mate. Zachary's voice joined the chorus of many others all clamoring for a tale. Nick decided to recount how he and Judy outwitted Bellwether during the missing mammals case.
There were many public variations and theories of what truly happened that day. The citizenry was unsatisfied with the explanation that Bellwether suddenly decided to confess. A false narrative no matter how convincingly made wasn't accepted as the absolute truth.
Nick became engrossed in his recounting, placing extreme emphasis on the part he went savage willingly. He placed his jaws around her throat just like he did in the museum that fateful day. She screamed, she tuned him out because it was a tale she heard many times before. She wasn't prepared for this at all. "Nick, what the?" she said after regaining her senses.
Their plan was to stall for time, hoping for a miracle to happen. Their acting at that time was convincing enough to fool Bellwether that her plan was successful. "Weren't you listening? Great acting, Carrots, you really had everyone fooled."
She blushed from guilt and that compliment. "I've heard it many times before." She took the remaining carrot on her plate and continued eating it. She couldn't stop herself from shaking as she ate the carrot.
"Weren't you scared?" Zachary said.
"Not at all, by that time I managed to trust him completely. I'm sure you can think of why the official report omitted this part."
Zachary decided to hug Nick once more. "Thank you," he said.
"No, not again," Nick said. He knew from yesterday that running away was pointless. He waited and accepted his fate as they buried him alive. "Does your family always do that?" he asked.
"Only to ones they like," Judy said. She too joined in on the fun, being closest to him.
A loud boom came from outside the house. That stopped the festivities immediately to both Nick's joy and dismay. "I hope it finally arrived," Henry said. He was slightly older than Judy. A social recluse obsessed with games. He played everything from Feline Adventure Island to Shadow Gate. He happened to be sitting right beside her at the table.
"What did you order this time?" James said with annoyance. He was one of Judy's littermates.
"Only the best thing ever." He quickly rushed out of the room.
James sighed. "I'll go help him."
Judy and Nick took their seats once more, uncertain of what to do. Only those two left the room, so it didn't seem to be the time to leave just yet. Idle chatter resumed among them. Nick and Judy were barraged with questions about city life.
Soon enough, Henry and James returned carrying multiple books. Henry and James set the books on the table. Judy couldn't help but look at the titles: 'How to make enemies become friends on hard mode', 'How to set up your own dystopian government', 'Limits of Savagery: A guide to morality', 'Hidden artifacts, secrets, how to not miss anything.'
As soon as the books were placed on the table. The kits came over asking if they could have them. "Sure," Henry said as he distributed the books to the kits.
One of them shouted. "Yes," this game is going to become so much easier." He ran out of the room eagerly clutching the book.
"What's in those books?" Judy asked.
"Strategy guides, how to win at games," Henry said.
Julia said, "Have you considered trying actual relationships?" She was another littermate of hers.
"But I need simulations to make sure everything turns out fine," Henry said.
"You've been simulating these things for over a year now. You gave all your strategy guides away, you're not going to be playing anything for the rest of the day anyway. Go outside." Julia was forceful enough to drag Henry out of the room by the ear.
"What was that about?" Nick asked.
"I don't know, I've been away from Bunnyburrow too long. I knew that Henry was obsessed with games the last time I was here. I didn't know that it was this bad," Judy said.
Zayne snuck up behind Nick without him noticing. He managed to pick Nick's pocket. "Can I have your badger?" The kit proudly held up his ZPD badge.
Judy couldn't stop herself from laughing at the situation. It was so ridiculous that a sibling managed to sneak up on Nick without him being aware. Normally, Nick was a lot more guarded towards other mammals. It was nice that he was finally at ease.
"Of course," Nick said. He patted her sibling on the head. He stocked Zayne's white fur. "Just give it back after a day."
"Yay! I got a badger." Zayne proudly displayed Nick's badge for everyone to see.
Nick snuck up behind the kit. "It's a badge," he whispered in his ear.
"Isn't that the tall lumbering animal that comes if you're naughty?"
"It's actually the opposite."
Judy was in shock. She knew how precious the badge was to Nick. He just gave it away to her sibling. Zayne's white fur made it extremely hard to sneak up on someone. She knew that Zayne was good at spelling and obsessed with what he had learned. It seemed odd to her that he would make such a mistake. She thought it was intentional at first, but he couldn't fake that, could he?
"I thought you were good at spelling?" Judy said. She wasn't too sure how to approach the subject but felt like she had to say something.
"I am good at spelling. All the dictionaries that I looked at contained those definitions. I thought I knew those words before."
"Oh really? Can I see this dictionary myself?" She thought that Zayne would simply admit he was wrong this time instead of trying to explain why he was right.
"Of course." He ran off in a hurry to fetch a dictionary.
"Maybe, he'll find a use for that badger before the end of the day," Nick said.
"Don't you start too now, Nick."
"Oh fine, my bunny knows best." He kissed her on the lips.
It took a few minutes for Zayne to return. "Here." He handed Judy a copy of Kits Picture Dictionary.
"He actually came back with a dictionary," Nick said.
Judy opened the dictionary, to her surprise, it was true. Badge and badger had their definitions mixed. "This dictionary is wrong."
"That's not the only one that I've checked. Three different dictionaries all confirmed the same thing," Zayne said.
Judy took out her cell phone. She showed Zayne the meanings of the words badge and badger.
Maybe it was a publisher's mistake or a prank gone too far. Zayne began questioning things. How many words were there that he was using incorrectly?
"Can you look at what I wrote?" Zayne asked. "I want to make sure I didn't make any mistakes."
"Certainly," Judy said.
They waited for him to return.
Judy looked at the piece of paper written three weeks ago. It contained just two simple phrases.
'The badger swam across the lake.'
'She earned a badge.'
A simple demonstration of how to use certain words. "You used those words correctly back then," Judy said.
"Sorry, I bought the wrong one, can I go get another?" Zayne asked. He was still worried about what he might have misunderstood.
"Don't worry about it kit. I'm sure your vocabulary is fine," Nick said. "Always reference the internet and more than one source if you're not sure about something."
"Of course."
Zayne ran off to do other things.
"What should we do now?" Nick asked.
"Why don't I show you around Bunnyburrow? It is your first visit," Judy said. She figured it was finally time to leave the dining room, nearly everyone else had.
"Show me what you like most."
Before they could leave, they stumbled on to Gideon right outside. "Nick, Judy," Gideon panted. He was catching his breath having run so far. "How would you like to go on a cruise around the world sponsored by Gazelle?"
Judy was ecstatic. "How did you manage that?"
"Her manager decided to pull a stunt. Anyway, now I'm stuck finding mammals to go on a cruise. You two were the first I had in mind."
"Isn't this like too good to be true?" Nick said. He was suspicious of the entire deal.
"Don't tell me you're scared of a boat," Judy said. "What's the worst that can happen? You'll be right by my side. When does the cruise leave?" She tried to reassure Nick that everything was going to be fine.
"A week. I'm going to be the chef onboard," Gideon said.
"I look forward to those blueberry pies."
"Gideon makes blueberry pies?" Nick asked. "Of course, I'll come." Judy was glad that Nick didn't seem as tense as before.
"It gets better than that, the pies you ate earlier were made by him."
Nick began salivating at the mere thought of eating more blueberry pies. "How many do you have to find?"
"Speaking of that, want to help? Choosing fifty more between your siblings. I wouldn't want to put you on the spot. You do have two-hundred and seventy-three after all," Gideon said. "Maybe, I should ask them myself?"
"It won't be a problem," Judy said. A luxury cruise with Gazelle in a week. This visit didn't turn out bad at all.
"Thanks."
A/N: As usual, feedback welcome.