Chapter 37 Calm before the Storm

All good things come to an end, and as the sun began to set after several hours, Nick and Judy sadly left their new favorite spot on the hill and made their way back to the lake. Today was going to be a day they would never forget, and judging by how their paws were locked and their fingers were intertwined all the way back to the lake, neither wanted to forget.

The lake was just how they left it, with Judy's siblings still playing in the water, though many had begun building a massive sand castle on the tiny beach, complete with towers, a moat and … was that a fire-breathing dragon roasting a knight on a spit?

Nick looked at Judy who pointed to a young, small, very cream colored male bunny with glasses who was now making a gallows, complete with twig victims hanging on them. She waved her paw in a dismissive wave.

"That's just Harold," she laughed.

Nick nodded his head, laughing nervously. "Right..."

They rejoined Judy's siblings, besides Harold who was now drawing with a stick on the ground. His drawing looked like a full-sized caricature of some sort of mammal with pointy ears and huge fangs, dripping saliva and facing down against a swarm of bunnies armed with pitchforks. Harold finished the monstrous looking creature by adding a large bushy tail, then glared towards Nick. He brought two fingers up to his eyes, then pointed them towards Nick with a grin.

Maybe Jessica wasn't the only crazy bunny he should be watching out for.

Nick pointed the drawing out to Judy, who scrutinized it, then glared at the artist who, with now wide eyes, hurried to rub it out with his paw.

They stayed at the beach for another hour, heading back into the water as the day was still quite warm even for being this late. With their new status – though Nick had joked that until they had put it up on their Furbook accounts it wasn't 'official' – their fun in the water took on a whole new level of joy and flirtatious behavior. Their splashing each other usually ended now with Nick grabbing Judy and dunking both him and her, while sneaking a kiss underwater with the doe to keep it it hidden from Judy's siblings.

They decided they would have to plan another trip out to the lake when Judy's siblings wouldn't be around. In all the fun, they hadn't even noticed that Jessica wasn't at the lake anymore.

Eventually, they both decided it was time to pack things up as the shadows began growing quite long across the lake, and with a shiver from Judy, Nick had decided it was time to go. Somehow, they scrounged all the kids together, letting them know the news to lots of 'awww's' and pleas of 'one more minute'.

Nick had needed Judy's help when a gaggle of some of the younger siblings, at the behest of the most vocal complainers, had given Nick the 'sad bunny eyes'. It was only thanks to his Judy's immunity to her siblings gaze – Nick had nearly called it cute, but quickly switched to adorable without Judy noticing – that they made it back home at a decent hour.

They made it back just in time for dinner, and as they walked into the dining room, Nick's jaw dropped.

"How did you even find a dinner table that large or find your seat?" he had muttered in disbelief, as nearly 300 rabbits surrounded a massive u-shaped table that filled an an area the size of a barn.

Judy smiled, "ITREEA, of course. Plus each seat is labeled so everyone knows where to sit. The table is organized by litter, so we'll be in the 'J' section."

"I thought you were one of the oldest?" Nick asked, still quite stunned by how large scale an operation feeding the Hopps family was.

His partner laughed, "I am. My parents wanted to play a joke on the town and started with 'J' names when everyone else started with 'A' in their families."

Nick smile faded a bit. "Wait, do you mean that your sister will be sitting next to us?"

Judy's ears shot up, and she quickly looked to her left. She saw an empty chair, labeled 'Jessica' and relaxed a little. "Mom, where's Jessica?"

Bonnie's ears turned towards them as Judy's mother was with one hand trying to feed a young kit a spoonful of mashed carrots, while with the other was rocking another baby which had a bottle in its mouth. "She said she wasn't hungry. Said something about needing to do some planning. I don't know, she seemed pretty excited for whatever it was..."

Judy and Nick looked at each other nervously but were somewhat glad Judy's sibling wasn't at the table, but now worried what she was up to.

Sitting next to each other, they held paws under the table, both agreeing earlier that they would inform her parents of their decision when they figured out just how to tell them. Her parents had come a long way in their views towards foxes through Judy's influence and their partnership with Gideon Grey, but both had still wanted to be careful and not risk an adverse reaction to their budding relationship.

It might have had something to do with the fox taser Nick had spied in a drawer of a coffee table in the living room, but Nick didn't let Judy know that.

They talked long into the evening, enjoying one another's company, though also pining quietly after one another. Judy told Nick about the blueberry festival the next day, and the fox's eyes widened considerably when she told him they had an annual, blueberry-eating competition.

"You mean to say I can eat all the blueberries I want, for free, and then win even more?" he asked, beginning to salivate with his mouth hanging open.

The rabbit nodded excitedly. "I thought you might like the idea. I already had my parents sign you up as a competitor for it." Nick let out a pleased sounded hum as he leaned in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Carrots, we need to come back here every year for this festival."

His comment made Judy excited. He had said, 'we'. Inside she was bubbling with joy, thought on the outside, somehow managed to keep her calm facade up.

Judy finally excused the two of them after dinner, saying how they both needed to head to bed. The pair walked down a nearby corridor, walking past connecting hallways that were labeled 'Hall A', 'Hall B'. etc. When they reached a sign saying 'Hall J', Judy turned to Nick.

"Each hall has some guest rooms in them, so I managed to get one prepared just down from my room."

Nick smirked as they turned down the hall, passing by a door opened just a crack, "Oh, so what happened to not sharing me with anyone? I thought you wanted me around." He gave her a mischievous grin, causing her ears to wilt and turn bright red. She punched his arm.

"Hush you. I'm not sharing you with anyone. You're mine, even if we don't share a room..."

"Yet..." she added with a wink. She held out her paw in front of the fox. "You have to put a ring on it first for that to happen, you know."

It was Nick's turn to blush. They laughed, though Judy stopped as she thought she heard someone sniffling nearby. She turned to only see a door shut quickly. She knew which door that was and narrowed her eyes before shaking her head and moving ahead with Nick.

"Here you go!" she exclaimed with a cheery smile, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach, as they stopped in front of a door with a large Carrot hanging on it, huge white letters saying "Welcome Guest" on it. "One fox den, for my foxy friend."

"It's a nice room, Carrots," he explained, an amused smile on his muzzle as he noticed the rabbit-sized bed in front of him. "Though it doesn't seem like you have many visitors bigger than a rabb-"

The door shut and locked behind them and as Nick turned at the noise, he was quickly silenced as Judy jumped up, wrapped her legs around his waist and smashed her lips against his own. They pulled apart nearly a minute later, Judy laughing merrily.

"I've been waiting to do since the lake," Judy stammered before Nick closed the gap again between them.

A very frazzled and dreamy-eyed Judy closed the door to his room a few minutes later, smiling happily as she nearly floated to her room down the hall. They hadn't done anything more than kiss and snuggle, but the rabbit was filled with bliss as she closed the door to her room, not noticing the two violet eyes staring out at her from a darkened room across the hall. A sniffle came from the room as the door closed.

Jessica turned back into her room, wiping at her eyes as she slowly trudged to her computer and plopped down on the seat in front of it. The screen was opened to a paused Yewtube video. Several bunnies in rather scandalous apparel appeared to be dancing on the screen, surrounding what appeared to be a fox. Another screen was opened to a darker video, though it appeared to show a large hole in the middle of what looked like a museum and a blurry image of a sheep and several rams standing atop it, as well as what could be made out as a fox and rabbit inside of the gaping hole.

The doe grinned before shutting her laptop. "Sorry Judy, but if I'm not the one who ends up with the fox, then you don't get to have your foxy toy either." The rabbit slunk to her bed, collapsed onto it, and pulled the covers over her.

Once Mom and Dad see these...the fox won't be allowed near Judy for the rest of her life.

She smiled at the thought, snuggling deeper into the blankets.

And then...I can have him all to myself.

Kiss Count (both have reached 5 for the day, unchanged)

Nick: 33

Judy: 37

AN: Uh oh...what's Jessica planning? What will happen at the festival tomorrow? Will Nick and Judy be able to stay together? Will Nick consume so many blueberries he turns into one?

Stayed tuned for the next episode of..."ONE HUNDRED KISSES"!

Seriously though, stayed tuned.. ;)