FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Even though Bonnie Hopps and Josephine Grey knew each other, they had never been friends. Sure, they'd chatted a few times, but they'd never actually formed any bonds outside of church. Though, all that did change once Judy left for the big city. She had opened up to the idea of having fox friends, and the first one had been Jo. She'd invited the vixen over for Sunday Brunch several times, and the rabbit was expecting her to show up for some time but so far, she'd been a no-show.

Bonnie was just about to give up when she saw a very different car pull up to the house. It wasn't Josephine's, it was too new plus the plates were all wrong. "RB57H," she said with a puzzled look, but then she saw two people slip out of the vehicle. One of them was Josephine and the other one looked like he could have been Gideon's brother. It was clear though that, whoever this Kody Grey person was, he certainly WASN'T some long-lost brother that was locked in the attic. No one locked in an attic for 30 years could afford a car, at least that's what Bonnie thought.

"Whatcha looking at, honey," Stu said as he moved up to give his wife a side hug.

"Josephine's here," the bunny said, giving her husband a sideways glance, "And Kody Grey."

"Kody Grey," Stu said a little stunned. He rarely had any of the Bridge group over, so it took him off guard, "Oh yeah! I met him last night at Bridge. Nice kid."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

The fatherly rabbit nodded, "Yeah. Not a very good Bridge player though. He got knocked out the first round."

Unfortunately for Bonnie, her sister Mary-Ann was also there. "Well, Jeane probably didn't give him many games to play in the attic," she chirped out as she spooned another helping of a carrot and cheese omelet into her mouth.

Stu just rolled his eyes, "You actually believe that story?"

"It came from a reliable source," she replied after taking another bite.

"And what about the time your 'reliable source' said that Judy and Nick's police car was t-boned at an intersection? You nearly killed your sister from fright," the father bunny said as he glared at his sister-in-law, "I wouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be Josephine's long lost son instead of a plotline you stole from one of your soaps."

"I stand by my record," Mary-Ann huffed out.

"Yes. O and two hundred."

Bonnie glared at her husband and her sister, "I want them to have a nice time, so you two need to stop your bickering."

Stu nodded as he walked back into the kitchen to grab a plate full of eggs before moving to the couch. Mary-Ann just huffed as she continued eating, while Bonnie made her way to the door.

Jo and Kody were half way up the walkway when Bonnie opened the door. "Josephine, it's wonderful to see you," she said as she and the vixen exchanged hugs. The bunny slowly turned her attention to the tall tod, "And this must be Kody."

Jo looked a little puzzled as she looked at the bunny doe, "How did you know?"

"Oh, you know how word gets around a small town when someone new shows up, especially when Gideon made a big announcement about his new cousin to everyone at the pastry shop," Bonnie continued, reaching her hand out towards the tod. The fox smiled as he shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Hopps."

"You can call me Bonnie, Kody, but please, come in. We've been waiting for you two," She said as she stepped aside for the two foxes.

Jo slipped inside first, followed by Kody, the two of them making their way to the kitchen to grab some eggs and a cup of coffee before making their way to the living room. Bonnie was just about the join them when her phone started to vibrate, "Please excuse me for a minute, Judy's calling."

The two nodded as they looked between Mary-Ann and Stu, who were glaring at each other as they tried to be polite. Kody leaned into whisper into his mother's ear, "I wonder what this is all about."

Jo leaned in, "Mary-Ann is hard to get along with."

"No, I'm not," Mary-Ann quipped back, the two of them forgetting about how powerful rabbit ears are.

"Yes, you are," Stu retorted, "All you do is watch soaps all day and think the world is just like them."

"Because it is," the bunny woman scoffed.

"No, it's not," the rabbit man retorted.

Jo and Kody just looked at each other, deciding to stay out of it.

Bonnie made sure she was in the kitchen before she answered the ScreenTime call. She had just started to say hello when Judy butted in, "Mom! Mom! I found out everything. Everything makes sense now."

"Shhh! Judy! Not so loud. Kody and Josephine are here," her mother said, holding a finger over her lips.

"That's just it. Kody IS Josephine's son. I talked the adoption agency. Josephine was sexually assaulted while she was at college and put Kody up for adoption. He grew up under a different name until last year," Judy said excitedly, loving how she cracked the case, "You remember when Aunt Mary-Ann said she heard Nick and I had been killed in a car wreck? That wasn't us. That was Kody's adopted parents. He changed his name almost six months later to Kody Grey and started looking for his real mother."

Bonnie blinked a few times as she started to drink in the news, "Judy, you haven't been watching any of Aunt Mary-Ann's soaps, have you?"

"No, mom! I don't even own a TV! I just got off the phone with Open Hearts Open Arms. I talked to the woman who worked the case. Nick even knew him in High School," Judy sounded exasperated at her mother, "Mom, when have I lied to you?"

Her daughter had a point. Judy hadn't lied to her, well, hadn't lied to her in years. She had always been a truthful girl. But the more Bonnie thought about it, the more her daughter's version made sense, but she did have one question, "Judy, did you find out what kind of car Kody drives? Maybe a license plate?"

"Yeah. A Jeeves Buckaroo Infinity with personalized Zootopia Plates #RB57H," she replied.

Bonnie seemed to sigh with relief, "Thank you, Judy."

"No problem, mom. Oh, by the way, if no one wants to believe you, tell them Mrs. O'Donnell wishes Kody her best."

Bonnie just nodded her head, "I'll tell them?"

"Thanks mom," Judy said quickly before hanging up.

Bonnie looked at her phone a bit longer before sliding it into her pocket and headed back to the living room.

What greeted Bonnie was her husband and sister fully engulfed in an argument about her ability to create amazing stories that were basically stolen from her daily soap operas, much to the discomfort of the guests. "Stu! Mary-Ann," the woman cried out as her foot stomped the ground in frustration, "What did I tell you."

Stu's ears drooped, "I'm sorry, dear." Mary-Ann however, just seemed to beam like she'd been the victor in the argument. Bonnie just rolled her eyes as she slowly slid into her chair, "I'm sorry, Jo, Kody."

Jo just brushed it off as she sipped her coffee, "It's all right, Bonnie."

Stu looked over at Kody, "So, Kody, you didn't talk a whole lot last night at the Bridge game. Where are you from?"

Kody took a sip of his coffee, "Zootopia."

Mary-Ann scoffed a little as she took another sip. Stu glared at her and Kody just raised an eyebrow. Bonne decided to ask the next question, "Zootopia? Really? You know our daughter is a police officer there. Do you know Nick Wilde?"

Kody perked his eyebrow. He did know Nick, well, knew him in a casual sense. He was more acquainted with Nick's mother because she was friends with his own mother. He wondered if he should put up a charade or not, but he might as well answer truthfully, "Yeah, I know of him. I went to High School with him. Why?"

"He's our daughter's partner on the force," Bonnie replied with a smile. Stu added, "He's the reason we ended up partnering with Gideon Grey."

Kody just nodded his head, "That's interesting."

Mary-Ann wasn't buying it one bit, so she decided to ask something in a fairly sarcastic tone, "Really? So this is your first time to Bunnyburrow?"

The tod looked at her, "I drove by it when I was assigned to Mammoth River, but yeah, this is my first time to actually be here."

"You sure," she asked, "You sure you haven't been hiding up in Jeane's attic?"

Everyone looked at the bunny woman with massive eyes and open mouths. "What," Mary-Ann asked, "You all were thinking it."

"Mary-Ann Juniper Springer," Bonnie yelled out, "How DARE you ask a question like that to my guests!"

"It's the popular rumor in town. Besides. I heard from a reliable," she started on her usual line, but was completely cut off by Bonnie, "No Mary-Ann. No more of this 'reliable sourse' non-sense. The first time I heard your gossip, I called Judy. Judy managed to find the actual truth! Do you know what it was?"

Everyone was surprised at how angry Bonnie was, though Jo and Kody were even more surprised that she'd actually called the police about it. "Ya called Judy," Jo said in a little bit of disbelief. Bonnie turned her attention back to Josephine, her ears drooping a little, "I'm... I'm sorry, Jo. But, I wanted to make sure my sister's story was just her over active imagination."

Kody looked between his mother and her friend, then over to Mary-Ann giving her a scowl. A hand reached down to squeeze his mother's paw as he looked at her. Jo looked down at her son's hand as she let out a long sigh. "Kody. Kody's my little boy," she said with a heavy heart, "I... I met a feller in college. He winded me and dined me. When he planted his oats, he wouldn't man up 'n help me raise him. I thought bout cummin home, but I'z too a'feared a what erryone'd say. So I put my little boy up fer 'doption when he was a kit," She looked over at her boy, giving his hand a squeeze, "There ain't a day gone by that I don't wish I woulda cum home with Kody instead of putting him up fer 'doption."

Kody leaned over and glared at Mary-Ann, "My parents told me about the adoption and about my real mother when I was eighteen, but I didn't have the courage to contact my mother until my parents died in a car accident last year. I had my name legally changed to Kody Grey because I wanted to be a part of her life again."

Jo let out a sniff, "He cum back t'me. Thirty years later, he cum back to me."

There was a long pause as Bonnie looked down. "I'm sorry I pulled Judy into this," she said softly, "I just... I just needed to be sure."

Mary-Ann's ears drooped a little as she looked at the other four in the room, "I... I'm..." she was about to say something, but Stu couldn't help but cut her off, "I told you so."

"Stu," Bonnie yelled as she glared at her husband.

"What? I was," he said in a slightly defeated voice.

Mary-Ann looked away. She'd been proven wrong. Again. But this time she felt more horrible than any of the other times. She felt miserable, and she couldn't seem to find words to say she was sorry. Jo just looked at her, "Mary-Ann, if ya want to make it up t'me, tell erryone th'truth."

"How much of the story do you want me to tell," she asked.

"Alluvit."

Mary-Ann nodded. It wouldn't take the Bunnyburrow rumor mill long to get this disseminated. However, Bonnie did have one thing to say, "Kody, Judy said she had a message for you from Mrs. O'Donnell."

Kody looked a little confused, "Mrs. O'Donnell?" His mother, however, knew who it was, "What did she have to say?"

"She says she wishes you the best."