Chapter 3: True colours… (Pov Nick)

I will be the first to admit that no one is this world is perfect, I am certainly no exception to this statement, but there are some people who go above and beyond to prove this declaration. Now I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, always approach the world with an open mind and positive perspectives but there are some cases where I cannot extend that type of courtesy to others. This is always apparent when I think of Heather, or in a more politically correct word, "Mom" but she is and was no mother to me in any sense of the title. If anything, I can't help but almost hate using this word but, I loath the girl. Dad doesn't like to talk about her, he refuses to say anything bad about her and Mom won't say anything either so most of what I know comes from family friends who've told me a few things here and there. I've heard enough and…have seen enough to form my own opinions on her. But every time I think about her I can't help but wonder what Dad could have seen in her or why they stayed together for so long…

People say that when they get put under they don't dream, it's just a quick darkness then 'BAM!' your done and awake. it didn't feel like that for me though. Don't get me wrong it was quick, it only felt like a minute but when I came to I didn't open my eyes though I knew I was conscious. I kept them closed, trying to control the new-found pain in my lower stomach and in my head. But above all I just wanted to sleep, yet I wasn't tired at all. I just wanted the time to think about what just happened and what I had initially done. After a minute, I started to remember where I was and what I had just gone through.

"Oh, my god…" I thought to myself as the rest of my senses slowly came back and the pain in my head worsened with every second. I had almost wished that I would die just so this pain would go away, but in all reality, it was only an annoyance, it still bugged the crap out of me none the less.

I groaned as I tried to rub my head with my paw but stopped when I felt a sharp pain in my left arm which made me wince in pain.

"Doctor, I think he's coming to!" a voice said. It was muffled and I couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. My ears rang slightly, which didn't help my headache or my continuous confusion.

"Nicholas, can you hear me?" another voice said. This one a bit deeper than the last, a man probably, but it was still muffled.

"W-what?" I slurred trying to still make sense of the whole situation, or at least wrap my mind around it.

"Hey, Hey Nicky, I'm right here!" a soft voice came beside me as the person clutched my paw tightly. I didn't have to guess who that was.

"Heather?" I said groggily. She chuckled lightly as I slowly moved my paw up to meet the side of her face, brushing her fur softly.

"Yes, its me. How do you feel?"

"Like the witch when the house dropped on her." Heather chuckled but I could tell she was close to tears, even when I started to open my eyes and looked into her beautiful violet eyes could I tell how emotional she was. Happy, worried, sad, scared, but above all her eyes shined with pride and joy when she looked down at me.

"How do you feel Nick?" A voice asked beside me. I turned around, my eyes still adjusting to the brightness of the room, but by the blurry outline I assumed it was the doctor asking me.

"Pained and rather uncomfortable other than that, I'm peachy." I said sinking my head back into the pillow.

"Yes, that is to be expected, it should pass soon. Do you have any sharp pain in your lower stomach? Perhaps something ripping?" My ears bolted up at the word 'ripping' and my eyes widened fast as I quickly looked over at him.

"Ripping?!" I asked panicked. "What would rip?!"

"Your stitches. I'm pretty good with my hands but accidents happen."

"Stitches?" I asked dumbfounded. I then pulled my gown to the side and looked down at my stomach. There was a large bald strip right across my stomach with a large dark line down the middle and thread running along that.

"Sweet Cheese and crackers…" mumbled to myself. Heather stood over top of me sharing the same expression of shock on her face as I did mine.

"How long will he need them in?" Heather asked placing her paw on my shoulder.

"At least a month or so. But don't worry i'll tell you all of that much later. The main reason I wanted to see you, other than making sure you were okay, was to tell you that the surgery was an absolute success! Your genetics bonded perfectly and took right away! From here it's a matter of waiting and monitoring everything to make sure you will be fine."

I nodded at him as I reached over with my free hand, the one that didn't have three different needles in it, and rested it on Heathers.

"Thank you, Doctor." I said contently as I looked over and smiled at him. He nodded once before he signalled for the nurse to follow him.

"We will be back later to run some basic tests, nothing to invasive."

"I doubt you could get more invasive than this, Doc." I said with a pained chuckle as they walked out of the room. Just as the door was closing there was a slight commotion outside the room, someone quickly yelled.

"Hey! You can't go in there!"

"Don't touch me! That's my partner in there! I have every right to know if he's okay!"

"Is that?" I said quietly as I looked up at heather, who was staring at the door. Not even a second later Judy pushed the door open and closed it behind her, straightening her uniform as she walked in. She looked up at us in a quick shock and relief.

"Nick, oh thank god!" Judy said as she quickly ran to the side of my bed. "I was worried sick! What are you doing here are you okay?"

"Carrots?" I reached down and hugged her quickly as I smiled. I was beyond surprised to see her which added to my curiosity. "How did you know where I was?"

"When you didn't show up for your shift I went to your place to look for you. Your neighbours told me you and…Heather." She said looking up with a light defensive glare that met with Heather's silent stare "were arguing the night before, something about a surgery. Nick what happened?"

"Huh, so they could hear us." I thought stupidly to myself.

"Its nothing Carrots, the docs just-"

"What does it matter to you?" Heather said monotonically. Judy only looked up at her with a look that I had not seen. It was a mixture of dislike and defensiveness.

"He's my partner and my friend. I'm just making sure that he's alright."

"And I'm his girlfriend, I don't see why you need to bother us. He's fine, you can go now."

"Heather!" I snapped softly looking back at her.

"What? I'm not wrong. Our lives don't need to be bothered by some wannabe cop who broke the city."

Judy's eyes widened with pain as her ears flew down and her nose began to twitch.

"Heather that's enough!" I snapped, feeling a light pain in my stomach. I grunted in pain as I tried to lie back down. "Could you go get me some water, please heather?" I asked softly.

"Sure, Nick." Heather said keeping her eyes on Judy who was doing the same. She walked past Judy, lightly flicking her tail in Judy's face, to which I'm sure she hoped I wouldn't see.

"Sorry about that, Heather can be-"

"A bully?" Judy blurted out as she watched the door close.

"Protective. Was what I was going to say." Judy walked to the edge of my bed and sat down by my feet.

"Nick, what are you doing here?" Judy asked as she put one of her paws on my leg.

I only sighed, what could I honestly tell her? The truth? Yea that would work out well, she was my only true friend, besides Heather and Finnick. On top of that we work together, partners, she can't just push that aside and still work with me. No… It was better to lie to her than to tell her the whole situation.

"The docs just found something that needed to be taken out, nothing major, that's why I didn't tell you."

"Well you could have called in at least. Bogo nearly had my tail when I told him that you weren't in."

Oh man, I had forgotten about Bogo, heck about the whole ZPD. What was I going to tell them? How could I tell them?! Ohh this just kept getting better and better…

"I'm sorry, Fluff, I guess I was so wrapped up I forgot to tell the Chief." Judy only snickered.

"Its okay, Slick. When I tell him you were in the hospital I'm sure he'll-"

"No! No, no no no! you can't tell anyone I was here!"

I shouted as I bolted up which I instantly regretted. A large pain jolted from my stomach, through my side and up my back. It felt like I had been stabbed repeatedly and they left the knife in there. I gasped in pain and lowered myself back onto the pillow. I lied there, slowly gasping, trying to control the pain and holding back the tears, Judy jumped off the bed and rushed to my side, holding my paw.

"Nick…" She whispered.

"Promise me, you wont tell anyone I was here…" I said pained as I was still gasping slowly.

"I promise, but Nick…"

"No buts…just keep this a secret, just for a while, please…" I said breathing more softly as the pain began to dissipate.

"Okay, I wont tell anyone, I promise."

"Thank you, Judy…"

I wasn't a huge fan of keeping this from Judy. She was my closet friend and she only wanted to make sure I was okay, but something like this… What could I tell her? If I told her the truth that could lead to the end of our friendship, if she knew I was lying to her she'd kill me. This wasn't something I wanted to do to her, I knew after all this was said and done I would tell her, I just hope she would understand and in the end not hate me for lying to her…

I can say, with a large amount of certainty, that dad despised the idea of lying to…"Judy" but his fears took the better of him. Deep down he knew that she would never judge him for anything so beautiful and above all else, brave. She knew that something was wrong, despite dad saying otherwise, but she didn't want to pry farther in that what she had already done. All she wanted was for him to be safe and happy, at that moment he appeared to be both but something was still off and my 'mothers' reaction didn't help her fear or something being wrong. Regardless, she kept her thoughts to herself until such a time that it was deemed necessary to say something.

Now, Dad had to stay in the hospital for another week before the doctors would let him go. They constantly ran tests and put him on a diet that consisted primarily of tasteless and over all bland foods which he was not a huge fan of. He went through at least fifty different tests every six hours, and had to try and sleep for a solid eight hours each night. Try to work the math out on that, it wasn't easy for him to say the least but he powered through until the end of his first week, that was when the doctors gave him the okay to go home…

"Now you shouldn't have any pain at least for now, please be sure to visit us weekly so that we can continue to monitor you and the initial growth, understand Mr. Wilde?"

"I'm sorry maybe you should say it one more time, I am a little slow." I said with a snarky grin.

"Just be sure to follow the medication as prescribed and not to over work yourself, you still need time to fully recover from your surgery." The doctor said as he walked out of the hospital with Heather and I.

"Well I may make him do all the major cleaning around the house, reach for the tall things, essentially make him my bi-"

"Thank you! Doctor." I blurted out as I shook the doctor's paw.

"you're welcome, just please take slow and easy for the next few weeks and if you go to work keep it in the office."

"If you say it anymore I have no doubt i'll forget it." The doctor chuckled as he handed Heather my bag and shook her paw as well.

"Good luck you two, ill see you both next week. Call if there are any problems."

"Of course, Doctor." Heather said proudly as she shook his paw.

Heather helped me walk down the stairs, or to be more honest, she insisted to help me when she noticed my discomfort and pain with each step. I half expected her to take me in her arms, though that was nothing more than a half foolish thought to cover the fact that all of this was actually happening. That's when things dawned on me a bit more. This was happening, we were starting a family. I smiled through the pain and began to feel a warming sensation in my heart as we reached the final step.

I was proud of my self. Heck, I was beyond happy with the choice I made. It was a life choice that I had made with a sound mind and with the girl I loved. Despite the oddity of the whole situation, my mind did not have one negative thought in all of this. Well at least not in the overall decision. In the back of my mind I was scared for what was going to come my way down the road. I have heard when Judy told me about her sister who had a kit, what she went through. But remembering what she said I only chuckled to myself as Heather and I walked to the car. If a little bunny could handle that then this would be a piece of cake. Right?

(Week 1)

My first week home was rather bland. Judy was, somehow, able to convince Bogo to give me some time off. I have no idea what she said or did, she only said that I need to get well and call her if I needed anything. Besides that, I mainly took it easy, as the doctor, Judy and Heather all suggested. Heather was a bit more forceful, completely keeping me under house arrest but still wanting to help me around the house. It was nice to see that she was, for the most part, okay with this whole situation and more than willing to help. The difficult part out though was the fact that she did have school to attend and then work on top of that. She was able to work as a teaching assistant at a school a half hour from our place, she applied for the one close to us but was apparently beaten to it by other applicants. Nonetheless though, her announcement warranted a nice dinner which I had specially prepared for her when she came home. She didn't each much, saying that she had a big lunch and was tired, but she loved the gesture.

(Week 4)

The past few weeks remained uneventful for the most part. Heather was off at school and work while I was still at home taking some time to recover. I even had Bogo and a few other colleagues from the ZPD call me to make sure I was okay. Again, I have no idea what Judy told them but Bogo insisted that I take the time to recover and come back to work when I could. That alone came as a surprise but I wasn't one to object, though it was getting boring staying at the apartment all day, the only time I could get out was when I had an appointment with the doctor but even that was a in then out sort of thing.

Though I was treated to a nice surprise when I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, Judy was standing outside wearing her civilian clothes which consisted of her Jeans and a black t-shirt, which was better than my grubby shorts and dirty t-shirt.

"Oh, hey Carrots." I said half surprised. As I moved out of the way, inviting her in. "What brings you here?"

"I haven't heard from you in awhile, I wanted to drop by and make sure you were okay."

I haven't talked to her, I couldn't. Not that I didn't want to but Heather wouldn't allow me to. After that little dispute, back in the hospital Heather basically ordered me not to talk to Judy. Despite my protest, she then stated that it was Judy or her. Which left a deep hole in my gut because Judy deserved to know everything and I owed Judy the curtesy to at least talk to her, but Heather wouldn't have it. Heck id probably get my tail kicked just letting her in the apartment let alone talking to her, but what Heather wouldn't know wont kill her.

"You look awful." She stated with a giggle as she looked up at me.

My fur was all knotted and my tall was knotted up and in a giant puff. Being at home and not having to work took the need for self appearance away. Plus, it hurt like heck to shower with this cut on my chest, which was healing quite well!

"You look just as bad." I said taking a good look at Judy. I only said it as a joke but then I started to notice a few things. Her usual lively eyes were tired, exhausted to be more exact. She had dark lines under her eyes and even her fur, which was much better kept than mine, was starting to look un-kept.

"Judy." I said in shock as I took her chin in my paw and examined her eyes more closely, moving her head as I did. "What's up with you? You look…terrible."

Judy only chuckled as she moved my paw from her chin and brushed her fur on her head back down.

"I've been…working extra."

"What? Why?" Judy looked up and smiled softly at me, it then dawned on me what she was doing. "Oh Judy…"

"Bogo said he'd understand but I insisted on taking the shifts."

"You didn't have to do that." I stated as I pulled her to the couch and rushed to get her a cup of coffee.

"Yes, I did, were partners, its what we do."

"Work ourselves to death for one another?"

"Wouldn't you do the same?"

I stopped making and thought to myself for a second. I would. I would do anything to help Judy if she really needed it. I would do it in a second flat without a moment's hesitation. I only sighed as I poured the water from the kettle and walked over with the coffees in hand.

"Here." I said handing her the cup and sitting beside her. Judy took the cup and sipped the coffee.

"Thank you. Probably won't do much, I'm about 75% coffee at the moment."

"Well it's the thought, right?" I said with a small laugh as I put my cup down on the table. I looked over at her, I couldn't get over how bad she looked. I didn't want to sound rude but she concerned me.

"When was the last time you had any sleep?" Judy opened her mouth to say something but I stopped her "that wasn't on a bench in the ZPD or on or under your desk." Her mouth shut after I said that. Judy then let out a light sigh and shrugged.

"Okay, you are going to sleep here then. Least for a few hours, I'm going to call Bogo and tell him you can't come in."

"Nick, you don't need to-"

"Hey, you said it yourself, we're partners, its what we do." Judy looked up at me and smiled "Thank you."

"I'm just going to grab some spare blankets and a pillow, ill only a moment." Quickly went to the master bedroom and grabbed a soft blanket and one of my extra pillows that I may or may not have stolen from the police academy, and walked back out.

"It's not much but you can sleep on the…couch." By the time I came back out Judy was already sound asleep on the couch, lightly breathing peacefully. I smiled and walked over to her, trying hard not to wake her as I draped the blanket over her and carefully lifted her so I could put the pillow under her head. I then sat down beside her and rested leaned back on the couch as I too slowly drifted off to sleep.

"What in the hell is this?!" a voice screeched that made me jump near out of my fur and made both me and Judy wake up.

It was Heather, standing in the door way, jacket still on, keys in hand, and glaring over at us with a large amount of hate that I could feel it in my gut.

"Crap…"

"Heather…" I said as I got up.

"Don't 'Heather' me! What the heck is she doing in our home! I thought I told you not to talk to her!?"

Judy looked over at me with a pained expression.

"So, that's why you haven't talked to me." Judy stated as she sighed and pushed the blanket off. "Thank you for letting me rest. Ill see you at work."

Judy then walked out of the apartment, lightly grazing Heather as she walked past. I got up walked towards Judy.

"Judy wait I-"

"Hey we're not done! Why was she here?!" Heather yelled as I watched Judy walk out and close the door behind her. Right before the door shut I noticed a small tear sliding down the fur on her cheek. I only stared blankly at the door, behind Heather.

"Hello? Earth to Nick!" Heather said snapping her fingers. I looked over at her, still with a blank expression on my face. "Why was she here?"

"She came to see if I was alright." I said turning around to go pick up the blanket and pillow "I noticed how tired she was so I let her grab some sleep here."

"Without asking me?" Heather stated in an authoritative manner.

"Why would I need to ask you if it's my home too?" I asked in a stern confusion.

"Because that's what couples do, Nick they ask to make sure! You know I hate her why would you let her in?"

"Because she's my friend and do couples really do that?" I asked turning around and glaring into her eyes "Because it mainly seems like you tell me what to do and I don't have a say in anything else."

"Don't try and change the subject! You still went behind my back!"

"And helped a friend!" I yelled back, right as I did I clutched my stomach in pain, but that didn't phase Heather.

"Don't bother cleaning up that bedding, you can sleep on the couch tonight."

She then walked past me to the bedroom and shut the door behind her. I on the other hand ran to the bathroom and hugged the toilet for the next ten minutes. Silently crying and trying to overcome the pain in my stomach. Note to self, baby does not like coffee…

(Week 6)

I woke up in the middle of the night. I looked over at the clock on my nightstand which read in red number 2:30 am. My eyes were sore and I found myself slowly rubbing my lower stomach, though it wasn't in any sort of pain. I had just figured I had a bad dream and woke up, though I didn't remember dreaming good or bad. I shuffled as I pulled the covers back over my shoulder and sighed deeply as I sank my head back into the welcoming warmth of my pillow. I had started to drift back asleep when I felt my ear give a light twitch and the floor creaked at the end of the bed.

My eyes shot back open and I reached to the lamp on my nightstand as quickly as I could, perhaps too quickly as I ended up hurting my lower stomach. I ignored the pain and turned the lamp on and turned back around to the noise in front of the bed.

It was heather. Fully dressed with a bag in each hand, a…suitcase? I rubbed my eyes drowsily as I sat up on the bed, trying to piece together what was going on.

"H-Heather?" I asked tiredly "What are you doing?"

Heather didn't move, she only let out a soft sigh as she looked down at the ground, tightening her grip on her suitcases.

"I'm leaving, Nick." Heather stated plainly, still not looking at me.

"Leaving? Leaving where?" I asked in confusion as I started to wake up a little more. Her silence lead me to the obvious conclusion. My eyes widened and I became at a loss for words.

"Wait…what?" I asked in disbelief as I started to get up from the bed but heather only held on to her bags and refused to look at me.

"I'm leaving, Nick. I…I can't do this." Heather stated as her voice broke between words. "What we're doing…what you're doing, its not right."

"What I'm doing?" I asked as I walked around the bed, befuddled by her statement. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?" I raised my voice a little which gave an uncomfortable jolt in my gut.

"Oh, gee I don't know, maybe doing something that is completely unnatural!" Heather shouted, but at least she looked over at me.

"I did this because of how upset you were! You wanted this!"

"No, I wanted to be the one carrying the child so you would have to stay! Why the hell would I want any of this?!"

"So, what, you're just going to leave me is that it?" I asked as I took a step closer, but as I did another painful shock flew through my body, I gritted my teeth and didn't move.

Heather didn't move though and her once angered gaze as now directed at the floor. I tilted my head in confusion, then it dawned on me.

"What are you not telling me?" I stood up straight and looked over at her. Heather only sighed and stood up straight as well, her attempt to prove she was in the right.

"There's someone else. Someone who's there for me and understands my problems."

"What problem!?" I shouted angrily and as expected another jolt of pain rush through me, this one though brought me to my knees.

"Do you know what it's like to comfort your boyfriend who has morning sickness!? Or have to take them to the doctor to check on the abomination growing inside of them!? How would that make you feel!" Heather shouted down at me as I clenched my stomach trying to overcome the pain.

Heather picked her bags back up in her paws and turned to leave the bedroom. Her ears where down and when she reached the door she turned back to look at me.

"You and that…thing will be the biggest mistake this world has seen." She turned back around and walked out of the bedroom.

I tried to stand up, tried to stop her, talk to her, but the pain in my stomach was far more of an influence. I only gasped in pain as I felt myself become sick and had no means to control it. I only turned onto the floor, clutching my stomach as I felt tears roll down my face and a sheering pain in my stomach.

"Heather…please…" I pleaded softly. "Don't leave…" But my plead was only met with the slam of the front door and for the first time that I could remember, I was truly alone…