Short Story: [Emberfate] Surprise

Hey everyone!

This is the last short story for this month — the actual story for April 2024. Whew, I've finally caught up on all the late short story rewards. 😭 Thank you so much to everyone for your patience!

Anyway, so this story is another silly story in the series of pet chaos, this time featuring Chris and the beloved Coach! Again, it was drafted by Anna 'Lavinnia' Kończak and then edited by me.

I hope you all enjoy! Thank you so much for the support 💖

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“That can’t be true! You’re telling me Coach is pregnant?! How?! Rookie’s neutered!” Chris throws his arms up in the air, his voice much louder than usual in his frustration.

You put a hand on your partner’s arm. “Chris, please calm down.”

“But…!”

Your eyes meet, and you give him a firm look. The last thing you want is to cause a scene at the vet’s — though, judging by the look on the veterinarian assistant’s face, Chris’ near-yelling already constitutes a scene.

“Breathe. It's okay." You flash them a reassuring smile, patting them on the arm. Chris obediently closes their eyes and inhales a few deep breaths.

You take advantage of the fact that he can't see you for the moment to chuckle silently to yourself, finally letting the grin threatening at the corners of your lips to take over your face.

...Until his eyes fly open, catching you in the act. You immediately wipe the amusement off your face, adopting a somber expression, but it's too late. He gives you a pointed look, arching his eyebrow.

In your defense, you couldn't help it. Your partner is acting like an angry dad who just found out his teen daughter got knocked up by a deadbeat married man. He looks ready to fly home and grab his baseball bat to beat up whoever's responsible.

But then you think of the litter of bunny babies that's going to arrive in your life in the near future, and you wince.

With a cough, you hastily redirect the conversation back to the topic on hand. "Well. If it's not Rookie, then... Could it be Aiko?"

"Aiko?" Chris blinks at the name of the rabbit belonging to our neighbor. "But isn't Aiko a girl?! Peter said that! Or I wouldn't have agreed to let his Aiko come over for playdates!"

"Well, that's the only possibility. I don't think Coach has been around any other bunnies, has she?" I reach out to stroke Coach's soft fur, watching as her nose twitches in innocence.

“So Peter must have lied to me,” Chris says through gritted teeth. “Lovely.”

They run their hand roughly through their hair and in a swift move, they turn and stomp outside the room.

"Wait! Chris, where are you going?"

"I'm stepping outside for a minute to call that jerk! He needs to take half of the responsibility for this!"

You watch as your partner squares his shoulders as though ready to go to war, and as he disappears around the corner, you give a low laugh to yourself once more.

***

With the short gestation period of rabbits, you and Chris have no time to waste, throwing yourselves into preparing for Coach's pending birth.

The good news is that the neighbor has agreed to split the vet bills for Coach — it turns out that he had adopted Aiko recently where he was wrongly told that Aiko was female, so he was taken by surprise as much as we were. Although he immediately took Aiko to the vet to get him neutered now, it's definitely too late for this litter of Coach's.

However, despite Peter stepping up to take responsibility for the mistake, the brunt of the work still falls on you and Chris' shoulders. The two of you have started asking around, hoping to find a loving home for the bunny babies. In your desperation, you've even resorted to asking your guild if anyone wants to adopt a free rabbit — an offer which tempted many, but in the end, only Lamp confirmed being able to take one bunny in.

The weeks pass quickly. The next thing you know, you're startled awake before dawn by Chris shaking you in panic to alert you to Coach going into labor.

Thankfully, the birth goes smoothly — and you and Chris welcome five tiny bunny babies into the household.

You both breathe a sigh of relief by the time all the work is done, wiping the cold sweat off your brows. You look towards your partner, whose gaze collides with yours at the same time, and noticing each other's identical expressions of fear mixed with awe, you laugh.

"Look how small and adorable they are, Chris!" You peer at the babies that Coach is nursing, cooing to yourself.

"Yeah. They're... even tinier than I imagined." Chris' voice is softer than usual, his eyes gentle as he gazes upon the rabbits. "We're going to have to find them good homes."

"Mhm. I'm sure we will."

***

The next few weeks, you spend most of your free time posting adorable photos of the younglings all over social media and responding to interested messages, carefully filtering through the applications to find those who would seem like good owners for the baby bunnies.

Before long, you’ve already parted with four bunnies — one of which went home with Lamp, who drove all this way to make good on his promise.

In the end, only one remains — a white bunny with a cute patch of black on her eye and mismatched color of fur on her ears.

“Why does nobody want to adopt this one?” Chris raises his eyebrows as the two of you sit in the living room watching the unnamed young bunny persistently attempt to climb on her mother like a mountain. "She's adorable, isn't she? And so lively too."

“Maybe it’s fate,” you wonder out loud.

“Fate?” Chris gives you a surprised look. Understanding dawns on him. “Wait, you don’t mean —”

“Maybe we should keep her. Our first bunny together,” you smile. "You can't tell me you've been able to resist getting attached to these babies — I saw the way you bawled your eyes out in the bathroom when the last one was adopted."

"W-What — Excuse me! I don't cry!" Their cheeks take on a shade of pink in embarrassment, and you chuckle as you lean in to press a kiss to the corner of their lips. "Uh huh. Sure you don't."

You walk over to the small bunny and pick her up, bringing her with you back to the couch. She looks up at you with her sweet, round eyes, and your heart melts from the cuteness. “Look. How can you say no to her?"

Chris takes one glance at the bunny before surrendering. "Well, we're definitely getting her spayed once she's older. And of course, Coach too once she's recovered more."

"Mhm. But what should we name her?"

Chris puts a finger against their lips. “Catcher.”

“Really? More baseball names?" You roll your eyes even as your lips curl into an amused grin. "Can't you name her something cuter?"

“It has to match the theme of the rest of them! Coach, Rookie and Catcher,” Chris announces boldly as if this method is the most normal and obvious way to name a bunny. "See? She'd fit right in."

You sigh, scratching the bunny behind her ear. “Why do I put up with you, Chris?”

“Because I’m the most amazing person you know," he winks. "Hot, smart, funny... Where else would you find someone better?"

You let out another deep sigh but don't deny your partner's words. “Alright, poor baby,” you speak to the bunny. “Catcher you are then. I guess it's accurate — you sure caught my heart, after all.”

“Hey,” Chris protests. “Your heart is mine.”

"Guess you're going to have to fight Catcher for it then."