♡ Lucicole ♡ [18+]

2 - An unexpected guest

Nicole was busy preparing dinner that evening and concentratedly cut up some vegetables for the soup she was making. Vegetable soup. No meat, no flesh. Some dairy was okay to be consumed, along with eggs. But in most cases every anthropomorphic citizen was bound to obey the law of no herbivore getting harmed. This wasn't a problem for Richard, Nicole's husband, and their three kids. But he was a rabbit and the kids were mixed hybrids. In other words, they were herbivores, partly if not fully. Nicole's lips were dry as she felt deep hunger rising within her. She had been doing fine on a vegetarian diet for all those years, but she secretly craved... She craved meat. Blood. Flesh. Anything alive... It was her inner beast fighting inside her, wanting to make her turn against her trusted ones and hunting them down. Any herbivore would sound like excellent prey even... But she couldn't. She couldn't do it. Even if she just burnt the leaflet that was supposedly sealing the oath she swore, she still felt strong hesitation holding her back. She wouldn't just lash out and act like a feral animal, would she. She sighed as she started stirring the pot, almost being finished with that night's dinner. At that moment, Richard entered the kitchen and hugged her from behind, giving her a little kiss on the cheek. The blue feline purred for a slight second and put the spoon down, turned around and gave him a kiss on the lips. A modest blush colored both their faces as they looked each other in the eye. "It's smelling good so far, darling," Richard spoke with a soft voice. "I figured to prepare something fresh for tonight, rather than settling for frozen tofu or something," Nicole replied with a similar tone. The pink bunny nodded and made his way to the dining room, saying "I'll set the table."

Once the kids were downstairs as well, the three sat down at the table and couldn't even chant about the fact they wanted food or the pot was already set on the table. Richard carefully filled each bowl with soup and waited with eating until Nicole sat down as well. "Well, dig in," said the blue mouser as she lifted her spoon. Gumball and Darwin were the ones who couldn't wait and immediately indulged in the soup. Richard and Anais began eating as well, but Nicole remained... still. She slowly and hesitantly dipped her spoon in the bowl, kind of stirring it around without taking a single bite. She knew she was hungry enough to be able to eat it, but she still couldn't... manage it somehow. She needed protein. The blue mouser then suddenly remembered the vitamin pills she got prescribed. Last time she visited the doctor, he advised her to increase her protein intake somehow, as she was way too underweight and got prescribed those pills. "Excuse me for a second," she said as she stood up from the table and walked towards her and Richard's bedroom on the ground floor. She entered through the door and grabbed the bottle of pills from her nightstand. The pills needed to serve as addition to her nutrition, since the vegetarian diet didn't have the best effect on her carnivore build. She walked past the mirror and stopped for a moment, lifting her white shirt and noticing her scrawny figure with exposed ribs. She sighed as she lowered her shirt again, feeling rather defeated and weak. She took one of the pills out of the bottle and downed it with a glass of water once she stepped foot in the dining room again. "Forgot them again?" asked Richard, who finished his soup. The blue feline nodded and sat back down, finally starting to eat her own. "You guys can leave the table if you're finished, if you want..." Nicole offered. But before the kids could jump off their chairs, all five of the Wattersons were surprised by a loud knock on the door. The blue feline got up from her chair, frowning as she felt a bit annoyed by having someone at the door at this hour. She walked towards the front door, opened it and had to force herself not to have the utmost unhappy expression on her face when she encountered Joanna, Richard's mother, at the doorstep.

"Am I interrupting?" Joanna spoke with her aged and slightly rough voice. Nicole's tail impatiently swished from side to side as the pink rodent let herself in. The feline looked down at the old, short bunny and spoke with a grimace, "no, not at all!"
"Really? Your face is trying to tell me something else... But anyways, I am here because-"
"The mattresses are hard and the food's overcooked at the retirement home, yes I've heard it before," Nicole interrupted Joanna. "Well, sit down, we've just finished our dinner," she added. "Dinner? I still haven't had mine. I couldn't bear another evening of eating from those plates there, ugh," said Joanna as she crossed her arms and sat down on the couch. Nicole sighed and grabbed her own bowl that still had soup in it, and handed it to Joanna. "Eat. You can have mine," she said with a cold voice. "You're not hungry?" Joanna replied. "I'm not," Nicole lied as the pink bunny started eating it. "This is cold..." Joanna complained, but quickly changed her tone once she noticed the blue feline giving her a death glare. "But not that it matters! It tastes good anyway," the bunny added with a nervous grin. Nicole nodded sternly and went back to the kitchen, leaning with her back against the counter. "So, Granny Jojo, what have you been up to?" said Anais as she sat down next to her grandma, Gumball and Darwin doing the same. "Oh, well my life isn't as interesting as it used to be, sweetie..." said Joanna as she slowly kept eating the soup. "C'mon, there must be something, right?" asked Darwin to join in the conversation. "Okay, maybe one thing. I began taking piano lessons a long while ago and haven't told anyone besides Louie and your dad about it," Joanna spoke with a smirk. "Piano lessons? I mean- I'm impressed and... surprised. I didn't expect you to be a musical one, Grandma," said Gumball with his utmost honesty. Joanna finished eating and raised her head again, "there's a lot of things you wouldn't expect about me, sweetie." Gumball chuckled and nodded. "I guess you're right," he added.

Meanwhile, Nicole overheard the entire conversation and suddenly remembered the old wedding photos she encountered when cleaning out the attic earlier that day. She frowned as an idea struck her mind and she sprinted upstairs to go grab the picture album of her and Richard's wedding. "Hey, look what I found!" she exclaimed as soon as she returned downstairs with the album in her paws. She joined her mother-in-law and kids on the couch, sitting down in the middle and opened the album. Richard became curious and stood behind the couch to have a look as well. "Old Mom and Dad pics, let's go!" exclaimed Gumball as he and Darwin laughed a bit. Anais rolled her eyes and focused on the pictures Nicole was pointing at. "From the very moment your father bought me the ring to when we kissed at the altar... Golden times," she said as a blush colored her face and she turned around to smile at her husband, who had the same blush. "Aww, so cute! I can't remember if we've looked through these pictures before, Mom," said Anais. "Me neither. This album has been hidden in a box that hadn't been opened for a long while though. It hasn't seen the light of day before either of you probably were born."
"What a shame, cuz these are actually fun to look at," said Gumball, "you both looked so different, yet almost the same when you were younger." Richard chuckled, "some things never change, young man. Just like how handsome someone looks." He struck a pose, pretending to let long locks of hair flow in the wind and Gumball laughed in response. "Keep dreaming, Dad," he said whilst still chuckling. "But look," said Anais as she pointed at another picture, "look at your dress, Mom, it's so pretty!"
"Oh Anais, if only you knew that wasn't my favorite dress..." Nicole sighed as she glanced one more time at Richard, who nodded. "It wasn't? But why? It looks beautiful to me. The white fabric, the decorations that look like flowers... everything!" Anais exclaimed with disappointment in her voice. "Well, it just didn't really fit me in my opinion. Back then, our budget was even tighter than it is now and it was the only dress I could really afford that didn't look like a pile of junk," Nicole explained as she pointed to the picture on the next page, which showed the full dress on display. "I understand that," said Anais. "But aren't dresses like- the peak of the wedding for the bride?" asked Darwin with a confused look on his face. "For some grooms as well, son," said Richard as he had a similar expression as his wife. "Picking out the right dress meant a lot to your mother, so it meant a lot to me as well."

"But hey, let's not stall too much on this dress. We had an excellent wedding, favorite dress or not," said Nicole as she flipped another page, reaching the last one. The family continued looking at the last pictures together, Joanna having fallen asleep at some point and it got later and later... "Alright, time for bed, isn't it?" said Nicole to the kids as she put away the album, which the kids wanted to go through another time to extend their hours of being awake. "Aww, but it's weekend!" said Gumball with a frown on his face. "But it's almost midnight and I'm not gonna let you stay up all night like you're tempted to," said Nicole as she crossed her arms. "One more hour, please?" asked Darwin, who wrapped a fin around his adoptive brother, both of them giving pleading looks. "Welp, I'm going to bed, I'm tired," said Anais who already made her way up the stairs. "Please, Mom?" asked Gumball. Nicole glanced at Anais and then back at her sons. "No. Your sister is going to sleep, so I can't have you waking her up by accident," she said with a stern tone. "Fineee," said Gumball and Darwin in unison as they took dragging steps up the stairs. Nicole then turned around and bumped into Richard. "Oh! Honey, sorry," she said but couldn't even add to it or he gave her a kiss on the lips. She sighed gratefully when he let go and looked him in the eye. "Listen, it's almost twelve, but today isn't over yet," he said. "What do you mean with that?" Nicole asked. "Remember it's November first, right? Even though you always say not to make a fuss about this special day, I've started to remind myself... and I've got something for you..." he answered as he placed his large, soft paws on her shoulders. Nicole's expression brightened up and she chuckled. "Y-you remembered! I can't believe it. W-what is it that you have?" she said with a breathy voice. "I will have to drive you somewhere for that. And my apologies for inviting my mother, I know you aren't too keen on her..." he explained as his floppy ears drooped a bit. "You invited her? So she didn't turn up out of the blue like she usually does?" Nicole asked, trying not to be mad. "Yeah... Well, it's for a good reason. You'll see," he said as he took her paw and held it for a moment. "Shall we go?" he added. The blue feline nodded and noticed how he gently woke up his mother who was formerly sleeping on the couch. The three then put on their coats and exited the house, making their way to the car and soon driving off into the night...