Chapter 1:
We start making plans the next day for the trip to the moon. We have to make a new spacesuit for Jessica; the old one was too short. Jessica is now much longer in the leg with a long fluffy tail. Mom and dad spend Sunday close to Jessica and I. They still can't believe the change in us. Our kits all slept with us; even Bonnie was with us. Sunday afternoon, we get hugs from our parents, siblings, and grandparents as they all leave. Our kits and Mavis's kits all head for the playroom. There come several snarls and barks from Roxanne as Oscar gets the drop on her and pulls her tail hard. This seems to be the norm for these two; they always seem to be in a tail pulling contest. But like the ankle-biting thing, this fad too will pass. The wedding for Amber and William is two weeks away. They are going to hold it in warehouse twelve. It was the latest warehouse refurbished by Wilde industries. The Banyan street subway station that mom and dad snuck in was refurbished by Wilde industries and is slated to open next month. Wilde industries now had four apartment blocks on the street. Several small businesses had also opened up along the street. The community was slowly coming back to life.
The day of the wedding fast approaches. Cindy, Suzie, and Ava are Amber's bridesmaids. Terry, Rick, and Davis are Williams Best mammals. Justin is the Ring-bearer for them. Our kits want to be part of it, so they are flower mammals. They get to throw flower petals in front of Amber as she walks down the aisle. The wedding day arrives, and the males are all standing on the stepped platform's left. They are all looking nervous as they wait for the bride and the bride's maids. "What's up"? I think why are all of them nervous? Family and friends are in the audience. Amber has no immediate family, so we mix all the guests together.
In the bride's room, Nick starts to cry, looking at how beautiful Amber and his daughters are. Amber comes over and hugs Nick; she had asked him to walk her down the aisle, as she didn't have her dad to do it. "Well, it's time, everyone. Shouldn't you girls be out there waiting for us"? At that statement, the girls all break up laughing. Amber is the first to stop laughing, "pay up, everyone; I told you the great detective Wilde wouldn't figure it out." "Figure out what"? asks Nick with a perplexed look on his face. All four bring him into a group hug.
Cindy speaks up, "Dad, this is our wedding day as well." "What"? There is snickering from the ladies as they hug Dad hard. "We're sorry to spring this on you, dad, but this was the perfect time for all of us to get married as well. We have been planning our wedding for some time now. We were planning this before we knew about Amber, so we asked her to join us on this day." If not for the ladies holding him up, Nick would have collapsed to the floor. Eventually, he stands up straighter, "does your mother know"? "No, dad, we keep this from her as well. Can you think of a better way to say "gotcha"? "What is it with you guys and gals having to get one over on your parents"? They laugh some more when the music changes. "It's time, dad, ready to walk us all down the aisle"? Nick nods yes as his tears flow freely.
The signal is given to our kits, and they start to walk down the aisle throwing flower petals into the air. Nick comes around the corner with all the ladies. He has Cindy and Amber on either arm, and the other two have their arms. They are all walking in a circle as they come down the aisle. Judy watches the procession and thinks, "What's up with that"? It then dawns on her, and her paws fly up to her muzzle as tears fill her eyes. Jessica is in no better shape, and mom and Jessica turn and cling to each other as they watch the procession come up the aisle. A tear or two might have escaped my eyes as well.
As they get to the stepped dais, the minister speaks, "Who brings these ladies to be given away in holy matrimony"? Nick speaks, "I Nickolas Wilde and my mate Judy Wilde give these ladies away to their prospective mates." He then turns and makes his way to Judy. Jessica lets mom go as Nick then brings Judy into a hug. I bring Jessica into a hug. We both have tears in our eyes. Mom and dad stand there with tears in their eyes as they watch the proceedings. The ladies all walk up and stand opposite their mates. Our kits then bound over to us and sat in their seats. Justin stands off to one side beside the cushion with the rings. He smiles at dad as out of his jacket, he brings three more sets of rings tied together with silk bows and lays them on the pillow as well.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these couples in holy matrimony. If anyone knows or can show a reason why these couples shouldn't be joined together, step forward now or forever hold your peace." No one spoke or stepped forward. The rest of the ceremony goes off without a hitch. "…I now pronounce you husbands and wives; you may now kiss your brides." They all kiss to wolf whistles, clapping, and cheers. They turn to face us all. "Ladies and gentle mammals, it gives me great pleasure to present to you… the Wilde bunch." More clapping along with laughter. We all throw flower petals at them as they all head down the aisle.
Later at the reception in the other part of the glass hanger, Terry had a surprise for them. Gazelle was the singer at the reception. It cost the family a small fortune, but it was so worth it to surprise mom and the ladies. We all had grown up listening to Gazelle. We had to have the reception under some tarps for a few minutes as it started to rain shortly after the sunset. How could it rain, you ask? Well, the hanger we used, in the past, was used to construct airships, so the hanger was huge. It was so big; it had its own weather patterns inside. The climate control systems hadn't been installed yet. It only rained for a few minutes, and the tarps were retracted so we could all enjoy the rest of the sunset and the stars as they came out.
Both our parents were floored when the girls all told them why they were getting married together. It seems they want to give their husbands a very special wedding gift. All the ladies were bride's maids to each other, so they thought their husbands would appreciate the gift of making love to both their bride and the bridesmaid. Mom, who had been drinking a little too much, fell down laughing at this point. Dad picked her up and, mom continued to laugh as dad carried her out bridal style as they left the reception. She passed out in his arms before they got to the car. He smiled down at her; he now had new ammo to tease Judy with when she woke up. Our kits had gone to sleep a long time ago. We pick up the bassinet and head home with our sleeping kits and Mavis's girls as well. All the kits were in one big pile.
When the morning alarm went off, all our kits knuckling their eyes and yawning, met up with us in the hall on Monday morning. We had moved then to other bedrooms. The girls had one room, and the boys had another. They wanted to sleep with us, but we told them they were now big enough to sleep independently. I'm sure they still slept with each other. While in the DOJO, Oscar showed us his ability to fight. He was good, almost purple belt level. He sparred a lot with Bonnie. Bonnie had gone up to a red belt, and it showed. Soon we would have to give her a black belt. John, we could tell, was holding back; he didn't want to hurt anyone. We tried to bring him out of his shell, but he wouldn't do more than was required to defend himself. After the swim and breakfast, we relax in the T.V. room, watching a silly kit show when an amber alert comes on.
Charlotte watched the alert in rapt attention. We watched Charlotte as she separated herself and went to find the amber alert child. In a few minutes, Charlotte found her and returned to her body. She looks at her mother and I and projects what she has seen. Because we knew the city, we contacted mom and dad. We then had to call in an anonymous tip, there needed to be a record for mom and dad to follow. I separated myself and went to the place Charlotte had shown me. The little abducted girl was now in a dark hidden makeshift cell out in the old waterfront that was still standing. She was curled up in a ball, crying her eyes out. I searched the rest of the warehouse and found that it was still in operation. Not sure how the perp or perps had snuck her into that hidden cell, but from the looks of it, this was not the first time they had done this. How many persons knew about this cell? It had to be more than one. As I continued to watch, a male came in and leered down at her as he undid his belt. I saw red as I slammed him into the wall with power. Ockny told me to let him live so I didn't flatten him onto the floor. I made him sleep.
About ten minutes later, his buddy comes in and, seeing him lying on the floor, rushes to him. "Charlie, what happened"? he asks as he shakes his shoulder. When he can't wake him up, he stands up and turns to the little girl. "What the hell did you do to Charlie, you little tail*ole"? he asks as he flips a blade open he had taken from his pocket. He advances on her when I then slam him into the wall and then onto the floor as well. There are three of them on the floor hours later when S.W.A.T. storms the building led by mom and dad. They force everyone else out of the building so S.W.A.T. can search the building. I direct mom and dad to the little cell. Amanda was sitting against the cell's back wall, watching the perps when the door opened. She put her head between her knees and started to cry again. The cell was hidden behind a stall in the male's bathroom. Mom and dad call the S.W.A.T. in for backup. As they go in, dad covers the perps as Judy goes for the victim.
"Hey there Amanda, I'm Judy Wilde from the Z.P.D., and I'm here to help you." The little girl looks up from her knees at the sound of a new voice. She sees a blue uniform and jumps at Judy. The lion cub, who towered over Judy, quickly engulfed Judy in a full-body hug as she cried tears of relief. Judy patted her back and made soothing noises while being smothered in the little girl's chest. Nick growled as he cuffed the three perps just before I let them wake up. The S.W.A.T. members lead them out. Judy gets the little girl calmed down enough that Nick and herself can lead the little girl out by the paws. As they do so, she stops at the door, turns to look right at me, and says, "Thank you." Could she see me? How? Mom and dad know I'm watching from the corner, but they can't see me. I leave and return to my body. Charlotte was curled up beside me, sleeping; Bonnie was curled up and sleeping on the other side; they both had big smiles on their faces. I kiss the top of their heads and go to sleep myself.
We wake much later to the smell of vegetable soup right under our noses. Jessica had brought in a trolly of soup and bread for us. The girls eat like they are starving; breakfast feels like twelve hours ago. Which, when I look, was almost twelve hours ago; it's now almost bedtime. As we eat, Jessica smiles at me. "You did good, Thomas, but I had to put our parents off till tomorrow; they want to know how we knew. So, what do we tell them"? "The truth, my love, you know they can see a lie." "But do we have to tell them about Charlotte"? "It's ok, mom. I want to help."
"well, I don't want you to see that; you're too young to be looking at the underbelly of society." "It's ok mom, I have already seen parts of it, and when it scares me, I just go to my counselor for guidance." "Who's your counselor Charlotte"? "That would be Gab, mom. I have seen the inhumanity that society has. Gab tried to stop me, but when he found I wouldn't stop looking, he decided to council me instead." "So you know about…"?
"Yes, mom, Bonnie explained it to me. And I understand it's supposed to be an expression of love between a couple. But I've seen what's done in love, and I can say in some cases that sex has nothing to do with love. But you already know that." "Have you spied on your mother and I"? She turns red and hangs her head. "I have, but it was only once." "Is Gab teaching you about ethics"? "Yes, he is, and I'm sorry I looked in on the most intimate part of your relationship. I won't do it again; it was a one-time thing about six months ago. I had just learned how to separate myself, and I wanted to go and tell you. At that thought, I found myself in your shower room near the ceiling, looking down on the two of you. I did watch for a bit and soon realized it was wrong to do so. I tried to flee back to my body, but instead, I found myself in a meadow facing a snow leopard. He wasn't mad at me, but the ethic puzzles started that night before he would teach me how to use my gift."
"Well, I'm glad you realized it was wrong, daughter, your mother, and I forgive you. But if it's a real emergency, send us a quick flash of danger, and we will respond. We may not be able to respond right away, but we will respond." She hugs us both. Both daughters yawn as we finish the soup. "Why are the two of you so tired"? "Dad, we're tired because Bonnie and I were right there watching the whole thing happen. Bonnie gave us the power to be there." "It wasn't much power, dad, but I sustained it over a very long time frame. Much longer than I have ever done before. Charlotte moved us around, and I can say that at least two more individuals are involved. The bastard outside the door was selling tickets. How can he do that"? "Can you identify him"? "Yes," replies Charlotte, "I'll draw him in the morning." "Very good, now off to bed, you two." Night mom, night dad." They say as they hug us and leave the room. Jessica curls up around me and baps my nose several times with her tail tip; I smile at her as we kiss deeply. Later we head to our bedroom. We talk to Gab and find he is helping her and feels we will have to train her in emotional control soon.
From The Star-News
By Chris Beaverton
It's a brighter day in Zootopia today. Yesterday Nick and Judy Wilde rescued our amber alert. An anonymous tip came into the cold case division about the whereabouts Of Amanda Slinker. She was rescued late in the afternoon from where she was being held. The Z.P.D. has promised to show us where she was held in that warehouse. They have three perps in custody and are looking for two more. There was no ransom note, so we surmise she was taken for nefarious reasons. I was told that Detective Wilde's are looking into other cold cases of missing kits to see how many this group may have taken.
If you saw the news last night, Amanda claimed a guardian angel watched over her. He? She? Knocked out the perps as they entered the room, then kept them asleep tell the police came. She also stated that two glowing balls were flitting around this angel, one blue and one yellow.
Throughout history, there have been reports of angels. They are usually reported watching over and helping the innocent. But in some cases, they are said to be avenging angels and will right some great wrong. I don't place much stock in stories of angels. I believe that it is our mind helping us to explain the unexplainable.
On a lighter note, Wilde industries had a massive wedding for five of their founders. William, Terry, Davis, and Ava Wilde married Amber Lyne, Cindy O'Hare, Suzie O'Hare, Rick O'Hare. They call themselves the Wild bunch. It was a bit of a surprise to us all. It was supposed to be Williams's wedding, but they made it a group event. All the ladies were bridesmaids to each other, and hilarity ensued when it was pointed out that the guys got a special gift. They got to go home with their bride and the bridesmaid.
The warehouse used for the wedding was an old airship construction hanger, and it was built around the turn of the ninth century in the heyday of airships. Wilde industries would not comment on why they had it refurbished, but I assume they will be constructing ships of some sort in it. Maybe a new cargo airship?
More of the replicator cafes have opened up around Happy Town. Along with some adult training facilities. Wilde industries need new employees for their ever-expanding facilities, and they are seen as giving preferential treatment to that part of town. But it was pointed out that all they were doing was to provide a better life to the oppressed, and if they found some new employees, it was worth the investment.
The crime rate in Happy Town has steadily gone down, and I fear that organized crime will retaliate on Wilde industries. I do hope that's not the case. But they are now cutting into the profits of organized crime. Several mammals on the street said it was almost safe to walk Happy Town's streets at night. My hats off to Wilde industries, and I hope they keep up the good work.