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Hey there, dear readers! I have returned with the next chapter of The Keyhole! I've gone ahead and decided to pick up the pace a little with my Zootopia fanfictions, so next I'll be working on my story, Welcome to Sunset Valley! If you haven't had the chance to give it a read yet, I recommend that you do just that! And before we begin this new chapter, I would also like to take this moment to thank all of you for being supportive and for generally being wonderful and kind! Now, please enjoy chapter 6, and feel free to let me know what you think!

"MOMMY!!! DADDY!!!" Emmitt and his wife, who lay curled up together beneath their blankets in the morning hours, both shot straight up at the sound of their youngest pup, who at age three was already towering over them, practically bouncing in excitement, waving a dollar in her hand. They both smiled and visibly calmed down. Emmitt saw his two boys, Randall and Orwell, rubbing their eyes in the doorway, having clearly been awoken by their much larger baby sister. Emmitt was about to lead Sarah and her brothers back to their rooms, when his mate gave his paw a gentle squeeze, and leaned in to kiss him lightly on the cheek.

"I'll take care of the boys," she said before hopping down in her nightgown. She signaled Sarah to lean down, which the dark skinned human toddler obediently did with a giggle as her mother gave her a kiss on the cheek as well, before she led the boys back to their rooms. Emmitt smiled as he watched his mate start herding the sleepy pups back out into the hall, and then turned his attention back to the little one standing, still very much excited, before him. He already had a feeling that he knew what this was about.

"Well, princess," he addressed his little girl who was standing there in her pink and white unicorn jammies, "what seems to be the matter?"

"Daddy! The toof fairy came! She came last night!" Sarah said, proudly showing Emmitt the dollar he had slipped underneath her pillow in exchange for the tooth of hers that had fallen out the previous day. She had been so excited, as apparently it was her first baby tooth to have fallen out. After he had done a quick search on the newly updated human section of NetDr, to make sure that a tooth falling out wasn't a sign of something serious in a young human, Emmitt had then reminded Sarah to place said tooth under her pillow for the magical tooth fairy to come and exchange it for a dollar. The very idea had made Sarah almost too excited to go to sleep, until a certain lullaby had been hummed.

"Well, that's wonderful, princess!" he said, opening his arms for a hug. Sarah, despite he bouncing excitement, gently leaned in and hugged her new daddy, before she felt the arms of her new mommy wrapping around her waist. Sarah looked down and smiled, a gap in her teeth on the left side of her mouth. Emmitt let out a chuckle as he checked the clock on the nightstand, noting he had another six and a half hours before his appointment with Mr. Big over in Tundra Town. He reached up and patted Sarah on the head.

"That's just so amazing, princess, but now I think it's time for you to go back to bed," Emmitt said, just as his wife gently took Sarah's free hand in her paw. A gently tug and the now suddenly yawning Sarah, her energy having come and fled in a matter of minutes apparently, once more obeyed her new mommy. She briefly thought of her old mommy, back in Nawwins, as Sarah pronounced it. She remembered, when she was really, really little, how her mommy had been so happy all the time. But then she started drinking and getting angry, and then seeing all of those strange men. Sarah let out a big yawn, which caught her newer, smaller, and much nicer mommy's attention.

"Here we are, baby," she said as she looked at her, from her perspective, much larger bundle of joy as she led Sarah in to the bright pink princess-themed bedroom that they had made just for her, which the tyke had been so ecstatic to see when they had finally managed to bring her home with them. When Sarah had described her old room, completely unaware of the horrid conditions she had initially been raised in, Emmitt had noticed his wife tearing up at the time. She smiled now as she tucked Sarah beneath her pink blankets, setting the dollar on the bedside table.

"Notta baby," Sarah said, a yawn replacing her usual pout whenever she claimed to not be a baby.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you are my little pup," was the reply Sarah got, which seemed sufficient to her.

"Mommy?" asked a sleepy Sarah.

"Yes?"

"Will you stay?" Sarah asked, her eyes drooping. She blinked once to see her mommy smiling warmly, which always made her feel special and set her young mind at ease, without fail.

"Of course, princess." Sarah watched as her mommy took a seat in a chair near her bed with tall legs, and started humming what was quickly becoming Sarah's routine lullabye. She waited a few minutes after watching the lightly snoring, bundled form of Sarah, leaning in for a gentle kiss on her forehead, and then hopped down off the chair, making her way back to her and Emmitt's room. He smiled at his wife as she entered and crawled back under the blankets with him, snuggling up close as he wrapped his tail around her.

"I take it that she went right out?" Emmitt asked, quietly, his wife nodding as she nuzzled into his neck.

"Yup, our little princess is now down for the count," was the reply he heard before Emmitt heard a slightly stifled yawn escape his wife's muzzle.

"Hopefully for another few hours at least," Emmitt only half-joked, a smile still plastered on his own muzzle. There was a sudden flash of memory of when the boys had been Sarah's age, and of how very little sleep he and his mate had gotten then... and how, despite being tired, they had loved every minute of it. He drifted off to sleep, hugging his wife close, his chin resting on the top of her head.

Meanwhile...

Nick practically stumbled down the steps as he made his way to the kitchen, smiling at the sight of the little grey whirlwind of activity that was his bunny, who had apparently already jogged, showered, and made both breakfast and lunch for Eli.

"You could have nudged me awake, Carrots, and I would have been more than happy to help out," Nick said as he leaned against the door frame, casual-looking despite his bedfur. Judy turned and rolled her eyes at the sight of her fox, jogging over and reaching up to kiss the side of his russet-colored muzzle.

"I did, three times," she said as she hopped back onto the stool she had been standing on at the counter, packing up the bag lunch for Eli. Nick looked at her, already in her ZPD uniform, even though their shift didn't start until, thankfully, an hour after they saw Eli off to school. While the chief could be strict, and made it clear, in absolutely no uncertain terms, that he preferred his precinct to run like clockwork, he did offer up certain shift options to those of his officers with children. Unfortunately, after learning this, Nick had made the comment that Bogo was actually a big softie underneath his hard projected image where the cape buffalo could hear him in the atrium, landing the fox, and unfortunately his bunny partner, extra shifts on parking duty for almost a full month.

"Oh?" Nick said, rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry about that, Fluff. Anything I can help with now?"

"...Will you really be right there with me when I ask Eli, today, how he would feel about talking to a child psychologist?" Judy asked quietly as she set the last of the dishes she had washed onto the special dish-rack to dry, turning to look at Nick with her bright lavender eyes, worry written all over her face and evidenced by her suddenly drooping ears. Nick's piercing emerald eyes searched his bunny's face, detecting that something was wrong, and strode right over to her. He picked her up off the stool and spun around once with her in his arms, nuzzling her as he held her close. She let out a light giggle that lifted the fox's heart, and her smile returned as she drew comfort from her fox.

"Of course I'll be there with you Judy," Nick said, opting out of using one of his pet names for her to further show his sincerity. "Did something happen with Eli?"

Judy looked away for a moment before looking back up, leaning her head against his chest. "You know how I like to check in on Eli from time to time when he sleeps?" Nick nodded, having joked about her going to give the kit nightmares about a grey-faced ghost popping up out of the darkness.

"Well," Judy continued, "I've noticed, underneath his bed, a few candy bars, some bags of chips, and some bottles of water."

"Oh?" Nick said, already an idea forming in his mind.

"Yeah, and every time I check... I don't know... I just think that it's going to be gone... but the pile's still there... and... I don't know why.... but it just makes me worried..." The bunny's ears drooped again, and Nick smiled down reassuringly at her.

"I think I may know what that is, actually," he said as his big bushy tail curled around Judy's legs, protectively.

"You do?" Judy asked, her ears perking right back up and swiveling to face Nick as her curiosity was piqued. Nick nodded in response.

"Yeah. See, I have this buddy, who works with the child services as a counselor for the kids," Nick explained to the bunny in his arms, resisting an urge to nuzzle her some more before continuing, "and anyways, he once explained to me the subject of food hoarding."

"Food hoarding?" Judy asked, having never heard the term before, but of course trusting her fox's nod implicitly.

"Yes. See, when kids are shifted from one home to another, sometimes they develop a sort of instinct to find and hide a stash of food. And it stems from a, usually subconscious, worry about food and its availability for them in the future. Sometimes... for a good reason..." Nick explained. Judy reached out and hugged him tightly.

"That's not something a child should ever have to worry about!" Judy said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Nick looked down at his bunny, and nuzzled her cheek, just as she let out a quiet "especially not my kit," as Nick held her as she held him. After a few moments, they pulled away, with Judy letting out a slight sniffle.

"So, would I be correct in assuming just telling Eli that he's never going to have to worry about his future meals ever again won't be enough?" Judy asked. Nick shook his head a little.

"Afraid not, Fluff, not by itself. But, according to my friend, it's something that, when a child is in a stable home for a long enough period of time, they'll eventually grow out of it." Nick then reached out a paw, and gently lifted Judy's downcast face to where he could once more look into her beautiful eyes, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey now, c'mon Carrots," he said, making his tone shift into a more playful one, "considering how stable of a home you've gone and made for him, Eli'll probably stop with the stash of food soon enough."

That brought a smile to Judy's face as she took one of his paws into both of hers. "How stable of a home we've made for him," she said, bringing a slow and genuine smile to her fox's muzzle once more. "You've done so much for Eli as well, Slick, so don't go selling yourself short on that." They both leaned in for a kiss, and were both startled to hear Judy's phone start buzzing. She picked it up and saw a MuzzleTime request from her mom's phone. She looked up at Nick, who smiled before planting another quick kiss on her forehead and heading over to the coffee pot to make himself a mug. She faintly heard him mumble something about bunnies being so emotional, which of course made her eyes roll, before she accepted the call, and was looking at the face of her mother and father, Bonnie and Stu Hopps.

"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" Judy said cheerfully, not wanting to let on her anxiety for the upcoming talk with their grandkit today.

"Hey there, Jude the Dude!" Stu said excitedly to his daughter.

"How are you and Eli doing, sweetie?" Bonnie asked.

"Oh, well... we're doing alright. Just got done getting Eli's lunch ready for school today."

"That's great," Stu said, looking back over his shoulder, concern creeping onto his face that Judy immediately picked up on.

"Is something wrong?" the grey bunny asked, making the fox turn to look at her with a quirked eyebrow as he sipped his coffee. Stu and Bonnie shared a look before the matronly rabbit answered.

"Well... we were kind of hoping to ask for some advice..." Bonnie said, wringing her paws together, nervously.

"About?" Judy let the question hng in the air.

"Uhm... well..." Bonnie looked to her husband, and he nodded.

"Some humans have been found all the way out here in Bunnyburrow," Stu said, being straightforward.

"Oh, really? Wow!" Judy said, amazed that her sleepy hometown, so far away from Zootopia, had some humans turn up. "How many?"

"Seven," Bonnie answered, her daughter's enthusiasm always being infectious and thus bringing a smile to her own muzzle, "four females and three males. One of the males and two of the females are adults, one boy and two little girls, and a little baby boy."

"A baby? All by himself?" Judy's ears drooped a little.

"He was by himself until Gideon found him under his porch. He had heard the crying and gone to investigate," Bonnie said, smiling at the memory of the sight of the fox carrying around the giggling little mammal, just a little while ago.

"Wait, seriously? Gid found him?" Judy let out a giggle at the idea of the fox suddenly finding a small human. "I'll bet he was pretty surprised."

"That's putting it mildly," Bonnie said, chuckling a little, "he was shaking like a leaf when he saw the baby, unsure of what to do. But thankfully, Sharla was there and kept a level head."

"That sounds like Shar-- ... uh, Mom? How long ago was it that the baby was found?" Judy asked, her ears sticking straight up.

"A little over an hour ago. We would have called you sooner, but we thought that you might be asleep," Stu interjected.

"But... you said the baby was found underneath Gid's porch, right?" Judy pressed.

"Well, yeah. According to Sharla, she and Gideon suddenly heard a baby crying, and spent the better part of a half-an-hour searching for the source, finally figuring out where it was coming from." Bonnie explained, suddenly realizing what Judy seemed to be so confused about, hiding her smile behind her paw.

"But... what was Sharla doing over at Gideon's place so early in the morning?" Judy asked, trying to figure out what her black sheep friend could have possibly been up to. She had gotten back in touch with her friend after she had gone on to pursue her dream of one day becoming an astronaut and joined the airforce. The little ewe had toughened up quite a bit in the military, advancing despite some initial raised eyebrows at a sheep joining any branch of the military. Then a thought popped into her head.

"Oh no, please don't tell me that she went over to Gid's place to get back at him for being a bully to us all those years ago!" Judy asked, suddenly worried for Gideon's safety, as the little ewe's training had included paw-to-paw combat, and also for her childhood friend's career. Assaulting an old childhood bully could not possibly help with advancing in rank.

Or in this case it would be hoof to paw, Judy thought before she noticed the chuckle coming from her father, as well as Nick who smiled at her smugly as though he had caught something she had missed. Judy's mother smiled at her daughter before explaining.

"Not quite, sweetie. I would have thought that Sharla had told you, but I guess she wanted to keep things a secret," Bonnie said.

"Keep what a secret?" Judy asked, suspicion filling her voice.

"Well, the fact that for the last three years, she and Gideon Grey have been dating," Bonnie said, while Stu tried to reign in his uncontrollable chuckling.

"WHAT?!" Judy asked, her ears rigidly pointing straight up in shock.

Sharla and Gid?! How?! Then Judy looked up at her smirking fox, and rolled her eyes.

"Did she say why she felt that she couldn't tell me about it?" Judy asked, now feeling a little hurt that her friend had left her out of the loop.

"Well, apparently they were trying to keep their relationship a secret, not that it wasn't perfectly obvious to everyone in town, what with how they acted around one another," Bonnie explained, smiling at the memory of how whenever Sharla would get leave from the base, she would always spend quite a bit of time in the fox's company, who would always stutter on his words every time the black-wooled ewe was near. That and the way he would stare after her like a love-sick puppy, be it when she was dressed regularly or in her uniform.

"There was actually a betting pool going of when they would finally come right out and admit it," Stu said, having finally gotten himself under control.

"It's just... wow!" Judy said, her confusion being replaced with excitement. "That's great!"

"It really is quite a sweet little story," Bonnie said, "and their engagement just makes it all the sweeter." The older rabbit's paws shot over her mouth as she just realized the verbal bombshell she had just dropped onto her daughter.

"They're... engaged?!" Judy ask, having to take a seat at the kitchen table, her head swimming with this new information.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm sure that Sharla had wanted to tell you, but was probably worried that we would somehow drag the information out of you." Bonnie soothed.

"...Still though..." Once more, Judy felt a little hurt that her friend had kept something so big from her.

"I think that we're getting a little off topic here," Stu chimed in.

"Oh, right, you two called for advice about something," Judy said, putting her mildly hurt feelings aside for the time being. If her parents had called for advice, then Judy was prepared to go to any lengths and use all of the skills of her Police Academy training and her current amount of experience from the force to help her family. "Is it a string of robberies? Because if Travis' cousin's been causing trouble again, me and Nick will both personally come out there and cuff him to the Bunnyburrow sign."

"Hmm? Oh no dear, it's nothing like that," Bonnie said, looking over her shoulder once more, "we were just wondering if you knew how to go about ordering custom-tailored pants."

"Huh?" Judy responded, caught completely off guard, much to Nick's amusement as he continued to look on.

"Oh, well, one of the humans ripped the leg of a fancy-looking tux," Stu explained, "and he doesn't have any other clothes to wear. We just figured that since you got Eli, that you found a tailor who can make pants in... uh... human size, with no tail holes in 'em. And if you know of how we could go about helping the humans who arrived here, the adult ones at least, place some orders... well, orders that some of the townsfolk putting the humans up until they can find more permanent housing will be placing, and working out a way for them to repay us later."

Judy looked at her phone, her mouth wide open, before handing it to Nick, who winked at her before taking it in his paw.

"Well hello there, Mr. Hopps," Nick said, his smooth smile on his muzzle. Stu smiled back at the fox who had been looking out for his little girl out there in the big city.

"Nick, I've told you before to call me Stu," the older male rabbit said. Nick smiled kindly in return.

"And I keep forgetting, Stu. And hello there, Bonnie," he said.

"Hello there Nick, how are you?" she asked.

"We're all doing pretty great, Bonnie. And as it so happens, I have just the friend who can help with your little human clothing dilemma," Nick said, giving Judy another casual wink, before he continued to give her parents further details. Judy continued to sit on, processing the information she had just been given, but stopping to roll her eyes when Nick said that he had a friend, a smile playing on her lips as she watched her fox get along with her parents, a sight that always warmed her heart.

And there you have it, dear readers! I hope that you enjoyed the new chapter! And once more, I would like to thank my friend, Trismegistus Shandy, for proofreading the chapter!