In the heart of the city of Habiun, a small cottage lay tucked in amongst many similar dwellings on Lapin Boulevard.
The front yard needed mowing but was not overgrown. Two long flower beds filled with bright pink blossoms sat on either side of a round wooden door.
The door had once been vibrant red. However, many seasons of wind, rain, and sun had diluted it to a shade only slightly darker than the flowers that grew on either side of it.
A thick brown mat underneath it once read Please wipe your paws, but the wear and tear of countless paws had caused the letters to fade until only Pleas ipe ur aws remained. The fading afternoon light muted all of these details even further.
Inside the house, Molly Thump broke the connection on her taptak and sighed. Flop had just informed her he needed to give Breck a ride and then he’d be home. It was nearly dinner time.
Flop promised to watch the kids today so she could get things done around the house, but the drama with Breck took longer than expected and he hadn’t made it home yet.
A gentle tugging on the hem of her dress made her look down.
Her daughter Hazel’s round face peered up at her. "Mama, guess what?"
Molly laughed wryly and ran her paw through her auburn fur.
"Yes, sweetie, what is it?" She ruffled Hazel's fur playfully. "Mama doesn’t have time to guess right now."
"Fitz isn’t sharing the Hopover with Twitch."
"Okay, honey, did you remind him he needs to share with his brother?"
Hazel rubbed absentmindedly at some leftover jam on her cheek and nodded.
"Yea, but Fitz said they’re twins, so when he plays, it counts for both of them."
Molly snorted and hid her face in her paw.
"Ahem. Okay, baby, I’ll go talk to them. Can you check on B.B. and make sure she’s okay?"
Hazel nodded vigorously and ran to check on her sister in the nursery.
Molly left the kitchen and moved into the living room.
Two adolescent hares held a yellow and red box in their paws. They were twins, but their faces were all they had in common. The one on the left wore spectacles and the one on the right had a mohawk. They were clearly at an impasse and had reached the insult stage of one of their epic arguments.
"Four-eyes!"
"Hairlip!"
"Fuzzbutt!"
"Stinkfoot!"
"Fatface!"
"Boys! Boys! That’s enough." Molly gently took the Hopover system out of their paws and put it behind her back. "Now I need you to tell me one at a time what exactly is going on here. Fitz, you first."
Fitz looked up at her, his thick spectacles magnifying his eyes to a comically large size.
"Mama, Twitch tried to take the Hopover from me before I was finished. I gave him a perfectly reasonable explanation for continuing my turn, and he became unreasonable."
"Not true!" Twitch blurted out, but a stern look from his mother made him fall silent again.
"Okay, your sister told me about your ‘explanation’, Fitz, but we’ll come back to that in a minute."
"Twitch, tell me what happened."
Before Twitch could answer, the front door burst open.
"Good evening, Thumpies! Are you all here? Where are my troublemakers? Where are the little princesses?"
Breck stood in the doorway, beaming and spreading his arms wide.
Flop walked in slowly behind him, holding his paws up apologetically and mouthing the words "I’m sorry."
"Uncle B!" the Thump kids (minus B.B.) yelled as they all ran toward the front hallway. Hazel arrived first, laughing as she carried her gurgling sister in her paws. She set the baby down and let her crawl the rest of the way into the hallway. The brothers arrived next and stood beside each other, their argument temporarily forgotten now that their favorite visitor was here.
"Here they are!" Breck said, reaching his arms out and laughing. "The first one to tackle me gets a surprise; what are you waiting for?"
Three children collided with Breck, and they all laughed and rolled around on the floor.
B.B. squealed and started fast-crawling toward them, but Molly scooped her up just in time and snuggled her close to distract her.
She caught Flop’s eye and tilted her head toward the kitchen.
“Flop, what is he doing here?” Molly said, moving B.B. just in time to prevent her from reaching for the clean dishes. "You know I love Breck, but you could have warned me. I thought you said you were taking him home."
Flop kissed Molly on the cheek and gently took the baby from her arms.
"I’m sorry, Molly, that was the plan, but we got to his house, and then Breck remembered he’d left his house key in his jumper. Albey’s already locked up for the night; I couldn’t just leave him on the street."
Molly sighed and then leaned over to return Flop’s kiss.
"Of course not, Flop. You’re a good friend and a good hare. The kids are happy to see him, and it’s always nice to have company. Just try to let me know next time, okay?"
Flop smiled and reached for Molly’s paw while B.B. tried to crawl up onto his shoulders.
"You’re one in a million, red."
Molly smirked at him and playfully bumped him as she left the room. "Don’t you forget it, Flop Thump."
She rounded the corner and called out, "Okay, who’s hungry?"
Flop kissed B.B. on the cheek and watched Molly herd everyone to the table.
"Not possible." He said and hurried to join them.