Chapter 7: Celebration
As the train speeds towards Bunnyburrow, Nick and Judy are being pressured, good naturedly of course, by Nick's mother Victoria, to tell her the names that they have picked out for the soon to be born kits.
"Nick, I'm your mother for crying out loud, why won't you tell me what the kit's names will be?"
Nick just smiled "Mom, I keep telling you, we're saving it as a surprise. We want to let everybody know at the same time, and that's final."
Victoria looks to Judy "Judy please, tell me…I'm begging you, just a hint, a little one...please?"
Judy rolls her eyes and looks at Nick, who gives a quick wink and a slight, a very slight nod.
"Ok Victoria, just one little hint. The girls' first name will be...Angela."
A slightly miffed Victoria remarked "Well damn, I had already figured that part out. PLEASE give me something else!"
Judy and Nick both laughed "Nope, sorry mom. You asked for one little hint, and you just got it. Now, have another small glass of raspberry wine, we're almost there. We don't want you plastered when we tell everybody" said Nick with a slight smirk.
As the train pulled into the Bunnyburrow station, the three were shocked when they looked out in amazement and saw a virtual ocean of bunnies. Nothing but bunnies as far as the eye can see. Even Pop-Pop was there to greet them.
"Good lord, just look at all of those bunnies" said a startled Victoria. "and….can that Bunnyburrow sign be even remotely correct?" Victoria giving a startled glance at the rapidly changing population counter.
"Victoria, it's a gag sign, it helps amuse the tourists..." laughed Judy "bunnies are good, but we're not that good…"
Nick and Judy couldn't help but laugh as they looked in awe of the sight of the crowd that was greeting them.
"And look who is in the very front with your mom and dad" said Nick. "I guess that means a bunny pile is coming" he said, actually looking forward to the event.
It was Abigail, Avery, Ayana and Lillabeth, Darlene's four kits. Evidently Bonnie and Stu were kit sitting while Darlene was at the bakery with Gideon, preparing for the upcoming festivities.
As the three stepped from the train they were greeted with "Nick, Judy" ~ "UNCLE NICK, UNCLE NICK" ~ "Victoria, over here" ~ "Judy, is it true you're having twins?" "When are you due?" ~ and on and on for about ten minutes or so.
When Judy looked around she couldn't find Nick "NICHOLAS WILDE! WHERE ARE YOU?" Judy shouted.
"A little help please" came the weak reply.
Nick was literally buried under a sea of small kits.
Laughing, Bonnie called out, "There's ice cream inside" and like a miracle the kits all disappeared except Darlene's kits, none of whom would leave Nick.
"Whew, thanks Bonnie, that's another one I owe you".
"Don't worry about it Nick, we have to keep you alive….at least until we find out what the kits names will be" said Bonnie with a slightly evil smile.
Casting a nervous glance at Bonnie , "Judy" said Nick "I kinda figured that this would be a big deal, but...really?"
"Don't worry Slick, I have a plan."
"Really Fluff…you have a plan...for all of this?" asked Nick as he motioned to the ever increasing mass of bunnies.
"Yup...deal with it fox. Dad, do you still have the projector set up on the DVD player like you did for movie night when we were little?" asked Judy.
"Uhhh, yea, I think so, why do you ask?"
Grinning Judy replied "OK, I'll tell everyone that the big announcement will be say just after supper. You get the screen and projector set up beforehand. I have a little something that would knock their socks off, if they actually wore any."
Seeing the disappointed looks on the faces of the adults Judy quickly added "After I tell everyone else that the announcement will be later and some of the excitement dies down, we can go into the small family room and I...we...will let you all know before supper, OK?"
"Well" Stu grumbled "I guess that will be ok."
Judy put her paw on Stu's arm "Besides, I want to wait until we can tell Darlene and Gideon as well...I don't want anyone left out...OK?"
Bonnie smiled at Judy "We've waited this long, another few minutes won't hurt. Let's go inside and get something cool to drink. Victoria, you look a little….off, are you alright dear?"
Before Victoria could answer Nick grinned and said "I think the heat is bothering my mother. Mom has had…a touch more wine that she anticipated..."
"Nicholas...I'll have you know, that I...never mind. Why yes Bonnie, some cool water would hit the spot about now" said Victoria as she shot Nick a frown that would freeze a polar bear solid, which naturally got a laugh from Nick and Judy.
As the group retired to the family room, Judy asked Stu to set up the DVD player. Just as everything powered up, Darlene and Gideon announced their arrival.
"Ok everybody, we're here, let's get this going. We have to get back so we can get everything ready for tonight. This is just too good to wait for" announced Darlene.
As Nick loaded the DVD Judy spoke "I know this was s'posed to be a simple announcement of the kits names, but Nick and I agreed that it was too beautiful not to share. Nick..."
As the ultrasound played, and the kits heartbeats filled the room, Judy and Nick spoke as one "Ladies and gentlemammals, we are honored to introduce to you...Angela Lucille and Ronald Jonathan Wilde!"
Nick and Judy's parents looked at each other stunned "Ronald….." said Bonnie. Tears rolled and hugs were exchanged all around. "But why on earth do you want to name your daughter after me, I mean really?"
"Bonnie" said Nick "first of all it seems only fair to name each kit after both sides of the family. Secondly, I simply can't think of a better mammal to name our daughter than you…mom…"
A tearful Victoria hugged her son "Thank you so much, this is more than I could have ever hoped for. To remember your sister and father this way is….just….."
Bonnie, only seconds later, nearly broke Nick's ribs with a fierce, albeit tearful hug.
Nick gave a wistful smile as he hugged his mothers, "I know mom, I know….both of you"
Then, Darlene and Gideon stood and walked in front of the TV. "While we're all gathered here together, Gideon and I have an announcement of our own. We've talked it over, and we we'd like you all to know that we want to have our wedding in about a month. I know it's kind of short notice. We actually planned on having it a bit later, but with Nick and Judy's kits due to arrive around then, we decided to move the date up a bit."
At roughly 6:45, after a very quick dinner, everyone was gathered in front of the hastily set up projection screen.
As Nick and Judy walked in front of the large screen, Judy announced loudly "OK everybody, please settle down." As she looked over the hundreds of bunnies, young and old alike, Judy started "I am so happy that you all are so interested in what our kits names will be, I had NO idea there was this much support. Nick and I want to share a little something as we announce the kits names to one and all." As Nick joined Judy she nodded and Stu started the DVD. Nick and I are honored to introduce to you all...Ronald Jonathan and Angela Lucille Wilde!"
As the assembled crowd watched with amazement and listened to the kits heartbeats, at first there was total silence. Then one of Darlene's kits, Ayana, with a puzzled expression remarked "where are they? I don't see anybody just some silly pictures..." which drew laughs from a majority of those assembled.
Judy leaned down and said "The kits are right here, in my tummy sweetheart".
"Can they come out and play, I wanna see them" remarked Ayana.
Judy laughed and said "No, baby, not yet, but soon" to a very disappointed kit.
The crowd watched the loop several times, then gathered to congratulate Nick and Judy.
As the proud grandparents watched from the front door of the burrow Victoria remarked "this will certainly be a step towards the one thing that Judy really wanted to accomplish."
"And what was that?" asked Bonnie.
"Why, to make the world a better place, of course."
…
The next day, Bonnie loaded Judy and Victoria into the family car. The ladies went into town to look at new baby clothes for the kits. Of course they had no idea what size to buy because they had no idea how large or small the kits would be, but it was shopping and it was fun, so it really didn't matter. While they were at it, they looked at curtains for the nursery, checked out paint colors, wallpaper and generally had a good time.
While the ladies went into town, Nick followed Stu out into a large storage shed beside the main barn (there were actually several of each). When Stu opened the door to the shed and turned on the lights, Nick was stunned.
"Good grief Stu, look at ALL of these ... cribs, but...why are there different sizes"!"
"Yup, when you have 275 kits, you tend to accumulate a lot of extra stuff, like these cribs. I'm actually looking for two specific ones, and I thought that you might help me look for them."
"Really? Why specific ones?"
"Well to answer your question about size first, it saves a lot of space. When a bunny has a larger litter, say four, or five or six or more, to have one crib for each kit takes up too much room, so I just make a large one for them to share. That's why you see so many different sizes. The reason we are looking for a couple of specific cribs is simple. When Ronnie was born, he was one of five in his litter, so we used a larger crib. Then when a different litter came along...wait, here it is...one of the kits was named...Angela. Bonnie and I thought you two might like to have these two cribs. Since you really don't know how large the kits will be, it just makes sense to have cribs that are a bit larger, just in case."
"But" Nick asked "why is there only one name on the crib and not all from the litter?"
Stu smiled "We just put the name of the first born of the litter on the headboard, otherwise we wouldn't have enough room for all of their names."
As Stu showed Nick the crib that he mentioned, Nick noticed that it was a beautiful, handmade walnut crib with 'Angela' engraved on the headboard. Stu, I really don't know what to say...except thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"OH, shucks, think nothin' of it. Wait a minute...here's the other one I was looking for."
As Stu pulled the second crib out, this one made of mahogany, the name 'Ronald' was recognizable on the headboard.
"Judy is going to absolutely freak the hell out when she sees these" said Nick.
"Nick, let me tell you something right here and now. We may have had our differences when you and I first met, lord knows I was as hard headed and against you and Judy being together as anyone could be. But you've shown me that you truly love her, and will do anything to protect her. You're a very special mammal Nick. What you and Judy have accomplished, together, as individuals, as a team on the police force, and as a couple, our future grandkits notwithstanding, is remarkable. Bonnie and I are proud and honored to give you these cribs. We can't think of a better use for them than for you to have them. Don't tell Judy about them please. We'll deliver them in a couple of weeks after I get them cleaned up and put new mattresses on them. Think of this as a con that we can pull on her together.
With tears of joy in his eyes, Nick leaned in and gave Stu a very emotional hug "Thanks...Gramps!" was all he could say.
All Stu could do was smile.
…
During the train ride home the next day, Judy and Victoria chatted all of the way about the curtains they had picked out what color or colors the nursery was going to be, argued over how big the kits would be and what they would look like, and occasionally asked Nick his opinion about some detail.
All in all it was a very nice and relatively uneventful trip.
…
A/N: USA Patriot, to answer your questions; yes, blood and tissue (not skin) samples have already been taken once, the second time was to provide broader cross-reference base for blood typing. The fetal blood sampling is actually more common than you might think, as it is usually done on an 'at risk' fetus, normally through the umbilical cord. In the 'real world' fetal tissue sampling is generally done on aborted fetuses to aid in disease research. In the story it is done to help build a genetic database for the kits. PLEASE remember, this is a story of fiction, where anything is possible. Good questions tho…..
To the Guest who was asking about the work, there will probably be at least 12, maybe 13 chapters all together. After that, who knows, I have an idea for another work, we'll see what happens.