A/N:

I couldn't help myself. I had to. I thoroughly blame this third, and final, chapter of this story on tequila and sappy music. Once the idea was in my head, I couldn't get rid of it. Now, it's out and ready to be shared. I'd apologize in advance, but I'm not sorry for this chapter at all. Enjoy!


Judy didn't like hospitals, but she'd gotten used to them. That tended to happen once you hit octogenarian status after almost forty years in law enforcement. Eighty-three years was a hell of a run for a rabbit, but she'd never been close to typically anything. She'd done everything her own way. True, she had a meteoric career, was the first rabbit Commissioner of Police and even sat on the City Council, but all one had to do for it to be glaringly obvious was look at her family. Being a rabbit married to a fox for thirty-four years was just a taste of the uniqueness that was the life she'd lived.

It was an excruciatingly slow start for her and her husband, by all accounts. They'd only met when she was 24 and didn't even start dating for nine years. It wasn't until five years later, when she was thirty-eight that she'd had her first litter. Three kits, among the first hybrids born between predator and prey, were theirs to raise. That number quickly grew as they had two more litters in the following three years. Sadly, that was where modern medicine failed her. After her third litter, medical complications led to an emergency hysterectomy. She'd never bear any more litters. Of course, that didn't stop her from growing her family.

In addition to the seven kits she bore naturally, she and her husband adopted three more, all hybrid children who had been given up by their birth parents. Now, sitting in her favorite chair after a long day of tests and consultations, she grinned as she looked over the mass of family pictures that littered the walls of her living room. One stood out in particular. It held a place of honor over the mantle; the last family portrait they had taken before the oldest of her kits went off to college.

The cookout had been impromptu, but it'd served the purpose of gathering her unruly mass of children together in one place long enough to sneak a picture in. She sat in the center wearing her favorite beat-up jeans and a ZPD t-shirt with her mate leaning cockily against her chair, smirking. He looked good for sixty-five; still lean and wiry, with laughter lines tracing under his greying fur. He wore the terrible shirt she'd grown to love and the tie she'd got him as a gag-gift for their anniversary. She knew she needed to get it for him as soon as she saw the naked vixen on it. She also knew that he loved it and their kits mocked him endlessly for wearing it.

Her kits were gathered haphazardly around her chair, all grinning and in various states of almost-misbehaving. Seven were fox-rabbit kits, who were an adorable hodgepodge of her and her husband's traits. Liam and Nicole looked cheeky as ever with their arms around each other's shoulders, while Angela looked at them with grudging amusement all over her face. They'd all just gotten their university acceptance letters and were celebrating. Gerry and Tom had managed to sit still long enough for the picture to be taken, but it was clear they were as uncomfortable sitting still as they were wearing button up shirts. They were the most like her in terms of energy and it had driven her insane, some days. Moira and John were sitting so primly on either side of her it was comical. The real punchline was the fact that both of them had the most serious of expressions on, but their tongues hanging out.

Erin, who sat at the back and towered over all of them, was nervously holding her paws and trying not to laugh at her siblings' antics, but that was hard to pull off when you're the largest member of the family by several orders of magnitude. Her smile was almost as large as his youngest sibling's body at age twelve and she'd only gotten bigger. Most of her friends and family had thought Judy was crazy to adopt a newborn liger after she'd turned forty-five, but it'd been worth it. As had the adoption two years later of the lynx-coyote twins. Lillian and Tammy were almost eleven years old in the picture and the incarnation of rambunctious young ladies.

The rest of the pictures were a huge spread of photos from weddings, births, graduations and achievements: the photos commemorating Liam's and Tammy's graduations from the ZPA stood proudly next to the news article on Erin's latest novel; Angela's Doctorate graduation, Gerry and Tom opening their mechanic's shop, Lilian going off to her Pandani tour as a translator, John's first live comedy show, Moira's first day as a teacher and Angela's first patent.

Judy sat, sipped her water and took it all in. It'd been a hell of a ride.

She'd been an officer for over twenty years and a public servant for another decade after her retirement. Her kits were grown. She was a great grandmother several times over. Her family was as diverse as they could come and she loved them all. She just with Nick was still there to reminisce with. She missed his terrible jokes.

Eight years ago, the cumulative effect of eighty years of life finally caught up with him. A bad winter and an age-weakened immune system led to Nicolas Wilde, former hustler, officer and Commissioner of Police, to his grave. The funeral had been humongous. The bloody fox really did know everyone. Everyone from city notables to mammals she wanted to arrest on sight had shown up to pay their respects. It was a little inspiring to her that even in death her husband managed to surprise her.

Since then, her family and friends had rallied around her, almost as if they were afraid to lose another pillar of the city. Judy shook her head. She knew they'd be fine. That didn't stop her from getting misty-eyed at how much she was loved.

Judy slowly meandered her way through eating and cleaning up after her meal, before making her way to bed. She was tired. Hospitals did that to her, as did her condition. The tests all said the same thing. She had a couple months at best, but no one knew for sure. It wasn't a shock to her. She was old and this happened to everyone, eventually.

As she settled in, she smiled at the picture on her bedside table. It was a printed picture of herself and Nick when they were young and too stupid to put two and two together. They were both in their blues after another long shift on patrol. She was looking up at him in amused annoyance while he rested his elbow on her head and winked at the camera. Such a small thing, but it was so very them.

"Good night, Slick," she whispered before she closed her eyes and drifted into dreams.

Some hours later, in the quiet of the night, Judy's breathing slowed, then stopped.

Judy found herself alone. She wasn't anywhere she knew, but wasn't particularly concerned. She felt better than she had in ages. There weren't any aches, or twinges in her joints. Breathing was easy. The weight of years was gone. Looking down, she was thrilled to see she was wearing her favorite plaid shirt and those jeans she loved. It'd been decades since she'd worn them, let alone filled them out so well. She could get used to this. She felt like she was twenty-five again!

She was just about to head off and explore when she heard a voice she was sure she'd never hear again.

"Hey, Carrots."

Judy spun on her heels and stopped dead. There he was in all his hideously-dressed glory. He looked exactly as he had when they met, right down to the cheeky smile and bedroom eyes. He was beautiful. Judy flung herself into his chest and clung on for dear life.

Fighting down tears, she mumbled, "Please tell me this isn't a dream," into his chest.

"Not a dream, exactly." He chortled.

Judy pulled back enough to look him in the eyes as she mulled over his words. Then, it clicked. A flood of emotions rolled through her.

"It's ok, Carrots."

"I guess it is." She huffed a small laugh. "It's not like I can go back."

"Nope! Trust me. I tried."

"It hasn't even been a minute and I don't know whether to punch you, or kiss you."

"Business as usual, then," He replied with a wink. She punched him.

"So, um… What now?"

"Well, now that you've finally shown up, on we go!"

"Now that I… hang on. You've been waiting?"

"I wasn't about leave you behind."

Judy pulled her fox down and kissed him through her tears. "Dumb fox."

"Like you'd have it any other way." She couldn't help but giggle. "So, what do you say, sweetheart? Ready for the next adventure?"

The little grey bunny gripped the fox's paw and grinned, "Now, I am."