Judy eased her foot onto the brake of her little blue sedan as she turned onto her childhood street. It had been easily a few months since she last visited, and now snow blanketed the ground, leaving the colorful and familiar houses supporting an inch of snow on the roofs and long icicles clinging to the trim. The little radio inside Judy's car played gentle jazzy Christmas music, bringing a smile to her face as she took in the exciting landscape.

Judy had to drive down a long stretch of road that eventually merged with dirt road. She knew she'd come to the dirt road when two things happened: one, the area that had been plowed that morning stopped; and two, her car bounced back and forth on the road, the tires pushing through the snow and the gravelly ground. She took this road for about five minutes until she ended up in front of her family's house. The whole area was blanketed in snow as she expected, since her family lived pretty far out in the country, far enough out to where they almost lived off the radar, or at least off from the snowplow company's boundaries at least. She had to take a second to figure out where to park, since the snow made everything look the same.

Once she did, though, she shut off her car, and the little thing rumbled and stopped, leaving Judy with the music that still played through her radio. Despite being used to Bunnyburrow's harsh winters, she took a second to prepare. She was still afraid to bring Nick during the winter since he was a real baby about the cold. He'd been down here before—twice, actually—but never during this harsh winter.

Judy glanced up into the sky. It was overcast and not snowing, but she'd been there enough to know Mother Nature was just taking a break. She wouldn't fall for her tomfoolery. She quietly bet to herself that it would snow sometime in the next hour. Had Nick been there she would have gladly made that bet with him. It was a thing between them—to bet out of pure playfulness.

Judy finally stepped out of the car. The snow went up to her calves, and she trudged through the powder, locking her car behind her. The farm was so big that she had to walk a little bit to make it to the front porch. The steps leading up to the porch were covered in snow, and it made it a little hard to find cement. Only when she finally stepped onto the porch did she step on bare cement. There was an awning above her that blocked the snow, which her father had built when she was a little bunny.

Judy reached for the door handle, and before she knew it—

Bunnies.

When Judy had brought Nick over, he had been tackled by a literal mountainous pile of bunnies, quite literally flying off the porch and into the grass. Now she was subject to it, being pushed back a little. She was pretty used to it, though, and stood through the whole thing. Judy smiled again, thinking about Nick's first experience with it and how hard she had laughed. He had been quite literally crushed by the dozens of bunnies piled on top of him.

Eventually Judy made it inside, a few of her siblings still clinging to her. As she made her way through the front room, her siblings began asking the best questions their little curious minds could think of—the "darndest" things, as her dad put it. Like if she and Nick were married yet. Or if Nick had proposed. Or, making her turn red, if she was pregnant. She couldn't imagine something like that, so far in the future, when only now she was only dating the fox.

"Let Judy through," Bonnie, Judy's mother, said, which made the few remaining bunnies scatter. "How's my beautiful bunny?" She embraced her daughter, and Judy returned the hug, just as she always did. Something Judy loved the most was hugs. And she held her mother for a moment. It had been a little while, after all. "How's it going with Nick?"

"He's amazing, mom," Judy said with a smile. "He treats me so well."

"One in a million, that's for sure," Judy's father, Stu, said, standing in the doorway of the back door. "First Gideon Grey, then Nick. Jude the Dude, you sure transformed us." He stuck a pair of gloves in the pocket of his overalls and wrapped Judy in a warm hug. "Did he propose yet?"

"Dad!" Judy said, laughing. "It's only been six months."

"That long, huh? I think you should break up, Jude. He's taking too long."

Judy hit him. "Oh, stop it."

Bonnie came over to Stu and kissed him. She turned to Judy, an arm around her husband. "Did you need something? Is that why you're here?"

"No, just visiting. You know. Before I get whisked away on the crazy Christmas shifts."

"That's thoughtful of you, honey." She smiled. "I just made some cookies. Do you want any?"

"I can't turn an offer like that down." She walked into the kitchen and took a cookie from the Christmas plate sitting on the counter. She nibbled on it and smiled. "Delicious as always."

"Oh, shucks," Bonnie said, waving a paw. "What's a house with a Pioneer Bunny anyway?"

"Lots of things," Stu said, holding up a paw with fingers separated, tapping each one. "Delicious food, decently behaved kids, not to mention a beautiful wife." He walked into the kitchen and kissed Bonnie again, then grabbed a cookie and headed toward the back door. "Well, I'm off to finish the fence."

"Love you, honey," Bonnie said, waving.

Once Stu was gone, Judy looked at her mother, her head cocked. "Fence?"

"Yes, we need it because of the crazy birds that keep getting into the farm and eating all the crops. There's a lot of them in the winter." Bonnie grabbed a cookie, raising it to her mouth and scoffing. "For whatever reason they decide to come now, after all these years." She took a bite, closing her eyes and shrugging with a warm smile on her face. "At least he's taking the time to do it."

"I'm so glad you married him." Judy smiled.

"You should be." She pinched Judy's cheek. "Or else you wouldn't be here." The kitchen went quiet, and then Bonnie sighed. "Well, Judy, has Nick done anything fun with you since the holidays started?"

"I mean…" Judy thought for a second. "We did go to the farmer's market last week. It was their last showing before it got too cold."

She smiled. "That's sweet of him. What did you get?"

"He bought me a really pretty bouquet. They're still there in my apartment. Pretty as ever." She smiled again. "In exchange I bought him some blueberries." She laughed. "He tried to pay me back for them, but I said no. Then he said he wouldn't drive me home unless I took it from him. So I did."

Bonnie chuckled. "That's Nick for ya. Did you leave it in his car?"

Judy nodded. "He tried to give it to me again on shift the next day, but I didn't let him this time. Fortunately, I was driving the cruiser so he couldn't blackmail me."

"That's good. I'm glad he treats you so well."

Judy took a deep, satisfied breath, a warm peacefulness overcoming her face. "It's crazy. Once we started dating, the old Nick I knew just kind of… melted away. When I'm near him, I see a smile I've never seen anywhere else, and he looks so happy." She grinned. "He's so sweet. Like, one time my car was low on gas while we were getting dinner one night and I stopped at the pump. I got out of the car to fill up, and he was already at the pump. He paid for me, like it was nothing." Her heart suddenly felt still, and then a chill went up her spine. "I love him so much."

Bonnie walked forward and wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling her into a warm, motherly hug. "Remember the old saying, 'treat others how you want to be treated?' You've taken your whole life to do that. And look what that go you—someone who treats you the same back." She stepped back from the hug. "When I gave birth to you, I looked into your little eyes. Right then I knew you were my little pretty princess, waiting for your prince." Her face had settled into a peaceful, relaxed state. "Did I expect your prince to be a fox? No, I didn't. But I love him just as much as if he were a bunny. He fits right in."

"I'm so glad you think like that, mom."

She subtly raised her eyebrows, then continued. "You deserve his loving heart like he deserves your absolutely gorgeous soul. He's your perfect half, your everything, Judy. Fox or not." She smiled again and pinched Judy's cheek.

Judy giggled, looking at her mother for a moment. "As we've gotten to know each other better, I've just gotten afraid."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why's that? He loves you more than anything in the world."

"I just know him so well. More than anyone else, I think. He's so adamant about keeping his cool, and I know what it's like underneath that. I just don't know if he'll suddenly lose trust in me. Second guess things."

Bonnie thought a moment. "Just think about him for a minute, Judy. Do you think he'll second guess you?"

"I don't think so."

Bonnie's smile fell as she looked into her daughter's eyes. "There's something else there. I can tell."

Judy sighed. "Maybe I think I'm more afraid that I'll second guess things."

"I thought you said you love him so much."

"I do. I really do."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Then why are you afraid that you'll second guess things?"

"Because I love him too much. What if I scare him away?"

"Maybe you'll have to see how much he loves you."

"Like… test him?"

She shook her head. "No, heavens no. You've come into his personal life too far to do that. What I mean is to ask him. Or have him show you."

"You want me to ask him how much he loves me?"

Bonnie set a paw on the counter. "Or even just ask him to show you."

"How do I do that?"

She smiled again. "Love is crazy. Sometimes you don't even have to ask." She walked over to a drawer and opened it, then dug through a few papers before pulling out an unframed photograph. She handed it to Judy. "You know who that is?"

Judy studied the photo. It was a black-and-white photo of two boats on a lake. The lake was shimmering with the sunlight, and monochrome shrubbery dotted the landscape. Inside the two boats were two rabbits. After a second of studying Judy smiled. "That's Grampa Joe and Gramma Helen."

"That's right. That photo was taken right as your great uncle was photographing your Grampa Joe in the water fishing for junk. Your Gramma Helen just drifted into the frame."

Judy handed the photo back. "What does that have to do with Nick?"

"Because, Judy." She set the photo on the counter, and the smile returned to her face. "Sometimes things just happen."