Nothing to fear

Chapter 18

  "Are you sure you got enough at breakfast?" Bonnie asked for the fifth time. "It's a long drive back to the city and I don't want my kits getting hungry," she said with one of Judy's and Nick's paws in hers. "There aren't really a lot of places I trust on the way back for something that I'd consider decent to eat..."

"Mom, we had enough for breakfast," Judy said with an exasperated smile. "Plus we've got the bags of carrot chips, the blueberry cobbler cookies, the fruit basket..."

"We're going to have to hit the gym extra hard anyway with all of the wonderful cooking we've had!" the fox said with a happy grin. "And don't worry bout a thing. We'll have your tickets for the train and where you'll be staying all taken care of."

Bonnie looked concerned. "Are you sure?" she asked her daughter and son in law. "We don't mind getting a motel room on our own and train tickets aren't expensive, but they aren't cheap and­"

Judy chuckled and shook her head as she took her gown from Mari and got it put in the trunk of the car so it wouldn't get crushed or wrinkled while Nick took over. The fox held both the older bunny's paws in his. "Mom, really. It's no trouble. We want you there to celebrate with us. Just remember to bring your recipe book! There are some dishes I want to try to make for Judy. Especially your baked parsnips and carrots casserole." He smiled warmly and pulled her into a hug, his eyes closing as his chest tightened whenever he called Bonnie 'Mom'. "Besides, if I let you and Dad stay in a motel Uncle Ray and Aunt Marnie would never let me hear the end of it!"

"They don't mind that we're coming?" Bonnie asked as she returned the hug, still feeling that asking the older fox couple that she and Stu could stay at their house was a hefty imposition.

"They're excited!" Judy said as she joined the hug. "You'll love them! And remember your sewing basket! Aunt Marnie loves to sew or knit or crochet, just so long as her paws are busy and would love to have someone else she can share patterns and stuff with."

Stu came up, his arm going around Nick's back in the way he would do to any of his own sons. "You're all gassed up?" the rabbit began with a concerned expression. "Tire pressure's good? Oil and coolant are topped off?"

 "We are, they are, and yes," the fox said with a chuckle. "I almost love the car as much as I love Judy. I'm not going to let anything happen to either one if I can help it!" He added a wink that his wife couldn't see that got a laugh from his father in law. "We really will be fine, Dad," Nick assured him.

Another round of hugs once the trunk was closed had to be given before Nick and Judy were allowed to get in the car, the top down so they could both enjoy the glorious warm morning. As they pulled away, both waving and the fox tapping the horn twice they headed for the road that would take them back to the city.

"Good-­byes aren't really that easy with your family, are they?" Nick asked as they waved to yet another of the Hopps bunnies working the expanded produce stand near other market stalls.

It wasn't that bad," Judy said as she looked at the silver wrist watch that her husband had given her for her most recent birthday. "It only took an hour and change. With Mom and Dad that's pretty good! Really!"

"If you say so," her fox relented, taking a moment to fish his sunglasses out and flipping them open. Once they were in place he draped his arm over the back of the seat, the speed limit on the edge of Bunnyburrow keeping them in third gear, his paw teasing along Judy's shoulders and neck as he drove. "I think I'd like to come out here again," Nick admitted with a half smile. "I like the quiet. And I never knew that there were so many stars in the sky at night! Why didn't you tell me?"

Judy nuzzled her husband's paw, a smile of her own teasing her muzzle. "Would you have believed me?"

"I don't know," he said. "I mean, I've seen how it's depicted in movies, but I thought it was exaggerated. I've only seen the sky at night while in the city and the lights from buildings and all the streetlamps block out everything but the brightest stars and the moon when you can see it." He took a moment to get into fourth gear as they left the town limits and the next speed zone wasn't until they hit the little hamlet of Hillberry almost an hour down the highway. "Then again, I was distracted this time, too. I mean it really was hard to pay attention to the sky when I was on my back last night. You kept blocking the view. Although you were a lot more fun to look at..."