"Hey, Nick?"
"I'm in the shower!"
Judy had been in the babies' room, folding tiny clothes and putting them in the dresser drawers when her phone had buzzed for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, even though it was only late morning. It was Clawhauser, of course, replying to Judy's last text message.
It had been five weeks since the baby shower, and Judy was now twenty-five weeks along in her pregnancy. It was becoming more difficult to do simple things such as sleep, walk, or even sit, but she was starting to grow somewhat used to it. Nick found the entire thing hilarious since he was not required to go through any of it, but Judy didn't mind that either; she knew he cared deep down. It had also been five weeks since Nick's "night out" that had given him a hangover that had lasted late into the following day. Judy babied him while he endured the headaches and the vomiting, but she also made sarcastic comments because that was what he deserved after being so irresponsible. They never spoke of that night, though, which hadn't bothered Judy until this morning. She had told Nick all about her baby shower after his hangover had disappeared, but he barely said two words about his night over the last five weeks, which made Judy incredibly suspicious. She had actually forgotten all about it until that morning when she was texting Clawhauser (as usual), and he mentioned the party. Surprised that Clawhauser would be at such a party when he almost never drank alcohol, Judy had then asked if he had been present, which he responded to in the affirmative, pushing Judy to then ask what exactly happened that night. When she heard her phone vibrate on top of the dresser, Judy picked it up and saw that as a reply, Clawhauser had sent several different photos, all picturing Nick that night. Once she saw it, she called out to Nick, who just happened to be in the shower. She was in the bathroom in minutes, wrenching the glass shower door open.
"Whoa, Carrots! I'm showering here!"
"Oh, it's nothing I haven't seen!" Judy scoffed. "Quit acting like a teenager!"
Nick put his paws up in defense.
"Okay, is something wrong–"
"What is this?"
Judy held out the phone and showed Nick one of the pictures she had been sent. The photo depicted a beyond wasted Nick heavily entranced by a gazelle stripper in the most scandalous of positions. At the sight of the photo, Nick's face lost all of its color.
"Thought so," Judy scoffed before swiping to the next picture. "How about this one?"
This time, the photo had captured Nick when he was getting a tattoo done by a very unofficial looking tiger in what appeared to be a very unsanitary place. Nick gulped loudly, turning away from Judy slightly so she wouldn't see the tattoo that was set in between his shoulder blades. She noticed.
"Let me see the tattoo, Nick."
Nick swallowed hard again.
"What tattoo?"
"The one I know is on your back. Turn around."
Wincing as he did so, Nick turned, revealing a somewhat small tattoo of a carrot on his back. Judy choked back a laugh.
"I might let that one slide since it's kind of adorable," she giggled.
Nick sighed with relief and turned back to the bunny, hot water still pouring down on him.
"Carrots, it was just one party–"
"Oh, I'm not done yet. Here," Judy swiped to another photo on her phone. "This one is my personal favorite."
The third photo shown pictured a drunken Nick and a drunken Delgato in a brief lip lock, one Judy was sure neither would have remembered, but it was entertaining, nonetheless. Nick looked like he might pass out. The water was still running, and Judy now took the liberty of reaching in and shutting it off. She then gave Nick a very sour look before resting both of her paws on her lower back.
"You want to tell me about your night now, Nick? I'm very interested to hear about the stripper."
"Where did you get these?"
"Clawhauser."
Nick shook his head in disbelief.
"Clawhauser wasn't even there…was he?"
"Oh, he was there, and he was very sober, unlike you. I'm about to buy him a box of donuts for sending me these."
"I might just poison them," Nick muttered, not really angry, but definitely not excited.
"Tell me about the stripper."
"It was a bachelor party, of course there was a stripper there, Carrots."
"Fair point," Judy said with a nod of her head. "But why was she on top of you?"
"She wasn't on top of me–"
"I've got more pictures, Nick," Judy smirked. "And let me just say, I am very surprised about what she puts in her mouth."
This time, Nick's face flushed a deep shade of red; it was the first time Judy had ever seen Nick blush from being completely embarrassed.
"Y-you don't have pictures of that," he breathed.
"Oh, you bet I do."
"I was drunk–"
"Trust me, I know."
"And I'm very sorry–"
"You know, I should put these pictures into a collage, print them, and then frame them. Then, I'll hang them in the kids' room," Judy snickered. "Delgato looks like a good kisser."
"Do not tell him!"
"Then again, so does this stripper," Judy teased, ignoring his comment.
Nick blushed again, making Judy smile.
"Relax," she laughed. "I'm not mad and I'm not going to make a big deal about it or bring it up ever again."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Thank you…" Nick let out another sigh of relief. "Wait, what's the catch?"
"You have to rub my feet every night before bed until the babies are born."
"And you promise never to bring it up again?"
"Promise."
"Deal."
Nick and Judy shook paws. Judy then leaned in and gave Nick a kiss on the cheek before turning the shower back on. On her way out of the bathroom, she reached over and flushed the empty toilet, making boiling hot water filter into Nick's shower. Nick yelped out in surprise, which Judy grinned evilly at before heading down to the kitchen to start making lunch.
Down in the kitchen, the bunny was busy making sandwiches when she felt an awkward feeling in her abdomen. It was a small amount of pressure in one spot that lasted for a few seconds, then stopped, but then picked up again in a different spot. It wasn't like the pain that Judy had experienced the day of the baby shower, even though she had experienced that pain a few times since then. She had decided not to tell Nick about that incident, since the pain wasn't too bad, and she didn't feel the need to worry him. She had a doctor's appointment coming up anyhow, so she would be able to find out soon enough. This new feeling, though, wasn't necessarily pain, but more discomfort than anything. The feeling started to pick up slightly, the spots of pressure either growing or happening more often. Then, Judy felt a very strong amount of pressure that made her grit her teeth. She put the mustard bottle she had been holding in one paw down onto the counter and placed that paw on her lower back, closing her eyes through the pressure. She was still holding a plate that had a few of the finished sandwiches on it. When the spot of pressure formed again at an increased intensity, Judy realized exactly what was happening.
SMASH!
"Nick!"
"Judy?"
Nick came sprinting down from the bathroom, his fur still drenched from showering. He had left the water running; steam easily escaped through the now open bathroom door. At this rate, their water bill was going to be ridiculous.
Judy was standing in the kitchen with a huge grin plastered across her face. A small white plate lay in shards on the tile floor beside her, a few sandwiches in pieces on the floor near the plate.
"What's going on?" Nick asked nervously, holding his towel around his slender waist.
"I just felt a kick."
"You what?"
"I felt a kick! Come here!"
Nick walked over and carefully placed a paw to her abdomen.
"I don't feel anything–"
"Just wait a minute."
Nick waited patiently, his soaking wet fur dripping water onto the tiled floor. It was almost two minutes later when Nick felt a shift and a nudge under his paw, making him look up at a beaming Judy.
"Oh my God… is that–?"
"Yes!"
"Wow, those–those are our kids!" Nick laughed.
"I know!" Judy beamed back at him.
Nick glanced down at the plate shattered on the floor.
"We have got to stop dropping things."
"We only drop things when something really unexpected happens."
"Exactly," Nick chuckled.
Judy smiled and placed a paw on her abdomen next to Nick's, feeling the kicks from a different angle. The couple stood there for a long time, enjoying the moment, until Judy cleared her throat.
"Nick, where are your clothes?"
"Crap, the shower!"
Nick sprinted upstairs to shut the water off and quickly dry off before getting dressed in a hurry so that he could feel the babies kicking again. When he came back down, he was fumbling with his button-up Hawaiian shirt, trying to untangle it. Judy chuckled as she watched his antics.
"Do you need help?"
"No," Nick laughed. "I've got it–"
Just then, a soft tinkling sound filled the kitchen as Nick flipped his shirt over and something fell from his shirt pocket down onto the tiled floor. Judy watched the object roll a few inches before it came to a stop between them.
"Is that–?" Judy asked, bending over carefully to reach for the object.
"Carrots, wait, I don't want you to see it just yet."
Judy gaped at the ring in her paws and then at Nick.
"You've had this in your shirt pocket the whole time?" she asked.
Nick nodded.
"I'm sorry, you weren't supposed to see it yet."
"It's gorgeous," Judy grinned. "It's absolutely gorgeous."
Nick smiled too, but then faltered slightly.
"I wasn't going to propose for a while."
"When are you planning on doing it?"
Nick hesitated, which made Judy giggle.
"Oh, come on, you can tell me, Nick!"
Nick stepped forward and took the ring from her paws.
"If I do something right now, do you promise to wait until I actually propose?"
"But when are you going to propose?" Judy asked again.
"Soon, I promise," Nick assured her. "But I want it to be a surprise."
"Okay. What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to show you, but I'm going to hide the ring after I do it. This time, it won't be in my shirt pocket, so you won't go looking for it."
Judy smiled at his joke.
"Okay, what are you going to do now?"
Nick took a deep breath.
"This," he replied as he bent down on one knee, the ground still covered in broken plates and sandwiches.
Judy put a paw to her mouth, tears instantly filling her eyes. Nick smiled and tried to fight back tears himself.
"Carrots, will you marry me?"
Tears were streaming down Judy's cheeks now. She held back a sob as she bent down and hugged him the best she could with her growing abdomen.
"Yes!"