As the DVD burner spit out the disc, Nick picked it up and examined it under the light. Setting it down, he picked up the disc label and peeled it off its sticky backing and then stuck it onto the DVD he'd just burned. The background was of the night sky, with the title being: N x J First Date.
Satisfied with the look of it, Nick put it back in its plastic case, then set it on the desk. Sitting back in the soft-padded desk chair, he rubbed his eyes. It had been an early day for him and had turned into a very long night. Glancing at the clock, he groaned. "Almost 1 O'clock," he muttered. His mom never did call back.
Shaking his head, he rubbed his face, then turned off the computer before pushing back from the desk to stand up. Making his way to the bathroom briefly, he then walked into his room and set his phone on the nightstand, then stripped down to his briefs before pulling the covers back and crawling under them. After rolling over, he curled up in a ball and was out like a light in a matter of seconds, with his dreams immediately filling with his mouth-watering girlfriend. With such pleasant visions filling his mind, a happy smile curved his muzzle, even as he snuggled deeper into the covers.
….….
"Okay, girls, I have to call it a night," Charlotte said while looking at the clock—it was already 2:30 in the morning. Suzie had already returned home an hour ago as she was watching her grandkits later that morning.
"Yeah, I need to get home, too," Sabrina yawned. "My boys will be getting up soon. Trevor has summer school in a few hours." After another yawn, she added, "It's a good thing he and Tyler are both good at getting themselves up and ready for the day."
Lucinda grinned while saying, "That's right. Trevor starts college this fall and is taking this summer course to get it out of the way. How's it going for him? Has he decided yet what he wants to do?"
Sabrina shook her head. "He wants to do something in avionics, but he hasn't quite decided on which direction to go. He's really interested in flying, but he also wants to design and build his own plane." With a light chuckle, she added, "Ever since Nick introduced him and Tyler to his gyrocopter and took them up in it, they have both been fascinated with flying. Once Tyler graduates high school next year, he hopes to go into avionics, too."
Vivian chuckled. "I'm happy for your boys," she said with a wry smile (she hadn't been a large part of her kits lives back when they were in school as she'd been working triple shifts in an attempt to make ends meet). "Not too many young mammals have a clue what they want to do and waste a lot of time partying. I was lucky, I guess. Anya always knew what she wanted to be. And Nick, it didn't take him long to figure out what he wanted do. I'm just glad Honey took him under her wings and gave him the chance to make something of himself." With a soft sigh, Vivian added, "And Demetri always wanted to form a jazz band and play music." Some of the joy in Vivian's eyes dimmed as she thought of her two missing boys. One was with their father, and the other one . . . she was starting to despair of ever hearing his voice again.
Standing up, Charlotte patted Vivian's shoulder even as Sabrina started gathering their playing pieces together. Wanting to distract herself, Vivian shooed her hand at her bat-eared fox friend and said, "You two go on home, I'll help Lucinda pick everything up."
"Are you sure?" Sabrina asked, even as Charlotte nodded in agreement.
"Of course. I'm still not tired yet and I don't have anything pressing to do tomorrow, so you gals go home and get some rest."
Reaching forward to start gathering their teacups, Lucinda added, "Viv is right. We got this. You two head home and get some sleep." The elderly wolf could sense that Vivian was stalling and not wanting to go home just yet, that her worries for her missing son were resurfacing. If Viv needed a shoulder to cry on, she wanted to be here for her.
Sabrina and Charlotte looked at each, then shrugged. "If that's what you want," Charlotte said. At Lucinda's and Vivian's nods, the two younger vixens (younger than Lucinda and only slightly younger than Vivian) gathered their things, said their goodbyes, and left.
As the door shut behind the two, Lucinda and Vivian quickly gathered up the dishes and the game pieces and put them away, then moved to the couch and sat down to relax. Turning slightly towards her red friend, Lucinda watched Vivian a moment as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch cushions. "Are you sure you don't need to check your phone?" she asked softly. "Most mammals don't call that late at night."
Vivian waved her paw dismissively without opening her eyes. "I told you, it's probably just Anya."
"Well, even if it was Anya, she wouldn't have called that late unless it was important."
Vivian cracked an eye and met her friend's steady gaze, then chuckled. "Okay, okay, I will check my phone."
Lucinda grinned, and then stood up. "Good. And while you do that, I'm going to visit the little lady's room."
Vivian returned her smile, then got up to dig her phone out of her purse. Plopping back down on the couch, she unlocked her phone and opened her phone list. Her breath froze in her throat as she saw the name that popped up at the top of the list. Tears immediately began pooling in her eyes, and then slipped down her cheeks. With shaky paws, she tightly gripped her phone as she could hardly believe what she was seeing. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Or did my son finally call? Nicholas is alive!?
When Anya had called earlier, she hadn't really said why she was calling except to ask if anything interesting had happened to her that day. Of course, she'd told Anya nothing had—the most exciting thing that had happened to her all week was finally getting out of the house and meeting her friends for their Girls' Night Out party—this was the first one she had attended in months.
But Anya didn't sound too enthusiastic about hearing her mom had finally gotten out of the house (Anya had been trying to get her to go to a Girls Night Out for weeks now). At the time, Vivian found this a little strange, but seeing who her missed call was from, it wasn't hard for Vivian to connect the dots—even if she was having a hard time believing what she was seeing. Nick must have called Anya earlier that day and promised to call their mother afterwards. Anya called earlier to make sure he had and was disappointed that he hadn't.
Vivian could just imagine the earful Anya must have given Nick after learning he'd never called their mother. But this was just speculation—the number and name lit up on her phone was not. Nick had finally called her! As another tear streaked down Vivian's orange-tinted red fur, she took a deep, shuddering breath. The realization that Nick had finally called felt like a dream, a bizarre dream as she had given up hope of ever hearing from him again.
Lucinda walked back into the living room and froze when she saw Vivian's tear-filled expression and shaky paws. Viv's attention was riveted on the phone in her paws and it didn't look like she was breathing. "Vivian!?" Lucinda spoke worriedly.
Vivian took a deep breath, then glanced up at her larger friend, then back down at the phone. "It was Nicholas," she whispered under her breath. "Nicholas called."
Sitting down on the couch, she pulled her smaller friend into a tight side-hug and said, "Well, call him back."
Vivian took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes. "What if he doesn't answer? What if he's asleep? What if—"
Lucinda cut her friend off, saying, "Pish-posh. After all the nights he made you lie awake with worry, there's no reason why that todd can't wake up and talk to his mother."
Vivian nodded, but when she glanced back down at the phone, she didn't hit the call button. For 3 months she had called Nicholas, and for 3 months he hadn't answered. She was so afraid that if she called back, it would just be a repeat of the last 3 agonizing months.
Seeing her friend's fear, Lucinda pulled Vivian a little closer and said, "Well, at least listen to his message. He left you one, didn't he?"
Vivian nodded and wiped her eyes again. Going to her voice messages, she opened the app and tapped on the voice message left by Nick.
"Hi, Mom, it's Nick—your dumb son who's been worrying you to death these past 3 months. I can't tell you how sorry I am about ignoring your calls. I wasn't in a very happy place mentally. I'm not hurt physically and I wasn't out in public, so I wasn't around any of the savage attacks . . . But I'm good now, Mom, because I've found my happy place again. So, give me a call when you get this message. I'll be up waiting. I love you, mom. Bye."
Vivian choked back a sob, then put a paw over her mouth as she choked back another sob. After several minutes, she dropped her paw and pressed it to her heart.
Lucinda rubbed Vivian's arm as she cried with relief. "He's alive," she choked out. Leaning into her friend's warm embrace, Vivian wiped her eyes and continued, "He's safe and healthy and says he's waiting for my call."
Lucinda patted Vivian's arm as she said, "There, there, all that worry was for nothing. Now pull yourself together and call that dumb son of yours so you can talk to him."
Vivian laughed and wiped at her eyes again, but then paused with her finger on the phone's call button. "I should go home to call him. We'll probably be talking the rest of the night and I don't want to disturb your sleep."
"Oh, phooey, don't give me that. You're more than welcome to stay the night. In fact, you can sleep in the spare bedroom."
"Are you sure?" Vivian pressed.
The wolf gave the older vixen a warm smile and said, "What are friends for?" Standing up, Lucinda pulled Vivian to her feet and said, "Now come on, let's get you settled in so you can talk to that dumb son of yours in comfort."
After leading Vivian to one of her spare bedrooms, Lucinda gave her friend one of her t-shirts to sleep in. While Viv changed, the arctic wolf made a fresh pot of tea and brought it up for her friend to drink while she talked (there was nothing worse than trying to talk with a dry throat). After saying goodnight to her dear friend, Lucinda shut the bedroom door, then walked into her own room and prepared for the night.
Vivian sat against the pillows that rested against the headboard while holding her phone in her paw. After taking several deep breaths, she turned it on and dialed her son's number before holding the phone up in front of her face. . . then she waited . . . and waited as the phone continued ringing. Vivian's ears dropped as she feared Nick wasn't going to answer.
….….
The phone rang several times before it finally penetrated Nick's thick, sleep-fogged brain. Cracking an eye open, he stared into the darkness of the room a moment as he tried to figure out what woke him. Then the phone rang again. Nick's ears flicked back. Who would—his mom!
Nick twisted over in the bed and wrestled with the sheets as he tried to reach for his phone. Still tangled up in the blankets, his paw missed the phone as he tumbled out of bed. With his shoulder hitting the floor and his head smacking the nightstand, he then rolled over and leaned against the wall. "Ouch," he muttered while rubbing his head with one paw and his shoulder with the other. After a minute, he rubbed his ribs, too, as they were now sore due to the weird angle he'd hit the floor at. Hissing, he muttered, "I just got over those."
As the phone rang one last time, Nick twisted around and grabbed the phone. Slumping back against the wall as he answered it, Nick said, "Mom." Reaching up with his free paw, he ran his claws through his head-fur.
Vivian gripped the phone tightly as her son's face appeared on her screen. "Nicholas?" she asked with a hitch in her voice.
Nick focused his bleary eyes on his mom, and said, "Yeah, Mom, it's me."
Vivian's choked on a sob to finally see and hear her son again, and to know for certain that he was safe.
At seeing and hearing his mom's sob of relief, Nick tugged on his ear as guilt rolled through him like a tidal wave. He really was the worst son in the world, to make his mom suffer with such suffocating worries for his safety. It really should have been him and not Demetri who died all those years ago. Demetri would never have dreamed of worrying their mom in such a way. Nick knew that in this sense, his brother had always been the more responsible one. With a heavy sigh, Nick said softly, "Sorry . . . for ignoring your calls."
Putting a paw over her mouth, Vivian choked on another sob and then whispered, "It's really you, right? I'm not . . . ? This isn't a dream?"
"No, this isn't a dream. I'm here." Nick shifted against the wall, and then hissed while grabbing his side. "Ouh, that smarts."
"Nick! Nick, are you okay!? What happened?" Vivian exclaimed, her mind full of worry again.
"Mom, it's okay. I just . . ." Nick scratched his neck and looked up towards the bed. "It'll sound funnier in the morning."
"What!? What will sound funnier in the morning?" Vivian pressed. Her heart was in her throat and she wanted to both hug her son after finally seeing him again, and at the same time, she wanted to throttle him for talking in such a cryptic manner. Nicholas could be so irritating when he wanted to be!
Nick glanced back at his mom and gave her a wry smile. "I fell out of bed trying to get to the phone."
Vivian stared a moment at her son, then started laughing. "You fell out of bed!?"
Nick's grin got bigger. "Yeah, Mom, I fell out of bed. I was in deep sleep when you called, and it took a minute to wake up enough to realize the phone was ringing." Waving a paw in the air, he continued, "In my rush to answer the phone, I got tangled up in the sheets and tumbled out of bed." Swiping his paw downwards while looking towards the ground, Nick added, "Thud. Ouch. I'm going to be swore tomorrow."
Vivian's laughter was light-hearted, not only from imagining her son's tumble, but from the fact that he was actually acting more like the old Nick—the Nick before Honey died and his employment with Silvano was terminated.
"It's good to hear you laugh, Mom," Nick said softly, his words full of warmth, even as his bushy tail swayed gently beside him.
Vivian's ears perked forward as her own tail swished excitedly. "It's nice to hear you joking around like you used to."
Nick nodded, then tried to push himself up. With a grunt, he said, "Hang on, Mom, let me get up."
Vivian nodded as Nick set the phone back on the nightstand, then she listened to him moaning as he stood up and shuffled around the room for a moment before his face appeared on the screen again. Watching him move around the bed (there wasn't enough light in the room for her to make anything else out on the small phone screen), Vivian wondered where Nick was staying tonight. She was pretty sure it wasn't his bed from the warehouse—the wall wasn't that close to it. Setting the thought aside while remembering his voice message, she pointed out, "You said in your message that you'd found your happy place again."
Nick's expression softened, "Yeah, Mom, I did." Turning around to look through his bedroom door and into Judy's room, he repeated softly, "Yeah, I did." He watched her bed for a moment (he could see the foot of the bed, but not Judy herself), and imagined his adorable ball of fluff with her liquid pools of amethyst, her bright smile, and infectious laugh.
He watched a moment longer, then, with a wide grin on his face, he turned and walked to his balcony door. As he slipped outside into the star-filled night, his mom spoke up.
"Nicholas, where are you? You're not at the warehouse." Before Nick could answer, Vivian gasped and asked, "Are you at the house?" (She knew Nick's bedroom had a balcony door which he had just walked through). Nick gave her a winning smile, and Vivian asked, "You moved . . . back . . . into . . . the house?" Vivian knew Nick stayed at the house about once a month (usually at the beginning), but only for a couple of days at most—but never clear through till the middle of the month. And he was never this happy about being back. Not that he was depressed or moody when he was there—he was usually fairly relaxed—but tonight, his whole mood and demeanor had changed. To Vivian, it looked like she was looking at the Nick from seven-eight years ago, back when he didn't have a care in the world.
Nick chuckled as he made his way down to the hammock. "That I did." At his mom's shocked expression, he plopped down on the hammock while saying, "I found my way home." Shaking his head, Nick rephrased it, saying, "I recently met someone who showed me the way home." Pushing off with one foot, Nick made the hammock swing.
Vivian sat still for several moments. There was only one way to take Nick's statement, and yet she was afraid to believe it. She had hoped and prayed for so long that Nick would find someone special to share his life with, but she had already given up hope that it would ever happen.
Taking a deep breath and trying to compose herself, Vivian repeated, "You . . . you . . . met . . . someone." At Nick's wide grin and nod, Vivian took another deep breath. With her heartrate kicking up several notches, she studied her son's happy (and somewhat goofy) grin. Of her two kits, she assumed Anya would settle down and start a family first—she did have a boyfriend after all. But after 3 years, she knew Anya and Brad would never get married. Why Anya was still stringing the todd along, she didn't know, but it was obvious Anya would be giving her no grandkits anytime in the foreseeable future.
But Nick—her kit who never had time for females—actually found someone he wanted to settle down with? The mammal he would start a family with? Touching her tongue briefly to her lips, she then met Nick's vibrant, emerald gaze and said, "You met someone . . . special?"
Nick nodded again, then laughed happily. "Very special. Trust me when I say there's not another female on the planet who is her equal."
Vivian was quiet again. That was high praise coming from her son. Taking another deep breath while pressing a paw to her heart, she asked, "You're already thinking of dating her? How long have you known her? Does she come from a good family? Are they close?" Vivian knew what it was like when your family didn't approve of your mate. She and John had to elope to Zootopia in order to get away from her overbearing father who didn't approve of John Wilde. John's family, although successful in their endeavors, wasn't wealthy or distinguished enough for his approval, and the fact that John's dream was to be a tailor and work with mammals of all classes (high class and low class and every mammal in between) was beneath any of his daughters, or so her father claimed.
With a heavy sigh, Vivian tried to push the memories back down. It had been a long time since she'd last thought of her family. She descended from an ancient line that came from the far south, one of the few families that survived the prey domination that took place 200 years ago. Her great-great-great grandpa from back then had led a large group of smaller predators to an easily defended valley they'd fortified. The valley provided them with plenty of food, room for crops, and fresh water, and so they survived the sieges that the blood-crazy prey led against them.
Due to her great-grandfather's leadership skills and military planning, their newly formed town, Rävstad (which literally meant Fox Fortress), was never defeated, and they soon took in other predators fleeing the chaos, which turned the rural town into a thriving city, especially after the war ended. The city was small (larger mammals only considered it a large town) as it was made completely of small predators. Large predators and prey were prohibited from moving in, and even small prey had strict laws placed on any wanting to move in or get a job (which made sure none did). It was a small city that was strictly made up of, and run by, small predators, foxes being the predominate species—and the city council liked to keep it that way. Her family pretty much owned the whole town, even after all these years.
Not that it had anything to do with her, not now anyway. Her father disowned her when she ran off with John and moved to Zootopia. And she hadn't heard from any of her family since. Vivian knew her mom and two sisters would have contacted her if her father had allowed it, but he was very set in his ways and strict when it came to who was worthy of his kits. He had a legacy to uphold and some no-account young fox from the city who came only to apprentice as a tailor didn't make the cut. Rävstad was known world-wide for its high-quality hand-crafted suits, dresses, and other formal wear, along with a myriad of other high quality (expensive) hand-crafted items which was why John came here as an apprentice. In a city run by foxes, he wouldn't have to face discrimination when learning his trade.
Not that she had a bad childhood. Vivian was very close to her family while growing up and she lacked for nothing. Her and her father were even quite close (it was he who taught her to play the piano), but all that changed when she fell in love with a todd from the wrong side of town (as the saying went). That was something her father would never forgive.
Nick scratched his neck while thinking of Judy and her family. Interrupting his mother's thoughts, he answered, "She definitely comes from a good family." With a wide grin while remembering the blueberries her family grew, he added, "If fact, they have a thriving family business that sales all over the country." Scratching his neck again, he continued, "As for her relationship with them . . . she comes from a very large family." Tugging on his ear, he mumbled, "I found out today just how large—and quite frankly, it scares me." Vivian's eyes widened and Nick explained, "She comes from the sticks and some of her family is pretty specist." Vivian's ears flicked back, but Nick went on without giving her a chance to respond. "But her mom is on our side, so things should work out." Tilting his head back to look at the stars, Nick added, "Her dad is going to need some work, but I have hope that he'll come around sooner or later."
With a bright smile, he focused back on his mom and said, "Now if you're asking about our relationship—" Nick's grin grew bigger—"we met 3 months ago, but we didn't like each other at first. She was a real jerk without even realizing it, so I was bigger jerk back. But then she needed my help and while running around on a wild otter chase, I got to see a side of her I wasn't expecting to see, which made me realize we had a lot more in common than I ever imagined."
Vivian was curious about the otter chase Nick mentioned but wasn't surprised as this wasn't the first time her son had helped someone track a mammal down. What did surprise her though, was the fact that he met this special someone three months ago and then immediately checked out emotionally and mentally—to the point of ignoring her calls because he was too upset to talk. Taking a deep breath, she asked softly, "So what happened after you found your otter?"
Nick was quiet for a while, then answered, "She said some pretty specist remarks that hurt me—along with a lot of other mammals. It made me think she didn't really trust me after all and that hanging out with someone who feared me was just stupid. After her little speech, we had a fight and I stormed out." With a heavy breath, Nick tugged on his ear while muttering, "I didn't realize how far she'd wormed her way into my heart until the fight. I was a real mess after we parted."
Vivian was quiet for a while. Her son's silence these last 3 months now made much more sense, but one thing still confused her. "Why was she afraid of you? And why wouldn't she trust you?" Tilting her head in question, Vivian flicked her ear as she couldn't understand why a vixen needed to fear a todd. Foxes generally didn't fear other foxes. And it's not like Nicholas was still working for Silvano, so the vixen shouldn't be worried about his mob association . . . Not unless Nick got himself into some sort of trouble he hadn't told her about. That thought brought on a whole new set of worries.
Nick was quiet for several minutes while trying to come up with the best way to ease his mom into the idea of his inter-species relationship. Idly running his claws through the fur over his knee (he had slipped some shorts back on after getting up off the floor earlier), Nick finally said, "Like I said, she's from the country and they do things differently out there." He was thinking of the fox repellant Judy had been carrying and how she had automatically lumped prey and predators into an 'us' and 'them' category.
Vivian's ears tilted back. "Was she wary about you being from the city? That you were perhaps a dishonest city fox?"
Nick shook his head. "Me being a city fox had absolutely nothing to do with it."
Vivian was quiet a moment longer, then asked, "Well, is she a member of one of the smaller fox species? Is she intimidated by your size?" Red foxes were the largest of the foxes and some of the much smaller fox species at times felt a little overwhelmed by their much larger kin—Finnick, of course, being an exception.
Nick choked on his laugh at the idea of Judy being intimidated by his size. Remembering how intrigued she was by that simple fact, as well as her silent plea to see all of him, had Nick laughing harder. He could still feel her paw on his foxhood while trying to keep him from leaving earlier that afternoon. After laughing for a minute, he tried to pull himself together while saying, "Sorry, Mom, it's just . . ." Nick laughed again. "Yes, she's much smaller than me, but trust me when I say she likes it that way."
Vivian cocked her head. "Then why would a vixen fear you?" Her son was being so cryptic that it baffled her. It made her want to throttle him all over again.
Nick was silent for a long time while he mindlessly drew figure eights on his knee. Watching the way his fur moved as his claw weaved through it, he finally whispered, "She's not a vixen, Mom."
Vivian was silent a long time, then finally said, "Oh." Foxes were the smallest of the canids, so she was having a hard time imagining the species her son had fallen for. The only other canid smaller (shorter) than a red fox (besides other foxes) was the bush dog with their really short legs.
Seeing his mom's confusion and guessing her thoughts, he said, "She not a canine if that's what you're thinking."
"Then what is she?" While thinking of her son's puzzling words, she exclaimed, "Wait, don't tell me she's a feline!"
Nick flicked his ear. After a moment, he said, "No, but you'll probably prefer it if she was."
Vivian scowled. It was frustrating how secretive her son was being. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded. Her son had finally found someone he liked but then gave her the runaround when she tried to find out more about her.
Nick gave a heavy sigh as he ran his claws down the back of his neck, then dropped his paw while shifting his gaze to meet his mom's confused (and slightly irritated) gaze. "She's not a canine, and she not a feline—she's not a predator at all."
It took Vivian several minutes to process what her son was saying, but when the dots finally connected, her ears disappeared behind her head. "Nicholas," she started, and then got louder as she exclaimed, "you're chasing prey now!?"
Nick relaxed somewhat as a smug grin curved his muzzle. "It's kinda hard to chase someone who isn't even running."
Vivian gave an exasperated sigh. "So what species is she?"
Nick was silent for a moment, then answered with a steady gaze, "She's from Bunnyburrow, Mom."
Vivian tilted her head as she tried to think of the prey species that would live in a place called Bunnyburrow. "What lives out there besides rabbits?" Nick raised his eyebrow and gave his mom a pointed look. Her ears shot forward, and then folded back as she exclaimed, "No, no, no. Nick, you can't be serious! You can't honestly tell me you're thinking of dating a rabbit."
Nick's firm gaze didn't waiver as he said, "I'm not thinking of dating a rabbit, Mom, I am dating a rabbit."
WingedKatt here. Thursday in story is finally over and we're moving into Friday. Friday will go much faster with fewer chapters than Thursday did, but we'll still be meeting a lot of new characters, some familiar and some not. Both Nick and Judy will be having some interesting phone conversations that will require a change in some of their plans. But for the next chapter, we'll see how Vivian takes the bombshell Nick dropped on her about him dating a rabbit. We'll also see what Judy gets up to, to pass the time (she has a lot of time on her paws) while waiting for Nick to wake after his very long, late night.
Chapter 60: Much To Think About, will post in 2 weeks. I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay safe. If you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear them.
