Nick yawned, rolling his tongue and stretching as far as his limbs could reach while he padded down the sidewalk. Hearing a small pop in his back, he felt rejuvenated - the added pep in his step would be great when he got back.
Now on the same street that their house was on, he thought about what the rest of the day would hold.
It was just sunny enough to warrant him wearing his aviators and hot enough to merit a nice swim in the adjoining lake or just nap in the shade. Though he hadn't had the time for any such activity as he was on a mission, the idea of spending the day with his family had grown on him.
Speaking of family, he mused, tilting his head towards the vinyl siding of their recently acquired lake home. It wasn't the easiest to move into, not with their specifications, but it was a joy none the less. And to be on the outskirts of the Rainforest District and close enough to work was both an added bonus, and a convenience; the train station wasn't too far away, so trips to beautiful, scenic Bunnyburrow were always just a short walk - and sightseeing, Nick bantering, Judy huffing, Jack laughing, Skye starving, kit 'are we there yet'ing - and train ride away.
It even came with a complimentary mini mart next to it for all the snacks they'd need for the journey, though Skye and Andre usually tore through their rations in the first ten minutes.
The tod chuckled at the memory. He was thankful for having days off like that one - days like this one and the next, even. They were perfect!
Well... aside from the A/C unit being on the fritz. You'd think that being by a lake would cool the house significantly, but noooo. It was still slightly warmer than it should have been. And, y'know, Judy not being off with him as per Bogo needing one of them to finish reports. He offered, but she - and Amare - insisted that he take the day.
Still, he couldn't complain. It was home, and she'd be back soon.
Unpocketing his keys and heading straight to the front door, he wasn't surprised when, halfway turning the doorknob, the door swung open and an almost pure white vixen and the little meerkat perched on her shoulder both greeted him with exuberant smiles.
"Hey Nicky," greeted Skye, feeling her daughter lean on her ear and making her giggle.
"Hi Mr. Wilde," the meerkat, Portia, followed suit.
Them stepping aside, he greeted them both, "Hello Savage crew. No stripes today?" Stepping around the two to see if Jack was somewhere, he quickly found the bunny to be nowhere in sight.
He did, however, hear Portia nearly squeal with excitement. "Dad's meeting us for a surprise!"
"Ah." Just 'ah'. It wasn't unusual for Jack to go out of his way to plan something big for his wife and adopted daughter - or for anyone, rather. He was the lead agent of his organization, so surprises were second nature to him.
Walking into the kitchen and sitting his bag down on the dining table, he looked around. "Did the kits give you a lot of trouble?"
"Not any more than you do." Skye answered, trotting in. He noticed that Portia had fully taken refuge atop the vixen's head as it were her own balcony seat.
Blinking and recalling all that Skye did, Nick bit back a laugh. "I'm trouble?" He feigned his hurt by placing a paw over his chest, theatrically swooning. "Didn't you almost get arrested for all the fireworks - most of which were illegal in all states of Animalia, by the way - on the roof last year?"
The twinkle of mischief in Skye's eye let him know she wasn't backing down. She crossed her arms.
"One: They aren't 'fireworks', they're slightly less than legal celebratory incendiary freedom ignition sticks," she informed, scoffing. "Two: You helped me get most of those from a mutual friend," Nick scoffed at that. It wasn't his fault that Big just so happened to know her and have a few leftover pyrotechnics tools at his disposal.
"Three: It was in the backyard near the lake, so the damage was minimal." It was true. But only because someone promised to arrest her if she turned their roof into an armory - that someone being Judy. "Four: Judy was the one that accidentally set them off before Alicia and I were done setting them up, so the fire and noise complaints weren't my fault." Also true. That bunny, his bunny, had a tendency to set things ablaze. She wasn't allowed to use the stove anymore.
"And five: you didn't save me a slice of blueberry pie, so pfft!" Having given her list, Skye stuck her tongue out. Nick swore up and down she was more of a kit at heart than any kit ever.
Still, Nick shrugged. The pie was delicious. "I thought raspberries and chocolate were more your thing."
"Anyway, Nicky," He knew he was right, but still let Skye walk off with some semblance of a win. "We're gonna go see Jack about this awesome surprise." Portia on her head, they both waved him on, cheerful as ever. "They already had lunch and a nap. I'll finish fixing the A/C when I get back. It just needs a new coil."
The second the two had left, closing the door behind them, Nick could hear the scramble of paws making their way downstairs. It was a constant joy to him, even if he tried to contain some of it. His tail, however, never really could.
"DADDY!" came the shouts of glee. The clack of their little claws against the hardwood surfaces made their approach all the more imminent.
No sooner had he turned to face the fluffy wall of fur, he was nearly knocked down by the four. All giggling, smiling, and nuzzling him, Nick chuckled to himself. "Hey there, kitkats!"
Hugging him tighter than any other and with a whimper in his voice, Amare cheerfully greeted, "We missed you! I can't find my doll, and never leave again!"
"Hey dad." Both Alicia and Aubrey followed soon after.
Andre, of course, was the first to notice the bag on the table. Immediately, he raced towards it, hefting it in his paws before diving in muzzle first. "Did you get bug burga?"
Not surprised, but startled none the less, Nick reached over and plucked the bag from his paws.
"I got something for Judy," he defended, not wanting them to know and tell her so soon. "So it's a surprise. And nope, can't say anything about it yet."
Setting the bag on a higher surface, he smiled to himself. The kits were always curious, but this was something he had been waiting to show Judy first.
Satisfied with its new hiding spot, he turned to the wall of fluff. "So... what'd yall want to do until dinner?"
As it was only a few minutes after noon, dinner preparations wouldn't take place for a few hours. And even then, it was all decided on the whole house on what they wanted.
Alicia spoke first. "How about hide and seek?" she asked, her different coloured eyes flashing with uncontrolled mischief.
Arms akimbo, Nick tapped his foot in contemplation. "Hide and seek, huh?"
It was an easy game, usually. One that he loved playing as a kit himself, even with limited space and the only participants were he and his mother. Now with the kits, given their personalities and habits, Nick usually knew where to find them. Andre was usually in the kitchen, Aubrey somewhere quiet and Amare almost in plain sight. The hardest one to spot, however, would always be Alicia. She found more creative places to hide than anyone else.
From the boxspring of her bed to the small space behind the fridge and even under the drawer of a cabinet - to this day nobody knows how she found that spot - she had been the best out of her sibling when it came to the art of stealth. Nick couldn't have been more proud.
Now faced with the deepening look on each of their faces from the still smiling Alicia, to the almost pouting Amare, he let them linger a bit longer, pacing back and forth as was his theatrics.
Pivoting to them, he clapped his paws together. "Alright, hide and seek it is."
Leading them into the living room and feeling the warm air hit bristle his fur, he mapped out where they would likely end up. Amare was a given as was Andre. Aubrey had a few places and Alicia was unpredictable.
It shouldn't be a long game, he told himself. "You all know the rules. I'll stand here and count to ten and-"
"Twenty?" pleaded Alicia, her muzzle pointing every which way as if to find somewhere new.
Nick paused to think. She was definitely up to something, but as to what that was, Nick had no clue. It didn't mean that he couldn't be easy on them.
He complied. "... count to twenty, and you kits go hide."
With all of them nodding, he placed his paws over his eyes and counted a bit slower for them to scramble. "One, two, three-"
He heard a few footsteps pad casually upstairs; Aubrey, if he was right. "Seven, eight, nine-"
A few more seconds, a whole new sound made its way to him, the hum of an appliance in the kitchen, Andre.
"Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen," he heard one more pair of paws running around, but they were a bit everywhere. The little 'aha' let him know it was Alicia, but the crunching sound and overhead echo was a bit more perplexing.
"Eighteen, nineteen, aaaannnnddd twenty!" he finished, hoping to find them all. "Ready or not here I-"
It was when he opened his eyes that he finally saw what he had expected from the beginning, albeit a bit closer. The last kit there was Amare, standing in plain sight and swishing his tail. He was no farther than two inches away.
"Amare..." Nick sighed, nothing but a wide berth of a smile on his muzzle. "You can't hide in front of me. It's not a hiding spot."
The young tod laughed. "Alright, dad. I'll find the best hiding spot this time!"
The older tod couldn't help but laugh himself. "I'll count again. But this time, you've got to hide."
Closing his eyes again, Nick restarted his count. "One, two, thr-AGH!"
He didn't get very far as he felt Amare latch onto his chest, climb up his shirt and stay there, nuzzling him as he always did.
Now lurched over and having his favourite Pawaiian shirt stretched (one of twenty), Nick could only chuckle from the irony. Well, at least he's hiding this time.
Compensating for the weight, Nick thought of who he would seek out next and the closest one would likely be Andre. As he'd likely be in the kitchen, that was the best place to start.
The sudden rustle of a noise caught his attention. It was like little claws clicking on the table.
Slouching and resorting to his old method of leaning back and trying to see forward, Nick shuffled his way there. He could only shake his head and smirk at how right he was about the hungriest of his kits being close by.
The first clue that Andre was where he suspected? The partially open fridge...
Oh boy, what's he eating now?
As quickly as he could - which was about a snail's pace in December - he reached the fridge, opening it to a picture perfect image of what he imagined.
There Andre was, belly full and flopped over an open pizza box with a chicken leg in one paw, nibbled pizza crust on his cheek, and a bug burga in the other paw. Groaning and eyes swimming, he looked at Nick with an almost lethargic expression.
"Didn't you have lunch?" his father asked, attempting to fold his arms without jostling the giggling kit under his shirt.
Andre shook, trying to lift the burga. "There's... no ketchup..." were his last words before he leaned back, trying to take another bite of the chicken leg.
Reaching into the fridge and picking up Andre, careful not to jostle either him or his brother, Nick carried both kits to the living room again. Andre was much heavier than he recalled an Amare was... well, Amare. Both his loveable little tods.
He sat the still nibbling pup down on the couch, reaching over to grab a pillow to support him. As soon as he lifted the comforting cushion, he heard a grumble.
Looking in the space, he found another of his kits: Aubrey, to be exact. She lay listlessly, barely turning an eye up to her father.
"I got tired. So, I'm gonna take a nap." came her excuse.
Raising a brow, Nick went with it. That was three kits down, one to go. And though the odds were stacked in his favor, he couldn't help but feel as though Alicia was gonna make this difficult.
Now, where could she be? he wondered, taking a moment to think of all the good spaces.
He started his search in the kitchen cabinets - as she had a habit of attempting to hide in jumbo - Skye could go for another bowl of the stuff until she goes into a food coma and Andre's right behind her, so we gotta stop them and could you pick up some milk on the way back because it's on my schedule to do this again ten minutes from now when I'm hungry again - cereal boxes.
Rummaging through the cabins, he was distraught to find no Alicia. However, he did find the prize that came with the cereal: Amare's Nick Doll.
Scratching his head and figuring his rogue daughter had something to do with it, he set the doll on the table. Amare would probably want that back later on in the day. Or whenever he gets out of my shirt...
One place down, and about a thousand more to search, Nick went through the house.
From top to bottom, he went over the places she had been before, ensuring that he paid special attention to any and all small spaces he could find.
After a little while, he was worried.
She wasn't in her room (in the mattress, specifically), hiding in any of the filing cabinets, hidden in the electrical closet... under his shirt (still occupied by Amare). Alicia wasn't anywhere.
He even tried thinking of a whole slew of new spots including: behind the kitchen drawers, in the couch cushions and (thankfully not) the A/C unit.
Coming back full circle where the other two kits were, he was baffled. Okay, she's good. Too good...
Finally exhausting himself from any place that she could have gone in twenty seconds, Nick conceded.
"Alicia! Come on out, sweetie! You win this round!" he called, defeated and hoping that she'd surrender.
After a solid minute of her not answering, he felt a bit lost. His kits always answered when he called them.
His mind wandered to any possibility. Is she hurt? Is she outside somwehere? Where is she?!
"Alicia!" he called again, and again and again.
The sudden clicking of the front door caught his attention. He dashed around the corner, hoping to catch her in the act. He'd have a word with her after that, but proud that she managed to outfox him.
"Alright, young lady," he began as he rounded the corner, scolding prepared in advance. "Now tell me why you didn-..."
His muzzle shut on its own when he saw that it wasn't Alicia making a hasty escape. No. It was, in fact, his beautiful - probably shouldn't tell her that he lost track of Alicia - bunny wife, Judy.
"Carrots?!" he barked, grinning guiltily and taking a step back, hoping to make a last minute save. Scratch that, he'd have to run, but with Amare right under his shirt, that wasn't an option. He was a dead fox.
"Wait a sec... you're... home? Early?"
The workaholic bunny smiled and shrugged. Placing her keys on the counter, she answered. "I was done early. So Bogo gave me the rest of the day off."
And she was glad to be. As much as Judy enjoyed living out her childhood dream of being a cop, having her own family to take care of was unparalleled.
Stretching from an unexciting day of paperwork and a single booking, she pressed forward to the living room, but not before raising a brow at Nick's stretched Pawaiian shirt.
She was about to question it, but the moment she saw the little fluff of Amare's tail and the ticklish giggle coming from his father, she knew what was up.
Almost going into a fit of laughter herself, Judy decided it best to get all of the kits together for the news she had. Passing by her fox who looked a bit guiltier than normal, she was surprised to see Aubrey and Andre laying almost listlessly on the couch. Though the latter had good reason as he had pizza crust and a chicken bone in his paws.
Should I ask? she questioned, glancing between them for a moment longer.
Taking a seat next to them, she had to wonder, "Wait, where's Alicia?"
Just as soon as she asked, she felt herself being pulled over, a soft, warm weight lay atop her head. She looked up, seeing the bottom of Nick's chin as he nuzzled her with Amare still latched onto him.
The doe giggled. "What are you doing, Nick?"
"Showing you that I love you?" he half laughed.
It was true. He did love her, always. However, when he looked guilty, acted guilty, and tried to put off giving an answer, he usually had ulterior motives. Like that time he convinced her that he needed an elephant-sized bucket of rocky road, or when he needed a bushel of blueberries from the Hopps family farm, or when Skye supposedly ate that bushel and she had to request another one.
She huffed, Okay, so Skye did eat half of them...
Seeing through this ploy, she reached up and scratched at the base of his ear. It was the one thing she knew of that could ever get him to stop even for a moment, and, like every time, he started lightly kicking his leg.
She smiled. "I love you too," and just like that, when his guard was down, she stopped scratching and looked him right in the eye. "But that doesn't answer why I can only see three of four kits."
Nick promptly stopped kicking. Knowing the fury behind those violet eyes, he decided that it was best to fess up while he was still able.
He gave a cheesy, guilty grin. "We were playing hide and seek?"
And that was when the bunny's right eye started twitching. Staring at the tod's muzzle, she slowly spoke. "Hide and seek? With Alicia?!"
Nick nodded. He envisioned his words like a shovel that only helped him dig his grave even deeper.
"Would now be a good time to say that I can't find her?"
Before he could say more, the bunny stood on the couch, arms raised as she gesticulated. "What do you mean you can't find Alicia?"
This wasn't looking good.
Sighing, Nick looked around. "I looked everywhere I could but I can't find her. Her scent's here, but I don't know where she is."
Letting this soak in, Judy nodded. If Alicia was going to play that game, then so be it. She'd have a word with her after they found her.
Getting off her seat, the bunny made a plan. Five mammals searching for one, this would be a breeze, five minutes tops.
"Alright. You three-" she looked at the four foxes present on the couch. One of which was still hiding. She couldn't help but sigh reluctantly. "You two, help us find your sister," she commanded, stalwartly looking around for any clues "We need to sweep the house from top to bottom."
An affirming grumble was all the confirmation she needed.
About a half an hour later, after exhausting every possibility and even new possibilities, Judy was at her witts end. She didn't even know that there was a crawlspace in the icebox. Though now, with the sweltering heat starting to get to her, she was glad she looked there.
"Anything yet?" she asked, panting while pacing the living room floor.
The others had dispersed, but she could still hear them around. Nick made his way from upstairs again, shaking his head as he found nothing a third time.
"Nothing Carrots," he confirmed.
Another rustle caught their attention. The slowly sauntering tod came back from his journey with a half sandwich in his paws. He tried, failingly, to take a bite despite his overindulgence. "She's not... in the fridge..."
Both the bunny and tod huffed, "Andre..."
The last of them had practically never left. The little vixen casually swished her tail, tiredly lifting a couch cushion.
"Any clues, Aubrey?" Judy asked, hoping to have anything on their missing kit.
The vixen yawned, "Dad's gift is gone.
The bunny was taken aback. "Gift? What gift?"
Still waddling to and fro from an Amare that refused to let him go, Nick stopped. His ears flattened and he had to stop himself from coughing. She couldn't know what the gift was.
"Carrots, we have a whole Alicia to find. I can find the gift later." Was his solemn excuse.
Thankfully - for him and his nerves - she meerely nodded and looked around more.
Having been on the search for as long as she was and the room starting to feel like the summer months, Judy decided to take a momentary break. "Okay, it's getting hot. Let's just sit for a moment and think."
She walked to where the thermostat was about to set it down a few degrees when she remembered something. "Did Skye fix the A/C unit?"
"Not yet. She said she'd finish it when she got back." Nick replied, recalling what she needed. With a grin, he waved his paw to the switch next to it, almost daring Judy to turn it on. "Until then, we have good ol' 'anti binky' to keep us cool."
Judy narrowed her eyes to scold the fox, but even she knew it wouldn't work. For even she had to admit that the totally non fitting amber antique ceiling fan - Nick's fault for having a nack for antiques and then Skye's for pleading with them to allow her to install it because it lookled cool - that he so casually called the 'Anti Binkying Ceiling Device Effortlessly Foils Gamboling' or, 'Seven letter' was a necessary evil.
The medium-sized mammal thing was great to have in case of emergencies, but when you have a happy bunny that just may jump out of excitement, then it should be illegal to have. Which is why they were outlawed in Bunnyburrow.
She tapped her foot in faux anger. "That was one time."
Nick nodded, reminding himself of that terrifying moment and the laugh afterward... and, well, "Twice if you count when Jack forgot about it."
Nose twitching, Judy wouldn't disagree. She could but Nick had that one on video.
Making a mental note not to jump when the thing was on, Judy flicked on the switch. As the fan came to life, she wondered where their kit could be.
Alicia's the only one that could ever hide like this. But she's got to be close by, Nick said he can smell her. Ugh! As soon as I can think of the perfect hiding spot, I'll-
A small squeak rang out from overhead. Both Nick and Judy, baffled, tilted their heads upward. Their eyes were wide as they saw a little paw sticking over the edge of the fan, shortly followed by the red and white puff of a tail.
"A-Alicia?!" her parents said in unison, wondering how on EARTH she got up there.
The fan spun faster and the little kit tried to hang on only to lose her grip half a second later; the package she pilfered went flying away from her.
Falling from her perch, Alicia could only look down. It was a lot farther than she thought.
Springing into action the second she saw one the beloved little "Kit Kat's" in trouble, Judy leapt towards her without hesitation.
"I GOTCHA!" she ensured, arms out to rescue her when she was in reach.
Not one to miss her mark, Judy caught the wayward kit just in time.
Avoiding a trip to the emergency room and seeing her life flash before her eyes - and wanting to see another fireworks display - Alicia drew in a deep breath of relief.
That breath was cut a little short when both Nick and Judy embraced her, knowing that she wasn't in harm's way.
And a few seconds after that, when they set her down, Alicia timidly looked up at her parents who had donned their "You're in trouble" visage's.
"H-hey, mom and dad?" she started, already coming up with an excuse.
After a while of them going over why she shouldn't have done that, the 'I'm sorry and I promise I'll never do this again...' and the inevitble 'until next time', they all settled in for a while, just to relax.
They had all taken to the couch once Nick had secured his present, telling Judy that she'd have to wait until tomorrow to see what it was. And the kit that had taken the present was all toosorry.
Alicia was grounded - both literally and figuratively - Aubrey was still in her comfy spot, Andre had tried and failed to get off the couch to get into the fridge again and Amare was still hiding.
Just beside Nick on the couch, Judy sighed. Long day over, she still had work left to do. And chief of which was her announcement.
Propping herself up and mindful of the Amare sized attachment to his chest, she smiled. "Nick, I have some news for you."
Not knowing what it was, but hearing her jubilant tone, he went with his usual line of inquiry. "What's the bad news?"
She snickered. "The good news is," drawling, the bunny waited until he was about to ask again, but she finished the statement. "We... are gonna be staying home tomorrow!"
The kits (even Amare from his hiding spot) cheered.
Nick raised a brow. He already had the day off, so that wasn't news exactly. Chuckling and leaning over to rest his chin on her ears, he tried again. "The bad news, Judith?"
Her mate comforting her, she giggled, playing along, "You're grounded," she said in a faux harsh manner. "So you'll have to take care of the kits with me."
Said kits cheered again. Even the (not so) 'hiding' Amare wagged his tail a little more.
Nick laughed, "How's that bad news?"
Judy didn't miss a beat. "I won the tri-burrows hide and seek championship."
Nick almost wanted to say that wasn't a thing, but this was Judy... and he knew he shouldn't have challenged the thought.
He let the idea of any hiding space run through his mind. If Alicia's that crafty, then I can't imagine where Judy would try to hide...
Piecing this together, he wondered where a hide and seek champion would be found. Well, more so if they could be found.
He took a deep breath, preempting all the places he could think of.
Yet even then, he didn't realize that he'd not be dealing with just two champs, but three.
For nobody saw Amare until dinner.
This is a gift for the wonderful artist Credens-vita (Aka @msitubeatz on tumblr). The kit-kats are too cute and this was inspired by two drawings. One of Amare hiding in Nick's shirt, and another of Alicia falling with Judy there to catch her.
Why a ceiling fan? It was in a comment I made a long time ago. Also, totally gonna make the ceiling fan ban cannon in Bunnyburrow. XD
Where is Jack? Donno, probably getting Skye coffee flavoured ice cream. And Skye didn't get arrested for the almost fire that she half caused from slightly less than legal celebratory incendiary freedom ignition sticks.
Hope you enjoyed! See you soon. XD
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