Chapter 6: Mending fences
Judy didn't really remember Nick bringing her home, just falling asleep in his arms and him kissing her awake outside their building. Our building now. I should ask him if I can really move Judy thought.
"You awake Carrots?" Nick said softly. When she sleepily replied with a groan, he sighed and decided to carry her inside, she didn't weigh that much anyway.
Once in, he set her I the couch and asked "Would your parents be up?"
Judy suddenly realized why he was asking and sprung up, overcome by anxiety. "Yeah, I think so..." she replied weakly.
Nick grabbed her tight and said in a loving voice "It's okay Judy. You go to sleep, this is something I need to do. You need to reconnect with them, but that won't happen if I can't connect with them."
Judy nodded and Nick carried her to bed and laid her down.
"I'll be back soon sweetheart." and with that, Nick left the room, dreading the coming conversation.
He used Judy's phone and called her parents on Muzzle-Time.
After it rang a few times, a concerned looking female rabbit answered.
"Oh Judy, I was so worr..." she began before noticing it was Nick.
"Wait!" he said, noticing she was about to hang up, "We need to talk. Can you please get your husband ?"
She considered this for a few seconds then said "I'll be right back."
When she returned, Stu Hopps was in the image as well.
"Spit it out fox,where's Judy and what do you want." Stu said accusingly, spitting the word "fox"
Nick felt hurt but put it aside. "She's asleep in the other room. I wanted to talk to you two and try to fix things."
Stu was suspicious but asked "How?"
This one word lifted Nick almost off his feet, that meant there was hope. "Well, sir, Judy and I have the next two days off and we wanted to visit you out in Bunny Burrow. She thought, maybe if you got to know me, you would be more accepting."
Stu considered this and said "And what do you think."
Nick already knew what his answer was "I hope she's right because I love her, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I'm the reason she broke away from her family."
Stu was taken aback by this but before he could react, Bonnie said "We'll she you two tomorrow then. Stu, we have to get things ready for them. Call Gideon and ask him what foxes eat." and she hung up the phone, leaving Nick surprised, but happy that she was willing to give him a chance. Now all I have to do is convince her father Nick thought, hoping her nearly three hundred siblings would be fine with him.
Nick set Judy's phone on charge and happily made his way to the bedroom, where he was greeted by the light breathing of peaceful sleep. Nick smiled and crawled into bed. Wrapped around Judy, he quickly fell asleep, hoping the next two days would go well.
The next day, Nick was uncharacteristically up early and packing. Judy was surprised to see this but was happy because this could mean only one thing, the call last night went well. She helped him pack and they were off to the train station. Judy texted her parents what train they would be on and they said they would pick them up from there.
"I'm so excited Nick, I haven't been home since the Night Howler incident. I'm sure you'll love it." Judy said excitedly as they boarded the train.
"Huh, what was that Carrots?" Nick replied, having been lost in thought. What if it doesn't go well he thought.
As if she had read his thoughts, Judy said "Nick, it'll be okay, I promise."
Nick smirked and sarcastically said "Fine, but if I see a tazer, I'm running for the hills."
Judy laughed but was worried, knowing her father had a fox tazer. Unsurprisingly, Nick fell asleep on the train and Judy decided to curl up with him.
The sound of the announcer woke them up and they got ready to depart. Nick grabbed their bags and they went to the door. When it opened, Judy ran to her parents and they embraced happily. Stu shot Nick a glance he pretended not to notice and said "You'll have to sit in the bed of the truck." Judy shot him a glance of her own but decided to leave it alone.
Once they reached the farm house, Judy was immediately swarmed by a wave of little rabbit kits and was knocked down, laughing the whole time
"Hey guys." was all she could get out before they all yelled "Hi Judy." as if they were trained to do so.
They slowly noticed Nick and became uncomfortable. A young bunny walked up to him and said "You look funny." Nick couldn't help but laugh and she continued, "I like you...oh your tail looks so fluffy." before he could react, she grabbed onto his tail and he gave Judy an asking look that said "What do I do" and she shrugged. Nick decided to let it go, he could barely tell the kit was there at all so it didn't bother him at all.
"This is my friend Nick, he'll be staying with us for a little. I want you all to be nice to him, okay." Judy said to her family. They nodded in agreement and finally they made their way inside.
"Thanks Carrots." Nick said.
Judy giggled and said "What for?" with a knowing look.
"Saving me from your family of fluffy missiles." he said, almost relieved.
Giggling, Judy said "Maybe next time I'll let you suffocate in a pile of fur."
Nick rolled his eyes and said "You love me to much to let that happen Fluff. Besides, I'd be forced to bring you down with me...somehow."
The two of them shared a laugh and Judy showed him around.
"...and this is where you'll be staying." she said, gesturing to a room at the end of a very long hall. Nick inspected the room, pleased to see the bed would be big enough for him.
"Wow Carrots, I've never seen such luxury." Nick said sarcastically after looking at the sparsely furnished room with only a bed and a dresser. Judy only rolled her eyes and told him to put his bags away and come out to the living room so he could be properly introduce him to her family.
After putting his bags down and inspecting the room, he left it and readied himself for the meeting to come. When he arrived in the living room, he saw hundreds of rabbits waiting. Even Judy was surprised to see so many of her family members here.
"Did you guys tell everyone to come." Judy asked her parents.
"Well, we thought the entire family should get to know this fox." her mother said.
Once Nick was in the room and sat next to Judy, Stu stood up and said "Okay everyone, Judy has something she needs to tell you."
Judy suddenly was terrified and pulled her heavily blushing ears over her face to hide behind them. Nick wrapped his arm around her and she felt safe.
"Everyone" she started "I want to tell all of you that...I'm in a relationship." many of her family members hooted and yelled in joy that she finally met someone. Most of those bunnies were in the back and couldn't see the fox holding her.
"We've come here because I want to get to know you all and so you can know what kind of mammal I am." Nick said. Suddenly everyone got quiet and waited for them to continue.
Suddenly, voices rang out...
"Dirty fox, what did you do to Judy?"
"Whats gotten into you?"
"What about kits?"
"Why a fox of all mammals?"
"Let them be, they obviously love each other."
"Maybe that fox tricked her."
"What if they actually care about each other?"
"Maybe we should give him a chance."
The voices continued but Nick and Judy didn't care, they were just elated to find at least some of her relatives were okay with them. They locked into a passionate kiss, silencing the room of rabbits. After seeing the love in the look they gave each other, some of the rabbits decided to give him a fair chance.
Nick turned to them "Please, at least give me a chance." Nick said.
The crowd murmured and eventually, they nodded.
It was about dinner time once they finally got everyone organized and Nick answered some bunnies' questions, most of which ended with "Do you love her?" or something of the sort and a bunny that is more confident in them.
"Hm, that went better than I expected." Nick said as Judy lead him to the dining room.
"Yeah, I honestly didn't think my relatives would be so understanding." she responded, a little surprised herself.
They finally made it to the dining room and Nick quickly caught on to how things worked. They basically set out a huge buffet. They didn't have any pred food, which didn't surprise Nick, but he could eat what they had. He and Judy made their plates and sat down by her parents.
"So Nick" Bonnie started "we heard about that whole mammal trafficking thing, what happened after you took them in?"
Nick considered this for a moment then said "Well, ..."
"Bonnie, please."
"Okay...Bonnie...they were taken in and interrogated while other officers searched the building." he finished.
"Oh, if the case isn't really done, why did you two get time off like this?" Stu asked, a little suspicious.
Nick lost his happy mood as he said "It was something they found, some files."
"Well that doesn't really answer my question." Stu said, displeased with the fox.
Nick suddenly lost his appetite and asked to be excused as to not disrespect Judy's parents. He made his way to his room sullenly, not wanting to think about the file.
"What was that about. Huh, guess I was right about foxes, can't trust them to tell you the truth." Stu said.
Judy was seething at her father for that comment "What is wrong with you! He's hurting, that's why were off, can't you see that!?" and before her father could respond, she let to follow Nick, leaving a room full of stunned rabbits.
The door to the guest room creaked open and Judy saw Nick, sitting on his bed, a blank expression on his face. "Hey" she said, hoping to get his attention.
He looked up and, in a defeated tone, said "Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone."
"Nick, he didn't know what was going on. I'm sure he wouldn't have pushed if he did." she said, trying to cheer up her fox.
Nick took a deep breath and said I should probably get back out there."
"You don't have to, I'm sure they'll understand." Judy said to comfort him, secretly hoping he would still go out.
"No, I should explain. If nothing else, it'll help your father see me differently." Nick said as he stood back up and made his way to the door. Judy quickly pulled him close so she could nuzzle him. They made their way to the table again, paw in paw, and sat down.
"I want to tell you what happened..." he said and he once again explained how he lost his sister.
"...and we never found her. We thought we would never see her again. After the raid, Judy and I were given time off so I would be able to process something that had been given to me, a file, on my sister."
The entire room seemed to release a breath they were holding in as Nick ended his story.
"I'm sorry I pressed you so hard for not telling me Nick, I had no idea." Stu apologized.
"It's okay . Lets get on with the night, shall we." Nick said, regaining his composure.
Stu nodded and they went to reveal dessert, blueberry pie, which Nick new he was going for, and carrot cake.
Nick leaned over to Judy and jokingly said "Isn't that cannibalism Carrots? Ow!"
Judy giggled and gave him a punch in the arm.
They enjoyed the meal and had some conversation. "So Nick, Stu and I talked, and we would like to have a picnic with you and Judy so we can get to know you."
Nick considered this then said "I would would love that." and they talked about what to pack. The night drew on and they had to turn in. Judy and Nick said their goodbye's and went to their room, both falling asleep happy, and more confident in Judy's family accepting Nick.
