Chapter Eleven:

Troubles With Fur…

The rest of the day seemed to go by faster than what anyone expected. Not that anyone seemed to care, especially Grace. Since meeting Nick's mom, the young kit seemed to be more open with everyone. Yet it still felt like she was hiding something. It wasn't until the following day when anyone would find out exactly what that was.

The day started like any other for her. After waking up, she slipped out of the room she was sharing with her grandmother to the bathroom to get a quick shower before the day's madness started. Once she was done and in some fresh clothes; she went to slip back to her room, but stopped when she noticed something in the mirror. "Oh no," she whispered as her eyes went wide, "No. No. No. No. No."

Making sure the coast was, Grace quickly ducked back to her room and quietly closed the door. 'Why today of all days?' she thought grabbing her hoodie. She went to pull it on but froze as she heard a bed creek.

"Grace, is that you?" her grandmother asked.

"Morning, Grandma Maria," the young kit said quickly pulling her hoodie on, "If you want to grab a shower, you might want to do that now while no one else is up." She flipped her hood up and turned to leave, only to stop when she felt her grandmother take her paw in hers.

"Gracie, you can tell me if something's wrong," Maria said gently.

"Promise you won't tell?" Grace asked after a few seconds.

"I promise, Gracie, now what's wrong?" her grandmother asked.

Grace reached up and slowly pulled her hood down turning towards her grandmother. Maria's eyes widened slightly as she saw the young kits fur had changed from light tan to white.

"What happened to your fur?" her grandmother asked surprised.

"Some of my cousins dyed my fur when I ran into them at school one time," Grace said as a tear slid down her cheek, "Mom started home schooling me when the school refused to discipline them."

"When did this happen?" Maria asked shocked.

"About a month before my mom died," Grace said quietly.

"And I am going to make certain that those involved in hurting you pay," Maria said placing a finger under the kits chin and tipped her head up, "No one messes with a Wilde and gets away with it."

"But I'm not a Wilde, I'm a Locksley," Grace said.

"And you always will be," Maria said before placing a kiss on the kits forehead, "But the day Nick agreed to take care of you; you became a member of this family. And no matter what happens or what color your fur is, you will always be my grandkit."

"Really?" Grace asked hopefully.

"Yes, really," Maria said before gently pulling Grace into a hug.

"T-t-thank you," Grace said as she started to cry. Maria smiled slightly as she let the young kit cry, figuring that she needed to with everything that had happened as of late.

"It's ok, Gracie," Maria said as she gently stroked the young kits fur, "Let it all out. You're safe here." Grace slowly wrapped her arms around the vixen's waist and returned the hug as her sobs slowed to a stop. "How do you feel?" she asked after a few minutes.

"A lot better," Grace said smiling, "Thank you, Grandma Maria."

"You're welcome, Gracie," Maria said before they heard a knock on the door, "Who is it?"

"It's me, mom," Nick called from the hallway, "Just wanted to make sure everything was ok."

"We're ok, Nick. Come on in," his mother said smiling. She looked down at her granddaughter and whispered, "Want to see him squirm?" Grace nodded slightly before turning towards the door.

"Some of Judy's siblings said they heard someone crying," Nick said stepping into the room.

"That's not important," Maria said looking at her son, "What I want to know is why you are getting married to someone you haven't even asked yet."

"I did too ask Judy," he said defensively.

"Oh really, when?" his mother asked a little skeptical.

"It was shortly after I called you about the wedding today," he said trying to stay calm.

"Oh, so you wait till the day before you about to get married to ask the bunny you've been head over heels in love with for the past three years?" she asked.

"First off, I had originally planned on asking her after her sister's wedding reception," he said seriously, "Secondly, Jenny was supposed to be the one getting married"

"Oh don't give me that, Nicholas," she said wrapping her arms around Grace, "You probably haven't even noticed that Grace's fur turned white."

"I was wondering when the last of that dye those monsters used washed out," Nick said quietly as he pushed the door closed, "And before you ask, Daniel told me about that while we were waiting on Grace."

"You mean you knew?" Grace asked surprised.

"And I figured you would tell me when you were ready," he said looking at the kit. He looked up at his mom and asked quietly, "Now would you two like to know what is going to happen today?"

"What do you have planned?" Maria asked with a slight smirk. He smiled before he explained what all was going to happen. Once he had finished, Maria slowly shook her head as she said, "You are going to need to find somewhere to hide if you pull this off."

"Does Judy know you're going to do this?" Grace asked excitedly.

"Not yet," he said a little sheepishly, "I was kind of hoping you could help convince her, Grace."

"You are not teaching my grandkit how to hustle someone," Maria said glaring at her son.

"Grace is not going to hustle anyone," Nick said holding his paws up, "All she is going to do is let Judy know what is going to happen in private."

"Which is going to be hard considering she is going to be the center of attention today," Maria said before the door quickly opened then shut. They looked over in time to see Judy duck into the closet.

"I'm not here," the bunny whispered before the door swung open by two other bunnies.

"Sorry to barge in, but have you seen Judy?" the one asked.

"Not yet this morning," Nick said shaking his head slightly.

"I think I saw her heading out for a run earlier," Grace said quietly, "Maybe she's heading to the stand."

"Thanks Grace," the one said before the two ran off closing the door behind them. The room was quiet for a few seconds before Judy slowly stepped out of her hiding spot.

"Smart thinking, Grace," the bunny said quietly with a sigh.

"Thanks Judy," the young kit said smiling, "Did you know today is your parents anniversary?"

"Don't remind me," Judy said sitting on the bed.

"Aw, did the little bunny forget not get her parents a gift?" Nick asked with a playful tone in his voice.

"Shut up, Slick," Judy said glaring at him, "Ten to one, you didn't get them one either."

"Oh contraire, Officer Fluff," he said with a smirk, "I figure out the perfect gift for your folks. Grace, if you would please?"

The young kit gave a slight nod before looking at her friend and said, "Nick thought it would be a good idea your parents renewed their vows instead of the two of you getting married today."

Judy was silent for a few seconds before saying, "That's perfect. But outside of my parents killing you for this, how are you going to pull it off?"

"If you mean I need someone on the inside, I've had that for the past month," he said as his smile widened, "And both think it is a great idea."

"Both?" the three females asked looking at him.

"Both," he said as they heard a double knock on the door, "And they're right on time." Everyone looked over as the door slowly opened.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Judy asked shocked, "You two are his insiders?"