The four of them gazed up at the darkening sky.
"Cloud painting, huh?" Finnick chuckled. "Man, only thing that'd make this better would be a special brownie!"
"Finn, I'm gonna be a cop one day," Nick said with a smirk, "I'd like to not have to bust you for possession."
"Well, I guess my dessert is a no-go then," Vivienne said with a sigh and closed the picnic basket.
"Vivienne, you don't really..." Judy began, eyes wide.
"Nah, I'm just yanking your chain, you make it so easy!" Vivienne grinned at her.
Judy felt her phone vibrate and took it out of her pocket to answer it.
"Oh, Chief Bogo, good evening, sir!"
"Hopps. Are you ready for reinstatement? I need your report to finalize the missing mammals' case," the chief said.
"Yessir!" Judy leaped to her feet, cringing a little from the strain on her leg sutures.
"Good. It will be strictly desk work for the next two weeks. Doctors' orders. Can you make it in tomorrow morning?"
"Absolutely!" Judy's tail wiggled, prompting poorly stifled laughter from the others.
"I know, right?!"
"That's fucking adorable, that's what that is!"
"I thought I was cute, but DAYUM!"
"Guys!" Judy covered the mouthpiece and scowled.
"Hopps, one more thing," Bogo said.
"Yes, sir?"
"Bring that fox with you. We'll need him to corroborate the account as a witness."
Judy frowned. "His name is Nick Wilde, sir."
"Don't care. See you tomorrow."
The call ended.
"Looks like I'm back to work tomorrow!" Judy smiled and put her phone back in her pocket, "Nick, could you come in with me to make a statement for my report?"
"I think I can do that," Nick returned the smile.
"Fuck, you two are gonna give me cavities!" Vivienne stretched out her legs and stood.
"I didn't realize it had gotten so late," she walked over to the tree trunk and touched her paw to it, "same time next year, honey?"
Vivienne picked up the picnic basket and made her way back down the hill.
"Happy birthday, big guy." Finnick gently nudged his fist to bump the tree and then followed Vivienne.
"Dad, you probably can't hear me," Nick started once Finnick and his mother were out of earshot, "but just in case, happy birthday. I wish... you could've met Judy."
Judy grabbed his paw in hers and pressed them both against the tree.
"Mr Wilde, I'm Judy Hopps. Don't worry," she gave Nick a tender smile, "I'm going to look after your son, I promise," Judy said.
Nick stared at her, dumbstruck.
"Let me know when you're ready, Nick," Judy said, doing her best to keep her voice steady.
Nick took a deep breath.
Too many tears this week, pull it together!
"Yeah... yeah I'm ready," he said.
There was a comfortable silence in the van as Finnick drove.
"Thank you, everyone," Judy said eventually, "for including me in something so special."
Finnick smiled at her in the rear vision mirror, "It's all up to Viv."
"Thank you, Vivienne," Judy said.
Vivienne turned from the front seat and smiled. "You're welcome. I gotta say, it's nice to see a bunny so accepting. No offense, hon," she said.
Judy shook her head, "I have been small-minded in the past, but I'm not going to take after my dad."
Vivienne gave Nick a curious glance.
Nick sighed, "Judy was assaulted by a fox as a kid. Her parents became overly paranoid after that."
Judy's ears drooped, "I thought that they had opened their minds."
She saw the query on Nick's face. "Only a few days ago, Dad and Mom told me that they were working with Gideon, the one who bullied me."
"So the blueberries in the pies would've been from your parents' farm?" Nick said.
Judy nodded.
"I'm confused as fuck over here," Vivienne said, "how does that affect you two right now?"
"Her dad, he…" Nick couldn't bring himself to say it.
"My dad was a complete jerk," Judy said, "he forced me to choose: give up being a cop and come home, or stay with Nick," she smiled up at him.
"I chose Nick. But Dad said he'd never speak to me again if I did, among… other, horrible species-ist things."
Even Finnick's ears fell upon hearing this.
Nick couldn't make eye contact with his mother.
"I got the impression that he may have been a former client of yours, Ma," he said.
"Boy, that narrows it down," Vivienne said with an eye roll.
"Ma!" Nick groaned, "mind bleach, mind bleach!"
Judy reddened while Finnick and Vivienne simply chuckled.
"How are you so okay with it, Finn?!" Nick demanded.
"Older and wiser, buddy," he replied, "and she hasn't done that for years anyhow, so calm down."
"...I know, I know. Sorry, Ma," Nick said.
"So you should be, after what I heard this afternoon. Hypocrite," she said.
"N-nothing happened this afternoon!" Judy exclaimed, blushing to her ear tips.
The two foxes in the front seat raised curious eyebrows.
"We don't care if something did, she's just teasing," Finnick's eyes flitted between the rear vision mirror and the road.
"Oh."
"Ain't nothin' to be ashamed of. It's all natural when you're in love," Finnick said.
Judy was surprised by how much Finnick had opened up today.
Wait a minute.
'In love?'
With Nick?
Her heart raced.
That's what this was...
...wasn't it?
"She's off her hormone suppressants, so this is all pretty new to her," Nick mumbled.
"Nick!" Judy elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ow! What are your bones made of, adamantine?!" Nick squawked.
He looked to the front of the van, expecting more indulgent chuckles.
The concerned expressions on both his mother and his friend's faces took him by surprise.
"Judy," Vivienne began, "-since we're being honest, I gotta ask: have you ever... been in a relationship?"
"Ma!" Nick exclaimed.
"No, I haven't. Why...?" Judy replied.
Vivienne groaned and massaged her temples with her fingers. "So you've been on hormone suppressants since your teens?"
"Yeah, it's pretty common to do that to prevent-" Judy blushed, "-teenage pregnancies in Bunnyburrow."
The van pulled up outside of the cottage.
"Okay, we're home!" Nick flung the van door open, "It's been uh, weird, as usual! See ya round guys!" He made a beeline for the front door.
Judy put her foot down gingerly onto the pavement.
Looks like I can walk on this leg now.
Vivienne rolled down the window and motioned for Judy to come over.
"Judy, I need you to do something for me," she said, her voice hushed.
"Sure, what is it?" Judy said.
"…start taking the pills again," Vivienne said.
Finnick couldn't hide his shock.
Neither could Judy.
"Look, if what you feel for Nick is real, you'll still feel that way on the pills. But if it's just-" she looked to Nick, who was unlocking the door, "-hormonal urges, I don't
want you to be with Nick and then… change your mind. Foxes mate for life."
Judy's shock ebbed and she frowned. "Some bunnies do too!"
"Figure out if you're one of them, that's all I'm asking. Don't go hurting my boy," Vivienne's voice was firm, but not unkind.
"Hey, you guys better not be giving Judy a hard time!" Nick called out from the porch.
"See ya round, Nick," Finnick said, his voice impassive.
"...please," Vivienne said to Judy before the van drove away.
Judy's heart thudded.
She felt like she couldn't breathe.
Could what I'm feeling for Nick…not be real?
Nick went inside and flicked the light switch on.
God, I could really use a Xanyaks.
While there had been good times, this had probably been one of the most stressful weeks of his life.
"You okay, Fluff?" he called to Judy, as she walked inside gingerly on her injured leg.
"Yeah," she replied.
"I'm still full from the picnic, but are you hungry for dinner?" Nick asked.
"Uh, no... I'm good, thanks."
That's unusual.
He didn't know where she put it, but normally she ate like a horse.
She ate a lot at the picnic too, I guess.
"I-I think I'm gonna call it a night," Judy said as she made her way down the hall, "we'll need to be up early to get ready for work."
Nick snorted. "It's only six-thirty!"
"Yeah well, I'm tired, okay?" she said, a slight edge to her voice that Nick hadn't heard before.
"…are you okay, Judy? Did Ma or Finn say something?" he asked.
"No, no. I really am just tired. Good night, Nick. Thanks for today."
She was smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes.
Nick knew that smile.
Hell, I invented it.
The one almost convincing enough if you didn't know any better…
He decided not to push.
It had been a big day.
"Okay. Goodnight, Carrots," he said.
Her door closed.
Nick pulled out his phone and texted:
'Finn BUDDY, WTF? Judy has gone all quiet!'
He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, turning the volume down so it wouldn't disturb Judy.
Nick tossed the remote to the floor and flopped onto the couch to half-watch whatever was on.
Some romantic comedy movie.
Meh.
The remote's all the way over there.
Can I be bothered moving to change the channel?
Nope.
"You are everything I never knew I always wanted!" the male squirrel said to the female.
Nick rolled his eyes.
What a stupid line.
Even more stupid that he could relate to it.
Judy…
He cast a baleful glare over to his phone.
There was still no reply from Finnick.
Nick woke a few hours later, disorientated.
The home shopping channel chattered away to itself on the TV.
Oh, I fell asleep on the couch.
He checked his phone again.
Nothing.
May as well turn in.
He turned the TV off and dragged himself to the bathroom.
The sight of their toothbrushes sitting together on the basin made him sigh.
After their time in the backyard, Nick admitted to himself that he had a tiny hope that he wouldn't be sleeping alone tonight.
His reflection in the mirror as he brushed his teeth seemed to mock him.
See? This is what happens when you get your hopes up!
His expectations had gotten out of line, that's all. He must have subconsciously put Judy under pressure.
If he backed off, things would happen at her pace.
Yeah, that was it.
...maybe.
He finally crawled under the covers of his bed, facing her room.
It felt odd.
For the first time, it wasn't him putting the walls between them.