Foxlover91 : Sadly, this chapter isn't focused on that new couple. Good news though, I have an endless cheese wheel.


Chapter 11 : Dates and Announcements

En of July 2019

It was his day off and like every time he could sleep late, he did. Being nocturnal meant he could sleep most of the morning without so much as opening an eye. Well it did mean that until the bunny had come to live with him, not that he complained. More time awake, meant more time with her, something that always brought him joy. That morning however he wasn't awoken by her pulling closer for a hug before getting up and making some coffee. His arm reached to her side and grabbed nothing. He reluctantly opened an eye, and then another, and then grabbed his phone to look at the time. It was almost 11PM. She had actually let him sleep. That was nice of her, but his sleeping schedule could so easily reverse to night time that he felt a bit annoyed. The smell of coffee was present however and his ears perked up. He put on a pair of boxers and left the bedroom, to find a fully clothed bunny. "Were you going somewhere ?"

She was preparing a basket with food and bottles of water and juice while humming distractedly.

"I actually came back from somewhere." She gave him a deliberately mysterious smile. He decided not to pry, if she had a surprise for him, he'd hate to spoil it. "Coffee ?"

"Yes please."

She poured it and put the stove on with a pan on it.

"I can do the pancakes fluff." She went around the table and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Can't I spoil my fox ?"

He gave him a suspicious glance. "Do you have some sort of bad news to announce ?"

"I'm pregnant." She deadpanned.

"It's Clawhauser's, isn't it ?" He answered in a falsely scandalized tone.

"Yes."

"What are we going to do with it ?"

"Give it to him and the chief, obviously."

"Obviously." He smiled and sipped his coffee.

She poured some pancake mix on the pan and made a couple of them, knowing that the vulpine didn't eat a lot in the morning.

"Thanks fluff."

"You're welcome sweetheart. By the way, I have something to show you outside, could you dress up before noon ?"

"Of course."

He then took a quick shower before putting some clothes on. She led him down the stairs and in front of the building.

"So what was it you wanted to show me ?" He heard a loud beep coming from the car parked right in front of the apartment building. She was holding a set of key. It was a nice cop blue Mustang convertible. The paint was partly worn, but it overall looked in good shape. Even though it was certainly second-hand, those models were actually pricey.

"Holy crap, Carrots, you bought this ?"

"Yup."

"What for ?"

"Well, I remember you saying that a car was very handy. And to be honest, I thought that we should have one."

"How much did it cost ?"

She put herself on her toes and pecked his cheek again. "That, slick, is my business. Yours is to take me on a date." She climbed in the passenger seat and opened the roof by pressing a button. He took the driver seat and adjusted it to his size. "I thought we should keep our dating low-key ?"

"Then you'll have to find somewhere discreet. You know the city do you ?"

"So that what the food-basket was for. A picnic."

"Precisely."

The fox scratched his chin reflectively before starting the engine. It roared nicely, a nice sound to his ears. "I may know a place." He pulled off and started driving.

"Where are we going ?"

"You had a surprise for me, I know have one for you." He chuckled. She answered with a giggle as he took a large avenue. "I must ask though, how did you come up with the money for this ?"

"I'm a bunny. The family business may be running well, but it has to feed 275 stomachs. We learn to save money soon. And since I'm living with you, it cuts my expanse a lot. So I had enough for this. And I still have some savings."

"Sheesh Carrots, and I thought I was smart with my money."

While he was driving he glanced at what kind of equipment the car came with. The car radio wasn't really new, it took CDs but it didn't have an USB port, which was really rare in this day and age. He'd have to switch for newer one. No A/C either, but on a convertible, was it really useful ? The interior was tidy. The car had either hadn't been used a lot, or had been renovated. He looked at the mileage counter, it showed less than thirty thousand kilometers. Whoever had owned it before hadn't used it a lot and probably had kept it sitting around before selling it.

He had been driving north for quite sometimes and they had passed the Rainforest district and were now in the Meadowlands. It was a suburban area, and she knew it had some forests up north. It was actually where he led them. He took a little road and found a place he could park the car.

"Do you know this place ?" She asked.

"Yes and no. There are a lot of woods in those parts. I know some of them. I hope I'll find someplace nice."

"I'm sure you will." She took the basket from the trunk and gave the fox a folded blanket.

They walked through the wood for a bit as the bunny led the way, careful to remember some landmarks to find their way back. A large three there, a strange looking rock there. "Aren't you afraid of getting lost ?" He asked tauntingly.

"I'm a country bunny, I know how to find my way in the woods."

He slowly crept up behind her. "But the woods can be dangerous. Full of hungry predators."

"I have a basket full of food, and a slow running fox just in case." She quipped, which owed her to have a pair of claw run on her sides. "Eeek, stop it !"

"What if the predator is the slow running fox ?"

She let go of the basket to try and defend herself but he had anticipated it and blocked her arms against herself, letting himself stumble on her and rolling to break the fall and not crush her.

"Nick !" She tried to protest, but was shut down when a mouth captured hers and paws ran up her back in a slow caress. The kiss broke, and he teased her with his lips. She felt the claws come out and slowly run from her back to her ribs and belly. "Nick, we're in the middle of the forest !" She articulated, out of breath.

"You're right, we shouldn't act like animals." The claws didn't come off, however and started slowly crawling up, sending shiver in the bunny's spine. "I could set up the food, I'm dying to eat some bunny..."

"Then, you should unfold the blanket..." She grabbed his collar and kissed him passionately. "…And eat your bunny before it cools off."

"Yes ma'am."

...

The blanket was set up and so was the food. Two mostly naked and satisfied mammals were lying next to each other and enjoying their meal.

"I noticed." Said the fox, biting in his sandwich.

"Noticed what ?"

"You mostly let me initiate sex."

The bunny was chewing on a carrot stick. "Is that a question ?" She asked with a discreet smile.

"I'm wondering why. Not that I'm complaining or anything, it's just a reflexion."

She took another carrot stick and played with it a bit nervously. "Well, you see, I'm a bunny. You already know that our promiscuousness isn't a complete legend."

"Way to understate it." He taunted.

"Shut up. Anyway, since I know I have a higher sex drive than you, but that yours is still quite high on its own, I prefer to let you initiate."

"Aren't you afraid I could initiate while you're not in the mood."

"Sweetheart, I'm always in the mood. And not like you males say 'always in the mood'. Since we've started being in a relationship, no, since I started having feelings

for you, It's like a constant. With the occasional spike."

The fox's eyes had widened. "And the suppressants do nothing to help you."

"Oh, believe me they do. You were lucky I was in a cast and under painkillers the couple of night I didn't have them at the hospital. If I stopped taking them now, you would feel it." She ended her sentence with a chuckle and sipped at the orange juice bottle.

"How different is it ? If it's not too personal." Nick inquired, a bit embarrassed.

"Well it's very personal, but you're involved, so I think it's better that you know. Just in case. The impulse kicks in when we hit puberty. It's overall higher for males, but we females can pike way higher on our 'horny scale'. I won't explain to you when those pikes happen, I'm sure you can guess. "

"I think I do."

"Perfect. When I'm under suppressants, it's just a desire. I see you or I think of you, and I just want to be against you. Without the suppressant, it becomes an urge."

"You mean you're constantly going against your desire? It must be hard."

"Knowing that I can fulfill it helps to dampen it. It was a lot harder to deal with when we weren't together. And especially when I hadn't realized I was in love with you yet. I sometimes felt like my suppressants weren't working straight." The fox suddenly felt the urge to hug his bunny. He had felt like he had a hard time dealing with his emotions prior to his declaration, but it seemed to be nothing compared to what she had endured. "Hey, I'm okay."

"You deserve a hug. I wouldn't be able to deal with half of this."

"Foxes... So emotional."

He nuzzled her between the ears. "That's why you love me." Judy slid in a more comfortable position before resuming her explanation.

"So, the suppressant are really necessary for us to function. Few mammals know it, but mice and rats actually need them too. It's less advertised but it's true. You know, I'm kind of glad that you're a fox, I mean, aside from the fact that you wouldn't be you if you weren't one... You see what I mean ?"

"Because I'm not constantly after your butt ?" He said, playing with her tail.

"That too. But no. It means I don't need the pill. No risk of getting pregnant. It's another reason of our reputation of being highly emotional. Pill plus suppressant, perfect mix to throw the hormones off balance. As a result we get highly emotional."
Nick lifted a surprised brow. "Really ?"

"It's true we're highly emotional to begin with, but with this added bonus, we can set records... I'm rambling a bit, I'm not boring you, I hope ?"

"No, I'm actually interested. If we're to spend our lives together, I want to know as much as I can."

The bunny sighed in relief. "You're kind of the only one I can't vent that to. Bunnies, live with it and don't complain about it to each other, and I don't see myself talking about it with mammal of other species."

"I think every species has shit to deal with. The fact that we all have our problems doesn't mean that they cancel each other." Said Nick supportively, which the bunny appreciated.

"Fun fact : bunnies in couple sometimes purposely drop the suppressants for a couple of days. It's called a marathon."

The fox gave her an interested and slightly horny look. "Could we try that sometime ?"

"I don't know, I think I could kill you." Taunted the bunny.

"I know of worse ways to die."

"True." She laughed. "It's a method that is also used to have babies."

"Really ?"

"I know my parents did it." She said with a provocative smile.

"I don't even want to know how you know."

"Thin walls."

"I said I didn't want to know." He chuckled. "Now I'm imagining it. Oh gods." That sent them in a short fit of laugh.

The meal finished, they put the remains back in the basket. Nick, standing on the blanket stretched , showing off what remained of the muscles he had put on during the investigation. He had lost a bit, but not that much, and the back muscle hadn't moved, and given his life rhythm, it probably was here to stay. He felt the bunny's paw run from his shoulder to the middle of his back and slowly down to his tail, turning around his waist, the other arm getting on the other side. She buried her face in his red fur.

"Hope I'm not bothering you." Came the muffled voice.

"Not at all." He said, stretching again, and bending his muscles for good measure.
The paws slightly moved. "And now ?"

"Gah."

"Weren't you going to put your clothes back on ?" The bunny asked tauntingly, paws moving slowly and sensually.

"Not anymore." He said, turning and lifting her up to kiss her. She wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Good."

...

"You know, for cops, we're breaking the rules quite a lot." Said Nick.

The bunny was driving with a smile. "Public indecency, fraternization with a direct subordinate..." The thought was strange. Some time ago she never would have believed she could go against rules without even thinking about it.

Suddenly, Nick's phone beeped and he took it out. It seemed his mother had left a message on his phone. The place they were on the meadowlands had was too far off to let him have any network connection. He decided to listen to it.

"Hey Nick ? It's your mother. We've not seen each other since your time in the hospital. What about we have dinner together ? At my place, maybe this evening ? Call me as soon as you get this message. And give a kiss to Judy from me and Fin. Love you."

The vulpine looked at the time. With the meal and the physical activity, they had napped almost all afternoon and it was already 5:30PM. He hoped it wasn't too late to confirm. "Mom is inviting us to dinner."

"This evening ? Why not."

He gave her a peck on the cheek. "And this is from her and Fin. I'm going to call her back to confirm." He dialed his mother number. It barely rang before she picked it up.

"Hello son. You got my message ?"

"Hi mom. Yeah, I got your message, it's okay for us tonight. Sorry if that's a bit late to confirm."

"That's okay. Are you still good for 7PM ?"

"Sure."

"See you soon then."

"See you soon." He put back the phone in his pocket. "So dinner at my mom's tonight, 7PM."

"I'm going to have to change clothes when we get home. And maybe we should go and buy something. Think she'd like a bottle of wine ?"

"Of course. And flowers. Moms everywhere deserves flowers."

"That, they do."

Coming back to their place and changing took them almost an hour, the fox had really drove them far off in the meadowlands, not that it had bothered Judy, after all, they wanted to be alone. They quickly went out afterwards to find a nice bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers. They went to Nick's mother's through the ZUG, finding a parking spot could prove tricky in the city. They rang and entered the building, and climbed up. Vivienne was waiting for them at the door.

"Nick, Judy ! It's so nice to see you !" She gave each of them a tight hug and invited them in. "Fin, put down the paint, the guest are here !" She called through the flat.

"'Comin' Vi." Came the fennec's deep voice. They heard the sound of water running and rustling of clothes sound. And a fennec dressed in his usual shirt and cargo pants arrived in the hallway. "Hey y'all, how'ya doin' ?" He greeted them in turn.

"Hi Fin." They answered. "Still in your paintings ?"

"Neck deep."

"It shows." Said Nick pointing at a splash of paint under his chin.

"Crap, missed a spot. Be right back." And he disappeared again. Vivienne had found a vase and had filled it with water to put the bouquet in. She looked at the bottle.

Red wine. She placed it on the counter for later. "So, how is it to be back on active duty."

"It's so good !" Declared the bunny. "I actually feel like I'm getting some work done."

"You know you get as much work done doing paperwork." Said Nick with a little smile.

"Not the same."

"True. Filling a file is not as rewarding as tackling a pickpocket. And certainly not as fun."

The bunny was about to contradict him, but she had to admit it was true. She didn't do that job for the fun of it, but she prefered the physical part of her duty.

The older vixen smiled and patted their shoulders. "Since you're here I have a surprise for you. Well a couple of surprises actually." She led them to the living room. They were hit by the scent of paint and terebenthine. They had pulled a sheet as a makeshift curtain, cutting the room in two. She pulled it to show what was behind as the fennec reappeared. "Makin' dem visit my workshop ?"

"If that's okay with you."

"Still is yo' place, Vi." She didn't really consider it only her place anymore since he payed half the rent. They took a look inside and saw a few blank canvas and a few half-painted ones. "Tha's where I'm working. But the surprise is 'dere he said pointing in his back. At the other end of the room, on the wall their back was previously facing were four vertical paintings. They had been done one wood instead of canvas and were no more than fourty centimeters high. Each of them represented Vivienne, Nic, Finnick, and on the far left, a male fox that the bunny didn't recognize.

"Holy crap." Nick had to put a paw in his mouth. "You painted dad !" A flow of contradicting emotions filled his mind as he approached the painting to look at it in more details. He noticed he had too few vivid memory of him, the only image left was him on his hospital bed. There was a big ball on his throat that he had a hard time to swallow. He felt two paws, one on his shoulder from his mother, and when taking his paws from Judy. He turned to face the fennec who looked slightly uncomfortable.

"It's a good painting." And single tear rolled down his cheek. "A really good painting."

"Glad yo' like it. I wanted to paint the Wilde family, yo' mom insisted that I put one of myself on the wall. Hope 'dats okay with you."
Nick turned to look at the painting of Finnick. "I think it's its place, but maybe you should put it next to mom's."
The fennec had a strange scoff. "Yeah, she said the same thing. Anyway, I have another thing to show you." He went back to the unfinished painting and took one of them. It was an unfinished one of Judy, in the same format.

The bunny gasped. "You can't ! I mean, I'm not part of-"

"You are to me." Cut the vixen.

"To me too." Added Nick. "And that ring isn't only for show. He said, taking her paw."

Vivienne and Finnick's mouth slightly opened in surprise. The vixen finally articulated. "You proposed !"

"Yup !"

"Not too soon, kid !"

Nick turned to the fennec with a joking smile. "Why, did you already propose to my mom ?"

"Actually..." She said, raising her own left paw, which had a ring on it. It was a nice simple silver ring, with a pair of small topaz and emerald embedded in it.

"Holy shit !" Muttered the fox. "That's fantastic !" He said, suddenly hugging both his mother and soon-to-be father-in-law. "Have you decided on a date ?"

"Well, no, but soon. We don't want something big, or anything. Just the two of you and us." Explained the vixen. "By the way, Judy, I'd like you to be my maid of honor."

"What ?" She asked surprised. "I'm honored, but don't you have someone closer, or... I mean, I'd be glad to do it."

"Judy, I don't know if you've noticed but I don't have a lot of acquaintances. I spent most of the years before Nick came back into my life retired from the world. Apart for my work. I'm not saying that asking you as my maid of honor is the default choice either, I really want you to be it."

"In that case I'd be glad to do it." She said, hugging the vixen.

Finnick casually turned to Nick. "Oh, by the way, you're my best mammal."

"Sure." And they simply fistbumped on it. The females glanced at them in disbelief and the male simply shrugged at them.

"Males."

"Males. Oh, and of course we'd also like you both as our witnesses." Added the vixen.

Nick and Judy nodded "Of course !"

At the same time the discussion ended, the stove rang, signaling it was time to set up the table. Nick and Judy did it while Finnick and Vivienne prepared the plates. The vixen had prepared a roasted mushroom pie. She usually put chicken in it too, but since the bunny was here, she had chosen to go for a vegan option. Sometimes, the bunny wondered if it was bothering her predator friends to always be careful to avoid using meat when preparing a meal when she was invited. Nick had explained that it probably didn't. It was an usual problem in predators and prey relations, with which the predators had learned to live with.

When the dessert came, ice cream with whipped cream, Finnick and Vivienne looked a bit awkward, something Nick was quick to notice.

"Do you have another surprise for me ?"

"There is actually another reason why we want to marry..." Seeing his mother being a bit shy about something wasn't very usual to Nick, and even less coming from Finnick. It kind of put him on edge.

"Yes ?"

The vixen took an inspiration and spilled it. "We'd like to adopt."

"Huh ?"

"I can't really have kids anymore, or not without risk. And me and Fin... We'd like to have a kid. Not that I want to replace you, but I wanted to talk about it with you before we went through the administrative process."

The fox was a bit dumbfounded. He had absolutely not seen that coming. Judy looked at him with apprehension in the growing awkward silence.

"Okay ?" He said. "I mean, I don't really have a say in that. I don't have anything against it. I mean are you asking for my permission ? Because it's not really something you need."

"We just don't want it to be awkward."

"Good job with that." He taunted, lifting a thumb. "But I think it's a good idea. I mean, the two of you separately managed to make a half-decent fox out of me. I think together, you can't really screw that up."

The vixen gave a deep sigh. "I was a bit nervous about announcing that to you." Nick went to hug his mother.

"I understand why. But I'm really okay with it."

"Hey kid, you're going to be a big brother !"

Nick tensed up slightly, that last comment reviving the memories of Mike in his mind. "Yeah, that's nice. I guess. Judy, how is it to have brothers and sisters ?"
The bunny that had been surprised as much as Nick and that had stayed out of the conversation made a smile. "It's like living with hellspawns you're not allowed to send back to their realm."

"Good thing I'm not around here a lot then."

Nick was truly perfectly okay with his mother and Nick having a kid. He felt like the reason why they had waited so long to get together was him. Maybe if he had found the courage to get home, they would have declared to each other sooner too. And they would already have had a kid together. In any case, he had no doubt they were both qualified enough to handle the task.

...

The two mates had gone back to their flat, sitting on the couch to relax for a bit, when an idea came to Nick's mind.

"Speaking of marriage, I know Fin and my mother want something really small, but what do you want ? I mean, I'm pretty open to anything on this, I never had a lot of expectation about my love life before meeting you."

"Well, I know my parents won't ever let me live it down if I don't have a proper bunny marriage." She said pensively.

"And what kind of marriage are those ?"

Judy had a little apologetic smile. "The complete opposite of small. We send invites to the extended family. Traditional bunny marriages can go from two hundreds to one thousand guests."

Nick's mouth fell slightly.

"We usually use the local stadium or party hall if it's big enough. Else, it takes place in a field."

The fox was trying to figure out the logistic of such an event. "Wait, how are we supposed to pay for such a marriage ?"

"I knew you'd get stuck here. Bunny marriage aren't like the others. First, everyone brings something. There is usually enough to feed an army. And most bunny weddings are in fact multiple weddings. With extended families it's usually simpler to get everyone gathered once a year. I once saw seven couples get married at once. Plus, there is rarely any need to hire any helping paws. We just do everything ourselves. However the amount of organization it needs is completely crazy."

"And you want a marriage like that ?" Asked the fox, aghast.

Judy scoffed. "Absolutely not, but I can't really avoid it. Marrying a fox, I think I can at least put on this effort for my parents. I'll let them handle the logistics though. There are limits to my abnegation."

"So basically, we'll just go there, get married, and get back in the city ?"

The bunny elbowed him lightly. "We'll at least have to spend a few days there. You can't just come and go, and pass off as some sort of sly fox getting away with the bride. We wouldn't want that." She leaned against him, suddenly feeling a bit tired. She gave a big and adorable yawn.

"No we wouldn't." He pushed her toward the bedroom door. "Let's go sleepyhead."