Even though his visits to the Hopps compound were becoming more frequent, the facade of the buildings still gave Ted a moment of pause before he entered.

There was no place for nerves, he figured. Even if so, that day was a day he couldn't afford them. It was July 7th, Serendipiday.

If Ted had been a thinking bunny, he might have spent a bit more time considering how ironic it was that a festival about the Celestial of Surprises landed on the same day every year. Or, he might have considered how much thought and planning has to go into something that appears so chaotic to a casual viewer. However, these thoughts were pretty far from his mind as he gathered his wits and knocked on the door.

A Hopps doe greeted him. He'd never caught this one's name. She had her father's colors.

"Hey, Ted," the pretty doe greeted with a sly smile. "C'mon in."

"Ah, hi," Ted acknowledged her awkwardly and entered, his brain wracking itself to summon her name, if only to be polite. Wresting his attention from her, his eyes were greeted with an entire spectrum of color, as passing bunnies all had on wildly colorful clothing for the occasion.

Ted walked forward, heading for Violet's room, but as usual, it wasn't long before he was halted by a nosy, outgoing bunny. It just so happened to be Jenny again.

"Hi Ted," Jenny grinned mischievously, leaning forward. The smallish young teen looked up at him, dressed in an ensemble with a swirl of toothpaste blue and bubblegum pink. "C'mere for Violet again?"

"Yes ma'am," Ted tipped his head forward. "She and I have some business today."

"Oh, I bet you do," the tiny troublemaker slapped her hands on her hips, eyeing him up and down. "It is Serendipiday after all. Lookin' to get lucky, huh?"

Ted's brow furrowed. "Bit uncouth of you to ask."

"Pssh, c'mon," Jenny rolled her eyes and threw her paws forward. "Everyone at the compound knows how crazy you are about her. It's barely news!" Jenny's eyes wandered over him with yet another appraising look. Ted's own outfit was mostly bright yellow with some black highlights, bringing out a stark contrast of his dark fur. "Hehe, going for a honeybee look, huh?" The teenage doe danced around him and waved her hand in the direction of his behind, near his tail. "You got a stinger back here, too?"

"Beggin' your pardon!" Ted started forward and his voice actually took on a hint of displeasure.
"Jenny!" The matriarch Bonnie Hopps marched forward simultaneously, fixing an intense glare of disapproval at her. "Keep your paws to yourself! Don't you go touching someone's tail without their permission."

"Ulp, yes momma," Jenny winced. Ted found it impressive that Bonnie could carry such weight in her voice while wearing a blouse that looked like several kinds of fruit had exploded onto it.

"Now go get your sister," Bonnie pointed with authority over to one wing of the bunnies' rooms.

"Uh, which one?" She returned lamely. When her only response was for her mother to tilt forward a few degrees with a furrowed brow, Jenny made haste off in the direction she was pointing.

"Goodness," Bonnie huffed, planting fists on her hips and shaking her head. "I just don't know what gets into my daughters sometimes. I apologize for that, Ted."

"Don't give it a care, Mrs. Hopps," Ted shook his head.

"My girls should know better than that," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Hitting on you just because you're dating Violet. It's that blasted 'unavailable bucks are attractive' thing." Her expression softened into a guilty look. "Was guilty of that myself back in the day, to be honest."

"Oh really?" Ted blinked. "Did it land you the Mister?"

"Hahaha!" Bonnie tittered, wiggling her hand. "No no, Stu was very available when I started dating him. It was just... earlier on, when I had a fleeting fancy for one of my sister's boyfriends. Such a bad-boy buck, that one."

"...Well, if you don't mind my sayin' so," Ted scratched one of his ears, "but Mr. Hopps is one of the least 'bad-boy bucks' I've ever seen."

"He is that, yes," Bonnie grinned fondly, her eyes closed. "Back then I just didn't know what was good for me."

Ted chewed on his upper lip a little, then looked back up at her. "I'd heard from Vi that you actually gave up some of your ambitions to settle on the farm with Mr. Hopps?"

"Nothing I couldn't live without, Ted," Bonnie smiled pleasantly. "Stu's a wonderfully warm buck and I'm lucky to have him. I think Violet might feel the same way about you."

"Oh well, er," Ted huffed, suddenly self-conscious. He rubbed behind his head. "I mean, I hope so."

"Gotta say, though," Bonnie's voice took on a mildly irritated drawl, "not looking forward to working with the Placids if you become a Hopps."

"B-beg your pardon?" The black bunny winced.

"Well, your folks, they're just so..." the bunny mom wrinkled her nose, "so much less personable than you. It's not for nothing that we've kept asking you to deal with the finer issues of ordering our supplies."

"Mm, a lot of 'em can be a bit... acrid, yes," Ted agreed with a couple of nods, "but I s'pose it's like any bunny family. You've got your dissenters and your odd ducks."

"Well, if you're an odd duck from the Placid, and Vi's one from the Hopps, then..." Bonnie smiled. "I suppose two odds do make an even."

"'Zat true?" While Ted had to think about that for a moment, Jenny hesitantly returned to her mother, paws behind her back.

"Um, mom?" Jenny winced. "Violet's... she's leaning towards the blue end of the spectrum today."

"Oh dear," Bonnie put on a long frown, folding her arms.

"What?" Ted blinked. "Vi's not havin' a good day?"

"She does tend to get like this on Serendipiday," Bonnie placed a hand on her cheek, moving her head side to side. "It's a very stressful day, I'm sure you can understand."

"Shoot..." Ted kicked at the floor. "Prolly even more so because I've been tryin' to get this thing goin' what with sellin' my carvings an' such." He looked in the direction of Violet's room. "Think I should talk to her?"

"Uh!" Jenny held up a curved, perfunctory finger. "...Vi's... she can be pretty testy when she's like this. It's usually best to just wait her out."

"She often pushes us away when she has a bad day," Bonnie agreed. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, though. Like I said, sometimes does just don't know what's good for them."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind," Ted nodded.

After about a half hour of talking to some of Violet's brothers and trying to avoid leers from some of her less-reserved sisters, Ted got it into his head that Violet probably wouldn't be coming out on her own. With no small amount of hesitation, Ted found himself gravitating toward the door to her room. He paced around it, trying to work up the courage to knock. He did get a few glances from some of the Hopps family. Ted wasn't too great at reading faces, but the looks were clearly communicating that they didn't envy Ted's position.

Finally, he worked up the nerve enough to knock. It was a very soft knock.

"Go away," Violet's voice came back quietly; almost immediately.

"Violet?" Ted returned.

"Ted..." her voice sounded glum.

"C'n I come in?"

No response. Ted waited a whole minute, which felt like a hundred of them. Summoning his willpower, he opened the door.

The room was dark, and the form of Violet faced away from the door, her ears slumped forward. Ted noticed her glasses sitting on a nightstand. She was fully clothed and even dressed for the occasion, with a bright sweater that sported the progeny of a neon love affair between the colors green and yellow.

"Not doin' well today, Vi?" Ted cautiously circled to her side. Her arms were folded tightly in her lap and her eyes were closed, also firmly.

"That's an understatement," Violet replied quietly.

Words failed Ted as he tried to develop something to say to his ailing girlfriend. Violet didn't look at him once during his hesitation.

"So, ah-"

"I've delegated everything to Alan," Violet quickly interrupted. "Go to him at the fair. He's getting the stall set up." Much more quietly: "Knew things'd screw up today..."

"How are you feelin', Vi?" Ted insisted with a gentle voice.

"I'm not going to read you the list of my symptoms, Ted," she finally opened her eyes and stared at him. "Just go, okay? There's nothing you can do here for me." She closed her eyes. "Pouting over me won't do you any good anyway. We've been planning this stall, these Serendipity carvings... for what, three months now? Just go. Get them to see your drive."

Violet gave a shallow gasp and opened her eyes at the sound of a gentle groan and the slight dip in the bed as Ted joined her, sitting next to her, though some distance away. Violet grit her teeth.

"Ted, I have a splitting headache and I feel like I'm going to throw up at any moment," Violet turned her head. "I'm not in the mood to argue with you."

"So don't," Ted replied quietly. "I won't say anything."

"Kuh..." Violet sucked her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut. "Idiot."

The word stung a bit, but on some level, he could understand why she said it. She'd worked hard to get the two to this point, and even if Alan knew pretty much everything about the sculptures, the mammal responsible for them not being there would certainly take a dip out of the enthusiasm for them from curious fair-goers. It was probably the best chance he'd had to share his hobby with the world, and get them excited about something he cared about.

Despite all that, though, there was something he cared more about sitting next to him. He could hear her troubled breaths and see the pain she was in, and it tore at him. He didn't want to be at that festival, not with the knowledge that his girlfriend was in such distress.

A long, uncomfortable silence prevailed. Ted's thoughts continued to swirl, catching on themselves like bad reruns. He found it tough to focus, and nothing seemed to be changing. Above all, he didn't know whether or not he was doing the right thing. After a few buzzes, noting texts from Alan, he turned his phone off and placed it behind him on the bed. He left his hand near Violet.

After a small eternity, Ted was broken from his blank stare at the wall by the feeling of Violet grasping his paw. It wasn't a soft grip either; it was almost violent. The feeling of a firm squeeze pressed on his paw, and the gripping paw trembled and wavered between the intensities of the squeeze. He felt the joined paws being abruptly moved into Violet's lap. Ted remained calm and didn't move. Ever so slowly, the grip became less painful, though no less firm. She scooted slowly closer to him.

Ted's concerned blue eyes looked over her face, and though the lids still were clasped over Violet's, they looked to be less tense, less pained. He was mildly surprised when her eyes actually opened halfway. In the dark and without her glasses, there was no way she could see him clearly, but she looked in his general direction anyway.

"...I love you, Teddie."

The way she said it was so ethereal. It was like a breathy stated fact, rather than some sort of emotional confession.

"I love you too, Violet," Ted replied after a moment. He was quietly earnest, gentle, as he often was. This made Violet smile, just the tiniest bit. She tilted her head as if to nod diagonally or rest it on Ted's shoulder, but the pain of her headache flared. She winced and her lips moved in a silent curse as she couldn't bring her body to do what she wanted. She froze there, giving a shuddering breath.

"Easy girl," Ted winced. "Just take it easy..."

Violet's eyes squinted shut again and her brow raised. Through the pain, she felt a strange, defeated smile crawl along her face. She knew there was no way she could get Ted to move from her side that evening. She knew he'd care for her, give her a snuggle if she felt up to it, help cover her ears when the Hopps' compound fireworks went off, and listen if she wanted to talk. At that moment, she was very, very thankful for that.

[Aw that's so sweet!] Violet's most famous sister had sent her a text in reply to a condensed version of the story from that night.

It was several months later, and Violet found herself on the family's tallest hill, surveying the farm as she always did, while simultaneously carrying on a gossipy conversation with her sister Judy. An unrestrained smile played about her face as telling the story made her unquestionably happy. Ted had barely done anything that night, yet he'd done so much for her.

Though she didn't reply to her sister, finding the matter closed, she was puzzled to see Judy's text intrude onto her iPawpad again.

[So you're going to make it up to him next year?]

[What are you talking about?] Violet replied.

[The carvings!] Judy said. [He's still got them, right?]

[Yup, Alan only sold three.] Violet shook her head. Though he had a helpful spirit, Alan was definitely not a salesmammal.

[So... next Serendip you're gonna double down and help Ted sell 'em, right?] Judy responded nearly immediately.

[No.]

[NO!?]

[I'm not even planning to go to Serendipiday next year.]

[What!? Why not!?]

Violet's mouth twisted and morphed before she texted back, shifting her weight. [Well, because Ted and I are getting married next Serendipiday.]

A chuckling laugh escaped from the stately doe as Judy's next text flooded the screen with capital Es. She continued to grin and giggle as a flood of questions followed. Questions like "are the dress and suit going to be colorful?" "can I come?" "what've you got planned!?" Violet summoned her most self-satisfied smirk and closed the conversation, feeling like she'd given Judy enough for that moment.

"Something ticklin' you, Vi?" Ted peeked out from the other side of his reclined position at the tall tree on the hill.

"Oh, just one of my nosy sisters wanting to gossip," Violet smirked. "About you, of course."

"Jeez... you didn't tell 'em about..." Ted winced.

"Only because it was Judy," Violet shook her head.

"Still, everyone's gonna know before long," Ted huffed. "Not much of a surprise..."

"It's still going to be a lovely, fun ceremony," Violet said with absolute certainty. "Even the best surprises require careful planning."

"Guess so," the black bunny nodded.

Violet squinted a little and wandered over, sitting next to Ted. He was working on whittling a small little something, and she saw a bunny's ears and face taking shape. "What are you making there?"

"It's a-"

"That better not be a little effigy of me," Violet looked at him sidelong with a teasing scowl.

"...A surprise- it's a surprise," Ted's hesitant smile caused Violet to giggle. She leaned over to give him a small kiss on his bunny muzzle.

From a point of view, Ted wasn't lying. To subvert Violet's expectations, he would have to make something else, and he had no idea what it'd be. He wasn't sure of a lot of things, like what'd become of his relations with his family once he moved in with the Hopps, or if he'd just be happy working on the farm, or if he wanted to promote his carvings further.

But, with that pretty, tall doe by his side, the one that always looked at him with such certain affection... he knew he'd have fun finding out what was what.