"Put. It. Down."
Nick Wilde's voice was perfectly clear as it cut crisply across the living room to a certain bunny's perky ears. With a roll of her eyes and an indignant noise, Judy Hopps turned the page of her somewhat large magazine. Dressed in black leggings and a semi-baggy maroon shirt that draped over her elegant figure nicely, the rabbit sat comfortably on a black leather couch that occupied most of the space in their living room. With her feet rested on a dark coffee table and her late evening tea, still warm, waiting on a coaster nearby, the bunny was in absolute paradise.
"Hmm?" she inquired with raised eyebrows as the magazine page kept her attention.
Nick, dripping wet from his shower with a white towel wrapped loosely around his waist, stared at the back of her head lazily as he replied from his place just at the entrance of the living room. "Put the magazine down."
"It's magazines technically," Judy responded as she waved a paw toward a stack of magazines that sat below her propped up feet.
"You have more than one?" Nick asked and then chuckled. "Of course you have more than one." Still staring at her magazine, a small smile flickered across Judy's lips. "Oh, I've got dozens. I have more in my bedside table upstairs too," she grinned wryly, still not making eye contact with Nick.
"You're a hoarder and you have a problem, Carrots."
"What is this, an intervention?" Another page turn.
"Carrots, I'm worried about you. The children are worried about you," Nick stated in a voice full of exaggeration and false worry.
"The children are worried about the fact that they don't have married parents," Judy said curtly.
"Ouch! Low blow!" Nick laughed loudly.
A large grin across his face, Nick removed his slightly damp towel and threw it at Judy. The towel hit with a small thud, making Judy turn, scoff, and throw her magazine, flailing pages and all, at a chortling Nick.
"Mommy? Daddy?"
A small, innocent voice came from the end of the hall as a now almost three-year-old Violet slowly toddled toward the living room, eyes still sleepy from her short time asleep, despite the time now being much past her bedtime.
"Nick!" Judy hissed as Nick snatched a pillow from the couch and covered himself as their daughter came into view.
"Hey, Baby!" Nick grinned, "What are you doing up?"
The baby shrugged, her fur and pajamas ruffled.
Nick smiled at the sweet little bunny. "Go back to sleep, Honey."
With a small nod, Violet, the easiest to get to sleep by far, turned and carefully climbed back up the carpeted steps and walked back into the room she shared with her three brothers. Once the tiny bunny was out of sight and there was no noise coming from the second floor, Nick looked back at Judy, a grin on his face. Judy, however, did not return the grin.
"Put your clothes on!" she reprimanded, "You almost scarred your daughter for life!"
"Chill, Mom. I had it handled," Nick scoffed as he dropped the couch pillow and pretended to flex his arms, to which Judy responded with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm going up to bed," Nick raised his eyebrows and gave her a look as he said "bed" in a certain tone, "You coming?"
Judy laughed and picked up a magazine from the pile that sat beneath her. She showed the cover to Nick, who stuck out his tongue in objection at the picture of the bridal gowns.
"We aren't doing anything until after we are married," Judy teased.
Nick shrugged with a lazy expression. "I think our four kids are proof that that has never been a rule in this house, but whatever. It's you missing out."
He then picked up the damp towel from the floor, swung it over his right shoulder, and went upstairs. Judy sat in silence for a few moments as she reflected over a few things, before she stood, grabbed her tea, and followed Nick.
Once on the second floor, Judy peered into her kids' room and glanced over all four children. Violet, Alan, Robin, and Red were all sound asleep in their small beds, now separate, that took up about half of the room. Violet was curled into a small bundle, her favorite stuffed bunny wrapped tightly in her paws, Alan was lying flat on his back with his covers pulled up to his chest neatly without any wrinkles, almost as if they hadn't even been moved, Robin was on his stomach, sprawled over his mattress with his sheets in tangles around him, and Red was half lying on the floor. Judy crept into the room and placed Red back in bed, covered Robin up once more, kissed Alan on the forehead, and smoothed a paw over Violet's messy fur before leaving, closing the door behind her as she did so. Hopefully, no one would experience any bad dreams or hear any loud noises important enough to cause a bit of midnight chaos. Judy then went into her own bedroom, a fairly large one she and Nick occupied. Nick was partially dressed now with a pair of flannel pajama pants covering him from the waist down while his chest remained bare. He was lounging on the bed, TV remote in paw as he absentmindedly flicked through various television channels. Judy closed the bedroom door and leaned against it as she looked at Nick. "Can we talk?" she asked somewhat shyly.
Nick glanced over curiously before flicking off the TV and jumping up from the bed.
"What is it?" he asked with some concern creeping into his voice.
"I just-well, I-do you really want to get married?"
Completely taken aback, Nick hesitated a moment, a hurt expression clear across his facial features.
"I didn't mean-I just-" Judy stated, flustered, "I'm just nervous."
"You don't have to be nervous, Carrots." Nick pulled Judy closer to him as he spoke, "Of course, I want to marry you. Since when do you doubt stuff like this?"
Judy shook her head and looked down at her feet. "I'm just having difficulty processing all of this. There's so much to do and so much to think about."
"Like what?" Nick asked, "Tell me what we need to do and I'll help. You don't have to do this all by yourself."
"No, I know, and I don't want to; it's just that some things can be handled quicker if I do them."
"You don't want me to help plan our wedding?" Nick chuckled.
Judy's face blushed a light shade of red. "That's not what I meant! It's just that-"
"I know, it's just easier to do the things you don't think need to involve several people. I get it. I know you, but I think you're stressing yourself out over something that isn't very important."
"Not important?" Judy asked as she pulled away from Nick's grasp, "What do you mean 'not important?' This is a huge deal!"
"I know, that's not what I meant-"
"Yes, it is," Judy stated bitterly, "It's like you don't even want this."
Judy stormed past him and into the bathroom that joined their room.
"You're picking a fight for no reason, Carrots," Nick called after her, "Of course I want this! I proposed, didn't I?"
"Only because you knocked me up!" Judy yelled as she came storming out of the bathroom with her pajamas in paw. Nick rolled his eyes as he watched the bunny angrily throw the clothes down on the bed and turn on him swiftly.
"I didn't knock you up. No, we didn't talk about it, but it definitely wasn't a one-night stand," Nick stated lazily.
"You sure about that, Nick?" Judy hissed. Nick narrowed his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked with a confused smirk.
"You know exactly what it means!" Judy yelled, her voice rising with each word, "Don't act like you meant for any of this to happen!"
"What? You think I don't want this? You think I regret the kids, regret you? Is that it?"
"You tell me, Nick!"
"Tell you? You should know!"
"I don't, okay? I just don't anymore!"
"Are you telling me you regret this?" Nick asked, astounded. Judy threw her paws into the air before turning away and then turning back with a scoff.
"Well? Do you? Regret us? Regret the kids? Regret me? Has nothing meant a thing to you this entire time? Huh?"
"That's not what I'm saying, Nick!"
"Then what are you saying?"
"I don't know! But I don't regret my kids and I certainly don't regret you!"
Nick took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look, we're just tired. We had a big day, but we got a lot done, okay? We talked to our planner, got a rough outline; we are making progress. We even had time to take the kids out for lunch, which was fun for everyone. We aren't really having this fight, because this isn't what we do," Nick sighed, "We haven't been together for almost seven years just for us to fight about something we've wanted this entire time."
At this, Judy sighed and did another quick half turn as she thought things over. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm being crazy."
"No, you aren't. Obsessive, yeah, but not crazy."
Judy laughed and playfully tossed a pillow at Nick, which he caught with ease.
"We're a mess," he chuckled, "Just one big mess."
Judy nodded slowly in agreement as she reflected over a few things. "Do you know what Robin told me today?"
Nick shook his head with a shrug. "He says a lot of things, Carrots."
Judy smiled. "Well, he told me that you gave him a chocolate bar for breakfast."
"Ugh, that snitch."
"But, he also told me that he thinks Mommy and Daddy are 'good,' to put it in his words."
Nick laughed and shook his head. "Glad to know that our kids think we're a cute couple."
"Now all we have to do is get married," Judy smirked.
"Yeah, which isn't hard at all," Nick remarked sarcastically. Judy tossed another pillow at the fox before running a paw over her face. She paused and glanced at the glittering ring that was present on her paw.
"It's going to be a Wilde Wedding," she sighed heavily.
Nick laughed loudly. "Pun intended?" he asked.
"Pun intended."