Chapter 59: A Scared Raccoon

Marie's being pregnant dredges up an old wound of Jake's and he tells his best friend Nick

"Nick, I'm really scared!" the raccoon admitted as he stood near the railing and looked down at the water below him. The banks of the large pond were lined with the early blooms of cheery yellow-flowered daffodils. "I'm scared to lose Marie like my father did my mother when I was born."

The taller red fox pulled the sleeves of his tan canvas jacket higher up his arms before he put his right paw on the raccoon's shoulder. "That was almost thirty years ago and at a rundown clinic in Happy Town," Nick replied. "You've got one of the best doctors in the city and she will be in a modern hospital in Tundratown."

"Still…" Jake began again, before he stopped speaking and just stared at the ducks swimming on the water below.

He felt the fox's other paw reach over and rummage into his coat pocket, removing his sunglasses. "Here put these on," Nick softly chided him. "You know what Mister Walker said about protecting those eyes of yours from too much light. Come on and put those on, you don't want to go blind like that old yote."

Jake slipped the glasses over his pale yellow eyes and gave a worried sigh.

"Didn't the doc say everything is going just fine with the pregnancy?" Nick continued as he went back to watching the ducks. "Besides, when Marie is closer to her delivery date, both of you are staying at the Big's family mansion in Tundratown where there is a nurse on site. I know that neither one of you could refuse both Mrs. Big and Fru Fru hospitality when they insisted, you're like family to them."

"Still, I'm worried. What if something goes wrong, how could I ever live without her?"

"Just like your father did when he lost your mother and my mother did when my father was killed. You live one day at a time, besides you know you Carrots and I will be there for you!"

"Great, my experience with bunnies hasn't been stellular and you already marked me once that night you were drunk," the raccoon sarcastically replied with a grin. "I never thought I'd ever get that stench out of my fur."

"You know that wasn't what I meant, pervert!" Nick laughed at the raccoon's lame attempt at humor even as he gave his best friend a nudge of his elbow. "Hey, that time I marked you, I was drunk and thought you were Judy!"

"I had just started dating Marie and I made a fool out of myself trying to explain what happened the next morning."

"You used to make a fool out of yourself around her all the time! Remember that night you approached her at the bar? When you went up to her, you couldn't get a straight word out of your mouth."

"Okay, so I was tongue-tied! She was the first girl I really, really, wanted to go out with. I was trying too hard to be suave and debonair, instead, I was a klutz. Then her roommate got me to accidentally dump my drink on my pants, I got embarrassed and ran home without even getting her name!"

"Sometimes I still can't believe that you never really never dated a girl before Marie?" Nick laughed.

"When I was in school, I was consumed with wanting to get good grades so I could go to college. Then when I was in college, I thought I was in love with Sonya and I was too shy to ask her out," Jake chuckled. "After my father died, I was living in a flophouse on River Street. When you wanted a date down there, you just went up to one of the ladies on the corner and asked how much? That is with every girl but Meredith, she would grab my paw and ask me how much I had while pulling me towards the motel room."

"You and Meredith always had a strange relationship."

"There is more to her than being a prostitute, we also just talk a lot and she still is a good friend."

"During times like this, I still wonder why Marie married you?"

"Because she loves me!" Jake answered with a smile.

"No, it's because I kept hustling her into taking you back," Nick laughed as he ruffled the fur between the raccoon's ears. "I should get a degree as a love doctor for all the times I helped you two patch things up."

"I still think she is too good for me," Jake muttered softly. "I'm just a street coon who grew up on the wrong side of town, I was a thief and I went to jail. She is a county angel, so pretty and smart. Her voice has that sexy Southern accent which makes my knees still go wobbly sometimes when she calls me her Sugar."

"That's called love," the fox chuckled and then he gave the raccoon a smirk. "Since she calls you Sugar now and you're about to become a father, does that make you a Sugar Daddy?"

"Ha…ha…not funny fox!" Jake snickered. "Okay, in a very warped Nick Wilde kind of way, that was funny!"

"You feel better now Jake?"

"Yeah, I do. Thanks, Nick!"

The two friends just stood there and continued to watch the ducks lazily cruising on the lake, until the fox looked over at the raccoon and said with a predatory grin, "Watching those ducks is making me hungry, is that place with the yummy roasted and pulled duck breast meat tacos still open down the road?"