[A/N] And finally here is the first fresh, new chapter in six months! It has been a long time, but not because I have been slacking. No, I have been furiously rewriting and revising the last four chapters in the middle of the busy season for my job. I am sorry that no one has been able to post any new comments in the reposted chapters, so now is your chance. Please let me know what you think of the changes. I really do miss hearing from everyone.
And now, here is a lovely Surprise!
Loves Bond
Chapter 20 - Surprise
Well before dawn was more than a thin blue sliver on the distant horizon, Judy Hopps, wonder cop, had her head buried deep within a toilet bowl. Vicious retching sounds filled the tiny apartment, nearly scaring the long eared plush dolls that lined her rickety bed. Loud groans and coughing echoed inside the porcelain bowl between the rabbit's vomiting.
The tiny bathroom was little more than a water closet, it didn't even have a lamp in the ceiling. What was plugged into the wall was only slightly brighter than a nightlight. Stuffed into the rest of the small room was a sink, a toilet, and a shoulder-high shower. After moving to the city, the country rabbit wasn't sure if she missed her family's communal showers, or preferred the claustrophobic privacy instead.
Falling back on her tail, Judy's sigh was filled with grief and misery. Her head pounded, and her lips felt dry and parched. As the queasiness in her stomach slowly subsided, she realized that she urgently needed to pee, again. She had woken three times that she could remember, in the middle of the night, to pee, and she felt like she had not slept in as many days.
After relieving herself, she spent the next twenty minutes sitting on the porcelain throne wondering what was wrong with her. It had been three days since she had gone to that karaoke club with Fangmeyer and had not touched any alcohol since then, but why was she still throwing up? She had even been getting nauseous when she ate her lunch, and it had only been growing worse.
Before she could climb off the toilet, her watch beeped, letting her know it was time to leave, or she would miss the bus to work. She wasn't even dressed or ready to go anywhere, and when she stood from the toilet, her tummy gurgled again. Slowly walking back into the bedroom, she sat down on her bed and dialed the ZPD.
When the other end picked up, she spoke into the receiver with a voice like she had swallowed a bucket full of sand, "Morning Clawhauser. Yes, you too. Hey listen, I am not feeling well at all, so I am going to the hospital to get checked out. No, I won't be in this morning, can you let Bogo know, and I will be by to fill out the sick leave papers later. Thanks, Ben, you're the best. Bye." Talking to the bubbly cheetah always brought a bright smile to her muzzle, despite her churning stomach.
It was too far to walk to the nearest hospital on an upset stomach, so she called a Zuber cab instead. With the cab scheduled, she changed out of her sleepwear and into a comfortable outfit and a warm sweat jacket. The weather outside looked nice from her window, but she preferred to be prepared in case it changed rapidly.
Nearly an hour and a half later, she was sitting in the hospital examination room waiting to be seen by the doctor. The room had been designed with medium mammals in mind, and all the furniture was several sizes too large. She sat in a comfortable blue chair with polished steel armrests and looked across the room to the large examination table. A sheet of clean, white paper had been stretched over the cushioned table, ready for new patients to plop their tails on.
A nice cougar nurse had already asked a few questions and clipped a multimeter on the end of her finger while she took the rabbit's arm and checked her blood pressure. After the nurse left, Judy could still feel the phantom pressure of the multimeter and gently rubbed her sore finger.
Looking around the room, she examined the heath posters that hung from the walls. The first one listed the five methods to identify mange, while another showed the hazards of fleas and ticks. A third poster, that Judy had to strain her neck to read, showed tips on how to avoid getting worms when eating wild grasses.
Minutes passed while Judy swung her legs through the air impatiently. She was almost able to lean back in the tall chair, but she still felt like a young kit surrounded by the big furniture. Her life as a bunny in the big city was constantly filled with these kinds of moments. Most facilities tried to cater to a broad range of mammals, so she rarely found furniture that perfectly matched her small stature.
A gentle knock at the door startled the rabbit and her hind paws stopped swinging while her ears jumped to attention. "Miss Hopps, may I come in?" A warm voice called through the door.
"Yes, come in," Judy replied with a cough.
"Hello, Miss Hopps," an elderly springbok ewe greeted the rabbit. "My name is Dr. Nyasi. How are you feeling today?" She wore a long white robe and held a clipboard that was slightly too large for her smaller hooves.
Rubbing her tummy, Judy groaned and looked up at the doctor. "I am not feeling well at all, and please call me Judy."
"I am sorry to hear that, Judy," Dr. Nyasi said with concern. "What seems to be the trouble today."
"Thank you, Ma'am. Well, I have been nauseous a lot lately and throwing up," the rabbit explained while her paws drew simple shapes in the air.
Patting on the paper lined table, the springbok asked, "I see. Can you hop up here for me please, and we will take a look."
Sliding off the chair, Judy took one single leap and landed on top of the cushioned examining table, where she promptly sat down.
Smiling at the rabbit's smooth hop onto the table, the doctor exclaimed, "Pretty agile today, aren't we?"
"Sure," Judy replied. "I can still get around fine. I just feel nauseous, but not dizzy or anything."
"Ok, Judy," the doctor noted as she pulled a tool from her pocket. "Let's see if we can't find out what is wrong with you." The tool in her hoof was a black rubbery cone on the end of a metal rod, which she used to point at Judy's eye.
Judy blinked as a bright light flashed into her eye from the small end of the cone-shaped tool, and the doctor spoke reassuringly, "Please remain still Judy, this will only take a moment." After examining both eyes, she then turned the pointy end of the tool on the small canal at the base of each tall ear.
"So tell me," the white robed antelope said curiously. "How long have you been feeling ill?"
"I am not entirely sure," the rabbit replied cautiously. "Last week I had been drinking too much and throwing up the next morning, but I stopped a few days ago. And today I feel much worse than I did with the hangovers."
Carefully putting the instrument back in her pocket, after finishing her inspection of Judy's eyes and ears, the doctor continued her inquiry, "Can you remember what day you started drinking?"
Tapping her lower lip, Judy replied, "I think it was Tuesday night." Her eyes lit up for a second before she added, "I think I might have even been a little queasy that morning, but I thought it was from crying all night."
Leaving the rabbit sitting on the edge of the examination table, the doctor took her chair by the desk in the corner. "I see. Why were you crying?"
"Because my boyfriend broke up with me the night before," the rabbit explained sadly. "That was why I went out drinking that night."
"Ok, so you have been feeling ill for about seven days now?" Dr. Nyasi typed some items into the computer on the desk while she spoke, "Have you been around anyone else who has been sick. You said you had been drinking heavily, was anyone with you also sick?"
"No," Judy said, shaking her head. "None that I know of."
"It looks like your body temperature is also slightly elevated," the springbok added while pointing at her screen. "Have you had a fever or night sweats?"
Another shake of her head from the rabbit as she replied, "No, none of those. I did sleep without the covers on last night, because my apartment didn't feel as cold as it usually does this time of year."
Standing up, the robed mammal grabbed a long cotton swab and spoke to the rabbit, "Ok, now I have one more test to run, so we can check for infections." She held up the long paper stick. "I am going to swab the inside of your nose, and this might feel very uncomfortable for a second. Just take a deep breath and hold onto it, and this will be over very quickly."
Dr. Nyasi stepped up to the rabbit and raised the cotton swab towards her muzzle. "Lean your head back, please." She moved the long swab near Judy's small pink nose before saying, "Deep breath, and hold."
Having the long swab pushed deep inside her nose was one of the strangest things that Judy had ever experienced. It almost felt like blowing her nose in reverse, and it itched like the worst rash she could remember. The unusual sensation ended as quickly as it had started, and the rabbit sneezed while rubbing her nose with both paws.
"Good job," the doctor cheered the sniffling rabbit. "Now please wait here a minute and I will be right back." She placed the swab in a plastic bag before zipping it closed and stepping through the room's only door.
Judy tried not to draw any comparisons between the single door examination rooms that she worked in and this one. Sure, there was a table and chairs and both professionals who worked in these rooms were seeking truth, but that was where the similarities ended. There were no cameras or recording devices in this room, and the comfortable chairs did not exist back at the precinct.
Doctors and detectives used completely different methods to find the answers they sought. She did find it odd that doctors could use more invasive methods at times. Using a sharp object on a suspect in an interrogation could get a cop fired very quickly.
When the doctor finally returned, she looked down at the rabbit warmly. "Alright, Judy, that test could take several minutes, so let's get to the really hard questions."
"H-hard q-questions?" The rabbit stuttered.
"Yes," Dr. Nyasi said with a nod before she smirked. "I am kidding, of course. The questions are easy, but we will need honest answers from you."
"I understand," Judy stated with a sigh as she put her paws on her knees.
"How has your appetite been recently, Judy?" The doctor asked as she sat back in her chair.
"Um, let me think," the rabbit replied. "Over the last week, I have been hardly eating anything. I just figured the lack of appetite was from the heartache, but when I do eat, I also feel a little nausea."
"See, that one wasn't so hard, was it?" The springbok chided. "Has the nausea increased or decreased over time?"
"It has gotten worse," the small grey rabbit said with the twitch of her nose. "I used to only feel sick first thing in the morning, but yesterday I could barely hold down my lunch."
Typing for a second at the computer, the doctor turned back to the rabbit and asked, "And are you having any headaches?"
Judy nodded, letting her erect ears bounce at the motion, "Yes. At first, I thought it was only the hangovers, but now I am getting them whenever the nausea comes."
"I see. And do certain smells make the nausea worse?"
Emphatically, the rabbit nodded and patted her knees. "Oh, yes. I walked by a taco truck the other day and had to immediately throw up in the bushes. I love tacos, so that was a very strange sensation."
"Interesting," the robed antelope tapped her chin as she looked back at the computer screen. She typed away at the keyboard for several seconds before turning back towards the rabbit. "Have you recently changed your diet in any way?"
"Um, yeah," Judy said shyly. "I am not sure how to explain this, but I have started trying foods that my parents would strongly disapprove of if they found out."
A puzzled look crossed the doctor's colorful muzzle. "Really? I am not here to judge you, so please elaborate, this could be important. What kinds of foods have you been trying?"
Judy looked down at the floor and began to swing her hind paws in embarrassment. "Two weeks ago, I discovered FISH." She said the last word like fish was the most amazing food ever.
The old doctor did not show a single sign of disgust at hearing that a prey mammal was eating meat, she had probably heard or seen far worse. "How long have you been trying fish, and how much have you been consuming at any given time?"
"Oh, it started when my boyfriend's mother made tilapia two weeks ago," Judy explained adamantly while waving her paws in the air for emphasis. "I stole a piece off his plate, and it was delicious. Since then, I have been trying different types of seafood and found that so far I like shrimp best."
A sudden display of shock crossed the springbok's muzzle like a bolt of lighting from a blue sky. "So your EX is a predator?"
"Yes," Judy's eyes lit up for a second as she replied. "He is a fox."
The shock subsided slowly before the doctor asked the next question, "Have you eaten any more seafood recently?"
Looking down sadly, she thought for a second before responding to the last question, "It has been about a week. I haven't touched any seafood since he left. I didn't want anyone at the precinct to freak out, you know."
Typing again, the doctor shook her head and mumbled quietly, but the rabbit easily picked up her soft words, "This changes everything." She turned back to the rabbit without hiding her troubled expression. "So the stomach trouble and the nausea started after you stopped eating fish? You tried it for a week and then quit?"
The rabbit tapped her chin, and thought for a second before replying, "Yes, that is correct. Why do you ask?"
Looking up from the computer, the doctor replied with concern, "Because a heavy protein diet can cause a lot of irritation for a rabbit's stomach and intestines, but it is usually an immediate effect. You should have felt a lot of discomfort the same or the next day after eating the seafood. If you wish to continue eating fish or other foods that are high in protein, then I suggest that you keep it within moderation."
"Yes, ma'am," the rabbit said confidently. It almost felt odd to hear another prey mammal explain how to eat meats and protein. Did this happen often? Were there really that many animals out there that were like her and wanted to try everything?
Rolling her chair over to the examination table, Dr. Nyasi looked into the rabbit's eyes. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"
Sighing, Judy shook her head. "No, I seem to wake up frequently in the middle of the night to pee. Once I am awake, it has been hard falling asleep again."
Smiling at the rabbit, the doctor asked one more question, "Ok, I think we are getting somewhere. Have you been feeling groggy or have been low on energy?"
Nodding again, the rabbit sighed before answering, "Yes. I have been feeling drained since Nick and I went on our last date before he broke up with me. Lately I have felt slow and sluggish, but I thought it was from missing him so much."
"Ok, Judy. I think I know what is wrong, but I need to get a urine sample to be absolutely sure." The antelope pulled up a small plastic cup from one of the desk drawers. She held it up to the rabbit and explained what the rabbit needed to do, "I need you to take this to the restroom down the hall, and fill it only as high as this line. If you are having trouble going, I can get you a bottle of water."
Puzzled, Judy took the cup and jumped off the table. "No, but thank you for the offer. I have really needed to pee since I came into this room."
"Great," the doctor said with a smile. "The restroom is down this hall and to the left. When you have finished, please leave it with the nurse and then come straight back to this room. I should be able to have your results soon, so please be patient."
"Thank you," Judy replied as she stepped out into the hallway.
When she returned, Judy hopped back up on the examination table. She had decided that it seemed more comfortable than the cloth and steel ones along the wall.
It took Dr. Nyasi about twenty minutes to return with a couple of sheets of paper in her hooves. She sat in the swivel style office chair and looked at the rabbit with a very bright and warm smile on her muzzle.
"I take it by your smile that you have good news, doctor?" Judy asked, patting her knees anxiously.
"That all depends on you, Judy," the old springbok explained. "Some mammals are ecstatic when they hear the news, others not so much."
"Come on doc," the rabbit cried with her nose twitching furiously. "You're killing me here."
"Ok, calm down. Please take a deep breath and I will let you know what we found."
Judy sucked in a mouthful of air and held it for a few seconds before breathing out. She did this three more times before the doctor raised the papers in her hoof.
"Judy, I am proud to announce that you are pregnant." The doctor patted the rabbit's paws affectionately as she proclaimed the good news. "You're going to be a mother."
Blinking, the rabbit's purpled eyes nearly glazed over as she looked back at the cheerful doctor. "Excuse me?"
Time seemed to slow to an infinite crawl as the white robed antelope spoke, but Judy never heard the words that came out of her mouth. The only thing the grey rabbit heard in the doctor's now slurred voice was the word, "Pregnant."
Judy's entire world came crashing down in a million pieces. The examining room walls and all its furniture shattered and flew in all directions. The table she sat on melted into a thick black smoke, and even the cheery doctor fell into the gaping blackness below.
She could barely hear the jubilant voices that seemed to surround her in the tumbling void. Someone placed several sheets of paper into her paws, but no one seemed to be there. The voice of Dr. Nyasi seemed to be explaining something important, but Judy could only nod and mumble.
A mammal with large, soft paws was helping the bunny rise and began to lead her somewhere, but there was nowhere to go in the empty void that used to be her life and her career. First her boyfriend, then her job, and finally everything she had ever known were washed away from her as she stared emotionlessly into the never ending darkness.
Blurry shadows flitted on the edge of her vision, and murmured voices moved in and out of the obscuring gloom that surrounded her. Someone was shaking her and asked where she lived, but when she mumbled the answer, they quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke. Eventually something familiar crossed her path and she climbed the long set of stairs and instinctively unlocked a large door.
Walking inside her tiny closet apartment felt strange and uncomfortable. She barely recognized the bed and the desk in opposite corners. Closing the door behind her, she didn't even turn on the light before staring blankly into the dimly lit room.
Sometime later, three white, pastel pink and light-blue sticks lay on the slatted wooden floor that was in serious need of polishing. Each plastic stick had a clear window along one side with basic math symbols displayed on their flat, grey surfaces. One stick that had a handle similar to a wide toothbrush showed a single blue bar and a green plus symbol next to it. The stick laying next to it had a slowly narrowing shape with three colored, vertical bars shown. Lastly, the stick that looked more like a short, wide ruler displayed two less than symbols and a single greater than sign. The paper and plastic packaging for each pregnancy test was crumpled or crushed on the floor nearby.
Laying on the only bed inside the tiny apartment was a single, grey and white rabbit who was only half dressed in her fur tight police uniform. The rabbit sobbed and wailed loudly while she clutched fiercely to an orange plush doll that was being crushed beneath her weight. Tears already soaked her pillow, but more continued to flow down her matted cheeks.
"How did this happened?" Judy cried to herself. "How could I have gotten pregnant? I have not even been with a buck in, well, never. This should not be happening. It's not possible, I can't be pregnant." She sobbed loudly and rubbed her dripping nose on the wet pillow.
"Nick will never want me back now!" The rabbit scrunched up into a tight ball, with the fox plush held tightly in the center. "I have ruined everything. Why was I so stupid. I should have forgiven him, now, now it is too late. We will never be anything more than coworkers who used to date."
Judy lay curled in that tight grey and blue ball while her body shook and convulsed in sorrow. "Why did that dumb fox have to go and do this to me? This is all his fault for joining that awful team of killers. He should have taken whatever punishment Bogo was going to dish out, at least then we would have had two more weeks of quality time together before he separated us. But no, that stupid tod had to take matters into his own paws. He had to be the hero. Nobody asked me if I needed rescuing, I didn't want to be rescued!"
The sobs slowly died, and Judy's tears were eventually replaced by determination. She lifted her head from the soaked sheets and placed the fox doll, that was miraculously dry of tears, upon her pillow. Climbing off the bed, she finished slipping on the tight blue jumpsuit that was part of her uniform.
Looking around the tiny room for her chest armor, Judy decided that she was not going to play the victim anymore. She was going to find whoever did this to her and bring the full force of the law down on their miserable heads.
Grim determination filled the rabbit as she marched through her front door. She knew what she had to do, but first she needed to find Fangmeyer and Wolfard.
The Precinct One main lobby was bustling for a Monday morning. Numerous police mammals stood around conversing, sipping coffee or exchanging donuts with their fellow officers. It wasn't overly crowded for the huge lobby, but unusually upbeat for the first day of the week. The rotund cheetah receptionist wasn't the only mammal smiling cheerfully and engaging in animated conversation.
A glum rabbit, in a blue bodysuit with dark-colored chest armor and a brass badge pinned to her chest, marched petulantly through the crowd of smiling mammals like a dark storm cloud threatening to burst at any moment. Many of the larger officers quickly got out of the way of the dangerous little rabbit, and one brown bear who had his back turned to the entrance had to be dragged to safety by his coworkers before the wrath of rabbit's bowled him over.
With a look on her muzzle like an angry goat who was looking for someone to butt, Judy stormed up to the desk in the middle of that huge room. She did not smile or greet any of her fellow officers, and when a white wolf offered her a donut, she glowered at him harshly until he backed off with a muted whimper.
Not phased by the small mammal's lightning anger, the bubbly cheetah smiled warmly down at her as she approached his desk. He considered himself a close friend of Judy's since she always greeted him warmly and spent several minutes each morning chatting with him. Plus, they both shared a love for a certain horned pop star, and that always brought mammals closer together. He knew that she could confide in him and would always tell him what was wrong.
Clawhauser put one cheek in his paw as Judy stormed up to him. With the biggest warm smile he could muster, he greeted the sullen bunny, "Hello, Hopps. I thought you were out sick today?"
Seeing her big, spotted friend smiling at her, melted some of the anger as she replied, "I am. I mean, no, I'm not. I, uh, never mind, Ben." She struggled and stumbled over her answer as she rubbed her paws together nervously. "Is Bogo free? I need to speak with him?"
"Yes," the cheetah nodded cheerfully without taking advantage of the smaller mammal's obvious discomfort. "He should be out of his last meeting by now. I will let him know you are coming."
"Thanks, Ben," Judy replied with a weak smile that did little to hide her frustration.
After leaving the receptionist's desk, Judy trudged up the first flight of stairs towards her boss's office before she realized that she needed to pee again. Since the only restroom that was built for small mammals was on the first floor, she had to trudge back down the stairs again in order to use the facilities.
Roughly ten minutes later she was standing in front of Chief Bogo's door with her arm stretched above her head, grasping for the large handle. She took a deep breath to try and calm her wildly shifting emotions. If she was going to find any answers she was going to need help from her fellow officers and that would require Bogo's permission.
Taking another deep breath, she pulled down on the handle and spoke into the giant office, "Are you free, Sir?"
"Yes, Hopps," a deep voice called from behind the gargantuan desk. "Please come in and have a seat." When the rabbit climbed into the single steel and plastic chair, the buffalo asked without any hint of kindness, "How are you feeling?"
"I am fine, Sir," the rabbit replied shyly.
Leaning back in his giant chair, the chief looked across the desk at his smallest officer. "I heard that you went to see a doctor this morning. Is everything ok?"
"Yes, Sir," Judy said with a confidence that fell drastically as she continued to speak. "The doctor said that I am not sick. Well, I do have a condition, but it's not contagious. Yet I caught it, but it's not contagious to other mammals. At least I don't think it is, well I am 90 percent sure that I can't give it to other mammals, but you could." She began to blush profusely as the buffalo scowled. "I am sorry, Sir."
Desperately trying to hold back his frustration at the rabbit's rambling, Bogo huffed loudly before he opened his muzzle to speak, "Just spit it out, Hopps!"
The nervous rabbit's foot began to thump in midair, and her mouth kicked into high gear. When she opened it again, all the words got jumbled together, "Apparentlyigotmyselfpregnantsir." She was panting briskly when she got to the end of that short sentence.
Bogo held up his hoof. "Whoa, slow down, Hopps. Can you repeat that, please? And go a little slower this time?"
Judy took a deep breath before she repeated herself, but only slightly slower, "I said that I am pregnant, sir."
"What?" The unadulterated shock was plain as day on the large mammal's long muzzle. "How did this happen? And when?"
"Well, Sir. I only found out this morning," she said with her muzzle hung low. "When? I am pretty sure that it was at some point early last week. I guess I kind of forgot to ask the doctor that question this morning." Her ears flipped forward suddenly and her fierce determination returned. "As for how, I do not know."
The rabbit stood up in the chair and planted a small fist into the polished surface of her boss's desk. Conviction filled her muzzle as she glared up at the great buffalo. "I want to know who did this to me, I need to find them. I-I am going to find them."
She punched her fist into the white palm of her paw and began to pace in the tall chair, "I need to have Fangmeyer and maybe Wolfard help me with my search. They were both there that night and can ..."
"Hold up, Hopps," Bogo leaned over his desk and shouted down at the rabbit. "Why are you doing this? You still have your regular duties to perform here."
"Because, Sir," the irate rabbit demanded. "This unknown buck has committed a felony! And I intend to bring his sorry hide to justice."
Compassion crossed the giant uniformed mammal's muzzle for a brief second before he replied, "Alright, Hopps." He raised a finger in the air as he spoke, "This is a very personal case for you and goes against policy, but I will give you forty-eight hours to find this guy. But after that, you go back to your regular duties. Is that understood, Officer Hopps?"
She held her tiny paws together in front of her waist and nodded her agreement as her ears fell behind her small head, "Understood, Sir."
Satisfied with the rabbit's answer, Bogo leaned further over his desk and asked, "With your current condition, are you even going to be able to perform your regular duties?"
"Oh, right. I almost forgot to give you this," Judy said with an excited jump. She pulled out a large sheet of paper and pawed it to her boss. "It describes what work I am able to perform for the next few months."
Adjusting his huge pair of glasses, Bogo looked over the sheet with concern. "It says here that you may continue all regular physically strenuous activities for the first month, but should be restricted to light duty in the second month. Are you absolutely certain about this, Hopps?"
"Yes, I am quite certain," Judy explained, nodding confidently. "Expecting does are usually quite active on the farms through most of their pregnancy. Besides, I could not sit still while mammals keep going missing around the city."
The buffalo's muzzle filled with dismay. "And what about the kits' safety? I know that you are overly reckless at times, but you now have their lives to worry about."
Judy put both paws on the edge of her boss's desk and leaned towards him. "Chief," she said with a great deal of sincerity. "Right now, I am honestly not sure what I am going to do. I want to continue my regular duties until I am able to figure this out."
With a loud sigh, the buffalo scowled down at the small rabbit as he spoke, "As long as your condition does not affect your physical performance, I will allow you to continue your regular duties. But after the prescribed month you will be on light duty."
Nodded back at the chief, she balled her fists in determination. "Ok, Chief, but first I need help from Fangmeyer or Wolfard."
A cold autumn breeze ruffled the large tiger's fur while it plastered gold and brown leaves across her dark blue police uniform. The strong wind had picked up the leaves from under the old oak tree that grew on the opposite side of the park and dragged them across the crowded grassy field for the simple pleasure of slapping the tiger with the brightly colored foliage.
Sipping at her tall cup of thick, black coffee, Fangmeyer ignored the flying, swatting and many colored leaves as they blew past or were suddenly stopped by her broad chest. She enjoyed the robust flavor of a strongly roasted blend and did not like to water it down with cream or sugar or any of the other fancy things mammals like to put in their coffee. She shivered at the very thought of putting ice in it. No, she only liked it either hot or very hot. If it wasn't burning her tongue, it was far too cold for the tough as nails tiger.
Golden eyes scanned the park looking for any signs of trouble while she sat at her solitary table outside the popular coffee house. It was not the largest park in the city, but it was the most influential. This was where all the prominent government buildings resided. There was of course Precinct Building 1 of the ZPD, City Hall and the City Council Building. Across the park from those important three were the Courthouse, the Natural History Museum and the Downtown Station for Zootopia's main rail line.
Even on her break, the tiger cop kept a sharp eye out for criminal activity among the serene yet crowded scene. Her muscles tensed, ready for action, when she saw a wolf in casual business attire accidentally bump into a hippo mother and her child. From a distance, she could not hear what they said over the noise of the crowd, but they seemed to both apologize cordially before going their separate ways. Everything about the scene seemed perfectly normal, yet even with the hot cup of coffee in her paw, she remained poised to spring into action should anyone cry for help.
Her mind did not dwell on the encounter but continued to stay alert until someone called her name in a small, sweet voice, "Hey, Fangmeyer." She looked around in the direction the voice had come, but did not see anyone until a pair of long, grey ears rose up on the other side of the table.
Judy hopped up onto a chair and then to the top of the large café table where her tiger friend sat sipping a huge cup of fresh steaming coffee. "Fangmeyer. Are you busy? I could really use some help right now." Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her muzzle frowned while she looked up at the big cat. The tall ears slowly fell behind her head as she asked for help.
"I was about to finish my break and go back on patrol," the large tiger replied between long, slow sips of scalding hot brew. She saw how lost and distraught the rabbit seemed as she spoke, "What do you need help with, Judy?"
Shyly, the rabbit wrung her paws together as her ears fell. "What do you remember of karaoke night?"
The tiger snorted into her cup. "I remember quite a bit, actually. Like you still don't know how to slow down, and that you tried to pee all over Wolfard."
The rabbit's ears suddenly flew over her head to fall in front of her eyes in total embarrassment. "No!" she cried into her paws, shaking her head. "Don't tell me I actually did that to him. No, no, no."
"No," Fangmeyer giggled. "But it sure was funny hearing you call him a fuzzy toilet seat cover."
"Oh, my cabbages," Judy declared from behind her ears, as the tiger laughed warmly at the sight of the embarrassed bunny.
"Don't worry about it, Hopps," the tiger consoled. "We have all done some dumb things after getting a little sloshed, so just laugh it off. All that matters is that we had a good time together."
"I guess," the rabbit said shakily as she slowly pulled aside her ears.
"So what did you want to know about that night, and why the troubled look on your muzzle earlier?"
Judy balled her fists and washed the last of the embarrassment from her muzzle. Putting a hind paw down hard on top of the table, she threw her arms in the air to explain, "I am pregnant."
The large cup fell from the tiger's paw as her muzzle hung open jawlessly. When the cup hit the table, it nearly splashed the rabbit as it threw forth its scalding hot liquid. "No," cried Fangmeyer in shock. "How did this happen?"
"I am pretty sure it happened that night," the bunny replied.
"That bastard!" Fangmeyer yelled as she bared her fangs in true anger. She stood and planted both fists on the table and leaned over towards the small rabbit. "When I find that rabbit, I am going to …" She could not finish the sentence when she saw several passing mammals look at her strangely.
"What rabbit?" Judy asked with a strong hint of danger in her voice.
Fangmeyer waved her paw through the air, "There was this other rabbit with you that night. When we came back from the stage, the two of you were all over each other." At that moment, the tiger's watch beeped, and she stood up with a professional expression on her muzzle. "I can't talk now, Hopps, I have to get back on patrol. If you want to know more, go talk to Wolfard, he is filing reports back at his desk. If he refuses, simply mention movie night." She stepped towards the shifting crowd at the edge of the park, but looked back at the rabbit one last time and said, "Meet up with me after my shift is over, and we will talk."
Back in the precinct, the grey wolf's desk was only twice as large as the one she used to share with Nick, but it still loomed ominously above her. Unlike her own desk, this one was covered in paperwork and scraps of week old fast food wrappers. There were even three empty coffee cups from very different stores. Judy shook her head at the large and very messy desk when she approached.
She only saw the wolf's nose twitch slightly before he greeted the rabbit cop without looking up from his mountain of paperwork, "Afternoon, Hopps. How are you today?"
Judy rubbed her paws together in small circles as she climbed up on a free chair to look over the messy desk. "I have a bit of a problem, that I need a detective to help me with. I asked Fangmeyer, but she is on patrol at the moment and insisted that I talk to you, and said to say something about movie night."
Scribbling furiously on the report in front of him, the older wolf replied with a chuckle, "As your friend, I was going to help you anyway. You two don't have to get cruel. So what did you need my help with?"
Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fists and pushed them down her sides before she spoke hesitantly, "I'm pregnant."
The pen, that had been in the wolf's big, grey paw, clattered loudly to the floor as he turned to look at the smaller mammal with his jaws wide open.
She stood silently on the large chair, shifting her weight from one paw to the next while she watched his dark, steely eyes as they bore into her. They seemed to flit back and forth searching the rabbit's muzzle like a pair of synchronized bees across a field of flowers. Her paw slowly began to thump with anxiety as his mouth opened and closed, but he never spoke.
After what felt like an eternity to the rabbit, he finally asked, "Why, why are you asking me?" He waved his paw near her belly. "Shouldn't you be seeing a doctor or something?"
"Because I don't know how it happened, and I think you might know something."
Again, the wolf's jaw dropped to the floor in shock, but he was able to recover his ability to speak much sooner than before. Blinking in disbelief, he said, "Are you telling me that you don't know how rabbits, um, you know." He waved his paws through the air, completely confused. "Despite what Fangmeyer may have told you, I really don't know anything about bunnies."
A gentle paw rested on the wolf's long arm as the rabbit replied, "I think you might have been there when it happened, Detective, or at least know something that can help me find the buck that did this."
Wolfard pulled back from the tender paw and his eyes lit in understanding. "So you want me to track this mammal then." He nodded at her and placed both paws on his knees. "Tracking mammals is what I do best, you know." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Now that makes sense why Liz sent you to see me."
Jumping up and down in the chair while clapping her paws cheerfully. "So this means you will help me find the father?"
"Of course," the old wolf declared to the grey rabbit. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't help a friend in need?" He pulled out his phone and began taking notes, "So let's start with what we know about this guy. Tell me everything."
Shaking her head, Judy frowned sadly. "I don't know anything about him, that is why I need your help. What I do know is that when I woke up the morning after meeting you and Liz at the club, I was pregnant."
"So you think you may have met this buck at the club?"
"Or earlier," Judy said, rubbing her paws again. "I don't remember much of anything that happened the two nights prior." Judy put a finger to her chin thoughtfully before speaking again, "Did I go home with any strange rabbits that night? I woke up the next morning and don't remember how I got home."
The wolf nodded agreeably. "I drove you home that night after you fell out of your chair and tried peeing on me, so unless you had a buck hiding in your closet, I think we can rule that out."
"Ok," the rabbit said, wiggling her nose. "Did I meet any other rabbits that night?"
A glimmer filled the wolf's eyes as he nodded, "Yes, there was another rabbit with you that night. The two of you were quite affectionate with each other, but I don't think they were a buck."
"Why is that," Judy asked, puzzled.
"They had a very strange fur color that almost seemed to sparkle in the light."
"Like glitter? And did they look pink?"
"Yes, exactly. Their fur must have been filled with glitter, and I even remember you sparkled like that when I brought you home."
Judy snapped her fingers before she said a single word, "Cotton." She turned around in the chair and faced away from the wolf. Pulling out her phone, she began scrolling through her long list of contacts.
"What is a cotton?" Wolfard asked curiously. He put his muzzle over the back of the chair to see what the rabbit was doing.
"Cotton is a doe that I know," the rabbit replied over her shoulder. "She likes to wear a lot of glitter, and I think she even dyes her fur with pink highlights." Judy's ears rose again, and her nose raced furiously. "That explains why there was so much glitter on my muzzle when I woke up that morning."
Frantically, she punched the call button next to a picture of a pink, sparkly doe and held the phone in both paws. When the video call connected, the rabbit on the other end was sitting in bed like they had woken from a long afternoon nap.
Not bothering to hide her sheer sleepwear, the middle-aged doe beamed back at Judy with warm, yet sleepy eyes. She stretched one paw over her head and yawned sweetly before speaking, "Honey. I am so glad you called me back." She patted the pillow that she was leaning against. "I was just having a wonderful dream about you, and suddenly my dream came true."
Cotton winked and blew Judy a sweet kiss across the empty miles, but the younger rabbit blanched and shook her head. "I am sorry to bother you, Cotton, but I need to ask you about what happened between us the other night."
"You could never be a bother, dear," the sleepy rabbit flirted. "And what happened the last time we met was truly wonderful, don't you think?" Seeing the other rabbit shake her head and the look in her eyes told Cotton otherwise. "Oh. Are you trying to say that you don't remember anything from that night?"
Judy's ears began to blush slightly, "I am sorry, but I don't remember a thing. Can you please remind me?"
The other doe ran a soft paw down the length of her body to show off her well-rounded curves. "Why don't you come see me and I can help refresh that memory of yours, or we could make all new ones together."
"No!" Judy cried. Shaking her head fervently, she explained, "I am not that kind of bunny."
Winking, Cotton replied seductively, "That's not what you told me the other night, honey. With the way that your hungry kisses were filled with need and desire, I knew that you were the only bunny for me."
Aghast, Judy waved her paws in the air as she tried to point out the other rabbit's misunderstanding, "No, no. I don't feel that way about you, Cotton, and I can't be what you want. We can be friends, but nothing more. I am sorry to hurt you like this, but I am not interested in you, or any does."
Sniffling, Cotton rubbed her nose with the back of her paw. "Is this why you called me? To tell me that it is over and break my heart? And right after I wanted to share this wonderful dream with you and everything."
"No, Cotton," Judy cried compassionately. "I wanted to know what happened that night. Please tell me everything."
"I already told you everything," a small tear ran down the half dressed rabbit's cheek. "You kissed me like you desperately needed to be loved, and I willingly gave you what you wanted."
"And after kissing, then what happened?"
Cotton snickered at the memory as she spoke, "Then you pushed me away and fell off the chair. After that, your tiger friend carried you to the restroom and I never saw you again." The older rabbit wet her lips and puckered towards her phone. "But I knew that after our first kiss, you would come crawling back for more."
"Cotton!" Judy exclaimed. "I already told you, we can only be friends." She shook her head before asking further, "That is all that happened, you didn't try to follow me home or anything like that?"
The sleepy doe's eyebrows fell as she scowled across the phone. "Judy, honey. How can you say such coarse and hurtful things? I would never do any such things, to anyone. Why are you still trying to tear my heart to shreds?"
"Because, I am pregnant," Judy confessed.
"Congratulations, dear," Cotton cheered. "But you know I still love you, Hun, despite all that you have said."
Blushing, Judy replied as the redness grew up her tall ears, "Thanks, I think. The reason I called was because I am trying to find out who the father is, and I want to know if you saw me with any bucks that night?"
Shaking her head, Cotton answered, "No, honey. We were only together for a few minutes, and most of that time you were desperately kissing me. In fact, I don't remember seeing any other rabbit's in that club all night."
Judy glanced up at the wolf, who was still leaning his muzzle over the back of the large chair. She returned to her MuzzleTime conversation and hovered her sharp claw over the 'end' button. "Thank you, Cotton. I am sorry for everything that has happened, but I can never be your bunny."
"Your welcome, dear," Cotton said with a cute wink. "I understand, but maybe someday you can …" She was never able to finish her wish before Judy ended the call with an exasperated sigh.
A black and white police cruiser drove past the Grand Pangolin Arms. It was midafternoon and some mammals were already headed home, but Judy only drove past her apartment without stopping. She was on a mission and would not be deterred by the call of a warm bed and a pillow to cry on.
She sniffled from behind the wheel of her police car and grit her teeth in an attempt to force down the sorrow that threatened to overwhelm her small body. Crying would have to wait till the day was done, and she had put this culprit behind bars. It would also not be acceptable to break down in front of the wolf detective that sat beside her.
Wolfard looked up from his seat as they passed the rabbit's home. He was squished into the chair that had been built for smaller mammals, while the bunny cop drove. The seat was designed to adjust in height, but there was still only enough room in the car, and he bumped his head on the ceiling.
When the wolf saw the tear form below the rabbit's purple eye and her quiet sniffle, he turned his long muzzle in her direction and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"There is nothing to talk about," the rabbit snapped quickly, while her paws tightened their grasp on the steering wheel.
"Right," he replied. "And your muzzle says that something is weighing heavily on your mind."
Judy sighed as she braked for a red light. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"
"There is obviously something bothering you, and deductive reasoning tells me it has something to do with the baby."
The rabbit placed her head in the center of the wheel while avoiding accidentally hitting the horn. "What about them?"
"Them?" The wolf asked, puzzled.
"Yes," Judy replied, waiting for the light to turn green again. "I have never met a rabbit doe who had less than three kits, so I am probably carrying at least that many." She firmly rubbed her belly and sighed again.
"Is it the number of kits that has you upset?"
"Not really," she sighed as the light changed and she pulled back into traffic. "The number of kits isn't the issue." Waving her paw across the space between her and the wheel, she professed, "I don't know, it's everything I guess."
Wolfard nodded his reply, "I understand."
"Do you?" the emotional rabbit called with a fresh river of tears running down her cheeks. "The dream of my entire life was to be a police officer. I never wanted to start a family. If I had, I would have stayed home in Bunny Burrow, instead of going through all that training and moving out here."
"But now you are expecting," the wolf added logically.
"Exactly," she declared firmly. "And now I have to worry about these kits. I am not ready to have kits. I am not even married." Her fist hit the steering wheel with a loud thunk. "Who is going to take care of them while I am at work?"
He turned back to the rabbit with a warm smile, but remained silent.
"I am not giving up on my career, Wolfard," Judy said with confidence. "But I also intend to have these kits. I just don't know how I will be able to raise them on my own."
Several blocks later, the car pulled onto a seedy looking street that felt more like a back alley than a regular thoroughfare. Judy parked outside a rundown stone building with a tall neon sign outside that read, "Cloven Hoof."
Looking at the disreputable bar, Wolfard asked the rabbit at his side, "What if we do find him inside?"
"We will arrest him and bring him to justice," the rabbit said coldly.
"What do you intend to say to the guy?"
"What?" Judy's jaw dropped as she turned towards the stalwart wolf.
"I think that I know you fairly well, Officer Hopps," he said. "And I know how often you rush into these kinds of things without any kind of plan. I suspect that you are going to rush in there and tell this guy the first thing that flies off your tongue."
"So," the rabbit shrugged. Her ears were fully erect, and she wanted to snarl. This conversation was starting to piss her off.
"What if it is someone you know? What if they are a close friend?"
"Are you serious?" She wanted to throw something at this wolf for suggesting that this guy was anything other than some senseless jerk who took advantage of a drunk bunny. "What kind of compost are you spouting?"
"Sit back and think about it for a second, Judy," Wolfard's fatherly tone echoed around the cab as he spoke calmly. "These kinds of things are always more complicated than they seem at first."
Scowling as her voice raised, Judy tried holding back her growing anger, "What are you saying, Wolfard?"
"Just think about things before you rush in there," he said as he placed a large paw on her very small shoulder. "Maybe he didn't have a choice. I have heard that some females can get pretty vicious when they are in heat."
Now her anger did rise, and swiftly. "Are you suggesting that I would assault a civilian?"
He shrugged and shook his head. "You thought I was a fluffy toilet seat and tried to pee all over me. We both know that you can't hold your alcohol, so I would not be surprised by anything you did while under the influence."
After the last words left the wolf's mouth, Judy sat staring at the entrance to the bar for several minutes. Her anger had vanished when she realized that everything he had said was correct. Her head hit the wheel again and her ears flopped forward against the dash.
She had been so upset last week that she had found the seediest bar in her neighborhood and barged straight in, regardless of the consequences. Now she was paying for her actions, and it was a heavy price. Her world had come crashing down around her, and she knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
Because of her brash decisions, she could lose everything. Her job and her very life could be on the line. It was going to be nearly impossible to raise a family of kits on her own while working as a police officer. And on top of everything else, there was a chance that complications in her pregnancy could cost her very life. She had lost an aunt and two sisters to similar issues, so it was not entirely unheard of in her family.
Staring at the bar's crusty iron door, she decided that when she found the buck who had done this to her, she would sit down and listen to what he had to say. She was still going to arrest him, and most certainly press charges, but she would at least listen to him.
With her decision made, she signaled to Wolfard and stepped out of her car. Stepping across the cracked and worn pavement, she gently pushed open the rusty door with a large lump in her throat. She took a deep breath and confidently walked forward.
The room beyond the door was dark and smoke filled the air, but she could hear a few whistles and catcalls in the dim light. Soft paw steps from behind, gave her confidence that Wolfard had her back. Her eyes took several moments to adjust, but she cautiously followed the sounds towards what she suspected was the bar.
Once her eyes had adjusted, she saw numerous prey mammals seated around the bar. There were some sheep and goats, along with a couple of deer and a single zebra in the back corner. On top of the bar danced a scantily clad ewe who had recently been shorn and was the reason for the catcalls.
Around the walls were several booths for medium mammals that were sparsely occupied. At one end of the bar was an old jukebox that was spouting twangy country music. In the middle of the room were a pair of medium-sized pool tables that sat unnoticed by the few patrons in the bar this early in the day.
Stepping up to the bar, Judy opened her mouth to speak, but the bartender greeted her first, "Hey, darlin. You here to sleep under the tables again or try beating up my customer?" He was dressed in a brown plaid shirt that looked like it had spent far too much time under the hood of a truck and a tuskball cap for a team she didn't recognize.
"What?" She asked, taken aback as Wolfard stepped in beside her.
"Do you recognize this rabbit?" The wolf asked the bartender in a tone that demanded a quick reply.
"Of course," the messy sheep replied sternly. "She is the only bunny to walk into my bar in a year or more. Of course, I recognized her."
Cautiously watching the two larger mammals converse, Judy climbed up onto a tall barstool and let Wolfard handle the questions.
"Can you describe what happened the last time she was in here?" Wolfard continued his questioning.
"Sure can mister," the sheep nodded. "First night she came in was last week. Had this look on her muzzle like she was ready to jump off a bridge or some other stupid stunt. Bought a shot of my strongest whiskey, and before she finished a second, she had plumb passed out on the floor. Had to call her a cab before my customers started tripping over her."
"And was this last Tuesday night?"
"Yup," he said without a second thought. "Next night she ordered, 'Something with blueberries in it.' Remember that odd request quite clearly." He waved to the rack of bottles on the wall behind him and pointed to a single, wide blue one. "Luckily, I kept a bottle of Blueberry Schnapps, so I poured her a glass. This time, she didn't try to down it all at once, but nursed it like it were going out of style."
"Alright," the wolf replied. "Did you see her with any other rabbits?"
"Nope," was the bartender's quick reply. "But late on the second night, a kinder goat approached this bunny with some pretty crude pickup lines. When he tried to cuddle up beside her, she didn't even ask him to leave her alone, but belted the poor sod straight in the schnoz. He went down in a lump on the floor with blood spraying from his short snout and knocked Joe out of his chair. Joe swung at the rabbit, but she kicked him square in the chest and sent him flying. After that, the entire bar broke into a brawl and I had to call the blues." He waved a hoof at the wolf's uniformed chest.
Wolfard looked at the slightly embarrassed rabbit as she shrugged at him in return. "You started a bar fight?" With a sullen shake of his head, he turned back to the bartender to ask, "So what happened to the rabbit next?"
Putting his hooves on his hips, the bartender shook his head towards the uniformed rabbit. "Well, once the cops arrived, this large rhino said he knew the super bun who was still demanding that anyone try taking another swing at her while she punched and kicked the air. I have never seen such a vicious rabbit before. That rhino took the rabbit who knows where, and because nothing was broken except a few muzzles, I didn't press charges. Damn midget goat should'a known better than lay a hoof on a lady who doesn't ask for it ya know."
"Do you know the name of the rhino officer that left with the rabbit?"
"Mr. Horn, or something like that," the sheep said, tapping the top of his long nose.
"Officer McHorn," Judy cried.
"Yes, that was his name," the bartender said, snapping his fingers.
"But you never saw any other rabbit's with me either night?" Judy asked sadly.
"Sorry, ma'am, but you spent both nights sitting alone with that distraught look on your muzzle," he said, shaking his head like he wished to help the sad rabbit in some way.
Wolfard was forced to turn sideways and even duck slightly to fit his large body through the small door into Judy's apartment. His fluffy body nearly filled the entire room from rough wooden floor to popcorn ceiling, and his large tail stuck out into the hall. The apartment was so small that the large wolf could have barely used it for a walk-in closet.
The wolf shuffled forward as he followed the rabbit inside her private domicile. He was surprised that she could feel comfortable in such a tiny space, but then he realized that she barely stood as tall as one of his legs. Even her small bed wouldn't have been more than a pawrest for the medium sized predator.
Stepping forward, he had to duck under the round light hanging from the ceiling. "So if you want me to track this mystery buck, I will need to find his scent first," he declared, trying to look around the tiny room without accidentally breaking anything.
"Yes," Judy nodded affirmatively. "That is why I brought you here. If anything happened, it would have been here. I don't remember anything from those three nights, but I do know that I woke up in my own bed."
Wolfard sniffed the air deeply and spoke, "If he was here, I should be able to smell the scent, no matter how minute." He tapped the end of his nose as he inhaled again. "This nose is so well-trained that I can detect a mammal's scent on a busy street months after they have passed. So trust me, I will find this mammal. Once I have the scent, there is nowhere he can hide."
Judy could feel a strong breeze through her fur as the wolf sniffed around the room again with his dark, grey eyes held tightly shut. She watched his big, triangular ears twitch with each breath he took.
After a minute of tasting the air, he opened his eyes and addressed the uniformed rabbit, "I can smell you and Nick in here, but his scent is more than a month old. Someone has been sick recently, too."
Blushing, Judy replied, "Morning sickness, remember?"
Without a hint of embarrassment at revealing the rabbit's personal details, the wolf continued, "I can only smell you and Nick. No other rabbits were here, and not even your pangolin landlady has been here in the last month." He stepped forward again and raised a large paw towards the small bed. "Are these the same sheets from last week?"
"Yes," the rabbit nodded. "But I washed them after the night at the club because they were covered in glitter."
"That is fine," Wolfard explained. "If anything happened, there would be enough of a scent remaining for me to follow." Before running his large nose over the bed, he looked up at the blushing rabbit, "Are you sure you are ok with this?"
She put her paw down on the floor with a loud whump, "Of course, please proceed. I want this guy found, no matter the cost."
Sniffing, the wolf ran his nose across the small bed without touching the coarse fabric. "If you haven't guessed already, all I smell is you and Nick, but his scent is months old."
Puzzled, Judy looked at the big wolf that took up more space in her tiny room than the bed and desk combined. "So are you telling me that nothing happened here and no one has been in this room except me?"
Backing slowly towards the door, Wolfard nodded and replied, "That is all I can tell from the room and the bed. However, you might have encountered him on the way home. The cab, for instance."
"I guess that makes sense," Judy replied as she waved a paw towards the single rod that hung from the wall near the end of her bed. Hanging from the rod were all the shirts that she had worn recently. "He could have left a scent on my clothes, so you are welcome to check them out."
Wolfard backed himself closer to the door until his tail stuck out into the hall again. He glanced at Judy before beginning his investigation of the clothes rack. "Some mammals can get very agitated when someone begins sniffing their clothes. You might want to turn around."
Judy was about to deny that she ever had such squeamish feelings, but the wolf's large, pleading eyes convinced her to turn her back and let him work in peace. She heard the sound of large volumes of air entering and exiting his nostrils. The sound of metal scraping that accompanied the sniffing told her that he was shifting her shirts as he smelled each one.
A few moments after the sniffing stopped, the wolf spoke, "Ok, you can turn around now."
When Judy turned back around, she saw that her clothes had only moved slightly from their original position, but nothing was out of place. "So what did the super nose tell you?"
The wolf scratched his long nose like something had irritated it. "All of your clothes smell like you and a certain fox. The ones you wore to the sleazy dive don't have any other animal scents on them, but the outfit from the karaoke club has me, Fangmeyer and that pink rabbit friend of yours."
Tilting her head, she looked up at the large wolf standing in her apartment. "What, do my clothes have your scent on them?"
He pointed behind him towards the front of the apartment building as he explained, "Because I had to carry you up those stairs since you couldn't even walk straight that night."
Her ears flew forwards as she jumped on the wolf with a small hug, "Thank you so much, Wolfard."
Patting a large paw across the small rabbit's shoulder, he responded kindly, "What are friends for?"
Sighing, she pulled away from the hug, but her nose wiggled, and she tapped her lower lip thoughtfully. "But what about the case? Have we hit a dead end?"
"It would seem so," Wolfard said, sitting his large tail down on the hard wooden floor. "You could wait till the kits are born and then take them on that Meerkat Pawich show and have him help you find the father."
"No," Judy cried. "How would that look in the headlines?" She waved her paw through the air like she could see the words shining brightly on a downtown billboard, "Bunny cop loses father of her kits."
With a paw over his muzzle, the wolf groaned at the bunny's antics, "Well, I know the father is out there somewhere, and we will find him soon."
[A/N] Before everyone starts screaming and yelling about how horrible a writer I am, the clues are all there. Judy is not so much blind to them as she is refusing to believe in the obvious conclusion. Wolfard is also not bright enough to put two and two together either.
For everyone who is waiting for the separation of our dynamic duo to end, please be patient. I have something special planned once Judy is able to finally put all the clues together.
As I have stated many times, I am no professional romance writer. When I was working on the early parts of Loves Bond I did some research into what makes a good romance and most of the answers are very vague. The number one answer was Interesting Characters. I think we can all agree that Nick and Judy are interesting characters. But is at the core of a good romance story? I search high and low and could not find a solid answer. After much research I found something that held true among several articles, and that was Milk the Misunderstandings. If you are wondering why things seem to keep falling apart between our couple, it is because of that key point.
I am learning to be a better writer and it is thanks to all of your wonderful comments and criticism that I have been able to improve. I hope you have enjoyed the changes in the story and I hope you enjoy what is to come.
The end is still not fully written yet. I have an outline and notes for what is going to happen, but I have to put pen to paper and fill in the details. Since this is a mystery romance the end is sure to be exciting so stick around and see if you can solve the case, or cases before our hero cops can.