A Son of his Own Chapter 38: Welcome to BunnyBurrow
A major delay I know, life got in the way is all.
Be glad you're getting a chapter anyways.
Let's get started.
Nathan peacefully slept in the loving embrace of his father, Nick himself kept the little fox tucked in and close to him, gently rubbing his head and fiddling with his little fox ears, hearing his son slightly make the equivalent sound of a purring, Judy herself couldn't help but watch as she saw how loving her police partner was to his son, showing her another side of Nick, one of fatherhood.
"I bet Nathan likes it when you do that to him, doesn't he?" Judy asked quietly as she watched how contempt that Nathan was, reminding her of how her mother and father used to embrace her when she was a little child.
"He does, he is, well, to be honest, words fail me. I guess it's because he had a rough upbringing, so he takes any opportunity of comfort and love that he can get. I can't blame the little guy either, he's had it rough and I'm more than happy to give him the attention he needs" Nick said gently as he continued to gently rub Nathan, looking back at Judy and all of a sudden he started getting a funny feeling in his gut again.
"Not this again Nick, c'mon, she's a rabbit, would she love to be in a relationship with a handsome fox like you? Now we just kinda contradicted ourselves didn't we huh? Damn it, this is so annoying" Nick thought to himself as he felt those funny emotions enter his system again, feeling his heart slightly rushing, he had feelings for Judy.
Genuine feelings, and he didn't know why.
Nick was good at hiding his emotions as he had so for most of his life, however, he did not know how to hide these emotions, which resulted in a rather strange looking expression on his face, thankfully, Judy's phone buzzed and she turned around before Nick looked funny, but feeling the funny expression, he got rid of it immediately and went back to huddling Nathan as Judy texted back to who Nick assumed were her parents.
"Oh son, what am I gonna do? Would you even understand if I told you the feelings that In having for Judy right now? Maybe you would, you're a smart kid, much like I was when I was your age, oh I don't know what to do" Nick thought to himself as he looked down at Nathan, seeing how contempt and happy he was to be sleeping, Nathan didn't have to worry about everything that came with being an adult, he was a child, so at least Nathan could be a child for as long as he was one.
"My parents and some of my siblings and other relatives are waiting at the station, keep in mind that my family are somewhat sketchy of foxes but my parents are willing to make an exception if you win their respect" Judy said quietly as she put her phone away, looking up at Nick and getting some sort of fuzzy feeling in her stomach.
Whenever Judy looked at Nick's eyes she would feel herself slightly shrivel, just looking at his eyes made her realise how much of a capable fox he was, he was smug but had a loving side, he was very smart and could read mammals like a book, he was probably reading her now, she felt somewhat hypnotised but she shook out of her trance in time.
The two of them were very confused and they didn't know what to do, Judy couldn't get over the fact that she was falling for a Fox, and Nick had the same issue, in his case it's a rabbit, both of them had feelings for each other.
"Uh hey there's a bunch of patches of fields out there, I haven't been out here in a long time, nice to get out of the city again" Nick spoke as he looked out the window, pointing out at the various fields and patches that grew who knows what, the fields themselves seemed to be very vast vast and spread out for as far as the eye could see, with a few odd hills in the distance, Nick didn't wanna get talking about his feelings right now so he had to distract himself and Judy.
"So you've been in Bunnyburrow before?" Judy asked, if Nick had been in Bunnyburrow before, maybe she had seen him but back then she had not known that it was him.
"Yeah I have, me and Finnick came out here for a holiday when we first met up with each other, coming out here was a breath of relief for the two of us since life in the city was and still is very demanding, but coming out to the countryside allowed us to unwind a bit and chill, which was really needed back then. Now I guess the same could be said here since I'm in Bunnyburrow again, and I have Nathan with me this time, so it's his first time being here, I'm sure it'll be memorable for him" Nick said, remembering back to the time that he and Finnick spent outside the city, Nick sometimes wished that he didn't live in the city and be a rural fox, unfortunately he had a bind to the city that he simply could not cut off, not that he wanted too anyways.
"Interesting, I never spotted two foxes fitting that description around the burrows, then again, I wouldn't have known that it was you or Finnick since I didn't know the two of you back then, but by the sound of things, you two must've enjoyed it here" Judy said as she and Nick leaned slightly leaned forward as the train reached a stop, an announcement stating that they had arrived at the Bunnyburrow train station.
"Oh we did, it was so much quieter for one, the mammals were nicer than the loud mouths you'd meet back on the streets of Zootopia, the air was better and everything was just perfect, me and Finnick couldn't get over how things were so peaceful out here back then" Nick said as he rubbed Nathan's head slightly harder to wake him, and eventually Nathan's little eyes opened to the sight of his dad.
"We're in Bunnyburrow now son, let's behave while we are here alright?" Nick said in a slightly sarcastic tone as he stood up from his seat, letting Nathan off of his lap, Nathan gave a good stretch and scratched at his ears while Judy got out of her seat, trying to not giggle at how cute Nathan looked when was scraping at his ears.
"Don't worry Dad, I won't let you down!" Nathan said with enthusiasm as he, Judy and Nick made their way out of the train, stepping out into warm countryside air and they were immediately greeted by Judy's horde of a family, an army of little rabbits immediately hugging at the trio's legs, Nathan had to be pulled off the ground by his father or else he would've been stampeded by fluffy bunnies.
"Judy, how many siblings do you have?" Nick asked as he felt what seemed to be an unlimited amount of tiny paws preening at his legs, while Judy was not being flooded but she had some leg rubbers to accompany her too.
"I think I have more than five hundred siblings at this stage along with hundreds of cousins, nephews, nieces etcetera etcetera, looks like all of them are very eager to meet you and Nathan since I've spoken so highly of you two" Judy said as she hugged some of her brothers and sisters and other family members, at the end of the horde of bunnies was Judy's parents in their usual attire, they immediately called the little bunnies back to them so the adults could get their turn and everyone complied, while Stu was glad to see Judy with company, he remained wary of the fact they were Foxes, but he trusted that his daughter was very happy with them, so he would be happy too.
"Hey Mom and Dad, it's so good to see you all again, it's been months!" Judy said happily as she walked up to her parents and have the two of them hugs, Nick meanwhile helped Nathan get back down on the ground, but Nathan made sure to hang close to Nick's leg just incase, which Nick happily complied with as he smiled at Judy's parents.
"It's so nice to see you too Judy. So these are the two foxes you've been telling us about, Nick and Nathan was it? It's finally nice to meet the two of you" Bonnie said as she walked up to Nick and offered to shake paws, Bonnie wasn't one bit troubled by Nick or Nathan being foxes as she trusted her daughter, Nick gladly shook paws with Bonnie and Nathan done the same when it was his turn, Nathan was a bit shy but he was willing to give the bunnies a chance.
"It's nice meeting you as well Bonnie, and, Stu was it? No harm no foul right? It's okay to feel the way you are and I don't blame you, but I trust Judy that's you're just being a good dad" Nick said as he walked over to Study to shake paws, Stu was slightly hesistant to shake Nick's paw but he eventually did, he gave a smile and a reassuring nod.
"No harm no could indeed, Judy speaks very highly of you and your son, I trust the word of my daughter so I'll trust you" Stu said as he and Nick finally formed somewhat of a bond, with everything now settled and the greetings having been made, everyone made their way back to their home, it was all on foot since one car wouldn't be enough to fit everyone but Nick carried Nathan whenever his feet got tired, not that Nick minded, he liked to carry Nathan.
After a matter of minutes walking on a straight road that made its way through various crop fields and much more, it wasn't long until everyone arrived back at the burrow, that's literally what it was, a bunch of tunnels dug into a hill but it was nicely decorated on the outside and it was certainly prosperous on the inside no doubt, at least that's what Nick and Nathan hoped, there was solid the essential farming tools, a few tractors, buckets, sheds and whatnot, it seemed like the farm was well equipped.
"So, I'm guessing you grow more than carrots out here?" Nick said as he and Nathan looked around, seeing all sorts of various crops being grown in the fields other than carrots.
"Yup, we do grow carrots but we have to grow more than that, we grow all sorts of things, wheat, barley, potatoes, cabbage, beans, berries, other fruits so on so forth. There's various demands we have to meet and it pays well, we don't just grow ordinary carrots either, we grow blue carrots, red carrots, there's plenty of different colours we can grow" Bonnie explained while Nick and Nathan showed some looks of surprise, they never knew there was more than one type of carrot.
"Mom, I think you're making them see stars" Judy said with a hint of sarcasm, she was right since Nick and Nathan had slightly ajar mouthes and their eyes were confuzzled to say the least, but eventually they both shook themselves out of their trance.
"Oh, sorry. I mean, it's impressive that you can grow this amount of stuff, does the family help out too? Surely not just a couple of you do this stuff" Nick asked as he hoisted Nathan back into his arms because his legs were tired again, making him comfortable while he tucked him nicely.
"The kids help out too when time allows it, but we also get some farmhands from outside the farm as well to help us out, and recently, me and Bonnie have been allowing students studying agriculture and other subjects relating to botanical science and all that stuff just to help give them some experience growing plants and getting them used to the various methods to settle the seeds and all that. It's hard work but we never need to worry about going hungry and it's honest work" Stu explained as some of the bunnies began making their way back into the family home, entering through different entrances to avoid a crush from happening.
"Do you guys grow blueberries?" Nathan asked before Nick could, Nick could only smile since his son took the words right out of his mouth, the two of them had many things in common, one being their love for blueberries.
"Oh we grow a lot of blueberries, Judy can bring you along to the blueberry patch if you want, me and Stu will get some other tasks organised in the meantime" Bonnie said as she and Stu made their way into the burrow, based off the smallest glimpse Nick and Nathan got of the inside of the house from such a distance, they could already tell it was a somewhat prosperous interior.
"Alright, come along then boys" Judy said happily as the trio began making their way through various patches of land until they made it to the blueberry patch, where bushes of blueberries were being freshly grown right from the bush itself.
"I've never seen blueberries as fresh as these ones dad!" Nathan said excitedly as Nick set him down on the ground, he and his dad picked enough blueberries to taste and they absolutely loved them, the freshest they had tasted ever.
"Yeah, or tasted as well bud. Not to be nosey or anything but would you have helped out with the farm business too Judy?" Nick asked as Judy plucked some berries herself and tasted a few, savouring the taste.
"Oh I would've, it was exhausting but some of the others seemingly never get tired of it, it wasn't the kind of work I wanted to do, hence why I became a Cop, but from time to time whenever I come back I'll always help out wherever I am needed" Judy said as she and the two foxes began making their way back to the burrow, making their way through a door made for the adult bunnies to walk through, Nick had to duck his head slightly to walk and already he was impressed by the interior as a bunch of smells began attacking both his and Nathan's noses, smells of various air fresheners, food and candles.
The interior of the burrow was not dirty or full of bad smells, the interior was actually very nicely down, the walls were painted various colours from warm beige to strawberry red, a multitude of potted plants and flowers decorated various shelves, windowsills and more, knick knacks could be found almost everywhere along tables and chairs and much more dotted around with the place, along with lots and lots of hallways all with different rooms like bathrooms and bedrooms for everyone, though everyone wouldn't have their own single room save for the parents, plenty of paintings hung from the walls depicting various suggest around bunnyburrow such as other farms but along with the roads, rivers, lakes and the mountains too.
"This isn't what I was thinking of a bunny's home, it's, nice" Nathan said as he looked around at all the various hallways, taking in all the sights that he could, both Nick and Judy were glad to see Nathan exploring the new environments, Nick himself was quite impressed by the interior and the furniture.
"Right bud? How do you even keep the floors so clean? There's barely any dirt on the floor" Nick said as he looked down at the wooden and at times carpet, seeing how there was basically little to no dirt on the floors despite the place being owned by farmers, which he expected at least some dirt.
"My parents make sure we always sweep up after ourselves or wipe our feet on the mats, no one is happy if the house is messy they say" Judy said as they all made their way into the main dining room, everyone else went about their business but Judy's parents were waiting in the dining room like they have every single time Judy came home, some of the bunnies seemed rather curious having foxes in the house since Judy had spoken so highly of Nick and Nathan.
"Tell ya what squirt, maybe go ahead and make some new friends, those bunnies seem rather curious to meet you" Nick said as he sat down beside Judy at the table, it was quite a big enough table but there were plenty of other tables to seat enough bunnies, but there were lounging seats that some bunnies were sitting at, the bunnies themselves were looking over at Nathan with curious looks.
Nick obviously didn't want Nathan to get bored of the adult talk and that was a nice thing, it meant Nick was looking out for his son and all, he wanted to ensure Nathan had a great time being out of Zootopia since this might be the only time the two of them will get out of the city for a while.
"Alright Dad" Nathan said as he left the table and left his dad and Judy to talk with Judy's parents, Nathan took a deep breath since he was somewhat nervous but he eventually filled himself with confidence and walked over to the bunnies who were looking over at him, there were six of them.
"Um, hello there" Nathan said as he waved and sat down on a nearby cushion, making sure to make himself look somewhat inviting to the bunnies, eventually, one of the bunnies decided to come over and sit on a cushion in front of Nathan with a slightly nervous smile on his face, he was a light brown bunnies with white paws and white tipped ears, complete with brown eyes, he wore a light red t-shirt and tan shorts.
"Hi, what's your name? My name is George" the bunny said as he became somewhat confident, becoming trustful as he didn't see what harm there was in talking to a fox, this made Nathan smile a bit since this one bunny wasn't going to shy out, at least that's what he hoped.
"My name is Nathan, it's nice to meet you George" Nathan said as he offered to shake paws with the bunny, George was a bit hesitant but he eventually shook paws, somewhat surprised at how soft Nathan's paws were since he expected his paws to be rough like a predator would be.
"It's nice to meet you too Nathan" George responded as they broke the paw shake.
"Judy did talk about Bunnyburrow a lot with my dad, I never really understand how all of you are able to remember each others names, no offence or anything like that" Nathan said as he raised his paws up slightly to show he was being honest with George.
"None taken, all of us eventually remember each others names, our mom and dad would be able to pick out all of us if we were placed in a group of other bunnies, and in fact they have, a few years ago they put us all in a big group of bunnies and they had absolutely no problem finding all of us, even if we were shuffled around" George said while carefully explaining everything to Nathan, Nathan was quite impressed with how well bunnies (or at least most of them) could remember their children despite having so many.
"Yeah, bunnies in Zootopia don't generally have as much kids as bunnies do out here, usually around fifty or sixty. So who are the others?" Nathan said as he pointed to the other bunnies who were sitting down in the background as he and George had their chat, listening in on them like the good siblings that they were.
"That bunny with the black tipped ears is Tommy, the one with the pink heart shirt is Jasmine, that's James with the the different colour fur around his eyes, Alicia is the bunny with those cheek spots on her cheeks and that's my brother Bryan with the grizzled chin, his chin fur is rougher than the rest of his fur because of a rare thing in his DNA that he was born with" George said as he pointed to the various rabbits and noting their distinct features that would make them stand out, Tommy was a white furred rabbit with black tipped ears as mentioned before, Jasmine was a chestnut brown and black bunny, James had a patch of black fur over one of his eyes and a patch of white over the other, which made it look as if though he was wearing an eye patch, Alicia was another white furred bunny but she had black spots on her cheek, like a Dalmatian would have spots and Bryan did have a very grizzled looking chin, (I'm not assed to describe their eyes, clothes and whatnot, imagine what you will).
"It's nice to meet all of you, come on, don't be shy, George trusts me, what more do you want? Pizza? Ice cream? I'm being put in a narrow place here" Nathan said in a sarcastic manner as he saw everyone was still shy, but George turned around and just gestured them to come over and sit down and talk with Nathan.
"I wouldn't mind going for a pizza if we lived close to a pizza parlour, carrot pizza is pretty good" Tommy said as he sat down and shrugged, the first thing coming out of his mouth being pizza of course instead of introducing himself to Nathan fully, nice going.
"It's nice to meet you Tommy" Nathan said as he reached his paw over to Tommy's and shook it, hey, Tommy wasn't offering to shake it so Nathan had to go to his paw, Nathan of course was being humourous, he wasn't being a jerk or anything.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Nathan was it?" Tommy said as his facial expression just changed to a look that showed he wasn't expecting what just happened,not surprise, but something else completely.
"Yes, my name is Nathan, that's my dad over there talking with your parents and your sister, the two of them are partners in the police force" Nathan explained as he pointed over to his dad, he, Judy and Judy's parents were talking with each other, getting up to date with any news that there was along with other things.
"Cool! It was interesting when Judy wanted to become a cop, now she's in Zootopia kicking crime in the butt and now your dad is too" Tommy said as everyone agreed, though there was a lot more to kicking crime in the butt, they were just kids, so Nathan decided to not ruin the moment for them, that and it would just confusing.
"Yup, my dad is pretty smart so he really knows what he's doing whenever he has to catch someone or something else, he's a pretty great dad too" Nathan said as he looked over at his dad, Nathan couldn't have asked for a better dad, an adoptive one anyways, but he didn't care, Nick actually loved him and that's all that mattered to Nathan, among other things.
"That's actually pretty cool, not to be rude about my dad but he only really shows his super smart side when he's doing a crossword" Jasmine said as she lowered her voice, she had a rather soothing and happy to lucky kind of voice, Nathan would call it cute it he knew that would be rude.
"My dad is good with general knowledge in, general. Is it okay if one of you takes me on a tour around the place? I wanna get to know the layout of the place, if you don't mind" Nathan asked as Tommy sat up from his cushion eagerly, Nathan already knew he'd be the tour guide for the family burrow.
"You're in luck for I have my chores done for the day and I know absolutely every nook and cranny in the house, secret hiding spots and secret entrance ways, I'll always find them no matter what" Tommy said as Nathan stood up from his cushion, everyone else bid their farewells but it seemed as if everyone just wanted to get away from Tommy, he seemed pretty again happy to lucky but Nathan was okay with that.
"You sure seem positive, you've been waiting for this moment all day haven't you?" Nathan asked with a tone of sarcasm, following Tommy out of the main dining area as he began to show Nathan around, going through the same main corridor that Nathan came through.
"Well when I heard that the two foxes that Judy talks about nonstop were coming to visit bunnyburrow, I had to do it because no one else knows this burrow as well as I do, well, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit but I'm the only trustworthy tour guide, I think" Tommy said while walking backwards and doing some paw gestures, he was pretty eager to get started, so Nathan was looking forward to seeing the place and what it had to offer.
"Outside are the various crop fields as you know, with all the necessary tools needed blah blah blah, it's the burrow we're focusing on" Tommy said when he and Nathan passed by an observation area which showed off some of the fields, it was an impressive sight to see for sure.
"Yeah, though I imagine working on the farm wouldn't be super duper easy, or is it?" Nathan asked.
"It isn't really hard for me since I get to take care of the more easier stuff to grow, sure, it can have its hard moments but it ain't back breaking" Tommy responded, he and Nathan were going down a completely different corridor that ran along the edge of the burrow.
"So in this part of the house are all of the bedrooms, none of us have our own individual bedrooms because there wasn't enough room for all of us to have space, so we all sleep in a bunch of different rooms, ten bunnies per room I believe but the adults get bigger rooms, each room has their own TV, bathroom, etcetera, all the essential needs in a bedroom but the only annoying things are the noises my siblings make in their sleep, which has led to sleepless nights" Tommy explained as he opened the door into one of the many rooms that acted as dorms essentially, the rooms had plenty of space and the beds were built into the walls of the burrow, each bed having their owner's names written on them and they all had different blankets, there was a small flat screen TV on a shelf at the end of the room with some chairs and the necessities needed and the bathroom was located to the right of the TV, the door anyways.
"The apartment me and my dad live in is just about bigger than this room, so that's kind of, well it says a lot if you ask me. So everyone is okay with just sleeping the same rooms?" Nathan said as he looked around the room, noting the decorations and the types of beds built into the walls, there was no other bunnies in the room as of yet so Nathan had plenty of time to explore, he did eventually find Tommy's bed which was medieval themed, a castle wall at each end with a bunny in armour on the covers, it was a nice setup.
"Not everyone likes sleeping with a bunch of other bunnies but no one really complains because there's no point, so everyone just deals with it as much as they hate it" Tommy explained as he satdown on his bed with a bounce, Nathan continued looking around the room, looking at the TV and spotting a game console of sorts, with some video games and other stuff on the shelf.
"The bunnies here must be real complacent with your parents, Judy always talked about how her parents want everyone to be farmers, that's kinda unfair if you ask me" Nathan said as he then looked in the bathroom, it had a set of different stalls to compensate waiting times Nathan guessed, it was kept neat and tidy thankfully, no one likes a messy bathroom, especially when there's excrement everywhere.
"Yeah, some of us are okay with being farmers but some of us aren't, some of us wanna be bakers or actors or tailors or something that isn't being a farmer, I for one am okay with the farming but I would like to be a mechanic when I'm older, my dad sometimes talk about how I dismantled the TV when I was just three" Tommy said with ambition, he was big into fixing machines (or breaking them), Nathan was somewhat surprised to hear what Tommy had to say, at three years old he dismantled a TV? Nathan didn't do much when he was three, other than face abuse sadly.
"A mechanic sounds pretty cool, and you dismantled your own TV when you were only three? How did you manage to do that?" Nathan asked.
"I somehow got away with my dad's toolbox and I knew which tools to use because I saw my dad using them, he did catch me but he wasn't mad, he actually busted out laughing when he walked into the room looking for his toolbox, he just asked me to put the TV back together again and I did, he was very impressed that I managed to dismantle a TV, so whenever something related to technology becomes faulty, he always asks me to do my magic" Tommy responded, Nathan was getting quite a kick out of the story, it was a funny one.
"Wow, so you like, take apart the TV or a phone if it isn't working?" Nathan asked.
"Sometimes, I take apart tv remotes, electric toys, DvD players and much more, it's fun stuff actually, or who knows, I might be some sort of electrical but I'll be thinking" Tommy said.
"Cool, so, can we continue the tour?" Nathan asked since they got sidetracked, he liked the stories but he wanted to get back to exploring the house.
"Sure thing" Tommy responded.
They both left the room and walked through a hallway full of all the different kinds of doors that led into the same kinds of bedrooms, all with different interiors of course.
When they reached the end of the hallway, there were other bunnies wandering around the place, throwing the odd few hellos and waves and funny looks at Tommy and Nathan, but they didn't pass any attention to those bunnies.
"And this room is the nursery, where all of the babies are kept, our siblings take care of them and from time to time our mom and dad will come in to check in on all the babies, it's actually pretty funny none of the babies in here ever become very upset, like they'll cry, but they don't do it often. They love to be lifted out of their cots" Tommy said as he opened a door with the word "Nursery" engraved onto it, the nursery was a big massive room where all the babies were kept, and it was kiddy themed too, rainbows on the walls, glow in the dark stars on the roof and much more.
Nathan wanted to say that the Nursery was full of cuteness but that would be offensive apparently, so he kept that to himself, though he did say it in his mind, the baby bunnies were quite content with where they were and they seemed to be treated very well by their siblings caretakers, who did throw a glance and smiled at Tommy and Nathan but they got back to their tasks, burping the babies or feeding them.
"Wow, this house is like multiple buildings wrapped in one! Then again, I guess you have to do most stuff yourselves given that services aren't as surely available out here like they are in Zootopia" Nathan said, the burrow had plenty of essential services, what else could this burrow have in store?
"You're not wrong there Nath, it okay if I call ya that? Like a cool little nickname?" Tommy asked as he checked on some of the babies, all of whom were quite content, he did cradle one out of the cot to give him a big of attention, lightly tickling the white baby bunny.
"Sure thing Tom, and that baby is quite, a little floofball" Nathan said as he looked over the baby, it was almost completely albino, save for some black blotches here and there.
"That he is, wanna hold him? It's not hard, just imagine him being a teddy of some sort" Tommy offered as he carefully passed the baby bunny over to Nathan, he grasped and cradled the baby gently in his arms, he instead imagined his dad picking him up off the ground and remembering how his dad done it, so he done the same thing Nick done whenever he held up Nathan and soon enough, Nathan got the hang of it, the baby bunny was reaching his tiny paws up and eventually he gave Nathan's nose a baby squeeze.
The action caused Nathan to slightly giggle as his cheeks warmed up slightly, the baby gave out a little giggle as a result and Nathan began poking at the baby with his nose as gently as he could, as a means of tickling the bunny in a different way.
"Aw, I think he likes you the little tot, keep doing that and he'll fall asleep in no time" Tommy said with a hint of sarcasm.
"At least he'll sleep knowing he had a good tickle" Nathan said back as soon enough, the baby did fall asleep and after he stopped, he carefully placed the baby back in the cot.
"And look at that, he has fallen asleep, well that's the nursery, now I need to show you the cinema, though we aren't going to go walking throughout all of the hallways because that'll take too much too much time, instead, we're going to use some of the 'secret' passageways" Tommy said as he walked over to a corner in the nursery and moved over a box of utensils, unveiling a small crawlspace that was built up of wood.
"Wow, I wish I had one of those, though I do live in a small apartment so it wouldn't be of much use" Nathan said as he and Tommy crawled through the crawlspace, they must've come in real handy avoiding long lines to bathroom.
Meanwhile with Nick...
Talking with Judy's parents was not as nerve racking as Nick had imagined it to be, they were rather decent, though that's most likely because Judy had many good things to say about him.
Bonnie was rather very friendly with Nick, the fact that he was a Fox didn't bother her one bit it would seem due to how happy she was to see him, though Stu was slightly sketchy but Nick understood why.
Nick was watching Nathan while Judy mingled with her parents, making sure that nothing bad happened, he knew that Nathan wouldn't cause any trouble but he was keeping an eye on the bunnies, though it would seem he was getting along with some of them, though he eventually did walk away with one of the other bunnies for a home tour it would seem.
When Judy was done talking with her parents, she nudged Nick on the shoulder and his attention was drawn back to the table, he put on a casual smile and relaxed himself.
"Judy's told us plenty of good stories about you and that little tot of yours, you definitely sound like a great father since he's so well behaved, if only our children were ever so behaved" Bonnie said with a slight sarcastic tone as she looked at her husband beside her and they both giggled.
"Oh Nathan's quite a gentlefox for his age, he can be slightly sarcastic at times but he mainly does that to me because I'll know he doesn't mean it compared to others, he's learned quite a lot from me, Judy certainly knows that" Nick said with a little added sarcasm, Judy only just grinned at him instead of punching him.
"Yeah, Nathan was very well behaved when I had to babysit him, he wasn't one to complain about everything but if something was wrong he would let me know about it, along with that, he always went to bed on time and back at the station, Clawhauser said he was very enjoyable to have around since he was very polite and done what he was told" Judy said while recalling the memories of Nathan helping Clawhauser out with certain things like passing papers or going to the bakery with him to buy donuts etc.
"He certainly sounds like a good kid, Judy did tell us his unfortunate circumstances though, so it's a good thing the two of you found each other, the lesser of two evils, no offence" Stu said honestly, Nick took no offence, he was a naughty street fox anyways but if the choice was either a bunch of abusive parents or a confox, Nick would rather the confox, he knew what he done in the past was wrong but he wasn't given much of a choice, he done his best to raise Nathan in the time he spent with him and he raised him well.
"None taken, I still do remember the time we came across each other though, he was not in good condition, malnourished, clumps of fur missing, a weak stance and at times he found it difficult to walk, I consulted a paediatrician and he helped out with Nathan's condition, the paediatrician was another fox of course because if I took him to another doctor, I'd probably get the cops called on me" Nick said while making sure his details were accurate, it was miraculous he came across a paediatrician that was a fox but they were there.
"It was a good thing you helped him when you did, because he absolutely needed it with how unfortunate he was, it's great to see he's in better condition ever since then" Bonnie said in a more happier mood just to brighten the mood a bit, Nick himself was more happy inside he chose to keep Nathan with him since having him around has filled a gap in his life.
"I mean, Nathan is as much a snot as you are but the two of you are good snots" Judy said with a hint of sarcasm, Nick just smirked and rolled his eyes at the bunny he secretly loved.
"What's wrong with us? I mean, nothing wrong with us regarding her parents but c'mon Nick, when they ain't around, you gotta tell Judy how you feel, but what if she refuses? So be it, but for now, let's wait" Nick thought to himself, he felt slightly tensed up with the thoughts but he was good at hiding it.
"Mhm, he certainly seems to be getting along with Tommy and the others, Tommy's always been known for easily making friends so Nathan got it easy. There's some bunnies here who are really picky but I won't name any names, that's just the way they are" Stu said as he and Bonnie looked at each other, they both knew who he was talking about but it was almost instinctive to not bring up their names around others just so they don't get embarassed.
"I guess he has gotten lucky. He certainly wouldn't make friends as easily in the city since you know what mammals are like, only friends or really mammals he would know well would be Finnick, who's like an uncle to him, then there's some other guys like Barkov, a really tough Arctic Wolf in Tundratown who despite appearing barbaric, he has a big heart for those close to him, he even let Nathan ride on his back a few times. Another one would be Alex, a Tiger, he's had it very rough and most mammals often stay away from him but when he and Nathan first met during a little delivery we had to do, I think Alex might've opened up just a bit more since Nathan would listen to him and have sympathy for him, not that I didn't, he just didn't talk about it much and I couldn't blame him either. Amazing what reality brings, a towering Tiger finding peace by talking with a kit" Nathan explained carefully, these memories were very fresh in his mind.
But one thing that really got to Nick was that most of his friends, when they all met Nathan, they seemingly become a little less rough and actually grew slightly kinder, maybe something in them appeared when they saw a shifty fox adopting a kit? Nick didn't know, but he was somewhat glad that his buddies changed, he wouldn't want to have to arrest them for something very serious.
"Its good to hear you open up about these memories Nick, though one question, with Alex, what exactly were you delivering?" Judy asked while her parents stared curiosly, waiting for Nick to answer the question.
"You think I'm gonna tell you hun bun? I'm kidding, we were delivering back a painting that was stolen from Alex's parents, it was a family heirloom, worth a fortune. Nathan stayed back at Alex's family's house and they took good care of him while me and Alex got the painting back, the painting is of Alex's great great great grandparents, hundreds of years ago, it was something that Alex and his family couldn't bear to lose" Nick said as the image of the painting came to mind, two tigers in their early thirties dressed somewhat elegantly in a room that looked like it belonged in a palace, it was a very beautiful painting for the time it was painted in.
"A painting huh? Was never one for art but I guess art can really mean a lot to some folk, why didn't you call the cops though? Other than the fact that you were, well, you know, you?" Judy asked, she didn't wanna insult Nick by calling him a shifty lowlife, however she didn't know that Nick was somewhat freaking out in his mind due to the feelings he's been having for Judy, but he did well to hide it in his expression, Judy's parents just continued to listen.
"We didn't call the cops because back in those days, me, Alex and everyone else, it was our number one rule, don't call the cops unless we see someone getting assaulted or something, we don't call them for robberies in our properties or anything like that because when someone steals something very valuable, they will go to sell it as quick as possible, and we can't risk having the cops having an investigation for weeks and get nowhere when say a family heirloom ends up in Furmany or Pawaii, among other reasons" Nick explained as everyone listened carefully, some bunnies were snoopping around but they didn't really know what the adults were talking about.
"You had your reasons I suppose and whatnot, though now with you being a cop, hopefully your buddies will at least look up to you as the only reliable cop they can trust" Judy assured Nick, her parents were rather enjoying watching the two of them bond, it was unusual seeing a bunny bonding with a fox but anything is possible nowadays.
"Yeah, I'll see about that anyways. Where are my manners? Me, Nick Wilde rambling on about stories which I'm certain you like listening too but do you really wanna be listening to me all day?" Nick said with a hint of sarcasm as he tried changing the topic, which everyone seemed eager to do.
"Oh of course, actually, how about I wip us all up some lunch? I imagine the two of you are hungry after such a long journey" Bonnie said as she stood up from her chair and walked to a set of nearby cupboards and kettles where she began making some tea and took out a newly made blueberry pie from one of the drawers, slicing it into slices as Nick and Judy sat there silently.
Nick however could get the scent of blueberry pie and he just managed to restrain himself from visibly drooling onto the table, he had never smelt a blueberry pie so fresh before.
"I'm gonna say it, I'm actually gonna be thankful for where most if not all food comes from now" Nick admitted to Judy and she simply smiled at him.
"You better, a lot of work is put into feeding you lot" Judy said in her perky tone.
Stu meanwhile decided to go and help his wife with the lunch, though he was actually going to talk to her.
"Hey hun, did you see it?" Stu said as he poured the kettle when it was finished boiling and began stirring and adding milk.
"See what?" Bonnie asked curiously.
"The look on Nick's face, he's acting kinda funny I think, or something" Stu said as he finished a few cups and set them on saucers.
"Maybe he is and maybe he isn't, maybe he always behaves like that, he is a city mammal after all and we both know that city mammals act a lot differently than we do, so I wouldn't think too much of it, though it's nice to know you're observing his behaviour in a sense, he is Judy's partner in the force" Bonnie said as she finished slicing the pie and had every alive on a plate, two slices for everyone, she also brought some whipped cream and cherries along with other toppings Incase anyone wanted either of each.
They both made their way back into the dining area and they placed lunch down in front of Judy and Nick and in front of themselves, complete with forks, knives and their cups of tea.
Nick still had those feelings in his mind but now was not a good time to show that.
Look, as much as I wanna keep this going, I can't.
I wanted to get more words in but time simply isn't allowing it so here you go unfortunately.
Think of it as a Christmas present of sorts maybe.
I'll be updating the other stories, don't worry.
With all of that out of the way I'll see you lot later.
Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!