Chapter 28: New Home
We got under way just after lunch, Stu and Bonnie wanted us to stay for just one night, but mom and dad had to be at work tomorrow. We promised we would be back soon, for a visit. We were a two-car convoy, Susan, Mr. Martin and I rode in the back of the cruiser. Everyone else was in the car following,
Peter's car. I would like to say, Susan and I were awake for the trip, but we were so tired, that we fell asleep in each others arm's, by the time we got to the end of the driveway.
"So, Nick what gives with these two"? "In what way Rocky"? "Well, to tell you the truth, if I didn't know better, I would swear they had been married for years". "They have been married for years". "What"? "Rocky, do you understand what the word empath means"? "Well, I have the dictionary's version of the word, but what do they mean by it". "The best I can say is that they are in each others head's, and don't have any secrets. They know what the other one wants and needs, no words have to be spoken between them, they just know". "I really can't imagine that". "Well I'm having some trouble too; I'm trying to understand having that kind of bond. But the bond is there I can feel it". "You can Feel it"? "Yes, Rocky, can't you"? "Not really". "Try something for me, close your eyes and just look at them, you should be able to feel it". After a few minutes, "I can feel something, but I can't describe it". "You've got it Rocky; I can't describe it either, but I can feel it's there. Judy and I have the same kind of bond, but we are still developing it as a couple. Theirs appears to be fully developed".
"So, tell us about the place we are moving too". "Not moving to, but moved to". "Ok, would you like to explain that statement". "Jack called me, while you were trying to explain things to Judy's parents. He has moved all your personal belonging over to the new house. You will have to make arrangements with a moving company for the rest. I took the liberty of calling a food delivery service and had a week's worth of groceries delivered to the house. It's just basic food stuffs, so anything special you will have to get tomorrow". "Ah, what about our guns"? "Well Jack said that they couldn't open the safe, so they just pulled it out of the wall and brought it over whole". "Remind me to have a serious word with Jack, about privacy". "There is a safe in the master bedroom, I will give you the combo before I leave".
"So, is this "House" a gated house"? "Yes, sort of, there is a person sitting behind a desk in the apartment lobby, but he is mostly there to meet and greet everyone and direct them to the floors they want. He is authorized to use a Taser and trank gun when things do go wrong, though. This helps protect the people living there. The top floors are only accessible by an elevator, and some emergency stairs that I will show you, the emergency stairs do not come out in the lobby, they have their own exit in the court yard, and can only be opened from the inside". "If It's the building I'm thinking of, it's about 10 stories". "It's actually 12 stories tall".
"So, what kind of house allowance do we have to work with"? "Well you can hire a cook, and a house keeper, I recommend Miss Watts, she is keeping the place clean at the moment, but you could hire one more if you feel you need it. The allowance covers all food for the house, just call the delivery service and they will bring you what you need. There is a taxi service you can call, when you all want to go on an outing, I will give you the account number at the house. The building is pretty much self sustaining. And pretty much pays for its self". "God, Nick this is overwhelming. What are we going to do"? "We'll get by Judy, we always do".
Dad pulled over just before we got to the city, and explained to Peter what had happened. Peter just shrugged, and told dad to carry on. We woke up at this point, and Susan got wide eyed looking at the city. As we traveled, she was in aww, at the people and places we passed. I could feel the aww and wonder from all the rest of my mates too. We turned onto Harris, and drive to the "house".
"Just park in the VIP section Nick, we can deal with the cars later". Dad pulls over and parks, Peter parks behind us. As there is traffic whizzing by on the left, we all go out the passenger side doors. We then all walk to the lobby door. "Afternoon Alfred", "Good afternoon to you Mr. Martin. Is there a problem that I'm not aware of Mr. Martin"? "No, Alfred, I'm just bringing the new owner's home". Alfred looks at Nick, "Afternoon sir, your stuff has arrived and has been placed in your home". "Hi, Alfred, I'm Nick Wilde and this is my wife Judy Wilde, you can just call me Nick". "So, when did you buy the building"? "Ah, Alfred, we don't own the building, they do", as he points to my litter mates.
Martin speaks up, "Alfred I would like to introduce to you, Susan, Cindy, Suzie, and Rick, the O'Hare children". "They did have Children"? "Yes, they did Alfred". "Oh, my word, I'm glad to meet you all". "Nick and Judy are the legal Guardians of the O'Hare children. And their Kits are Daniel, Terry, Davis, and Ava. Behind me is Peter Howler and his Wife Vivian Howler. Alfred is the head of security for the building you have any problems you call him. We'll talk later, Alfred. Could you have four more cards made"? "Yes, sir, I'll run them up when they are made". "Oh, and we have two cars parked in the VIP section, it wouldn't look good if we towed a ZPD cruiser". "Very Good, Mr. Martin". Rocky pulls a key card out of his pocket and inserts it into the elevator.
The elevator opens on the top floor into a reception area, with a desk. "Justin use to have a secretary sit here, he conducted most of his business from home, this kind of pissed off his brother Larry. He kept saying he didn't spend enough time in the office. And this is your new home", says Rocky opening a big set of double doors.
As we all walked in, the first door on the left opened into a fair-sized living room, with the biggest TV I had ever seen. All our personal stuff from the house was in the living room. There were windows all alone the east wall. The door opposite opened into a kitchen/dining room combo. With windows all along the west side.
Looking out the windows mom exclaims, "Look Nick the precinct is five blocks away from here, we can leave the cruiser at the precinct". "Your right fluff, we can die in the heat walking home". "Har, Har, slick". Mom lightly punches dads' shoulder. We then leave the kitchen, and chose our bed rooms. Dad and mom take the bed room facing west, which was the largest, "just so the sun doesn't wake we up in the morning", says dad. "Well I don't mind mornings, how bout you Peter"? "I like morning and the promise of a new day, with you". Says Peter as he kisses Vivian. We look at them and go, "ehwww, get a room you too." "We just did", he says, as he leads Vivian into the room. We all laugh.
The next two rooms are adult rooms as they have their own bathrooms. The next six doors down either side, are bedrooms that share a bath, two bed rooms for every one bathroom. Susan and I chose a pair of rooms that share a bathroom, our litter mates then also take rooms as pairs as well. "Ah, Rocky I thought you said there were only 12 bedrooms"? "Sorry Nick must have missed counted. The O'Hare's always wished for a big family". "So, what's behind the two doors down near the end of the hall? And what's behind the door at the end of the hall"? "The door at the end of the hall, is the emergency stairs I told you about.
The door on the left is to Justin's office, and the one on the right, is to Jenifer's work room".
Rick perk's up at this, "Work room"? "Yes, your mother had all kinds of hobbies that she did, would you like to see"? He nods his head yes. Rocky open the door and flips on the lights, as the curtains are drawn. There are two benches running the length of the room down each wall with a potter's wheel in front of the window. "She was never much good with the wheel, but she did try". One bench along the north wall was mostly free of anything, and Rick jumped up to inspect it.
I could fell him ask Ava to come down to the end of the hall and look at this. Ava came in fairly quickly and inspected the bench as well. "Mr. Martin Ava and I are going to need some computer supplies, and we will be using this bench for it". "Give me a list Rick and I will get them for you". "Ava and I will have a list in a couple of days, thank you sir". "Don't thank me, Rick. The money in the bank accounts is for your use". We all head back towards the living room. Grandpa and grandma are sorting their stuff out to take to their room.
"Guys, could you all gather round"? All of us gather in a semi circle. "Mr. Martin could you stand behind Susan and Rick, please". I reach into the box labelled "portfolios" and pull out the only white one. "Susan this was the only Secret I ever kept from you; I hope you all like I"t. With that I hand it to her. She opens the book and on the first page was the smiling faces of her parents, their birthdates and the death date, and on the bottom, I had written "in loving memory". She slowly flips through it, and her tears threaten to fall on the pages. Her sibling were in no better shape as they were all crying too. By the time they got to the end of It, all of us were crying with them. Susan gets up and hugs me. "Daniel, I forgive you for keeping this secret, and I can understand why you did". I then get a hug from Rick, Cindy, and Suzy. Mr. Martin looks at me, "Daniel, did you draw all of this"? "Yes, I did, Mr. Martin". "Daniel this is amazing, there are more pictures in this album of the O'Hare's, than there are photographs of them. They were very private people, and shunned any public picture taking of them". "Mr. Martin, before they passed over, I made them a promise that their kits would never forget them".
"Well this has been a long Day, and I'm starved", says mom. "Right, should we order pizza"? "Allow me guys, Rocky says as he dials his phone, Alfred we need some pizza Delivery… yes Alfonzo's would be great, three meat lovers and five Vegetarian, and can you see if they can put a rush on it? Right thanks, call me and I'll come down and get it". I start drooling as I remember the last pizza we ate. I go to the book shelf, and start putting my portfolios on the bottom shelf. I then find the box labelled kit cloths, and take it to my room. Grandpa and dad pick up the safe, and take it to the master bedroom.
I can feel the sadness coming from my mates, as they have nothing to unpack. "Hey Guys, come over here a minute". As we all go over, grandma starts to hand out smaller boxes. "I knew you had nothing so… I hope these cloths fit". As one they all drop their boxes and hug grandma. They then pick up their boxes, and head for their rooms. The rest of the stuff leaves the living room fairly quick. I walk over to the entertainment centre and marvel at the amount of music discs there is in the collection.
Suzie come up behind me and asks, if we could play something. I reach for the gazelle cd that mom loves, pop it in and figure out how to play it. As it plays, Suzie listens, and then joins in on the second refrain. O.M.G. she is pitch perfect, and has the voice of an angel, it wasn't long before everyone else notices and comes into the room. As the song ends, we all start to clap. Suzie just blushes at the praise. "Can you sing something else Suzie? asks mom. "Don't know", she replies. I look at the collection and find a song by a rock artist, it's one of my favorites, I push play. Same as before she listens and then joins in on the second refrain. This song is kind of laded back, and mellow, but she pulls it off perfectly, she even puts some of her emotions out to the music, everyone in the room can now feel as well as hear the song. We all clap a little louder at the end of the song. "You my dear would make an awesome performer", says Rocky. As he says this, his phone rings, it's the pizza.
Rocky comes back just as mom finished setting the table. Eight of the chairs have been set up for us kits. Multi position chairs, do come in handy. These pizza's smell amazing, I dig in as soon as a slice is passed to me. My mates watch me and how I eat it, and it's a repeat of the first time I had pizza. We all, me included, look like beach balls.
After supper, Rocky shows us the pool and gym. Everyone wants to go for a swim, mom says "no, tomorrow morning would be soon enough". We hang our heads, and dad bursts out laughing, "sorry guys we can't be manipulated that easy". "It was worth a try", dad. We all pile into the elevator and go back up stairs.
All us kids head for the living room to watch some TV. All the adults talk in the hall way. "So, in the under ground you will find three parking stalls, labeled 01,02, and 03, one should have Justin's little red sports car in it. The other two are free. The house card will open the overhead and allow access to the car park. I don't think the cruiser will fit, the lights on top would make it to high". "That's ok, I'll just drive it to the precinct tonight, and walk back". "Oh, before I forget, here are your access cards". He passes over four cards. "Well I must be off; tomorrow is another day of work for me". "Right, Peter and I will walk you down".
Peter offers to take Mr. Martin home, which he accepts. Dad hops into the cruiser, and returns it to the precinct. As he's walking through the lobby, he's stopped by Matty. "So, I see your back Nick". "Yes Matty, it's been a long four days". "I'll bet it has, so is Daniel any worst for wear"? "No Matty, he's probably in better shape than I am. His sibling are in even better shape". "Wait, What? He has siblings"? "Yes, three of them". "Wow, you guys must be over the moon". "Well, it's going to take some getting use to". "I'll bet, you'll have to tell Clawhauser all about it, so all of us can find out as well". Nick chuckles, "see you later Matty have to walk home". "Don't you live in precinct 3, Nick"? "Not any more Matty, we now live at 100 Harris". "O.M.G. you definitely have to tell Clawhauser". With this Nick walks out the door.
It's a short 7-minute walk home. As he walks in the door, the person behind the desk is different. Nick walks up to the desk, thinking to go and introduce himself. The guard takes one look at the fox, wearing a rumpled police outfit, and assumes he's here for no good. "What do you want fox"? "I just want to introduce myself before I go up to my home". "No foxes live in this building, so, turn around and walk away, fox". "Well sir, I do live in this building as of today, and I would just like to go home". "Fox, I want you to leave now". "Fine, I can see that I'm not getting through to you, I'm just going to go on up to my home". Nick moves over towards the elevator. "That's not the way-out fox, I am authorized to use force if you don't comply". "Do what you must". As Nick reaches to insert his card. He is Tasered.
Nick come back to his senses just the police siren shuts off outside. In walks a very tall lion in uniform. "Evening Delgato", says Nick. "Ah Nick what are you doing here, and why are you wearing handcuffs"? "Well the gentle mammal behind the desk, used derogatory language and speciest comments towards me, and when I tried to go home, he tasered me". "You live here Nick"? "As of today, yes Delgato". Nick calls out to the guard sitting behind the desk, "call Alfred, if you would please". The guard gets on the phone. Delgato helps Nick up, and takes of the handcuffs. Nick calls Judy, "Judy can you come down to the lobby please? Thanks fluff, I'll explain when you get here". Alfred and Judy arrive almost at the same time. "Herman, why am I here"? asks Alfred. "Nick What's going on"? "To answer both your questions, I was trying to go home when this guard decided to stop me with a taser". "Herman is this true"? "Yes sir, he was acting shifty, and when I told him to leave, he wouldn't, so I tasered him and called for the police". 'Herman did you read the memo I left on the desk"? "No, sir, there was no memo on the desk when I came in". Alfred goes behind the desk and checks the waste paper basket. In the basket is the crumpled-up memo. "I see, Herman this is the fourth complanate I have received about you". Alfred, looks al Nick," I'm sorry sir, what would you like me to do"? "Well Alfred, can you get the video copy of what happened here"? "Certainly, I can", Alfred then calls up to the security office and asks for a copy of the lobby camera, for the last hour.
"what would you like me to do with it"? "Officer Delgato will need a copy Alfred". "Am I to assume you will be pressing charges"? "Yes Alfred, I am. Herman here, did not try to find out who I am, or my business here. He took one look at my outside appearance, and assumed I was up to no good. He was very derogatory towards me, and then he assaulted me with a taser". Alfred turns to Herman. "You Shot Mr. Wilde with your taser? You do realize that you just shot a police office with a taser, while he is in uniform"? With this the young buck deer got a very shocked look on his face. The main elevator opens and a wallaby comes out with a disc, and hands it to Alfred. Alfred and Delgato, go behind the desk and on the monitor watch's the whole incident happen. He then hands the Disk to Delgato, letting out with a huge sigh, he turns towards Herman, saying, "I'm sorry Herman I can't make this one go away". Delgato puts the cuffs on Herman and leads him away. Alfred slumps in the chair and says, "he really was a good mammal, I'll have to find a replacement in the morning. Wallace could you man the desk for the rest of Herman's shift please"? He then gets up from the chair and Wallace takes his place.
"Alfred, I know some one to call, and it would be a great favor to me. He hands a piece of paper over to Alfred, with a name printed on it. He was set up on the last job he had, he was made the fall guy for the whole thing. Judy and I, have proven he was not at fault, and he is still certified with all weapons. He is also ex ZPD, and is good with people". "I will call him in the morning, do you think he could start right away"? "I'm sure he could Alfred. Come on Judy let's go home".
Later Nick is soaking in the tub, as getting tasered is not a pleasant experience. Judy comes in and joins him in the tub. She cuddles in and sighs, "I'm sorry you had to go through that Nick". "It's ok fluff, I've just forgotten how painful a taser can be". "No, I meant the derogatory and speciest comments you have to endure, just because you are a fox". "If that had been everything, I would have ignored it as normal, but when he used the taser, that was a misuse of power, and that I couldn't ignore". "I know you try to be fair Nick, but I wish you would get upset more and not bottle it". "You can read me like a book, can't you love". "It's not always easy, but I'm learning your tells". "Oh really? Then tell me what I'm thinking now, oh wise one"? "Oh, I know exactly what your thinking now Mr. Wilde", she says as she kisses him.