Chapter Ten:
Under One Roof, Sort of...
At fifteen past two, Grace found out what it was like to be Nick. Not in the "adoptive parent" or "partner to a bunny" way, but in the "on the receiving end of a tsunami made of fluff" way. Yet even as the last of her aunts and uncles let her go, she couldn't help but think back to something her father had said when it had happened to him.
"I can see why dad missed that," the young kit said with a laugh as she sat up, "Let alone why he wants to do that to a few mammals."
"Don't even think about it," Trish said glancing at her husband briefly before walking over to help her grandkit up, "You ok, Grace?"
"I'm ok, Grandma Trish," Grace said smiling.
"Ok everyone, I'd like you all to meet Grace's grandparents from her mother's side, Trish and Marcus Locksley," Judy said motioning towards the two foxes, "Now I know you all probably have a lot of questions. We will answer them at dinner. Right now, let's get you all…..settled. Nick, where is their luggage?"
"Nick's friend, Finn, will be bringing it by a little later," Bonnie said smiling, "Now don't worry Grace and I will handle the room assignments. But you and Nick do need to talk about something."
"You mean like why does Finn have their luggage?" Judy said glaring at her husband.
"Carrots, we talked about this," Nick said holding his paws up, "He was going to give everyone a lift here in his van. That got changed after Weaselton tried to steal your father's wallet on the train."
"But that doesn't explain why he has their luggage," she said starting to get upset.
"Some of your brothers caused enough of a ruckus tackling that weasel that one of the other passengers called the ZPD," Stu said walking over to his daughter, "I choose not to press charges against him because of how late we would've gotten in after all your siblings giving statements and your boss having to deal with all your siblings."
"Which leads to the unexpected news," Nick said with a slight smile, "Finn apparently works for the company that bonded Duke out and they were never notified that he was leaving town. So the luggage is going to be dropped off after Finn gets done turning him in."
"But there is something I do need to talk to you about, Carrots," Nick said as the rest of her family started to head down the hall, "It's about Fangmeyer."
"She needs a place to stay while her place is being renovated, Ben already called me about it," she said with a slight smile, "He wanted to know if I still had the number for my old place."
"No offense, but she would hall your former neighbors in for as loud as they get," he said after a seconds thought, "I was thinking more like the third floor. I mean, Grace does own the floors your family and us are staying on."
"And she wouldn't have to worry about neighbors or being late for her shift," she said as her smile widened, "That's brilliant, Nick."
"Plus, she can save up her rent money to get herself a better place if she wants," he said gently pulling his mate into a hug, "But before we call Nadine about this, we really should run it past Grace and the others. I mean, it's only fair."
"And the building manager too probably," she said before returning the hug, "I don't want her to freak out at the sight of a tiger entering the building like she lives here."
"Very true," he said kissing her between her ears, "I take it lunch was good, if not interesting."
Judy laughed slight before saying, "Interesting doesn't begin to describe it. We found out that her one cousin is not only a waiter there, but the older brother of the one she ripped into back on parent's day."
"Hopefully that ended well," he said a little worried.
"He told us a little about her father and he apologized to her," she said laying her head against his chest, "She told him she felt sorry for him considering who his sister is. But it was really weird to see her interact with her grandparents."
"I'm almost afraid to ask," he said as his tail wrapped around her.
"Remember the first time she ever met me?" she asked looking up at him, "It was almost like that all over again. She didn't say a whole lot, was extremely nervous, but she was smiling the entire time."
"Oh I bet that was weird to see," he said as Grace came running up, "Speak of the devil. Everything ok, Grace?"
"Nadine called and said Finn had to go help with another job so her and Wolfard will be dropping off everyone's stuff," the young kit said before looking at her mother, "And Grandma Bonnie told me to tell you to either go sit down or I'm allowed to tell Grandpa Stu about you know what."
"Worst part about that is she would too," Nick said with a slight smile.
"And I will, but we have something to ask you about first, Grace," Judy said glaring at her mate briefly before turning her attention to her daughter, "Would you care if we let Nadine use one of the rooms until the work on her place is finished?"
"I don't mind," the young kit said with a slight shrug, "Mom used to let some of the different people she knew use the spare rooms here if they needed some time alone with their mate. The floor above ours is more suited to larger predators like Fangmeyer if I remember right."
"We better go check to make sure," Judy said before they heard someone clear their throat. They looked towards the elevator to see Grace's grandparents standing next to Bonnie looking at them.
"I think you mean Nick and Marcus will go look at the room while Grace finishes getting the others settled and the three of us have a little talk," Trish said crossing her arms.
"More like four," Nick's mother said walking up and standing next to Bonnie, "and AFTER my son gets you a chair, Judy."
"Actually, I think it might be better if we used one of the empty rooms for our little talk," Bonnie said.
"Like they said; Marcus and I will go check the rooms on the third floor while you have fun talking to our moms and Trish," Nick said before kissing his mate between her ears, "Take notes for me."
"I hate it when he does that," Judy muttered as she watched the fox walk away. She looked over at the other and sighed before heading to one of the empty rooms as she said, "Hold off on putting anyone in here, Grace. This may be awhile."
"Not as long as she thinks," Trish said as she followed the others into the room. After she shut the door, she waited till Judy had sat down before suddenly saying, "Thank you." All eyes looked at the elder vixen as she wiped tears from her eyes before continuing, "Grace is the only thing my mate and I have left of our daughter, and we both appreciate you all for looking out for her. This may be a lot to ask, but could you continue to take care of her?"
"On one condition," Maria said as she started to smile, "You and Marcus move back to Zootopia so you can be in her life more."
"We had actually talked about that last night," Trish said with a slight laugh, "And before you ask, Judy, Marcus and I want to try and find an apartment either near here or in Tundra Town."
"I don't think you will have to look long," Judy said crossing her arms over her chest, "From what Nick has told me, your daughter left Grace three different properties; one of them being a house in Tundra Town."