Chapter 2 - Start with an Apology
As much as Judy wanted to get back to work, she knew Chief Bogo wouldn't let her start work again just yet…besides, she did still feel a little sick, just a little. It was enough to keep her home, and she wanted to use her free time to visit a certain friend.
Judy pulled out her iPhone and dialed Fru Fru's number to MuzzleTime with her, but when she heard the dial tone, she started to worry if she should even be calling right now. Pregnancy can be very stressful, and it can't be any better for a delicate little arctic shrew like Fru Fru. Worst case scenario Should she risk it?
Too late. Before she could hang up, the dial tone ended, and Fru Fru answered the phone, and she was happy to see Judy's face.
"Oh, hey, Judy!"
"Hi, Fru Fru…this isn't a bad time, is it?" Judy asked sheepishly.
"Oh, of course not, Sweetie! I've always got time for you! What 'cha need?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me where your sister is?"
"Oh, you met her? Good for her! Poor thing, she's so shy, I didn't she'd go."
"Well, she did. She's really nice. Thanks for asking her to meet me, too."
"No problem. And to answer your question, I do believe Stella is at work right now."
"Where does she work?"
"Fredrick's Flea Market, but her lunch break should be in about ten minutes, and she always goes to Star Bucks."
"No surprise there," Judy mumbled, "anyway, thanks, Fru Fru! You and Little Judy have a nice day!"
"Aw, thank you," Fru Fru said sheepishly, and then Judy hung up, and she was rather excited to go because she really liked Star Bucks too.
Stella sighed in relief when she finally got her large coffee with heavy whip on top, as she stared at the twelve-point white tailed deer logo on the side of her cup.
"Thank you, sir," Stella thanked the white tailed buck behind the counter and paid him the money she owed for the coffee, and once it was paid for, she went to sit alone at one of the tables outside, enjoying the warm afternoon sun.
But she knew her coffee would be too hot to drink right now, so while she waited for it to cool, she pulled out her iPhone 5s and started scrolling through some old photos on her photo stream.
Most photos brought back happy memories; for example, selfies she took with her big sister Fru Fru or her daddy Mr. Big. Even if she was a fennec fox, the arctic shrew family fell in love with her when they adopted her, and Stella honestly couldn't ask for a better family.
But as she continued to scroll even farther down to the older photos, mostly the first ones she took when she received her phone…a particular photo made her freeze. It was a selfie she took of herself as a teenager, but she wasn't alone in the selfie, there was another male teenage fennec fox hugging her, smirking into the camera.
Stella could remember the day she took that picture all too well, but she really wished she could just forget it completely…especially HIM.
"You were friends?" Stella gasped with fright when Judy suddenly startled her, and she appeared to have been reading over her shoulder.
"Oh, hey…it's just you, Judy," Stella sighed while calming down, and Judy took a seat in the chair from across the table, and she also bought a medium drink.
"I didn't mean to intrude, but…Fru Fru said I could find you here, and I wanted to talk to you about something," Judy began softly.
"Oh, it's ok. Even a bunny can be more curious than a cat," Stella chuckled, "what 'cha got there?"
"Oh, it's just a hot chocolate. Anyway, Stella, um…don't get mad at me for bringing this up, but…what caused you to react the way you did when you saw Finnick?" Judy began sheepishly and her head shrunk into her shoulders, hoping Stella wouldn't get mad.
"I understand if it might be too personal to discuss out loud, but I just want to-."
"No, no, it's ok, Judy. I'm not mad, "Stella reassured with a smile, but her smile soon turned to a frown when she sighed sadly, "Finnick and I met in music class in middle school, and we were great friends for a long time, but then it all just…went downhill. What happened between Finnick and I was…unfortunate…I-I don't know why he did what he had done, but whatever the reason, it's just not that easy to forgive."
"Well…what DID he do?"
…
"I don't wanna talk about it."
"And that's perfectly understandable, but is there ANYTHING that would make you forgive Finnick?"
"I wish there was…I just don't want to risk giving someone my full trust, and then have it thrown away again," Stella replied, a tear nearly rolling down her cheek if she hadn't wiped it away.
"What about me? You trust me, don't you?" Judy asked with worry.
"Oh, of course I do, Judy. You saved my sister's life, and if my sister trusts you, then so do I."
"Thank you. By the way, I'm sorry you didn't get to be her first child's godparent."
"Eh, don't worry about it. It's like I said, you saved Fru Fru's life, you deserve to be the godparent of the first child."
"But how about I at least make it up to you by letting you be the second child's godparent. Deal?"
"It's a deal," Stella chuckled as she and Judy shook paws, but then she realized something, "so…why did you come to ask me about Finnick?"
"Well, here's the thing, I talked to him last night, and he's too scared to even go near you because of your dad. Maybe that's why you haven't been able to make amends with him yet."
"So, what…I need to talk to HIM?"
"That might be the best option that won't upset Mr. Big, yes."
"Oh, Judy, I don't know…I haven't talked to Finnick in years…not including the rude way I reacted to him yesterday," Stella protested with shame while scratching the back of her head.
"So, you DO feel bad about the way you treated him?" Judy quickly asked.
"Yeah, a little…"
"Well, the first step to rekindling a friendship can start with an apology," Judy pointed out with a smile, "from BOTH of you."
Finnick was driving through heated Sahara Square, Flo Rida's "My House" booming on his van's stereo system, when his nice little drive was suddenly the sound of a police car siren rang through the city, and it was right behind him.
"Oh, c'mon!" Finnick snapped and pulled over, "this better not be for under-aged drivin' again! I'm tellin' you, officer, I'm-!" But once Finnick looked out his window to see who pulled him over, he stopped and glared through his sunglasses when Nick and Judy walked up to the driver's door.
"What're you guys doin'?! You know I'm a grown little man!"
"We know, but we pulled you over for another reason," Nick pointed out.
"One, you were going five miles over the limit—but we'll let you off with a warning—and two, someone wanted to talk to you," Judy added, and that's when they heard the sound of their cruiser door opening and closing.
Stella stared at the ground the whole time, as she slowly and reluctantly walked up to Finnick's van and glanced up at him.
"Finnick," Stella greeted formally with a little bow of her head.
"Stella?" Finnick asked while pulling his sunglasses off, shocked to see her again, "w-what are you-?"
"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted yesterday…I-I have to be honest, it's good to see you again."
"Yeah…nice ta see you too…"
Finnick and Stella couldn't find the right words after that, and the air practically started to get weighed down with the awkward silence.
"Welp, I've got a city to patrol! See ya tomorrow at work, Carrots!" Nick suddenly piped up, and jumped into his police cruiser.
"You know it!" Judy jokingly shouted before the red fox drove away, but Stella and Finnick still wouldn't say anything. They wouldn't even look each other in the eyes.
"Um…Finnick? Isn't there something you want to say too?" Judy piped up.
"What?" Finnick questioned without a clue as to what Judy was talking about.
"Actually, Judy, why don't you head back home. Here's some bus tokens," Stella cut in while grabbing out some bus tokens from her pocket book.
"But what about-?"
"It'll be ok, Judy." With that, Judy reluctantly took the bus tokens, and after she left, Finnick and Stella were left alone with even more awkward silence.
…
"Stella, I-."
"Don't say anything, please. I want to know why you would deceive me like that. What did I ever do?"
"You didn't do anything, I swear!" Finnick quickly replied while opening the door and jumping down to get eye level with Stella, "everything I did, I did it to protect you!"
"Protect me? From what?"
"I…I can't tell you."
"And now you're lying to me again. Unbelievable," Stella scoffed and suddenly walked away in a huff.
"Stella, wait! Please!" Finnick begged but like yesterday, he didn't go after her. But luckily, Stella stopped this time.
"I know you don't trust me anymore…and you have every right to…but believe me when I say that I really do care about you. I just…didn't want to see you get hurt," Finnick sadly explained, and Stella looked back at him.
"But you hurt me anyway," she pointed out, making Finnick bow his head in shame.
"But I'm sorry."
Stella looked back at Finnick again, and what she saw in his eyes was true regret. And she didn't want to, but Stella actually started to believe Finnick was sorry.
"Finnick, I…I want to accept your apology, but I'll need some time," Stella stated sadly as she soon turned and left.
Finnick became more and more worried the further Stella walked. "You aren't gonna tell your dad we've been talkin' again, are ya?"
Stella couldn't help but smirk and giggle at that, and thanks to Finnick's big ears, he heard her giggle. And even though Stella still didn't stop and look back, he smiled at the fact that he made her laugh.
Later that night, Stella was at her father's mansion, safely tucked into bed with Cat-Thryn Lasky's "Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Burning" while leaned up against her pillow with the comfort of her grey bathrobe.
The cold winds of Tundra Town blew outside, making Stella happy she had a thick wool blanket to keep her cozy.
This is what Stella did every night to make herself sleepy, and it always worked, but just when her eyes started to get droopy, there was a light knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in!" Stella called while marking her page and closing the book. The door soon opened, and one of Mr. Big's biggest and toughest polar bear body guards entered while ducking in the smaller doorway and carrying a very pregnant Fru Fru in his massive arms.
"Hey, Stella!"
"Oh, hi, Fru Fru! What 'cha need?"
"I've got something exciting to show you," Fru Fru giggled with excitement, and signaled for the polar bear to set her down on Stella's nightstand.
"Here, give me your paw." With that, Stella slowly and carefully reached her paw out, and Fru Fru quickly grabbed it and gently placed it on her stomach. After a few seconds of feeling, Stella gasped when she felt a tiny movement.
"I felt a kick!" Stella gasped with excitement, and wore a huge smile on her face.
"I know! Isn't it adorable? She's been active all day, the little sweetheart. Just think, I'm gonna be a mom soon, and you'll be an aunt, Stella," Fru Fru sighed softly while rubbing her belly, making Judy kick again to her gentle touch.
"And I promise to be the best aunt ever," Stella stated firmly and smiled down at Fru Fru. But the sweet moment was suddenly ended when Fru Fru suddenly grasped her stomach with both paws and grunted in pain.
"What is it?" Stella asked with worry.
"I-I don't know! Maybe it's just a really big ki-OUCH!" Fru Fru pondered aloud, but she was interrupted with an even sharper kick.
"No, Fru Fru, I think you may be going into labor!"
"WHAT?!"
References:
Star Bucks-Starbucks
Cat-Thryn Lasky-Kathryn Lasky
I'm sure you're all thinking the same thing as Fru Fru. I just couldn't help but to leave you guys with at least one cliff hanger, and who knows? There might be more in future chapters.
But what will happen to Fru Fru and her baby? We shall see in the next chapter.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!