Chapter 3
Well that was… tragically insightful.
I'm sorry that I grilled your mom to find out what you wrote in your diary without your permission. Normally I'd try to shift the blame away from me and point out that technically your mom is the main culprit here, but instead I acknowledge that I've broken your trust, and I apologize for that Judy.
I wish you had invited me to go with you to visit Bunnyburrow like you wanted to, but I probably would have been too afraid to go. I can say that I'd go now if you asked, so I guess that's progress?
I'm sorry that I didn't get the note you left to call you, and even more sorry I didn't just call you anyway, but I'm also sorry in advance for the murder I'll probably commit when I find out who didn't give me the note you stuck on the case files that they took off my desk.
I hope we can talk about whatever happened between you and… what was his name… Irvin? Your mom was a bit vague with the details, but my understanding was that copious amounts of carrot wine were consumed by everyone involved. In addition, with all of the unresolved issues between us, plus the confusion caused by us not talking things over on the phone, plus the large side order of guilt from your parents, I can see why the situation is... complicated. Whatever happened, Judy, it doesn't change how I feel about you. I just need to know if it changes how you feel about us.
I better wrap this up, because your mom will be back from feeding Little Carrots soon. She threw a fit the first time I called the baby that, but I'm sure I'll wear her down eventually. Calling her Baby J is just too weird.
She's growing so fast, and should be out of the ICU soon. Believe it or not, I've gotten pretty good at feeding her, though I have to practically wrestle her away from your mom to get a turn.
You gotta wake up and meet your daughter. She needs a name and… I need you.
Nick and Mrs. Hopps glared at each other across Judy's bed.
"You can't take Judy's baby back to Bunnyburrow." Nick leaned forward slightly, causing Mrs. Hopps to flinch and involuntarily take a step back. "She belongs here, with Judy."
Mrs. Hopps crossed her arms. "Nick, be reasonable. This is no place to raise a baby. She gets out of the ICU tomorrow, and the doctor said she's ready to go home. If Judy gets better…"
Nick cut her off coldly. "When. When Judy gets better."
Mrs. Hopps nodded. "When she gets better, what then? I've been staying in her apartment… that's no place for an infant. And Judy is going to need care too when she gets out of the hospital. Care that she can only get at home, with her family."
Well, that conversation with your mom could have gone better. She did finally agree that we could talk about it more tomorrow, though I don't see her changing her mind. I certainly see where your stubbornness comes from now.
I've got to go take care of something I've been putting off for awhile, but I'll be back to talk to you soon.
Nick stared at the front door of his mom's house, a key clutched tightly in his right paw. He sighed deeply before he stepped forward and unlocked the door.
He paused in the open doorway and took his sunglasses off, hanging them on his shirt pocket as he peered down the dark hallway. He walked slowly, reverently, as he touched things: a picture of him when he was five, his mom's gray knit sweater hanging on a hook, a scratched wooden bench next to the kitchen doorway where, until he was a teenager, he'd proudly stood every birthday so his mom could mark his height.
He walked past the stairs and turned down another hallway, his paw trailing along the peeling green wallpaper. At the end of the hall was the open doorway to his mother's bedroom, where he stood, his paws on his hips, as he took a careful survey. The room was crowded, filled with a large four poster bed, dresser, lamps, and an old steamer trunk, scattered among the smaller piles of his mother's possessions. Nick sighed again as he took a tentative step into the room.
"You sure were a packrat, Ma," he said as he walked over to her cluttered dresser. He looked at his reflection and noticed a small card tucked in the corner of the mirror. He gently plucked the card from the frame and shook the dust off before looking at it closely.
He chuckled at the lopsided heart drawn in crayon with the caption HAPPEE VALANTINZ DAAY scrawled underneath. His eyes welled with tears when he opened the card and read, I LUV YOU MA written in large, scribbly letters.
He was startled by a loud knock, followed by someone calling his name. Wiping his eyes on his arm, He tucked the card into his pocket as he made his way back to the still open front door, where he found Rita waiting. She was sitting down and craning her neck to look inside.
"I saw the front door was open and figured you were here. How are things?" Rita asked as she grabbed Nick with her trunk and pulled him in for a hug. Nick hugged her back and replied, "Oh you know, just sorting through Ma's stuff."
Rita nodded. "Have time to talk in the backyard for a bit?"
Nick nodded. "Sure. Can I get you anything?"
She shook her head as she disappeared around the corner of the house. "Just your company."
Nick shut the front door and walked through the house to the large patio door, where he could see Rita already settling herself into an oversized lawn chair. The backyard was a shambles, the lawn overgrown and weedy. A small gray shed was barely visible among the overgrown bushes and trees along the back fence.
Nick opened the door and walked over to sit in a small chair near Rita. He put on his sunglasses as he stared out at the yard.
"Your mom used to hire a goat to come by every now and then to graze and trim. I'll see if I can find his number."
Nick smiled. "That would be nice."
"How's Judy?"
Nick shrugged. "Better. She twitches every now and then, but she's still out."
Nick paused for a few moments. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around...well… her parents. Why would they try to set her up with some bunny from overseas who was only visiting family for a few weeks? How exactly could that have worked out? And now they can't even get in touch with him…" Nick trailed off.
"Sometimes parents do really dumb things, in a poor attempt to protect their kids from life." Nick lifted his sunglasses and looked up at her quizzically as she continued. "It's true. Take your mom, she used to spoil you rotten, waiting on you paw and foot… it's a wonder you ever learned to be independent… maybe a little too independent."
Nick barked out a quick laugh, then said somberly, "I should have been around for her more. Last month I even thought about moving back in here…" He stared down at his paws and shook his head.
Rita pulled his chair closer and draped her trunk over his shoulders as they listened to the cicadas buzz in the nearby trees.
I went by the house today, to start getting my mom's things in order. That place is a minefield of regrets for me. I found a card I made for Ma when I was just a kid… I guess it reminded me of how terrible I've become at sharing my feelings, and there are some I need to share with you.
You believed in me when no one else did, and you taught this jaded fox to believe in himself. My whole life, I always worried, even when my glass was half full, that I'd end up with an empty one sooner or later, and I usually did, but only because I spent so much time sabotaging myself. Ever since I met you, I've broken out of so many unhealthy patterns. Somehow you just... make me want to be a better fox, simply by being around you. You opened the door, but you didn't try to drag me through it. You just showed me the way, by being the only way you know how to be.
"I love you, Judy Hopps. I don't know how I'll do it, but I won't let your mom take Little Carrots away." Nick hugged her paw to his face and wept, his tears leaving dark splotches on the hospital sheets.
Holly. The word was barely a whisper, so quiet that Nick wasn't sure that he'd even heard it. He slowly looked up, right into Judy's violet eyes.
She spoke again, her voice trembling. "Her name is Holly."
Nick lunged forward and hugged her close. He immediately regretted it when she yelled in his ear, "OW, NICK...ow. I hurt... everywhere."
Nick quickly let go of her and cringed away. "Sorry, oh my god Judy, I'm so sorry."
She looked at him with drowsy eyes. "Also, it's a journal, not a diary. Only you could annoy me enough to wake me out of a coma."
Judy reached out with one arm and gently pulled him close as he laughed and cried at the same time.
She smiled as she leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "You foxes… you're so emotional."
