Four days later..
The animal crept slowly through the dark empty halls, ears perked at any sound it heard.
It picked up it's pace when another sound was heard. It followed the sound to a dimly lit room.
There it's prey stood, slightly swaying back and fourth, not at a making any noise.
The mammal braced itself before desperately leaping on to it's dinner, viciously clawing at it, growling in the process.
-
"Okay carrots, can you hop your little bunny tail off mine?" Nick said, turning around and looking at the bunny who pretended to claw at his tail.
"No, the enemy must die first!" Judy giggled, growling as she pretended to choke his tail.
Nick grabbed Judy off of it and grinned. "You're too childish, Judes."
"Am not. I just wanted to kill this stupid boredom and news flash, it's not working." She rolled her eyes trying to stop smiling.
Nick sat her down and kissed her nose. "How about we visit Mama Carrot and Papa Carrot, again?"
Judy sighed. "Well, they've been busy with the farm. I don't think they'd want to be bothered."
Nick groaned before smiling again. "Well, let's go on that date I promised you?"
"That sounds nice. Where will we go?"
"We deserve a break, so why not the Palms Hotel?" Suggested Nick.
"Okay, how many nights do you plan on staying?" Judy said, grabbing his paws and smiling at him in excitement.
"We have two weeks for a break so why not a week?" He kissed her nose smirking.
"Alright, I'll pack my stuff-"
"Make sure to pack a swim suit. We'll be sure to hit the ocean."
Judy blushed a bit before gathering her things.
After a while, she chuckled at a memory she thought of. "What's so funny, cottontail?" Nick asked.
"I just remembered how different you were acting when we first went to meet my parents." She giggled.
Nick frowned and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh. Uh...can we not talk about that.?"
"Is it because you were acting like a big baby?" Judy teased.
"N-no! I wasn't!"
"Alright, you don't want me to recap on it do you?"
"No!"
XXXX
Meeting Mr and Mrs Carrot~
(Three days ago)
"I dunno about this, Judy." Nick said, slightly uneasy.
Judy smiled, pulling into the Hopps family home driveway. "Aw c'mon Nick, you wait four hours of driving just to re-think it?" Judy groans.
"I-I.....Carr-J-Judy....I-"
"Nick," Judy said, stopping the car and looking at him.
"I understand that you're nervous. But I promise you, it's not going to be as hard as you think it will be."
Nick looked her in her eyes, emerald on amethyst. "Judy, what if they don't like me? All of this time me and you shared together, all of what we are...It could be ruined. Do they even know I'm a fox-Judy I can't....I-I." Before he knew it, he started breathing fast.
Judy was shocked. She had never seen her fox this nervous..never. It put a big impact on her heart. Seeing Nick this cautious. She didn't even know he had anxiety.
"Stop. Stop, already." Judy said, grabbing the fox by his paw. "Please Nick, just listen to me. If they don't accept you. Then me and you will run away. We'll live happily ever after like a cute little fairy tale."
Nick didn't listen. It was like he didn't hear anything..he was too overwhelmed about what the outcome of their relationship might be.
Dads...dads are hard to deal with..
Moms are an easy win over but dads..? God...I don't know what I'll do if I can't be with Judy. What if her dad is an overprotective monster, what if he hates foxes.? Interspecie couples are frown upon...he'll hate us. He'll hate me. I've been hustling for most of my life...I almost murdered someone. I put his daughter in danger soo many times. I've broken her heart I've insulted her...picked on her....
I even call her names like Carrots or fluff...he won't like me. And all Judy's siblings-
"Nick!" Judy said, shaking the fox.
Nick snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at the bunny. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to hug the fox.
"It doesn't matter what my parents think. All that matters is me and you. " She felt his arms wrap around her tightly.
Suddenly, in this very moment, all nervousness was gone. All anxiety...All of it. Gone. "Thanks Judy." Nick smiled breaking the hug.
Judy kissed him on the lips a smiled. "You dumb fox. Let's go meet my parents."
Judy got backed in her seat and opened the passenger door, Nick did the same. The aroma of the air brought her back to when she was young. She remembered the hot summers in the carrot field, the cool winters sitting by the fireplace with her family while her mom told them all sweet stories.
Judy marveled at it all, the scenery itself was exciting her. She couldn't wait to show Nick the wonders of Bunny Burrow, not to mention the fall festival in an hour.
She grabbed her fox by the paw and walked to the front door of the Hopps home. There, she knocked three times. A dozen foot steps were heard and the door opened, revealing a sweet looking doe.
"Judy, it's nice to see you again." She said, hugging her daughter.
"You too, mom."
Bonnie looked at Nick and smiled. "You must be Nicholas, Judy's told me soo many good things about you."
Nick smiled back, making sure not to show too much teeth. "Yup, the one and only. I'm guessing you're the famous mama Hopps?" He said in a polite tone while they shook paws.
"Sure am! Why don't you come in and make yourself at home?" She motioned them inside before closing the door.
Nick was shocked at how many bunnies were in the living room at once. At least fifty. The little bunnies all turned their heads at the fox who entered their house.
"Is he gonna eat us?" A small child said.
"No Sherry, this is my boyfriend, Nicholas Wilde." Judy said.
Nick waved at the little bunnies, trying not to smile too wide.
"Hey, my name is Nicholas!" Another little bunny said.
"Well, nice to meet you Nicholas." Said Nick.
The bunnies seemed to ease down a bit, actually started to feel a little less tense. Nick eased down also.
"Well, Judy, why don't you take Nick up to see your bedroom?" Bonnie said.
Judy nodded. "Let us know when lunch is ready."
The two went up the stairs and to the second floor, luckily where Judy's room was. It was about forty different rooms on that floor alone. Judy lead Nick to her bedroom and opened it, revealing a classic bunny sized bed, a small desk area which contained a laptop and some note books, a little book shelf and a PA system connected to her wall.
"What's with that?" Nick asked, pointing at it.
Judy pressed a button on it and smirked. "Tammy, were you using my lipstick again?" she said into the speaker.
There was a pause before the system beeped. "If I was, would you be mad?" The female bunny replied.
Judy laughed. "Just stay out my stuff, okay?"
Nick raised an eyebrow, "Oh, so you can communicate with the others like that?"
"Yeah, just in case there's a fire or something."
Nick sat down on Judy's bed and sighed. "You ready to hear something you would've never thought I did?" He said, leaning back.
Judy sat on the bed next to him and nodded. "Okay, you remember my father, right? How he...was?"
Judy nodded. "Well, this happened around the time he left. He had mercy for no one. Me being his only child, I started to get used to his abuse. One time he took it too far, he put his paws on my mom. I prayed to hell that he didn't hurt her as much as it sounded like. But that night, I cut my wrist. Only...only because the worry of my mom was getting to me. I couldn't help her, I was useless in a situation like that."
He closed his eyes and breathed out. "So when I cut my wrist, I expected to die. Though it never happened. I developed anxiety over the years but I soon decided that if I was gonna live in this world, I wasn't going to take any pity. I was planning to go..run away from the hell my father brought me. Turns out. I ran right into hell itself. Zootopia. Running from my problems wasn't going to help. And every since that night of the ranger scouts, I've decided to never let them see that they get to me."
He chuckled, devoid of humor.
"Growing up with Finnick was not as hard as it seemed. Conning and tricking mammals was the only reason I woke up in the morning.," he sighed. "And now you probably think I'm a baby for going through all of-"
"Nick. You've been through soo much, I can't even imagine half of it. You've struggled, but always kept your balance. You've fallen, but always got back up. That's the beauty of if. Forget anxiety, because all you need hope." Judy said before leaning down and kissing him on the cheek.
"Now, let's go get lunch so we can head down to the fall festival!" Judy cheered.
"Alright, Judes. But if all lunch is is carrots, don't expect me to eat it all."
Judy chuckled and went to follow Nick down the stairs, and into the kitchen. "Hey you two, your lunches are over there." Bonnie said pointing to the table with a plate and two sandwiches on it. Stu sat at the table, feeding a baby bunny applesauce.
Nick got slightly nervous but didn't let it show. He followed Judy to the table where she greeted her dad.
"Hey dad," she said. "How's Juilia?" She said referring to the baby.
"Ah, she's okay. A little sneeze here and there but she'll be okay." He said, glancing at Nick.
Nick smiled and spoke, "Good evening Mr.Hopps." He said.
Stu somewhat glared at him. "So you're the fox that's dating my daughter?"
"Yes sir."
Stu observed him for a while before nodding. "What's your name?"
"Oh, Nicholas Wilde sir. I work at the ZPD with your daughter."
"Okay..just because I accept you doesn't mean I like you." Stu mentioned.
Nick nodded. "I understand, sir."
Stu looked at him one more time before handing the baby to Judy. "Put her in her crib." He said.
Judy rolled her eyes and walked to the nursery, Nick following behind. As Judy was about to set it down, the baby began crying.
"Shh.." Judy said, rocking the baby but the screams got louder.
The others started to slowly stir and almost woke up. "Here, let me hold her." Nick said. Judy shrugged and handed him the baby.
Nick looked down at the baby's watering hazel eyes and slowly rocked it while singing a lullaby.
"Cry oh cry, you baby's do. Sure I'm not a father but this'll do. I rock you to sleep, slowly in my arms, to hope that one day there'll be not harm. Cry oh cry, you babies do, I'll hold you, love you, like a father would too. I rock you to sleep by the hold of my paw, so I wish sweet dreams to you and to all, so now I send you home, in hopes someday to have a child of my own."
Judy felt her heart melt when watching him. He smiled down at the baby as it closed it's eyes and went to sleep.
"Nick, how did you do that?!" Judy whispered to him.
"I-I dunno...instinct I guess?"
Bonnie, who stood in the doorway smiled. "I think Nick was just born with a fatherly touch."
Judy smiled and sat the baby down in the crib. "Did you make that up?" She asked Nick.
"Yeah, just took words off of the top of my head." He smirked.
"Judy, can we talk for a bit?" Bonnie said, pulling her daughter out of the nursery.
"What is it mom?" Judy asked.
"Remember the last words Nick had said at the end of the lullaby" Bonnie asked her.
"Oh...So now I send you home, in hopes someday I'll have a child of my...own." Judy was kind of confused.
"Judy, Nick wants a child! He wants a baby!" Bonnie gushed.
Judy caught on to what she meant and blushed deeply. "M-mom..we started dating like two months ago."
"So? He's ready to move on to the next step."
"But..we're still young, and what about the ZPD, we aren't even married. Plus...we're Interspecies."
"You can still breed with a different species. Foxes and are compatible."
Judy sighed. "He....He may be ready. But I'm not."
Bonnie nodded in understanding. "Well at least talk to him about it. See what he thinks. He's already good with children, I mean look at him." Bonnie pointed inside the nursery where Nick was singing to one of the bunnies.
Judy once again felt her heart melt as she watched him. "He is great with children."
"It wouldn't hurt to talk about it, sweetheart. Just for precautions." Bonnie said before walking back to the kitchen.
Maybe...it wouldn't hurt to talk about it.....
Nick would be a great father..
Kisses Of The Rain..
Nursery Father