Seven small rabbits streamed into the apartment, followed by Hazel carrying a kit and a baby car seat. As Judy hugged Hazel, the baby reached out for her.

Hazel smirked. "Aww, little Carol missed Aunt Judy."

Judy grabbed the kit and hugged her. "She probably just doesn't want me to feel left out after barfing on Nick yesterday."

As Hazel got the kits settled and handed out books and toys, Judy said to Nick, "You can call me or Hazel if anything comes up, ok?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "We'll be fine. Sheesh Carrots, get going already."

Hazel smiled at Nick. "Thanks again for watching the kits for me. You bunnies be nice to Uncle Nick, ok?" Seven quiet rabbit kits nodded back in unison.

Judy walked out of the apartment, carrying the baby kit, and Hazel followed with the car seat. Just before Judy closed the door behind them, Nick clapped his paws together and said, "Alright, who wants to go swimming in barbecue sauce?"

Hazel laughed and shook her head as she followed Judy to the parking lot. "For Pete's sake, tell him not to say something like that in front of Zeke."

Judy smiled. "I already did, but," she shrugged. "It's Nick after all, so no promises."

Hazel put the car seat in the back of Judy's car before she turned to take the kit from Judy, who was holding the little rabbit close and sniffing her with her eyes closed.

Judy opened her eyes and returned Hazel's odd look. "What?"

"Nothing. But you should know, you look like you have a bad case of baby bunny fever."

Judy rolled her eyes and handed the kit over. She looked back at the apartment building and said, "So, he's Uncle Nick now, huh? You did this on purpose, didn't you? Asking Nick to watch the kits."

"I figured you'd want to see how he is with kits," Hazel said as they both climbed into the car and buckled their seatbelts.

"What… why? Even if I could have kits of my own, it isn't like he and I could have them."

"You could always adopt. Have you talked to him about adopting?"

Judy huffed and then started the car. "What? No! I mean… we might at some point. But neither one of us is in a position to take care of kits right now. We're both busy with work. Just the idea of what we'd do for daycare freaks me out."

"Hah, so you have thought about it!"

Judy carefully pulled into the street. "You're even worse than Mom." She was silent for a moment, as she again worried that Nick might want kits of his own someday. She hoped they could finish that conversation later tonight.

Judy mused, "He is really good with the kits though. And I feel like I'm… I dunno, keeping him from having some of his own. He told me today he doesn't want any. And yet it feels like… what if he's just telling me what I want to hear? And pushing him seems like a dumb idea. It isn't like I can give him kits."

Hazel bit her bottom lip and for a moment looked like she wanted to say something, but she remained quiet.

Half an hour later, they drove up a short winding road into a small underground parking lot in the side of a hill. Located on the border of the Rainforest and Canal Districts, the aboveground portion of the warren was a partially renovated five story building, each floor tiered above the next and built into the side of the hill. The building curved around a large shaft that sank out of sight.

After they dropped Carol off at the daycare on the ground floor, Judy and Hazel spent the next few hours exploring. Judy was amazed at the scale of the project. Only the bottom floor of the building and the upper part of the shaft were occupied, filled with the beginnings of a vertical farm, while small apartments and shared living areas had been dug into the hill itself.

Judy and Hazel exited the lower portion of the farm and walked down a large ramp that sloped around the perimeter of the shaft. Judy could hear the sound of rushing water far below while Hazel continued to list the vegetables already in production. "There's lettuce of course, and bok choi, kale, arugula, radishes..." Judy barely listened to the rest as she looked up the shaft past the farm levels at the hazy blue sky far overhead. Her attention snapped back to Hazel when she said, "There'll even be some tanks of fish, mostly for fertilizer, but also to sell to predator restaurants." Hazel chuckled. "Just wait until Dad hears about that."

Judy craned her neck and tried to see the bottom of the shaft. "How… how in the world did they afford-"

Hazel laughed and interrupted her. "It was an abandoned development that was supposed to be an entrance to the Nocturnal District. Unfortunately for the developer, they tunneled down into the edge of a subterranean cave that is constantly filling with runoff from the Rainforest District."

Judy leaned against the railing and peered down the shaft and Hazel continued. "That, plus a few other problems, eventually caused the developer to go bankrupt. They couldn't figure out how to deal with the constant flow of water, which is pretty gross and full of contaminants. Still, one group is working on using it to run a small hydroelectric facility, which would provide nearly all the power for the farms. And below, they'll capture the water in an artificial marsh to begin the cleanup process, before part of the water is diverted for various aquaculture and hydroponics projects."

Judy just stood there gaping, her mind struggling to grasp the scope of everything that she'd seen and heard so far.

"That's part of the reason the board was able to get a good deal on this place. They promised the city to help clean up the mess left by the previous developer." She looked at her phone, and said, "We can look at more next time. We'd better head back. Zeke will be at your place soon with the van."

As they retraced their steps up the ramp into the lower farm, Judy said, "How has this place gotten so far along without me hearing about it?"

Hazel shrugged. "The project wasn't doing much until about eight months ago. They got extra funding from some corporation, and that really got things moving. Heck, even I didn't realize the full scope of what they were doing, even though Zeke has been working here for six months." She paused and looked sideways at Judy. "Part of the reason might be the board. They aren't keen on allowing other species into the warren."

"Seriously?" Realization slowly dawned on Judy. "You mean, because of Nick and I being an item, our siblings hid this from me?"

Hazel held up her paws. "I don't know that for sure, but yeah, it's possible. By the way, it's not just our siblings working here anymore. It seems our family isn't the only one in Bunnyburrow worried about dividing a farm two hundred different ways after their parents kick the bucket."

Judy quietly opened the door to the apartment to find Nick seated on the couch surrounded by bunnies. One kit was playing with her fox's tail, a few others were drawing, while the rest sat, enraptured, while he told them a story. Nick looked up when he heard the door open.

"Ok kits, we'll finish the story next time." He stood up, and the bunnies scattered as they swarmed over to hug their mom.

Judy bounded over and kissed Nick. "How did it go?"

"Great! It's too bad about the story though, we were just getting to the good part where the fox building inspector tells the three little pigs they have to go to court because they didn't get the proper building permits."

Judy rolled her eyes and Hazel said, "Did you little buns have fun?"

They all nodded and clamorously agreed they had indeed enjoyed spending time with Uncle Nick.

Nick smiled at the bunnies as they filed out the door after Hazel. "I'll see you little squirts again soon."

Judy noticed how happy he looked. Nick closed the door and Judy laughed when she noticed the braids in his tail.

"My my, Mr. Wilde. That's quite the fancy tail you have there," she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Nick smirked back at her. "I think… what was her name? The oldest one… Holly. I think she may have a future as a haredresser. Get it, hare-"

Judy's heart lurched when Nick said the kit's name. Every time she saw Hazel's oldest kit, she was reminded of the name she'd wanted to give her own girl kit someday. "Ugh, stop. Yes I get it." Her voice had a bit more of an edge than she had meant it to, and Nick grew quiet and gave her an odd look. Judy's ears drooped. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out so harsh."

Nick walked over and embraced Judy. "You ok?"

Judy smiled up at him sadly. "Yeah, I'm just…" She cast around for an excuse, then settled on, "overwhelmed by the trip to the warren."

Nick paused for several moments and gazed at her before he hugged her again.

Judy stroked his braided tail and giggled before she said, "When I was a kit, I was so jealous of Wendy Whinnyferd, a horse at my school. I remember wishing I had long hair like her mane and tail."

"Don't get too attached to my new look, because you're gonna help me brush it out in a minute. And just so you know, of all the tails in the world, yours is my favorite."

Judy blushed and smiled. "Naughty fox."

Nick let her go and walked towards the bathroom. "So, Carrots, tell me about the warren."

Judy sat on the couch and said, "I don't even know where to start, it was amazing!"

After he returned with the brush, they started unbraiding and straightening the fur on Nick's tail as Judy recounted everything she'd seen.

Twenty minutes later, Judy's phone rang right when she started describing the mushroom farm being built next to the composting and recycling facilities. It was Zeke, and Judy had never before heard anybunny so angry. Even Nick could hear Zeke, and her fox cringed as he watched Judy's ears droop lower and lower until she said goodbye and hung up.

"Wow, he's pissed." She gave Nick an annoyed look. "Apparently one of the kits showed him a picture she drew of several bunnies swimming in barbecue sauce. He's headed over here to see if Peggy left her favorite blanket and undoubtedly to yell at me some more."

"Judy, I'm really sorry." He sighed. "I meant to ask to keep that drawing for our… err, I mean, to hang on the fridge." He stood up and grabbed his phone. "I'll head over to my place, so I don't get him even more riled up than he is already."

"Oh Nick, you don't need-"

Nick held up his paws. "It's ok, why don't you call me after and I'll come back."

Judy nodded. "That would be great. Go home, water your plants, and I'll call you in a bit."

"All of my plants died weeks ago, even the plastic ones. Actually, Zeke did sound pretty angry. Now I'm wondering if I should stay…"

As Nick trailed off uncertainly, Judy realized how torn he was. He wanted to escape the conflict he'd caused, but he also wanted to stay and stand by her. "Silly fox, go on. You're cute when you're overprotective."

Judy couldn't help but laugh as Nick struck a pouty stance that was all too clearly an exaggerated imitation of her. "You definitely did not just call me cute."

Nick hopped out of the way as she tried to punch his arm. He always did his best to break the tension with humor, but right now she didn't want to irritate Zeke even more. "Ok, you look handsome when you're overprotective. I'll call you after Zeke leaves."

A few minutes later, Judy looked out the window and down at Nick on the sidewalk below. He pulled out his phone and held it to his ear before he turned to look up at Judy. Nick smiled and began to wave at her just as a rhino charged out of the darkness and plowed right into him.