Continued from Chapter 106: Traditions. Set in the Partners: Revisited timeline.
Judy gathered her thoughts as she approached the doorstep. The house was nice, modest, and looked like a typical Rainforest District abode. Judy looked up and back, looking at Nick.
"Ready?" Judy asked, a taste of anxiety in her voice. She positioned her hand close to the wooden door.
"I'm always ready," Nick lied confidently, with a small smirk adorning his muzzle.
"How many times does this make now, five?" Judy tried to smile, but it was flimsy.
"Five," Nick confirmed with a nod. "Though this is the first time Mom has asked us to come specifically." The fox's face was even, and his eyes looked slightly worried.
"I know... that concerns me," Judy took a deep breath in and knocked three times at the door, each a little harder than the last.
"Come in, dears!" Mrs. Wilde's voice called from inside.
"Oh, I get to be 'dear' now, do I?" Judy fought harder for a smile and opened the door.
Mary Wilde headed for the front door as Nick and Judy made their way in. Judy tossed a small glance to her lover and partner and saw that his face had instantly reverted to its easy, casual, jovial look. She wondered how he could do that with such immediacy, but figured he had a lot of practice.
"Mom...!" Nick said with a brash voice, hugging her. "How's it going?"
"Oh, okay..." Mary smiled, looking at Judy. "Do I get a hug, too?"
"Well, I am a hugger," Judy shrugged her shoulders. "Uh, should I kinda bounce up, or...?"
"We could do it like this," Nick said, holding Judy up so that her head was level with Mary's. The three of them all hugged each other together.
"That's not bad," Mary chuckled warmly, squeezing the two.
"Nick and Judy are here...?" A light, boyish voice came from the other side of the living room. Judy wrestled a bright smile fully onto her face before its owner arrived.
The voice belonged to a squirrel. He was an unremarkable eastern gray squirrel with blue eyes. He wore a colorful striped shirt, shorts, and a slightly skeptical look.
"Hey, Larry!" Judy dropped down from the hug and walked over to kneel down next to the squirrel. "How are you today?"
"Uh..." Larry shrugged. "I feel okay."
"You staying out of trouble, little guy?" Nick asked in a friendly voice.
"Yeah," Larry nodded. Nick made his way over to a chair in the living room and sat down. He reached into his pocket. Larry wandered over, looking up at him curiously.
"You wanna see a magic trick, buddy?" Nick grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Oh! Okay," Larry nodded, harder this time and with a small smile. He scampered up Nick's pant leg and onto his lap. Judy's smile became easier to hold as she saw Nick prepare to work his magic.
"Okay," Nick wiggled all of his fingers, "nothing in my paws, right?"
"Yeah," Larry scrutinized the paws and saw that they were empty.
"Well, watch closely..." Nick muttered with a sneaky flourish, making mystical moves of his hands. He balled up one of his hands into a fist and wiggled the fingers of his other hand over it, then reached into the hand and pulled out a small colorful ribbon.
"Whoa...!" Larry marveled, watching the ribbon as Nick flit it around. This distracted him from Nick placing his other hand back into his pocket. Judy and Mary gave Nick a gentle golf clap for his trick. "How'd you do that?"
"The first rule about being a magician is you never give away your secrets," Nick instructed with a proud smile, laying the ribbon around Larry's shoulders.
"That's pretty neat," Larry looked mildly delighted.
Mary motioned for Judy to follow her into the kitchen, and the bunny complied, following the vixen. Mary sighed gently as Judy entered the room.
"Speaking of misdirection," Judy mumbled. "I'm guessing there's a reason you wanted us to come here?"
"I'm getting worried, Judy," Mary bit her lip briefly, looking away. "I don't think Emily has much longer."
Judy nibbled on her knuckles, looking back to the living room. "You- you don't think so?"
"The cancer's not responding to the treatment," Mary said glumly. "They're going to do surgery on her soon but... she's just a squirrel, Judy. They're small; their bodies can't take very much."
"Sh-she could still pull through," Judy's brow furrowed in determination. "She won't give up without a fight."
"She won't," Mary shook her head, "but it's a fight she's likely to lose."
"No..." Judy said quietly, looking back again to Nick playing with the little squirrel. "He shouldn't have to go through that..."
"I know it was so hard on Nicholas to lose his father..." Mary said softly. "I can't imagine how hard it will be for that poor squirrel to lose both of his birth parents."
Judy took in a difficult breath and closed her eyes to center herself. "I guess you want to know if we've decided yet."
"It would make me feel a little better," Mary smiled gently. "To know if you were... thinking about it."
"Mary-" Judy started.
"Please, you can call me 'Mom' if you'd like," Mary interrupted while offering a tiny smile.
Judy blinked. "Not too long ago you broke into Nick's apartment and all but told Nick you still didn't trust me. Now I'm your kit too?"
"Judy, please," Mary's smile wobbled, "can't an old vixen change her ways?"
"Yes, of course," Judy walked to the dinner table and got on a chair. She folded her hands and winced. "I don't know, Mom. I just don't know." She also didn't know about calling Mary "Mom" yet. It felt odd.
"You don't think you two would be good parents?" Mary asked, walking over to her and sitting in a chair next to her. She offered her paw, and after hesitating, Judy grabbed it and squeezed it. "Oof, not so hard, dear."
"Sorry, sorry," Judy cringed. "I... no, that's not it. I know Nick would be a good father. I just don't know if I'd be a good mother..."
"Well," Mary paused, her eyes not meeting Judy's, "if you could change the mind of a stubborn old vixen who'd learned to resent prey for ostracizing her only son... I'd say you have it in you to change a sweet little squirrel's life."
"That's a little different," Judy grumbled. "Larry's already eight... he already has his own... y'know, things he expects from a parent. I love kids... and I'd be happy to be- to be a mother..." Judy placed a hand on her chest and looked down. She looked back at Mary intensely. "I just... would I be enough for him? Would I be too much?"
"It would be easier if he was younger, it's true," Mary sighed, looking back at the living room. "But life often doesn't deal us an easy hand."
"No, no of course not," Judy shook her head firmly. "You're right. I should just... bunny up and make a decision."
"I can still take care of him for awhile," Mary smiled. "You don't have to decide right away. But I'm afraid in a few years he'll be just too much for these old fox bones to keep up with."
"Yeah..." Judy sighed.
Larry looked slightly anxious as he peered into the kitchen. He couldn't quite make out what the fox and bunny were saying.
"What're they talking about?" Larry asked gently, running a toy car along the arm of the couch he was sitting on. Nick was seated close to the squirrel child.
"Eh, probably boring girl stuff, y'know how it is," Nick said easily, relaxing into the couch with a flippant gesture. "Girls are icky, am I right?"
"Not really," Larry shrugged. "Girls are just girls."
"You're what, eight?" Nick chuckled. "Speaking words of wisdom?" Larry looked confused at this assessment.
"Yeah, eight. Three weeks ago," Larry nodded.
"I should have gotten you a birthday present, kiddo," Nick gently nudged the squirrel. "Remind me when you turn nine, and I'll get you two."
Larry was quiet for quite a long time after Nick said this.
"Momma's gonna die, isn't she?" Larry said in a low, despondent voice. His head bowed as he stopped playing with his toy car.
Nick's eyes widened and his throat ran dry.
"I certainly hope not," Nick's voice hitched as he responded, suddenly seized by fear. He looked nervously into the kitchen, then back at Larry.
"I don't want her to..." Larry's voice tightened up and he squinted his eyes. He started to tear up and sniffle. "I don't want her to leave me..."
"Hey, hey, it's okay, buddy," without thinking, Nick scooped him up and into his arms, close to his chest. "We don't- well, let's try to look on the bright side, huh?"
"It's not fair... 's not fair..." Larry hiccuped, punching Nick in the chest, which he barely felt. "Why'd Dad have to get crushed? Why's Momma so sick?"
"Sometimes... y'know..." Nick felt like his stomach was twisting into a knot. "Sometimes life's just hard, kiddo..."
"What's gonna happen to me...?" The squirrel's voice was distant, as if lost.
"I... well, I don't know, Larry," Nick swallowed with great difficulty. He gently rubbed his fingers against Larry's eyes, and the squirrel moved into the rubbing, drying his eyes on Nick's fur.
"Am I gonna be sent away to an adoption place...?" Larry sighed and shivered.
"Now, Larry," Nick felt his resolve build. "Don't give up the fight before it's over, okay?"
Larry swallowed, and nodded once, rubbing his eyes again.
"You will be taken care of, I promise you," Nick found himself saying. It sounded much more resolute than he had intended.
"Is Mary gonna keep me?" Larry wondered.
"Now now, no talking like you've already lost," Nick gently touched him on the head. Judy and Mary came into the room. Their expressions soured when they saw that the squirrel was obviously upset. "I meant what I said. You will be taken care of."
"...I don't wanna go away with strangers, though," Larry mumbled.
"Oh, you won't have to, sweetie!" Judy quickly bounded onto the couch to join the two. "We can..." Judy stopped herself before she said something she'd regret immediately. She looked up at Nick, who shared her cautious glance.
"Larry, just as a sort of possibility," Nick said casually. "What would you think of having a fox and a bunny in your life more... regularly?"
"Am I going to go live with you guys?" Larry cocked an eyebrow.
"I mean, if that's something you might want..." Judy said, uncertainty clouding her voice. "Nick and I might... I mean, we could..." Judy looked away.
"It's a possibility," Nick nodded. "And you don't have to if you don't want to. Or need to." Nick said. "Fight's not over yet, little squirrel."
"...Uh huh," Larry nodded, looking between the two. Nick looked at his mother, who looked on at him with both pride and sadness.
"Bye, little sweetheart!" Judy waved at Larry, who waved back at Nick and Judy as the two left. "We'll see you soon, okay?"
"Okay, Nick, Judy..." Larry said. The squirrel looked up at Mary, who smiled down at him before looking on to Judy and Nick.
"We'll be in touch, okay? I'll text you soon," Mary waved.
"See ya, Mom," Nick said, saluting.
Nick quickly fell into silence as the two walked away from Mary's house. Both the bunny and the fox seemed to have their emotions drained right out of them.
As they came to the sky tram to get back to Downtown, Nick paused. He clutched at his chest and his eyes squinted.
"Nick?" Judy touched his side in concern.
"Rgh... God help me..." Nick groaned. "That poor little kit..." His lip drew back into a difficult sneer as it seemed like he was fighting tears.
"I- I know, Nick, I know..." Judy started misting up, rubbing Nick's side.
"We've got to talk about-" Nick started.
"I want to adopt him, Nick," Judy's wavering voice interrupted Nick. "If Emily passes away, I want to adopt him."
Nick stared at Judy. Her face contorted and twitched as she fought tears, and Nick's breathing became more difficult. He sat down on the tram platform, starting to lose himself in thought. Judy laid down on him, hugging him close for his comfort. Nick drew his arms around her and absently stroked her ears.
Nearly a minute went by, but Nick finally spoke again.
"Yeah. Me too."