*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
The shrill sound of the alarm brought Vivian out from her slumber, and she moved to quickly turn it off. Letting out a huge yawn, she sat up in her bed, stretching her arms behind her head, hearing the joints pop. She rubbed her eyes and looked to her left, saying, "Morning, hon-"
Vivian stopped when she saw the empty space next to her, sighing heavily. Even after two years, she still found herself saying that. Reaching over, she patted the spot before leaving the bed, getting dressed for the day. A few minutes later, the vixen exited her bedroom and started making her way down the hall. Walking into the living room, Vivian looked over at the couch, surprised to not see Bonnie there. Just as she was about to wonder where the bunny was, the vixen heard a noise come from the kitchen, the smell of food registering shortly after. Shaking her head with a smile, Vivian entered the kitchen to see Bonnie cooking up breakfast.
"You know," the vixen began, making the bunny jump in surprise, "as our guest, we should be making breakfast for YOU, not the other way around."
Bonnie smiled. "You made dinner for us last night, Viv."
"Yeah, because you're our GUESTS," Vivian emphasized.
The bunny just shrugged with a small smirk. "Well, breakfast is already finished, so too late to stop."
Vivian opened her mouth to say something when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She turned to see Skye and Judy enter the living room, tired but awake. "Good morning, you two," she greeted.
"Morning, momma," Skye said as she rubbed her eyes, yawning a little. She then sniffed, perking up a little. "That smells really good."
"Yeah," Judy agreed, nodding her head.
"Why don't you girls go take a seat? We'll dish you right up," Bonnie suggested, shooting a sly look towards Vivian. Both girls nodded and went to the table as the Hopps matriarch went to grab some plates. Vivian rolled her eyes but went to help set the table.
A few minutes later, Nick and Jack appeared, looking just as tired as Skye and Judy. The six of them sat around the table, enjoying their breakfast and discussing their plans for the day. As the kits were talking amongst themselves, Bonnie gave Vivian a onceover, noticing the bags under her eyes. "Sleep well?" she asked.
Vivian smiled a little, though a little confused. "Yeah, why?"
"You just look tired."
"I'm fine, Bonnie, really." The bunny didn't look fully convinced, but she dropped it for now. Vivian then turned to the kits, drawing their attention. "Any plans for you guys today?"
"Yeah, we're probably just gonna stay here and work on our song," Skye answered.
"Sounds exciting," Vivian said, giving a smile.
"You should call up Josie, too," Nick said to others. "She'll want to be a part of this." They nodded in agreement and Nick turned to his mother. "What about you guys?"
Vivian shrugged. "Bon and I might head out in a few hours and just walk around the city. Will you guys be fine by yourselves?"
"Oh, yeah, we'll be fine," Nick said, waving his paw dismissively. "We'll only burn down HALF the apartment."
"As long as it's ONLY half," his mother said, smirking a bit. That brought a small laugh from the todd, and he returned to his breakfast. Breakfast went on for a few more minutes, and afterwards, the kits finished up and excused themselves to the living room, Jack going to retrieve his guitar as Judy tried to call Josie on MuzzleTime.
Vivian looked at Bonnie. "How's the burrow these days?"
The bunny smiled. "Still as chaotic as it always is."
"I still don't know how you and Stu can handle that many kits at once," Vivian said, shaking her head.
"Well, we're bunnies," Bonnie said with a shrug. "Kind of in our nature. Besides, there are some families with even more kits than us."
"That's fair," the vixen admitted. "I know I could never do that; two is enough."
"You never wanted any more kits?" Bonnie asked, curious.
"Well, um," Vivian began, trying to find the right words. "I mean, Jon and I talked about it, sure. A couple of times, actually. But I told you before how hard it was for us to conceive, and even then, we…" she trailed off, subconsciously placing a paw on her stomach. "After Sara, we didn't want to risk going through that again."
Bonnie's ears fell back against her head as she reached out and placed her paw on the fox's shoulder. Vivian shook her head, trying to get rid of that thought. "What about you guys? Do YOU want any more kits?"
"Stu and I have talked it over a couple times," Bonnie admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "I would like at least one more litter before I get too old to have any more, but Stu's a bit on the fence about it."
"Any particular reason?"
"There are a few: there might not be enough space in the burrow for more kits; by the time they start school, we would be in our fifties," the doe explained. "Honestly, I think he's afraid that we wouldn't be able to give enough attention to everyone or spend enough time with them." Bonnie sighed. "Truth be told, I'm scared of that, too."
"You are?" the vixen asked.
Bonnie was silent for a moment before saying, "No one's said anything, but…" She trailed off before adding, "Sometimes I feel like I give more attention to some of my kits than to others."
Vivian looked out to the living room, asking, "Do any of the others get upset that they don't go to the city as often as Jack and Judy do?"
Bonnie's gaze followed, and they saw Jack discussing something with Skye as he was tuning up his guitar, all the while Judy was laughing at something Nick had said. "…I feel like there might be some jealousy, yes," she quietly admitted.
"Then you should talk to them," Vivian told her.
"I will," the doe said, nodding to herself.
The vixen smiled. "Good. So-"
A knock on the door interrupted her, and everyone looked in the direction of the sound. A few seconds later, Vivian could hear a key being entered and the door opening. Her eyes widened; there was only one other mammal she knew who had a key to the apartment.
Bonnie turned to the vixen, concerned as she heard footsteps approaching them. "Who is that? Should we-"
"AUNTIE KII!"
The bunny was cut off by Skye's squeal, and the white fox suddenly bolted off the couch towards the entry way. Vivian got up just in time to hear Skye make contact with the 'mystery' mammal. Walking out to the living room, the vixen couldn't hold back her smile when she saw a familiar looking cheetah kneeling down to give her daughter a big hug.
"Hey, sweetie," the feline said, chuckling a little. "Missed you, too."
"Well, well, well," Nick began mischievously as he sat up, "if it isn't the bloodsucking lawyer."
"Hey, Skye, am I seeing things, or is that a talking rug in front of us?" the cheetah replied in mock whisper to the younger vixen, eliciting a giggle. Nick's smirk soon grew into a genuine smile as he got up and went over to her for a hug. "How're you doing, Nicky?"
"I'm doing good," came his muffled reply, with Skye giving a nod as well.
The cheetah then broke off the hug and looked up, her smile spreading when she saw Vivian. "And there's the girl I'm looking for!"
Vivian smiled as she gave her old friend a warm hug. "What're you doing here? You should've called."
Kii shrugged as the hug ended. "Well, I was in the area, so I thought I'd give my favorite foxes a visit. Though," she looked around the apartment, noticing the confused bunnies, "if I had known that you already had guests over, I would've given you a heads up."
"That would've been nice," Vivian agreed before turning to Bonnie, who had a curious look on her face. "Oh, Karma, I'm being rude."
"Nah, I was the one who barged in unannounced," the cheetah told her, waving her paw before extending it towards Bonnie. "Name's Kii Catano, and you must be the infamous Bonnie Hopps."
"Nice to meet you," Bonnie said, reaching out and shaking her paw. "'Infamous'?"
Kii chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Vivian talks about you a lot. So, if you're Bonnie," she then turned to the younger bunnies on the couch, "then that makes you two Jack and Judy." The two of them nodded their heads. Kii then turned back to Vivian, saying, "If this is a bad time, then I can come back later-"
"Nonononono, there's no need for that," Bonnie said just as Vivian was about to speak. "Any friend of Viv is a friend of mine."
"Highly presumptuous of you to think that she's my friend," Kii said with a straight face, only to immediately start laughing at Bonnie's expression. "Sorry, but that was too good to pass up."
Vivian shook her head at the cheetah's antics. "We can talk in the kitchen," she said, gesturing towards the room in question. The three of them entered, with Vivian hearing the kits return to their previous conversation. She made her way to the cupboard, asking, "Anything to drink?"
Bonnie shook her head. "No, thank you."
Kii, on the other paw, smirked. "Got any tequila?"
That received an eye roll from the vixen. "Kii, it's not even noon yet."
"That's not a no," the feline responded in a sing-song voice.
"No."
"Aww."
That brought a giggle from Bonnie as Vivian returned to them, holding a glass of water. She turned to Kii, asking, "So, what have you been up to?"
Kii shrugged. "I was just visiting my mother back home. I hadn't seen her in a while, and that made me realize that I hadn't seen you guys in even longer."
"Where're you from?" Bonnie asked.
"Foxden, same as Viv here."
"Foxden? I don't think I've heard of that place," the bunny admitted.
"I'm not surprised; it's all the way on the other side of the country," Vivian said dismissively. "Not much out there, it's a rather small community."
Kii nodded. "Oh, I ran into your sister while I was there."
Bonnie's eyes widened slightly. 'She has a sister?' The doe was also not expecting Vivian's response:
"What was SHE doing there?" she asked, wrinkling her nose distastefully.
The cheetah shrugged. "Dunno. Must've been there on business."
"Hmm."
Going off the tone of her voice, Bonnie could tell that Vivian's sister was a touchy topic for her, so she decided to not bring it up. Instead, she took a seat at the table and asked, "So, how do you two know each other?"
"Oh, the two of us go WAY back," Vivian answered, taking a seat as well, Kii following shortly after. "Our parents knew each other before we were even born. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, but Kii was always there."
Kii snorted. "Some mammals thought we were a little…too close, if you catch my drift."
Bonnie chuckled. "Really?"
"Oh, yeah," the feline confirmed. "Whenever there was a guy talking to me who couldn't take a hint, I would always make sure to act more and more flirty with Viv."
"And you always did it around my parents," the vixen muttered. "Seriously, you made them think I was gay for the longest time."
Kii playfully stuck her tongue out at her. "We spent almost all of our time together growing up. After high school, though, we sort of lost contact with each other. Viv stayed in Foxden, and I went to the city to get my law degree."
"What brought you two back together?" Bonnie asked her.
"Jon and I moved out to the city to get married, and we just happened to come across each other. I named her my maid of honor," Vivian answered. "We settled down here, and after the kits were born, we named Kii their sionna."
"What is that?"
"It means that, in the eyes of Karma, I am Nick and Skye's guardian and keeper should anything happen," Kii answered.
"Wow," Bonnie breathed out. "That sounds like it's a big honor."
Kii shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, though Vivian could see how much the title truly meant to her oldest friend. "Anyway, after I completed the bar exam, I sort of became the unofficial family lawyer," the cheetah said. She then sighed, looking sad. "I made sure that they got everything they deserved after Robin died."
Bonnie tilted her head, confused. "Who?"
"She means Jonathan," Vivian clarified. "Robin was his nickname."
Kii scoffed. "Please, I knew him as Robin before you two had even met, let alone get hitched."
Bonnie looked surprised. "Wait, you knew him before Viv did?"
"Kii was how I met him," Vivian said quietly.
"When I was younger, my mom would drag me along to do volunteer work," the cheetah explained, "and more often than not, we would go help out at the foster home. Robin was a ward of the state at the time, and we met on the first day."
"One day, I decided to tag along with them, and she introduced me to him. We must've been around fifteen," Vivian added.
"And it was love at first sight," Kii joked, laughing as she got a small shove from the red fox.
"Don't listen to her," Vivian said, "because she left out the part where I couldn't stand him at first."
"Really?" Bonnie asked, surprised. Given that every time the vixen mentioned her late husband it was always about how much she loved him, the doe wasn't sure if she believed that statement.
Vivian gave her friend a deadpan look. "Let's just say that Nick takes a lot after him and Kii."
Bonnie's ears fell back against her head. "Oof."
"Hey, I like to think that we weren't that bad," Kii said, pretending to act hurt.
"No," Vivian admitted, before adding cheekily, "you guys were worse." That made the feline laugh a little. "Though, to be fair, at the time, I was a little bit of a stick in the mud-"
"A 'little'?" Kii interjected, smirking. "Girl, you were a whole damn tree in a swamp."
"ANYWAY," the vixen continued as if Kii hadn't said anything, "working with Jon helped me loosen up and have some fun, though even then, I still found him obnoxious."
"So, what changed that?" Bonnie asked, fully invested in the story.
Kii took over. "So, Robin was the oldest kit there, and he had been there the longest, so he felt like he was responsible for taking care of all of the little kits and new arrivals. Every night before lights out, he would read this one book to them all: The Adventures of Robin Hood. I would stay later than all the other volunteers, Viv included, so Robin and I would read the story together and act out all the scenes."
Vivian gave a small smile as she recounted what happened. "One night, Kii had to leave early, and I was…staying later than usual anyways, so I figured I could cover for her. Thing was, I didn't know about story time, so…"
"From what I heard from Robin and the other kits later, she made an excellent Maid Marian," Kii said.
Vivian blushed at that. "I wasn't that good, but Jon was amazing with them. Afterwards, I stayed a little bit longer and the two of us just…talked."
"Define 'talk'," Bonnie asked with a sly grin on her face.
The vixen rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened between us-"
"That she's willing to disclose," Kii interrupted mischievously.
"At all," Vivian firmly said, though she knew that her two friends didn't believe her. Truth be told, something DID happen, but it wasn't at all what they thought.
And as far as she was concerned, she would take what happened that night to the grave.
Vivian shook her head, running a paw over her forearm. "Anyway, we started to get closer after that. Once the volunteer work ended, the three of us continued to spend more time together outside of the home, helping Jon with errands." The vixen smiled. "He used to get treats and new toys for the younger kits, anything to let them know that someone cared about them."
"Always stood up for them, too," Kii added.
"Sounds like he really was Robin Hood to them," Bonnie noted.
"He was," Kii said. "Viv was the only one who called him Jon. Actually, he used to say that once he was old enough, he would change his first name to Robin. But he made it his middle name instead."
"How come?" Bonnie asked, head tilting in confusion.
Vivian blushed a little. "…Because I told him that I liked his name as it was."
"Aww," Bonnie let out, smiling a bit. Kii, on the other paw, made a gagging sound.
Vivian rolled her eyes at her friend's reaction. "I think it was around then that I realized I fell hard for him. Asked him out shortly after."
"Yeah, after I left for college, and not soon enough," Kii grumbled.
"Kii-"
"I'm serious," the cheetah interrupted. She turned to Bonnie. "This girl had a perfectly good todd right in front of her for two years, and do you know what she does? DATE A TOTAL LOSER INSTEAD."
"Hey, Matt wasn't that bad," Vivian tried to justify.
"No, he was worse," Kii shot back, making Bonnie laugh a little. "I have no idea why you were with him for so long; what did you see in him?"
'Nothing,' the vixen thought to herself, though there was no way she was going to tell Kii that. It would just raise too many uncomfortable questions. Instead, she offered, "…He was charming at first."
Bonnie couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Kii's face as the feline stared at their friend. "You found HIM 'charming'?!"
Vivian finished her glass of water and stared defiantly at the cheetah. "Yes. He was a very good actor." She stood and went to place her cup in the sink. Kii just shook her head in disbelief and started a new conversation with Bonnie. As she was passing by the counter, Vivian's eyes fell on the small stack of letters that the bunny had brought in the night before. Seeing as how Bonnie and Kii were locked in their own conversation, the fox picked them up, skimming through the return addresses.
'Bill, bill, trash…wait, what's this?'
The bottom letter caught her eye; it was from the health clinic in Bunnyburrow. 'Oh, right, the test results,' Vivian thought. Using her claws to open the envelope, she started to go through the letter:
Dear Mrs. Wilde:
We hope this letter finds you well. We have completed our analysis of the blood sample you provided, and after multiple tests to confirm our initial findings, we believe we have discovered the source of your problem.
We are very sorry to inform you, Mrs. Wilde, that…
Vivian's heart just about stopped once she read the next sentence.
'No, t-that can't be right…'
"So, Kii, do you have any kits?" Bonnie asked the feline, oblivious to the turmoil the vixen was going through.
The cheetah scoffed. "No, thank goodness. I mean, I love Nick and Skye, but the memory of babysitting for them when they were younger is the most effective form of birth control on the market."
"You know we can hear you, right?" they heard Skye call out from the living room.
"I hope you can, you little demon," Kii shot back.
Bonnie giggled as Skye stuck her tongue out at the feline before returning to her previous conversation. The doe looked over her shoulder at Vivian. "Wow, you let her speak to your kits that way, Viv-"
Her question died on her tongue as she saw the vixen's expression as she looked at the letter in her paws, one that Bonnie had never seen from her before:
Pure and genuine terror.
Bonnie quickly turned back to Kii, who had noticed as well and now had a concerned look. Both of them got up and swiftly went over to the red fox, Kii gently taking the letter. Bonnie couldn't see what was on there, but she knew it wasn't good when the cheetah's paw slowly came up to her mouth, shocked. She turned to Vivian, looking just as scared.
"Vivian-"
She was cut off when the vixen quickly shook her head, her eyes darting towards the living room. Bonnie looked out into the room and saw that the kits were unaware of what was happening. She thought fast. "Hey, you know what? I think we should go out and get a bite to eat; how does that sound?"
Kii, thank goodness, immediately picked up what the doe was suggesting. "Yeah, that's a great idea. There's a sandwich place around the corner; I'll pay."
Vivian didn't say anything; she only nodded. Kii put the letter down and wrapped her arms around the vixen. Bonnie went into the living room and said, "Hey, guys?" The four kits looked up at her. "Vivian, Kii, and I are heading out now. Call or text us if you need anything, OK?"
"OK," Nick said. "See you when you get back."
Bonnie nodded and went over to the kitchen table, grabbing her purse. Her eyes glanced over to the letter, where she was able to make out some of the words. Her eyes widened at what she saw, though before she could dwell on it, Kii and Vivian were already hurrying out the door, trying to be discreet, prompting the doe to quickly follow them. Once they were down the hall and inside the elevator, Bonnie heard a shuddering breath and looked over at Vivian, who was starting to crack. Kii immediately wrapped her up in a hug.
"It's going to be OK," the cheetah said softly.
At that, Vivian finally broke and tears started rolling down her cheeks. Bonnie felt her heart break for her friend as the elevator made its way to the first floor. As they left the building, the doe had one thought on her mind:
'How could this happen?'
Nick watched the door close after his mother, Mrs. Hopps, and Kii all left the apartment before turning back to the others. "They seemed rather keen to get out of here," he noted.
Skye shrugged. "Maybe a little, but it's been a while since Kii came over, y'know? They probably want to catch up."
"Yeah, I guess," Nick said. He looked over at Judy, who was texting on her phone. "Anything from Jo?"
The doe nodded. "Yeah, she said she's busy right now, but she should be fine to talk tonight."
"Sounds good," Jack said, who was finishing up tuning his guitar. "So, where were we with this?"
For the next hour or so, Jack, Skye, and Judy were tossing around ideas for the song, making edits and additions. Nick would chime in every now and then with his own thoughts, though he was a little disappointed that they rejected naming the song 'AUGH! BEES!'. He could tell Jack and Judy found it funny, though. Honestly, he liked finding new ways to make Judy laugh; it was a sound that he loved hearing…
Nick was brought out of his thoughts by Jack setting his guitar aside and stretching his arms. "OK, I think we should take a break for a minute."
Skye nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I'm liking how it's turning out," she said, smiling.
"Me, too," Nick agreed. "You guys should play it at your next show."
"That's the idea, Slick. Speaking of which, any idea when we can do another one?" Skye asked Jack and Judy. To her surprise, both bunnies glanced at each other, looking a little nervous. "What?"
"Yeah, um, about that…" the buck began before trailing off. Judy picked it up from there.
"You know that place that would rent us out the equipment, like the PA and the set?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
Judy paused before saying, "They've decided to stop doing business with us."
"What?!" Nick cried out, sitting straight up. Skye looked like she had been slapped. "Why?"
Jack sighed. "Apparently, they somehow never realized that they were renting out equipment to, and I quote, 'mammals who associate themselves with those damn pelts'."
"…They said that?" Skye asked quietly, sounding hurt.
Judy reached out and took the fox's paw. "Skye, if we knew that they had those views, we never would've gone there in the first place."
"And trust us, we made sure EVERYONE knew what they thought," Jack added. "Last I checked, their business hasn't been doing well." That got a small chuckle from Skye, though it felt forced. "That being said, it might be a while before we can do another show."
Skye nodded stiffly. "I'm sorry-"
"Don't," Judy interrupted, squeezing her friend's paw. "It's not your fault, OK? We'll figure it out." Jack nodded his head in agreement.
"Couldn't we just cut out the middle mammal and buy the equipment ourselves?" Nick asked.
"Probably," Jack said. "Problem is, the only place to get a PA system and drum set in the area was that place."
"There's also the issue of payment," Judy added.
"But it's possible?" the todd pressed on, an idea already forming in his head.
The bunnies glanced at each other and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," Jack said. "Why?"
Skye immediately picked up on what her brother was thinking and shook her head. "Nick, no."
"You don't even know-"
"You're thinking about buying the equipment for us."
Judy's ears perked up. "Wait, what? How?"
"He's been selling popsicles with Finn," Skye answered. "Been making a pretty penny doing it, too."
"From selling popsicles?" Jack asked. "It can't be THAT profitable-"
"One hundred bucks a day," Nick interrupted. That shut the buck up and caused both bunnies to just stare at him, prompting the todd to continue. "We make around a hundred popsicles and sell them for two dollars each. Once we're done for the day, we split it evenly between us. Do that five days a week for about a year, and…" Nick trailed off, but Jack and Judy understood the implication. Nick then shrugged. "But back to the point: doesn't it make sense to buy it ourselves? Like, if you guys had the stuff already, that means you can do more shows, and do them on YOUR terms."
"Nick, are you sure?" Jack asked.
"It's my money; I should be able to spend it how I see fit."
Jack, Judy, and Skye glanced at each other, the vixen looking unsure. The bunnies, however, seemed to like the todd's plan. "That's not a bad idea," Jack said.
"We can ask Mom and Dad about keeping it at our place, so storage wouldn't be an issue," Judy added. She looked at Skye, the fox scrunching up her brow in thought. "Skye?"
The white fox sighed. "I don't know…"
Nick shook his head. "You know, I thought you'd be all for this."
"Look, I-" Skye cut herself off before trying again. "Are you sure you've thought this through?"
"What do you mean?" Nick asked, confused.
"You'd be paying with cash, right?" Her brother nodded. "Don't you think that looks a little suspicious?"
"What's suspicious about buying music equipment?" Judy asked.
"It asks the question, 'Why would a fox have that much money on him?'," Skye answered. "Any mammal carrying that kind of money is asking for trouble, let alone a fox. And then there's Mom."
"Mom?" Nick asked. "What about her?"
"Does she know that you've been making some money on the side?" Her brother was quiet at that. "Exactly. I think she'd be more than a little curious about where that money came from."
"Can't you just say that you got a job?" Jack asked.
Skye shook her head. "She doesn't want us getting a job yet; something about how we 'need to focus on our studies'." She sighed before saying, "It's not a bad idea, and it does sound really tempting, but we need to be smart about this."
No one said anything until Jack cleared his throat. "Let's revisit this idea some other time. I mean, the only place we perform at is the barn anyway. Maybe after one of us gets our driver's license we can talk about this again?"
Judy nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
"Sure," Nick nodded as well, though he had already made up his mind about getting the equipment.
"…OK," Skye said. She then stretched her arms and stood. "I'm getting something to drink; you guys want anything?" They all shook their heads, and the vixen walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a soda from the fridge and was about to return to the others when something caught her eye. Skye's head tilted in confusion as she put down her drink and picked up an open letter on the counter. Reading the return address on the envelope didn't help it make any more sense.
"Hey, Nick?" she asked as she walked into the living room with the letter and envelope.
"Yeah?"
"Why do we have a letter from the Bunnyburrow Health Center?"
'Reuben's Subs' was bustling with activity that day, though for some of its customers, it all fell into the background. Bonnie returned to their table, carrying a tray. She held out a drink for Kii, who was scrolling through her phone rapidly. "Here."
The cheetah looked and took the drink. "Thanks."
Bonnie nodded and took a seat next to Vivian, who had been quiet on the walk over. "Find anything yet?" she asked Kii.
"Nothing yet, but I'm still looking." For the last twenty minutes, Kii had been looking up doctors and specialists but couldn't seem to find anything satisfying. That didn't seem to deter the feline, though she was starting to look frazzled.
"OK." Bonnie took a small bite out of her sub. She looked to her left at Vivian, who was staring blankly at the table, her sandwich untouched. The bunny sighed.
"Viv, say something, please," she pleaded.
The vixen stayed silent a little longer before she did something unexpected: she started chuckling. The sound made Kii look up from her phone.
"Viv?" the cheetah asked.
Vivian shook her head, still chuckling. "Figures, right? Everything was finally starting to go back to normal, and then…" She gestured with her paws before letting out a bitter laugh. "It's too damn funny."
Bonnie wasn't sure if she saw the humor in it, but she figured it was better to laugh than to break down in public.
Kii sighed, setting her phone down. "I'm getting nowhere with this." She took a sip from her drink before adding, "We need to come up with a plan."
Vivian scoffed. "'Plan?' Kii, you saw what it did to my father; I don't stand a chance."
"Don't say that," the cheetah said, looking heartbroken.
"It's true, though." The vixen picked up her sandwich and took a big bite out of it.
"Did it say how far along it was?" Bonnie asked.
"Far enough where treatment probably won't do much," Vivian answered, running her paws over past her ears, frustrated. "Even if it could, I wouldn't be able to afford it."
"We can't just give up, though," Kii said, determined. "Losing Robin was bad enough, but losing you, too…" The cheetah trailed off, unable to continue.
Bonnie nodded her head. "You said your father had it? Maybe your mother could help-"
Almost instantly, the atmosphere around them dropped as Vivian's mood changed, a low growl rumbling in her throat, her teeth barely showing. Bonnie stopped, an indescribable fear running through her as the primal part of her screamed, 'Predator! Run!'. Before anything else could happen, Kii reached forward, taking the vixen's paw in an attempt to calm her down. Bonnie gulped nervously.
"Or, we c-could think of s-something else," the bunny said quietly.
That snapped Vivian out of her funk, and she quickly shook her head, looking ashamed. "I'm sorry, Bonnie, I…" she trailed off before adding, "It'll be a cold day in Hell the moment I ever talk to her again…"
That just raised more questions for the doe, but a discreet look from Kii told her to drop it. From the sound of it, though, Bonnie could tell that Vivian was on VERY bad terms with her family. She opened her mouth to say something, only to feel her phone vibrate in her pocket. Bonnie pulled it out and saw that she received a text saying…
Her eyes got big. 'Oh, no.'
"Look," Kii began diplomatically, "we still have time to figure out how to get through this. We don't even have to tell the kits yet-"
"No."
The cheetah looked taken back. "What?"
Vivian shook her head. "No. I kept things from them before, and it ended very badly. I-I'm not keeping this from them; they need to know about this, and soon."
"Ask and you shall receive," Bonnie said, pocketing her phone and rising, looking urgent. "We need to go back. NOW."
Vivian felt her stomach drop. "Why?"
"I just got a text from Jack; the kits found the letter, and Nick and Skye are freaking out right now."
As soon as she said this, Vivian immediately stood and practically bolted out the building, Bonnie and Kii got on her tail. What was normally a five-minute walk was cut in half as they raced back to the apartment, soon finding themselves riding the elevator up to their floor.
Vivian burst through the apartment door, breathing heavily as she reached the living room. "Nick, Skye-"
She stopped as she took in the scene in front of her. Both of her kits were sitting on the couch, and it was evident from their red eyes that they had been crying earlier. On either side of them, Jack and Judy sat with them, the former with an arm around Skye and the latter holding Nick's paw. Vivian glanced down and saw the letter lying face down on the coffee table. She could hear Bonnie and Kii behind her as she slowly approached her kits and kneeled in front of them. Neither one seemed to notice until she took their paws in hers. The action made them look up at her, and after a moment, Vivian drew them in for a hug. She then heard Skye draw in a ragged breath.
"Momma…"
Vivian blinked tears out of her eyes as their hug tightened. Nick didn't say anything, though judging by the sudden dampness of her shoulder, words weren't needed.
As Kii went over to them, Bonnie noticed the letter on the table. She glanced at her kits, who had a blank look on their faces. Moving over to the table, the bunny picked up the letter and started reading:
Dear Mrs. Wilde:
We hope this letter finds you well. We have completed our analysis of the blood sample you provided, and after multiple tests to confirm our initial findings, we believe we have discovered the source of your problem.
We are very sorry to inform you, Mrs. Wilde, that you have tested positive for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
['What do you mean you're not coming tomorrow?']
Nick was sitting on his bed, his knees pulled to his chest and his back against the wall, with his phone in front of him. It was a few hours later, and he was trying to think of what to say to Finnick. Eventually, he said:
['Something came up. I'll explain later.']
A beat later:
['You better, Wilde. I'm going to be stuck with Honey all day because of this!']
'Like you actually have a problem with that,' Nick thought to himself, almost smirking. He didn't say it, though, instead saying that he would tell the fennec fox the reason why the next time they saw each other. A small knock got his attention, and the todd looked up to see Judy poke her head in.
"Hey," she said softly, entering the room and quietly closing the door behind her.
"…Hey," Nick said. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to see how you're holding up," the doe answered.
"Where's Jack?"
"He's with Skye right now; I figured I'd leave them alone for a bit. The adults are still talking in the living room."
"Gotcha." Judy slowly made her way to the bed, climbing onto it and sitting next to the fox. "How's their talk going?" he asked.
"They managed to book a doctor's appointment, though they don't know what it'll tell them or how much help it'll be," Judy answered, taking his paw in hers. A few seconds later, she leaned her head onto his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Slick."
Nick tightly closed his eyes, squeezing her paw. "Y'know," he began, his voice quiet. "I always thought that something like this would happen to someone else."
Judy nodded her head against him. "Me, too."
The todd sighed, trying to keep his voice even. "I just never thought that that 'someone else' would be Mom."
Neither one of them said anything for the next few minutes, only sitting there in silence. Eventually, Nick heard his friend draw in a breath.
"We'll get through this, Nick," Judy said in a soft but determined voice. "And we'll be with you guys every step of the way." Nick said nothing, though she felt his grip tighten in her paw. "And if you and Skye need anything, and I mean ANYTHING, Jack and I will be there, no questions asked, OK?"
That proved to be too much for the fox, as Judy soon felt him shaking. She looked over to see tears rolling down his cheeks. Without hesitation, she fully embraced him as he let his emotions out, and the bunny couldn't stop from shedding tears herself.
Sometime later, Vivian walked down the hall to see her kits. After checking on Skye, she went down to Nick's room. Knocking lightly, she opened the door a little to look inside. To her surprise (but not displeasure), she saw Nick and Judy asleep on the bed, the bunny propped up against the wall with the todd's head lying in her lap. After a moment debating whether to wake them up, Vivian reached in and turned off the light, closing the door behind her.
The sound brought Nick out of his slumber, and he groggily looked around his darkened room. He then felt something on top of his head, and, turning his head slightly, glanced up to see Judy asleep, her paw resting between his ears. Feeling comfortable and in no rush to get up, Nick closed his eyes and went back to sleep.