Easter was normally one of those holidays that often attracted a lot of attention and one that Animalians did latch on to certain parts of. Peopled liked that many of the Chicken Animalians from the Brown Farm would still lay sterile eggs that could be hard boiled and then painted with exquisite colors and designs. Many remembered the special Easter Egg hunts that Lyre and Animalia sponsored after many of the morning church services, and particularly with Roger and Jessica playing the role of "Easter Bunny." But many things changed with time, Roger and Jessica had graduated and had gone to UNLV and while they did get a break for Easter, it wasn't long and they were past their Spring Break, which had been in March. This had meant that Animalia and Lyre had to change some things with regard to their planning.
The biggest change, though, had been the pandemic. It had pretty much cancelled Easter the previous year in terms of major celebrations, and while things were getting better now, that didn't mean that things were all the way back to where they were before the pandemic. For the pandemic was still out there, and now had new variants growing, even with the increase in vaccine distribution, and that was something that the Animalians paid attention to, particularly those in Lyre and Animalia as the vaccine for more modern Animalians wasn't ready yet. Sophie, Roland, JC, and Pauline were able to get the Dinotopian vaccine while in Dino City, but that vaccine wasn't compatible with more modern animal based Animalians. This left them concerned over potential case surges and other issues, as while Horizon Light had managed to handle the massive Thanksgiving to New Years surges that ended up bringing people from much of northern Nevada, southern Oregon, and northeastern California to Lyre for treatment because there were no other hospitals available for them, that didn't mean they necessarily wanted Covid 19 to start spreading in Lyre or Animalia.
This then meant that much of the Easter celebrations were still subdued or managed. Lyre's churches did their sermons in shifts to allow for in person ceremonies and for social distancing, with many having gotten emails on which ceremony to attend. The big Easter Egg hunt and painting eggs was still off, there was still some effort to allow for scaled down versions of this, which had included some individual deliveries to houses with pre-planned gifts made by volunteers, which had included Hunni Bunni and Bunni Clair. The former had volunteered because it seemed fun and wanted to live up to her "big sister's" reputation and the latter went as sort of a chaperone for Hunni Bunni and to give Owen a bit of an Easter outing. Which Owen actually loved. He was older now and understood a few things better than when Bunni was first uplifted, but he'd had fun, which was the biggest thing for Bunni.
"You help, her, mom?" Owen asked as they made their way home for the afternoon where they could expect Rockwall to be working on dinner.
"In part," Bunni answered, "though... just about everyone at Doctor Jones' clinic works with her."
Bunni smiled a bit at that. True, her studies had been more with child psychology and would be there more studies more focused on that sort of thing, which she figured was necessary to be there for Owen, but Hunni Bunni seemed to be something of a special case. She was double dosed and understood what that meant, along with all the related desires that went with it, but it also came with other issues that often had her come off as rather child-like. The Marianas were helping with Hunni Bunni's "family life" and so far as Bunni knew, so did Jessica when she was able to come home for breaks from college, but there were still other things that were there to help Hunni Bunni grow and get better. That was where Bunni's work with Doctor Jones' clinic was coming into help as well and allowed her the opportunity for some of the intern and training parts of the psychology courses she'd been taking.
"But you're the one who knows the most on how to help her, right?" Owen asked he held Bunni's hand and let it sway forward and back, letting Bunni smile and gently move her arm as well.
"I do my best, which is all anyone can do," Bunni answered.
With that the pair made it back to their apartment and noted the Easter decoration taped to the door's front. It was a hand drawn image of what was essentially Bunni and Rockwall lifting Owen into the air while he swung between them like on a giant swing. There were also a few Easter eggs that were drawn in between each figure. The details weren't exact, but given that Owen had presented it as an art project he'd done at school for Easter, Bunni had no problem with it. It'd made Owen's day when it was put up as a decoration.
"Your best is very good, mom," Owen replied as he gave Bunni's hand a soft squeeze.
Bunni smiled as she reached forward and got to the doorknob with the other hand and then lead Owen in. As expected, Bunni could smell the cooking of carrots and nuts coming from the kitchen while also hearing the sound of Rockwall chopping lettuce and other things that related to what would be the Clair family dinner. There would be a few things that Bunni and Rockwall couldn't eat but Owen could, but that was necessary. Owen had seemed surprisingly open to a more vegetarian diet when at home, some of which Bunni considered part of Owen's love for her and some of his role in setting her up with Rockwall, but Owen was still Human and needed more protein than what nuts could provide and Bunni made sure he would grow up happy and healthy.
Owen made his way across the living room to the couch where he soon picked up a few books that had been left by the side of it and were some of the various stories that Owen liked. Bunni smiled and made her way toward the doorway to the kitchen. Just as she got to the doorway, Owen spoke up.
"Mom," Owen spoke.
Bunni paused and looked to him as he looked to her from the couch. He had a small smile on face that she acknowledged with a nod.
"Thank you for all the fun at Easter and letting me help," Owen said to her, "I got almost everything I wanted..."
"Almost everything?" Bunni asked, remembering that there were times when children could want things or act on those desires. She remembered seeing that at times with some of the other kids in foster care that Owen had lived with before. She knew these were things that couldn't be ignored but that she also had to be careful with.
"Yes... but I suppose that would just have to wait," Owen admitted.
"And what is it you want?" Bunni asked.
"A baby brother," Owen answered, "it'd make you happy and I'd help."
That made Bunni blink in surprise. That was another of the things where Owen caught her by surprise. She loved him dearly, for the good care he'd given and the friendship he'd offered her while she was a mundane pet rabbit, and she remembered the fear in his eyes when she got sick. That was all part of what made her interested in adopting Owen after her uplifting, to return the love and kindness he'd show with the love and care that he needed. In some ways, she'd come to see him as her own child for that, which was why she loved him. But then there were occasions where he still did things that seemed more focused on her than anything else.
That all started after Rockwall was uplifted and showed up at their apartment. Owen essentially set up the introduction in a way that ended up with him coming off as matchmaker between her and Rockwall. He was a striking male Flemish Giant Rabbit Animalian, and he'd ultimately proved to be a good and kind father figure to Owen as well, which Bunni liked, but there was still the fact that Owen suggested the pairing between them because he thought Rockwall would make her happy and wanted her to be happy. And Rockwall actually did make her happy, in more ways than one. He was good with Owen, he was friendly, competent, gentle, along with other things she'd never do in front of Owen and that let her love for Rockwall grow as well. A part of her had some interest in children of her own, but she'd had her focus on Owen. Yet, Owen was urging her on a way to be happy as well. At times it reminded her on how Owen still loved her and at times even showed that he was more mature than he looked.
"I'm sure you would," Bunni answered, "but that would be between Rockwall and I."