Chapter twenty one: A Son's Return

Nick woke even earlier than usually the next morning. As he began his morning routine, trying not to wake Finnick, he looked at the calendar. He hadn't noticed that his birthday was coming up.

"Wow, 34 in three day. Shit time flies."

Nick had never thought about his age till he had met Judy. Last year was the first time since he was seventeen that he had celebrated it. Infact his age had been one of the factors that made him hesitant to ask Judy out. Judy was only 28 more than 5 years younger than him. He then began to think what to get Judy in 4 months for her birthday. Also his birthday would be the first one of either of theirs celebrated as a couple. He left his apartment with a cup of coffee at 5:30, the time he usually woke up. Not only did he have to be to work early to face Bogo. He also had decide to face his father this morning. He walked for a few blocks running through his head what to say. Every memory of his dad began to flash in his mind. His Birthday, family dinners, all kinds of wonderful memories. He could tell he was getting close to where his dad was. Maybe he should turn back, but he also knew he had to do this. He was a block away from his father now, he didn't want this, but at the same time this was long overdue. He had began a new life, am honest life. Make peace with his old man would complete that change. He saw his dad, he began to sweat as he approached. He stopped just inches from him.

"Hey dad."

The pale and weathered grave stone that read the words "Abraham P. Wilde" stared back at him. Underneath the name in small lettering read "It's called a hustle sweetheart." Nick kneeled on the ground as the sun began to rise.

"It's been a long time."

Nick picked a few stray weeds that grew around the headstone as he admired the flowers his mother had brought the day before.

"Mom says I need to talk to you, she's right you know. I might have gotten my tricks from you, but my stubbornness is all hers."

He felt a cool breeze blow as he waited, almost expecting a response from the headstone.

"As you can see from the uniform I'm a cop now. Finally did something you'd be proud of. Finnicks still doing good, but there's someone else as well dad. Her names Judy and I love her. I'm going to bring her here tonight so be looking your best okay."

A single tear began to roll down Nick's cheek.

"She umm, she's not a fox dad, she's actually a bunny believe it or not. I was too young when you died to know what interspecies was let alone how you felt about it. But I hope you would approve. God knows her father doesn't, he thinks I'm a no good fox, honestly I don't blame him. For the last 27 years I've been pissed at you dad, angry beyond belief. An I'm here to say, I'm sorry about that. You made a choice, but what happened because of that choice wasn't your fault."

Nick looked at his watch and saw he had to leave soon.

"Listen dad I have to go, duty calls and all. But I'll be back later with Judy, remember to look good."

He ran his fingers across his dad's name as his tears hit the grass. Before getting up and leaving he said something he hadn't said in years.

"I love you dad."

Judy was waiting outside Bogo's office when Nick arrived at ZPD.

"Hey Carrots, ready for judgement day." Nick Said taking a drink from his cup.

"Not the time Nick."

Nick new that this wasn't a joking matter, but humor just came out naturally. It was how he coped with hard situations.

"Sorry Carrots."

"It's ok Nick, just come here."

Judy jumped off her chair and wrapped Nick in hug. He hugged her back knowing she was worried. After a few more moments of waiting Bogo called them in. They sat in the same chair again and waited. Finally Bogo spoke.

"First I want honesty, how long has this been going on?"

Like before they had agreed Judy would do most of the talking.

"Just over Seven months sir."

"An why come to me now about this."

"We wanted to make sure this would work out before we risked our jobs for it."

"Risked your jobs is an understatement. Not only are you co-workers and partners, but you're also of a different species."

Nick hadn't thought about Bogo being anti interspecies before that moment. Eventhough he had agreed to let Judy speak he had to know.

"Is there something wrong with that sir?" Nick said slowly.

Bogo reached into his desk.

"To any other chief, possibly. But to me...no."

Bogo slid a picture of a female buffalo and a male rhino's wedding day photo.

"That is a photo of my adoptive mother and father. I know how much they struggled to stay together when nobody supported their relationship. I respect you two for doing what you're doing." Bogo said

Judy and Nick both were surprised at Bogo sharing that part of his personal life. But Judy still wanted to know what would happen as far as her and Nick being partners.

"So are we in trouble sir?"

"If you were any other team I'd separate you two and give you new partners. However I'm willing to make an exception here on a few conditions."

Judy's ears perked up at the sound of Bogo's decision.

"Name them sir, anything."

"Firstly, you have to keep the PDA (personal display of affection) to a minimum while on duty. That means no kissing or hand holding. You can hug as long as it's not excessive. After work what you two do is your business. Second, you can't let your relationship cloud your Judgement, you still have a job to do. Third, if this doesn't work between you two and it's too much for you two to be partners. Come to me and I'll assign new partners. Finally, go with my blessing. Dismissed."

Judy and Nick got up and left before Bogo could change his mind. They were over the moon happy with his choice. They didn't mind keeping the PDA down. They had been hiding their relationship for so long it wouldn't be much different anyway. After being confronted by a few fellow officers and confirming the rumors were true they attended the usual morning briefing. They received their usual route of patrol.

"Well this morning is going good Carrots."

"Yeah and everyone seemed so supportive of us."

"Yeah that's a relief. Hey umm what are you doing tonight after work?"

"Nothing really, why?"

"Well I have something planned for us."

"Like what?"

"You'll see."

"Ok Mr. Surprise." Judy chuckled

They went through their first day back as normal. Writing speeding tickets and answer a few calls. While Judy was finishing writing a ticket Nick took the chance to text his mom that he was taking Judy to see his Father after work. She was more than pleased to hear it. Nick and Judy clocked out and got into Judy's car since Nick had walked to work.

"So should we go get changed for this big surprise you got planned."

"Just park your car at my place and we can walk from there."

"In our uniforms? Well okay if you say so."

As she drove Judy couldn't help but notice how on edge and nervous Nick was.

"Hey Nick, are you feeling alright."

"Honestly Carrots, no not really."

"What's wrong, you can tell me."

At that moment Judy parked her car outside of Nick's place. Nick got out and rested his head on the side of the car. Judy got out and walked around to his side.

"Nick?"

"I'm sorry Judy."

"Nick you're scaring me, what is going on?" Nick never used her first name, unless it was serious.

Nick grabbed Judy's paw and began to lead her in the direction of the cemetery.

"I'm sorry for keeping my father a secret for so long. That's why I'm taking you to meet him."

"Oh Nick!"

Judy wrapped her arms around Nick in a hug.

"I can't wait to meet him, I bet he looks just like you. I bet I've seen him before and didn't know it…."

Nick continued to walk with Judy and listened to her talk about how excited she was to meet him. How would he tell her that his dad was gone.

"Hey Nick, you okay?"

He realized he had zoned out and was nearing his dad's final resting place already.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Well aren't you excited."

"Something like that Judy. Here we are."

Judy had been talking so fast and had been so excited to meet Mr. Wilde, that she hadn't realized they had walked into a cemetery.

"Uh Nick what are we doing in a…."

She stopped talking when she saw Nick staring down at a headstone reading "Abraham P. Wilde" her smile disappeared.

"Nick, Is your dad…"

"Dead, yeah. He's been dead for a long time."

"Nick I'm so sorry…..What happened?"

"It's a long story Judy."

"Tell me Nick, please."

Judy grabbed Nick's hand tight and looked up at him. He took a deep breath and spoke.

"My dad was a car salesman, he was good at hustling people especially into buying cars. But he was honest, he never made someone get a car he knew they couldn't afford. He was honest and trustworthy, always wanting to defy the dishonest fox stereotype. He also loved playing tricks and always had a plan. One day when I was six my mom was craving strawberries. It was late, but my dad being the great guy he was went to get her some, I went along. I looked up to my dad and wanted to be Just like him. We went to this little store that a family friend owned. As we were checking out a tiger came in with a gun. He pointed it at the owner and demanded the money in the register. I froze up, but my dad had a plan like always. After the owner put the money in a sack my dad told the tiger he saw the owner drop a hundred dollar bill on the floor. The tiger looked over the counter and my dad tried to switch the bag of strawberries with the money. He was going to give the money back to the owner once the tiger was gone."

Nick began to cry but continued to talk unable to stop himself from telling Judy about the most painful moment of his life. She looked on, seeing the pain in eyes.

"But the tiger caught him, he became angry. He grabbed my dad by the throats and pinned to the wall, screaming at him. "You stupid fox!, you trying to trick me!" I watched as my dad gave the tiger a cocky smile. My dad usually was good at judging other mammals, he probably thought the tiger wouldn't hurt him. I guess everyones wrong sooner or later. My dad said his same stupid line he always said when he pulled something off."

"What did he say?"

Thru the tears Nick gave a slight chuckle and a smirk.

"It's called a hustle sweetheart." Nick said

Judy's ear drooped back as Nicks tear began to flow harder. She knew it was a line that had meant something to Nick. But she hadn't thought it had come from his father.

"That's why he did it, I'm sure of it. That stupid catch phrase made that tiger do it."

"Do what Nick?"

Judy asked fearing she that she already knew what the answer was.

"He shot him Judy, Right in the face, right in front of me. My dad was murdered over 273 dollars. There was so much blood. I couldn't stop crying that day. That was my first dead body I told you about. The cops took me home as they processed the crime scene. When my mother found out she became so distraught that she went into labor."

"Wait labor, but Nick your a only child."

"Not exactly Judy."

Nick's head shifted to his right. Judy looked to the right of Mr. Wilde's grave were a smaller headstone laid. The only thing written on it was "Wilde".

"My little sister didn't survive childbirth Judy. Within 24 hours my mom lost her husband and daughter, I lost my father and sister. We struggled for years following his murder. The incident when I was nine didn't help how I was handling it. I was so angry at my dad for leaving us, I saw how much my mom struggled to pay bills. I blamed him for that, we had the strawberries bought. We could have just left, but he had to try and be a hero, he made the choice to try and be an hero. Then when I was twelve we almost lost our house. That's when I started hustling I gave everything I earned to my mom. But I knew how she would feel about how I made the money. I put every dime of it in the coffee can she always kept our money in. Then one day when I was seventeen she found out."

"What did she do?"

"She freaked, telling me that dad wouldn't approve. That's when I made the biggest mistake of my young life. I said "Well he should had thought about that before he getting himself killed." I instantly regretted it, because I saw how much it hurt her. She threw me out and I bounced around from there. She said I could come back when I got my life together. But she was still my mom and I still loved her. Didn't you ever wonder what happened to all that money you pointed out I avoided paying taxes on."

"Well kinda." Judy said

"I kept enough for food, every penny after that I put in my mom's mail box. That was my life, till you found me. You saved my life Carrots, when I came to my mom and told her I was a cop, it was the first time I saw pride in her eyes since I was seventeen. You know the rest from there.

Nick began to ball, unable to hold back anymore tears.

"I'm sorry I didn't share this sooner Judy."

Judy wrapped her arms around Nick and held him tight. He was still in tears, it was the most vulnerable she had ever seen him. As she embrace him she felt his pain.

"Nick, thank you for telling me. I know it couldn't have been easy to tell me all this. I love you Nick and I'm here for you."

She released her grip and wiped away his tears.

"Thank you Judy."

He grabbed her hand and took a step forward.

"Hey, dad I'm back like I said I would be. This is Judy."

(Hey guys, so the long awaited story of Mr. Wilde and his past have been revealed. I'm sure some of you saw this coming as others are shocked by this. I can promise this is not the last time Nick will talk about or see his father, much about Mr. Wilde has yet to be told. In the next chapter, Judy and Nick talk more about getting a house, Judy seeks help from Jesse and Mrs. Wilde, Mrs. Wilde has a big Birthday present for Nick, finally Kane looks for more help. Thank you for reading, please share and review, I will see you all next time, bye bye)