Chapter 11: Willa

Jo held onto her son's hand and Hubert's hand, the vixen sandwiched between the two males she loved most in the world; her son and her boyfriend. The motherly fox smiled as her wolf guided them towards a glass door. A memory popped into her mind. She was walking into the exact same restaurant nearly six years prior, holding a bassinet with a sleeping baby Kody. Hubert had passed her on the street just a few yards back, giving her a once over. The whole recollection made the vixen smile happily as the large gray wolf lead her and her son into the diner.

Hubert looked about the mom and pop establishment for a second, a look of concern on his face until he spotted his favorite spot, a booth not too far from the coffee bar. It was a perfect spot, really. Close enough to coffee and food that service wouldn't take too long. The wolf unwittingly dragged the vixen and her kit behind him, making a quick dash to his table to make sure no one grabbed it before he could.

The three slid onto the bench seats; Kody sitting next to his mother, with Hubert facing the two. "They gots th'best food outside'a mama'n'daddy's," the massive gray furred wolf said with a huge smile on his face. Jo nodded as she looked around where she sat, still remembering when she was there the first time. "It ain't changed atall," the vixen whispered.

The wolf couldn't help but let out a little laugh. "It's been th'same since I wuz here as a pup, Jo-sef-een," he replied. The motherly fox was just about to say something when Hubert's attention moved away from her to something or someone else.

A short, wide, thick and busty European badger woman in a blue one piece jumpsuit and skirt waddled over to them, a broad, toothy smile on her black and white face. "Well, if it ain't my fave-or-ite customer," the waitress chirped. It was easy to tell that she was much older than the two foxes and one wolf in front of her. There were lines under her eyes, and her muzzle was specked with grey hairs. "Yer daddy wuz in here jist th'other day, sayin' you was out workin' in Bunnyburrah again this summer," she continued as she handed only two menus out specifically to Jo and Kody, "So Charlie and me wuzn't expectin' ya. Ya wants yer usual, honey?"

Hubert nodded enthusiastically, "I sure do Miss Willa."

The badger laughed, "If I tolds ya once, I tolds ya a hunert times. Y'ain't gots t'call me Miss Willa no more. Y'ain't a pup."

Jo tilted her head in confusion. Hubert had come here often enough for this Willa to know exactly what he wanted. Slowly, the vixen turned her head to look at the sow badger. The mustelid was smiling back at her.

"I ain't see you here in six years," Willa said before Jo even had a chance to ask any questions.

The statement made the reddish-yellow fox blink several times. "You… remember me?"

"Sure do, honey. You know, the sad thing is that most animals thinks that all ya foxes look alike, but I knows fer a fact that ain't the case. I member erry face that comes in here," the badger admitted with pride. "Course, ya was the only reddish-yeller vixen to ever come in here holdin' a bassinet, so that does tend to stick out."

Jo blinked again. Her mouth moved to say something, but nothing seemed to want to come out. That didn't stop the black and white furred woman from continuing as she leaned over to look at Kody. "And is this that cute little kit I saw in that bassinet?"

If Jo looked confused, her son looked utterly befuddled with a heaping helping of scared. Badgers were another species that he'd never seen. She was the same size as that skunk woman, and with her toothy smile, she looked like she was ready to pounce and eat him. Kody let out a whimper as he started to quiver, his big fluffy tail moving instinctively to cover himself.

Jo moved herself slightly so Willa couldn't look around her to stare at her son, the vixen's protective instincts kicking in. "Yes, that's m'boy, Kody."

The badger smiled, "Well he is jist the cutest lil thang, honey. I had two cubs and two kits with Charlie, and ain't none of'em ever had fur color like that. I knows I've been eatin' up yer time, so I'll gets ya'll some water less ya wants sumthin' else t'drank."

Kody slowly peeked around his tail. "Mama," he said softly, "C… can I has a soader?"

Jo turned her head around to give her son a warm, loving smile as she nodded, "Of course, sugar fox."

The kit smiled back, but as soon as he saw Willa poking her head around, he went back to hiding behind his tail.

"One soader, and can I gets ya anything, honey?"

"I'll takes a soader too."

"Three soaders," the stout badger woman replied, giving them a nod. "I'll be back in a minute."

As Willa waddled away, Jo turned herself back into a more normal seating position, giving Hubert a confused look. "What did she mean by having two cubs and two kits?"

The wolf blushed a little as he smiled. "Miss Willa's married to a fox."

The statement made Jo blink several times. She'd heard about inter-species marriages before, but she'd never actually met anyone that had done it, let alone heard of any offspring that came from such a union. It began to raise far too many questions in her mind about her and Hubert possibly having children of their own.

"Ya mean Charlie…"

"Is a tod," Hubert finished her sentence.