Well, this just got interesting!

"But I thought the baby wasn't due for another month!" I cried. I'd been looking forward to this moment ever since my parents told me that I was going to be a big brother. "Now's not the time!"

"Yeah, sorry, bud, it looks like it is."

"What's going on?" Electra came racing after me, her eyes wide. Then they went wider as she turned to me. "Oh, sweet Karma, no! Not now! What's going to happen to the baby?"

"Great question, but I don't think-" Our conversation was cut off by a scream from inside.

"Oh, dear." Then came a thump from beside me. I looked down to see my dad unconscious at my feet. What a scaredy-cat. "Great, Dad. Any trouble and you're off scene. Well, time to have more red fur."

"Do you need me?"

"Yes, Electra, I think we will. Be careful, okay?"

"Be careful? What else am I going to be? Luke, do you even know how my parents died? A car crash. I spent hours doing CPR on them, begging them to wake up. I've had my share of red fur too. Now, you silly tod, your mother needs us." With that, she took off for the house, leaving me in the dust figuratively and Dad in the dust literally.

"I'll come back for you, Dad. Don't you worry. Mom needs me right now, I think you'll understand."


I'm used to chaos, but this is something else. Oh, how I wish I could have this back, all these mammals around me. I've heard so few voices in the six years since my parents died, and it's lonely as can be. Zootopian winters are cold and unforgiving, and there are even fewer mammals that dare brave the streets. I, unlike all of those mammals, don't have anyone else to turn to. No sane mammal would dare walk through an alleyway, let alone peer into an abandoned refrigerator box that's held together by duct tape. Home Sweet Home for nine of my fifteen years. I haven't let slip even the smallest true detail of my housing arrangement.

You see, my parents were young when they got married, two years later, at seventeen, they had me. I thought teenage pregnancy was a rabbit thing, but it looks like it's a fox thing too. Anyways, their marriage was incredibly divisive. My mother was a kit actress by the name of Juliana Stehlen, my father was a factory worker for Buckefeller's Oil. A match made in heaven for them, 'tainting the family bloodline' to everyone else. What made matters worse was that he took her name, not the other way around. This had never been heard of before, and it ripped my family to shreds. No one could escape the feuds, no one, not even if they weren't involved in the matter.

Well, my parents didn't care, and they tied the knot on April 17, 1975. Both of them were fifteen. Yes, he was a line worker at fifteen, even in the seventies. No one cared, really, seeing as he was a fox.

Well, foxes or not, they were determined to do better for themselves. They settled on down in the suburbs, bought a house and car, and had me. Electra Juliana Stehlen, after my mom. I look just like my dad, though. My mom's last name means 'steel' in Germane, but my dad was a silver fox. I got his fur and my mom's eyes- emerald green.

I've heard parents tell their kits that they're just like their mother or father or whomever. I never heard that from my parents. What they always told me was that I was my own mammal. I was their little bundle of joy, as they called me, right up until the day they died. I'm getting there, don't rush the subject.

September seventeenth, nineteen seventy-seven. My birthday. September seventeenth, nineteen eighty-three. Also my birthday. The weather was horrible, but we had all gone out to dinner together, to Linguini's, my favorite Itailian restaurant. We got there at about 7:30, and we stayed for quite a long time. We didn't leave until 9:45, I remember that time exactly. I remember it exactly because we had been on the road for five minutes when it happened. We were headed around this blind corner, just over a mile from our house, when this truck came barreling around it and hit our van head on. You can guess who the only survivor was.

Before the accident, our house, which my parents had nicknamed "The Foxes' Den," was lively and bright. My parents didn't have much money, so we made do with what we had for entertainment. What we had was several shelves of books, a leather armchair, and a record player that my mom would always play "Oh, Susanna" on for me. When they died, everything stopped. Everything went quiet, and as I couldn't get a job at six coupled with the family feud, out I went onto the streets.

Someway, somehow, Kit Protective Services found out about me and scooped me up, then sent me to an orphanage, which wouldn't take me. They couldn't refuse me up front, oh no, that was illegal. But as this vixen's luck would have it, they dumped me back out on the street. "We don't want you here, fox. Who knows what sort of evil you spawned from." That's what they said, I swear. This fox is an honest fox. So out I went. I found an old piano box down an alleyway near my school and called it home.

I am an honest fox, so I hate to admit this, but I have stolen before, I don't think that would surprise anyone. A fox stealing? What else do they do? Most mammals I've run into seem to concur, foxes are the spawn of the devil. Yes, to answer the question, you get used to it. You also get used to sleeping in a sleeping bag in a box, which makes you look like a puffball because you never lose your winter fur.

So yes, chaos is nice, except not this kind.

Is that enough of an explanation?

"Yes, Electra, enough to last a lifetime."


"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow…...ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow….I just can't say that enough right n-ow-ow-ow! Dang it! Can't my body stop cramping?"

"No, Judy, I don't think so. Do you realize what just happened?" John asked.

"I just gave birth to a fox. Yes, I realize what just happened."

"Sounds like Nick's rubbing off on you, Judy."

"What do you think, John? I've known him for years, but you've known him his entire life. I bet you've realized that sarcasm's a strong suit of his, whatever version you're talking about."

"What just happened?" Nick stood in the outer door frame, rubbing his head. What did I miss?"

"A lot," Electra and I both said. "Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx! Seriously, though," I continued, holding up two red paws, "you missed a lot, Dad."

"Where were you, Nick? I was worried sick!"

"You were worried sick? Heck, I was worried sick about you, that's why there's this big knot on the back of my head."

"You fainted," Electra laughed. "Now, would you like to see your daughter? She's adorable…." Then her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "She reminds me of my little sis…" Then she started sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I miss her so much. You guys wouldn't get it, how lonely the streets are, what it's like to have no one at all to turn to."

"What do you mean, Electra?"

"Luke, do *hic* you want to *hic* tell them, or should *hic* I?"

"I'll tell them." From there, I proceeded to repeat to them the story Electra had told me. By the time I was done, they were all crying openly and Dad was hugging Electra to his chest.

"Why did you never tell us?" Marian was the first to speak. "You've known us for years, Electra. Why not tell us sooner? We could've helped you."

"I didn't want to cause you any trouble. Please, don't be mad at me. That's the last thing I want."

"Electra, that's never going to happen," Nick said. "Not if you're going to be calling me Dad."

She whipped right around to face my parents. "You mean it?"

"I always keep my promises. Come here, kiddo."

Did he really just say that? That he'll be my dad? How can he love me like that? He just found out I'm an orphan, and now he's offering to adopt me on the spot? I hope this isn't a dream...Better pinch myself to find out.

"Ow!" Nope, definitely not a dream. Oh, sweet Karma. I have a family! Which means...Luke's my brother. Guess I can't date him anymore.

He must have been reading my thoughts, because right then he spoke up. "Looks like you won't have to be my girlfriend, Electra. You'll just have to be my sister instead."

"That's a lot better, Luke. Infinitely better. You know, I just realized something."

"What's that?" he asked.

"I just let out a breath that it feels like I've been holding in for years."

"It wouldn't surprise me to find out that you have been, sis. Come here, everyone. Group hug! Jack, you too."

"Do I have to?" he grumbled.

"Sourpuss. Yes, you do."

"Fine, fine." He came over. "On three. One, two, three!"

We separated, and Judy- Mom- wow, I really have one- spoke up. "Okay, two questions. Everyone's attention, up here!"

Everyone turned their eyes towards her. "First- who forgot the diapers? Kits are messy."

Everyone laughed, and Mom scowled. "Don't laugh. It's not funny."

"Yes, it is," Luke said.

"Lucas Michael Wilde. Do not think for a second that just because you're older doesn't meant that I'm going to start ignoring you and that I won't punish you for being a smart aleck."

Luke's ears flattened against his head. "Yes, Mom," he muttered.

"That's better. John, could I have some towels, soap, and water please?"

"You bet," he replied, handing the requested items over to her.

"Second," Mom continued. "Has anyone given any thought as to how we're all getting out of here? Without, of course, destroying the world?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," came a voice from behind us. "I've already done that."

"Hey everyone. Miss me?"