FYI: There's a bit of fluff discussed later in the chapter, so fair warning.

When Shaylee arrived home, she went looking for Judy, but she wasn't in her room, the great room, the library, or the kitchen. With her ears dropping, she made her way down to the kits' playroom. Seeing a large number of the young kits who made up the kerfluffle hopping around the playroom, giggling and squealing as they chased each other around, or played with their toys, Shaylee smiled to see their exuberance. There were even several kits making a huge block tower. Others (mostly does) were watching Tangled on a large screen tv at one end of the room, while a bunch of other kits (mainly bucks) were watching Robots on a large screen tv at the other end of the room.

Stepping further into the room, Shaylee looked around until she saw several of her older nieces who were watching the kits, along with 2 of her sisters and one of her brothers. Walking over to them, she gave a short wave as she said, "Hi, guys, how's it going down here?"

Her sisters, Brooklynn (who was a tan-colored rabbit with a creamy muzzle and white paws who loved sketching and quilting) and McKenzie (a light-brown rabbit with black ears and a black streak down her face that covered her muzzle and who enjoyed writing children's stories), along with her brother, Trenton (a dark-tan buck with a black stipe that started at his chin, traveled up his face and all the way down his back to his black twitching tail, and who happened to be the bowling champion in the family), all looked at each other and shrugged, even as Shaylee's older nieces and most of the kits perked their ears and eyes towards her. Giving Shaylee a curious look over, McKenzie answered, "Not much. Just trying to keep our sanity—"

"And our hearing," Trenton interrupted while pulling his dark-brown ears down to protect the sensitive ear canal.

"—and our hearing," McKenzie agreed, "while watching the kerfluffle."

Shaylee looked around at the mostly quiet kits. Although there was definitely some squealing and giggling, it was at a manageable hum. "Oh, come on, they're not that bad."

Stepping towards Shaylee, Trenton released his ears and jabbed a finger towards her while saying, "You're only saying this because you weren't here an hour ago." Grabbing his ears and pulling on them again, he exclaimed, "It was a complete war-zone in here."

Brooklynn chuckled at their brother's theatrics. Waving a white paw through the air, she said, "Well, it was pretty noisy in here until we put the movies on."

Shaylee looked at both movies again, then twitched her gray tail while saying, "Sounds like the kits need a trip outside if they got that wild."

They all agreed, and then McKenzie flicked one of her black ears and said, "Once the movies are over then we'll switch with the group outside."

Shaylee nodded, then clasped her paws behind her back. With her ears perked forward, she rocked forward on her feet and asked, "So, has anyone seen Judy today?"

McKenzie and Brooklynn glanced at each other, then shook their heads before turning to their nieces and the kerfluffle. There was series of 'nope' and 'not me' and 'eh huh' and then Trenton scratched his black chin and said, "Well, I didn't see her. But I overheard Lucas and Randy talking about how Judy's body must have been snatched by aliens last night."

"Huh?" Shaylee, McKenzie, and Brooklynn all echoed.

Trenton nodded as he scratched his chin again. "Yeah. They were going on about how weird Judy was acting this morning." Three pairs of inquisitive ears perked in his direction and he said, "Apparently, she had gone on a long night ride last night, then got up late this morning and saddled up and left again. Said she was going to be gone most of the day."

Shaylee's jaw went slack as this was unexpected. "Really?"

Trenton nodded. "That's what they said." Tilting his head slightly, he scratched his head, adding, "Judy didn't give a reason, either. Just said she felt like it. That convinced Lucas and Randy that Judy had been snatched by aliens, like in that movie we watched in high school, Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

All three does rolled their eyes at the bucks' idiocy, but then Shaylee said, "Well, if she went riding, then I guess I should hang out in the barn till she gets back." Pulling out her phone and looking at the time, she added, "It's late enough in the afternoon that she should be getting back anytime now."

Brooklynn and McKenzie nodded in agreement, then Shaylee said goodbye and made her way outside to the bird barn. Climbing up into the loft she burrowed into the loose straw used as bedding for the birds, then pulled out her phone. Remembering how Nick looked when she'd sent him the two pictures of Judy, she wanted to go through her photos and pick out a few more to send him. Or . . . maybe she should make a video or two of Judy and show them to Nick. If she wanted Nick to see Judy in a romantic light and as the perfect mate, then he needed to see her sister as she is now. And maybe she could get Judy talking about Nick, so he'll know without a shadow of a doubt that she's in love with him.

With a plan in place, Shaylee settled more comfortably into the straw while waiting for her sister to show for her video debut. With a smile, Shaylee figured she should suggest Nick make some videos of his time here, too. That way her sister will be able to see what he's been up to while they were apart.

In the meantime, Shaylee decided to make a few music videos using the pictures she had of Judy while waiting for her to show up. If Nick saw enough pictures of Judy, maybe he'll give up on this stupid game with Mandy and just call Judy.

...

As Judy and Patty-Mae skirted the barn to the corral, Patty-Mae put her fingers to her mouth and a gave a piercing whistle. Judy slapped her paws over her ears and wished her friend had given her some warning. As she dropped her paws and looked out, at first nothing happened, but after a moment, Judy heard a low hum on the breeze that quickly built in volume, and then she felt the ground vibrate beneath her. With her ears perking in surprise, she looked to the pasture beyond the corral, where a flock of emus topped a small rise and thundered towards the corral.

Flowing into the corral through the open gate, the flock of emus stopped in front of the fence where she and Patty-Mae were standing. Judy was flabbergasted as none of the birds her family owned ever came when whistled. Some would come if they saw you had treats, but most would stand around and let you come them. But there were also several that made you chase them around the pasture if they weren't already trapped in the corral.

Judy was extremely glad Pebbles was one of the ones that let her walk up and halter her without putting up a fuss. Looking at Patty-Mae as she bent down and slid between the rails of the fence and into the corral where the birds waited, Judy exclaimed, "You trained them to come when you whistle!"

Patty-Mae glanced over her shoulder as she began petting several of the birds and said, "Of course, it's the only way to do it." Turning back to the light brown female she was petting, even as she reached over to pet another one, she added, "But you have to start when they're young or it takes twice as long to train them."

Judy nodded as she entered the corral herself, even as she began petting the birds as she looked for one that caught her fancy. If Patty-Mae already had them trained, then she wouldn't have to take the time to train them herself which meant she could apply for the Search and Rescue that much sooner. While wandering through the flock of female emus, Judy asked, "So how do you train them?"

Patty-Mae grinned. "Food." As Judy glanced over, the tan and black doe said, "At first, I just whistled whenever I fed them so they would associate the sound with being fed. When they got a little older and I started training them to halter, I only fed them after they let me halter them. This way, they came when I whistled and didn't fight me about haltering them. Now it's just second nature to them."

Judy looked over in surprise, but she immediately saw the value of Patty-Mae's training method. She had never had much to do the training of her family's birds, they were either already trained when they got them, or some of her brothers broke them to the saddle. Maybe she should suggest this training method to her siblings who worked with the birds. Especially when it came to the Dodos. They especially liked being chased whenever you wanted to halter them for riding. They were fine once you were in the saddle, but they were always stubborn about being caught and they had a bad tendency to wander off if they weren't tied up once you got out of the saddle.

Looking through the light-colored females, Judy realized that most of the females were quite a bit bigger than the island emus she was accustomed to. Not as large as the Tasmanian or Mainland emus, but still larger than the Kangaroo Island emus her family owned. Turning to her friend, Judy asked, "Are you . . . breeding . . . them to be larger?"

With a wide grin and twitch of her cottony tail, Patty-Mae replied proudly, "As a matter of fact, I am." As Judy ran her paw over the fluffy side of one of the larger medium-brown emus, Patty-Mae explained, "We have birds around here for the small mammals—rabbits, prairie dogs, minks, ferrets, and the smaller fox species—but not many birds are fit for the larger small mammals and smaller larger mammals—red wolves, coyotes, bobcats, lynxes, the medium sized sheep and deer species—so I figured I'd start breeding them." Looking over the flock, Patty added, "It's taken me nearly a decade to get them this big, but it's been worth it."

Judy nodded as she looked over the flock in appreciation. It really was amazing.

Seeing the awe in Judy's gaze, Patty-Mae said, "If you think this is great, you should see the males." As Judy looked over, Patty jerked her head towards the other side of the barn where the male emus were waiting in the adjoining corral which covered the other half of the large barn.

Wading through the female flock, Judy stepped past them and then her jaw dropped at the sight of the males. Although they were about the same size as the females, these males had the darker brown and black backs of the Island emus, but also the striking white, fluffy neck and chest of the Dwarf emus. Dwarf emus which were much too small to be the emus she was currently looking at. "You bred the Dwarf emus bigger!"

Patty-Mae's grin grew bigger as she explained how she started with the largest Dwarf emus, then bred them with the largest Island emus. After getting a good stock of the larger Dwarf/Island emus with the fluffy white chest, she started breeding them with the smaller Tasmanian emus. Now she had a large flock of the larger emus with the fluffy chest, along with larger females that hatched in the same clutches as the males.

"Wow," Judy murmured when Patty-Mae got done explaining how she got the large flock of birds. "What are you calling them?"

"Well," Patty-Mae started, "Since their white necks and chests come from the Dwarf emus from King Island, and they're now much larger than both the Dwarf and Island emus they were bred from, I'm calling them King emus."

Judy nodded as she walked among the tall emus with the fluffy white chests that reminded her a lot of Nick and his fluffy white chest. While walking through them, she spotted one of the smaller males. Still big for a Dwarf or Island emu, but still small compared to the rest of the birds. In fact, he looked just the right size for Nick to ride. With Nick being a red fox, he was slightly big for a typical Island emu. Although he'd still be able to ride one, Judy knew he would look and feel more comfortable on a larger bird. And this one would be a perfect fit for her fox friend.

Walking over to the smallest of the King emus, Judy clicked her tongue at it as she put her paw out for the bird to sniff. He watched her for several moments, seeming aloof, and then finally dipped his head to sniff Judy's paw. As the bird lifted its head back up above Judy's own while again looking around aloofly, Judy took a step closer to the emu and ran her paws through its thick, white, hair-like feathers. They definitely reminded her of Nick's furry chest and made her wonder what it would be like to run her fingers through Nick's fur. Realizing where her thoughts had automatically jumped to, Judy dropped her now red ears and turned back to Patty-Mae, asking, "What about this male?"

Patty-Mae looked the smaller bird over, then said, "Well, he's a good bird. He's fast and agile while staying alert, and he doesn't fight you when you ride him. But he's too small for me to breed so I've been thinking of selling him." With a shrug, Patty-Mae said, "But I'm still not sure. For an emu, he has personality and is fun to ride, so I don't know."

"I'll buy him," Judy immediately said.

Patty-Mae's ears perked up at Judy's statement. "You sure you don't want a female or one of the smaller Island emu males?" Although Patty-Mae was primarily breeding King emus, she still had several Dwarf and Island emus that came from her breeding stock.

Turning back to the male she was looking to buy, Judy explained, "I'll take a female for myself, but this male reminds me of Nick with his thick, white chest." Glancing over her shoulder at her new friend, Judy added, "And this male is the perfect size for Nick to ride, too."

Patty-Mae's nose twitched in surprise. Not so much that Judy wanted to by the male emu, or even that she wanted to buy two emus. No, what surprised her was that Judy was willing to buy Nick an emu, even when there was no certainty that she would ever see him again, or that he would even want the bird even if she did somehow meet him.

With her nose still twitching, Patty-Mae realized that if Judy was willing to put so much time, effort, and money into a future with Nick that might never come to pass, then there really was no hope of her ever looking at another male. Nick had become the center of Judy's world and everything she did now revolved around him, whether he was here or not. When Judy said she would take Nick as her mate, she really meant it. With a flick of her tail, Patty-Mae wondered if this is what you would call a soulmate?

And with as much effort as Judy was putting into the relationship even before she met Nick again, Patty-Mae had a hard time believing that Nick wouldn't eventually grow to share her friend's feelings. Especially if they truly were soulmates.

Feeling sorry for her brother for missing the dating boat with Judy, Patty-Mae turned her attention back to Judy. "Well, I don't mind selling him to you. And if you buy two birds, I'll give you a discount."

"Really!?" Judy asked excitedly. She hadn't originally planned on buying two birds, so she wasn't sure she would have enough money. She had her savings she was using, but she didn't want to clean it out, so hearing she'd get a discount helped put her mind at ease.

Patty-Mae nodded, then watched Judy turn back to the male emu and rest her cheek against his fluffy white chest. With a smile, Patty-Mae asked, "So do you have a name for him yet?"

Judy glanced over her shoulder and asked, "You haven't name him?"

Patty-Mae shook her head, saying, "No. For the birds I plan to sell, I leave it up to the new owners to name them." Walking over and running her paw down the male's fluffy neck, she added, "With this one, I wasn't sure whether I was going to keep him or not, so I've just been calling him Shorty as a nickname."

Judy nodded, then stood back to get a good look at the bird who was tall (to her), yet short compared to the other male emus. Tilting her head in thought as her tail flicked behind her and her nose twitched slightly, she then said, "I'll name him JD." Glancing over at her friend, Judy explained, "That's short for Junior Detective."

"Junior Detective?" Patty-Mae questioned. It was strange name, but she was fairly certain it had to do with Nick somehow. And Judy confirmed her suspicions a moment later.

"While Nick was helping me with the case, I might have called him a junior detective at one point."

Watching Judy's ears drop to her back, Patty-Mae giggled. "I bet he loved that."

"Yeah, uh, no." With a giggle herself, Judy turned back to JD. "He actually did joke about it, though." With a smile, she ran her paws once again through the fluffy, hair-like feathers that covered JD's white throat and chest. Leaning forward, she rubbed her face into the bird's fluffy chest, then immediately pulled back to sneeze as dust from the emu's feathers tickled her nose.

Patty-Mae grinned as she grabbed a halter and lead rope from the barn and returned to Judy's side.

Judy shook her head and sneezed again, then grumbled, "Ug, I'm glad Nick's chest fur isn't all dusty like this."

Handing the halter to Judy, Patty-Mae's ears perked up. "Oh, are you speaking from experience?" she hummed in curiosity as she leaned closer to the gray doe beside her.

Judy's ears immediately flushed a dark pink as she said, "Well, sort of."

Patty-Mae's titled her head, saying, "What do you mean, sort of?" With a twitch of her nose and a teasing grin, she added, "Come on, out with the juicy details."

With an embarrassed smile, Judy said, "Well, it was after I flushed us down that megafauna toilet and we wound up in that huge pool of water. It was the middle of the night by that time, the air was chilly and then coming out of that cold water!" Judy shivered at the memory. Continuing with her story, she explained, "I called for backup once we got on dry land, but then we had to wait almost an hour for them to arrive—we were that far out from city center. We found a log to sit on, but while we were waiting, I started shivering. Pretty badly, too."

Pausing while remembering how protective Nick was of her, she said, "So Nick took his shirt off and twisted it to wring the water out of it, then put it around my shoulders to try and cut back on the wind-chill." Taking a deep breath while remembering what Nick did next, Judy explained, "Then he put his arms around me and pulled me to his chest before wrapping his tail around me."

Patty-Mae's full attention was on her friend as she tried to imagine what it was like for Judy to be held in the red fox's arms. Judy and Nick had just narrowly escaped being locked up like the savage predators, and then for Nick to treat her so caringly afterwards. Not many mammals would do that, especially towards a cop who was blackmailing them.

Judy rubbed her arms while remembering how strong Nick's arms felt. "I felt really safe and comfortable in his arms, and it wasn't long before my shivering stopped and I started feeling warm again." Closing her eyes, she hugged herself while imagining it was Nick's arms still around her. With a heavy sigh, she opened her eyes as her ears drooped. "But the dumb bunny that I was, I didn't even stop long enough to appreciate it." Waving a paw through the air, she continued, "I just thought it was nice and then my mind immediately jumped to the case, and how all those savage mammals were being locked up by the mayor and wondering what it all meant."

Rubbing her paws over her face in frustration, Judy continued, "A lot of my aunts and uncles always told me to slow down and take time to stop and smell the roses, to appreciate the little things in life, or I was going to miss out on important moments, but I always had my goals to accomplish and so I never listened." Pulling on her ears, she looked at Patty-Mae and said, "I was so stupid! I was in Nick's arms and all I could think about was the stupid case. A case I couldn't do anything about until backup arrived!"

Patty-Mae reached over to pat her shoulders, but Judy rolled over and leaned against JD's fluffy side. Rubbing her paws over her face again, she sniffled as tears started to gather in her eyes as she groaned, "And then after the press conference, when he bared his teeth and claws at me to show my distrust of him, I . . . I . . . I felt so scared in that moment. And it was completely stupid. Nick would never hurt me. He showed me how much he cared about me, how safe I was with him, and I . . . I . . ." With slumped shoulders and drooping ears, she muttered into her paws as tears slid down her cheeks, "I hate myself. I really hate myself. And I can't get his look of hurt and betrayal out of my head. Most nights it haunts my dreams."

Patty-Mae stepped over to Judy and pulled her into her arms, saying, "It's going to be all right. You'll meet him again, I'm sure of it. And when you do, you can properly explain all this to him and show him how much you really trust him."

Judy sniffled as she hugged Patty-Mae back. "I hope you're right. I really hope you're right."

"Of course, I am. Nick didn't risk his life to help and protect you if he didn't feel something for you." Stepping back, Patty-Mae met Judy's watery gaze and said, "Now come on, let's get JD out of the flock and look for a female bird for yourself."

Judy nodded and wiped her arm across her eyes. When she could see clearly again, she slipped the halter and lead rope over JD's head and led him to the gate and into the barn. Tying him up to hitching post inside the barn, Judy followed Patty-Mae back into the corral where the females waited.

While watching Judy wander through the flock looking at the lighter colored females, many of which were much larger than she was, Patty-Mae wondered what Nick would think if he could see Judy now. She also wondered more about Judy's cabin. If it was deep in the mountains, when was the last time Judy had been there? Was it even still habitable?

"Hey, Judy," Patty-Mae spoke up, "when was the last time you were at your grandma's cabin?"

Judy looked up from one of the smaller females she was considering, this one with light grayish-brown feathers mixed with darker highlights. Answering her friend's question, she said, "Oh, it's been a good five or six years now."

Patty-Mae's ears dropped, but before she could state the obvious, Judy's own ears dropped and she groaned, saying, "What if the roof started leaking and the floor's all rotted now?" She'd been so focused on getting her college degree and getting into the ZPA after graduating high school that she hadn't given her grandma's cabin hardly a thought. Especially since she wasn't interested in any males, prey or predator, at the time.

Patty-Mae nodded, then, after a moment's thought, her ears perked back up, and she said, "Well, if you want to go out there and make any repairs, I'm game." At Judy's surprised look, Patty-Mae added, "Well, I am curious about this cabin your grandma left you. And I'm sure my boyfriend, Joey, will jump at the chance to go camping in the mountains. He's pretty good at making repairs on the barns and fences, so I'm sure he'll be a big help with fixing the cabin up." With a grin, she added, "And if you're okay with it, and if Ryan is fine with being friend-zoned, he's a right, good handyman. He's helped with the plumbing and electrical at our ranch, and he's pretty good at carpentry, too. So, no matter what kind of repairs we might need to make, he'd be a good one to have with us."

Judy's ears perked up. "Are you sure?" Knowing she wasn't alone and that there was someone else supporting her and her desire to pursue Nick, took a huge weight off Judy's shoulders.

With a grin, Patty-Mae replied, "Of course." With a flick of her tail, she added, "And it's been too long since I got the chance to visit the mountains. We can even take JD and whichever female you pick and test out their surefootedness in the mountains. I'd hate to sell you a couple of birds for the Search and Rescue, and then find out they're useless in the mountains."

Judy nodded. "That's a really good idea." Glancing over the flock of females she was standing among, she added, "If I'm buying them to use in the mountains, it's best to know how they handle in the rough terrain."

Patty-Mae, nodded, saying, "Ryan helped me brake JD, so he can ride him while we're up there and you can see how he handles." Judy nodded and while she moved on to look at a few other females, Patty-Mae said, "We can go this week if you want. If there is damage done to your cabin, the sooner we get there the sooner we can start fixing it up and the sooner we can prevent further damage."

A wide smile spread across Judy's face as she ran her paw over the fluffy feathers of one of the female emus and her other paw down the neck of another emu. "That's sounds wonderful. I'm meeting with Bobby Cutmaul and his family tomorrow night for dinner, but we can leave first thing Thursday morning if that works for you."

Patty-Mae thought for a moment, then said, "Ryan is signed up for the barrel racing at the rodeo, but he doesn't need to be there till Saturday afternoon, so if we leave Thursday morning, we can stay through Friday and leave first thing Saturday morning. We can then make a list of anything still left to be fixed and the supplies needed, and then return next week once the rodeo's over."

Judy nodded as she remembered watching Ryan and his brothers practicing the barrels when she'd stopped by earlier looking for Patty-Mae. "That's sounds like a plan to me."

"Good." With a grin, she moved to stand next to JD while Judy finished looking the flock of females over. After a few minutes of watching Judy move through the flock, Patty-Mae walked over to a barrel sitting against the wall of the barn and reached in to grab a small bucket of prunes, then returned to JD's side and began feeding him the dried fruits. He chirped and preened at the attention and tasty treats, and Patty-Mae grinned at his greedy desire for the dried fruit.

As JD finished the bucket of prunes, Patty-Mae turned her attention back to Judy. After a moment, her curiosity got the better of her. Speaking up, she asked, "So, Judy, I'm curious."

Judy glanced through the throng of birds, her ears perked forward and her nose twitching in curiosity. "About what?"

"Well," Patty-Mae started, "you fell in love with Nick, who's a predator, and you hope to take him as your mate, correct." At Judy's nod, Patty-Mae continued. "And your great-grandmother also fell in love with a predator and did take him as her mate."

Judy's ears turned a dark shade of pink and dropped down her back as she had a sinking feeling she knew what her friend's question might be.

"Well, since your grandma thought you might also fall for a predator, did she ever give you any advice as to what it's like being with a predator?" Patty-Mae asked, then gave a silent laugh while watching her friend's flustered expression.

Judy's ears turned a dark shade of pink, as did her nose and cheeks, even as she turned her attention back to the emu she was looking over. "Does it matter?" she asked in embarrassment as she remembered the one time her Grandmas Cecilia talked about that night with Tyrel.

"Well," Patty-Mae stated, "if you plan to take Nick as your mate, isn't it something you need to think about? Predators do things a bit differently than us prey. With all your predator friends, I'm sure you've seen how they like to lick and nip their mates in a show of affection. That's not something us rabbits do, so I was just wondering if your grandma mentioned Tyrel doing anything else that's uniquely predatory."

Judy didn't answer as her ears turned bright red which caused Patty-Mae's ears to perk forward and a teasing grin to spread across her face. With a final pat to JD, she slipped back through the fence railing and into the corral. As Judy was studiously ignoring her, Patty-Mae slipped up behind the gray doe and surprised her by popping up over her shoulder (with Patty-Mae being a jackrabbit, she was a bit taller than Judy). "So, what juicy details did your grandma tell you?"

Judy jumped at the sudden appearance and voice of her friend. With a paw over her rapidly beating heart, she turned to Patty-Mae with her nose twitching a mile a minute. With a deep breath, she tried to calm down, then said, "What does it matter? You're dating Joey and hoping to marry him, so why do you want to know what predators do?" Although Cecilia hadn't given much detail of her one night in Tyrel's arms, and with much of what Cecilia said sounding like Greek to her younger self, Judy now had a better idea of what her grandma was talking about . . . And it had Judy's ears, nose, and cheeks bright, candy-apple red, especially since she couldn't stop her own curiosity from wondering what it would be like if Nick tried the same trick on her.

"Oh, come on, I'm burning up with curiosity! You're prey wanting to snuggle up to a predator! Furthermore, you're following in the footsteps of your great-grandma! How can I not be curious?" Rocking forward on her toes with her paws behind her back, Patty-Mae continued, "And besides, it might be fun to try with Joey once we get married." With a wide grin, she added, "Who knows?"

Judy was quiet for a moment as she ran her fingers through the emu's feathers she was standing beside. "Well, I was about 13 or 14 when my grandma mentioned that night, and she was pretty vague about the details so they didn't make a lot of sense to me. At that time, I had absolutely no interest in males, and ignored the gossip of my older sisters, so I was clueless as to most of what my grandma was talking about." Waving her paws through the air, Judy continued, saying, "Anyways, it all started making sense when Jasmine Tigre married Jason Tiggersen." Pointing to Patty-Mae, Judy said, "You know who they are right?"

Patty-Mae nodded. She was familiar with the tigers as Jasmine's brother Tony had recently bought several of her largest emus from her. He was buying them for his teenage boys and the fluffy white chests of her male emus really appealed to the tiger family.

Judy nodded, then continued her story, saying, "I attended her bridal shower, and then when she returned from their honeymoon to Pawaii—I would love to go there one day—a bunch of us got together to hear how the honeymoon went." With bright eyes while imagining what Pawaii would be like, she continued, "Jasmine mostly talked about the sights and the mammals there." Grabbing Patty-Mae's arm as her ears popped up and perked forward, she added, "They got to walk along the black sands of Punaluu beach on the main island of Pawaii!"

Patty-Mae chuckled at Judy's excitement and had to admit, a vacation or, better yet, a honeymoon to Pawaii would be quite enjoyable. "That would be really awesome, but you're stalling again." Looking at Judy with a raised eyebrow, Patty-Mae watched Judy's ears turn bright red again before falling back down her back.

"Right." Taking a deep breath, Judy began walking back through the flock of emus as she continued her story. "Okay, so during the get-together, Saline was there." Turning to meet Patty-Mae's gaze, Judy asked, "You know Saline from the diner, right?"

Patty-Mae's grin grew. "Of course, I do. She's always fun to talk to whenever I eat at Grandma's Diner." Everyone in town shortened the name of Grandma Hopps's Down Home Cookin to Grandma's diner, or just 'The diner'. It was a favorite place to eat in town and everyone knew the waitresses there, especially Saline, as she was friendly with everyone and, although she was a small roe deer, she didn't treat predators any differently than she did prey.

"Yeah, so, Saline was just as curious as you are about the differences between prey and predator . . . mating . . . rituals, I guess you could call them."

"Okay," Patty-Mae asked, "so what did Jasmine say?" Her ears were perked forward and her nose was twitching slightly in curiosity.

With a nod and twitch of her tail, Judy said, "Well, Saline merely asked what Jasmine enjoyed most during the wedding night besides, you know, the actual act."

Patty-Mae followed closely on Judy's heels as she wandered through the flock and back towards the grayish-brown female she was looking at earlier. "And? Go on."

"Yeah, so, Jasmine told us about this . . . thing . . . Jason did with his tongue." Judy's nose was twitching like crazy while remembering Jasmine's answer to Saline's question, even as she now understood what her grandma was hinting at all those years ago.

"His tongue?" Patty-Mae asked, flabbergasted. "Besides kissing, what's there for a male to do with his tongue?" she asked. She knew what a doe could do for a buck, but nothing else that a buck would do for a doe. Bucks liked mouth to mouth while using their paws to explore their doe's body. Of course, she knew felines and canines, and maybe a few other mammals, liked to lick their mates, but she didn't think Judy was talking about licking. "I mean, I know predators will lick their mates, but what else is there to do with their tongue?"

Judy's tail twitched, "Um, it is licking, sort of, in a way, I guess." She'd never heard of any rabbit bucks doing this for any of her sisters. Although she didn't listen to her sisters' gossip about their mates and romantic exploits, in a warren full of so many rabbits, there's a lot of things you can't avoid hearing about.

Patty-Mae stared at Judy for a moment in utter confusion. "What do you mean 'sort of' and 'in a way'? How can you be 'sort of' licking?"

Judy twiddled with some of the long feathers of the grayish-brown emu she was considering buying, then turned back to her friend. After a moment's hesitation, Judy stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Patty-Mae's ear.

Patty-Mae's eyes widened as a paw flew up to cover her mouth. With bright red ears that dropped down her back, Patty-Mae exclaimed, "Are you serious!? They do that!?"

Judy merely shrugged. "Well, felines and badgers apparently do and both Jasmine and Cecilia had rave reviews about the experience."

It took Patty-Mae several heartbeats to get her head wrapped around the information Judy had just relayed to her. This was way different than anything a male rabbit or hare would do for a doe. But then Judy spoke up again and derailed her train of thought—again.

Glancing down as she considered what her grandmother and friend had told her, Judy looked down the end of her nose and muttered, "I think it has to do with their long tongues." Sticking out her tongue and touching it briefly, she mumbled, "I don't think our small lapin tongues would work very well, and there's no way they could give the full affect."

Patty-Mae's eyes widened further at Judy's comment, even as she watched her gray and white friend looking down at her small tongue in thought. Guessing where, or rather, who her thoughts were on, a smirk crossed Patty-Mae's face as she bent down slightly and said, "And since Nick is a red fox he must have a nice long tongue, no?"

Without looking up, Judy nodded as she was trying to compare her tongue to Nick's. With such a small tongue, would Nick even be impressed if they kissed? Wouldn't he prefer a female with a better tongue than hers? With these somewhat negative thoughts running through her head, she answered Patty-Mae's question without thinking. "The first day I met Nick, he was eating a popsicle and he definitely had a nice, long tongue."

With mischief dancing in her amber eyes, Patty-Mae clasped her paws behind her back and leaned down till she was eyelevel with Judy and said, "A long tongue you want him to taste you with?"

Even though she had an errant thought earlier about what it would be like for Nick to do for her what Tyrel had done for her grandmother, she hadn't thought too deeply into what it would actually involve. But at Patty-Mae's pointed question, her mind jumped to the idea with vivid detail. With her ears, nose, and cheeks heating up, Judy grabbed her ears and pulled them down over her face, even as she released a loud moan of frustration. "Patty-Mae," she whined. With her ears still covering her face, she continued whining, "Why did you have to put these images in my head!"

With a teasing laugh, Patty-Mae answered, "Oh, come on, Judy! You're the one who wants to mate and marry Nick. You need to consider these things so you know what you're getting yourself into."

Pulling her ears to the side of her face so she could meet her friend's laughing gaze, Judy exclaimed, "Not right now, I don't! It could be years before I see Nick again and I don't need to be having these images in my head!" Patty-Mae laughed which made Judy release her ears to glare at her friend. Saying, "It's not funny," she crossed her arms over her chest and began rapidly thumping her foot in frustration.

As Patty-Mae merely laughed again, Judy stated, "I already started dreaming about Nick kissing me, and now with this—!" Throwing her arms up in the air, she exclaimed, "I don't even want to know what my dreams are going to be like now! It's bad enough waking up with nightmares and bawling my eyes out, and I don't need to wake up hot and bothered on top of it!" With a huff as she folded her arms and began thumping her foot again, she added, "Especially since Nick's not around to do anything about it!"

"Oh-ho. So, you do want him to taste you, even though he has those sharp claws and scary teeth?" Baring her own teeth and spreading her fingers to show off her blunt claws, Patty-Mae made a playful swipe at Judy.

"Patty-Mae!" Judy whined again as she grabbed her ears once more and pulled them down to either side of her face.

"Come on, admit it," said Patty-Mae with an evil grin. "Everything predatory about Nick is a turn on for you! Otherwise, thinking of Nick wouldn't get you so hot and bothered." With a triumphant smile, Patty-Mae waited for Judy to admit how hot she thought Nick was.

With a groan, Judy hid behind her ears again. Patty-Mae poked her in the side and Judy released her ears and threw her paws up in the air, exclaiming, "Okay, yes, I think Nick is hot! And everything predatory about him is a turn on for me." With a huff, she crossed her arms again while staring at one of the birds standing behind Patty-Mae as she muttered, "Grandma Cecilia claimed that a predator's fearsome weapons were some of their best assets when it came to snuggling together, that their long tongue was divine, that they're stamina was incredible, and that . . ." Judy's voice dropped to a low whisper as her ears and face heated up again as she finished, ". . . that size does matter."

Patty-Mae's eyes widened and her nose began twitching at Judy's admission, along with her grandmother's words. Thinking it over, and seeing that Judy lucked out in falling for fox who was much bigger than herself and had lethal weapons designed to take her down, along with that long tongue of his, Patty-Mae chuckled, saying, "Well, I don't know about Nick's stamina, but he definitely wins in the size department if he's proportional to his body size."

With a death glare, Judy popped her friend in the shoulder and said, "Stop it. Just stop it already. I admit I love everything about Nick, but I wasn't wanting to deal with all this until I can actually see Nick again and find out if he's even interested in me!" Waving her paws in the air, she added, "For all I know, he'll never see me as anything more than his rabbit friend. Nick will probably prefer a larger female that can better match up to him. So thinking of him like this before I even know if he'll have me is pointless and is just frustrating." Continuing to glare at the tan and black doe in front of her, Judy's foot started thumping again.

Patty-Mae opened her mouth to continue teasing her friend, but then realized Judy's repeated outbursts and rapidly thumping foot was agitating the birds they were standing amongst. Although usually calm, one could never know what might startle and set them off. As her laughter fled, Patty-Mae grabbed Judy's arm and started leading her towards the metal fence while stating, "Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing you. Just calm down. The last thing we need to do is get kicked by one of these birds."

Judy glanced around as Patty-Mae pushed her towards the fence. Although the birds had been calmly milling around the corral moments ago, with them occasional squawking at each other, they were now shifting restlessly with a few giving a sharp warning chirp. Though Judy was glad to see the grayish-brown doe watching her calmly while remaining alert to any danger that might have set Judy off, Judy didn't stick around inside the pen. These birds were mostly bigger than your average Island emu and getting kicked by one would be a serious matter as they could easily crimple or even kill a rabbit, their kicks were that powerful.

Slipping back between the thick, pipe railings of the corral fence, Judy patted JD, then walked to the barn wall to grab another halter and lead rope. Taking a deep breath while trying to calm down, she then turned back to Patty-Mae who had stopped beside JD.

Patty-Mae stood nibbling on her lower lip for a minute, then spoke up while watching Judy walk back towards her. "I know you don't have much faith right now, Judy, but I have a hard time believing Nick doesn't feel something more for you." As hope and fear warred in Judy's eyes, Patty-Mae explained, "Nick was willing to die for you, Judy, and he was also willing to live for you as your partner on the police force. A male doesn't do that for a female he doesn't have strong feelings for. He might not realize the full extent of his feelings yet, but I don't think it would take much for him to realize how much he needs you, too."

Judy met her friend's steady gaze for a moment, then nodded as she let a bit more hope fill her heart. Patty-Mae had a very good point. Nick had been willing to die for her, and he was also willing to turn his whole life around and live for her. That had to mean something, right? With another deep breath and with a bit more spring in her step, Judy slipped back through the pipe railing and into the flock of birds. Keeping an eye on the birds she was walking through, she made her way back to the grayish-brown female.

Petting the female's neck while talking softly to her, Judy slipped the end of the lead rope around the emu's neck to keep her steady, then slid the halter over her head and buckled it on. Leading her to the gate, Patty-Mae opened it up for her, and Judy led the emu into the barn and tied her up next to JD. As her friend asked her what she intended to name this bird, Judy said she'd name her Officer Toot-Toot, or Toot-Toot for short, then explained it was an inside joke with Nick.

Patty-Mae grinned while figuring Nick must have called Judy Officer Toot-Toot at some point. After discussing the price of the two birds, Judy realized she'd be cleaning her savings completely out if she bought both. With lowered ears, she figured she'd have to come back and buy JD later once she saved up more money, but Patty-Mae said not to bother. Judy could come out to help her with the birds to finish paying for JD. At 10 dollars an hour, Judy could work 4 hours a day for five days and she'd have the last $200 dollars paid off and JD would be officially hers.

With gratitude, Judy immediately agreed and they decided that Judy would start working next Monday afternoon, which would give Judy more time to get to know her birds before they headed into the mountains to fix up her grandmother's cabin. Judy would also come by Patty-Mae's house tomorrow afternoon so they could make better plans and gather the materials they'd need for the possible repairs on the cabin. With a plan in place, Judy happily wrote out a check for the money portion of her payment, then switched Patty-Mae's halter on Toot-Toot for the halter she had in her saddlebag. With a promise to return her friend's halter when she came by the next day, Judy climbed back into Pebbles' saddle and headed home.

Patty-Mae watched her go and hoped everything would work out for her and Nick. With a smile, she returned to her birds. Since it was now late afternoon, Joey would be getting home from work soon (he worked at a carpentry shop part-time), and since she needed to talk to him about the upcoming camping trip to fix up Judy's cabin, Patty-Mae figured she'd just hangout until he arrived. Then they could feed the birds together before sitting down and discussing plans for the rest of the week. Of course, having an excuse to see Joey today was always a plus. Originally, Joey was going to be feeding the birds today and she'd come by tomorrow and take care of them, but this worked out better.

In the meantime, she'd ride some of the birds and keep them in good selling condition. As she haltered one of the females to work with first, Patty-Mae wondered how Ryan would take Judy's proposal of friendship and if he'd be willing to accompany them to the mountains. She was fairly certain he would, but it left her wondering how Ryan really felt about Judy and why he never looked her up after high school. Especially, seeing as Judy would have gladly been friends with him.

Humming a happy little tune while thinking of Judy and her complicated flame, Patty-Mae sincerely hoped her predator friend would find Nick at the refugee camp this weekend. It would be a sweet end to the weekend if Judy could come home from her grandma's cabin to learn Nick was close at hand. Or he got his hot tail in gear and came here himself. She still couldn't believe Nick would forget Judy so easily, not after risking his life to save her or agreeing to put in so much effort and fight through so much more prejudice to become her partner on the police force. If Judy had it hard trying to become a cop as a rabbit, Patty-Mae knew Nick would have it ten times worse for being a 'sly' fox.

Wishing the best for her new friend and her handsome fox, Patty-Mae turned her attention to her own, non-complicated flame here in Bunnyburrow. Hoping to see Joey soon herself, Patty-Mae pulled her saddle off the bird she'd ridden here and put it on the female she was working with. With a wide grin, she knew the rest of the week was going to be exciting.

WingedKatt here. Shaylee is making plans to get Nick and Judy together sooner, and Judy is making her own plans for the week. We'll see how everything turns out. Next chapter, Shaylee will give Judy her video debut (unbeknownst to her) and Patty-Mae will be discussing plans with her boyfriend and her brother.

FYI: For those of you wondering how Patty-Mae bred her King emus in just a decade, emus mature very quickly and are fully grown by their first birthday. Females can have up to 3 clutches of eggs each breeding season, with 5-20 eggs in each clutch. The female will also have a different male as the father to each clutch. So in 10 years, she'll have bred a lot of birds.

Ch. 13: Questions and Answers, will post in 2 weeks. I hope you have a great weekend. If you have any thoughts or comment, I'd love to hear them.