"There we go, all done!" Stu said triumphantly, shoving his arms into his sides proudly. The sun was fading fast on the horizon, and Stu, one of his oldest sons, Jayce, and several of his other sons and daughters were helping him set up rows and lines of fireworks for the evening's festivities.
"How are things going?" Bonnie appeared, wielding a tray of lemonades. She was wearing an almost hypnotic, swirling blue and aqua shirt and neon orange shorts.
"Pretty good," Jayce said, grabbing a glass. "Thanks, I'm parched."
"It's shaping up to be a good one, Bon," Stu ran his thumbs over his bright purple suspenders, and he was wearing a bright yellow and orange camo-patterned shirt underneath. "There's no holiday quite like Serendipiday. We bunnies have the best celebration ever!"
"That sounds a bit species supremacist, Stuart," Bonnie gave him a chiding smirk. "I thought you'd moved past that."
"I mean, objectively!" Stu held his arms out wide. "What other holiday can I buy this many explosives!?" He bunched his fists up close to his side, slightly crouching as he said this.
"I don't know, how about New Year's Eve?" Bonnie tilted her head. "Founder's Day?"
"Okay, what other holiday can I buy this many explosives and wear such an ugly shirt?" Stu laughed.
"Well, you have me there, except I guess nothing's stopping you from wearing ugly shirts every day," Bonnie had a droll sassiness to her voice, looking off to the side.
"Other than your unending scorn," Stu chuckled, winking at her as he grabbed a glass of lemonade for himself and quickly downed it. "Ahh. Refreshing!" Another of their gray daughters, Violet, was walking down the rows of fireworks with her tablet in her hand. She wore glasses, a sweater that almost seemed to glow red, and a bright purple skirt. "Violet! How are we lookin'?"
"As gaudy as is the custom," Violet offered a bare smirk. "However, as I'm sure you meant the fireworks, we're doing just fine. We're looking at three to five fireworks per minute for an hour, with a suitable randomization variable in place to ensure no color, type, or cadence is overused."
"That's my girl," Stu said warmly, kissing her on her cheek, to which she scrunched up her face pleasantly. "Thank you for handling that, Vi."
"May I, mom?" Violet brought her free hand to one of the lemonades, and Bonnie returned a nod. "Thank you. Let me just do one more simulation on my tablet to see what the fireworks should look like, then I'll tell you if we need to change anything on the timing program."
Bonnie kept distributing lemonades until she was out and she sent her tray off with another of her kits. She jerked her thumb back in Violet's direction; she was standing off by herself.
"Kind of takes the fun out of it, having to develop the program for the evening, doesn't it?" Bonnie asked.
"Someone has to do it," Stu chuckled. "I only hope Nick and Judy get back from the Serendipiday Festival in time to see it!"
"Nick and Judy," Bonnie nodded, noting how much more frequently they were saying their names together, as if they belonged that way. "Say, has Violet given her little 'speech' yet?"
"No," Stu nodded. "She's waiting for the two to go back to Zootopia. You know how, ah... she can get the fire in her belly when it comes to those kinds of things."
"Woe be to anyone treating Nick badly," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Speaking of, why do you think Violet is so accepting of those two together anyway? Last I heard she took a dozen siblings to see Judy when she got a minor hand injury."
"Well, she is a bit overprotective of her," Stu chuckled. "I don't think she wants to see our unique little Hopps kit get hurt, like neither of us do. But... to that end, I think she believes that Nick is what Judy needs."
"Do you?" Bonnie's predictable question was met with a sigh from Stu.
"Yup, I do," Stu nodded, looking up at the first hints of the evening sky. "A hundred percent."
"Really," Bonnie's eyelids fell, but she smirked. "Mister Fox Taser is a hundred percent."
"Aw, Bon, would you cut it out?" Stu gave a look like a scorned kit, hanging his shoulders forward. "I know Nick is a good fox. I can tell he wants to make Judy happy."
"You should see how Judy gets when she even picks up a hint that I don't like what they're doing," Bonnie chuckled. "It's almost embarrassing. She's boxing shadows."
"Oh, those shadows are there, Bon," Stu waggled his finger. "And they have names."
"And that's what they're on Violet's list for," Bonnie shrugged. "Judy's never been the one to let a little opposition stand in her way." Bonnie stared off into the distance. "Or even a lot of opposition..."
"Yeah but I think it's different with Nick," Stu put his hands on his hips. "She's defensive of him because she cares a lot about him. She seems to take personal offense when someone doesn't like him."
"I think she gets that from you," Bonnie smiled with a sort of piercing endearment at her husband. "Nick has brought out her empathy; her ability to care about what others are feeling deeply. I think he's good for her that way."
"And in other ways?" Stu asked tentatively. "Like, do you think..." Stu wasn't sure how to proceed.
"Well, have you seen his tongue?" Bonnie giggled furtively.
"Bon!" Stu's eyes flew open.
"Kidding!" Bonnie waved her hand back and forth. "Though... it is Serendipiday, and you know what tends to happen with blossoming couples on Serendipiday evening."
"Ah, you think they'll get lucky," Stu said. "I mean, of course Nick is probably unaware of that sort of 'tradition'."
"As if my Judy wouldn't jump at the chance to 'educate' him on our culture," Bonnie leaned in and smirked.
"Weren't you just worried that Judy didn't display any drive when she was younger?" Stu laughed.
"I guess she just needed the right person," Bonnie said flippantly. "And I suppose Nick is that one."
Stu nodded. "He's a good kit. I'll try to go easy on him if he ends up smelling like my daughter tonight." Both elder bunnies laughed at the thought and then at the possibility. The two gave a more solemn sigh in tandem with each other as they let the matter sink in.
"Speaking of getting lucky," Bonnie suddenly piped up. "I wonder if Nick has won anything at the festival on his first go-round."
"You mean, besides our daughter's heart?" Stu said with a touch of warmth. Bonnie looked sidelong at him, then moved in to hug him.
"You big sweetheart," Bonnie said warmly, brushing her chin over his shoulder and neck several times. "Is it any wonder why I chose you for my husband? You're such a sweet buck."
"Well, I do what I can. We don't have hundreds of kits for nothing, you know," Stu quipped. Bonnie pushed Stu away from herself, then fondly tugged his wrists back and embraced him for a kiss.
After the two released each other, Bonnie nodded over in the direction of the Hopps Compound. "Shall we go tell the others that the fireworks are almost ready?"
"Sure," Stu said, hooking his arm around Bonnie's and jauntily heading in the direction of their home. "Say, on a completely unrelated note, I might have heard something fun that can be done with bunny ears."
"Oh, do tell?" Bonnie looked back with her eyes half-lidded. "That sounds promising."
"Ah, maybe it should wait till after the fireworks, when most of the kits are asleep," Stu looked around at the kits playing in the yard with sparklers.
"Well, now I'm even more curious..." Bonnie chuckled mischievously.