Chapter 1

"Do you mind if we stop by my mother's house?" It was out of the blue, but Judy had never met his Nick's mom before. "I know it's getting kind of late, but she's just around the corner, and I haven't had much time see her since becoming a cop." Nick was wearing his conman face as he said the words, in an attempt to hide the fact that he was embarrassed about it.

"Oh, um… I guess that's fine. I've been wanting to meet her for a while anyway." Judy looked up at Nick with her usual big smile as they walked down the street toward the house. She squinted her eyes and what was genuine had become a rouge-ish smirk. "Mama's boy."

Nick winced briefly, but returned to his former expression. She could see right through him now, and it bothered him that she knew when she was pressing his buttons. "Har har little rabbit." Though in a strange way, he was coming to enjoy the fact that someone, anyone, could actually reach him through the mask. "So just how long have you wanted to meet my mother Carrots?"

"Well gee?" She tilted her head and raised one paw to her chin, before talking in a patronizing tone. "I don't know, maybe it was when you told me about her on the gondola?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Uhuh, sure… Pardon me if I don't buy that you heard about my mom buying me an outfit when I was young and thought Golly gee-wilikers, I really have to meet this woman."

Judy let out a sigh. "Fine…" She grabbed his hand and leaned into him. "I guess it was, let me think… After our second date?"

Nick let go of her hand only to wrap his arm around her. "Wow I guess it has been a while, that was just before I went to the academy right?"

"Mmhmm!" She was enjoying the soft fur of his forearm brushing against her face. "And honestly it's about time that we met. Every mother wants to know that her son's girlfriend is treating him right."

Nick went wide eyed and stopped in his tracks choking Judy from the unexpected stop. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

She cut him off. "What was that about? You…" She looked at his face, and could tell once again he was trying to hide his emotions. She closed her eyes and put her paws to her temples. "You haven't told her yet…" Nick gulped. "Nicholas Piberius Wilde! We've been dating for nearly two years, and you still haven't told your mother?!"

Nick crossed his arms and went on the defensive. "Yeah well you haven't told your parents either! So what's the deal with that?"

Judy tapped her foot furiously in her frustration. "That's different." She tried her best not look him in the eyes while she said it.

"How Carrots? How is that any different?"

"Because they're country folk! Maybe in the city it's acceptable for the kind of relationship we have, but… Out there, it's like a whole other world. Predator and prey don't always get along, and they certainly don't date. Especially not a fox and bunny."

Nick looked at her with anger in his eyes but struggled to keep it. She looks cute when she's angry. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you ashamed of me?"

"No Nick it's nothing like-"

"Then what is it?"

Judy's nose twitched. "Alright fine! You want to know the truth?"

"I'm all ears Carrots."

"Remember how I used to carry fox repellant?"

"Yeah?" He shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

"It wasn't my idea. My parents… practically wouldn't let me leave to be a cop without me taking some kind of fox defense. They had a bag at the train station with all kinds of horrible things in it. Fox repellant, fox deterrent, and… even a fox taser."

Nick's voice was flat and sarcastic. "Your parents are going to be charmed by me."

"I took the repellent just to get them to leave me alone." Judy let out another huge sigh. "I'm sure we can make it work, we just need to be careful. Maybe just introduce you as my partner first. Until they get to know you."

Nick paused for few seconds. "Oh alright alright fine! Maybe it is a little different."

Judy tilted her head. "A little?"

"Alright, a lot! My mom never bought me a bunny taser, or even warned me about them, so yeah… there's a difference." He looked down into her eyes. "But this is still… You know it's a big step! My mother is kind of old fashioned too, and I'm just terrified that I'm going to have to pick… And truth be told…" Nick stopped to scratch the back of his head. "I'm not sure if I could…"

"You're not sure if you could pick between us? Awe, that's so sweet." She pulled him into a hug. Nick bit his tongue, and held his words. I almost said it, I almost said I can't live without her. He thought to himself and returned the embrace. "Ok sweetheart, if you're that uncomfortable, we'll just do the same thing we were going to do with my parents."

Nick's relief released the tension in his shoulders. "Thanks Carrots… It means a lot."

"Sure thing…" She held onto him for a few more seconds before grabbing him by the neck and raising her face up to kiss him. He smiled back at her before she spoke. "Let's get going."

"They don't really make 'fox tasers?' Right?"

"Apparently they do…"

They walked around the corner and stopped in front of the door. Nick took a long breath, then pushed the doorbell. It rang and they could hear movement inside. He looked down at the small rabbit girl smiling back up at him. Her smile always gave him courage. The door began to swing open. And Nick found that the feel of her tiny hand in his own gave him even more strength than just her smile did. "Oh no! The hand!" Nick whispered and yanked his hand from her grasp. He tucked it behind his neck as fast as he could and leaned against the railing next to the door, trying his best to look nonchalant, and they froze.

His mother opened the door to see Nick looking off into the distance, and Judy still holding one hand up in the air with panic stricken across her face. "Nicky! And… Um…" She glanced down at Judy. "Do you have a question or something Miss?"

Judy looked up at her hand and smiled to cover her embarrassment. "No! Or umm… Yes!"

"Well which is it?"

She looked to Nick for help, though he was still trying to play it cool. "Yes. I mean, you're Mrs. Wilde right? Nick talks about you so much!" She tried her best to play it off as friendly.

The confusion in the old vixen gave way to happiness. "He does? Well Nick's always been such a good boy. It's not really that surprising." Judy slowly brought her hand down to shake hands with her, hoping to make it less awkward.

"And you must be Judy Hopps? Right?"

"Yes Ma'am! It's a pleasure to meet you." Judy put her hand down and looked over to Nick.

This drew the gaze of him mother toward him as well. "Nicky I thought I taught you better manners than this, you're supposed to introduce your guest."

"Oh! Yeah Mom, sorry." He put on his conman face again, but Judy could tell that he was nervous.

"Well don't just stand out there you two come in! I've already got a kettle on, I'll get us some tea." She turned around and headed off to her kitchen leaving the door open behind her.

Judy's face fell into disappointment. "You could have helped me out there… Nicky." She ended snidely.

His eyes shot wide and he pointed a finger down at her. "Can it!" Eyes closed he drew out a long exhale. "After you."

"How gentlemanly of you." The rabbit dipped her words in sarcasm.

"Take a seat in the living room dearies, I'll be in in a second."

"Awe!" Judy was struck by his mother's words. "She's so sweet."

"Yeah, Mom's a kind gal… Anywho…" He gestured to the sofa and chairs in the living room.

Judy began walking toward the chair before she caught a glimpse of the picture sitting on the mantel. "At the risk of sounding like Clawhauser, Oh! Emm! Goodness!" She ran across the room and hopped up snatch the picture from above the fireplace.

Nick clapped his hands over his eyes. "Oh not that." He sat down on the sofa.

"This is the picture right?" Judy pointed to it trying to get Nicks attention.

Mrs. Wilde walked back in the room holding a few cups and a tea kettle. "Oh yes! That picture, wasn't he so handsome in his little ranger outfit?"

"He was adorable!"

Judy was gushing over the photo while Nick's heart was pounding like a drum. Why does this always have to happen when I bring a girl around? He thought to himself. "Can't wait to get some of that tea Mom! You make the best." Nick blurted out to intentionally interrupt them.

"Oh alright, hold your horses Nicky." She set the cups down and poured a cup for each of them.

Judy had to jump to put the picture back where it belonged. "So how did you know who I was Mrs. Wilde?"

"Well Nicky talks about you a lot too, and then there's all the pictures of you two together in the newspapers. There's actually quite a lot of them since you two started cleaning up the streets as partners."

"Oh that makes sense. But that reminds me, I have a picture you might want to see."

"Carrots…" Nick crushed his eyes together.

"Are you hungry Nicky?" His mother didn't understand that it was a nickname much to Nick's comfort.

"Oh um, no I'm fine Mom."

Judy pulled out her phone and swiped through the picture to bring up the one of Nick's graduation. "Now that's one I don't have." Mrs. Wilde added. "Could you send me that picture? He's so handsome in it."

"Mom…" Nick said again trying to get them to stop embarrassing him, and took a sip of tea.

"Of course!" Judy like to push Nick, but she realized that she was pushing a little too hard, and decided to ease up. "Alright I think we've done enough to embarrass the poor guy."

"Oh don't mind him Dear, Nicky's always been like that when he brings around someone he's dating."

Nick inhaled violently mid sip causing him to choke on the scalding hot tea. "Uhhhh!" He cried out spitting tea all over the floor. Between horrid coughing he eeked out the words "I burned my tongue."

"Dating?!" Judy lost her composure. "I mean we're not-"

"Oh don't bother lying to me, a mother always knows." Nick was still coughing. "Are you all right Nicky?"

He coughed again. "Y-yeah Mom…"

"I'll go get a towel to clean that up." Mrs. Wilde said.

"Do you need help?" Judy was quick to ask.

"No it's quite alright Dear. And besides, I think Nicky's going to want to have a brief word with you." She turned around and started leaving.

"Oh, umm… Thanks Mrs. Wilde…" Judy looked over at Nick with an expression that screamed deer in the headlights. When his mother left the room Judy spoke. "So…" She put her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forward on her feet bouncing. "She knows!"

"Yeah…" Nick picked his cup off the floor and put it back on the table. "She does…" They both reeled from the shock for a moment before speaking again. "I uh… I guess she's fine with it."

"Well, I think she made you choke on purpose, but that could have just been because we were trying to cover it up." Judy walked over and jumped in the chair next to Nick.

"Maybe…" He glanced over at her, and his expression softened. "Come over here, if she already knows you might as well sit next to me."

She smiled looked at the ceiling and shook her head slightly before hopping over next to him. Judy leaned against him and let her ears rest back. "That could have gone better."

"Could it have?" She rolled her eyes at his comment. "Yes Carrots, yes it could."

"Ah, Carrots is your nickname for her, that makes sense now." Nick was clearly agitated by his mother's comment. Mrs. Wilde came in with a towel and started cleaning up the mess. Both of them distanced themselves slightly as she entered the room. When she had finished cleaning the mess she sat down and grabbed her cup. "So is there anything you want to say to me?"

It was awkward, and Nick wasn't sure what to say till he looked over at Judy and took her hand. He nodded at the bunny before turning to his mother. "Yes Mom…" He took a deep breath. "Are you ok with this? You know… Us… A fox and a rabbit?"

She finished sipping her tea, carefully placed the cup on the table, and folded her hands. "I've always wanted grandchildren Nicky… and you know that's not really… easy… or possible… in this situation." Nick and Judy felt a wave of guilt well up in his chest. "But… What kind of mother would I be if I broke my son's heart? If you love each other, and I mean you really love each other… I'm ok with this."

An air of relief came over the entire room. "Thank you Mrs. Wilde… I know it's not easy." Judy replied.

"It's alright Judy my dear, I know you're a nice girl at heart. Just take care of my son."

"I will."

"And there's always adoption I guess, plenty of people have children that way. And then there's… Oh that's just getting my hopes up for no good reason."

"Ok!" Nick practically shouted. "I think I've had enough tea for tonight… I think we're going to hit the road Mom." He stood up and kissed her on the cheek.

"You're too easy to read Nicky. But I suppose a little time will help this sit better. Very well, though you must make more time to come visit me. You too Miss Hopps" Mrs. Wilde said.

"We will, thank you so much Mrs. Wilde." Judy said in response.

"Will do Mom." They walked over to the front door, opened it and started to leave before Nick turned around to face his mother. "There's just one thing… How did you know Mom?"

"Please Nicky, a mother knows her son. I started suspecting this, oh about a year ago. First you join the police because of her, then you're partners, and you talk about Judy nearly every time you come here… Also this isn't the best neighborhood Nicky. I always check the peephole before I open the door…"

Nick and Judy's faces went blank. "Bye Mom…"

"Goodnight Mrs. Wilde…"

"Goodnight you two." She closed the door behind them.

Nick and Judy turned around wide eyed and began walking. Nick grabbed a hold of Judy's hand. They were quiet for a quarter block before Judy spoke. "So she knew right from the beginning? Huh…"

"That wasn't how I expected to tell her, but it's done now…" Nick grabbed a hold of his chest with his free paw. "Oh gosh! It's done now!" He looked down at Judy with a huge grin on his face. "Carrots! We did it!"

Judy's expression quickly matched his joy. "Woo! One down 570ish to go!"

"Wait, what?" Nick was lost.

"Aha ha ha, haaa… I um… I have a big family." Judy was hesitant to speak.

Nick laughed. "Right right, you rabbits are good at multiplying. But how many do we really have to tell?"

"Well there's my Mom, and Dad… Annnnd about 570 siblings…"

"Ha ha ha… " Nick waited as if it were a joke. "Wait! You're serious?!"

"Actually I'm not sure how many of us there are anymore… See we used to keep count, I wanna say there were 276 of us when I was nine or so… But Mom and Dad." She rolled he head to the side, and her expression fell serious. "Apparently weren't finished yet…"

"That's insane! How do they even keep track of everybody's name?"

"Long story short… They don't… In fact, they often forget when they are naming the next batch. I think I'm actually Judy number…" She tapped the tips of her fingers. "four."

"Really?" Nick's mind was whirring trying to grasp the concept of having that many siblings. "How do they? I mean how do they take care of that many? They can't have that much time… not with all the time they spend making more rabbits."

"Ew, Nick, those are my parents. I don't want to think about that… And to answer your question it's kind of a community thing. Everyone in the family pitches in to take care of each other. You get used to it. Actually from my perspective I don't know how your Mom raised you by herself."

"It wasn't easy…" Nick grew a little somber. "Mom did the best she could, but Dad… He wasn't really around."

Judy looked at him with care in her eyes. "That's the first time you've ever mentioned him."

"Yeah, that's probably because I haven't seen him in what, twenty years. He left us when I was real young, maybe five or six. He would still pop in for a holiday or something like that every once in a while… That went on for a couple years. But then… He just stopped coming. I don't-" He gasped for air only slightly, as he was on the verge of tears. "I don't know why… Or even what happened to him… Just…"

"Nick…" She pulled him down by his tie to hug him. "It's ok."

"Yeah, I know. I'm fine Carrots." He took a deep breath to regain his composure. "I'm fine… It's just hard you know. Especially since only a rabbit cop's kiss can make it all better, and they are so hard to find!" He joked to draw attention from the sore subject. "You know, I've heard there's only one of 'em."

"You really think that's going to work?" She was slightly amused when he gave her his best puppy dog eyes. "Alright Slick." He pulled her in for lasting kiss.

When they broke apart they were looking closely into each other's eyes. "I told you it would work."

She laughed. "You are such a dork."

"Yeah, but you love this dork."

"Do I love you?" Nick rolled his eyes as the joke was getting old at this point. "Meh…"

"'Meh?!' What's 'meh' supposed to mean Fluff?"

She flipped his tie up in his face. "It means if you want me to keep saying 'I love you' you've got to start saying too."

He let out a sharp exasperate sigh while she pulled from his grasp and kept walking down the street. "Fine… I love you Carrots."

She stopped but only turned her head back. "Do you?"

"Hey that's not fair! I said my part."

"Exactly, see how annoying that is?"

He drew his gaze up toward the sky. "Alright! You've got a point."

"Good! I love you too."

He caught up with her and pulled her under his arm like he did as they walked to his mother's house. "So…"

"Hmm?"

"When are we going to tell your parents?"

Her ears flopped back. "I don't know."

"Let's do it this weekend Carrots."

Judy was flustered. "This weekend? I don't know, I mean-"

"Don't worry so much. I mean we just accidentally told my Mom, and that worked out… relatively fine."

She leaned her head into his torso. "You really think now is the time?" He paused and started to curl the edges of his mouth up in a devious smile. "Don't! Don't ask it. I will jab you in the ribs if you ask me 'Do I?' one more time!"