A Fox’s Tale
By Joshua Fox
Susan Felin, Debbye Squirrel, Cindy Lapine, Clarence Skunk, Chris Foxx, Rodney Lapine and Wanda the Vixen are copyright Chris Yost. Zig Zag and Max the Black Rabbit are copyright Max Black Rabbit. Sabrina Mustleidae, Tabitha Mustelidae, Tammy Vixen, Sheila Vixen, Tor the Dog and Amy Squirrel are copyright Eric w. Schwartz. Lilian Bartholomew, James Sheppard, Rhonda Badger and Tamara Rabbit are copyright James bruner. Marvin Badger is copyright James Bruner after a description by Chris Yost. Robert Fale, Veronica Salese, Melanie Turres, Joshua Fox, Jim Leard, Ralph Dix, Shawna Coon, Kris Coon, John Anderson, Wilde Cat, Aaron Cole and Tara Nadine are copyright Joshua Fox. Blue Wolfe, Veronica Sutter, Melanie Turres, Kyrin Cat and Kittiara Seng are copyright themselves. Tyler Leone is copyright Michael Mullig. Thomas Woolfe is copyright Mike Higgs.
Legal Notice: This story is copyright 2000 by Joshua Fox. This story may not be sold or used for commercial profit in any form or fashion. This story may not be modified in any way. This story may not be posted on a mirror site or any internet site without the written permission of the author. This story may not be distributed on print, magnetic, electrical or optical mediums.
Permission to use characters that are copyright other individuals was obtained prior to the appearance of said characters.
This an independent work of fiction with no connection whatsoever to any other stories or works by anyone else and does not imply any connection to the before-said sources. As far as these sources are concerned, this story doesn’t exist. They disavow any knwoledge and do not officially sanction the events in the story.
Chapter 7- Almost there
Dang! I thought this would be more helpful. Josh grumbled as he placed the book down on his coffee table, taking a moment to rub his eyes. He’d read the book cover-to-cover near twice now, having gone back to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Josh stood and stretched his back out, now being reminded of his long period of inactivity by the cricks emanating from his spine.
All that did was tell me what I already know. Josh picked the book up again, looking at the index and seeing ‘procedure’ clearly printed as one of the largest sections. Yet when he had reached it (Josh was never one to simply skip to a section in a book, no matter how irrelevant the rest of it may be) it had only told him obvious things; politeness, pulling out chairs, opening doors and the like.
Opening doors for goodness sake! Josh did that for furs that he didn’t even know! As if any fur would need to be told to open a door for a female. It all seemed too obvious to him. All he had seen listed in that section of the book was part of his normal behavior. Josh chuckled softly as he padded over to his bookshelf.
Now wouldn’t that be ironic; after all that advice and what I put Rob through, that all I would need to do was be myself. Josh laughed and shook his head. No, It couldn’t be that simple. It seemed as though that’s what he was going to try, however, seeing as he only had two days left to prepare for his date. It was doubtful he’d find a new source in that short time. Josh continued think all this over as he padded over to his shelf and placed his new book at the end of the row. As he turned back, however, something registered. Josh looked to where he had placed it and took a quick scan of the books that were next to it. There were books on theology, psychology, as well as quite a few more on History and philosophy. Then he glanced over to the book he had just placed on the shelf. ‘A Fox’s Simple and Neat Guide to Dating’. Josh couldn't help but grin amusedly. Perhaps my tastes are changing.
He yawned and padded back over to the couch, flopping down as he tended to do when relaxing. Josh stole a glance over at the wall clock, confirming that his guess about how much time had passed proved quite correct. Josh snatched the cordless phone up in his paw and dialed, stretching out his neck a bit as he waited for the other line to pick up.
"Yallo?"
"Heya, Blue," Josh put his feet up on the coffee table.
Blue put his book down as he heard Josh’s voice. "Hey Josh. What’s up?"
Josh grinned slightly as he looked upwards. "Well, that spoon is still stuck in the ceiling," Josh jokingly observed. "Remind me not to let you handle the silverware while you're over here."
Blue furrowed his eyebrows. "You know what I meant, silly," Blue grinned as he recalled the day he had tried to show Josh his 'spoon trick'.
"Never could fool you," Josh chuckled on his end of the line. "I wanted to know if you’d like to join me at the gym. The day’s still young, you know."
Blue instantly perked up. "Sure, I’d love to!"
Josh couldn’t help but laugh. "Well, don’t act excited or anything now."
Blue giggled. "Sorry, but there’re two new guys that just started working out there. They’re both just so cute."
Josh thought for a moment. "New guys? I don’t remember seeing anyone new the last time I was there."
"You probably haven’t seen them yet," Blue began to explain, getting up from his chair and padding over to his closet to get his gym stuff. "There’s that one skunk that just joined, he seems like something of a nerd, but he’s got a cute charm about him. I don’t think he’s ever been to a gym in his life."
Josh nodded, understanding instantly. "Didn’t know how to use the machines, right?"
"Nearly tore his arms off," Blue held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he took out his gym bag.
Josh had seen some of that before at the gym. If you didn’t know what you were doing, you could really get hurt. "Hope I see him. I’m used to most of the machines in there. Maybe I can give him a few pointers."
Blue grinned quite evilly. "And then I can give him a-,"
"Don’t say it, Blue!" Josh stopped him in mid-sentence. "Leave the poor guy alone until he’s a bit more comfortable on those things, okay?"
Blue only responded with an evil laugh.
"Shut up!" Josh couldn’t help but laugh, but he was nonetheless being serious.
Blue only grinned as he threw his gym clothes into the bag. "Hey, I didn’t say anything."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but you were thinking it."
Blue giggled as he got down on all fours, rummaging through the closet for his paw grips. "Well, it’s not my fault you know me so well."
Josh held his paw to his forehead and grinned, finally giving up. "Want me to pick you up?"
Blue found the grips and slipped them onto his paws, securing the velcro straps. "Actually, I was hoping we could go by foot. That way we could walk together most of the way."
Josh thought for a moment and nodded. He always enjoyed a brisk walk. "Okay, sounds good to me."
Blue grinned as he slung the gym bag over his shoulder. "Maybe then you can carry me."
Josh scoffed at that one. "Blue, I am NOT carrying you."
Blue pouted on his end of the line. "But you did it before."
Josh growled jokingly. "That’s because you told me you twisted your ankle!"
"And you were silly enough to believe me," Blue giggled again as he padded to his front door, stopping next to the phone cradle. "I’m gonna start walking, Josh. I’ll meet you there, okay?"
Josh took his feet off the table and stood up, padding over to his coat closet; his own gym bag already assembled and ready. "Alrighty. See you there, buddy." Josh hit the off button and placed the phone on the charger before moving out the door. After locking up he swung the bag over his shoulder and started the walk to the gym.
###
Thomas sat on the bench, his foot tapping impatiently against the pavement as he waited. Tyler had been at the court earlier to play a few games, but he had left a while ago. Thomas hung his head as he thought about it. He had near begged Tyler to stay a little longer, even just for a little free throw practice.
This is getting pathetic, Thomas thought as he palmed the basketball. I’m a grown man, for goodness sake. I shouldn’t have to beg someone to keep me occupied.
The cold showers were becoming less and less effective for him, and basketball only seemed to curb his tension when playing with another fur. After Tyler left, Thomas had continued to hang around the court, hoping some furs may come along to play a game. It had been over an hour, though, and he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of anyone since. Even a group of kids had refused to let him ref their game last week. Thomas checked his sports-watch and sighed. He couldn’t go home yet. He couldn’t go home to those beautiful eyes of Amy’s, her long flowing hair, her captivating smile, her round, voluptuous… well, he just couldn’t go home yet. Thomas looked down the walk and sighed, hoping someone would come along soon.
###
"Suse, you feeling okay?"
Susan blinked and quickly looked to the cheetah that had addressed her. "What?"
The cheetah stood next to her, placing her pom-poms down on the bench. "You haven’t been yourself today."
Susan shook her head for a moment before she remembered where she was. Susan had been daydreaming since she had arrived at practice and her fellow cheerleaders were beginning to become concerned.
"No, I’m fine, Veronica. Where were we?" Susan said quickly, trying to cover up for yet another lapse during the practice.
Veronica gave Susan a slightly confused look. "Um, Suse, we haven’t started yet. You’re the captain of the squad, afterall."
Susan nearly blushed, but was able to fight it off. "Oh, okay then. Let’s get started," She looked over to a petite white cat that was standing a few feet away. "You bring the music, Tiff?"
Tiff nodded and held up her boom box. "As always," She looked at Susan and the three other furs in front of her, sighing. "I can’t believe we’re all that's left of the squad. Where’d everyone go?"
"Well, we lost three with the graduating class, and then there was that one girl who dropped out of school," Susan thought and shook her head. "But even when they were here we didn't have anywhere near the number we usually do."
Tiff nodded as she took Susan's words in. "Yeah, but why?"
Veronica shrugged. "Maybe it’s because the football team is so bad this year. Have they even won a game yet?"
The other four uniform-clad females could only shake their heads.
"I thought so. Even if that’s not the reason, I doubt it’s helping," Veronica sat and rested her paw beneath her chin. "What about that girl Sabrina? She looks like she’d do well."
Susan could only shake her head again. "She won’t. She’s convinced she wouldn’t be able to cut it as a cheerleader," Susan giggled as a stray thought popped into her head. Not that she minds borrowing the outfit. "Besides, she’ll be leaving soon."
"Oh yeah," Tiff placed her boom box on the bench. "You told us about hat. She’s moving to Pennsylvania with that fox, isn’t she?"
"You bet," Susan sat down next to Veronica. "Barely a month left before she leaves."
Veronica furrowed her brow in thought for a moment. "Is that the same fox she was with at the dance a while back?"
"The same," Susan stretched out her back in her uniquely feline way, warming up a bit.
Veronica near swooned at Susan’s answer. "Oh, lucky girl. He was a good one."
Tiff rolled her eyes at Veronica’s reaction. "Oh, please! You say that about every fox you’ve ever seen, known or gone out with!"
Veronica only grinned in response. "Well, I do have a thing for vulpines, I’ll grant you that, but I just love fox tails! They’re so cute and snuggly!"
Susan’s thoughts had drifted again, but at least now she was half-aware of what was transpiring around her. "Yeah, I've got a date with a fox myself on Thrusday."
Veronica pouted immediately. "Lucky. He have a brother by any chance?"
Susan grinned, always amused at Veronica’s fascination with foxes. "If he does, I’ll tell you, okay?"
Veronica jumped up and bounced several times, holding her paws close together. "Great!"
Tiff watched Veronica for a few moments, shaking her head. "Everyone ready?"
Susan looked at her watch. "Geez! We’d better get started," Susan gave a glance over to the bleachers, grinning. "We wouldn’t want to keep our fan waiting now would we?"
Veronica tilted her head to the side. "We have a fan?"
Tiff growled as she nodded towards the bleachers. "It’s that ferret who comes to all our practices. I wish he’d quit coming around."
Susan shrugged it off. "Why? He doesn’t do anything. He just watches us while we practice."
Tiff's attention returned to the bleachers. "But he’s got binoculars, for goodness sake!"
Susan looked up again and just waved it off with her paw. "Well, he doesn’t disrupt practice, so it really doesn’t matter."
Tiff took one more look to the bleachers before conceding. "Fine, but I still don’t like him watching us."
###
"Okay! Now the show begins!" Rob grinned as he peered down at the field, binoculars held to his eyes as he watched the cheerleaders begin to take their palces on the side of the field.
Rob chuckled as he peered more closely. Susan! Now let’s see… Rob’s free paw began to scribble on the note pad he had brought with him, not taking his eyes off the field for an instant.
Waist… uh-huh… neck length… got it... cup-size… HELLO SUSAN! Rob grinned quite evilly as his keen eyes calculated the lioness’ measurements. Josh is gonna thank me for this!
Rob had felt kinda bad about not being able to tell Josh what he wanted to know earlier, so he figured if he could get Susan’s ‘stats,’ so to speak, he might make it up to him somewhat.
Rob continued to watch, his grin changing to a slightly more serious expression. Gotta concentrate. I’m doing this for Josh. Rob’s grin quickly returned, however, after seeing a rather nice handstand. Well, maybe not all for him.
Rob’s free paw continued to move the pen it was holding, taking down each measurement as he observed them.
Lessee… leg length… Hmmm, good jump height... Rob looked away for a moment and set the binoculars down, his paw taking some of the popcorn he had brought with him and munching. Rob brought the binoculars back up to his eyes as he swallowed. Where was I…? Oh, yeah. Flexibility…
"GYAH!" Rob’s right paw clenched, snapping the pen in two as his eyes bulged near out of their sockets. Rob had just witnessed one of Susan’s famous mid-air splits. His tongue flapped out of his muzzle immediately and hung there, his body not moving an inch as he stared in awe.
Rob shook his head after, though, snapping himself out of it. I’ve really gotta stop doing that.
He had seen Susan do that move time and again, but it still had the same effect on him. Rob breathed out slowly, taking control of himself. He tried writing his next measurement down, only to find that the top half of his pen had completely snapped off.
Rob shrugged it off and chuckled. Oh, well. I doubt I’ll have any trouble remembering that one. His attention quickly returned to the field, his gaze falling upon the other cheerleaders present. Hmmm, well, as long as I'm taking measurements...
###
"Now that was a great workout. Don’t you think?" Blue bounced a few paces alongside Josh before returning to his usual stride.
Josh chuckled as they walked along. "Hey, any workout is a great one. Anything I can do to work my body."
Blue grinned as he looked Josh over. "And quite an interesting one you’ve got. Its rare males are that flexible."
Josh shrugged as he walked along, adjusting the strap on his gym bag so it wouldn’t chafe his shoulder. "I’m not all that flexible. I can stretch but that’s about it."
"Please, how many males with a build like yours can reach their leg over their shoulder?" Blue giggled as he recalled the first time he had seen Josh do that. His tongue had nearly rolled out of his muzzle right there in front of everyone.
"It’s no big deal. Not like it’s a really useful talent or anything," Josh continued on as they rounded a corner. "It’s not like it’s gonna get me a nice job or anything."
Blue grinned evilly as he turned toward Josh. "Oh, a talent like that can get you some VERY nice ‘jobs’ believe you me."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Blue, do you think of anything else but that? Anything at all?"
Blue rested his paw under his chin for a moment, pretending to think hard. "Well, I think about guys, men and males. Not necessarily in that order."
Josh chuckled and shook his head. "And you keep saying Rob has a dirty mind."
Blue laughed at that little comparison. "That’s because he does. Besides, you don’t hear me referring to porn actresses as ‘my ladies’ now do you?"
Josh laughed hard. "You’re right, I forgot about that. He’s really smitten for a few of those ZZ studios actresses, isn’t he?"
"A few?" Blue almost snorted. "He’s nuts for all of them. You ever seen his collection? The boy’s out of control!"
Josh smirked at Blue’s comment. "Oh, and you don't have any trouble controlling yourself, do you?"
Blue feigned an innocent look, quite frankly not something he was good at. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on!" Josh’s eyes immediately rolled. "I had to save you in the showers today, again!"
Blue shifted his bag to his shoulder and held his paws behind him as he walked. "So? Anyone can have a lapse in judgement, you know."
"Blue, it’s not a lapse of judgement if it happens every time! One of these days you’re gonna piss someone off and I won’t be there to save you." Josh warned, shaking his finger at him. "You’ve gotta learn to control those impulses of yours."
Blue rested his paws on his hips and scoffed. "Oh? And who was the one who nearly dropped 180 lbs. on his head because he wasn’t paying attention?"
Josh stopped and rested his arm at his side. "Well… I was preoccupied."
Blue grinned and raised his eyebrows. "And with what, pray tell?"
"Uh…," Josh tried to say something to cover up, but nothing came. His mind had been on Susan nearly the whole day. While he had been at the mall, in his apartment, the gym, his thoughts had never once failed to drift back to the lovely lioness whom he would be taking out in just two short days. Susan… such pretty eyes…
Blue snapped his fingers in front of Josh’s eyes. "Hello? Earth to Josh! You in there?"
Josh shook himself back to reality. "Huh? What?"
Blue stood before him, looking more than slightly perturbed. "You zoned out on me again."
"Oh, sorry bout’ that," Josh shuffled his foot, looking embarrassed.
Blue thought for a moment, watching Josh. "This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with a certain date you have coming up would it?"
Josh looked up at Blue and stared for what must have been a full minute. He didn’t want to admit it, but Blue was his best friend. If he couldn’t tell him, whom could he tell? "Well, yeah, actually."
Much to Josh’s surprise, Blue broke out giggling. "I figured as much. This is your first date, afterall."
Josh scratched the back of his neck as he watched Blue. "So, this is normal then?"
Blue waved his paw and giggled. "Sure. It’s perfectly normal to be thinking of your first date this close to it."
"Really?" Josh was somewhat relieved, as his unusual preoccupation with Susan had concerned him. He had never thought of a female even close to this much before.
"Sure! It’s no b-, WHOA!" Blue tripped and suddenly lunged forward, landing with a ‘thud’ on the sidewalk.
Josh immediately rushed to his friend’s side. "You okay, man?"
Blue sat up and dusted himself off. "Yeah, I’m-," Blue’s mischievous mind, as it was inclined to do, suddenly kicked in. "OW! Ow! I hurt my ankle!" Blue emphasized his claim by clasping his ankle and wincing.
Josh, of course being concerned, knelt down next to Blue. "You landed on it? Can you walk?"
Blue winced more as he continued holding on to his supposedly injured ankle. "I don’t think I can," Blue looked up to Josh, taking his paws away and opening them toward Josh. "You’ll have to carry me." Unfortunately for Blue, he just couldn’t keep his amusement to himself and his grin shown through on his muzzle, making Josh aware that he had been taken.
"Grrr… Blue, stop doing that! You had me worried," Josh furrowed his eyebrows at the grinning wolf.
Blue dropped the act and giggled, amused by his own antics. "Well, it was worth a try. You know I love it when you carry me."
"ONCE! I did that once, Blue! And only because I was stupid enough to fall for those theatrics of yours." Josh scolded Blue, but he knew it wouldn’t make a difference.
"Well, care to help me up, then?" Blue extended his paw as he lay on the ground.
Josh sighed and complied, grasping Blue’s paw and easily pulling him up. "Just try not to do that anymore, okay?"
Blue giggled and unruffled his clothes. "Okay, fine. I’ll try and be good."
Josh knew this wouldn’t last for long, but at least it was a momentary reprieve from scenes like that. The two walked along further, chatting and such about this and that. Josh and Blue stopped for a moment at the intersection, waiting for the light to turn so that they could cross the street.
"Well, here’s where we part, pal," Josh patted Blue on the back as he waited for the walk signal to appear.
Blue looked up and saw where they were. "Oh, yeah. Shame you live in the opposite direction that I do. It’d be nice to be your annoying neighbor."
Josh laughed just as the signal for them to cross lit up. "Okay, then. See you, Blue."
Blue stood still and pouted, folding his arms. "I don’t want to go home, yet," Blue’s gaze moved past Josh and to the basketball court behind him. "Hey! Why don’t we play a game before we head off?"
Josh looked over to the court and thought for a moment, smiling. "Sure, why not? One game."
Blue and Josh padded over and opened the gate, entering to find a lone wolf practicing his free throws. Blue brightened up at seeing him. "Great! Maybe he’ll let us play."
Josh and Blue put their gym bags down near the gate and walked over to where the wolf was practicing his shooting.
"Howdy," Josh gave a wave of his paw as he addressed the sweat suit-clad fur. "Mind if we join in?"
Thomas looked over his shoulder at the two furs and smiled, glad to not be the only one in the court. "Sure, the more the merrier," Thomas moved the ball to his left paw and extended his right. "Name’s Thomas, glad you came along."
Josh nodded, grasping Thomas’ paw and shaking it firmly. "Same here. I’m Josh. This is Blue."
Thomas nodded and shook Blue’s paw, too. "Nice to meet you. To be honest I was feeling kind of silly playing with myself all afternoon."
Blue’s muzzle took on his all too familiar evil grin as he heard Thomas. His own comment was mere seconds from escaping his muzzle when Josh quickly jumped in.
"So! How do you want to go about it? One on two or a couple of one-on-one games?" Josh took a moment to furrow his eyebrows at Blue, knowing all too well what Blue was on Blue's mind..
Thomas dribbled the ball a few times and shrugged. "It doesn’t really matter to me. I just want to play."
Blue grinned evilly, still holding his comment of what Thomas had said before. "Well, I’ve always found three-ways to be pretty fun."
Josh firmly nudged Blue in the ribs with his elbow, but Blue only grinned in response.
Thomas held the ball in his paws, looking somewhat strangely at Blue. "Um, okay. I guess a three-way game would be fine."
Josh nodded and took a spot under the net, Blue taking one a few feet away and waiting. Thomas dribbled a few times and looked back and forth between the two. I wonder if… nah, doesn’t matter. Thomas bounced the ball high in the air and took it again, dribbling up towards the basket.
###
"Phew! That was a good game!" Blue breathed heavily as he dribbled the ball over to the bench. "I think I’m spent."
Josh padded close after him, panting himself, though not quite as hard. "Well, it would've been a lot easier if you hadn't put up so much of a fight."
Blue laughed hard and nearly choked. "Yeah, like I’d let you dominate so easily!"
Thomas trekked slowly behind Josh and Blue. "Wow, you guys are really… energetic."
Blue chuckled and sat down on the bench to catch his breath. "Yeah, well, Josh and I both have a lot of fun with physical activities," Blue laughed and pointed over to Josh. "Though he tends not to last too long when things get rough."
Josh scoffed and looked to Blue. "Yeah, right! I’ve seen you give five minutes in!"
"Hey, that only happened once! I’m WAY more experienced now!" Blue put his paws on his hips again, sticking out his tongue.
Josh laughed. "Yeah, yeah," Josh turned his attention to Thomas, who looked a little confused. "Hey, mind if I ask you a question?"
Thomas nodded and sat down. "Shoot."
"Why were you here all by yourself? Last time I checked basketball was a team sport," Josh joked, stretching out his shoulder as he spoke.
Thomas chuckled a bit before answering. "Well, I’ve been coming here to get rid of…shall we say, some excess energy."
Blue instantly nodded in comprehension. "Oh, you’ve been cut off, huh?"
Thomas blushed slightly, not having expected either of them to get it on the first try. "Um, yeah, sort of. You see, my wife," Thomas paused for a moment and smiled. It still felt kind of weird calling Amy 'his wife'. "My wife gave birth to my son a couple months ago."
Josh brightened up at that. "Hey, congrats!"
Thomas smiled and nodded. "Thanks. Problem is, after childbirth there’s this ten-week ‘safe period.’ And during the ten weeks, certain activities can’t take place."
Blue nodded, feeling more than a twang of sympathy. "Bummer. How many weeks you got left?"
Thomas sighed. "It’s already been ten weeks, actually, but we can’t find a baby-sitter. You see, every time we're about to... you know, we get interrupted. Our roommate usually sits for us, but right now she’s out of town on business," He shook his head and leaned back a bit. "She’s coming back in a few days, but it’s getting really hard… I mean really difficult to wait. I probably sound so selfish, don’t I?"
Josh quickly blew that off. "Pfft! Not at all, Thomas, I completely understand," He thought for a moment, smiling. "Heck, tell you what. I used to baby-sit a lot for my friend’s little sister. I’ll gladly help you out."
Thomas looked a little uneasy. "Well, I don’t know. Amy’s kind of reluctant to-,"
"Whoa, wait a minute," Josh put his paw up. "Sorry to interrupt, but did you say Amy?"
Thomas nodded. "Yeah, Amy is my wife’s name."
"That wouldn’t by any chance be Amy Squirrel, would it?" Josh asked, his curiosity more than apparent.
Thomas looked surprised. "Yeah, she is."
Josh laughed hard. "Blue and I used to work with her at E.S. Productions. You hear that Blue?" Josh turned to his true-Blue friend. "First I find Sabrina and then Amy. I'm pretty good at this."
Thomas’ suddenly became somewhat anxious; this little bit of information quickly working it’s way through his head. "She knows you? You’re friends?"
Josh scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I don’t know about ‘friend’ in the literal sense of the word, but we did work together for about two years."
She might trust him. Maybe she’d let him watch Timothy! Thomas’ left leg began to bop uncontrollably, his tail suddenly twitching furiously. "Would... would you watch my son tomorrow night while Amy and I go out?"
Josh smiled and nodded. "Sure, I’d be happy to."
Thomas smile spread all across his muzzle and his paws shook as if overcome with joy. Forgetting himself, he threw his arms around Josh and gave him a big hug. "Thank you! Thank you!"
"Whoa, whoa there!" Josh was surprised, to say the least, but made a point to be polite about it. "Geez, it has been a while for you, hasn’t it fella?"
Blue had turned away for a moment to watch a muscly Coyote walk the opposite way down the street, but immediately turned back when he heard Josh’s voice. Blue grinned widely as he saw Thomas hugging Josh and immediately lunged from behind. "Joshy-hug!"
Josh was taken by surprise and immediately tried to wriggle his way out. "GAH! Guys, get off me! And don’t call me JOSHY!"
###
A young tiger holding a basketball and bear cub stood just inside the fence, staring at the large Fox struggling to free himself from the grasp of two wolves.
The two cubs looked at one another with more than a little confusion, the tiger cub being the one to speak. "We’ve really gotta find a new place to play."
###
Wednesday Night
"C’mon, Amy. You worked with the guy for two years! You said he was a nice. You don’t trust him?" Thomas asked over his shoulder as he put on his jacket.
Amy sighed as she put on her earrings. "It’s not that I don’t trust him, Thomas. It’s just that I still feel a bit uneasy leaving Timothy with someone I don’t know everything about."
Thomas nodded slowly, understanding somewhat. "I know what you mean, but Sabrina said he hasn’t changed at all since when you worked with him, right?"
Amy thought as she fixed her hair. "Yes, she did say that."
"Would you have trusted him to watch Timothy back then?" Thomas hoped this would work, knowing he wasn’t exactly the most convincing guy around.
"Well," Amy thought carefully, remembering back to when she had worked with Josh. "Now that I think about it, yes, I would."
Thomas immediately let out a sigh of relief. "There we are then. I’ve never known Sabrina to steer us wrong yet, so I’m willing to trust both her judgement and yours on him."
Amy agreed and stood, giving her husband a hug. "I don’t know why I get so paranoid about this. Think this comes with being a mother?"
Thomas smiled and gave Amy a peck on the cheek. "I’d say most definitely. Ready to go?"
"But Josh isn’t here, yet," Amy pointed out as she held her spot in Thomas’ arms.
Thomas looked at his watch and chuckled. "Appears we're ready earlier then we thought we’d be. He’s not supposed to be here for another ten minutes."
Amy smiled softly as she linked her arms behind Thomas’ neck. "Well, since we’ve got a whole ten minutes," Amy’s eyes gazed softly into those of her husband. "Can you think of anything we can do to pass the time?"
Thomas’ gaze instantly locked with Amy’s, his smile matching the tender one gracing her muzzle. "Well, I can think of a few things."
Amy’s smile grew dreamier as she leaned her muzzle towards her husband’s, her body pressing softly against his. Thomas’ lips moved slowly towards Amy’s, his gaze never leaving that of his beautiful wife until there was barely any space between them.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!," The cry once more pierced the room and jostled them, interrupting the tender moment.
Poor Thomas looked as though he was about to go out of his mind. "Does he have a radar or something?"
Amy laughed softly and politely removed herself, albeit reluctantly, from Thomas' arms to go and attend to Timothy. Thomas sighed and padded slowly out to the living room, looking skyward. C’mon, what’d I ever do to you?
He was just about to flop down on the couch when the doorbell rang. Thomas quickly walked over to the door and unlocked it, opening to find a large fox on the other side.
"Hey, Thomas!" Josh greeted him cheerfully as he stepped through the doorway, ducking his head slightly to avoid bumping it.
"Hey, Josh," Thomas checked his watch as he closed the door. "You’re right on time."
Josh chuckled as he stepped over to the coffee table. "I try and make it a point to be punctual. Makes things easier for everyone," Josh gave a quick look around. "Where’s Amy?"
Thomas followed Josh to where he was standing, slipping his paws into his pockets. "She’s in Timothy’s room. She’ll be out in a sec."
"Okay," Josh took a moment to visually take in the room. "Hey, this is a nice place. Great decorating job."
Thomas looked around and nodded. "Yeah, Amy and Sabrina both did a great job with this apartment. Hasn’t changed a bit since before I moved in here," Thomas looked a bit uneasy as he began speaking again. "Um, about that hug yesterday…"
Josh laughed and refused to let him continue. "Forget about it. I know you were just happy."
Thomas breathed out hard and grinned sheepishly. "Thanks, I’m glad you understand."
Josh and Thomas stood awkwardly for a few moments, neither sure exactly what else to talk about. Luckily Amy soon appeared, carrying Timothy in her arms.
"Hi, Josh!" Amy instantly brightened when she saw the familar fox.
Josh smiled as he saw her carrying a small baby in her arms. "Hey Amy! This little Timothy?" Josh leaned down a bit and gave a small wave. "Hey, little guy. How’s it hanging?"
Timothy looked up at Josh and then to his mother, then over to Thomas and finally nodding in the direction of the door.
Josh laughed. "Now that’s a smart boy."
Amy looked down at Timothy and then up and Josh. "What do you mean?"
Josh read her expression and then looked back at Thomas, whose muzzle was sporting a similar look. Hey, they didn’t see it. Josh just rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, it’s nothing. Just fooling around,"
Josh coughed and quickly tried to change the subject. "So, what are you two going to d-,… I mean, where are you going tonight?"
Thomas blushed slightly as he answered. "Well, we were thinking of going to that hotel, the ‘Tal Fur’," Thomas grinned somewhat sheepishly as he continued. "Erm, there’s a really good restaurant there."
Amy was blushing a bit herself, but managed to keep cool. "Yeah, they’ve got some great dishes there."
Josh couldn’t help but chuckle at the way they were putting this. "Okay, have a good time now," Josh smiled as Amy handed Timothy over to him, carefully holding the little one in his arms.
Thomas helped Amy with her coat just as her maternal instincts kicked in again. "Now, just remember to put him to bed at eight, and-,"
Josh smiled and removed a rather large slip of paper from his left pocket, holding Timothy safely in his right arm. "You already briefed me on the phone earlier, remember Amy?"
Amy nodded, recalling their phone conversation earlier in the day. "Oh, yes. I hope I didn’t miss anything."
Josh laughed as he looked over the paper, flipping it over to show that both sides were filled. "Amy, if the constitution were this thorough, the government would be one heck of a lot more efficient."
Thomas rested a reassuring paw on Amy’s shoulder as she gave her son a last kiss on the forehead. The couple left the apartment and went down to the car, waving up at the window where Josh stood with little Timothy.
Josh and Timothy both gave a little wave as the car rode off into the distance, disappearing around the corner of the next street. Josh stood there for a moment before turning his head towards Timothy and chuckling. "Well, looks like it’s just us guys tonight."