Mrs. Wilde

The Sleepy Trees Apartment complex hadn't changed since Nick had last been here all those years ago, so he told Judy.

They walked into the lobby, a sleeping Violet in the crook of Judy's arm, her other paw wrapping around Nick's finger. The fox's tail was bristled with nerves, his eyes flickering around the room and his free paw continually fixing his tie.

They passed a teenaged goat as they walked up the stairs, she was chewing a wad of gum and had earphones plugged into her ears, she glanced at them with disinterest as she went down the steps.

"Do you know her?" Judy asked, wondering if she had been a baby back when Nick lived her.

He shook his head. His eyes still moved around alarmingly, like he expected his past ghosts to appear through the walls and tear at his fur. Judy understood how hard this was for him and appreciated his courage in doing it anyway.

They finally stopped at a door on the second floor; it had a door mat before it, green and fluffy with cheery font that spelled out welcome.

Nick's paws were trembling, his tail swishing across the floor, he didn't move toward the door. Judy looked up at him with concern, Violet still sleeping peacefully unaware of the turmoil her father was going through.

"Should I knock on the door?" she breathed.

Nick shook his head, "I can do it." But his paw stayed at his side, still shaking. Judy stepped closer, "Nick, I'm right here. You know that."

He looked down at the bunny who offered him a reassuring smile; he swallowed loudly before facing the door and lifting his free paw.

He knocked three times.

Nick jolted in place when a voice came from the other side of the door and Judy was worried he'd try to run away. "Just a minute," a feminine voice called. "Be right there."

Nick's grip tightened on her paw.

A few seconds later and the door opened, revealing a pretty vixen who had Nick's eyes (though the eyes didn't have his cynical edge), she was younger than one would expect but Nick had told Judy on the ride here that she had given birth when she was eighteen. She wore a blue blouse and white pants, a locket around her neck and her russet paws peppered with flecks of flour.

"I'm in the middle of baking," she said, looking over her shoulder and having not even glanced at her guests, "I don't have much time, can I help-" She turned her head and saw Nick.

Her eyes widened in shock and Nick cringed before clearing his throat and holding his paw up in a weak wave, his smile awkward and painful, "H-Hi, Mom. It's me."

"Nick," her voice was a breath of disbelief.

He swallowed again, "I-uh, I'm sorry for popping up like this. All of a sudden, I just thought…" his voice trailed off and his mother still looked like she didn't believe what she was seeing. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, his voice low and full of shame.

Mrs. Wilde's eyes flashed as if she was trying to summon up anger but in the end her expression broke and she let out a choked sob before jumping toward Nick and wrapping her arms around him.

"My kit!" she sobbed happily into his neck, "My kit is back!"

Nick's expression was just as astounded as his mother's had been, even more so. Judy slipped her paw out of his grasp so he could slowly lift his arms and return the hug, his green eyes glassy and he looked like he was eight years old again.

Judy inwardly sighed with relief.

.

Mrs. Wilde had dragged Nick into her apartment, Judy following behind, before she even noticed the bunny.

"Oh, I'm sorry," her voice warbled, rubbing her teary eyes, "I-I didn't notice you."

"This is Judy," Nick introduced, once again taking the rabbit's paw. He indicated to the snoozing kit in Judy's arm. "And this is Violet, our kit."

Mrs. Wilde's jaw dropped and Nick shrugged, "You're a grandma."

"Maybe…" the poor vixen looked like she would fall out. "You should start from the beginning."

.

The three sat in the living room, Judy looking around the small space, imagining Nick as a child doing homework and watching cartoons, while he explained to his mother what had happened after the night he had left.

"I saw you on the news," Mrs. Wilde admitted when he told her he had become a cop. "I was so sure I was dreaming…I had thought you were dead for years."

Nick flinched, his eyes still glassy with grief, "I'm so sorry, Mom, I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have stole from you and run away and then not even try to contact you."

But there wasn't any anger in Mrs. Wilde's green eyes so like Nick's, just relief that after all these years her kit was before her, alive and well. "It's okay, precious. I know you went through awful things and I wasn't there for you, not like I should've been."
"That's not true!" Nick insisted passionately, making Violet, curling in Judy's lap, squirm. "You did everything you could, Mom. That's all I could ever ask of you."

Mrs. Wilde smiled, tear tracks darkening her russet and cream fur.

And then she turned to Judy who stood at attention as if she was facing Bogo or some other strict authority figure. "I've heard all about you," the vixen began, "The first bunny cop of the ZPD."

Judy smiled, feeling bashful, "Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Wilde seemed to be assessing her, and Judy wondered what she saw, this rabbit her son was with. She glanced at Nick, "She's just your girlfriend?"

Now Nick looked embarrassed, "Uh, Violet was kind of a…happy little accident."

"I see," Mrs. Wilde looked at Violet, staring at her as if she was something rare and exotic (which the kit was) then she looked back at Judy and the bunny felt her ears fall. She turned back to her son and smiled, "I always knew you'd fall in love with some amazing girl. True I thought she'd be a vixen, but I like to be surprised."

Judy's shoulders drooped in relief.

Mrs. Wilde's attention turned back to Violet who had started to stretch, waking up from her nap. "Could…could I hold her?"

"Of course," Judy stood up and walked over to place her kit in the fox's awaiting paws. Violet looked to her mother with mild concern, having no idea who this fox was but when Judy sat back down Violet looked up at the face of Mrs. Wilde.

The she-fox smiled down at her granddaughter, eyes shimmering with emotion. Violet cocked her head to the side before reaching up and placing her small sooty paws on the fox's muzzle. Judy realized that beside Nick this was the only other fox the baby had ever seen.

"She's beautiful," Mrs. Wilde spoke as Violet continued to examine her with infant curiosity, "I didn't think a bunny and a fox could have a baby."
"Neither did we," Nick and Judy said in unison.

"She's so small," Mrs. Wilde continued, rubbing her thumb over Violet's head and making the kit purr, "Just like when you were a baby, Nick."

The younger fox just smiled. But Judy felt herself getting weepy.

Nick's nose twitched, "Uh, Mom? Weren't you baking something?"

While the two foxes and Violet were in the kitchen trying to save Mrs. Wilde's batch of cookies Judy took Nick's phone from the coffee table and went out into the hall.

Seeing how well Mrs. Wilde handled Nick and Judy's relationship filled her with hope that maybe…just maybe…

She dialed the number she knew by heart even though she had deleted it (and many others) off her contacts list.

"Hello?" Bonnie's voice rang in Judy's ear, polite and curious because of course she didn't recognize Nick's number.

Judy could hear the sound of running water in the background; Bonnie must've been washing dishes. There was the sound of laughter as well, small bunnies running around as they played. Judy's throat tightened, imagining it all-the dinners, the family movie nights, the firefly filled nights of the adults sitting on the porch while the children chased the lightning bugs around with jars between their paws.

"Hello?" Bonnie repeated herself.

All that would go on without Judy, despite what Amy said, despite how much it hurt her, Judy leavening was just a little dent in the Hopps clan that could easily be filled in. Her grip on the phone tightened, there may be many Judy's, but there was only one Nick and Violet.

"Is someone there?" Bonnie asked and Judy couldn't remember why she thought calling would be a good idea. Couldn't remember what she had planned to say.

Her throat collapsed and she hung up.

Mrs. Wilde stepped out into the hall to see Judy rubbing the tears from her eyes. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"N-nothing," the rabbit fibbed, trying to smile up at her, "Just got a bit of dust in my eye."
The vixen didn't look like she believed the bunny but didn't say so, instead leaning back against her door. "Thank you."

Judy's ears pointed toward the ceiling, "For what?"

"Nick told me you were the one who encouraged him to come here. I could've died never seeing my son again, never knowing I was a grandmother. You deserve the thanks."

"It's nothing," Judy assured, "Nick needed to see you again, and Violet needed a grandparent."
The last words made Mrs. Wilde lift an eyebrow and again she looked so much like her son, "Surely she's got an abundance of relatives on your side of the family."
Judy's ears fell again and her misty eyes looked down at the phone. "Not…not anymore."

The fox's ears twitched and Judy went on, "I kind of, no I did, disown my family not too long ago."

"What made you do that?"

"They didn't want me to be with Nick," Judy looked up at her, "But I wasn't going to leave him."

If there was a way to win Mrs. Wilde over even more than Judy had just done it.

The rabbit was even more surprised when she stepped forward and enveloped Judy into a motherly hug that made her feel like a comforted child.

"I'm so glad," Mrs. Wilde breathed, "I'm so glad my son has you. And, this is just a random thing I'm throwing out here but if you want a last name I personally think Judy Wilde sounds catchy."

Fresh tears threatened to fall and Judy returned the embrace. "I-I'd like that too, thank you Mrs. Wilde."

The vixen pulled back and smiled, "Call me Amelia." She winked, "Now, would you like to see Nick's baby pictures? I think they'd cheer you up."

.

Stop laughing!" Nick said, snatching the photo from Judy who was clutching her stomach.

The two shared the couch, going through Amelia's old photo album while the vixen waved a rattle in front of Violet, the kit trying to grab the toy with aggression, the half-eaten cookies lying on the coffee table.

"You don't get it, Carrots," Nick said, glancing down at the photo of his four year old self wearing a bee costume. "Bees were very popular back then."

"Those stripes made you look so fat!" Judy nearly fell off the couch before grabbing the album and eagerly flipped to the next page, ignoring Nick's frustrated growl.

"Aww," Judy cooed when she spotted a photo of a newborn Nick, wrapped in a green blanket and eyes shut, face pinched sourly. "You were so…"

Nick's eyebrows rose, "So…?"

"I'm not gonna say it," she said, shaking her head.

"You were going to say cute."

"Uh-uh!"

"You were going to say cute!" Nick looked to Violet who had claimed the rattle as her own, "See that, Squeaker? Your mother just pulled a hypocritical move."
Judy swatted at his arm and Nick countered by tickling her ribs, making Judy laugh louder as she tried to push him away.

Amelia chuckled at the two making Violet look up at her grandmother.

The vixen smiled down at the kit, "If you ask me I think they were made for each other." She leaned down and nuzzled against Violet's cheek making the baby purr, "But I'm guessing you already knew that, huh pretty girl?"

.

It was almost ten when they finally left Amelia's apartment. She and Nick shared a tight hug, he promised to call her more often, every day even. She told them both not to be a stranger, kissing Violet's temple and hugging Judy as well.

The two shared a pleasant quietness as they drove home, Violet asleep in her car seat. When they arrived at their apartment Nick tucked the kit in while Judy flopped onto her bed with a tired sigh.

She wasn't alone for long, Nick walking in and closed the door behind him, stretching a moment before undoing his tie.

"See?" Judy smiled at him, still sprawled on her back, "That ended perfectly."

Nick walked over to and without so much as a warning crawled on top of her and planted his mouth against hers in a heated kiss, leaving Judy blinking dazedly when he pulled away.

"Thank you, Carrots," he breathed as he peppered kisses against her cheeks and nose and ears and neck. "Thank you so much. That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you."

Judy smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck; Nick slipped his arms under her back and held her closer, burying his head into her shoulder.

"I love you too," she giggled.

"I'd do anything for you," he vowed quietly.

"Well," Judy's voice became flirty and she hugged his hips with her legs, "Now that you mention it…"

Nick snickered and looked at her with glinting green eyes, "You just want me for my body."

"Obviously," Judy grinned then laughed/moaned as Nick nibbled her neck, knowing it made her heart flutter and her toes curl.