Three Months After New Years

He sighed as he looked at the many papers in his paws.

Bills, bills, bills, and more bills.

But how was he going to pay them?

He had already used his last check to get a house suitable for their soon to be family of five. And chief Bogo didn't pay on pregnancy leave. Meaning, no money.

The fox cursed under his breath and groaned. I have no choice..He thought, standing up from sitting on the ground. He went into a bedroom, since the house consisted of only three. The bedroom he went into seemed to be the nursery. Basically the babies room. It was a light teal color and had some letters and shape stickers on the walls. A small window with thin golden see through, curtains draping to each side, was letting in a crisp beam of yellow sunlight across the soft black carpeted floor.

It was set up simply. Two blue cribs with space ships on it, one pink crib with some carrots on it.
In one corner were three baby swings, all orange. Then other baby stuff like feeders, strollers, and play mats.
    Then, there was Judy. Sitting in a chair and folding small blankets.

"Hey carrots.." He said in more of a questioning tone while he leaned on the door frame.

"Hm?" She answered, not looking up. "What is it, Nick?"

"I...it's about work." He somewhat muttered as Judy's ear perked up.

"What about..work?" She asked, setting the blankets aside.

He sighed and approached her slowly, "I-I want to go back." He muster the courage to say.

Judy's heart dropped, "You..want to go back to the ZPD. Why?"

"We have bills to pay. Buffalo butt isn't gonna pay us to slack off work." Nick stated, kneeling in front of her so he was at her eye's length.
"But..Nick I'm eight months pregnant. You choose now to leave?"

"I'm sorry. But either that or I go back to hustling with Finnick."

Judy looked at her fìancè with worried eyes, "But..What if you're not there when the kids are born?"
"I will be there. And if not, I'd probably be dead trying to get to them." He said and they both laughed lightly.

"When do you plan on going back?"

"Tomorrow." He simply said.

"Tomorrow!? Nick that'll be when I go see doctor Richmoore for a check up." Judy whined.

"So?"

"So, I don't wanna go alone."

"Take your sister. Or mom." Nick said as though it was easier said than done.

She groaned, "I want to go with you."

"We've been to all the other appointments together, can't we just change it up a bit?"

She looked down at her paws, "This'll be the last one before I go into labor which could last for hours." She let out a sad sigh, "I just want to hold your hand at this last appointment." Judy muttered.

Nick rolled his eyes but was careful not to let her see. "Fine. I'll go with you to the appointment but after that, I'll be at work."

"Yay!" She squealed, hugging him. Nick chuckled and hugged her back, careful about her stomach.

                      XXXX

A week after the appointment, Nick was back at work. Everyone missed him but most importantly they wanted to see and talk to Judy.
  He had a good time showing his engagement ring to all the 'single mammals' just to tease them. Though things seemed cool at work, it wasn't the same at home.

Judy had asked Jada and her other sister, Tammy, to help her around the house. Only because she'd only see Nick at night and at dawn. Though Judy knew he was working overtime, she still missed hugging him and holding him in bed.
  It was now minimized to them only saying a few words in the morning, I love you, and Good morning. Same at night, if Judy wasn't asleep.
But it became a normal schedule, say hi, say goodbye, see each other at dinner, repeat. Sometimes not exactly in that order.

As Judy sat on her couch, she tapped an app on her phone. The app was a baby name generator.
As she picked names, she wrote them on to bits of paper and placed them in a large bowl.

She would then have Jada and Tammy draw a name. But they couldn't tell her what the name was. Judy would call Nick on MuzzleTime and draw for him.

"Alright, carrots...It better not be a rabbity name." Nick teased and Judy laughed.

"Whatever. Okay now let's look at the names." She held her phone up so Nick could see.

"I got August." Tammy stated.

"Eh..I got Aiden."

"Why the tone?" Nick asked through the phone.

"She had an ex named Aiden." Judy explained briefly.

"Heh, guess we got us a heart breaker, fluff." Nick smirked and Judy frowned. "I guess..Okay Nick, now's our turn."

"Please be a non-carrot name." The fox chanted.

"Aleah." Judy read off the paper.

"Hm..sounds like a peace maker." Nick stated.

"Yeah, at least she doesn't sound like a trouble maker." Judy shot back, grinning at her phone.

"So we got, August, Aiden, and Aleah. They sound like bunnies." Tammy figured, just by the names.

"And, they all start with an A." Jada added.

"Aw, I wanted a Nick Jr." The red fox pouted and the bunnies laughed.

"Well ya got two boys." Said Judy.

"And you got a sassy girl."

"Aleah will not be sassy." She stated sternly.

"I was talking about you carrots." The fox chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Dumb fox."

"Even dumber bunny."

"Bye Nick." She laughed, hanging up.

Judy looked to her sisters, "Wanna make some cupcakes?"

                        XXXX

"Ah, Carrots! What did ya put in these?!" Nick exclaimed, washing his mouth out after eating a cupcake.

"Hmm. A little sugar, spice, and everything nice." She grinned.

Tammy rolled her eyes, "She put hot peppers in them."

"Hot peppers!?" The red fox exclaimed, gargling the water.

"And hot sauce, potato chips, edible glitter and French fry seasonings." The bunny chirped proudly.

"How do they taste?"

Nick frowned while pulling a potato skin from his teeth. "They taste like hell."

Judy's eyes shifted towards the fox, "Then you cook."

"Gladly." Nick agreed and began  cleaning Judy's mess.

Judy sat down at the kitchen table and sighed, "Do they really taste that bad?"

"You put hot sauce and potatoes in a cupcake! Of course it'll taste bad!"

"It tasted fine to me."

"Because you're pregnant, you'll eat pickles and ice cream for sheep's sake!"

"Actually. Could you make me some real quick?"

"Sure.."

"YAY! Wait..." the bunny frowned. "We don't have ice cream."

The fox grinned, "Exactly..so eat a pickle." He handed her a cucumber.

"That's not a pickle."

"Cucumbers are pickles, dumb bunny."

The bunny broke into tears and covered her face. "Why do you always have to correct me?!" She cried.

"Fine. You want ice cream? I'll make you some." The fox said and then groaned.

"I don't want ice cream anymore. I want a milkshake."

"A MILKSHAKE IS ICE CREAM!

"See! You always try to correct me!"

"Because you're so dumb!"

The bunny looked up and scoffed, "Okay, at first I was just acting so you could get me ice cream, But calling me dumb is an understatement. Dumb fox."

Nick somewhat sighed in relief then chuckled, "I thought you were actually crying."

"I thought you were actually smart enough to turn the stove on before cooking."

Nick squinted his eyes at her and whipped around to see his food wasn't cooking. "Ha. Sly bunny."

"I know I am."

"Alrighty then, bun bun. What do you want to eat?" He asked as he left the stove off.

"Fish. Or better yet, sushi."

"Sushi?! We'd have to go all the way to tundra town for that!" The fox nearly shrieked.

"Right. So I can go ahead and say hi to my favorite artic shrew."

"Mr. Big?" Nick scoffed.

"No! Fru Fru!"

"Oh. But I still think he doesn't like me." He sighed.

"Fru Fru is not a he."

"I was talking about Mr. Big!"

Judy stood up and grabbed her jacket. "There you go correcting me again."

Nick rolled his eyes and followed the bunny out the door. Outside, there were still signs of winter due to the melting snow and chilly weather. But then, signs of spring were noticeable too. The small plants sprouting, or the normal ray of sunshine.
    Judy breathed in, taking in the cool and damp air. It was calm outside. It was oddly quiet. Probably because it was Sunday and everyone wanted to enjoy their day off. "Nick, did you know that today is a beautiful day?" Judy chirped, clinging on to Nick's arm.
"Only because you're with me, carrot cake." The fox hummed, placing his arm around his bunny.

Judy blushed and sighed. This fox still makes me blush..

"Whiskers, Do you want to walk or drive to Tundra Town?" He asked her.

"Better off driving. Unless you want me to complain about my back and feet pains."

The fox chuckled and motioned Judy to sit on a bench. "I'll be back with the car, you stay here."

Judy nodded and sat on the bench. Smiling as she saw two children playing at a park. It was coincidentally a bunny and a fox.

The fox seemed to be wearing a ranger scout outfit and a matching green hat that brought out his orange fur...and green eyes.
   Judy raised her eyebrow as the fox looked oddly similar to hers. Only this one was younger. Her eyes shifted to the little bunny and she gasped. Grey fur, fake police costume, a joyful smile-

Before Judy could finish her thoughts she was broken from them by laughing. The bunny looked down and saw two familiar faces. Hers and Nick's.

"Wh-what...?" The bunny questioned in shock. She looked around to find that she was in a field. Just swaying green grass.
And those two kids were right in front of her.

"Alright, where am I?" Judy growled, glaring at the two.

"Relax older Judy. You're where you're supposed to be." The miniature Nick said.

Judy raised an eyebrow, "You two better explain why I'm here or else."

The small Judy nodded. "We're here to tell you what is to come of your future." She paused to let it sink in. "There will be great pain-"

"By that she means child birth." The small Nick cut in.

The little bunny glared at him and continued. "However, from that pain will be love. In your future, perhaps our future; there'll be a terrible accident."

Little Nick cleared his throat and spoke.
"Sadly, this is how the story goes. It's not our fault the author pre-wrote it."

"Wait what?" The two bunnies asked but little Nick shook his head.

Little Nick sighed, "Ah, never mind!

"What I am saying is, You can't change your fate. But you can prevent it. Just keep a tight grip on that fox of yours. He's all you'll have in the end."

Judy frowned, "Okay, You two are scaring me."

"We're trying to warn you."

"About what?"

The two kids looked at each other and linked paws. "Remember, You decide your fate." They both said before running off.

As they did, the world began to piece back to normal. Judy stared as she saw the two playing, this time the fox wore a green shirt with brown pants as the bunny wore a blue shirt with jeans.
  The fox turned to her and winked before disappearing with the bunny.

Judy's eyes remained wide with confusion. "What was that?" She questioned to herself.

"C'mon carrots!" Nick yelled as his red convertible pulled up near the side walk. Judy stood up, giving the place a once over before getting in the car her fìancè.

Those words replayed in her head, You decide your fate..

"What does that mean?" She muttered.

Kisses Of The Rain..

A fate you decide