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She warily eyed the plate in front of her. She couldn’t fault it for trying to entice her, the aroma alone would have lured her in had she not seen what hid inside of the golden crust with her own eyes.
“You know what the doctor said, Honeybun. You need more protein” The tod spoke reproachfully, hoping his partner would at least try it out.
“And that’s why I’ve been eating more beans” She tried reasoning.
“Predator protein, Fluff. Meat, chicken in this case. You said you had a craving that you weren’t exactly sure what it was, and your mom told us your body would know what it wants” He pushed the plate closer. “Who knows, maybe you’ll like it?”
He was right, the doctor had said the kits growing inside of her needed more meat due to their father’s heritage. That’s why she was even considering this in the first place.
She had watched as he prepared it with morbid curiosity. She had never thought about the process before, only finding the plate steaming hot on the table in front of him whenever his predator palate requested it.
She witnessed with fascination as he painstakingly dissected the meat with a surgeon’s precision, extracting the bones one by one to ease the process for her.
She handed to him the spices he requested as he rubbed it into the chicken strips.
She waited, her nose twitching and her stomach rumbling, as the delicious aroma of fried batter filtered into her nose.
And now here she was, with a hot plate of fried chicken ready to be consumed in front of her. Her paw frozen in indecision, hovering above it.
He had made three portions, one for each of them and another he had saved in a plastic container as his lunch tomorrow while at work.
In the end, along with an encouraging nod as he bit into his own portion, she picked one of the morsels, feeling her fingers pressing down on the supple flesh. At first she had been miffed about him going beyond the call to operate on the chicken as much.
They were police officers for crying out loud. The both of them had seen worse in the line of duty, unfortunately. But she still silently thanked his small mercy. One thing was the cold detachment of police procedure, another was biting into something that once had a pulse and finding the horrible crunch of bone. It felt sinful in a way, even if the thought had never occurred when she saw her husband easily separating the meat from it.
She hated it, the delicious succulent meat tearing as she chewed, the perfectly spiced batter fried around the crunchy skin, the sickening feeling of swallowing the perfectly cooked piece of meat that made her crave for more.
In her face, the perfect picture of distaste stoically remained.
“It’s okay” She feigned disinterest. Taking another slow bite, ”I’ll eat it, only because our kits need it” she said after swallowing.
Inwardly, she was salivating for the next taste.
Before she noticed, her paw found nothing. A plate full of the golden pieces of heaven just gone without a trace, down her throat and settled nicely in her stomach.
The fox had been understanding, if a bit teasing, when he saw it. She was a pregnant doe and her kits needed, nay, demanded, her diet became more predatory. So as any loving mother-to-be would do, she acquiesced, regardless of her opinion regarding it.
That night they settled on their bed as always, the fox holding his bunny protectively, while the bunny held her fox’s tail between her arms. Stomachs full and heart contented with a day spent together. Judy relaxed in the embrace, ready for a restful sleep.
She woke with an uncomfortable feeling, Nick’s paws lazily around her middle, slackened by the sleep he had succumbed to. The clock read 3:24AM in its angry red digital glory.
She got up as quietly as she could, hoping against hope the tod would stay asleep for the reminder of her little excursion.
She made her way into the kitchen and opened the fridge, guilty feeling replaced by ravenous hunger, she quickly found what she was looking for. He probably wouldn’t miss a piece or two.
She tore the cling film uncaringly and grabbed a piece, the feel of the bone foreign in her fingers as she stared at the golden nugget, before biting into it with abandon, gone her earlier hesitation now than she was alone. The cold firmer texture of the meat and the matured flavors from its overnight stay in the fridge stealing a pleasured moan out of her lungs as grease seeped into her fingers.
“Should I be worried?” She heard a voice that made her jump in the air, quickly turning to find the smirking mug of her fox staring at her through the darkness. “It sounds like you are having an affair with that avian”
“Sorry” She could only say meekly. The shame filling her body made her drop the half eaten piece back in the container.
“Fluff, enjoy it. I’ll buy something else later. Nothing makes me happier than knowing you are well fed, especially now that you are a growing lady” He caressed her distended stomach in that way that sent a fluttery feeling to her chest, before kissing the side of her head and taking a seat with her.
“I’m a monster” Judy whispered, tightening her paws into hard pressed fists. Her eyes stinging with the birth of fresh tears.
“Why Carrots? For enjoying food?” He asked, his words slow and careful. His voice slightly soothing the one on the back of her mind telling her off for enjoying predator food.
“But I’m a bunny, Nick!” She screamed, almost pleading, into the darkened room.
“And? Where does it say that a bunny can’t eat meat?”
“History, nature, society, take your pick” She responded dejectedly.
“Judy, it may be news to you, but I’m a fox mated to a bunny, you are carrying predator-prey hybrids inside here” He pressed his claw against her belly. “We are the first of our species to become police officers, I’d say we aren’t exactly playing by the rule book Sweetheart”
He picked up the half finished piece of chicken, pressing it into her paw for her to take it. “What’s one more spot for the cheetah?”
She tittered, smiling up to him as her tears fell. “That’s offensive to cheetahs”
“Well, I won’t tell on you if you don’t tattle to Spots” He used his other paw to clear away her tears. “What do you say, deal?” He offered the piece again, adding a little shake to be playful.
She gingerly picked it back up, pressing herself against his side. “Deal” She said before taking another bite.
“Mommy?” The voice of her first born awoke her from her daydream. “Why do you eat chicken?” The 6 year old asked innocently, her tilted head making her choke with the levels of cuteness at display. She had begun to question how her kits could be so much cuter than a pure breed bunny, maybe the amalgamation of vulpine and lapine genes had been a mistake on their part.
Her daughter tilted her head the other way as she waited her response, her floppy ears, longer than a fox’s and pointier than a bunny’s, still didn’t have enough strength to hold themself erect without concentration. Something their pediatrician had explained was perfectly natural and with time she would gain the full movement range expected of rabbits.
She eyed the piece still greedily clutched in her paw, the greasy fur of her fingers clumping together. At the neatly stacked pile of bones left over in her plate, licked clean in her afan to extract every piece of juicy meat attached to them. Searching in them an answer that wouldn’t make her sound crazy to her kit.
“She needs it so your little sisters in her tummy can grow healthy" The fox answered as he made his way into the kitchen. Hanging his discarded tie on the hook specially placed for it at the side of the archway.
“Daddy!” The little girl cried as she ran to hug her returned father. “Is that why I have 13 brothers and sisters? Cause mommy likes to eat chicken like us?” She asked sweetly.
Judy’s ears turned red as she hid her face in her paws while Nick almost successfully contained his guffaw.
“Haha” He ran his index below his eye to dry out the mirthful tears. “No Sweetheart, you see. Mommy is a bunny, and bunnies love their kits so so much they can’t help themselves but want to give them a lot of siblings to play with”
“Is that why she loves chicken so much?”
“Oh no, mommy is a special bunny that likes meat. Like my little fluffy balls of sunshine” He explained before nuzzling his daughter’s tummy, making her flutter with laughter. “You can say she’s just killing two birds with one stone”