In which Judy actually appears in more than one scene!

Victorious, the band of bunnies – and one fox – finally arrive in sight of the Hopps family house, costumes in tow.

"Well I'll be." Trisha gasped, taking a break from hammering paper ghosts with silly faces to the fence lining the porch. "He actually did it."

"Gotta hand it to him, the guys good at getting out of sticky situations" Judy agreed, unravelling another length of chord, purple bulbs strewn across its length.

"He didn't just get out of it, he tamed the savage beast!" her sister replied, brushing her ears flat against her head so as to put her sun hat back on.

"Guess so…"

"Good with kids, that guy…" Trisha continued, nudging the hero cop.

Judy gave the doe a gentle shove.

"Would you-"

"Hey, he's coming over here. I think I forgot something inside, but you should congratulate him on a job well done, don't you think?"

Judy rolled her eyes, going back to work at unravelling chords.

"Edmund, get your costume out of the dirt!" Nick berated the bunny.

Edmund gave him a blank stare, continuing to drag the superbunny costume along the ground behind him. This is, of course, the way to carry the darn thing with the least amount of effort after all. If anything, the fox should be praising him for his innovation.

Nick shook his head gently, turning to acknowledge Judy with a wave as she worked on something in front of the house. She rose her paw in the air meekly, returning the gesture before continuing about her business.

"I think you should marry her." The chubbiest bunny amongst them mused aloud.

Nick stopped in his tracks, turning to look down at the rabbit with a malevolent glare.

"Now why did you have to go ahead and say that?" he asked.

"Well, listen. If you marry her, then you will be like our new big brother and we can play together all the time!" Charlie continued.

With reasoning like that, who can stay mad at him? The fox brushed the rabbit's ears back gently and patted him on his fluffy little head before continuing on his way, leaving the rabbit stunned. With a hop and a skip he waddled after his vulpine friend.

"Wait, you would like that, wouldn't you Mister Nick? You like being with us, right?" he asked.

Nick turned to him again.

Yes, yes he did.

"You guys are… pretty cool…" the fox said, trying his best to remain aloof. "But you're making things awkward between her and I."

"Hey…" Judy said, nearer than he had expected her to be.

He hadn't realized they had gotten that close to the house.

"H-hey!" he stammered, raising his paw to wave again before remembering that he already had, and doing so again would be redundant.

And unnecessarily awkward.

"Uh, we need to put our costumes away, c'mon guys." Joey insisted, taking Claire's paw before walking towards the door, Charlie not far behind.

Edmund stopped for a moment to stare at Nick and Judy as they stood across from one another. In spite of the obvious tension between them, a smile slowly crept onto the tykes face, leading him to let out a chirp and a giggle before skipping off into the house, joining his siblings.

Judy rubbed her arm, watching as the strange rabbit left the two mammals to themselves.

"So uh, nice job today…" she complimented sluggishly, shielding her eyes from the sun as it reached its peak in the sky for the day.

Oh god, she's acting strange; did he do something wrong? How could he have? He's been out for the last few hours!

"Yeah it wasn't too bad…" he replied, equally drowsy.

Oh god, he's acting strange; did she do something wrong? How could she have? The guy has been out for the last few hours!

"So, are these the decorations you were talking about?" he asked, waving his arms in a wide arc, gesturing towards the lights, silly ghosts and faux cob webs currently strewn across the face of the house.

"Yup."

.

.

.

"They're kinda shitty, don't you think?" he asked. Placing a paw on his hip.

Judy curled her own paw into a fist, almost giving into the urge to strike him

Almost.

Seeing her struggle to resist the temptation to clobber him brought the smile back to his dopey mug. He wasn't in the fox house yet.

And how could he be anyways? It's not like they were at all romantically involved. Nothing of the sort. Furthest thing from the truth, in fact. Hell, if she kissed him – not that he ever put much thought into such frivolities – why, he would-

"So, how could we improve them?"

"Huh?" the fox replied, his consciousness swimming back into reality.

"You said the props were shitty, what can we do about it?"

"Oh, well… Um…." He pointed at a paper ghost, its tongue sticking out for comedic affect. "I guess you can't. They're too stupid. It's beyond salvaging."

"Hmm…" the rabbit scoffed, leaning against the deck support column as she looked him in the eye. "Guess I'll need to drag you a long a little earlier next year. Maybe you could show us how it's done?"

From behind them, through the window pane, a loud knocking reverberated in their direction, prompting the duo to look in its direction.

Trisha had the curtain pulled back, giving Judy a firm thumbs up, for some reason. The kits stood beside her, climbing over one another in an attempt to get a better view of the scene unfolding outside. Judy scowled at the group, turning back to face Nick again; the fox looking at her in turn, his ears slicked back against his head bashfully.

"Haha…" the fox chuckled. "Wonder what that's all about…"

"Yeah, who knoooows…" the doe replied in a shaky sing-song voice. "They're a weird bunch, I'm telling you that…"

"Yeah, I know that much…"

.

.

.

"Well, pick up a box of decorations and get to work!" the doe said, returning to her task of unraveling chords.

"Huh?"

"The day is still young!"

The fox rolled his eyes, but smiled just the same. They probably could use his help. Bunnies are an absolute mess, after all.

"Dumb." The fox deemed the Papier-mâché rabbit skeleton, poised as if it was ready to break out into a bone rattling jive at any moment. He set it down in the grass beside him.

"Wow, even dumber." He judged, tossing the knitted Jack-O-Lantern behind himself.

"Hoo boy, do I even need to say it?" Nick asked, unfolding the poorly made garland of bats molded out of tissue paper.

"Nick, our great-grandmother made those years ago." Judy admonished, arranging the fallen leaves in patterns more pleasing to the eye with a little help from Claire.

"So, do you want to use them?" the fox asked, handing the bat garland to his partner.

"Not really, they're kind old." The doe said, examining the antique in her paws.

"And ugly." Charlie added.

Nick continued to rummage through the pile of decorations they had amassed on the front lawn.

"Hey, this is pretty neat!" He exclaimed, genuinely impressed. The fox held up a makeshift Witch's broom made with sticks and twine.

"Woah, not bad." Judy said, nodding as she did so. "Wait!" she gasped, running over to join Nick by the pile of decorations. She tiptoed around the props scattered haphazardly across the floor.

"Here it is!" she exclaimed, holding up a prize of her own. "Broom parking, Hour only. Violators will be toad!" she cried, reading the sign she currently held in her paws. "Get it? Toad! Like towed, but toad because witch's turn trespassers into toads!"

"Itch tun em in what!?" Edmund exclaimed, a mix of shock and confusion on his face.

"Toads!" Judy replied with an uproarious giggle before turning back to the fox. "Do you get it Nick?"

He tried to keep a straight face; and he failed miserably, instead turning to the act of looking down at his feet in the hopes that she won't notice his dopey grin.

"Remember what I told you earlier, about not being a dork?"

"Can it scruff!" she teased back. "And gimme that!" she said, snatching the broom from his paws.

"Hey!" the fox cried. "I found it, so I get to decide where it goes."

"What!?" she called back at him, matching his tone. "Over my dead body!"

"You said it, not me!" the fox exclaimed before flashing his teeth and raising his arms up.

Judy cried out in feigned distress before turning around and hopping away, the fox quickly giving chase after the giggly rabbit. She turned sharply as she held the broom in her paws, scampering to and fro as she tried to shake the fox. He hunted her on all fours, bounding after his prey in great strides. With some effort on his part, he got close enough to grab her by the tail; deciding against it in fear of hurting the bunny.

"Nick's a gosh darn liar..." Charlie said, watching as the pair played together out on the lawn.

"Charlie! You know we aren't supposed to say gosh darn!" his sister scolded, clearly upset that her brother is using such horrible language.

"Claire's right Charlie…" Trisha said, sitting down beside the kits, watching the couple all the same. "What do you mean by 'Nick's a liar' though?"

"He told us when he bought us lunch today that he doesn't want to be Judy's boyfriend!" Joey explained.

.

.

.

"Charlie's right Claire…"

The fox collapsed on the ground, the rabbit still running circles around him. Recognizing that the chase was over, she approached her playmate and dropped the broom, flopping down onto her side next to him, her chin sat snug in his lap. Together, the animals panted, trying to catch their breath.

You know…I…haven't seen your… other siblings around…" The fox wondered aloud, still winded from the chase.

"The groups that haven't found their costumes yet are still out. You got back pretty quickly." The doe replied, leaning into his paws as he stroked her soft, fuzzy head.

"Huh…"

"So…have we got…anything…to decorate the inside…of the house with?" The fox asked in between breaths.

"We do!" Judy said, nuzzling further into his lap.

"Goodie…" he replied, playing with her ears.

"So, since the chief gave us tomorrow off, are you planning on staying to help out tomorrow?" the rabbit asked, walking with a bundle of tinsel spiders in her arms.

"I might, if you ask nicely." The fox replied, smoothing out his shirt.

"Will you stay, please?" Judy said, pointing up towards the porch awning as she spoke.

"Sure Judy, I would be happy to spend more time with your insane family!" he said, raising his foot, allowing her to step up onto it. He held his paw out to her so that she could keep her balance as she leaped up onto his shoulder; from there hopping up onto his snout and finally crawling onto the roof.

"Great." She said as she leaned over the side, soon disappearing so as to place the tinsel spiders in position.

"Call me a saint, good ol' saint Nick." The fox said, reaching his arms out to the bunny, ready to catch her whenever she decided to leap at him.

And she did.

And he caught her.

"Why don't I call you a dumb fox and be done with it?" she asked as he set her back onto the ground.

"No, that doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

"Hmm…" she hummed, a finger to her mouth. "Dumb fo-"

"Nicky!" a voice cried from the truck pulling up in the drive way.

Oh dear…

"Nicky, it's so good to see you!" Bonnie, Judy's mother, said as she hopped from her vehicle and ran over to him, grasping the fox in a tight bunny hug.

"Good to see you mom!" Judy said with a wave of her paw and a roll of her eyes as she kicked a dirt clod beneath her feet.

"Hello to you too dearie!"

"Hi Mrs. Hopps!" the vulpine choked out, struggling to breath as the mother rabbit did everything within her power to choke the life from his lithe body.

"Look at you, son, you're so skinny!" she cooed, squeezing him a little tighter. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Mister Nick took us out to eat an hour ago." Joey spoke up.

Bonnie finally relinquished her hold on the fox, only to shoot her son a death glare, paws on her hips.

"We can, uh, we can eat again!" Nick assured her, turning to Judy as if to ask her if she was hungry. The doe nodded furiously.

"Great!"

"You know, I just can't turn down any dish your mother whips up for us" the fox said as he sat down at the table across from the four kits they had been assigned, blueberry salad in paw. "Though I'd be a hare nervous about turning her down anyways!"

"Hardee Har…" Judy said, taking her seat next to the fox.

"Uh…" Claire stammered, raising her paw.

"Yes?" the eldest sister asked.

"I don't get it."

"Your uncle Nick is just being-" she stopped herself mid-sentence.

The fox dropped his fork in the grass.

"Uh…" he said, looking at the utensil before raising his gaze and locking eyes with Judy again.

"I'll just, eat with my paws… No biggie..." he said, picking the fork up and setting it aside.

"Right, mhm." The doe replied, clearing her throat before sipping on her carrot juice.

And then hell opens up again.

All eyes dart to Joey and Charlie; who, despite looking civil a moment ago, now look to be close to blows. Joey's apple and lettuce sandwich dangled precariously in Charlie's paw, likely the reason Joey is now trying to kill his brother.

"Charlie, be good!" Claire shouted, pulling the sleeves of her onesie tighter around her paws in fright.

"Ya!" Edmund shouted, pushing Charlie.

"Woah there!" Judy said, reaching across the table to snatch the sandwich away before it winds up on the floor.

"Joey, Charlie" Nick said, demanding their attention.

The kits heads immediately snapped in his direction.

"Chill, ok?"

Joey returned his paws to his lap, and so is sandwich was returned to him. Charlie promised not to take the sandwich again, so Edmund promised not to shove him anymore.

"Huh…"Judy hummed aloud, nudging the fox sitting next to her. "Not bad, Slick."

"Shoot, tell me something I don't know." he whispered back.

The group worked on their meals, enjoying their time in the sun as it slowly travelled across the sky, painting the atmosphere with orange and pinkish hues. A cool breeze picked up; reminding the mammals that fall is, indeed, here.

"Mister Nick?" Charlie asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" the fox responded, looking up from his salad.

"Can I have a blueberry?"

Nick looked down at his dish again and smiled, plucking a berry from amongst the leaves.

"Sure thing bud." He said with a grin, leaning across the table to place it in the kits open mouth.

"Nyooom!" The fox cried, wrapping his arm back around, placing the treat into his own open maw.

"What!" the bruiser whined. "No fair!"

Nick chuckled, grabbing a pawful of berries from his plate before handing them over to the kit, satisfying him. Judy rolled her eyes at the deceitful tod, but smiled just the same.

"So, you glad I dragged you out of your house?" the rabbit sitting beside him asked, nudging her shoulder against his side.

"I've had worse days out, I'll give you that, carrots." He said, smiling warmly at her.

"My, that is high praise coming from you." she mused jokingly. "Maybe I should do this more often…"

"Hmm, I don't know about that, I think once or twice a year might be reasonable," He said with a snicker. "I mean, Christmas time is just around the cor-"

His paw fumbled around on his plate for a moment.

Aw, out of blueberries.

"Here mister Nick, you can have my last berry." Joey said, reaching across the table to hand it to the hungry vulpine.

The fox held out his paw

"Aw, thanks kid that's really too kind of you-"

"Nyoom!" the rabbit repeated, retracting his paw – and the sweet treat enclosed in it – at the last second, only to eat it himself.

Nick's eyes widened in shock, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor. Absolutely flabbergasted, he turned to the rabbit sitting beside him.

"Sorry slick. When other's mimic you, you've just got to grin and bear it." The doe replied, a smug grin laced with satisfaction forming in the corners of her muzzle.

"Alright officers, listen up!" the fox shouted, pacing back and forth in front of Judy and Joey as if he were some sort of drill sergeant.

"As you know, Claire wants to be a race car for Halloween."

"She wants to be a what?" Judy asked, an eyebrow raised.

"That's what I said!" Nick exclaimed, dropping the sergeant act before quickly picking it up again.

He cleared his throat.

"So, we're going to make that dream come true!" he exclaimed, stomping his foot into the grass below them.

Joey clapped excitedly, hopping from one foot to the other, his sister standing there with an eyebrow still raised and a paw on her hip.

"Alright, I'm game. What have you got in mind foxy?" she asked.

"Oh…" Nick choked, halting his pacing. "I was kinda hoping you would be able to come up with that part."

.

.

.

"We've got cardboard boxes in the pantry?" Joey suggested.

"Amazing Idea officer Hopps!" the fox cried. "That's Joey Hopps, not you Judy."

The doe rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest.

"No respect…" she moaned.

"I think I'll promote you to Lieutenant Hopps. Once again, Joey, not you Judy. You're too dorky to be a lieutenant; sorry carrots."

"Don't I know it…"

Despite his sister appearing downright unimpressed by Nick's skills as a police chief/ drill instructor, Joey was absolutely ecstatic about his recent promotion. At this rate, he may just be police chief in a few years!

"Alright officers, lets 'hopp' to it! To the pantry we away!" the police chief/ drill instructor proclaimed, a finger pointed towards the house.

"I was thinking we could use the red paint from my science fair project to uhhh… paint it red." Joey explained, dragging the paint can and brush outside with them as the set the cardboard in the grass.

Nick closed his eyes and nodded thoughtfully, a clawed thumb to his chin.

"Excellent thinking lieutenant." He affirmed, "but just how are we going to get it to stay on her? We can't very well expect her to hold the box up as she trick or treats! Her paws will likely be busy carrying all the bags of candy this costume will undoubtedly get… Curses!" he bellowed dramatically.

The rabbit kit raised his paw in the air frantically, trying to get the fox's attention.

"What is it lieutenant, have you got an idea?" the vulpine asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, maybe we could just use the straps from my kindergarten backpack? I don't need it anymore and it would probably fit her. We just need to cut them off and stick them to the box somehow. I don't know how to do that part though." The kit explained, making hand gestures to illustrate his ideas as he did so.

"Don't you worry about that part lieutenant, I'll figure it out. Great work though!" he exclaimed, raising his paw so that the little bunny could give him a high five. "Take notes, Officer Judy, you're gonna need them."

The doe's face was somewhere between an incredulous grin and a scowl, reveling in the absurdity of the situation.

The fox looked down at the supplies they had accrued so far and bit his thumb, mulling ideas over in his head.

"That brings me to our last obstacle…"

The two bunnies waited for his next words with bated breath.

"Now, I don't expect you to figure this one out straight away, but the sooner we start spit ballin the better…" he said, keeping the rabbits waiting in anticipation.

"How do we…"

Yes?

"make…"

Yes?

"the wheels?"

Judy's paw shot up, quickly followed by Joey's.

"Yes, Lieutenant Joey?"

"Why don't we just use more cardboard?"

"Ah!" Judy moaned, her paw falling to her sides in resignation.

The vulpine stood there on the grass, and the world seemed to stop turning. Everything appeared to move in slow motion. The universe suddenly made sense.

Slowly, and with great deliberation, Nick initiated a slow clap, eventually gesturing at Judy, urging her to join him.

"You know what, I think we all know who is truly deserving of the title "Chief of Police" around these parts." He began, motioning to end the clapping. "From this day forward, I relinquish my position to Joey Hopps-" Nick proclaimed, taking a knee before the bunny. "Or should I say: Chief Hopps!"

The rabbit kit stood there astonished. His features slowly rose to meet the burning, infectious smile that grew on his face. The bunny's entire complexion beamed with pride.

"The 'not Judy though' was implied by the way." The fox said, turning to his partner.

"Yeah, I got that." Judy affirmed, giving the playful tod a thumbs up.

"I believe that under Chief Hopps' supervision, we can have this costume built in the hour!"

"Yeah!" the rabbits shouted in agreement.

"So let's 'hopp' to it!"

The doe's guttural groan was heard for miles that day.

"And I organized the entire thing!" Joey said, his paws still covering his sister's eyes as he led her to the front lawn.

"Wow!" Claire cooed, trying her hardest not to trip on all the decorations Joey failed to warn her about.

"Almost there, just a few more steps…" he assured her.

"Ok good, cause I need to go to the bathroom so we need to hurry.

Joey quickened his pace.

"Alright, you can let her open her eyes now kid!" Nick's voice called out, and the paw blindfold came off.

Before her sat the sweetest hot rod in all of Bunnyburrow – Nick had checked – its make expertly crafted by a fox and two rabbits – one rabbit being a small child, but that's beside the point – with a fine crimson finish. Across both the left and right sides a striking, electric yellow number "1" was painted, effectively letting any other car or truck that happened across them in the burrows from here on out know who top bun was. The seat belts were made from the finest material, a toddlers back pack, and through some clever fox's handiwork they were worked through small holes cut in the cardboard and tied to prevent falling out. Such work may seem excessive, but the makers of this fine automobile value security first. The inky black wheels had exquisitely painted rims, at least as exquisite as one can hope to paint on cardboard. In conglomerate, the features amounted to a slick new ride fit only for the baddest of the buns.

Upon seeing this, Claire broke down into tears, pulling the trio of mammals who made it all possible as close to herself as she could get them.

"Thank you so much!" she sobbed into Nick's pant leg. "I was scared I would never be a race car!"

Nick patted her noggin gently, looking up at his partner.

He shook his own head as he smiled at her, staring deep into her eyes.

"Well, it's been said that anybody can be anything."

"Has it now?" Judy asked playfully, patting the sobbing bunny, staring back at her partner.

"Just might have been…"

"Nicholas!" a familiar voice called.

The group hug was split apart, allowing the fox to turn to its source.

"You didn't go and make my daughter cry, did ya?" Stu said, patting the dirt off of his overalls and then off of his paws before extending one towards the fox.

"I'm afraid I'm guilty as charged sir." Nick said, taking the paw in his own.

"Dad, where've you been?" Judy asked.

"Out tending the fields, I totally forgot that Nick was coming by to help out today; sorry about that son!"

"Oh, don't you worry about that-"

"No no, I've got to make up for lost time!" he said, excited.

Charlie and Edmund joined the group, looking up at their father.

"We can catch up as we carve the pumpkins." Stu explained, picking flecks of dirt from his dusty paws. "The rest of your siblings are already out at the stands." He said, looking down at the kits.

"I'm not sure I can just intrude on your family traditions-"

"Oh hush it fox, you are family! Come along with me…" the Hopps patriarch commanded, wrapping an arm around the vulpine's shoulder.

Nick turned to look back at Judy as she followed behind.

A smile and a thumbs up was all she had to offer.

Sheesh, these daily uploads are killer. Nothing much to be said for now, but I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. You know the spiel by now, drop me a comment if you feel so inclined; and thank you so much for reading!