Judy

I played with my paws, keeping my eyes on the window. Nick had spent another week in the hospital after he'd woken up, and since he was still drowsy from pain meds, and I didn't trust myself behind the wheel of a car right now, Rocco had come to pick us up. It'd been a silent, awkward ride, but I needed as much time as I could get to wrap my head around what I'd told Nick.

I hadn't been lying when I'd said I hadn't wanted kits, I'd thought it would just keep me from doing my best to help the city, but the last few weeks had made me rethink a lot. I'd already figured out I didn't need to be married to my job, and thanks to a few of my girl friends, both on the force and off, I'd eventually figured out I could be a mother without having to sacrifice my career. I'd just have to pull back a little, which wasn't as hard to fathom as I'd thought it would be.

I've already dedicated most of my life to getting my dream job, I told myself. And now that I've got it, I think it is time to start focusing on other things.

I put a paw on my stomach, thinking how late I was, by bunny standards. Most does my age have already had two or three litters, if not more, and here I was, only about a third of the way through my first.

While Nick had been examined, I'd gone to get my first ultrasound. It had taken some time to make them believe I'd really gotten pregnant by a fox, and then I'd had to wait for a new doctor since the one I'd gotten had pretty much damned me to hell. Not only was I unmarried while pregnant, the father was another species, and a fox at that. But the platypus that had replaced her hadn't cared a lick, saying she'd been happily married to a wallaby for almost ten years. She'd gotten excited when I'd told her who the father was, going on about how Nick had pretty much single-pawedly made it so different species could marry in the first place.

That must've been what Paul had started telling me, I'd pretty much forgotten about it until then. I'd had to get shaved for the ultrasound, and the doctor had only been able to give a rough estimate, given the different gestation periods for red foxes and rabbits, but she'd guessed I had about four or five weeks left. She couldn't be certain about litter size yet, but figured she'd be able to tell the next time I came in. I'd made the next few appointments before heading back to Nick's room, coming in just as he'd finished getting dressed. I hadn't gotten a chance to tell him anything yet, and figured it'd be best to wait until he'd recovered a bit more, even if my mind was screaming that we didn't have much time to prepare.

I guess that's where having a huge family comes in handy, I took out my phone, texting my mom and closest sisters. I'd barely waited for the doctor to leave before heading to the hospital roof, so I'd have at least some privacy while I spilled the news to my parents. They hadn't been too happy either, at least about the fact that Nick and I weren't even engaged, but they knew what kind of mammal he was, and they'd promised to bring up whatever they could as soon as they were able. So now there was a spare room on the first floor of his house that was full of baby stuff, and all I could hope was that he wouldn't have a heart attack when he saw it all.

He did seem pretty excited, though, I blushed as I thought back to it, the way he'd looked at me, how he'd sounded, and then when he'd learned my life might be in danger if I decided to have them. He cares more about my wellbeing than having a family, even with how important that is to him…

I looked over at him, smiling when I saw him slumped against the door, thinking he had to be the most selfless mammal I've ever known. You'd think after everything he'd been through, he'd do whatever it took to keep everyone at a distance, and while he did seem to start out that way, he really just took time before letting them in. And once they were in, they were basically family.

I wonder what the kits will look like, I rubbed my stomach again. I wasn't really showing yet, but I knew that wouldn't last much longer. I picked up my phone when it buzzed, seeing answers from three of my sisters. I wasn't close to much of my family, with three hundred siblings it was almost impossible, but there were a few I knew I could tell anything, without having to worry about it being plastered all over the Tri-Burrows before the day was out.

'Cant belive its finaly hapening!' that was Jenine, my oldest littermate. 'My baby sisters preggo!'

I was the youngest in our litter, and up until high school she'd treated all eight of us like we were still five. She wasn't able to have kits, so she and her husband had ended up adopting kids of all species, from a tiny little shrew to a freaking panda bear. It was apparently cheaper to do that than it was to adopt in your own species, and I wondered if Nick would consider it if this turned out to be our only chance.

Why wouldn't he? One of his best friends is a lion with a lynx for a brother.

I glanced over at him again before responding, seeing he was still out cold. I'd never been shot or stabbed before, especially not in the lung like he'd been, but I could imagine that it took a lot out of you, no matter what kind of animal you were. On top of that was all the mental and emotional stress he'd been through: hearing the father he'd thought was dead admit to setting the whole savage mammals thing up, then seeing that same male get shot in the head just a few minutes later. He'd also killed two mammals himself, even if one of them had been in self-defense. Then there'd been the ex-girlfriend who'd tried to murder his current one, me, which had only been stopped by him taking the blow himself. Were it not the fact he'd survived so long in the criminal world, and had likely seen even worse, I'd be trying to figure out how he could still function.

He's stronger than he gives himself credit for, I unbuckled and slid across the seat, lifting his arm just enough to slip in under it. We only had about ten minutes left in the drive, but I'd missed being able to cuddle with him like this, and I wasn't about to waste the rest of this chance. I nuzzled into his neck, smiling as I took a deep breath of his scent: thick and musky, with a hint of violets and something spicier that I couldn't quite place. He usually wore some kind of block to help cut down on it, since so many mammals found the full force of it overwhelming, but I couldn't get enough, especially now that it was almost always mixed with mine. Scent-marking was one of the most important things in many relationships, whether parent and child or husband and wife, a way to carry those closest to you even when they weren't around.

I love you, Nick, I stretched up just enough to kiss his cheek, then settled back down against his side, smiling when I felt his arm tighten around me. And no matter what happens, that'll never change.

Trevor

And I thought Nick and Delilah were too much sometimes…

I got off my bed and shut the door, I usually left it cracked, since my room got so damn hot when it was closed. But those two were driving me crazy. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy Nick's finally found a girl that doesn't want to kill him or something, but the way they kept going on was enough to make anyone wanna hack. At least they didn't always call each other stupid names like some couples did, probably because Ed and the rest of us had promised to shoot ourselves if they did.

Not much longer, dude, I slumped back on my bed. I'd found a loft while Nick was out of it, and there were only a few more days before I'd be able to move in. Good thing, too, because I was about ready to toss them out and lock every door and window behind them. Not that that would do much, Nick being Mr. Lockpick and all.

"Ah, Nick, stop it!" Judy was laughing. "Y-You're supposed to be resting!"

"Trust me, sweetheart," Nick shot back after a second. "This is resting for me!"

"Ugh," I grabbed my pillow and jammed it over my face. I'd gone hiking with Ed and Leo and had ended up slipping off a cliff. It'd been a pretty short one, and I'd landed in some elephant-sized shrubs, but I'd still managed to break my ankle. And now I had three more weeks of being stuck listening to this junk.

"L-Listen, you dumb fox!" she was still giggling. Again, I was happy Nick was okay, and that he'd been able to come home, but a self-respecting mammal can only take so much!

Maybe I'll just go for a walk, I shoved the pillow off and got up, grabbing my crutch from the wall. Or at least, as much of one as I can take…

I felt like an old geezer as I hobbled downstairs, my fault, since I didn't want to sleep on Nick's couch for the next month, and out the front door, rolling my eyes when I caught them making out by the kitchen.

And I thought Paul and Mercy were too much…

I went down the freaking road Nick called a driveway, stopping when I saw Leo coming up from the gate. He was carrying a big vase of white flowers, his face knocked to the side and scrunched up like he was trying not to sneeze.

"Hey, Trev," he sniffled. "H-How's your leg doing?"

"Good as it can be," I leaned on my crutch. "What the heck are those for?"

"No idea," he sniffed again, and I figured he wouldn't last much longer. "I was just checking the camera by the gate when a flower shop truck pulled up-"

He finally sneezed, barely managing to keep hold of the vase.

"A-And gave these to me. Didn't even say who they were for before taking off."

I grabbed the card clipped to the vase, but the writing was so fancy I couldn't even read it.

"I hate animals that write like this," I turned and walked with him back to the house. This stupid crutch was already making my arm sore, and the hobbling didn't help much, either. "Who do you think they're for?"

He shrugged, holding it as far away as possible as he opened the door.

"Nick's gotten flowers before, but I don't think they've ever been these," he sneezed again, almost dropping the vase on the coffee table instead of going all the way to the kitchen. I put the card back and flopped down on the couch, grabbing my phone from where I'd left it on the back.

"I'm starving, how about pizza?"

He chuckled.

"Just keep the veggies off!"

I laughed.

"You got it, pal!"