Story Title-Can a Fox Love a Bunny?

Act III-Family

Chapter XV-Gang Aft Agley

(Author's Notes) Well, well, well, if it isn't another chapter. That's right, the 15th installment of Can A Fox Love A Bunny? is here. I suppose a good many of you have taken a look at this chapter's title and wondered what the actual fuck it means. I'm only saying this because it's not actually proper English, it's a line from a poem by a Scottish poet, Robert Burns. Said poem is titled To A Mouse, if you wish to check it out. But be warned, if you search for the original version of the poem, most of it is going to look just like this chapter's title—which I still haven't actually told you the meaning of yet. Basically, it means 'often go awry'.

Now, enough talk, you probably want to get to the actual chapter since you've waited for so long. So, I'll leave you to it. Enjoy!

"Peculiar I say, how so often the smallest, most seemingly insignificant details later unveil their faces as vital means for progression."

― Criss Jami, Healology

Nick POV

7:20 a.m. Saturday

This was literally the most frustrating thing that could possibly have happened. Judy had just fallen unconscious and I was incapable of leaving my bed to check up on her.

As soon as she had failed to get up upon falling to the floor, I had hit the emergency button in the side of my bed. A nurse had come and, upon seeing Judy, called another nurse to help take Judy away to get checked out. That was about ten minutes ago and I hadn't heard anything since. I just felt so useless, not being able to do anything to help Judy. I didn't know what could have caused her to fall unconscious like that, but it couldn't be good and I wanted to do whatever I could to help her. As it was, though, I was able to do little more than sit and wait for someone to come and tell me what had happened to Judy.

It was kind of ironic, really. I, a police officer, was able to protect strangers I didn't know and would probably never even see again, and yet I couldn't do anything for my own mate when something happened to her.

Before that morbid train of thought could go any further, the door to my room swung open, revealing the same skunk nurse who had came to my room when Judy fell unconscious. I sat up in my bed in an instant, words rushing from my mouth before they even registered in my head, "Where's Judy? Is she alright? What happened to her?"

The nurse didn't speak until he was standing next to my bed. "Mr. Wilde, Ms. Hopps is awake and fine, although her head might be a little sore. She hit her head on the floor when she fell and she got knocked unconscious." I let out a sigh of relief and the nurse smiled.

I chuckled before saying, "Geez, Judy must be pretty unlucky. I didn't even know it was possible to trip so hard that you knock yourself out."

The nurse's smile faltered then and I felt a deep sense of foreboding in my chest. Of course, it couldn't have been that simple. "Well, she didn't exactly just trip." What the hell does that mean? I wondered, though I didn't have to wait long for an answer. "You see—there really isn't any easy way to put this—Ms. Hopps, she's pregnant."

What?

What!?

WHAT!? WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY!?

My mind was absolutely losing its shit for about ten seconds before I calmed down enough to decide that I had definitely just misheard the nurse because there was no way Judy could be pregnant.

My face must have still had the same, shocked look on it though, as the nurse continued speaking. "I realize that this may come as a bit of surprise to you. When Ms. Hopps fell earlier, she was feeling a little dizzy because of her pregnancy. That's why she tripped." So much for mishearing the nurse.

My mind was suddenly filled by one thought: How could Judy be pregnant? We used protection. Then, I suddenly had a flashback to Wednesday, and that's when I realized, We didn't use a condom last time. Shit, Judy really is pregnant.

Once again, a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings and just about everything else flew through my head while I struggled to keep up with this new information. That was when the the full implications of the news really hit me. I'm going to be a father. I wasn't sure whether I should be ecstatic or terrified. Life has been so crazy recently and having children hadn't even crossed my mind. But having this thrust upon me suddenly, I was forced to think about it.

What would the children be like? Would I be a good father? How would this affect Judy and I? I was suddenly struck by a startling revelation: Judy and I weren't even married yet. And we were having a kid. I wasn't exactly worried about the stigma behind pregnancy outside of marriage—hell, I had become mates with a bunny only a couple hours after realizing I loved her—but everything would certainly be much simpler if we were married.

It was then that I remembered that the nurse was just standing there in the room while I had my mental crisis. I forced myself to bury my concerns about marriage for a moment. "Is there any way I can see Judy?" I decided to be the most prudent question to ask.

The nurse nodded, "There was no lasting damage from Ms. Hopps' fall, thankfully. I believe the doctors are in the process of releasing her at this moment. She should be here soon." I nodded in acknowledgment, my eyes darting around the room, not focusing on anything specifically. The nurse seemed to be able to notice my nervousness, as he spoke up once more, "We don't know much about the children, if that's what you're wondering. It's still a bit early in the pregnancy to really see anything." I just kept nodding, not sure what I would say if I opened my mouth. This was all just a bit much for me at the moment.

I was seriously going to be a father. I just couldn't get over it. I was just getting my own father back in my life and now I was becoming one too? My life is a whole new level of crazy, I determined.

The sound of the hospital room door opening brought my attention back to reality. I looked over to see Judy enter the room, followed by a pig Doctor. Judy gave me a sheepish, almost hesitant, smile and I immediately felt a chill race down my spine. Was she not happy that she was pregnant? Did she hate me now? I found myself fearing having to talk with Judy now.

She walked over to my bed and pulled up a chair. Neither of us said anything as we both sat there until I couldn't stand the silence any longer. "You're pregnant," I stated, unable to come up with anything else.

God, I sounded like such an idiot, and I waited for Judy to say as much but she didn't make fun of me for it. Instead, she responded with an equally simple, "Yeah, I am."

Silence threatened to swallow the room again so I decided to speak up again, "So, what does this mean for us?"

Judy's ears perked at this, "What do you mean?"

The fear I felt when Judy entered the room hadn't diminished a bit and it didn't help me from getting nervous when I hesitantly said, "I got you pregnant. It's just...I don't know, aren't you mad at me? This is big, and we haven't really gotten to talk about any of this and I just—"

I was cut off when a fluffy, grey paw pressed itself into my muzzle. "Nick, stop talking for a minute." I relaxed my jaw, but that did nothing to relieve the tension in the rest of my body. Here it comes, she's going to yell at me for getting her pregnant and tell me how much she hates me now. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, only to feel Judy's small form press itself into my side and hug me as best as possible while I was lying down.

I opened my eyes as Judy said, "Nick, I don't care that you got me pregnant. Sure, neither of us were expecting it, but that doesn't change anything. I still love you just as much as I did before I knew I was pregnant and I would be lying if I said I never wanted to have kits with you." My breath caught a little as I let a shimmer of hope break through to me. A shimmer that reminded me suspiciously of one bunny I knew… "Now we just get to do it a little earlier than I was planning."

My mind caught onto what she said at the end there. "Wait, 'planning'? Have you really thought about you getting pregnant that much already?"

She smiled shyly, "It may have crossed my mind a few times. It was more of a passing thought, though."

I smiled back, "Are you sure you're okay with this? I won't be upset if you're not," I assured. The last thing I wanted was to make Judy unhappy.

"I'm sure. Are you?" She returned, the concern I showed her just as evident in her face as well.

I responded instantly, "Yes." I was sure that there was no other possible answer. Judy and I were already life mates, and I loved her more than anything in the world. Having kits together only seemed right. And now, knowing that Judy felt the same, I found myself able to fully grasp the situation. And I was sure, more sure than I've ever been about anything in my life, that I was ready to have kits with Judy. "I am absolutely, 100%, completely sure."

The beaming smile she gave me could have out-glowed the sun itself.

There was a lot more for Judy and I to discuss but we both agreed it would be best if it waited for after Judy and I got some sleep. The recent events had only added onto the amount of time Judy and I had been without rest and we were both growing increasingly tired.

So, we both agreed to continue our talk later when we were both in better condition for such a conversation.

Judy POV

6:13 p.m.

I woke up with my face pressed into the warm, russet fur of my fox's chest. The corners of my muzzle automatically lifted up into a smile as I deeply inhaled Nick's scent. My smile only grew larger when the memories of today's earlier events found their way back into my sleep-addled mind.

I was still slightly in shock about it all: I was going to be a mother. And Nick, the fox I loved more than anything else, was the father. I had already admitted to Nick that the thought of raising kits with him had crossed my mind once or twice. I still wasn't expecting to learn that I was pregnant quite yet, but I couldn't say that I was exactly upset that I was. I had plans to have kits with Nick anyway so I was just getting my wish a little sooner than I expected.

"I can feel you smiling down there, Fluff," I started slightly at the unexpected voice coming from the fox I was snuggling. "You're finally awake. I was starting to worry you'd slipped into some weird bunny hibernation."

I pulled my head away from Nick's chest to get a good look at his face as I giggled and said, "Bunnies don't hibernate, silly fox. I was just tired and you make a very nice fox-pillow." I buried my face back into the fluffy expanse of Nick's fur. "So soft."

That got Nick to laugh, causing him to wince in pain. Nick groaned, "Chest pains are the worst. I can't do anything more than normal breaths or it feels like I'm getting shot all over again."

"I'll be sure to have all the fun for you, then."

We lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before I finally sat up against the bed's headboard. Nick watched me as I adjusted myself until I was comfortable and said, "I'm guessing that this means we're having that talk now."

I nodded as I finally settled myself down. I began to stroke Nick's ears to give myself something to do as I began, "So…We've already established that we both want this. To have kits." Nick nodded his agreement and so I forged onward, "The doctor's said they think, since the kit—or more likely kits, because I'm a rabbit—are a mix between a fox and a bunny, the gestation period should be somewhere between the average for foxes and rabbits. They gave a rough estimate of 44 days and it's been three days since we...y'know…"

"Fucked?" Nick supplied.

I slapped the side of his head as he simultaneously giggled and winced from the pain in his chest his laughter was causing him. "You deserve the pain for being so crude."

"I'm only messing with you, Carrots. I hold our relationship in much higher regards than simply 'fucking'," Nick said sincerely.

I humphed before deciding to continue where I left off. "Anyway, that gives us a little over a month to prepare for kits. We need a place for them to stay and all of the necessary supplies."

Nick was silent as he contemplated what I had said. "There really isn't room for kits in my apartment, is there?" He finally asked. I shook my head. "Okay, we'll sell it then. We can find a nice place somewhere where we can raise our kits," He decided as if it were that simple.

I sighed, "It isn't that easy Nick. I don't think we make enough money with our cop salaries to buy a big enough place." I had been able to put this problem out of my mind before we had this conversation but there was no avoiding it now. And now I was starting to worry that there wouldn't be a solution.

Unexpected Nick to be in a similar state to me, but instead he just chuckled as lightly as he could to reduce the pain he felt. "You're forgetting about the money I told you I had left over from my hustling days."

I looked at Nick suspiciously. "Just how much money are we talking here?"

Nick looked around the room, as if expecting to see a mammal eavesdropping on us from under the bedside table, before sheepishly saying, "About a million."

My mouth dropped, "Did you ever buy anything?"

"Not really. My apartment was the only thing I ever splurged on. We should be able to get a good price from selling that, too, so we'll have even more money. We should have more than enough to get a nice place for us to raise our kits."

"I dunno, Nick. I'm not sure it'll feel right to use dirty money." My morals were having a hard time letting this one slide.

"I wouldn't call it 'dirty money', Carrots, not now that I payed off my taxes. The jumbo pops were always paid for, the lemmings willingly paid for the pawpsicles, and the rodents got their wood for construction. Sure, the wood was Popsicle sticks, but they performed the same job just as well. Nobody got hurt, I just made a little bit of extra money along the way."

I let that digest in my head a little. "Hm, I never thought about it like that. Well in that case, I guess there's no problem. We should probably start looking for places then, we don't have too much time."

Nick nodded his head in agreement. "Good, we got that settled. About supplies, that shouldn't be too big of a problem. We'll just have to make some runs to the store and pick up stuff we need. We can do that once I'm out of the hospital in a month. We should have about two weeks after that to get it all ready."

"Okay. So that leads us to the next thing. What are we going to do about watching the kits after they're born."

Nick's answer was instantaneous, "I can watch them. I won't keep you away from your job any longer than you have to be."

The kindness of the gesture warmed my heart, but I still hesitated, frowning slightly. "I can't ask you to leave the job either, though."

"Judy, you haven't wanted to do anything but be a police officer since you were just a little ball of fluff. I'm not going to be the one to end that dream," Nick said earnestly.

"Still," I really didn't want Nick to have to stay home all day, "I'd miss having you as a partner. I can't see being partnered with anyone else."

Nick didn't say anything, and neither did I, as we thought until I finally came up with something. "Why don't we ask your dad? Now that he's reentering your life I'm sure he'd want to spend time with his grandkits."

Nick nodded thoughtfully before saying, "Yeah, I'll talk to him later. And," Nick added meaningfully, "speaking of parents, you still need to talk to yours. Especially now that you're pregnant."

My mind jumped back to the argument with my father the other day. While I couldn't say that I wasn't still upset with my dad, Nick had definitely made his point yesterday: forgiveness is important for anything to happen moving forward. I had spent so much of my life trying to get other mammals over things that happened in the past yet I still made the same mistake. Once again, I was shown that I would be lost without Nick.

Plus, I would have to talk my parents to inform them I was pregnant, not just to forgive my dad.

"Okay, I'll call them now," I replied at length. I took my phone out of my pocket and mechanically pulled up the option to muzzletime my mother. I hesitated for just a second, taking the time to look at Nick one more time, before pressing the button to call.

The call picked up mid-way through the second ring, revealing the lower half of my mother's face and her neck. I couldn't help but grin at my mother's helplessness when it came to technology.

"Judy! Is everything alright, Dear?" my mother instantly questioned. It was just like her to display such concern for me, despite having checked up on me just the other day.

"I'm fine, mom." I released a giggle before saying, "As much as I like seeing your chin though, you might want to lift up the camera so I can see your whole face."

"Oh." The camera was lifted so I could see my mother's whole face. "How silly of me. What are you calling for, Dear?."

I took a look at the unfamiliar background of the room my mother was in before answering. It must have been a hotel my parents were staying at, I figured, which meant my they were probably still in Zootopia. "Mom, where are you?"

"Your father and I are just about to go to the train station to head back to Bunnyburrow. Why?"

"Don't go on the train yet!" I urged. "I need to talk with you...and dad."

"Oh," my mother seemed surprised for a second before a smile slid back onto her face, although it did not completely cover her slight curiosity. "Ok, would you like us to meet you back at the hospital, Hun?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine."

"Ok, we'll be there in about 20 minutes. See you soon. Love you!"

"I love you too, mom. I'll see you in 20 minutes," I responded, before ending the call.

I looked back up at Nick as I let my phone drop to my lap. "Okay, now we just gotta wait," he said before grinning mischievously. "In the meantime, I think a little extra snuggling is in order."

I was promptly pulled into Nick's chest as Nick settled himself down into a comfortable position on the bed. I only struggled for a few seconds before accepting my fate and relaxing back into Nick's soft fur to wait out the next 20 minutes.

(Author's Notes) Heh. So... I'm back. I'm also a horrible person. I know it's been over a month since the last chapter was uploaded and that is entirely my fault. I literally have no excuses because I had plenty of time where I could have been writing more of this chapter when I decided not to. I knew that I should be trying to get something out for you guys but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, so for that I'm sorry. I want to get the next chapter out in less time than this one came in but I'm hesitant to make any promises so I won't give a date. I do think that I'm out of the little no-writing-funk I was in, though, so I'll be writing more often. Plus, on top of that, the soccer season is getting close to ending so that will definitely give me even more time. I really don't want to go this long without another chapter again, though. Honestly, besides just knowing that you guys are waiting for an update, after a couple days away from the keyboard, I have trouble remembering details of what I've already wrote and I had to reread this chapter and parts of previous chapters several times just to make sure I got my facts straight and I'm still scared there are some inconsistencies I missed. If any of you noticed anything, please tell me so I can fix it.

Other than that, I got feedback about writing a second story at the same time as this one. Overwhelmingly, people wanted me to wait until after this story was done to start the other story, so that's what I'll. I probably would have done this anyway, considering that it took me over a month to get this chapter out and adding another story I need to write would not help at all.

I believe that is all I wanted to say in terms of announcements, so I'll leave you all to it. Until next time, wishing you a good day, Jay.