A/N: Happy Father's Day! Well, I guess for dads. I decided to type this little one-shot for Father's Day. So…enjoy!
Heartache and Memories
Judy opened up her eyes and twitched her little nose. The smell of biscuits and gravy reached her nose and dragged her out of her bed. She didn't even realize what time it was—it happened to be 7:00am—but she didn't care. She smelled food, and that's all she really cared about.
Judy trotted into the kitchen, continuing to sniff the delicious food. She found her mom in the kitchen, putting pancake batter on the griddle. Judy smiled brightly and yawned.
"Good morning, mom!" she whispered. "What's all this food for?"
Bonnie looked at her 9 year old daughter.
"You should know what today is," she said.
"Is it…Easter?" Judy took a wilde (Bud dum chee!) guess.
"No." Bonnie flipped a pancake.
"Is it one of my 275 sibling's birthday? If so, which one? There are too many to count," Judy said. Bonnie chuckled lightly.
"Even I forget sometimes," Bonnie admitted. "But, no. You really don't know what today is? It has to do with your dad."
"Oh, I know!" Judy exclaimed, quietly. "It's…DAD'S BIRTHDAY!"
Bonnie wanted to laugh, but that'd be too loud, so she chuckled instead.
"It's Father's Day," Bonnie said.
"Wha?" Judy mumbled. "What's…oh yeah. Father's Day. Cool, as long as we get food, too."
"Of course you get food," Bonnie grinned, rubbing her nose against Judy's. "How about you set the table."
"For my 275 siblings? THAT WILL TAKE HOURS!" Judy wailed.
"No, no. Just for Dad. Make it really special for him and fancy," Bonnie said.
"Oh, okay."
Judy skipped off to a cabinet and grabbed a beautiful, dark red plate and set it on the end of the table at Stu's seat. Then she ran back to grab a fancy glass. She filled it up with carrot juice and ran back to the table, being careful not to spill it, and put it by the plate.
After Judy placed the silverware and napkins by Stu's plate, Judy decided that it'd be a great idea to make him a card! So she walked up to Bonnie—who wasn't even half way done with the pancakes.
"Mom, where is the paper? I want to make Dad a card," Judy said.
"Here." Bonnie led Judy over to Stu's desk that was across from the kitchen. She opened up a drawer and brought out a blank piece of paper. She handed it to Judy.
"I also need that pen," Judy said, pointing to a plastic carrot pen.
"What, that? That's not very colorful. It'd be better to use crayons," Bonnie replied.
"No, no. I want that pen," Judy replied, stubbornly. "I like it. And Dad's not a little kid. He's not all about crayons and markers. He's a grownup who likes cool pens and pencils."
Bonnie smiled. "Okay, okay." She handed her the pen. "Here you go. Make your card for Dad."
"Thanks!"
Judy ran down the halls and up into her room, beginning to write in the card. She folded the piece of paper and look at it, intensely, as if she stared long enough, words would appear.
"What should I write? Hmm…Oh, I know."
Within minutes, Judy had finished writing in the card. She had pretty good handwriting for her age, but she claimed that it was the carrot pen that made her writing so amazing. She LOVED that carrot pen.
Judy topped the card off with a picture of her and Stu. It was a cute picture and again, she claimed that the pen was the one who made everything she did so awesome.
Judy looked at her card and re-read what she wrote:
Dear Daddy,
Happy Father's Day. You are the best Dad ever and I love your carrot pen! I used it to write this card and I think that it has some special power in it to make my writing awesome.
But anyways, I love you so much! Have a good Father's Day!
Love,
Judy
A.K.A. Jude the Dude
Judy smiled, content with her card. It was a good one and she knew that her Dad would love it.
Judy heard her dad walk downstairs. She peeked her head out the door and saw him walking down the stair case. So she grabbed her card and when she saw that he was off the stairs, she counted to 10 and then dashed down the stairs herself. She saw her Mom kiss her Dad in the kitchen. Judy jumped up from behind and hugged Stu, saying, "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!"
Stu turned around. "Oh, Judy. Thanks!" Then he hugged her back and kissed her forehead.
"I have something for you," Judy mumbled, shyly handing him the card. Stu smiled and took it. He opened it up and his eyes lit up as he read the card. And then he started chuckling when it came to the carrot pen part.
"You really think that it's the pen?"
"Absolutely!" Judy grinned, her two front teeth showing. Stu went back to reading the card and when he was done, he bent down and hugged Judy.
"Thank you Judy. That was beautiful," he said.
"I also set the table for you," Judy replied. "Are you hungry?"
Stu smirked. "Starving."
And from there on, Judy always looked back on that day and remembered it being the best Father's Day ever.
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"Nick! Nicky! Come down here, and quickly!"
Nick opened up his green eyes and rubbed them. Why did he have to wake up so early? Oh, yeah! It's Father's Day! Nick jumped out of bed and searched through his dresser, trying to find some good clothes that he could wear or Father's Day. He finally found a nice pair of khaki pants and he grabbed a green, Hawaiian shirt from his closet (and thus starts the beginning of Nick's love for Hawaiian shirts.) Nick grabbed his card that he made from his nightstand and raced down the steps, running into the kitchen. He put on a big smile, getting ready to wish his dad a happy father's day, but there was no dad there to tell it to. Instead, he found his mom on the ground, crying her heart out.
Nick ran over to his mom and kneeled down by her side. He was frightened. This was Father's Day. She wasn't supposed to be crying.
"Mom, what's the matter?" Nick asked.
"They, they…they took him," she sobbed.
"Who are 'they'? And they took who?" Nick cocked his head.
"The police took your father," his mom said. Nick looked up, his green eyes watering.
"No," he whispered. "No! This can't be true! No, no, no!"
Nick jumped up and raced out the door, tears trailing down his cheeks. They couldn't take his father away from him. No today, and not ever! Nick followed his nose and ran after the scent of his dad. He had a very thick, smoky smell, especially since he smoked a lot. He knew that it'd be easy to find his dad, but getting him away from the police would be difficult.
What did his father even do in the first place? I mean, he wasn't the best mammal ever, but what did he do to get arrested? No, Nick would not allow this.
The streets of Zootopia were foggy and his dad's scent was getting all mixed up. But Nick wouldn't give up. Not now.
Nick kept on running, ignoring his low energy. He had to get his dad back. He HAD to. If he didn't, he'd never forgive himself.
Finally, Nick found him. He found them. They were trying to shove his dad in the police car—that was further down the street. Nick wondered why they didn't just park by his house, but maybe they just didn't want to disturb anybody—like Nick himself.
"LEAVE MY DAD ALONE!" Nick growled, running towards the police officers and jumping onto the back of a buffalo officer. The buffalo turned around and pushed Nick off of him. Then and met the fox's green eyes and saw the tears in them. He felt bad and turned to the other officer.
"Tod, we should let him go, just for today. It's Father's Day, and…Chief would understand," the buffalo said.
"Are you out of your mind, Officer Bogo? If we let him go, he'll take a chance and run away! We cannot be stupid," the other officer—a rhino—snapped. "We have to go. Now."
"You're not going anywhere!" Nick howled. "That's my dad that you're taking and I won't let you take him away! What did he ever do to you?!"
Bogo sighed. "Your dad…isn't a good man, little fox. He…he did some bad things that he has to pay for."
"But for how long?!" Nick asked, bigger tears rolling down his cheeks. The rhino snorted and shook his head.
"How about you talk to your dad before you see him in court in a few days, okay?" the rhino asked, impatiently.
Nick nodded. "Okay…" he looked down at his paws and realized that there was his card for his dad still in his paw.
Bogo opened up the police car door and Nick scampered into the car. He ran up and hugged his dad tightly, crying. His dad hugged him back and rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, Nicky…" he mumbled. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't want you to go!" Nick cried, his tears soaking into his dad's shirt. "Why do you have to go?"
"Daddy did a bad thing, okay? He has to make up for it, okay? It won't be for too long, though. I need you to be strong and be the man of the house while I'm gone. Can you do that?"
Nick pulled apart from the hug and nodded.
"Yeah, I can do that." Then he smiled and handed his dad the card. "I made this for you. Happy Father's day."
"Aw, thanks, Nick. This is a beautiful card…did you…draw that?"
Nick nodded.
"Wow, Nick! That's amazing!" his dad said, staring at the painted picture of him and Nick. Tears began to gather in his father's eyes as he read the words in Nick's card.
Dear Dad,
Happy Father's day! I love you so much and you're the best dad ever! And those police who bully you often don't know anything. They always say that you're a terrible dad and that you need to sober up—whatever that means—but I love you and you're the perfect dad for me. Thank you for everything you do!
Love,
Your Nicky
Nick's dad shook his head and sighed.
"Nick, I am a terrible dad and I shouldn't be around you. That's why I must leave you," he said. "Until I can be a better dad, I won't be coming home. And that's why I shouldn't be able to take part in Father's Day because…I'm a bad fox."
"No you're not!" Nick snarled. "You are the perfect dad! I don't care if you aren't the best animal ever, but you're still my dad!"
Nick hugged his dad again, but this time, while they were hugging, the rhino officer grabbed Nick and pulled him away from his dad. Nick screamed and struggled to escape from his clutches, but the rhino was too strong.
"NO! DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY!" Nick screamed. He looked into his dad's pale green eyes before the rhino threw Nick to the ground, rushed to the passenger seat, and then Bogo started the car and drove away. Nick lied on the concrete sidewalk, crying. His dad was gone now. He'd be taken to the jail house and they'd prove him guilty in court. Nick sobbed harder and balled his paws into fists. Everything was crumbling. His world was crumbling. His life was crumbling. And soon, things would get worse.
Finally, Nick stood up and began to walk back towards his house, still crying. It was then that Nick swore to himself that he'd never do anything having to do with a police officer and that he'd never be one himself. And he also told himself that today was the worst Father's Day ever.
Sorry for the sad drama. I felt really bad for Nick in this one-shot. I have to admit, I really couldn't stand Judy's part of Father's Day. It was boring and just the usual and stuff, so yeah.
HAVE A GOOD DAY!