Chapter 4—She Loved Me
December 24, 6 p.m.
"So, what did he say?"
Nick chuckles and shakes his wet paws into the sink. "He said, 'doggone it, there's the guy who conned me.' And I told him, 'I'd do it again if I wasn't a police officer.'"
Judy laughs and runs a knife lengthwise through a carrot. "Without you, Nick, I'd be—"
"Empty? Underrated? Unappreciated?" He gestures to a drawer. "I'll get a pencil."
"I was going to say unloved, but I think unappreciated works too." Judy pauses with her knife blade sitting still on the cutting board.
Nick stops moving the towel in his hands. He slowly turns around. "Fluff, did you just flirt with me?"
"I don't know. I thought you'd know considering you do it more than me." She goes back to cutting her carrot.
He finishes drying his paws and sets the towel on the counter. "Well said." He walks over to the fridge and brings out a blue carton, then takes a glass from a nearby cupboard and fills the glass halfway with a dull, cream-colored liquid. He brings it to his mouth, then sets it down with a clink. "Oh, that's good."
Judy looks up. "Eggnog? Really?" She suddenly starts laughing.
"What?"
"You have an eggnog mustache." She takes a tissue from a nearby tissue box and hands it to him.
"Thanks." He chuckles and dabs his upper lip, then takes another swig of the drink. "Yes, that hits the spot."
"Before you get diabetes from eggnog, grab me a bowl," Judy says. Nick sets down his cup and stares at her. Judy sighs. "Please."
"That's more like it, Cottontail." He takes a bowl from the lower cupboard and passes it to her, quickly returning to his eggnog. "Say, Carrots, I just got an idea."
"Hold on." She takes another tissue and ambles over to Nick. She stands on her toes and dabs his mouth, then returns to her seat. "Alright. What were you saying?"
"I said I have an idea."
She turns the carrot and begins cutting it widthwise. "As much as I'd like to say no, curiosity never killed the bunny, so shoot."
"Don't count on it. How about we have a little Christmas celebration after dinner? You know, we horse around with a few games instead of watching the football game."
"Sounds fun. Of course, the sooner we get to eating, the sooner we'll get to that." She gestures to the stove. "Get some water going. I'd like to have Christmas Eve dinner on Christmas Eve."
"Pretty good salad, Carrots." Nick chews the first bite of his meal, poking a few lettuce leaves with his fork and holding them up. He looks down at his plate for a moment and fills his mouth with the leaves. He hovers his fork over the pile of pasta on his plate and goes back to the salad.
Judy watches this for a minute. "You don't like pasta?"
"This could use a little sauce."
"Hey, you're the one who doesn't go shopping. Your fridge is almost completely empty."
"Yeah, I keep putting that off, don't I?" He looks at the pasta again. "I'm sure I have some sauce around here somewhere."
"Just eat it, Nick. It's not like not having pasta sauce will kill you." She glances at the counter. "There's some parmesan there."
"That wouldn't hurt." He stands up and takes it from the counter, shakes it over his food, and sets it on the table as he sits down.
She looks at him for a moment while taking a bite of her own food. She swallows, then says, "You still thinking about Finnick?"
He shrugs. "I guess. I've seen him go to jail before, but I haven't really caused that, you know?" He stabs a piece of pasta and holds it to his mouth.
"Want to talk about it?"
He bites the pasta off the fork and chews, pausing for a few seconds. "I dunno."
"Let's try this: What feels different this time than all the other times Finnick's gone to jail?"
"I still feel that 'you-got-what-you-deserved' feeling, but it feels like I just handcuffed my long-lost brother in the middle of a family party. I guess you could say it's guilt."
"Would you mind telling me a little about how Finnick found you?"
He smirks. "Didn't I tell you already?'
She shakes her head. "No."
"Well, then. I think telling a story would be better than enumerating."
TWENTY-FOUR YEARS EARLIER
NEAR SCOUT TROOP 914 BUILDING
Nick's frail, trembling body was pressed against the side of the building's staircase, and he wore a wet, dull-green scout uniform with a red handkerchief, which was ripped at the corner. His heart pounded in his chest, alongside pain resonating from his heart and throat. He coughed, staring at the upturned muzzle on the wet pavement in front of him.
The rain dampened his fur, hiding his tears that had once left trails of dampness on his cheeks. The wind didn't help either, finding its way inside the openings in his clothing. He suddenly shivered. Had anyone seen him right then, they would have mistaken the shivering for trembling. The flesh atop his snout constricted, his eyes closed and paws flaccid at the wrists.
His mind reeled with whether to run or stay huddled against the wall. His little eight-year-old mind struggled with the decision, going over what his naïveté could offer of pros and cons of each situation. Run, I'll get lost. Stay, someone can find me.
His mind wanted to stay. His heart wanted to run, find his mom. But that wasn't possible. I wanted her to stay longer, he thought.
He looked up when sirens blared and police lights lit up the sky and reflected off the wet pavement, painting it a wavy red-blue. Three police cars and an ambulance were stopped at the curb just adjacent to the platform in front of the stairs. Someone threw open the doors and ran up the stairs, and one rhino, one lion, and one badger officer followed them. The driver's door to the last police car opened, and a fox with triangular ears stepped out, running over to Nick huddled in the corner. Something about his blue, three-quarter-opened eyes had power to them. "Hey, sonny. Are you okay?"
He shrugged. "I dunno." He gestured toward the upside-down muzzle on the ground.
The officer ambled over to it and picked it up, shaking the water from its metallic frame. "They put this on you?"
Nick nodded.
"Are these them?" the wolf said, gesturing to the staircase. The first officer who had entered exited first, followed by the three officers and the four offenders.
"I told you, you've got the wrong guy!" the beaver said.
"Can you explain this?" The wolf officer held up the muzzle.
"It was just sitting out here."
"You guess it was just sitting out here? You realize these are illegal, right? You need a special permit only approved for psychologists and police officers to buy one." He looked at him. "Where'd you get it?"
He closed his eyes. "The fox doesn't deserve this."
He looked at Nick, then back at the beaver. "You didn't answer me. Where did you get this?"
The beaver looked down. "I stole it."
"Your dad's an officer?"
He shook his head.
"Then where did you steal this from?"
"I'm sorry, okay? It was just sitting in the chest!"
"Where?"
"Across the street."
"The Hem-Baxter building. Figures." He smiled. "And to answer whether or not the fox deserves our help, I say, of course he does. He reserves the right to a family, a home, and any activities without discrimination, just like anybody else." He smiled a little at Nick, then glared at the beaver. "You, sir, reserve the right to remain silent. Anything you do or say can..."
The wolf officer's voice faded as he walked farther from Nick. He helped put all four delinquents into the police car, each one complaining just like the first. Within minutes, the two police cars were gone. Nick looked up at the approaching wolf officer. "Where are your parents?"
"At home," Nick said.
"Do you know where that is?"
He nodded.
"Would you like a ride?"
He gave a furtive nod.
The wolf helped Nick off the floor and led him to the police car, but didn't open the door. One paramedic, a badger, approached Nick with a white, rectangular box with a red plus sign in the center. "I'm Dr. Amelson. You're Nick, right?"
He nodded.
"Are you okay?"
"Nothing hurts."
"Did they hurt you?"
Nick hesitated. "They pushed me down."
"Let's check that head of yours." He expertly palpated the back of Nick's scalp, pushing aside his dark fur at one part. "There's a bump, but that's normal if you fall down. Did they do anything else?"
"Not really. They forced the muzzle on me."
He touched Nick's face with two gloved paws. "There's a little bruising around your eyes and snout, but it should heal up in a few days." He looked into his eyes. "Anything else?"
He hesitated for about five seconds. "They kicked me."
"Where?"
"In the leg." He gestured to his foot.
"Does it hurt?"
"Only a little."
"May I look at it?"
He pulled at his pant leg, but stopped. The doctor looked up. "It's okay, Nick."
Nick looked over at the ambulance. "Okay." He pulled up his pant leg and pointed to the spot.
The doctor touched around the ankle. "Nothing major. Just a little bruising." Nick pushed his pant leg back down, and the doctor smiled and turned to the officer. "He should be fine. Just take him home to his parents and tell them what happened." He nodded at Nick again, walked to the curb, and stepped onto the ambulance, smiling and waving as it inched away. Its sirens wailed, and the doctor shut the back doors. It drove off and turned the corner, sound fading slowly.
"Let's get you home." He opened the car door. "What are your parents' names?"
Nick froze. "I don't have any."
"What do you mean?"
"My mom died three weeks ago."
"You told us that you have parents."
"Not real ones."
He bit his lip. "No dad, then?"
Nick shook his head. "He left before I was born."
He lowered his eyebrows. "Who have you been living with?"
Nick just shrugged.
"I can take you to my place for a few days if you'd like."
Nick looked at the car door and remained silent.
"Hey, kiddo." Someone's voice came a few feet from them. It was a deep, raspy voice.
Nick looked up. The officer turned his head. "Who are you?"
A fennec fox with a black shirt and tan shorts stood in front of them, smiling. His ears were quite large, about the size of his head. "I'm Finnick. I've been thinking of adopting this little tyke."
The police officer looked at him. "Nick, this is serious. Can you tell me if you've met this fox before?"
He nodded slowly. "Yep. He wants me to call him Uncle Finnick."
"That's right, kiddo." He took a small card from his pocket and handed it to the officer, then pointed to it. "That's my proof of registration for the adoption process."
The officer looked the card over. "So you haven't adopted him yet?"
"I finished this morning. I was on my way back to the adoption center."
"I can drive you," the officer said.
"Thank you," Finnick said, getting into the back of the cruiser with Nick. The officer started the car and pulled from the curb.
"And that's how I went into Finnick's custody for ten years." Nick shrugs. "I thought of my mom every day of that." He stares at the wall, then blinks a few times. The dam suddenly bursts. He lowers his head, face twisted to sob, and he cries out. Judy quickly rounds the table and takes him in her arms. She just holds him for several minutes.
"What was she like?"
He turns his head and lays it on her shoulder. "You know that feeling when you get in bed after a long, exhausting day?"
She strokes his ear. "Yes."
"That's how she felt. Inseparable." He closes his eyes. "She loved me so much."
I do too. "Who couldn't love Nick?"
He manages a smile. "I swear, Carrots, if you make your flirting any subtler..."
"So you want me to get flirty on you?"
"It'd be a demeaned mistake not to."
She laughs, stroking his ear again. "Okay." She rolls her mouth. "Gee, this is a lot easier when it's natural."
"Let me go first." He sits up from her. "You look at me again, Carrots, and I'll probably melt."
"Okay. You're like the sun. When you're here, I love your warmth and light."
"Great one, Carrots." He nods.
"You try, Mr. Love Expert."
"I will, in fact." He clears his throat. "Yesterday when I lost Finnick, my best moment was when I got to put my arm over your shoulders."
She laughs. "Oh, gee." She looks at the clock. "Want to play those games?"
"Sure. The night's your canvas."
"Well, if you put it that way..." She takes her phone from her pocket and taps a few times. She plugs the cord extending from the TV into her phone. She taps on her phone, and music immediately fills the room. "Stand up, Nick."
"What's your idea, Carrots?"
She holds out her paws. "I'll show you." He takes her paws, and she gestures to their feet. "Move your right foot right, then slide the left over, like this." She shows him the movement. "Then do the opposite: left over, right slide." She does that. "Just make sure you mirror my movements, okay? I go right, you go left."
"You're teaching me to dance, aren't you?"
"Why not? It's a wonderful skill to learn." She smiles. "Okay, let's try this." She waits for the right moment to come, then she starts. Nick mirrors her movements decently the first time, albeit awkwardly at first. "Okay, let's add the twirl. All you need to do is raise your left arm."
He does. Judy twirls in his grasp and rejoins his paws. "See?"
"What else?"
"Let's see if you can do this without dropping me." She gestures to herself. "Hold my sides, pick me up, and swing me toward your stomach, like a swing."
Nick picks her up by the sides and swings her toward his stomach, and she spreads her legs, falling back and landing on her feet. "Usually that's done at the end of a couple's dance."
Nick looks at her, lightly panting. "All right, I think that's enough dancing for now." He plops onto the couch, chest going up and down with each breath. After a minute he said, "Let's do something else."
They do. They play a Christmas word game from Judy's phone, complemented with a glass of eggnog for Nick and a mug of hot chocolate for Judy; they also play a Guess the Song game, taken from the top shelf in Nick's closet and Judy's phone; finally, the two enjoy a Christmas classic, "Left Home," Nick enjoying yet another cup of eggnog and the two sharing a bowl of cinnamon sugar-dusted popcorn. When that concludes, it is eight thirty, but neither half of the pair is eager to get to bed just yet.
When Judy shuts off the television and sits on the couch, picking for pieces of popcorn in the near-empty bowl on her lap, Nick stands and disappears into the hallway. She waits for the bathroom door to close, considering he'd consumed three cups of eggnog that day, but it never does; rather, a door closes farther down the hall, and Judy knows better than to suspect that the bathroom door.
Nick appears, walking down the hall toward the living room. As he approaches, Judy can't help but eye a moderately-sized present sitting on his palms. It has glossy red paper with gold stripes centered on each side of the box and has a white tag stuck to the top of it. It also sports a purple bow, a peculiar color to try to complement the other two.
He sits on an adjacent seat cushion and holds the box still in his paws. "Merry Christmas, Carrots." He passes it to her, eyes following the gift as if he is sad to see it go.
"You just couldn't wait, could you?"
"I guess not. Now open it before I second guess this decision."
"Don't rush me, you fuzzy-wuzzy fox." She grasps a hanging fold on the box, then pulls it up and rips a part of the paper off. Judy's eyes widen, and she gasps at the sight. "Nick."
Nick smirks. "What?"
"I love it."
Update 1/2/19: I realized I wrote the chapter in past tense. I fixed it, so no, you're not going crazy. Hopefully you enjoyed the New Year's festivities. Expect updates soon.