A/N: This is currently undergoing a major rewrite but I felt it was only fair to provide a better backstory for all the characters rather than springing it upon you at a later chapter. I ask for your patience and hope you like what I've written so far. Feedback is appreciated.

Chapter 1

"What am I doing here?" Nick silently raged.

"I'm not the father of these babies. They aren't my responsibility. It should be Jack who should be standing here."

Jack – whom he recently discovered – had skipped town for unknown parts of the world as soon as he had found out that Judy was pregnant.

"Damn that Jack! If I ever find that bastard, I'll skin him alive and use his pelt as a floor rug."

Nick was standing behind Judy who, in turn, was standing in front of the hospital elevators. Nick glanced at Judy who was bravely putting up a front and trying her hardest not to cry. She was on the verge of breaking down and yet, despite his anger, his heart felt so heavy seeing her physically tired from the pregnancy plus the fact that she was now a single mother. She looked so vulnerable. Broken. Not the Judy he had known who always had a bit of sunshine in her pockets, ready and willing to share it with the world.

"So, heard anything about his whereabouts?" asked Nick.

"Who? Jack?" she said with anger in her voice. "No and I hope that he gets eaten!"

Judy sadly turned back to face the bank of elevators and reflected on what had gone wrong and where it all had started…

"Welcome to the Zootopia Intelligence Agency, Miss Hopps!"

Judy turned to greet the voice and came face to face with a rather handsome grey rabbit. Except that he had three black stripes on each side his face and similar markings at the top of his ears. His steely blue eyes stared directly into her amethyst ones and she felt a slight flush come to her cheeks.

"My name is Jack Savage and I will be your liaison here in the ZIA. You come highly recommended by Chief Bogo of the ZPD."

Judy managed to catch herself staring at him and responded, "Thank you Mr. Savage though I don't know how a lowly computer technician from the ZPD Cybercrime Division could help the ZIA."

"Please, call me Jack" as he flashed a very charming smile. "Chief Bogo mentioned that you were his best when it came to tracking down fugitives who went into hiding only to surface from time to time in the Dark Web."

"Well, I've been somewhat successful…" Judy blushed, as she hated to take praise for just doing her job at the ZPD.

"Nonsense!" he chided her. "Your success rate, which has led to the apprehension and successful conviction of cybercriminals, is phenomenal! In fact, it even surpasses the best minds of ZIA's own Cybercrime Division."

Judy blushed again, unused to such praise and merely looked down. "Thank you again, Mr. Savage"

She felt his paw gently cup her chin as he slowly lifted her face to look into his eyes. "The praise is well deserved. And Mr. Savage is my father. I would appreciate it very much if you would just call me Jack" he said in a low, sexy, sultry voice that only she could hear.

She felt giddy just looking into his eyes and did not trust herself to be able to speak. Her heart began to pound loudly in her ears. "Oh, sweet cheese and crackers! I hope he doesn't hear that." So, she swallowed and only nodded her head.

"Come then," as he wrapped her paw around his arm. "Let me show you to your office and then I'll introduce you to the head of ZIA who will brief you on our mission into Canidae which we will be leaving for tomorrow. Then, we can have a nice quiet dinner by ourselves in order to get more acquainted."

She was jolted back to the present when she felt a contraction hit her. That meeting with Jack Savage happened over 3 months ago and most of what happened in between seemed to be a blur. She looked over her shoulder and noticed Nick standing with his hands clasped behind his back, staring at the wall in front of her with half-lidded eyes, not looking at her. Despite the bored appearance, she could see that his eyes, nose and ears were on high alert, scanning the surrounding areas for anything unusual. She also noticed that he was standing on the balls of his hind paws, a wound spring, ready to lash out at potential enemies. Plus, the way he stood behind her, it seemed that he was using his body to shield her from any potential danger. She was thankful for his presence and the feeling of unease abated.

But that was all he allowed her to see. She wanted to know what was going on inside of him. How did he feel about her? Most especially now that she was about to give birth to Jack's offspring. She hated it when he put on his mask. "Never let them see that they get to you." She still remembered his old mantra.

Her mind wandered back to the time she first arrived in Canidae…

Canidae. Land of the Vulpine. Zootopia's nearest neighbor, largest trading partner and who shared one of the longest borders in the world between the two countries. She was accompanying Jack to Canidae so that she could help him locate a fugitive who had left Zootopia ten years ago before justice could be served. Relations between Zootopia and Canidae were very friendly. Yet, Jack preferred to remain undercover until he could actually locate and apprehend the fugitive. So, they were posing as business partners out on a scouting mission for business opportunities.

Jack did not disclose the name of the fugitive not until they had arrived in Canidae and checked into their separate hotel rooms. He had her meet him at the hotel bar where she found him seated at a table booth with a martini in his hand.

"Have a seat, Judy. What can I order for you?"

"I'm a bit of a lightweight, Jack, so I'll just have a small glass of red wine."

When her drink arrived, Jack pushed the folder over containing the name of their intended target. He did not say anything but merely nodded for her to open it.

She gasped with surprise. She was looking at the familiar face of a red fox. A fox by the name of Nicholas Piberius Wilde. Her old high school classmate from Zootopia High who had disappeared from her life almost ten years ago.

They were waiting for the doors to open so they could see her OB/GYN. The contractions were now almost 7 minutes apart and her doctor advised her to come right away so that she could be admitted. As they were waiting, Nick heard Judy gasp and caught her as she almost fainted after a particularly long and painful contraction.

Nick's frozen countenance slipped slightly as he snidely remarked with a waggle of his eyebrows, "Hey, Carrots! If I knew that you wanted to snuggle, you could have just asked." The glare that she gave him could have peeled the paint off the walls as she forcefully swatted his muzzle with all her strength.

"Nick, this is not the time! I'm fucking having babies!"

She immediately regretted hitting him. He didn't deserve that. She just felt so tired and helpless.

Rubbing his muzzle as he was caught off-guard by her outburst, all he could say was, "Tch! Tch! Such language, young lady!" as he waggled his index finger at her.

If the look she gave him could kill, he swore he would have been six feet under by now. Before either one could say anything else, they heard the ding of the elevator. He helped her get on as they rode up to the floor of the Maternity Ward in the Canidaen General Hopsital.