Ten months later...

"Alan, stop pulling on your sister's ears. You know that isn't nice," Nick stated as he carefully removed Alan's little paws, which were tightly wrapped around Violet's floppy ears.

His attention was quickly divided, however, as he noticed another one of his sons flailing an arm with a sippy cup in his grasp.

"Red! No throwing things, please."

Nick gave the toddler a firm, yet amused glance. The child babbled happily before throwing the cup as far as he could manage. Nick caught the cup with ease before setting it out of reach on the kitchen counter. Sighing lightly, Nick leaned his lower back against the counter and looked over the kitchen, which was an absolute mess.

Red was seated in a highchair as he munched on a cup of dry cereal that Nick had poured for him, Alan and Violet sat on the tiled floor as they played with a variety of toys that were scattered about, and Robin crawled around aimlessly as he shrieked with laughter whenever Red threw a piece of cereal down onto the floor. Nick smiled at his kids, trying to ignore the mess they were causing.

The entire house was in various degrees of messiness, in fact, but Nick didn't really mind it. He enjoyed finding toys all over the house, or finding different types of snacks hidden in couch cushions or blankets; it only reminded him of his adorable children. He didn't necessarily enjoy falling down the stairs after stepping on a small toy car, and he certainly didn't love when he found rotten fruit that Alan had expertly hidden when it was ripe (which he weirdly had a habit of doing), but Nick let the pros outweigh the cons when it came to his children.

On this lovely Saturday that he didn't have any plans for, Nick found the time to enjoy time with the kids. It was late morning, but the children had been up since the early hours of the day after going to sleep very late the night before, leaving Nick with a permanently sleepy expression for the day. Still leaning against the counter, Nick reached over and picked up his coffee mug, which he took a large swig from before sighing once more.

It was pleasant moments like these that made him think back over the last few months, the last few months that had been eventful as the kids learned to sit up on their own, eat solid foods, and crawl around without needing too much help. Although exciting, the last few months had also been filled with several all-nighters, hours of listening to screaming and crying, and several different tantrums, but again, Nick liked to let the pros outweigh the cons, so he quickly wiped the bad pieces from his memory. In this game of endless good and bad moments called life, Nick noticed that Judy was the factor that put everything into perspective. When thinking of her, he always thought about the bad events first, letting them haunt him for a few seconds.

Over the years, Judy had scared him several different times; he had seen Judy bleed, heard her screams, seen her cry, and so much more. How could he not love her after everything they had been through?

"Judy."

Nick shivered as he thought of the last time Judy had scared him, the time that had put him on edge more than any other.

"Is she going to be okay? Please. Is she going to be okay?"

On a day that had been marked with such excitement as the couple welcomed their four newest members, Nick had also been frightened beyond all belief. Nick closed his eyes momentarily as he let the events of that day repeat in his mind.

"Nicholas, stop pacing, everything is going to be fine."

"This isn't fine, Mom! Tell me, does anything seem fine to you right now?"

"Things like this happen."

"They don't! They don't just happen!"

"Nicholas… you need to be prepared."

"Prepared for what?"

"You know..."

"No, I don't know. Be prepared for what?"

"Be prepared if… well, if she doesn't make it."

"You did not just say that to me."

"Nicholas, listen. If something happens to her, can you manage four children on your own?"

"I don't know, Mom. Why are you asking me these things? Can't you be considerate for five seconds?"

"You need to be thinking about these things. Can you manage to take care of the children while also working, all while paying for the house, and the bills, and food?"

"I don't know."

"Can you do this alone?"

"I don't know!"

That day, he hadn't known at all. Though what his mother had said was completely reasonable in the situation, Nick hadn't been ready to accept her words. Neither had Judy's parents, or her entire family for that matter. In fact, Nick's mother had been the only one ready to accept the worst-case scenario.

"What happened?"

"Her placenta ruptured, causing some heavy internal bleeding."

"I thought you fixed that months ago, Doctor."

"Complications can occur, Mr. Wilde."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"We've taken her up to surgery and we are doing everything we can."

Nick shook his head and came back to reality as he felt a heaviness settle in his chest. The fox quickly turned his attention back on his children, focusing on the present rather than the past. Robin was attempting to open a childproofed drawer, while Alan was pulling on Violet's ears again as Red showered them all in cereal. Nick smiled and lifted Red from his highchair. He then worked carefully to pick the other three small children up, juggling them in a skilled manner as he made his way upstairs and into the kids' room. Once there, Nick placed them in their crib with a few stuffed toys, turned on the baby monitor, turned out the lights, and left the room to allow the children to nap for just a few hours before lunch. Nick went into his room, where he collapsed on the bed and took a deep breath. Keeping his eyes wide open as to keep from falling asleep, Nick stared up at the ceiling and let his thoughts wonder once more.

"What am I going to do without her?"

"You'll get through this, Wilde. I have faith in you. If you need anything, let me know."

"Thanks, Chief."

"Nick?"

Nick sat up and quickly opened his eyes, which had closed as his thoughts began to slip into the beginning of dreams.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Judy giggled as she set the car keys down on the dresser.

Two weeks after the birth of their children and Judy's surgery, the bunny had gone right back to work, but only for a few hours a day. Nowadays, she had a permanent smile etched on her face as she went through life with nothing but happiness in her heart. The workout that police work gave her also aided in Judy easily losing the excess weight the babies had given her in the ten months they were expected for. She looked fantastic. "Not at all, Darling," Nick smirked as he held out a paw for her to join him.

"I put the groceries away, sorry it took so long; the store was crazy," Judy laughed as she laid down next to Nick. "Where are the kids?"

"Napping, hopefully," Nick shrugged.

Judy snuck a glance at Nick's face before looking up at the ceiling and speaking again.

"You look like you just saw a ghost, are you okay?"

"I was just thinking about something."

"About what?"

"The day the kids were born."

"Ah, that day was amazing."

"Not all of it."

"That's because you're thinking about the bad parts. Try thinking about the good parts."

"Oh, Nick! Look at their little faces!"

"They're all so tiny."

"They are just absolutely precious. I can't believe we made these cute little things. I mean, look at you, Nick, you're downright ugly, so this was like a miracle."

"Oh, so Mom's got jokes, huh?"

"I'm tired, can you blame me?"

"No. No, not at all. In fact, all I can do is thank you. I love you, Judy."

"I love you too, Nick."

"Stop crying, you're going to make me cry."

"What are you talking about, you're already crying!"

Nick smiled at Judy.

"You're right. That was a pretty good day."

"I told you that I wasn't going to let four little babies beat me," Judy chuckled.

"I guess I should have taken your word for it, Carrots."

"You really should have. I'm always right."

"Sure you are. Remember the polar bear incident?"

"This is all my fault."

"You're never going to let me live that one down," Judy sighed, amused.

"Or the fox in the alley?"

"It's okay, Carrots. It's going to be okay. I've got you."

"I actually have chosen to forget about that one," Judy snorted. "You always focus on the negative, Drama Queen."

"Not always. Remember the first day we met?"

"…Officer...?"

"Hopps! Mr…?"

"Wilde, Nick Wilde."

"I do remember that day!" Judy giggled, making Nick smile as he thought about when he had hustled the bunny.

"Remember when you proposed, Nick?"

"Carrots, will you marry me?"

"How could I forget? I also remember when you told me you were pregnant during that huge birthday party you threw for me."

"Nick, I'm pregnant."

"Wow."

"The party where you accused me of cheating on you?" Judy asked smugly.

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"I guess I shouldn't remind you of the pictures from your bachelor party too then, huh?"

"You always have to bring that up, don't you?"

"It brings me joy."

"Oh, well then don't forget about Valerie."

Judy's expression turned sour.

"Ugh, don't bring her up."

Nick chuckled before planting a kiss on Judy's cheek.

"I'm just joking, Carrots, but I really do love our memories; they amaze me to think that I have spent so much time with you when it seems like it has only been a few seconds."

"I feel the exact same way," Judy smiled sweetly, her eyes gleaming.

"Hey, Carrots, I love you, you know that?"

"Of course, and I love you too."

Nick leaned over and lifted himself onto one arm.

"No, but I really love you," he stated.

Judy sat up slightly too and chuckled.

"I know, Nick. I really love you too."

"I can't really explain it, though."

"Explain what?"

"Explain how happy I am. Explain how grateful I am that you're safe and lying next to me right now."

"Aw, Nick, come on. Enough of that cute stuff."

"I'm serious, though."

"I know, and I feel the same way for you, but you don't need to worry, because I'm not going anywhere."

Just then, a small cry erupted from the receiving end of the baby monitor that was strategically placed on Judy's bedside table. Judy let out a little laugh as she collapsed back onto the bed dramatically.

"I got it," she smiled as she stood, kissed Nick on the nose, and left to go and soothe the crying child.

A few minutes later, the crying stopped, and Judy returned.

"All good," she smiled with a thumbs up.

"For like five minutes, maybe," Nick laughed.

Judy gave him an agreeing look before lying back down onto the bed.

"So, what should we do for the five minutes?" she asked.

Nick pretended to think this question through before grinning.

"Sleep."

There you have it! I honestly became really emotional while writing this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it. This is the end of "Family," but here pretty soon, I will be creating a collection of one-shots called "Little Firsts" that will follow the family through important events such as the babies' first steps, first words, and so on, so be looking for that. I will also be doing a story that will tell the story of Judy and Nick's wedding, so that is in store too. I hope everyone enjoyed this! It took almost three months to write and had over twenty thousand views, so thank you all for your loyal support to this story!

Love you all,

TatorTotTottish