Nick sat in the mid-sized mammal diner booth, fiddling with his phone. To the casual observer, he just looked like any other normal fox, though with a detective's badge hanging around his neck. He didn't usually do that, preferring to keep it in his wallet, but whenever she was around he always had the urge to rub the fact in her face. And she was late because she was always late. He had no idea why he had expected anything different today.

Judy had called him, offering support, but he hadn't answered. Instead, he sent a text in response. He really didn't want her to hear his voice as she would instantly be able to tell he was keeping his "cool fox" façade up. She could see through him instantly now, even when she couldn't see him. Does that even make sense? he thought but shrugged at the idea. Few things in his life made sense. Engaged to a rabbit, first fox police officer, then first fox detective, and in the best goddamn shape of his life. Hell, if you told him five years ago he'd have taken down a rhino singlehanded he'd have sidled away from you hoping not to catch the crazy! OK, the dumpster the rhino cracked his head on helped, but he was the one who made him stumble with a kick to the chest.

Nick sighed checked the time and read through text thread again

[Carrots: You're absolutely sure you don't want me there?]

[I'm sure Fluff. If you were here she'd be too distracted hurling insults at you to listen to me.]

[Carrots: But that mean she'll probably just insult you instead!]

[Yeah but I'm used to it. Besides, after this conversation she'll either wise up, or I'll never speak to her again. Either way, I win.]

[Carrots: I really wish you don't have to cut her out of your life. She's your mother.]

[Yeah well just because she's a mom doesn't mean she's automatically a good person. Not everyone's as lucky as you are with Bonnie.]

[Carrots: Speaking of…I kinda told my mom about this whole thing….]

[Because of course you would.]

[Carrots: Yeah… and she says she has no problem with you calling her Mom from now on. If you want. Same goes for Dad.]

[Tell them I appreciate it. But let's just see where this takes us OK? All things said and done even if I never speak to her again, we both know there's even worse mothers than her out there.]

He paused at that last sentence and shuddered. One of their cases from a few months back involved a cheetah who was selling her own children's bodies for drug money. One of them had died. The others had been saved and were now in care. The dark thoughts from that kept them both up a night sometimes. How the hell do you recover from something like that, short of amnesia?

A vibration from his phone drew his attention back to it.

[Carrots: I love you.]

He smiled at the message. No matter what happened today, he'd have a strong female in his life. He typed a response and hit send.

[I love you too Judy.]

When he didn't get an immediate response back he assumed things were OK for now, and placed the phone back in his pocket. The elderly sheep waitress and owner of the diner bustled up. "Top up your coffee detective?" she asked.

"Thanks, Carol," Nick replied, holding up his cup. He probably didn't need any more caffeine in his system affecting his nerves, but he finished his late breakfast almost half an hour ago. Carol was an understanding ewe, but if you weren't eating or drinking, you were taking up space for paying mammals.

"Need anything else?" Carol asked as she poured.

"Not yet…" Nick mused but looked over the counter where a display of baked goods sat behind glass. "Tell you what though, can you keep that strawberry sponge cake aside? I'll take it when I go."

"Sure hun. Taking a slice home for your bunny?" Carol asked, noting Judy's absence. The two were usually joined at the hip.

"Yes and no. And I mean the cake," Nick Corrected her. "That's what, $60 for my bill and that?" he asked, doing quick math in his head.

"Well yeah, but you could buy a cake at a bakery for half that!" said Carol, shocked at the fox.

"Yeah but that's better than most bakeries," Nick replied, holding out six $10-dollar bills taken from his wallet. In an age where most mammals had little but their debit card on paw, he tended to keep a decent amount of cash with him at all times, a holdover from his days of less than legal activities. Hard to fence an 'acquired' rug if there was a digital paper trail after all.

"Everything alright Nick?" Carol asked with concern in her voice.

"Let's just say after meeting my mother, I'll probably need comfort food," Nick said, shaking the bills in his paw to get Carol to take them. With a little hesitance, Carol reached for the bills but surprised him when she only took three.

"Call it even for the generous tips sweetheart," she said softly, cutting off Nick as he began to protest. He tried again, but the look the sheep gave him was the same one Judy did when she was not going to take no for answer.

"Yeah…thanks, Carol…" he said while planning to stick at least one more bill on the table for the tip. After the ewe left to tend to her other customer, he waited another ten minutes before deciding he'd been waiting long enough when the bell above the door to the diner jingled. He looked and saw his mother enter the restaurant and sighed. Of course, she looked immaculate. Hair done nice, cleans painted claws, a simple yellow dress that was form fitting but not in an obscene way. Pity the image was ruined when she opened her mouth.

"Well, there he is!" Maria Wilde rasped as she walked over, her voice destroyed by the cigarette habit that she refused to give up. The smell of ash coated her clothes, handbag, and fur. Her stench nearly cut out the rest of the scents in the dinner. Nick felt sorry for a pair of wolves sat in the booth across from him, as he saw their noses wrinkle in disgust. Might have been standard fox racism of course, but they didn't seem to have a problem with him. "I've been looking for you everywhere darling!" said Maria as she opened her arms, expecting a hug.

"I've been here for the last hour Mother," said Nick, ice entering his voice. He crossed his arms, denying the hug his mother was faking the need for.

"Oh, I must have got confused! You know how it is with old age," Maria replied as she sat down.

Nick huffed in response and made it very clear he could see the Bullmingdales bag full of new clothes in her paw. "I told you it was important. You could at least apologise for not letting me know you'd be late. You have my number."

"Well I thought it best to just get here as quickly as possible," said Maria with a dismissive wave.

"Ah huh," said Nick with a grunt. Before either mammal could say anything else, Carol walked up, radiating concern.

"Hey there Ma'am, can I get you anything?" the sheep asked Maria.

"I'll have a cup of whatever you pass off as coffee here. Black. Think you can handle that Sheepy?"

"Of course," Carol replied, with a smile. Nick could see through that show though. The expression she wore was one that mammals often wore around Maria Wilde. "Anything else?"

"That'll be all," Maria replied, fishing in her handbag and ignoring the sheep.

"Jesus Mom," Nick said as Carol went to get his mother's order. "Could you try not to be rude?"

"What? She's a service mammal. She's supposed to provide service. Plus, she's a sheep. They need to be lead. And she didn't ask if you wanted anything. Typical."

"I've just finished my breakfast and she topped this up a few minutes ago, for your information," Nick replied, holding up his mug. He tried to like his mother, he really did, but she made it so hard. His father on the other hand…he never understood what he saw in her when he became old enough to understand what toxic relationships were like. He was pretty sure if his father was still alive, he would have left his mother the second Nick moved out of the family home. The cancer had taken him out years before he got the chance, leaving Nick alone to deal with a mother who was neglectful at best, and downright emotionally abusive the rest of the time. It's why he left and lived on the streets for a good chunk of his teenage life. Dealing with crazy homeless mammals was a cakewalk compared to dealing with his mother when she was drunk, or hungover. The bottles she threw, while badly aimed, packed a wallop when they did manage to hit him.

He remembered the best times of his life after his father had died were when she made him leave the house while she 'entertained' the latest guy she picked up at the bar. Usually because it meant she gave him some cash so he wouldn't starve, or he went round to a friend's house whose parents would take pity on him and give him a decent homecooked meal.

"So, how's things, Nicky? Making good money with your fennec friend still?"

"I've been a police officer for years Mom. You came to my graduation. And I told you I'm a detective," he said, waving the badge around his neck in her face.

"Oh, that's right!" Maria shouted, surprising the rest of the mammals in the diner. "It slips my mind sometimes because it happened so quickly."

"Again, it has literally been years."

"Well can you blame me for forgetting? You always gave up on things so easily. School, working for that nice Mr Big and even the Junior Ranger Scouts. And I spent so much money on that uniform."

Nick sighed at that memory, it had been a really nice surprise when, after months of bugging her, his mother had indeed bought him a brand-new scout uniform. That turned to complete shit after the muzzling incident, however. And it got even worse when he came home crying, only for his mother to casually dismiss his hurt. "Yeah, I remember. You told me to 'Stop crying, Nicky. Never let them see they get to you. This is how the worlds treats foxes. It'd be much better if you just give them what they expect. That way you can make them do what you want.' Great worldview to impart on an eight-year-old."

"Not that I was wrong," Maria said calmly.

"A fair point," Nick admitted. Racism against foxes was a thing, and the words had been harsh but truthful. At least until recently anyway

"Ah ha. I see what prompted you to contact me. I knew this would happen," said Maria, opening the compact mirror she'd finally found in her handbag.

"Knew what would happen?" asked Nick, perplexed.

"That dumb bunny finally did something that made you realise it wouldn't work. What happened? Did she find a buck who told her all the right words?" Nick was dumbstruck by the words, but before he could say anything, Maria waved her paw dismissively again. "Doesn't matter! Now we can find you a nice vixen, so you can finally give me grandkids. There's this lovely girl called Skye…"

" SHUT. UP." Nick barked out, almost literally. The diners who had been watching the exchange jumped as he slammed a paw down on the table. "You shut your damn mouth about Judy right now."

"My my, she really must have done something bad to elicit that reaction," said Maria, trying and failing to hide her shock at Nick's outburst.

"It's you that's got me angry Maria," Nick replied deciding he was done with calling this mammal his mother, at least at this moment. "You are right that the reason I asked you here is because of mine and Judy's relationship…"

"See? I can't help being right…"

"But it's NOT for the reason's your thick head thinks!" Nick said, not giving a damn that every mammal in the diner was now openly staring at the show. Somebody might as well get some enjoyment out of this bullshit. He reached into his breast pocket and took out a piece of card and flicked it towards his mother. It landed face down on the table. "Read it."

"Hmmph," Maria grunted, picking up the card and flipping it. Over. He eyes bulged as she read it.

"The wedding is on the 24th of next month."

"Short engagement…" said Maria, shock making her voice a whisper.

"I've been engaged for a year!" Nick shouted, rising in his seat "I told you that multiple times! But of course, it didn't have anything to do with you! No wonder you never bothered to remember it!"

"It does so concern me! No son of mine is marrying a damn grass munching prey mammal! I demand you call off this charade!"

"Go to hell Maria," Nick said and stepped out of the booth. The fur under his eyes had become streaked with tears. He walked past the aghast vixen he formerly called his mother to the counter. "That cake ready to go Carol?" he asked, as calmly as he could manage.

"Ye…yes! Here you go, sweetheart!" Carol managed to stutter out and handed him a sizeable box.

"Thank you for your kindness in indulging a dumb fox," he said. Taking the box and nodding to her. He went to move, but a familiar paw grabbed his arm in the exact same place it had done multiple times when begging for aspirin, water, or usually another beer.

"Nichols Piberius Wilde don't you dare walk away your mother while she is talking to you!"

"As far as I'm concerned, both of my parents are dead," he said with an edge to his voice he hadn't known he had. He only felt the tiniest pang of remorse that he meant the words.

"If that's the case, why did you even bother going through the motions of inviting me!" Maria shouted back, waving the invitation in her paw.

"Because I foolishly thought that if I could change my ways, maybe you could too. Maybe we could be a family."

"We are family you goddamn idiot!"

"No. Me and Dad? We were a family. Judy and me? Family. Hell, Finnick is more family to me than whatever you are."

"Well if that's what you think!" Maria shouted as she shredded the invitation, then threw the pieces in Nick's face. "Don't come crying to me when that slut of yours leaves you because some buck smiled at her!" With that said, Maria stormed out of the diner, growling at a hippo who had just arrived, causing him to jump back in fear.

The diner remained silent for what seemed like an eternity as Nick just stood there, fighting back the tears and anger. Suddenly he felt the cake lifted, and a familiar hoof on his back. Before he could react, Carol lead him back to the still empty booth, carrying his cake for him

"You just wait there Nicholas," Carol ordered as she made sure he sat. "I'll be right back. What are ya'll staring at!?" she shouted turning back to the rest of the diner which suddenly decided to take an advanced course of table study, averting their eyes from the fox and sheep.

About ten minutes later, as Nick just sat in sullen silence Carol returned with a blueberry milkshake for the fox and sat across from him. "Want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not really…"

"At least not with me," Carol answered for him. "I know. Just drink the milkshake then."

"But..."

"Drink the milkshake sweetheart," Carol said softly. Nick looked into the earnest eyes of the sheep and shrugged, then began drinking the milkshake. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could leave and crawl into a hole somewhere.

"Nick!" an excited, concerned and completely welcome voice shouted as the diner door opened. As he glanced up, he was almost bowled over by a blur of grey and white that threw her arms around his chest.

"Judy? The hell?" Nick asked as he intuitively wrapped his arms around the one mammal he needed more than anything right now. He breathed in her scenes, which calmed him down enough so that he could actually feel his heartbeat again, rather than the jackhammer he had in his chest a moment ago.

"Carol messaged me on Furbook," she answered, her voice muffled as her face was buried in his chest.

"Goddammit…" the fox said but without much conviction. He loved that damn sheep right now. She looked over to where Carol had been, only to find an empty seat.

"Judy? Nick?" another familiar voice said. Nick looked up and saw the completely unexpected Bonnie Hopps watching the couple from the edge of the booth. Without prompting the older doe joined the hug.

"What the?" Nick began but was cut off by Bonnie.

"When Judy told me last night what you were going to be doing today…well, I felt like you might need a mom right now, so I caught the early morning train" the Hopps matriarch said, patting his side as Judy kept the death grip on his chest.

"T-thanks Bonnie," Nick answered. He wasn't ready to use the M word again right now. Soon though, he thought.

Carol watched from the booth on the other side of the aisle, the same one that contained the two wolves who had turned their noses up at Maria Wilde. "Man, this is awkward," one said. Carol turned to him with a smile on her face. "What? You never seen a family hug in public before?"

Notes:

So, there's the perception in the fandom that Nick's mother, who we saw the torso of in the movie, is a great mother. I'd probably agree with that assertion due to the scant details that were shown in the movie. I've seen a few fics where she's not as wholesome and brilliant as a lot of things portray, even outright hostile to any ships with Judy, at least at first.

So, what happens if we just go with making her a full on outright bitch of a mother?

Pun intended.

Written cos I just had to scrap all 3000 words of Chapter 13 of MCU: Triad. Needed to try and write something while working out the issues with that.