Bittersweet Memories Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters, they all belong to Disney.

Here’s that artwork that inspired this story: borba.deviantart.com/art/Judy-…

Bittersweet Memories Chapter 1

   Nick sat by their bed. His beautiful bunny reached over and gently touched his arm. The elderly Fox slowly rose to his feet and lay down beside her. Then purple eyes met green ones. He leaned close and touched his lips to hers and when the kiss ended he noticed that her ears were pink. He grinned and then he drew is bunny closer. He looked into her eyes again and she smiled. Eventually her eyes closed and he heard her breathing slow and then finally come to an end. He lay there for a time just holding his bunny and silently wept.

   He awoke and reached for his bunny. The other side of the bed was empty. Oh God! It wasn’t just a bad dream! She was gone! Again he felt the tears come and bit his lip. Then he sat up and wiped them away. He heard his Maria, his eldest daughter, in the kitchen fixing breakfast and smiled. She and her husband, Mark, and Mary, their daughter, had moved back in with them a few years ago to as they put it ‘help them around the house.’ Nick smiled at the euphemism.

   He took off his pajamas and walked into the bathroom. Then he looked into the mirror and wondered where all the years had gone. He turned on the shower and waited until it warmed. Stepped in he felt the hot water and reveled its heat. He was still in fairly good shape for his 89 years. Oh he had a few aches and pains, but all in all he didn’t feel too bad. He washed and then just stood there. Eventually the water began to grow cooler and then he shut it off. The hot air started and he stood there and just stared at the wall. He felt the tears coming again and rubbed his eyes. When he was dry he took a deep breath, stepped out, and started to brush out his fur.

   Afterward he went back to his bedroom and stared at the black suit hanging on the closet door. He dressed in a jogging suit and walked slowly to the kitchen. Maria looked up from her cooking and then hugged her father.

   “Morning,” he said.

   “Dad, I … ,” she began and started to cry.

   He patted her back and returned the hug.

   “Shhhh, I’m doing OK,” he lied and then smiled. “It smells good. What are we having for breakfast?”

   “Chicken eggs and blueberry pancakes.”

   He bit his lip and then turned and sat down at the kitchen table. Soon Mark and Mary joined them and they ate quietly. He felt his granddaughter’s hand on his and he squeezed it. She burst into tears and he pulled her close and held her. He looked at his daughter and son-in-law and few tears fell from his eyes too.

   “Shhhh, come on I’m doing OK,” he lied again.

   Mary looked at him and he gave her a little smile. She just sat there and stared at plate and then ran off to her room. He looked at his daughter and son-in-law again and eventually they finished breakfast. Afterward he just walked around the house just looking at things and remembering. Then he went to his granddaughter’s room and knocked. She opened the door and then looked at the floor.

   “Granddad, I’m …”

   “It’s OK,” he said and put a finger under her muzzle and raised the head. He smiled and put an arm around her. “I have an idea. Why don’t we go for a little walk?”

   He got his cane, led her outside, and noticed the dark clouds in the distance. BunnyBurrow was usually beautiful this time of the year, but today … it just didn’t really matter. Their house was set back in a hollow with many trees surrounding it. He looked around and remembered how Judy had fallen in love with this place when they’d retired from the ZPD. Where had the time gone?

   With his arm around Mary they walked on a path though the forest until it ended in an open field. He looked and could just see the Hopps burrow in the distance. He smiled remembering how they use to walk over and having lunch with her parents several times a week and vice versa. Then feeling the sun he looked at the sky and guessed it was getting close to noon. They started back and he saw the all the cars in the driveway. The rest of his children and their families had arrived.

   Later he went to his office alone and booted up his computer. He just had to get away and do something normal he did every other day! He went to the BunnyBurrow Times website to read the news as he did everyday for the last twenty some odd years. He saw his Judy’s picture on the front page and felt the tears again and had to blink them back. As he read the story he just had to smile. It went on for three pages and they mostly had everything correct. He read it again and then lost himself in his memories.
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   “Dad,” Maria said coming into the office and he jerked awake, “we need to get ready.”

   “Thanks,” he said and rose.

   “Dad, let me …” she began and reached for him.

   He held up a hand and stood.

   “I’m OK,” he said and then patted her arm. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”

   He went to his room and stared at the black suit. Mechanically he put it on and then looked into the full length mirror.  His lip began to quiver and he bit it until he tasted blood. He straightened his fur and walked back to the kitchen. Only Nicholas, his son, was waiting there for him.

   “Nick, I’m so sorry.”

   He looked at his son and it just came out.

   “Me too, damn it!”

   “Nick …”

   “Sorry,” he said and patted his son’s arm. “You didn’t deserve that.”

   Nick sat the table and stared at nothing at all. Nicholas put a coffee mug in front of him and sat beside his father. Then he felt Nicholas’s hand on his shoulder. Nick took a sip and they sat there quietly.
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   Nick felt like this ride was the longest of his life. Nicholas parked and they walked into funeral home with all his family around him. They were led to the chapel and he stopped at the door seeing the coffin. A large picture of Judy from her police academy graduation sat beside it. They’d both agreed on a closed casket and he only wanted to remember her as she was in life. The service started, but he remembered little of it. He only stared at her picture remembering. Then it was over and they were following the hearse to the Hopps cemetery.

  They parked and then it started to rain. He walked to grave with his family and friends around him. The coffin was already in place and covered in flowers. The priest began to speak, but again he remembered little of it lost in his own memories. Then it was over and he was helped to his knees by Maria. He said a small prayer and wiped his eyes. Then he stood and looked down at her grave and smiled.

    Judith Laverne Wilde
My Love, My Life, My Beautiful Bunny
December 25, 1992 - March 5, 2072

Continued in megumisguy.deviantart.com/art/…