A/N: Hey, Reader! It sure has been a while, hasn't it? Well, I suppose to start things off I owe an apology to you for not updating in such a long while. In my defense, I did make a disclaimer that my real life would take priority every time, but I could use a break from real life and mellow out while writing.
Another reason I haven't updated in a while is that I had a falling out with the fandom as a whole and just couldn't bring myself to write anything with the level of disinterest I had. So after 2 rewatches of the movie and rereading a couple of my personal favorite fics I found the motivation I was looking for.
Now here is the long-awaited entry to Worth so much more!
Chapter 5: Not Always What You Want
Nick sat in silent anticipation as he awaited Abigale to come looking for him. After about five minutes of waiting, he decided to pull the chair out from under his desk and take a seat. After changing his seating arrangement in his room he began to look into the mirror at the end of his desk. He began poking and prodding at different parts of his figure comparing them to framed pictures of relatives and general images that his memory could provide.
The first comparison Nick made was his fur color. He thought about how the main colors in the family were grey, black, brown and the rarer white, but he was the only one to have red fur. While his mind was still on the examination of fur, he began drawing more comparisons of color and texture and his fur was much longer than anyone else's. Nick removed his shirt and lifted his arms and began examining himself as if he just found a bad rash and even gave a subconscious scratch along the cream-colored area along his chest and stomach. He lowered his arms and began to observe his paws looking right at the rough parts on his palms. No one else in his family had these on their paws and they had only been brought up sparsely when his siblings would question what they were.
He, of course, had no answer.
After moving past his chest and arms, Nick started to put his shirt back on, but as he got to his head he hit a snag. Nick, confused for a second, realized that is was just his muzzle getting in the way and tilted his head upward to fit through the collar. Nick, still examining himself, turned his head to get a better look at his muzzle. "Much longer than anyone else's." he thought to himself
Nick sighed to himself and decided to stop looking at himself while comparing, or rather contrasting, all the differences he had with the rest of his family and was content to lazily drop onto his bed, resting his head on his crossed arms. Nick stayed like that for a while before the thought of Olivia crossed his mind and he started to think about calling her today.
Any thought that he might have had at that point in time was quickly interrupted by the creaking of an opening door. He sat up to find the Abigale had entered his room.
"Hey, Nicky! How was your first day of grade school?" she beamed enthusiastically as she started toward the bed.
"Hey, mo…" Nick hesitated, "Abigale, can I ask you a question?"
Abigale was taken aback when Nick called her by her name, but just brushed it off after some thought and replied, "Sure, but first I want to hear all about your first day!" she stated with the same enthusiasm.
Nick wilted somewhat at the thought of how the day had gone but quickly brought himself back up as he prepared to share the events of his day with Abigale. He thought to himself on what he should start with, deciding that sharing the events in chronological order would work best.
Nick closed his eyes briefly as he took in a breath and slowly exhaled. He opened his eyes and looked Abigale in the face with a half-smile as he started the tale from breakfast with Henry and his timidity towards school.
Abigale smiled at Nick when he told the part about convincing Henry that school would be fun and listened intently as Nick continued.
"Me and Henry sat together on the way to school," Nick continued, "and then…"
"Did you sit together on the way back?" Abigale quickly interrupted.
Nick seemed to squirm under this question as he answered back with a "no" trying to sound as cheery as possible.
"Oh," Abigale caught on to Nick's body language, "Then who did you sit with?"
Nick became even more uncomfortable as he didn't want to tell her the truth, "Uhhm… Harrison...?" Nick quickly said being the first name coming to him.
"Oh, okay," Abigale looked at him questioningly, "now how about the rest of the day?"
Nick regained some of his composure, "Henry and me got off and walked toward the door on the right side since everyone else was there and almost lost each other," Nick chuckled to himself.
Nick then started to talk about how the front of the school looked with the school colors, the rock garden and the statue in the middle before Abigale stopped him saying she attended that school as well, but at a different time. Nick shrank at the interruption but quickly started talking about what happened in the commons area.
"Me and Henry got in line and waited to get our IDs," Nick unconsciously took his out to show it to Abigale but caught himself too late.
Abigale took the ID card out of Nick's paw and gave a quick glance on the front and back, "Ohh, how neat. They didn't do this when I was your age," she said as she continued to examine the card.
She paused after looking at the card more closely. "Species: Red Fox," the card read making Abigale go flush for a few seconds before she returned it trying not to look concerned about it.
"Someday he'll be of age and recognize that he is not a bunny," the words echoed in her mind as Nick took back the card.
"That day might be closer than I anticipated," Abigale whispered to herself.
With the card in Nick's paw he looked right at the species section without a word and started about his day again, "so when me and Henry got our cards we wanted to see if we were in the same class," he explained, "but we weren't."
"You weren't?" Abigale asked, "Did you have anyone take a second look at it?"
Nick took in another deep breath, "Henry looked at my card again and saw that my species was wrong."
Abigale gave an almost audible sigh of relief but was cut short of creating a response as Nick continued.
"I got back in line to see if they made it wrong by accident, but before I got to the front I met Olivia. She is a fox," Nick stated with a pleasant tone.
The statement hung in the air between them and stung Abigale like a foul stench as she tried to hide her discomfort. She barely got in another breath as she spluttered words that sounded like "Oh, what's she like?"
Nick did his best to describe Olivia's personality. Smart, outgoing, creative, assertive and generally pleasant to be around. While Nick told Abigale of Olivia, he couldn't help but think of the piece of paper that Mrs. Marks gave him with their phone number on it and subconsciously pulled it out of his pocket to look at it again.
Abigale took notice of the small piece of paper in Nick's paw and asked about it, "Whatchu got there? Something that the school passed out?"
"No, they didn't pass this out. Olivia's mom got to the school before our car did and I got to meet her. She gave me this," Nick waved the small piece of paper in the air.
Abigale briefly saw the other side of the paper and recognized what looked to be a phone number. "Is that Olivia's phone number? The first day of school and you are already getting girls' numbers," she playfully teased.
"What? No! Olivia's mom gave it to me in case we wanted to play after school," Nick slightly blushed as Abigale continued snickering to herself.
Abigale dramatically wiped at her eye as if she had been in a laughing fit, "Now, what happened after you met with Olivia?"
"Umm, well she still had to get her card so I sat down on a bench close to the line to wait for her," Nick hesitated, "I had to ask her something, but before I could she grabbed my hand and ran into the auditorium."
Abigale flinched at "ask her a question" knowing that he was curious about his species and she was a fox. "Who better to answer that question?" she thought. Trying to avoid having that question asked now Abigale bit her tongue to avoid asking what Nick wanted to ask her, "So, how many people were in the auditorium?"
Nick without knowing that Abigale was avoiding the subject, "I don't know," he quickly answered, "but I didn't see any bunnies in the seats. There were a lot of predators though. Everyone sitting around me and Olivia was one."
"Aww, you and Olivia sat next to each other?" Abigale ruffled the fur between Nick's ears.
Nick blushed at the comment, "Yeah," he replied sheepishly.
"So after the audit-. . ." Abigale started before Nick interrupted her.
"Mo- Abigale? Can I ask you a question?" Nick questioned awaiting permission.
Abigale took notice of Nick avoiding calling her "mom" again, and made an assumption that Nick's question would be the very one she was hoping to avoid. She mentally prepared herself and started thinking about ways to ease him into the idea of him being a fox and other ways to comfort him in the event of a breakdown. She wanted to keep this quiet lest the whole younger end of the family make the realization and he becomes "the red-furred child."
Abigale wasn't too worried about Nick in school seeing as he was enrolled in an all species inclusive school. She was more worried about Nick's siblings, specifically those in his age bracket who are under the impression that he is a bunny. Just the thought of Nick being ignored, or even worse, shunned by his own brothers and sisters made Abigale's heart heavy.
"Was all this worrying really worth it? He's going to find out the truth eventually, no matter what I do," she thought. "It would probably be better if he found out sooner rather than later."
"But how will that affect him while he is growing up? How differently will he think of us and how differently would they think of him?" Questions like these flooded Abigale's mind as she prepared for Nick's inevitable question. That is until a dull ringing could be heard from the other side of the doorway.
"Perfect," Abigale thought to herself, "lunch is being called, so I might be able to talk with mom about this…"
Abigale put on a friendly and almost over the top in happiness face as she looked to Nick, "Ya hear that, Nick? Lunch is ready! Better hurry along so you get some food," Abigale encouraged him.
Nick's gaze dropped to the floor and Abigale's heart with it.
"Yeah, but…" Nick started.
"Don't worry," Abigale ruffled the fur between his ears again, "just come back here and you can finish talking about your day."
Abigale purposefully left out the question "Maybe he'll forget?" she thought to herself.
"O-okay," Nick replied.
"And before you go," Abigale pulled Nick into a tight hug and nuzzled her chin on top of his head, "Now run along, don't want to be late for lunch!"
Nick only nodded as he started with a brisk pace out the door toward the kitchen.
Abigale fell back onto Nick's bed in an exhausted manner, "Whew," she breathed, "Alright, … time to find mom."
Nick was navigating the hallways that he has lived in keeping the pace that he had started with when he left his room. He turned a corner and saw a group of his siblings turning another corner just down the hall giving him an idea of where he'd end up in line. While he made his way toward the dining room his thoughts would dart between the incomplete talk that he was having with Abigale and his grumbling stomach.
Nick's stomach growled again, but a little louder, causing him to quicken his pace. He thought that lunch was a good time to think to himself while eating and decide exactly how he wanted to ask Abigale about him being a fox.
Nick's pace quickened as he caught sight of the group from before. He caught up with them but stayed behind a couple of feet. Close enough to have a secure spot in the lunch line, but far enough where he wouldn't be included in whatever they were animatedly talking about at that moment. He decided that he wanted to think on his own for a bit, so this seemed like the best idea.
The next corner that the group and Nick went around led to the foyer, which was only a skip and a hop away from the dining room giving Nick some relief as his stomach groaned again. The group finally made it to the dining room continuing to talk about school, their day and other past events as they grabbed their plates and waiting in the buffet-like-line to get their lunch. Nick, who was still a few feet behind them follow suit waiting patiently as the line slowly moved along.
Another group of Nick's siblings was coming from the same way that Nick came in, but he paid them no mind and just continued looking forward and shuffling with the line. The bunny closest to Nick in the group behind him was raising his voice and making wild gesticulation as he told a funny story. Nick paid him no mind as he continued to face forward, that is until a sharp pain jolted through his body causing him to yip.
Nick pulled his tail away from the ground after having it been stepped on and looked at it. In the fluffy appendage that served as a grim reminder of all his differences from his family, there was still a stinging pain. Nick looked to the offender who already had his hands up in a defensive manner.
The young buck only muttered an apology and Nick went back to defensively grooming his tail. He picked up the plate that he had dropped, continued to wait in line and finally sat down at the table. Eating silently, he thought of how his conversation with Abigale would continue and how his family would react to him being a fox.
While Nick was confident that Abigale would not resent him for being a fox, he wasn't so sure about his siblings. Everyone knows that rabbits and foxes don't get along, let alone predators and prey. His mind eventually filled with doubt and he could only think of the strange looks that his family would give him.
Thinking of the looks he'd get from his siblings, Nick raised his head and looked around the table. To his despair, he noticed some of his brothers and sisters looking at him until he rose his head to meet their eyes. He put his head back down but only low enough to where he could see them, but they couldn't see his eyes.
The group that he had caught looking at him continued to steal glances and whisper to one another. Nick took notice and the emotions that have been building from the bus almost broke through, but he ran to his room before anyone would notice.
Abigale was seeking out Mrs. Hopps to get some motherly advice but only had a short window to find her. Because it is around lunchtime Abigale knew that her mother couldn't be too far from the kitchen so she decided that should be her first stop.
Making her way through the hallways with a pace that was more than a walk, yet less than a run, she made it to the kitchen in no time. Unfortunately, her mother was nowhere to be found, the only ones in the kitchen were those on dish duty cleaning all the dishes used to make lunch.
"Carter!" Abigale called out to her younger brother, "do you know if mom was in here?"
Carter turned from the sink he was working at, "yeah, she was in here, but I didn't bother to ask where she was going," he paused, "my best guess would be that she went to get something to eat."
"Alright, thanks, Carter!" Abigale said as she was about to leave.
"Hey! Where's Nick? I'm surprised you're not eating with him, seeing as you're his mom… In a sense," Carter asked.
This took Abigale off guard, but she was never one to stammer for an answer, "yeah, he is eating right now. It's because of him that I need to find mom."
"Alrighty then, see you later then," Carter finished while turning back to his station.
Abigale turned to the door and quickly made her way to the dining room. Peeking her head around the doorway she looked to the head of the table where her parents usually sit, but only saw her father.
"Dad's gotta know where mom went!" she thought to herself as she made her way over to him.
"Dad, have you seen mom around?" she asked while still swiveling her head.
Stu looked up from his food to address Abigale," umm, no I don't believe I have. Did you check the kitchen? That would be my guess. Well, that or our room…" Stu put a paw to his chin as he looked to the ceiling.
Abigale brushed her paws along her head smoothing down her ears, "I already checked the kitchen, but I'll check your room. Thanks, dad!" She started speed walking over to the foyer, but while she was walking she didn't notice Nick anywhere.
Abigale swallowed hard, "He must have already finished! I gotta get to his room soon…" she thought as she was almost running to her mother's room now.
Doors and hallways flew by as Abigale was headed for her mother's room. She didn't want to keep Nick waiting. She made it to her parent's room and knocked quickly at the door. No answer. She tried again but there was still no answer. Abigale opened the door slightly and poked her head in. The room was dark and no sign of anyone being there.
Abigale, disappointed, closed the door behind her and started toward Nick's room. "I can do this without mom's help," she thought, "sooner is always better than later, right? Right?"
Abigale walked her way to Nick's room and put on a smiling face before knocking, "Hey, Nick! It's Abby!"
Abigale slowly opened the and saw Nick faced away from her holding something in his paws, "Nicky? Are you al-" Abigale walked up behind him and saw what he was holding, his student ID with one of his claws pointing to his species.
Nick turned to face Abigale, tear-stained fur under his eyes making itself obvious in the light from the still-open door, "I'm not a bunny, Abby," a loud sniffled, "I'm a fox!" Nick fell to his knees and Abigale followed suit and embraced him. Hugging him close to her chest and softly running her paw down the back of his head.
"It's okay, Nicky," she hugged him tighter while rocking back and forth, "it'll all be okay."
Hey, reader! Thanks for returning to read my story! Sorry again for how long this took to upload life is crazy. Anyway, I do intend to continue this story and there might be large gaps in time between chapters. Just a heads up lmao. Also a huge shoutout to my two friends Will and 1872 Longstreet for helping me perfect this chapter!
