Cover Image used with permission from zootermission (from tumblr)

Along the center of Padfoot Street, a group of young coyotes ran down the sidewalk in a hurry, each carrying a large stick in their paws. The one in front looked behind him, keeping track of his pursuants, just in time to see one of them dart ahead and rear his stick back. He managed an overhead block just in time and retaliated with a side swipe of his own. While the two battled one another, the others ran up and swung their sticks at him as well. Their target jumped to the side, rolling along the sidewalk and bracing himself on his knees. The pup looked back at his friends with a boastful grin before running away as they resumed their chase.

The East side of Savanna Central wasn't the most upscale part of Zootopia by any means. Age had taken its toll on the rows of houses squished side by side together, rust and chipped paint all along their surface. Despite its worn appearance, and slander from the citizens of the more upscale districts, the residents felt quite at home in this neighborhood. Many of the houses had been home to a few generations of families of the same name. An economical, yet cozy area. A quaint little place to live.

From the window of her own home, an older vixen with red and cream fur watched the group of pups run by, a cellphone pressed to her ear. She wore a blue yarn blouse, her eyelids covered with a layer of eyeshadow, and some mascara applied to her dainty eyelashes. A cellphone to her ear, she listened to the woman chatting on the other side.

"Can you believe it, Olivia?" the voice from the phone said to her, "The news is calling your son a hero! Again!"

"I know, Clarice, I'm shocked," Olivia replied with a smile, "I've just been so excited, I don't know what to do with myself."

"I mean, I was at the office making some copies for my boss, just hearing the news playing from across the way. I thought they were just talking about the first story again, when he and that rabbit cop found all those kidnapped predators. Then they mentioned a cover up, so I ran over there and saw that they'd gotten the mayor's assistant arrested. Completely forgot about those copies!"

"I remember when I heard about the first time he was in the news. I was at the bookstore, just trying to find some romance novel to keep myself occupied. Then I got a call from Janett telling me my son was on TV. When I saw it for myself, I almost fainted."

"The whole thing just sounds so crazy. Zootopia's first rabbit cop, teamed up with a fox and saving all the predators of the city."

"I never thought I'd see the day a rabbit joined the police," Olivia commented, turning away from the window and toward the LCD TV tuned to the news, "Things sure have changed over the years."

"I know what you mean. Why, just the other day I — "

"Clarice, they're playing another story about him," Olivia cut off her friend as she watched the television, "Can I call you back?"

"Oh, sure! Talk to you later, bye!"

Olivia hung up her phone in a hurry, and grabbed the remote control for the TV. Turning up the volume, she sat down in her sofa, eager to hear more information about her son.

"- ZPD Officer Judy Hopps and resident Nick Wilde will receive awards for their heroic efforts this Friday." Fabienne Clawley , the ZNN's snow leopard anchor reported.

The shot of her dissolved, replaced with footage that had graced every news station since yesterday: Clad in a flannel shirt and jeans with a crutch supporting her casted leg, the rabbit officer Judy Hopps. Right next to her was Olivia's son in his oversized green shirt and indigo tie: Nick Wilde, a large smile on his face and his paws in the air making two V-symbols with his digits.

"Both Hopps and Wilde uncovered a city-wide conspiracy to disgrace predator citizens of Zootopia," Fabienne narrated as the footage played, "Initially credited for uncovering Mayor Lionheart's kidnapping of predators gone savage, further investigation from the two revealed a deeper plot behind their abduction. Former mayor Dawn Bellwether, as well as her accomplices, were the real culprits behind predators' savage behavior. City hall council had this to say, in a press conference held earlier this afternoon…"

Olivia Wilde held her paws up to her cheeks in admiration, tuning out the rest of the report. Her son had saved Zootopia! She was so proud of him. Olivia had tried to call him every day since his name had first appeared in the news. He'd never picked up though. She assumed the press kept him busy, stopping him everywhere he went to ask more questions about his heroics. Olivia was okay with that though; seeing him on the news meant he was doing alright. That was enough for her.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to try again. Picking up her cellphone, Olivia opened up her list of contacts, scrolling down the list of names. She found Nick's slot, but just before she could press the button, the screen changed with an incoming call. She gasped as she looked at the screen, seeing Nick's face as the ringtone chirped. Nick never called her; she always called him. Before he became a hero, Olivia strived to respect his space, only calling him once every other week just to check up on him. He never had much to say; just that he was in good health and making money. She wished he would talk to her more, but she knew better than to force it out of him.

It took her a few seconds to react, but Olivia found the strength to press the green Answer button. She lifted the phone to her ear, hearing a small amount of static on the other side of the call.

"Hello?" Olivia asked, her breath stuck in her throat.

"... H-hi, Mom." Nick's voice resonated from the speaker.

"Hi sweetheart," Olivia answered back, pushing to keep her voice from cracking, "How are you?"

"I'm, uh — well, I don't suppose you've seen the news recently?"

"I sure have," she replied, her eyes glancing away from the TV as the news switched to an unrelated story, "All of my gal pals have been calling me and telling me my son is on TV. You've become quite the celebrity amongst us old crows."

"Hey, come on Mom; fifty isn't that old."

"Well hopefully you'll still think so when you get that old yourself," Olivia responded, drawing an amused chuckle from her son, "Nick, honey, I'm so proud of you. Do you want to tell me all about what happened?"

"Yeah, I would, but… I kind of wanted to swing by tomorrow and tell you about it in person."

Olivia's eyes lit up at the suggestion. Nick hadn't stepped foot in her home in twelve years.

"Sure!" Olivia replied with joy, "I would love to have you over. I haven't seen you in ages. Why don't you come by for lunch, around noon?"

"Yeah. Okay, sounds good. I'll be there."

"Nick, are you sure you're doing okay, besides from what I've seen on TV?"

"I'm fine, Mom, really," Nick reassured her, "It's just the last few weeks have been kind of exhausting for me and Judy."

"Oh, Judy's the police officer you were working with, the rabbit, right?"

"Yeah, that's Judy. She's — well I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Right, okay." Olivia stopped herself from pressing further, knowing that she would get her fill of him tomorrow. "Text me if you want me to make you anything specific for lunch."

"Anything's fine. I gotta get going, see you tomorrow."

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Mom."

Olivia heard the click of the receiver on the other end, and the call ended. Her dear son was paying her a visit tomorrow. At last, she'd get to see him again after twelve long years. Sitting up from her chair, Olivia strode over to the farthest wall of the living room. She approached a mantle just above her eyes, looking over the collection of framed photos on display. To the farthest left stood a picture of herself wearing a long blue dress that did a poor job hiding the large round bump of her belly. Crouched down in front of her, a male fox dressed in a formal brown suit, his arms wrapped around her and his right ear against her large stomach.

Hey, I can hear him kicking, Olive! she could still hear his voice saying. We've got a fighter here. He just can't wait to get out and see the world!

James T. Wilde, a fox with something to prove, in a world with the odds stacked against him. Despite a reputation of shiftiness and deceit among foxes, James had big dreams of trying to make it big in Zootopia. On her way to work at age nineteen, Olivia happened to see a pair of large prey animals throwing the male fox out of a loan office. Notes and documents flew from his briefcase, yet another business idea of his rejected. He'd dusted the dirt off his brown suit without any dismay, picking up every paper from his suitcase.

One of his documents however had blown away without his knowledge, landing right at Olivia's feet. Running up and returning it to him, his paw accidentally brushed over hers as he reached for the piece of paper. As he gazed upon the lovely vixen before him, Olivia felt his brilliant green eyes light up her very soul.

A cup of coffee with James led to a romantic candlelit dinner a week later. A month passed in the blink of an eye, and the two foxes spent a night of passion at his shack that he'd sweated to keep ownership of for a decade. The flame that burned between Olivia and James ignited to its fullest that night, pushing both of them into a tango of caressing and moaning within the confines of his bed.

While a cub of their own had come as a surprise to them, James and Olivia were overjoyed to hear the news all the same. He'd hit upon his best idea yet: Suitopia, a suit emporium for every animal in Zootopia. By a miracle, James finally secured a loan to get the business started. Once Suitopia had grown into an empire of its own, he planned on letting their son Nicholas P. Wilde inherit the trade once he'd grown up.

That business had never come to pass, unfortunately. One tragic decision to enter town for some groceries had cost them both more than any loan could ever pay for. She was devastated when she had to identify James's body at the ZPD, even more so knowing that little Nick would grow up having never known his father. Despite the support she received from friends and family during the last month of her pregnancy, Olivia didn't know if she'd have the strength to carry on after losing James. When the day came that she was in the hospital bed with a little mewling ball of fur in her arms, the hurt she'd carried lessened substantially. The joy her baby Nick provided renewed her strength to push onward.

To the right of the picture with she and James was a picture of a fox cub, adorned in a red t-shirt with blue shorts. His face was bright with wide opened eyes and a laughing smile as he rode down the street on a small bicycle. Olivia remembered that day fondly; Nick had been so frustrated before that he couldn't keep the thing straight enough to ride forward without tipping over. Several tries later, with Olivia giving him a head start each time, he'd managed to keep it steady for several paces. From that point forward, he'd become a master of his bike, Olivia scrambling to capture the moment in a photograph.

Further along the mantle, a picture with the same fox, a few feet taller, dressed in fashionably torn jeans with a designer t-shirt which had its sleeves rolled up. A haughty smirk upon his face, Nick stared at the camera with half-lidded eyes and a raised brow. His high school senior photo, taken just a week before he graduated. Though his teachers complimented him for his dashing smile, Olivia recognized that condescending grin conveying his ego. She'd noticed it the day after he'd come back from initiation for the Junior Ranger Scouts, when she'd found his uniform in the trash after all the excitement of wanting to join their ranks. Looking up at her with those half-lidded eyes and that arrogant half smile, he replied:

Eh, I changed my mind. Just a bunch of dorks hanging around in stupid outfits. I got better things to do than that.

Olivia knew that wasn't the truth. As a fox, she could detect insincerity in front of her, especially with her own son. Olivia wanted to know the truth, but she didn't have the strength to force it from him. She tried asking him again several times afterward, insisting that he could tell her if something was bothering him. All he responded with was that same condescending look each time. Though he never misbehaved or acted out as he grew up, their relationship had changed. He closed himself off from her and relied on just his own methods to trudge through life.

Reaching for the picture in the middle, Olivia held the image of young Nick Wilde on his bike against her chest. She felt awful that he'd been hurting for so long and that she didn't know how to help. She'd used what little money she could spare to hire a psychologist during his adolescence. After a few months of trying, the counselor made no progress; Nick had confined himself within a shell that no one could crack. Despite the pain he'd gone through in his life, he at least held onto his moral conscience, going above and beyond to save Zootopia. She knew that James would love him and be proud of him unconditionally, but she hoped that maybe he was smiling a little brighter as he watched his son become a hero to the city.

Finished reflecting on the past for the moment, Olivia replaced the picture on the mantle and stepped into the kitchen. Grabbing a pen and paper, she'd need to make a list for a trip to the grocery store and prepare for her son's visit tomorrow afternoon.