Disclaimer: Zootopia and all related characters are owned by Disney. All other characters, product names, trademarks, and copyrights, belong to their respective owners.
…..
Judy checked the time on her phone, 'Good, she was exactly on time.' She and Nick had been to a lot of restaurants around town, all part of her partner's nefarious plan to turn her into a Zootopia semi-native, she guessed, but in all their exploring, he'd never mentioned this place.
Nearing the entrance, she paused as the door opened, and a large-bellied Marsican brown bear bowed and extended a paw toward the restaurant.
"Miss Hopps, welcome."
"Hi, I mean hello, ah…"
"Giovanni Martinelli, at your service."
"Hi, Carrots," said a smiling red fox coming out of the kitchen, "you look amazing."
"Nick!" shouted Judy as she rushed over and gave her partner a tight hug, "You look, um, why are you wearing an apron?"
"Oops," Nick untied the apron and tossed it to a waiter who deftly caught it on his way into the kitchen, and then putting his arm around Judy, asked their host, "So, where to?"
Martinelli smiled at the young couple as he rubbed his paws together and said, "This way to the best table in the house." And then, chuckling, added, "Or should I have said, on the house?"
…..
Judy sighed. She and Nick were alone on the rooftop patio, gazing out over the beautiful cityscape with the stars shining above. Feeling a gentle breeze blow, Judy squirmed her way deeper into Nick's chest fur as he held her from behind in a loving hug. Her paws on his, she gently rubbed her thumb against the back of his and said, "Dinner was delicious. I can't believe you cooked everything yourself. It was wonderful."
"Thanks, fluff. I'm full of surprises, give me a chance, and I'll let you in on a few more."
"Mmm-hmm, I'd like that."
…..
Gasping for breath, Judy pulled her muzzle away from Nick's and fell back on her bed. They'd been making out for at least an hour. She'd always scoffed at the hormone-induced stories her sisters had told when describing make-out sessions with their boyfriends, but now she was a believer. Never had she imagined how wonderful kissing someone could be.
Nick looked down at the smirking bunny with her head on the pillow, and then leaning over, he asked, "So, does this mean you've decided to make your tod the happiest fox in the world and accept his Courting Meal?"
Judy hummed, and with her paws on his cheeks, she pulled his muzzle down to hers, and just before their lips touched, she laughed and said, "You foolish pelt, of course not. I'm a rabbit, not a vixen, and cooking me some pathetic dinner isn't the way a proper buck would ask a doe if he could court her. Now get out of my sight and don't ever try talking to me again."
"Ahhh, ha, ha, ha…"
…..
Judy threw off her covers, shot up in bed, and yelled into her paws, "You ignorant, stupid, dumb bunny, he's trying his best, and all you've done is show up and ruin everything. If you really loved him, you'd have a plan too, something that would help him instead of always hurting him."
Squeezing her eyes tight, Judy trembled and…
"A plan… his plan."
Judy's eyes went wide, "It all makes sense now," and then jumping out of bed, she threw some clothes on, and then looking at herself in a small mirror, said, "Girl, if you do this right, you can fix everything."
-/-/-
Bonnie sighed, she'd had a feeling this is where Stu would be.
Waking up alone wasn't all that unusual for Bonnie. On occasion, Stu had a repair or some other work that needed doing before he could start his real work at first light. No, what was unusual was going to bed alone and waking to find her mate's side of the bed untouched.
Up well before anyone else, Bonnie stood alone in the kitchen, knowing she needed to do something. Stu could be as thickheaded as any buck, but this was something different, something deeper was going on inside that skull of his.
Fixing a small basket of food and a couple of Stu's favorite vegetable drinks, Bonnie stepped out into the cool pre-dawn air. Walking around the side of the house, she made her way to a dirt path marked by a faded old board, painted with kits dancing, nailed between two trees.
Over the years, thousands of trips by laughing kits in swim trunks, or hormonal teens with boyfriends or girlfriends, had pushed back the foliage and traveled the dirt trail until it was clear and packed down into an easy to navigate path.
For the past fourteen of those years, Stu had found another reason to add his footfalls to the trail.
The lake was less than a mile's walk from the house, over the ridge behind the house, and down into a clearing with trees lining three sides and a large open field on the other. The Hopps clan had always been generous in allowing those from town to enjoy a day of swimming or an evening of stargazing, they just had to travel a long, winding dirt road to do it.
Turning off the main path just after an inconspicuous rock marker, Bonnie followed a smaller, much less traveled trail which led to a tiny clearing where Stu had long ago erected a wooden bench next to a simple headstone.
Large families were the norm for rabbits in Bunnyburrow, maybe not all as big as the Hopps' but big nonetheless. So, death from the occasional accident or the loss of a kit during birth happened. Thankfully not often, but along with the peaceful passing of those that had led long, full lives, death was not unknown amongst even the youngest of her brood. Usually, rabbits opted for cremation. Otherwise, with so many to bury, the cemeteries would have to grow large enough to take over the Burrow.
This death had been different. It wasn't an accident, and it wasn't old age. It was wrong, and it was why Bonnie found her mate sitting on that old bench, head in his paws.
"I brought you some breakfast."
Waving a paw toward a pile of blankets, Stu said, "Thanks."
Setting the basket near the blankets, Bonnie waited for a moment and then padded over to the headstone. Looking down at the marker, she said, "I heard you and Nicholas talking yesterday morning."
After a quick look at her motionless mate, Bonnie stepped over to the edge of the small space, picked a few wildflowers, and arranged them in the old metal vase affixed to the side of the headstone.
"I also heard you after he left."
Stu looked up at that.
"I've heard you cry in joy for our kits when they left for school, won a prize, or got mated, and I've heard you shed tears of frustration, even worry when you couldn't stop them from making their own mistakes, but I've never heard you weep like you did yesterday."
Paw rubbing the stone, Bonnie whispered, "Not even for David."
Stu looked down at his clasped paws.
"He's a good boy."
"He's a fox," replied Stu in a quiet voice.
"He's lost, he's been hurt, and yes, Nicholas has done things he regrets, but he has a good heart."
"You can't trust a fox. Ever since he showed up, everything's been turned upside down."
"Is that such a bad thing? He did right by Ruth Anne and her kits, more than most Bunnyburrow rabbits would have done."
"What about him being around our kits?"
"Our kits? Sunni's blossomed being around him, Colton's started a business, Lucas has come out of his shell and met a wonderful doe, and Judy–"
"Foxes are slick hustlers, he'll corrupt her."
"They're best friends, and she needs him, probably as much as he needs her. She doesn't know anything except for how to be a police officer, and he needs someone to accept him and let him know that being a fox isn't a bad thing."
"Being a fox is a bad thing."
"Being a hare used to be a bad thing too, but after looking at how happy Janae is with Dalton you know that's not true, and it never was."
Stu opened his mouth and then slowly shut it, and then went back to staring at nothing on the ground.
"What happened to you? You and Uncle Lewis were like two peas in a pod, always joking around, and the pranks you two pulled, such ingenuity, such mischievous joy, such heart," and then, her voice fading, "you used to be a lot like…"
Stu shrugged.
Bonnie waited for more and then finally shook her head, "You're not your parents, and I know you're not like Hayes. I wouldn't have taken you as my mate if you were."
Another pawful of breaths, nothing. Bonnie sighed and then made her way out of the small clearing. Pushing aside some bushes so she could follow the trail back to the house, she stopped for a moment and said,
"I've gotten my daughter back, but now I'm afraid I'm losing my mate."
When Stu looked back up, all he saw was the rustling of the bushes. The love of his life was gone.
-/-/-
Checking herself over one last time, Judy hopped to her door, pulled it open, and–"
"Hi Judy," six young voices said simultaneously as Sunni led a train of her littermates toward Nick's bedroom door.
The last bun in line, Steven, stopped, looked up at his older sister, and said, "Are you going to help us wake up Mr. Nick? He needs to drink a big cup of coughfree before we can start on our chores."
Judy started to shake her head when her eyes widened. "No," she whisper-shouted and then hopping in front of Sunni to block Nick's door, "Wait you guys, we have to let Mr. Nick sleep in today. Um, he needs extra rest before chores."
Sunni huffed and put her small fists on her hips and scolded her sister, "But Judy, Mr. Nick will sleep all day if we don't wake him up."
"I know, I mean, come with me. I have a special job for you guys I need you to do today, it's super-secret, and it'll help Mr. Nick."
Sunni looked skeptical, "I don't know…"
"I promise, if Mr. Nick sleeps through chores, I'll do his part when I get back, okay?"
Sunni gathered her litter together in a huddle, and after some heated whispering, the young doe said, "Fine, but we get to pick the movie tomorrow night…"
"Okay," nodded Judy enthusiastically.
"…and I get your whole tail-petting slot during the movie."
"What? No. That's not fair."
Sunni folded her arms and tapped her foot.
"Grrrrr, for fifteen minutes, then it's my turn."
Sunni shook her head.
Judy stomped her foot, "Twenty minutes, final offer."
Sunni nodded toward Judy's challenge and raised a brow.
Judy wilted, "Fine, thirty minutes, and I'll bring kettle corn for everyone."
Putting out a paw, Sunni smirked and said, "Deal."
Judy herded the litter away from Nick's bedroom, and a few moments later, she pushed open Janae's door and motioned the kits into her littermate's bedroom.
"Janae, wake up," Judy said as she shook her sister.
"Not now Dalton, someone might see."
"Janae!"
"Aaaahhh, what?" yelled the doe, as she bolted out of bed, got tangled up in her sheets, and landed in a heap on the floor.
"Stop goofing around, I need to find Gideon, and you have to keep Nick from leaving."
Rubbing her head, Janae groaned, "What, why? Gideon's in uncle Lewis' old place, and what does he have to do with Nick leaving?"
"I know what Nick's plan is, and I know what to do to fix it, but I have to talk to Gideon first. You need to keep Nick from leaving while I'm gone."
"Mr. Nick's leaving, no."
"He can't leave. He promised me a foxback ride."
"Yeah…"
"Okay, okay, I'll do it," groaned Janae.
"Pinky swear, no matter what, he doesn't leave."
Janae covered a yawn with one paw while holding the other out to seal the promise, "Sure."
"Oh, and I need to borrow your wallet, too."
-/-/-
Janae looked over her team, kits, to teens, to her older brother. All nine pairs of eyes narrowed as Janae started the secret meeting.
"Alright, everyone, this is the deal. Nick promised Dad that he would move out today, and Judy thinks she's got a way to change his mind. Judy won't be back until dinner time, so it's up to us to make sure Nick doesn't leave, no matter what we have to do."
Starting to pace back and forth, Janae growled out, "Today's the day, everything you've ever done to mess with Mom, every delaying tactic, all those times you slow-rolled your chores or snuck out to play, I need all of that, and more, if we're going to keep Nick from leaving."
Janae waved at Sunni and her littermates, "You guys wait outside his door, and as soon as you hear him start to wake up, pounce on him! Don't give him a chance to pack or anything, straight to chores, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am, you can count on us," said Sunni as she and her littermates all stood with their ears at attention and saluted.
"What's going on in here?" asked a voice at the doorway, "Did someone say Nick is leaving?"
"Go away Amy. This is none of your business."
"Well, I think it is. I heard you're trying to keep Nick here, well I'm very good at keeping boys from leaving, so I'd like to help."
"You just want to pet his tail!" shouted Sunni, stomping her foot, "Judy is the only big person allowed to pet Mr. Nick's tail. He told me so himself, partners at the police station are the only ones who get to pet each other's tails. That's the rule!"
"What? That doesn't make any sense."
Janae smirked, "You heard her, it's the rule. Claws off the fox, so get your fuzzy butt out of here, right now!"
Waiting until Amy had closed the door behind her, Janae pointed at Lucas, "Chores only buys us a couple of hours, so I need you to do something with Nick's car. If he can't drive it, he can't leave."
Lucas rubbed his chin, "Well, when I pulled it into the barn to clean the graffiti off, I noticed it was idling a little rough, I guess I could do a tune-up for him. If I take my time, that'll keep him stuck here until after lunch."
Janae groaned, "What else? Judy said dinner time."
Colton thumped Cody in the chest and said, "I've got an idea that will keep him here all afternoon."
"Alright, paws in, Operation Caged Fox is a go!"
-/-/-
Judy parked her small pickup in front of 'Gideon Grey's Real Good Baked Stuff' bakery, hopped out of the truck, and paused when she saw that Gideon's delivery van was gone.
"I sure hope he's here," Judy mumbled to herself, wishing she'd grabbed Janae's phone when she'd talked her littermate out of her wallet.
Judy had jumped into the first truck she found in the family yard and made it halfway to town before realizing she had a big problem, all the notes Toni had given her were sitting on Nick's kitchen counter. Initially, she was just going to wheedle a recommendation out of Gideon, but now her plan was in trouble, and there was only one mammal close by that could help her.
"Hi, Gideon."
"Hi Judy!" replied the rotund red fox as he wiped a paw off on his apron and then reached out to greet his friend.
Judy ignored the offered paw with a smile and pulled Gideon into a hug, "It's good to see you again. How have you been?"
Returning the friendly hug, Gideon was about to make a joke that hers was the first bunny hug he'd ever gotten when it hit him.
Gideon froze. Judy was wearing a predator's mark, and not just any predator's mark, a fox's. Stumbling back from Judy, Gideon started to worry. He'd just hugged a fox's mate, and since the only fox it could be was…
Nervously brushing his apron with his paws and then putting them firmly behind his back, Gideon looked around Judy and out the window, and asked, "So, Miss Judy, are you here with your, uh, Nick?'
Noticing Gideon's quick exit from her hug, Judy said, "No… just me."
Visibly relaxing, Gideon motioned to a table and asked, "Would ya like a strawberry puff pastry or, um, maybe a blueberry pie to take home to Nick?"
Judy raised a brow and slowly said, "No thanks," and then, looking over her shoulder to where Gideon had been focused a moment ago, asked, "Is everything okay? Did something happen between you and Nick?"
"No, no, he's been a right big help. I'm deliverin' ten times as many desserts out as I used to ever since he showed up and started talking up my bakery. If anything, I owe him a debt of gratitude for all his help."
Judy smiled, "You mean like a favor?"
Gideon nodded.
"Well, as you know, Nick and I are best friends, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind if maybe you could help me with, um, a special dinner I'm planning to cook for him… tonight."
Rusty wheels were turning, and once a few gears caught, Gideon asked, "What kinda special dinner?"
Judy put her paws behind her back and twisting a toe into the floor, she replied, "Oh, I don't know, I was going to grill him a chicken dish and some asparagus, and he likes toasted crickets, so maybe some of those too."
Gideon's eyes went wide, "Miss Judy, are you sure? If'n I remember correctly, you nearly caused a forest fire that time in high school when you tried to help with some grilling. Do you even have any recipes or know anything about picking out chicken?"
Judy broke, "Please Gideon, that's why I need your help. I need to cook Nick the most perfect meal ever, and I have some recipes that a friend gave me, but they're in Nick's apartment in Zootopia, and I can't call my friend because she'd ask me a lot of questions I can't answer, and I can't ask my mom, cause she'd probably throw up, so can I borrow some recipes and will you tell me where the best store is that I can buy everything I need. Pleaaaase."
"Uh…"
"I'll make it so you're even-steven with Nick."
Gideon smiled to himself. He knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was a fox, and he knew enough to recognize what the blushing bunny in front of him was up to with her supposed best friend. "Alright, come with me. I've got a special recipe that my dad cooked for my mom back when they were still just best friends too."
Taking Judy into the back of the store, Gideon gave her a couple of large cooler bags, had her pick out and box up, a couple of pies for her and Nick and another half dozen pies and an assortment of pastries for her to deliver as his part of the favor. While Judy was busy packing and loading her truck, Gideon was in his office, finding his dad's recipe and making a phone call.
"Here you go," Gideon said, handing two pages of notes to Judy, "The recipe and detailed cookin' instructions are for you, and the list of ingredients is for my cousin Ruby. I already called her and let her know you'd be coming and to help you out. At the bottom is the address to my uncle's shop in Burrow's Edge and Ruby's phone number."
Judy took a quick look at the address and then jumped up and gave Gideon a big hug, "I know just where that is. Thanks so much, Gideon."
Gideon delicately hugged Judy back and then, after opening the truck door for her, watched and waved as she drove away.
About to head back into the bakery, Gideon saw Sharla in the delivery van come down the street from the direction Judy had just gone and park in front of where he was standing.
Gideon chuckled as the excited ewe jumped out of the van and asked, "All done with the morning deliveries. Was that Judy? What's she doing in town? Was Nick with her? I wish you would've called me. It would've been fun to catch up with her."
"Glad to hear it. Yes, it was Miss Judy. She needed a recipe. No, I think she's trying to surprise him with something. She was in a hurry and couldn't stay. How about tonight I cook you a special dinner, and I catch you up on Judy and Nick while we eat."
Sharla's gaze narrowed as she mentally walked through what Gideon had just said until she stopped on his last words, "A special dinner?" And then, moving closer to him, she smiled and asked, "Exactly how special?"
Gideon reached out and pulled Sharla into a hug and whispered, "Somethin' I shoulda done a long time ago, special."
-/-/-
Waving over his favorite wolf-tiger team, Clawhauser held his phone against his chest and said, "Hey, Ralph, Nadine!"
Officers Wolfard and Fangmeyer, who'd been closely hunched over the same small phone watching a video, looked up from their slow walk to the garage at the rotund cheetah trying to get their attention.
Separating a bit, they both looked around to make sure the lobby was still empty and then made their way over to Clawhauser's desk.
"What's up, Ben?" asked Wolfard.
"I'm not sure. I'm talking with some girl named Amy. I think she's calling from Bunnyburrow, and she wants to know if it's a ZPD policy that partners are the only ones allowed to pet each other's tails. What do you think, should I transfer her to Mammal Resources?"
Wolfard smiled a little and gently nudged the tigress, who was now standing very close to him, "What do you think, Nadine?"
Fangmeyer, feeling a furry appendage gently wrap itself around her leg, blushed a little and, with a gentle rumble, said, "Mmm, sounds like a good policy to me."
Hearing his partner start to purr, Wolfard reached down, brushed his fingers against the paw he felt rubbing his leg, and said, "I agree. Tell her yes, it's absolutely the policy."
-/-/-
Judy heard a bell jingle as she pushed open the door to the 'Grey Family Market'. The drive to Burrow's Edge had brought back memories. Normally, she'd take the train to Podunk, make a transfer and take a bus the rest of the way to school, but not today. She couldn't afford an all-day trip to get there and back.
As Judy's eyes quickly adjusted to the dimmer indoor light, she pulled out the list Gideon had given her and scanned the market aisle signs for where her items would be. The market was similar to those in Bunnyburrow, except in Bunnyburrow, where there would be large vegetable sections, here refrigerated meat cases took up more of the floor space. The other major difference here was the clientele, half a dozen predators, no prey.
Starting toward the refrigerated section, Judy caught a red-furred vixen waving to her from behind the counter.
Judy waved back as the young fox, wearing jeans and a tie-dye halter top, rushed over.
Putting out her paw, the vixen said, "Hi, I'm Ruby, you must be Judy."
Smiling, Judy nodded, "Hi, yes, nice to meet you..."
Leaning in to shake the small rabbit's paw, Ruby's eyes went wide as she caught a whiff of–
"…I'm a friend of Gideon's, and he said you might be able to help me."
"Uh, yeah, Gid said you were planning to cook a special meal for someone. Is this someone your, um, mate?"
Judy shook her head and waved her paws around, "No, no, no, not my mate, my partner… I mean, my work partner, well, we're best friends too, and we work together, and do stuff together, a lot of stuff, and he's really nice, so I thought I'd cook something for him, and, oh, he's a fox, kind of like you, except you know, a boy, but not like a boyfriend, well he is my boy friend, except there's a space in the middle, you know, a boy that's a friend, anyway, I think he'll be hungry sometime, maybe tonight, and he told me once that he celebrated a hustle, no I meant a deal, he and his friend did by going to get some barbecue–"
Ruby smirked as she put her arm around the flustered, blushing bunny and said, "I think I've got it. Give me your list, and we'll get you set up."
Judy followed Ruby with a basket as she was led up and down different aisles. Judy wasn't much for cooking a meal from scratch, her mom was a great cook, but Judy, not so much. Janae still teased her about the time she tried to hard boil eggs and what happened when the tiny bit of water she'd put in the pan had boiled away, and the eggs had all exploded or shot out of the pan and across the kitchen.
There were still some dents in her mom's cabinetry from that adventure in cooking.
The first stop was the snack food aisle, where Ruby grabbed a bottle of regular cola for the dinner recipe, while Judy grabbed some craft-made blueberry soda and then stood trying to decide between two different flavors of cricket chips.
Whispering, Ruby pointed and said, "I like the Honey Mustard, although the Sour Cream & Onion are pretty good too."
"Yeah…"
Ruby almost chuckled as she watched Judy's nose twitch in concentration, trying to decide which flavor her not-a-boyfriend would like better.
Leaning closer again, she said, "Why don't you get one of each?"
Judy scoffed, "That's all he doesn't need is extra junk food. I had him in pretty good shape, and then he signed up for duty in Bunnyburrow, and all my hard work was wiped out by Cheesy Poofs and video games with my brothers."
Ruby couldn't help but smile hearing the doe talk about her tod like they were an old mated couple, "I'll bet he's still in pretty good shape, and after you cook for him, who knows you might be able to talk him into burning off some calories with a long, long workout."
"That's a great idea," Judy said nodding enthusiastically as she put both flavors in her basket. And then hopping toward the spice section, she added, "I bet I'll be able to talk him into a run or something after we eat."
"Yeah, I bet you can too, especially if you go with the 'or something,'" whispered Ruby to herself as she watched Judy bounce down the aisle.
-/-/-
"Ahem."
"Oh, hey, Nick. I didn't hear you come in," replied Janae without turning around.
"Right… you didn't hear me, uh-huh. So, where's my car?"
Finished serving lunch, Janae carefully turned around, handed Nick a plate, and said, "Mac & Cheese, it's yummy."
"Thanks, it smells great, but I need to pack and get going, and thanks to little Miss Drill Sergeant and her endless list of chores, I'm running late."
"Oops," and then handing Nick a fork, "almost forgot, here you go, why don't you have a seat."
"Janae…"
"Well," said Janae, smiling cutely, "I sort of asked Lucas to give your car a lube-up and change all the snark plugs as a going-away present. Surprise!"
Nick rolled his eyes, "Don't you mean a tune-up and new spark plugs?"
Spying two of her brothers coming into the dining room, Janae let out a sigh of relief and said, "Yup, he's fixing those too. Probably take hours. Want some blueberries?"
Dropping the berries on his plate, Nick said, "You know Janae, you couldn't hustle your way out of a paper bag, so how about you tell Mr. Nick what's going on?"
Still staring across the room, Janae mumbled, "No thanks, I brought a cloth sack."
Nick turned to where the distracted doe was looking, and seeing Colton and Cody excitedly weaving their way over, Nick shook his head and waited, 'This ought to be good.'
"Nick, you won't believe it, Jake just called me, and there's a major game happening in fifteen minutes. The Wolf Pack, the Howling Horde, the Desert Rats, and the Fearsome Fursome versus the Raccoon Raiders, Grim Leapers, Skulk Prime, the Crazy Hares, and…" leaning in he whispered, "you leading a strike force tasked with sneaking into the Wolf Pack's base and taking out their command headquarters."
Janae perked up, "Oh, yes, you should go play, like, all afternoon, that sounds fun."
"Guys…"
"Nick, come on. Do it for the cause, do it for your friends, do it for the Gunter clans in the gold mines of– "
"Fine, I'll do it for the snacks."
"Done, let's go."
-/-/-
Two mammals in their early twenties, one a spotted genet wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, the other a well-built, silver-gray furred Bengal fox in a tight muscle shirt and shorts, were making their way down the sidewalk when the fox slapped his friend in the chest with the back of his paw.
"Anytime, anywhere," and then motioning to himself, said, "no girl can resist this."
"Wanna bet?" retorted the genet.
Stopping in front of the 'Grey Family Market', the fox waved a paw around the small-town center and said, "Sure, twenty bucks says I can get the phone number off of any girl I want."
Laughing, the genet pulled out a fifty from his pocket and, waving it under the nose of his muscle-bound friend, said, "Fifty says you're full of it, but I get to pick the girl."
Spotting a pair of hot-looking vixens a block away and heading in his direction, the fox smiled and grabbed the fifty out of his friend's paw, saying, "As good as mine," and then nodding toward the incoming females, asked, "Which one? Hell, double the bet, and I'll get both their numbers."
Looking through the market window, the genet smiled and then grabbing back the bill, opened the door, and said, "This way, loser, I'm going to enjoy watching you crash and burn, and then I'm going to laugh as you pay for the video game I'm about to pick out."
"No! No way, not her, she's prey. Pick someone else."
"Nope, you said any girl, besides, you should be thanking me for picking her, I mean, look at what she's doing, how many times in your life have you ever seen a prey mammal shopping for meat before?"
"Fine, she's cute enough. Watch and learn. I'll have her eating out of the palm of my paw in five minutes max."
-/-/-
Judy spied the poultry rub she needed on a shelf just out of her reach. Unfortunately, Ruby was out of earshot, having left her here to grab what she could while the vixen went to the other side of the store to find a meat injector. Looking left and right, to make sure no one was around, she set her basket down and jumped, picking the jar off the shelf in mid-leap.
Smiling, Judy was glad Nick wasn't around. Otherwise, he'd be teasing her about being too short to shop by herself. Dropping the jar in her basket, Judy checked her list, time to pick out the main course. Sliding the basket over to the cooler, Judy stopped in front of the large chin-high, chest refrigerator and rolled her eyes, it's like this place might as well be an amusement park with one of those height requirement clowns, 'You have to be this tall to shop here.'
Putting her paws on the edge of the cooler, she stepped up on the edges of her shopping basket, lifted herself up, and leaned over the edge to see all the plastic-wrapped trays of chicken. Looking over the packages, she saw what she needed. Unfortunately, the chicken breasts were just out of her reach toward the end of the case. Leaning over the edge, Judy slid the basket with her foot, and–
"Need a little help there, hot stuff?" asked a muscular Bengal fox, sliding up to where Judy was dangling on the cooler's edge.
Judy looked around to see who the fox might be talking to, and not seeing anyone, she replied, "Uh, sure, I need one of those packages of chicken breasts, thanks."
"What's a cute thing like you doing in a store like this?" Then, reaching over, the fox picked out a random package of chicken and handed it to Judy.
Still balanced on the cooler's edge, Judy narrowed her eyes, "It's not polite to call a rabbit cute unless you're another rabbit."
The fox leaned in, and with a big smile that showed off all his teeth, said, "I'm betting that if you're shopping for meat, you're not looking for a good time with another rabbit."
Judy huffed, "It's none of your business why I'm here. Thank you for your help, but if you'll excuse me, I'm finished here."
Judy looked toward the basket below her feet and started to slide so that she could hop down when the fox grabbed her and said, "Here, let me help you."
Swinging Judy around the basket, the Bengal fox leaned in close, took in a whiff of the doe's scent, and in preparation for whispering his best pickup line into his soon to be next conquest's ear, he… yelped.
Surprised by the fox's sudden move, Judy was about to kick some sense into the grabby male's muzzle when she saw his head jerk back, eyes go wide, tail shoot out, and then when he was trying to back away from her as if she'd suddenly grown a second head, he dropped her.
Landing on top of her basket, Judy tried to keep her balance on the edges, but instead, the basket shot out from under her, spilled its contents all over, and dumped her to the floor in a heap.
"Lettuce mites and tomato worms," groaned Judy as she looked up at the now panicking male, "What's your problem?"
In a heartbeat, the fox had gone from cool and collected pickup artist to a mass of trembling jelly, desperately looking for a way out of the deadly mess he'd just gotten himself into. "I'm sorry, Mrs…, I mean I'm sorry ma'am, don't be angry, please, I didn't know. I would never have… I'm so sorry."
Judy, still on the ground, watched as the flustered fox quickly went to his knees and scooped up all of her loose items, and put them back in her basket. Making sure everything was in order, the fox gently slid the basket over to her, and still kneeling, bowed, fully exposing his neck, and said, "I'm sorry for disrespecting you, ma'am, it won't happen again."
"Uh… okay," was all Judy got out before the silver-gray furred mammal was gone.
Staring after the fox, Judy scratched her head, the only other time she'd seen a fox react like that was when she first met Toni and her family, but they were worried about her taking away Aidan and Tyler.
'What was that guy so worried about?'
"Judy, are you okay?" yelled Ruby as she ran over and helped Judy up.
Dusting herself off, Judy replied, "Yeah, I'm okay. Some guy tried to pick me up, literally, and just when he looked like he was going to lay some cheesy pickup line on me, he dropped me on the ground, apologized, and took off."
"The Bengal fox I saw tear out of the store like his tail was on fire?"
"Yeah, is freaking out like that, some kind of fox thing?"
Picking up the basket, Ruby chuckled, "It's sort of a tod thing. I think he realized he crossed a line and figured he'd better get while the getting was good."
"Crossed a line? You mean something besides being a jerk?"
"Yeah, but that's probably a conversation I should let you have with your partner after you cook him dinner."
Judy shook her head and mumbled to herself, "And I thought rabbits could be complicated."
Dropping the meat injector into the basket, Ruby returned the package of chicken to the case and, pointing to the meat counter, said, "Come on, my dad is wrapping up some chicken for you. Gideon asked me to set you up with the best cuts we had from our gourmet selection."
"In exchange for the pies he asked me to bring you?"
"Yup, you're getting the best of the best of the best for your dinner tonight."
-/-/-
Nick hit the side of the low hill with a grunt and started crawling to the rocky peak as Buckshot and Rogue Bun hit the ground to his left and two of the Raccoon Raiders, CalCoon, and Bandit, to his right.
"Alpha squad, in position, over."
"QuickPaw here, we can't hold the Pack off much longer, maybe five minutes. Can you secure the target? Over."
"Wait one."
Nick motioned to his squad to take position behind a low section in the rocks that topped the hill. Carefully poking his head up, Nick took in as much of the scene as he could before pulling back down.
The target was a large cave that led to a secret underground passage which in turn would allow them to sneak up on the Wolf Pack's fortified HQ and capture their flag, winning the game.
Nick whispered to Buckshot, "No guards and no automated defenses that I can see."
Colton stretched up and took a quick look too, "I see a bunch of rusted armor and old weapons covering the approach to the right."
"A couple of large mammal carcasses to the left and the bones of at least fifty small and medium mammals everywhere else," added Cody as he finished his own quick reconnaissance.
"Alpha Foxtrot, the Leapers were just hit hard. We're not going to be able to hold out much longer. Are you in the cave yet?"
Nick scanned his team. They'd been running and ducking between boulders, trees, and anything else they could find in this godforsaken land. They were tired, low on ammunition, and near their goal. One last push, and they'd have the Wolf Pack in their crosshairs for a win.
"On our way, Quickpaw. Alpha Foxtrot out."
"Alright, no time for anything fancy. I'll go over the rocks first. You guys follow me, spread out to the sides, and use the carcasses and piles of old armor as cover. Questions?"
Seeing only head shakes, Nick checked the power setting on his blaster rifle and moved to crawl over the low wall of rocks when…
"Shit, abort, abort, I've got movement in the cave."
The squad ducked back out of sight, "What kind of movement?" asked Bandit.
Nick signaled to the heavily armored raccoon that he needed to take another look and then carefully peeked over the rock… and groaned.
Sliding down quickly, he shook his head, "We've got a problem."
Colton leaned over Nick and took his own look and then, pale-faced and shaking, thudded down next to his squad leader, "How did they know? How in the hell did those sick, twisted, bastards know?"
Cody, seeing the terrified look on his littermate's face, went up for a look… and dropped down, hard. "Game over guys. We're all gonna die."
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Bandit blurted out and then, taking a look himself, almost laughed, "it's a feral rabbit doe wearing a cheesy ZPD vest, a fluffy, cut–"
Nick's paw silenced the raccoon in a flash, "Don't say the C-word, she will hear you, and she will kill you."
All the squad members eased their heads up and saw the bunny sitting back on its hind paws with an ear up, scanning for the full use of that most hated word (unless you were another rabbit, then that's different, of course).
Sliding back down, Nick huddled everyone together, "What kinds of heavy weapons do you guys have left?"
"I've got a phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range," chimed in Cody.
Nick scoffed, "That'll just piss her off."
"How about a rail gun? I've got loads that will take out a Bolo Mark XI."
Nick thought for a moment, "Might distract her, anything else?"
"I'm done with this," yelled Bandit, "it's a fucking, feral, CUTE, rabbit. I'll slice it up with my vibrosword and make a stew out of it!"
"Wait," yelled Nick, but he was too late. Bandit had hopped over the rocks and was gone.
CalCoon tried to follow his brother but was dragged back down with Nick screaming at him, "Stay down you fool. You can't help him now. No one can, it's already too late."
"AAAAaaaaaauuugghh."
Colton glanced over the rock, "Oh, sweet and sour berries, there's no respawning after that."
"Guys, the main attack force, they're on the move," yelled Cody, pointing to his earpiece.
Nick shook his head, "I didn't want to have to do this, but…" Scanning his inventory, Nick plucked out his weapon of last resort, and handed it to CalCoon.
"The Holy Hand Grenade, incredibly expensive and guaranteed to destroy anything."
Trying to give it back to Nick, CalCoon whined, "I don't want it, you throw it at her."
Nick put up his paws, "Nope, can't do it."
Still trembling, Colton nodded toward Cody and said, "Don't ask, not gonna happen."
CalCoon sighed as he turned the softball sized device with a cross shaped pin over in his paws, "Okay, how does it work?"
"Brother, have you never read the Book of Armaments?" chided Colton.
"No, this is the first big battle my brothers let me play in."
Nick waved a paw, "Pull that pin, count to three, and then lobbest it toward thy foe."
"Three?"
"Yeah, three, no more, no less. Four is too much, two isn't enough, and if you get to five, it'll blow up in your paw. The count is three."
With a last look at his cowering squadmates, CalCoon pulled the pin, yelled, "One, two, three," and–
-/-/-
Judy grabbed a few more things while the meat was being wrapped, mostly for Nick, but a couple of things for her too. She found some of her favorite strawberry chews that were only sold in Burrow's Edge and then made an excited chirp when she found a bag of vegetable chips like the ones that she had at that diner just before Nick left for Bunnyburrow.
Groceries loaded up, and Gideon's pies delivered, Judy hugged Ruby, thanked her for all her help, and headed back home. Keeping the truck to the posted speed limit, Judy mentally walked through all the prep work she needed to do and then checked the time. She'd be cutting it tight at this rate. Biting her lip, Judy checked her mirrors and then squinted out the windshield at the long, empty highway in front of her and… gave the truck a little more gas. Eight or nine miles an hour over the speed limit shouldn't be a problem. Nobody would give her a ticket for that, right? Well, actually, she would, but she wasn't on duty, so…
…..
Grumbling, Judy parked the truck and unloaded her groceries and the pies Gideon had given her into the kitchen. She really had to hurry now, twenty minutes that's how long it had taken, she'd wiped out all her time cushion talking that Highway patrolmammal out of giving her a ticket. The worst part was that she was supposed to be lying low, so she couldn't exactly let him know who she really was and maybe having her name trigger some hacker that was into more than just the ZPD's databases.
She'd used every trick up her sleeve, big eyes, trembly lip, sick grandma, but none of it worked, she had to turn over her driver's license or risk a ride to the station house.
In the end, it was the fact that the famous Judy Hopps was her littermate that convinced the starstruck Officer to reduce the ticket down to a warning, that and the promise that she, Janae, would have her sister send him an autographed picture.
'Sweet cheese and crackers, if Nick, or Janae, ever find out what I did, I'll never hear the end of it.'
Running to the barn, Judy found a small grill, a bag of charcoal, starter fluid, and some cooking utensils and set everything up in the grass in front of the front porch. Squirting most of the bottle of starter fluid on the mountain of charcoal she'd built, Judy lit it and then ran into the kitchen to prep the chicken for when the coals were ready.
Looking over the recipe Gideon had given her, she filled the meat injector with cola and inflated the two chicken breasts with as much of the sweet soda as she could load into them. Next, she found some soft butter and slathered it all over both sides of the meat.
"Eww, what are you doing?" came a voice from behind her.
"Hey Janae, any problem keeping Nick here?"
"No, Lucas started a tune-up on Nick's car just before Sunni ran out of chores for him to do, and right now, he's playing video games with Colton and Cody. He won't be able to leave until after dinner."
"Good, I'm cooking him his favorite, barbequed chicken breasts, and if I do it just right, I think I can get him to change his mind about leaving."
"What's so special about giving him a chicken dinner? I can't believe you're touching that with your bare paws, how gross. You know that used to be a happy-go-lucky bird minding its own business until, wham, he's the guest of honor on your boyfriend's plate."
Judy looked Janae in the eyes and said, "I finally figured out what Nick's plan was, and with Dad being, Dad, it's up to me to make things right."
"What do you mean?"
Nick's a fox, and they have their own way of doing things. He doesn't see himself as my boyfriend until I ask him to court me, and that's why I need to cook him the best dinner he's ever eaten. Foxes call it a Courting Meal."
"Uh, Judy, are you sure about this? I mean, have you ever cooked anything before?"
"No, but Gideon gave me a recipe with grilling instructions. It'll be like executing a drug raid, except without all the explosions and screaming."
Waving a butter coated paw toward the jar of seasoning, and splattering the counter with droplets of yellow dairy, Judy said, "Would you unscrew the cap and hand me that jar of rub."
"Sure," and then watching Judy use half the jar to season the chicken, she scrunched her nose and asked, "Do you want me to go get Mom?"
Grabbing the plate of meat and the asparagus spears she'd also bought, Judy headed out front to the grill, "No, I have to do this all by myself, just make sure you keep Nick inside until his dinner is ready."
Paws on her hips, Janae started to call after her littermate when she heard someone come up next to her.
"Janae, what's Judy doing?"
Shaking her head, Janae huffed, "She's cooking dinner for Nick."
Bonnie gasped, "Oh dear, Judy's cooking?" and then looking at the empty meat tray with drippings in it, the half-full soda bottle, and the rest of the butter covered debris left behind by her daughter, Bonnie said, "Where is she now?"
"Out front, she's using one of the grills."
Bonnie's ears shot straight up, "One of the charcoal grills? Oh my, that can't be good." And then, quickly going to the pantry, Bonnie grabbed a small fire extinguisher and handed it to Janae, "Be a dear, and give this to Judy, just in case."
Laughing, Janae put the small extinguisher back in the pantry and pulled out the much larger one Dad had bought after the last time Judy tried to cook something, "I'll give her this one, just in case."
-/-/-
"Woohoo!"
Janae set the large tray of potato casserole down on the buffet table and looked up to see Colton and Nick walk into the dining room, high-fouring each other, while Cody came up behind them, whooping and hollering.
"We dominated them. We beat the Wolf Pack so bad they dropped off the leader board."
"Crazy Hares rule," yelled Colton as he did a double binky.
Colton and Cody each gave Nick another high-four and then bounced toward their seats while Nick headed over to where Janae was finishing with the buffet set up.
"Sounds like you guys had fun."
"Yeah, they had a few surprises set up for us, but you know, adapt, overcome, avoid the C-word, and we were able to win the day," shrugged Nick.
"Win the day? Are you kidding? It was a beat-down. Ooh-rah!" whooped Colton from his seat.
Nodding tolerantly, Janae waved toward all the kits pouring into the dining room and said, "Your dinner's almost ready. Why don't you go have a seat."
Nick hesitated, "Thanks, but I need to pack and find a place to stay before it gets too late," smirking a little, he added, "assuming I can find my car, and there aren't any more chores to do or surprise video games to play."
Janae shrugged, "Don't worry, your car's ready, and the chores are all covered."
"Where's Judy?"
"Please don't leave until she gets here."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Nick grunted, "Okay, but I made a deal with your dad, and he wants me gone. If he sees me here eating dinner–"
"I'll take care of Dad, please stay."
"Okay," Nick sighed, "I'll stay for dinner, but after that, I have to go."
Nick went to take his seat while Janae went to check on Judy. As Janae approached the foyer, she started to smell smoke. Not the pleasant, if it weren't chicken, smelling smoke from grilled veggies or portobello mushroom burgers, but the sooty smell of a major forest fire or an erupting volcano.
"Aaaaah!"
Janae ran the rest of the way to the door, pulled it open, and saw a soot-covered, rabbit-shaped mammal standing in a cloud of black smoke holding a plate.
"Judy? Is that you?"
Janae stepped aside to let her medium-rare littermate into the house.
"What happened?"
Judy handed the plate of carbonized chicken breasts to Janae, and then wiping some of the yellow fire suppressing powder off her shirt, she moaned out, "It was horrible. Red-hot charcoal briquettes shot out all over the place, and then when I tried to put the fire out, the grill exploded. It was like flaming death everywhere."
"Oh, Judy…"
"The fire's out now, but everything's destroyed. The chicken, the veggies, the grill, most of Mom's rose bushes, it's all gone up in smoke. I incinerated everything."
Janae led Judy into the kitchen, dropped the chicken, plate and all, into a garbage can, and then spotting a safe place to talk, pushed her littermate into the pantry.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, no, I don't know," yanking her ears, Judy cried, "I've ruined everything. Nick's going to hate me, I can't do anything right, and now he's going to leave, and I can't stop him."
Pulling Judy into a hug, Janae rubbed her back, "Calm down, Nick loves you, and he doesn't need you to give him a meal to know that you love him back."
Pulling away from Janae, Judy waved her paws around the full shelves of the pantry and wailed, "I am such a dumb bunny, why would he ever want me, I'm not cute, I don't know how to dress, I can't even cook a simple dinner. He'd be better off with a vixen, someone who knows how to do it right."
Flailing her arms around again in frustration, Judy hit one of the shelves and knocked a jar of peanut butter onto the floor. Janae picked up the jar and handed it to Judy, saying, "No one knows Nick the way you do, certainly not some strange vixen. If anyone can do it right, it's you. So dinner was a fail…"
Judy raised a sooty eyebrow.
"Okay, so dinner was an epoch fail. What else do vixens do for their mates?"
Judy set the jar of peanut butter back on the shelf and poked it with her finger as she tried to think of what to do. "I don't know…"
Judy turned the jar around so that she could see the label, "Creamy peanut butter."
"Yeah, crunchy still makes Dad gag," Janae said as she chuckled, trying to lighten Judy's mood.
Judy's eyes went wide, "I've got an idea."
-/-/-
Janae came out of the kitchen, throwing a dirty washcloth into the sink, and headed over to where Nick was sitting, at the kit's table.
"Mr. Nick, how come you don't have any dinner?"
There were still a few buns fixing themselves plates of food, but by and large, everyone in the dining room had already settled into eating—everyone but Stu, that was. Nick had been keeping an eye out for the Master of the Warren, he figured the first glare he got from the old buck would be his cue to leave.
Scanning the room again, he began to wonder where Mr. Hopps was, he hadn't missed a dinner since he'd arrived, and when Lucas had led the dinner prayer, he'd begun to worry that something more than a pending dirty look was up with the old bun.
"Sunni, Mr. Nick will be getting his dinner in just a minute."
"I will?"
"Yup, here it comes now."
Janae stepped back next to where Lucas was sitting, and leaning against the table, she nudged her brother and motioned for him to turn around.
Turning himself, Nick watched his slightly soot-covered and singed bunny come out of the kitchen and make her way to the kit's table, carefully carrying a plate and a bottle of blueberry soda.
The room went quiet as hundreds of pairs of eyes, and ears, all focused on something so out of the ordinary that everyone was so stunned that no one even thought to pull out their phone to record the event. Judy had cooked something.
Lucas looked around at all the gaping mouths, and then rolled his eyes as Judy placed the plate and bottle down in front of Nick.
"Relax everyone, it's just a sandwich. Go back to eating, no one's in danger."
Janae scowled at her brother while Judy stood with her paws nervously balled up in front of her, "I made this for you."
Sunni chirped excitedly, "Yum, peanut butter and jelly, and look, she took the crusts off and cut the sandwiches into little triangles."
Nick stared at the plate, and after a moment, he picked up one of the soft white bread triangles, sniffed it, and put it in his mouth.
Chewing, his whole body slumped. Nick closed his eyes and…
…..
"Daaad, stop, that's mine, Mom's making you yours," laughed the eight-year-old fox kit trying to bat his father's paw away from his plate.
Rubbing his nose into his son's cheek fur, Jonathan laughed and said, "But I like yours better," and then whispered, "Mom won't cut the crusts off of mine, and she makes me eat healthy bread."
"Leave Nicky's lunch alone, dear. I've got yours right here," and then setting a plate stacked with crustless peanut butter and jelly triangles in front of her mate, the vixen said, "You are such a dork."
"But I'm your dork, right?"
Kissing and marking her mate, Vivian Wilde replied, "Yes, yes you are."
…..
Opening his eyes, Nick whispered, "You made this for me?"
Nodding, Judy started to panic, Nick had gone dead quiet when he'd taken a bite, and now he looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "I'm sorry, I tried to make some barbecue chicken, I even went to Burrow's Edge and got some of the best of the best of the best, but I burned it, I mean incinerated it, and I destroyed everything. And then I remember you said at that homestyle sandwich place, you know, when we were trying to find Duke Weaselton, again, you said that your mom used to make you and your dad peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, all cut up like this, and you hadn't had one since he died, so I thought I'd, Oh Nick, I told Toni how I messed up by not accepting properly when you cooked for me, and even though she said you were an idiot for not telling me what the dinner meant, and she was right you really were an idiot, but now I've gone and messed everything up again."
Nick took Judy's paws in his and, shaking his head, said, "I'm the one that messed up, not you. You're right I was an idiot, and I should've told you what was going on. I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"
Lucas whispered to Janae, "What gives? It's like, a sandwich."
"Shush! You're ruining it."
Letting out a stuttering breath, Judy squeezed Nick's paws and said, "I accept."
Smiling, Nick leaned up and whispered, "And I accept your meal with the intent in which it was given."
"Yes!" Janae whisper-shouted while doing a mini-fist pump.
"So, what are you kits up to over here?"
"Mom, Judy made Mr. Nick the bestest peanut butter and jelly sandwich," answered Sunni
"Yeah, she cut it up special, just like you used to do," added Susan.
Reaching over to Nick's plate, Steven grabbed a sandwich triangle, took a sniff, and putting it back, said, "Yeah, except it's got blueberry jelly, I like grape."
Having already let go of Judy's paws when he saw Bonnie come up, Nick made a face at Steven, munched down the rejected sandwich bite, and said, "Yum, you have no idea what you're missing."
"I like grape jelly better, too?" whispered Lucas.
Janae rolled her eyes, "Males, you're all so dense."
Bonnie clapped her paws together, "Alright, everyone, time for dessert. Tonight we're having–"
The front door opened and then slammed shut. Everyone waiting to hear about dessert turned toward the door and saw a determined buck storm into the dining room.
"Stu?"
Mr. Stuart Hopps, Master of the Warren, a rabbit with a purpose, spied his target, balled his fists, and made his way to the kit's table to confront his demons.
Nick had been waiting for this moment. He'd gone back on his word and overstayed his welcome. It was time to pay the piper.
Standing, Nick steeled himself, there wasn't a form defined that would properly apologize for what he'd done, but waiting until Mr. Hopps stopped, Nick prepared a form, and said, "My apologies, Mr. Hopps, I'll pack and be out of your warren in just a few minutes."
And then beginning his bow–
"No," shouted Judy as she went to Nick and forcefully straightened him up, "I don't want you to leave."
Stu's face was unreadable as he looked back and forth between his daughter, the fox she was holding upright, and everyone else in the room staring at him.
"Stu…" Bonnie whispered, "…please."
Shaking off everyone's look, Stu stepped closer to Nick and said, "You were within your rights to do what you did. I accept that and," glancing at Bonnie, "…you did right by Ruth Anne. My warren will join you in formally vouching for her, and we'll provide her and her kits a home as part of this family for as long as she wishes."
Lewis turned to Ruthie, who was holding her kits, and tried to kiss her on the cheek, but sensing his move, she turned her head just in time to catch his lips with hers and then, with a free paw, held him tight so he couldn't break the kiss until she'd made her intentions toward him clear.
"And," Stu continued as the room went quiet enough for even an armadillo to hear a pin drop, "you, Officer, uhm," glancing at Judy, "Nicholas… Wilde are welcome–"
'Ahem," Bonnie cleared her throat.
"I mean, my family, and uh, I, would like for you to stay, here, with us, in this warren, for as long as you'd like." Looking back at Judy and then at Sunni and her littermates, Stu firmly added, "Please stay."
Nick started to bow again, but Judy, with her paw in the center of his chest, again prevented the motion. With a nod to Judy, Nick reached out to shake paws, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Hopps. I appreciate your hospitality and the hospitality of your warren."
Shaking Nick's paw and then glancing at his mate, Stu turned, and a few moments later, the sound of the front door opening and closing was drowned out by the whooping and hollering of a hundred or so of Judy's siblings.
Bonnie looked toward the front door and then turned to Janae, "I need to talk with your father, there are trays of carrot cake in the kitchen. Would you please make sure everyone gets some."
Janae elbowed Lucas, who was staring at Judy and Nick hugging each other, and told him to come help her with dessert. Grabbing a sandwich triangle off of Nick's plate, he followed his sister to the kitchen, spread the bread apart, sniffed, and then took a nibble, "I still don't get it, and why didn't she use crunchy peanut butter? It's way better than creamy."
"Aaaargh! Males!"
-/-/-
Holding his bunny in his arms, Nick went in for a kiss and–
"Everyone's watching."
Aborting said amorous maneuver, Nick reluctantly pulled away from Judy, glanced at the table full of small kits staring up at them, and said, "Yes, thanks for dinner, ah, Miss Hopps, it was delicious."
Rolling her eyes, Judy pushed Nick back into his seat and said, "I'm not done yet. I'm fixing a special dessert for you. Blueberry pie, your most favorite."
A gasp rolled through the dining room as everyone turned and stared.
Nick trembled.
The kits whimpered.
Judy sighed as she put her paws on her hips and said loudly so everyone could hear, "I'm not cooking it. It's one of Gideon's that I picked up this morning."
The relief that swept through the room was palpable, the thud of someone setting a spare fire extinguisher back down was a relief, and the sound of Nick chuckling as he stretched up and nuzzled Judy was, well, Judy smiled and whispered, "Jerk."
Still close, Nick quietly growled as Judy felt a wandering paw slowly make its way from her back toward her tail. Trying to decide between batting the paw away or leaning in closer, Judy decided to go with–
"Judy, Nick, come quick. It's all over ZNN. You'll never believe what's happened!" yelled Raven, rushing into the dining room.
…..
A/N:
AngelAndDevil, over on Furaffinity, created a fun piece of fanart for this chapter. If you'd like to see their work, it's located here: www{dot}deviantart{dot}com/mikey2084/art/Charcoaled-Bunny-888633430