(AN/ Hey guys it's Garouge AKA Crewefox here with another chapter of Take A Stand. Wow you guys really liked the last chapter, thank you so much to all you fine folks who reviewed, faved and followed the last update. Ok so this chapter went a little off course, I wanted to show a political rally with a certain cameo of helthehater's OC but I decided to focus on the Luna situation and how Nick and Judy are dealing with this bombshell. So without further ado let's get cracking with this chapter...)
Chapter 10- Wilde and Wilde and Hopps.
Nick had finished escorting the brawling wombat to the cells and was whistling a tune as he walked over to the office coffee station at the edge of the offices where Clawhauser and Nala were chatting. "Hey Spots, Rocky." Nick greeted with charm.
"You know I hate that nickname." Nala huffed, holding a half eaten donut in her paw.
"You get used to it." Clawhauser commented with a full mouth. "If he gives you a nickname it's means you're a friend."
"See Spots gets it." Nick smiled, pouring himself a mug of coffee, his brush wagging slightly.
Clawhauser clocked onto Nick's smile and wagging tail and pointed out "You seem chipper today."
"Duh it's because he's getting laid every night lately." Nala replied in a absent minded manner, forgetting to keep a certain romance secret.
"Rocky!" Nick reacted with a hushed hiss, looking around to make sure no one was listening, luckily the office was empty.
"What?" Clawhauser purred, his eyes growing big with excitement.
"Sorry…" Nala gave an awkward smile, she was kind of glad she didn't have to keep the secret anymore.
"You and Judy? For real?" Clawhauser interrogated with glee.
"Yes we're together but please keep a lid on it, if Bogo gets wind of it he'd have to split us up." Nick advised before taking a slurp of coffee.
Clawhauser squeaked with delight before saying "I'm so happy for you two."
"We're happy to, I mean even after everything that's happened I finally think everything's going our way, I feel like the luckiest fox in Zootopia." Nick admitted with sincerity.
"NICHOLAS PIBERIUS WILDE!" Judy's voice shrieked across the office causing Nick, Nala and Clawhauser to jump.
Nick's ears went flat against his head and felt a shivering chill run down his spine as he uttered with fear "Was that Judy?"
"What did you do?" Clawhauser asked, scared for Nick.
"I don't know." Nick answered, his mouth suddenly dry.
"Sucks to be you." Nala chuckled slightly.
That's when she appeared from around the corner, Judith Laverne Hopps started marching towards Nick, her now narrowed amethyst eyes locked on the fox, Nick was rooted to the spot with fear as he saw her crack her knuckles. "I'm dead." Nick grimly summed up, wishing to know what had warranted such a reaction from Judy.
But before Judy could reach Nick a small blur of ginger fur zipped by Judy and jumped at Nick and tackled him to the grey carpet. Dazed from the tackle Nick let his eyes fall on whom had brought him to the ground; a delighted set of amber eyes looked directly into his, a smile of celebration was presented with sharp canine teeth and joyous voice said "It's you!"
Nick looked back at the young vixen on top of his chest and let out a "Huh?" completely baffled by what was transpiring. "Aren't you that kid Carrots nearly ran over?"
"Yes she is!" Judy seethed, her foot hammering the floor with annoyance. "Guess what else she is?"
"Um Judy, what's going on?" Nick asked with dismay, desperately wanting Judy to stop staring daggers at him and more importantly some answers.
Judy then turned to Luna, her face shifted to her usual kind aura and asked in a sweet voice "Luna sweetie why don't you tell Nick who you are?"
"I'm your daughter." Luna answered happily and with innocence.
"What?" Nick almost laughed, clearly not believing the girl.
Clawhauser let out a loud gasp whilst Nala nearly choked on her coffee. Luna then got off of Nick's chest and announced "You're my Dad."
"Kid, I ain't your old man." Nick tried to defuse the situation as he got to his feet.
"You sure about that?" Judy questioned with a bitter voice.
"Carrots I don't have any children," Nick responded, still feeling the threatening gaze of the rabbit "if I did I would know about it."
"Oh really?" Judy reacted, sounding dubious "Her Mom is your ex, she has black fur and yet Luna has red just like yours."
"There are hundreds of red foxes in Zootopia." Nick justified, his paw pads sweating "Plus it's been years since I dated Victoria, seven years easily."
"Is that so?" Judy asked rhetorically before returning her gaze to Luna and asking "Luna how old are you?"
"Six and a half." Luna answered, a little puzzled why Judy was so mad at Nick.
It was that point Nick took a good look at Luna, she had the same smile as him, she did have the same fur colour and the tip of her tail was dark not white like most red foxes. He started to question himself Is she mine?
"O M Goodnees, you are so adorable," Clawhauser gushed unable to contain himself "what's your name?"
"Luna Elise Wilde." Luna answered, bright and proud.
"Wilde?" Nick uttered before stating "That's impossible."
Luna looked a tad cross at Nick's response and proceeded to pull her school I.D from her blazer and hold it up for everyone to look at "See, I am a Wilde." Luna confirmed.
"Betcha' there's not a lot of red foxes named Wilde in Zootopia." Nala added.
"You're not helping." Nicked glowered at Nala.
Judy had heard enough, she went over to Nick, grabbed him by his tie and pulled him down so that they were eye level with one another and said with a raspy voice "I want you to be honest with me; did you know about her?"
Nick looked Judy square in the eye, her eyes will full of fury to be sure but they were also wounded as if they could spill tears at any given moment. He answered honestly "No, Judy I swear."
"He's telling the truth!" Luna leapt to the defence of her father "My Mommy kept me a secret."
"This is better than a soap opera." Nala threw in, watching the scene unfold.
"So how do you know about me?" Nick asked, still cautious of the child, not believing that she was his blood.
"This." Luna answered pulling a sheet of paper out notebook she had dropped on the floor when she tackled Nick and handed it over.
"This is all my info." Nick wondered out loud as he looked at the document before passing it to Judy who also had a look.
"Our apartment, police record, medical stuff…everything's here." Judy observed before asking Luna "Where did you get this?"
"I found it at home." Luna revealed "Am I in trouble?"
"No sweetie." Judy assured "But your dad is."
"Wh-" Nick began but Judy jumped up and grabbed him by the ear "Yeouch!" he yelped.
"Come on, we're going to the lab to see Basil." Judy said with force, continuing to pull Nick along by his ear with Luna following beside them.
"We best keep this to ourselves, but I can't believe Nick's a Dad, who would've guessed?" Nala whispered to her new partner.
"But you know what that makes Judy? Step Mom." Clawhauser smiled quietly as the trio headed for the stairs to the crime lab.
Within three minutes the two Wildes and one Hopps were at the entrance of the crime lab in the lower floor of precinct 1, Judy who still held Nick by the ear with one paw pressed the buzzer with the other. A dozen or so agonising seconds later (For Nick) the door opened to reveal three small mice on a custom made motorised platform so they were at the same level as the work stations; Basil, Oliva and another mouse this one a similar age to Basil although a little huskier and had a tuft of blonde whiskers under his nose that made a moustache was also wearing a white lab coat, grey trousers, a white shirt and blue bow tie. "Ah Luna so lovely to see you." Dr David Dawson opened.
"Hello Dr and Mr Dawson." Luna replied kindly and politely to Olivia's fathers.
Basil read the furious face of Judy's and the anxious face of Nick and asked "Is everything alright officers?"
Judy let go of Nick's ear and asked in her most professional voice "How well do you know Luna?" motioning towards the slightly nervous child.
"Well uh," David opened, unsure of why Judy would ask this "Luna is our daughter's best friend, she's a lovely child."
"And do you know her surname?" Nick probed, rubbing his now sore ear.
"Well of course," Basil answered "It's Luna Wi-….Oh I see." The CSI stopped himself, seeing the connection, his eyes darting between Luna and Nick.
It took a few seconds for Basil's husband to realise but when he did let out a "Oh my." Before looking down at his daughter and asking "Olivia do you know anything about this?"
Luna saw the trepidation on her best friend's face and couldn't bear the thought Olivia getting in trouble for her "It's my fault!" Luna protested "I put her up to it!"
"Luna no." Olivia spoke up.
"I made her ask both of you for a tour of the ZPD, I'm sorry." Luna confided and apologised, her shoulders shaking slightly.
Nick saw the trembling young vixen and instinctively put a paw on her shoulder "It's ok Kid, this is not your fault." Nick spoke, not knowing where the words came from.
Judy read Nick's mind and added "This is just grown up stuff, you're not in trouble."
"Grown ups are weird." Luna said, feeling scared suddenly so she latched onto Nick's arm for comfort.
Basil felt a sense of mercy and offered "I can clear this whole mess up if you like?"
"How so?" Judy pressed.
"A DNA test, I can do one right here." Basil proposed.
"How quick can you do it?" Nick asked, his tail wrapping around Luna without him noticing.
"It'll take about an hour, this is off the books you must understand, if the chief finds out I'm in trouble." Basil explained.
"Please, I just want to know." Nick answered peering down at Luna who was stroking his brush which now caringly ensnared her.
Judy looked at Luna's afraid face and felt some off her anger simmer down she's just a child, I shouldn't be angry it'll just frighten her she thought before asking in a gentle voice "Are you Ok to do a DNA test?"
"Does that mean a needle?" Luna asked with an anxious whisper.
"Don't worry, we just need some of your cheek cells." Basil assured, he then pointed to two test tubes covered with yellow plastic on a nearby worktop "Officer Hopps if you would kindly grab those yellow things for me."
"Sure." Judy said as she made her way over and retrieved the two testing vials before bringing them back to the two foxes. Judy unscrewed the cap off one vial to reveal a cotton swab and instructed Nick in a very cold voice "Kneel and open your mouth."
Nick, who daren't defy his enraged lover quickly obeyed and she traced the swab across the his cheek in the inside of his mouth, she then screwed the cap back on then moved to Luna to do the same action, when both tests were ready Judy put them on a work station ready for Basil's assistant to analyse. "Like I said, it'll be an hour, I'll get your phone number from Clawhauser, in the mean time I suggest you take young Luna home," Basil suggested "I'll call Victoria and tell her you're coming."
"Thanks for this Basil, I owe ya'." Nick promised.
000
The Journey to Victoria and Luna's home was awkward to say the least, because it seemed a little cruel to put Luna in the back seat of the cruiser where the drunk wombat had been a hour previous Judy had instructed (Forcefully) Nick to keep Luna on his lap in the front of the cop car. The trio were quiet for a full five minutes before the fidgety Luna broke the silence "I'm sorry."
"We told you already, you don't need to be sorry." Nick eased, keeping a safe hold of the child.
"It was a pretty clever idea," Judy complimented "you're no dumb fox."
Nick felt the barb and replied "Carrots please."
"Don't you Carrots me." Judy reacted with a small snarl.
"Look I can't understand why you're mad at me." Nick spoke his thoughts.
Judy's paws gripped her paws tighter around the steering wheel before struggling "We just…forget it, let's just get Luna home."
Nick decided to drop the subject as not to make Judy more pissed off but the innocent and curious Luna had to ask "Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?"
Judy and Nick looked at each other with a shared panic and let out a dual "Uhhhhhhh…."
Luna's amber eyes brightened and she said in a elated voice "I knew it."
"Luna…" Nick began but had no end to his sentence.
"So Judy what's my dad like as boyfriend?" Luna grinned.
Judy who was finding I hard to focus on driving avoided the question and asked her own question "You're ok with me and Nick being inters?" Judy queried, not sure how a child would take the news that their parent was inter, but from initial judgement Judy could see no speck of disapproval on the girl's face.
"There's a bear boy in my class, Yusuf, and his parents are Kodiak bear and a Moose and they are super nice. My mommy says that mammals who are mean to inters are just bullies." Luna reasoned.
"Well your Mom's right on that point." Nick agreed.
"So do you two live together?" Luna quizzed, totally engrossed.
"Yeah, we got a apartment together." Judy answered.
Luna looked a little skittish but proceeded to say "Judy, please don't be mad at Dad, he didn't know about me."
Judy felt a stab of guilt pierce her, she took a second before saying "It's complicated sweetie."
"Why?" Luna asked, obviously.
"Luna, I don't think Judy wants to talk about it." Nick shot down.
And before Luna could counter with another 'Why?' a loud rumble of the tummy resonated through the cruiser. "You hungry Kid?" Nick enquired with a small laugh.
"…A little." Luna confessed, timidly.
"There's some snacks in the glove box." Judy informed as she turned a corner.
Nick opened the glovebox and said "Help yourself."
Luna was confronted with a myriad of candy bars, chips and carrot sticks but she instantly picked up a bag and celebrated "Blueberries! My favourite!"
Nick felt his heart rate picked up greatly and Judy's fur standing on end upon hearing Luna's words, Judy turned to Nick and simply said "Blueberries?" as Luna opened the zip lock on the baggy and tossed a few blueberries in her mouth.
Nick let out a sigh whilst ruffling the fur on top on Luna's head "Blueberries." Nick repeated, not wanting to delve into the subject any further.
The trio soon arrived in the most premier area of Savannah central; aptly named the Treetops, due to all the skyscrapers that dominated the area, Luna pointed to the building she lived in (The Tallest) and Judy pulled up right in front of it. Judy, Nick and Luna hopped out of the cruiser and walked through the atrium of the high class residence where a friendly bull elephant donned in a smart suit awaited "Luna, how are you?" The Elephant concierge opened.
"Hi Mr. Eilifint" Luna replied with a wave.
"Your Mom is expecting you and the officers, so you best step inside." Mr Eilifint informed, motioning the three smaller mammals to the elevator.
"Yes sir…" Luna said, worried about what was about to transpire.
Nick noticed the girl's shoulder tense so the elder fox once again took the young vixen's paw for assurance then offered "We got your back kid." He didn't know why he was so protective of the kit and was trying his best not to show his anger for Victoria, he didn't know what he was going to say to her but he knew it wouldn't be pretty.
"Which floor do you live on?" Judy asked looking at the control panel.
Luna responded by taking a key out of her blazer and passing it to the rabbit "You have to use a key to get to the penthouse." Luna explained.
Judy looked intrigued as took the key and put it into keyhole on the panel, as the door closed she couldn't help but ask "So is your mom rich?"
"I guess so." Luna shrugged.
"Victoria is one of the richest mammals in Zootopia." Nick elaborated.
"What does she do for a living?" Judy probed.
"You ever hear of the Todd banking group?" Nick asked.
"She works for them?" Judy guessed.
"She owns the company, she's a Todd, it's her family's business." Nick disclosed.
Soon the elevator arrived at the penthouse level and the door opened with a ding, Victoria was stood waiting for them but it was not the stylish image of Victoria the two cops expected to see. The black vixen was dressed in a fluffy purple bathrobe, holding onto a drip stand with an I.V bag of fluid hanging from it connected to a cannula going into Victoria's left paw. The banker had always been slim but right now she looked gaunt, her amber eyes looked heavy and strained and even her breathing seemed laboured. Nick had been ready for a shouting match but now all that rage had been swept away and replaced with concern. "Victoria?" He mumbled, his surprise was obvious.
"Hey Nick, sorry about all this." Victoria returned before looking down at the sheepish Luna "The Dawsons called me and explained what happened, I'm very disappointed in you."
"I'm sorry." Luna offered with a quivering lip.
"Don't cry baby, we'll talk later," Victoria comforted "go to your room, I need to talk to Officer Wilde."
"Ok." The sullen schoolgirl said before walking down the hallway.
When the three adults heard Luna's door close they gave a shared sigh, all three of them not looking forward to the following conversation. Victoria was little perplexed to why Judy was present and proceeded to ask "Um, Officer? May I ask why you are here?"
"I'm Nick's girlfriend." Judy cut to the chase.
Victoria let out the smallest of laughs then said "Nick always did like bunnies."
"Vic, what's all this about?" Nick queried, pointing at the I.V drip.
"Do you mind if we sit down? I'm feeling pretty beat." Victoria asked rhetorically, before leading the two officers into the living room. Victoria settled into a comfy armchair while Nick and Judy sat on a expensive looking designer sofa opposite.
Before Nick or Judy could speak another word Victoria opened her mouth and informed "Long story short; I'm dying."
"Oh god." Judy breathed, her anger had not vanished but had greatly dissipated.
"What of?" Nick followed up, his emotions now all muddled.
"Old lady cancer has it in for me. Pancreatic to be exact." Victoria panted.
"Just like your dad." Nick remembered.
"It's the Todd family curse." Victoria added, looking at the cannula in her paw.
"But what about chemo? Or surgery?" Judy questioned, you don't have a family as big as hers and not have relatives who have battled cancer.
"The surgery didn't work and I stopped chemo a week ago, it's spread to my lungs and my stomach, in laments terms; I'm screwed." Victoria explained, sadness tinting her voice.
"Vic I'm so sorry." Nick said sincerely "How long have you got?"
"Well one Oncologist told me I have six months tops and another one gave me two months, I've been to ten different doctors and they've all told me it's terminal." Victoria laid out.
"Does Luna know?" Judy asked, pretty certain of the answer already.
"She just thinks I'm sick." Victoria confirmed, sounding ashamed.
"Oh for the love of…" Nick started to growl but composed himself and continued "You need to tell her and whilst we're talking about Luna would you mind telling me why the hell I'm only finding out about her?"
"Truth be told I didn't want you to know about her." Victoria sassed.
"And you said I was immature?" Nick shot back.
"Well could you blame me? When I found out I was pregnant you were still hustling pawpsicles and avoiding Mr. Big, you were a man child with zero responsibility. I didn't want Luna to be raised by a con artist." Victoria reasoned bitterly.
"He still deserved to know!" Judy snapped, leaping to her lover's aid "Nick's a good mammal."
"Are we even sure that she's mine? You did cheat on me after all." Nick accused.
"Yes I cheated on you, it was a shitty thing to do and I'm sorry but I'm positive she's yours." Victoria deflected.
"How can I be sure? I mean you got tired of roughing it with a bad boy and jumped into bed with trust fund loser Peter." Nick recalled with spite.
"Peter can't have kids, he fires blanks that's why his first wife left him." Victoria explained.
"…It doesn't matter, the DNA test will sort this all out." Nick grunted.
Judy who wasn't sure what to feel at this very moment but decided to move the discussion forward, she retrieved the folded piece of paper she got from Luna and opened it up on the coffee table "Care to explain this?"
"So that's how she found out." Victoria realised with a chuckle.
"You had someone investigate me." Nick stated "Why?"
Victoria let out a sigh before saying "When I saw that you were a cop I wanted to check if you were clean and seeing as I'm going to kick the bucket soon Luna's going to need a parent."
"You were going to tell me?" Nick voiced his confusion.
"This weekend; I was going to explain to you slowly and gradually introduce you to Luna, I didn't want it to happen like this…I'm sorry." Victoria regretted.
"There's still one thing bugging me, why is Luna a Wilde and not a Todd?" Nick wondered.
"The Todds have backstabbed, sneaked and lied their way to the top of the business food chain, everyone hates us." Victoria confided "I remember when I was in school I wasn't hated for being a fox, I was hated for being a Todd. I never wanted that for Luna, so I gave her your name. The Todd name will die with me."
"But if you hadn't have known about Nick's new job what would've happened to Luna? You know, after you die." Judy pondered out loud.
"My best friend Grace offered to take her in, both of her girls are in high school now but she is a wonderful mother." Victoria answered before wincing from a twinge of pain.
"Don't you have anyone to take care of you?" Nick sought, feeling sympathy for his ex.
"I've hired a nurse to look after me, when I heard you were coming I sent her out to get some groceries." Victoria revealed.
The morbid air of the conversation was cut by the sound of Nick's guitar riff ringtone, he fished his phone out of his pocket and recognised it as the precinct 1 number, he answered it and put the phone on speaker mode so the others could hear "Basil?" Nick assumed.
"Good Evening Wilde," Basil responded politely through the phone "I trust you know why I'm calling?"
"Victoria and Judy are here with me, so just give it to me straight; is Luna my daughter?" Nick requested eagerly wanting to know the truth.
"She is." Basil unveiled "Congratulations Wilde, you're a father."
Nick's felt a torrent of feeling stir within but before he could act upon them he said "Thanks Basil." And abruptly ended the phone call. He leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Judy looked confused and upset, she didn't know what to say or do she was just frozen with uncertainty and anxiety and yet subconsciously she lay her paw atop of Nick's.
Nick's mind was speeding like a freight train, his heart was in a fit of tachycardia and he felt overcome with a mixture of joy and sadness as he echoed "I'm a father."
"Listen, I think we've all taken an emotional beating today so let's just cool it for now." Victoria proposed, empathising with the couple.
"But we need to sort this out." Nick defied.
"Look I know where you live, what if I bring Luna around on Saturday and we can hash out all the nitty gritty stuff then ok?" Victoria bargained.
"I think that's best." Judy agreed standing up, still holding Nick's paw as he stood up also.
"Officer Hopps…" Victoria started.
"Call me Judy." Judy corrected.
"Judy, I'm sorry to you to. I know this a crappy situation for you as well, I didn't mean to make things tough between you two." Victoria apologised.
"I know you didn't, it's ok. Just focus on taking care of yourself." Judy couldn't help but be nice no matter the situation.
"Uh…" Nick sounded, unsure of himself "Can I talk to Luna? Would that ok?"
Both Judy and Victoria noted the vulnerable look in Nick's emerald eyes, Victoria gave a understanding smile and said "Of course, her room is at the end of the hallway."
Nick walked off alone down the hallway and eventually came to a door with hand made wooden plaque with the words 'Luna's Room' written with silver paint. With apprehension he raised his paw and softly knocked the door "Come in." Luna's voice came from the other side.
Nick opened the door to see Luna sitting on the carpet with a toy doctor set and a had red plushie dragon with a fake thermometer in it's mouth, Luna looked up at Nick and asked in a jittery "Is Mommy going to shout at me?"
"No, I don't think so kid." Nick soothed the child's concern as he shut the door behind him and stepped into the lilac themed room.
"Are you mad at me?" Luna asked, still cautious.
"No, no. Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Nick reassured before nodding at the toy dragon "Is your buddy sick?"
"Mr Scales has the flu." Luna informed, sounding confident as she put her toy stethoscope to Mr Scale's chest.
"Oh no, what does Dr. Luna recommend?" Nick played along, crouching beside Luna.
"Some soup and a nap." Luna grinned.
"That's very wise kid," Nick praised, patting the little vixen's head "listen do you remember Mr Dawson doing that test for us?"
"The one to find out if you're really my dad?" Luna picked up and perked up.
"Well he just called me and you were right; I am your dad." Nick said, and although he didn't know it; he was smiling.
Luna's eyes lit up as she whispered "I have a dad."
"Look Kid, I'm new to all this. I've never had a daughter before so please be patient with me, I might need you to point in the right direction. And if I'm being a knucklehead don't be afraid to tell me." Nick spoke his feelings, not realising he was trembling slightly.
Luna gifted him a kind smile before mirroring "Don't worry Dad, I got your back."
Nick let out a small chortle before standing up "Your Mom is going to bring you around to mine and Judy's at the weekend, so I'll see you soon."
But as Nick headed for the door he heard tiny rushed footsteps "I love you Dad!" Luna squealed with delight as she threw her arms around Nick and gave him an affectionate hug.
Nick was startled slightly by the suddenness of the action but after a moment he found himself hugging the little vixen back and replying truthfully "I love you too kid." Wait…did I just say that? Nick questioned himself I just met this kid, get a grip Nick.
000
Judy and Nick were back in the police cruiser and driving back towards precinct 1 in the most uncomfortable silence fathomable. Nick was gazing at a small wallet sized photograph that Victoria handed to him as he left the apartment, it was Luna's latest school photo, the small vixen looking bright and chipper as ever. After looking at the picture for a dozen or so more seconds he tucked in the breast pocket of his shirt, he then directed attention to his girlfriend and requested "Fluff can you stop the car please?"
"Why? We're nearly back at the station." Judy responded, still not looking at her love.
"Please sweetheart, just find a quiet spot and pull over." Nick pleaded in a reserve voice.
Judy didn't reply with words instead she pulled into an empty parking lot outside a hardware store, the store was shut so the cruiser was the only vehicle around. Nick unclipped his seatbelt and exited the cruiser and faced the sunset, waiting for Judy to come out and speak to him. Fortunately for the dumb fox he didn't have to wait too long, Judy got out of the cop car and stepped beside Nick staring at the same sunset "Why did you make me stop the car?" she quizzed.
"I want to know why you are so mad at me." Nick said, not wanting to beat around the bush.
"…Nick." Judy mumbled, her ears going droopy.
"Carrots I need to know." Nick insisted, turning to the beautiful bunny.
"It's complicated." Judy evaded, not meeting Nick's gaze.
"Then make it uncomplicated." Nick pressed.
"Nick drop it." Judy snarled, her paws balling into fists.
"No, Judy please tell me, I didn't cheat on you, I didn't even know about Luna until a few hours ago so why are you giving me the cold shoulder?" Nick dug in.
Judy pulled at her long silky ears and let out a growl of frustration before finally divulging "Because the only time I pictured being a father was with OUR kit."
"What?" Nick voiced, baffled and concerned in the same moment.
"I know right? It sounds stupid…but I always pictured us adopting our own kit in the future." Judy revealed in a sombre tone, tears now falling freely from her amethyst eyes.
"Judy." Nick said softly, reaching out to touch her but she took a step back.
"This afternoon I actually found myself wishing that you had never met Luna," Judy confessed with a sob "what sort of mammal thinks that!?"
"Carrots don't talk like that!" Nick barked.
"Why not?! I'm a bad person! I wanted your daughter to disappear!" Judy cried "I wanted you all to myself! I'm…I'm so selfish."
"Why the hell do you think you're the villain in this scenario?" Nick choked, Judy's eyes peered up to see Nick was also crying "You're the most wonderful mammal I know."
Judy's heart warmed at these words but chilled again when she saw Nick's face grow more grim "Nick?" she tried to catch his attention.
"For most of my childhood I was raised by my mom, she worked her fingers to the bone to make sure I was fed and sheltered and where was my dad? Well I thought he was dead, killed by his own greed." Nick wept, retrieving the photo of Luna and looking at it for strength "I always told myself if I ever had kids that I would never be like him; that I'd never be consumed by my greed."
"Nick you're not like Robin, you could never be like him." Judy tried to persuade.
"Oh yeah? Why did Victoria keep Luna from me, huh? Because I was a con mammal, I was more concerned with making a quick buck that taking care of my family, I even felt out with my Mom over what I did." Nick roared with angst "…I was no good for Luna when she born….so what good will I be now?"
Judy had reached her limit, she couldn't bear to see Nick in so much emotional agony so she dashed over to him and pulled him into a tight but loving hug "You listen to me Nick Wilde; you are a dumb, annoyingly charming, infuriating fox…but I wouldn't have you any other way." Judy spoke from her heart, her eyes still flowing with tears "You are not Robin Loxley, you are Nicholas Wilde, the Fox I love and the father Luna adores."
"But I have no idea how to be a dad," Nick sobbed "I don't know how to look after a child and besides I've missed so much of her life; her birth, her first steps, her first word, I've never been there for a birthday or to give her a hug when she's sad."
"Don't you remember where you are? This is Zootopia; where anyone can be anything." Judy reiterated with crying eyes "And you can be a great father."
"I'm scared Carrots." Nick confessed, holding onto Judy tightly.
"Don't be." Judy said, pulling back and looking at Nick "I'll be with you every step of the way."
"…You don't have to…You can get out now and I wouldn't blame you." Nick sniffed.
Judy playfully punched Nick in the arm and replied with smile through the tears "Dumb fox, I'm not going anywhere. I love you."
Nick wiped away his tears before lifting Judy up by the waist and reciprocated in a relieved voice "I love you too."
Neither of them knew it yet but this was it, the moment that became completely committed to one another, the moment they became mates for life that would love each other eternal and weather any trouble that came their way. This was true love.
(AN/ What did you guys think? Please please please Review! Next time on Take a Stand, a certain celebrity endorses interspecies marriage and the drug war takes a grim turn. Please review and c ya soon.)