Nothing to fear

Chapter 4

Judy lay on the blanket with her head resting on Nick's thigh and he fed her another slice of fruit from the bowl of sweet tidbits he'd cut up the night before, the bunny playfully sucking the juice that clung to his fingerpads, her tongue teasing the tip of her claw. "You are completely naughty," the fox said with a smile, hie emerald green eyes half closed.

"You make me this way," the bunny replied and stretched a little, enjoying the way the fox's eyes drinking the sight of her. In honesty Judy enjoyed the way Nick looked at her, how he tried to act like he was ignorant of her flirtations as he always acted the gently fox for her. Judy had never had any of the bunnies she dated back in Bunnyburrow treat her this way. It had been fairly obvious what they'd been interested in, but Nick made her feel special. The fox regarded her as a complete equal and showed that he valued her in a thousand little ways. Whether it was his attempts to learn how to cook, especially the foods she liked, or getting up a little earlier in the morning, a monumental task for the fox, just so he could wake her up with a cup of coffee made just the way she liked it, Nick didn't just tell her he loved her, he demonstrated it.

Then there was this surprise trip to the Gardens. Judy loved this place, never having dreamed anything like it existed while growing up in Bunnyburrow. Flowers and orchids and plants from all over the world were here for the mammals of the city to enjoy. For the bunny it was a place of complete peace where all of the stresses of the day could be forgotten, and this particular spot was now her absolute favorite. Nick had found a secluded little nook that had a small pond full of brightly colored fish with a thin waterfall that splashed musically into the pool. It was like a little piece of heaven and he found it just for her!

As she looked up into his eyes she saw that they had darkened slightly as if reflecting the verdant paradise around them and caused her chest to tighten at the swell of emotions. When his paw touched the side of her head Judy's only recourse was to sigh as her eyes closed and she nuzzled her cheek into the warm, gentle strength of his palm and finger pads as her own paw took his wrist. "I could stay here forever," she whispered. Her complete relaxation came from the setting, the light snack and two glasses of sparkling blueberry wine she'd had and the feel of her fox with her. Life didn't seem like it could get any better.

"That would be nice," Nick told her softly. He looked around and saw that the sky had started to turn with the nearing of the sunset, the blue of earlier being replaced with a rose hue while the puffball clouds had turned a shade of lavender with magenta highlights. "This little outing isn't over, though."

"Oh?" Judy asked as she opened her eyes and smiled up at the fox. "There's more?"

"Definitely," Nick replied and shifted a little. "I found a box of my parents' stuff a few weeks ago that had been in storage for years. In fact, I'd forgotten about it. Too much history in it, I guess. But there were some things in there that were important. One of those things is something that I'd like to give you..." His voice trailed off and there was an odd tilt to it, a mix of bittersweet joy, which caused Judy to sit up. "It belonged to my mother and was given to her by her mother, and her mother before her. I thought I'd keep it in the family..."

The bunny watched as her fox slipped a small box from his pocket and opened it, offering it to Judy with a slight tremble to his paw. When her glance fell upon what was inside, the bunny felt her body constrict as her breath caught almost painfully in her throat. Resting on a tiny cushion of black velvet sat a ring of red gold, the band twisted from different strands of the metal before flaring out into a pair of heart shaped leaves that twined around each other. In the center of the leaves was an amethyst cabochon that Judy automatically knew were the same color as her eyes.

"The stone was missing so I had it replaced," Nick told her, his tone as delicate and fragile sounding as spun glass. "I know I'm just a dumb fox and that on top of everything else I'm a pred, but I swear I will love you the rest of your days. I...I can't think of where I'd be if it weren't for you. All I know is that I love you, Judith Laverne Hopps, and I would be the most blessed fox ever born if you would be my wife." He looked up and blinked his large green eyes slowly as his throat worked to swallow the lump that had formed back down. "Judy, will you marry me?"