Chapter Twenty-Five:

Tucker's Pizza…

Of all the things that Nick had seen while being a police officer, things was one he never expected. As he walked up to the place his daughter had talked about, it seemed like every other place he had ever seen; minus the revolving door for delivery staff. What was even more surprising was the amount of bunnies that were using it. 'Oh Carrots would love this,' he thought watching the constantly moving door. As he walked in via the main entrance, he was surprised to see the amount of officers sitting amongst the tables.

"Hi, welcome to Tucker's Pizza," a white bunny asked walking up to him smiling, "Would you like a table for one, or are you waiting for someone else?" He looked at the waitress and blinked.

"Victoria?" he asked surprised, "Since when do you work here?"

The bunny gave a slight laugh before saying, "Actually, Officer Wilde, I own this place and it's Vicky. I hate the name Victoria."

"Nick, please. But what do you mean you hate your name?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Victoria was a heartless bunny that alienated her own niece because she didn't want to disappoint her grandfather," she replied as her smile disappeared.

"Whereas Vicky?" he asked a little leery.

"Is doing what she loves and trying to make amends," she said as her smiled returned, "If you don't mind me asking, how is Grace?"

"She's safe," he said calmly, "No offense, but I wouldn't have pictured you as a waitress."

"Head chef and hostess if needed," she said holding up a finger, "Anyway, what brings you here tonight, Nick?"

"Originally, I came here to place a carryout order and ask the manager a few questions," he said crossing his arms.

"But since I'm the owner, you'd rather ask me those question while I make, probably, Grace's favorite and whatever you'd like," she said motioning for him to follow her. He followed her back into the kitchen and sat on an empty chair.

"So what does Grace like on her pizza?" he asked watching her.

"Stuffed crust with fruit," she said grabbing a ball of dough, "Her mother opted for crickets and extra cheese."

"You never hated her did you?" he asked.

"Truth is, I loved them both," she said making a pizza, "Laura was my best friend in school. I was actually the one that got her and my brother together." After adding the finishing touches, she placed the pizza in the oven and looked toward a picture on the wall and smiled. "And it was with her help that I was able to open this place," she said before turning to look at him, "Now is there anything else you want before we take a trip down memory lane?"

"The two you stated and a medium carrot pizza for a bunny," he said leaning back in his chair, "And how did she help you?"

"Basically, my grandfather was a tyrant," she started to explain as she began to work on his order, "Up until college, you could do anything you want. After high school, you either did things according to him or lose the "perks" of being related to him. And by perks I mean he pays for college, you get free place to call home, a free car, and a spending account that is replenished once a year. So like the rest of my family, I followed along."

"I take it there's a 'but' coming," he said as she stopped long enough to remove the pizza in the oven.

"That but was Laura," she stated after sending the finished pie off with a waitress, "She didn't have the funds I did, which meant her saving up for college. I decided to lend her a hand by getting a part time job at the same place she was working and give her my paycheck each week."

"Well that was nice of you," he said relaxing a little.

"My grandfather thought the exact same thing when he found out what I was doing," she stated putting his order in the oven, "The only reason he found out was because I made a lunch delivery to the accounting office one day and he saw me. We talked after my shift and after explaining what I was doing; he said he would pay for Laura's tuition to whatever college she wanted to go to, IF I made valedictorian."

"How did she take it when you told her that?" he asked as she started another order.

"While she was grateful for the help, it was then she got me to realize something," she said smiling, "After we cashed our checks for that week, she told me to go buy something with it before giving her the rest of it. So I went to this one store and bought a t-shirt of my favorite character off this one show that had the words 'Tucker did it' on it. After I showed her what I got, she asked how it felt buying something with my own money as opposed to buying it with my grandfather's money.

"It felt incredible. After that, I started buying things with money I earned. I didn't use my grandfather's money to get anything unless I absolutely needed too. By the time graduation hit; I was valedictorian and was relying on what I earned more then what my grandfather gave me."

"And were you able to help her with college?" he asked.

She pulled his order out of the ovens saying, "I was valedictorian to her salutatorian. We pushed each other beyond our limits. With my grandfather's help, we both got into the same school and minored in culinary. He wasn't happy about that."'

"What do you mean?" he asked watching her put the pizzas in boxes.

"This happened after we graduated," she said cutting the pizzas, "After high school, we both signed a contract stating that he will take care of the tuition as long as we stay in school and won't have to pay him back if we graduate. Upon graduating college, he found out about my minor and ordered both of us to pay him back or I'd be cut off from the family.

"Laura decided to put the law degree she achieved to good use and took him to court over it. His lawyer tried to say we both breached the contract because of my minor. But Laura threw it right back in his face pointing out there was nothing in the contract stating that there was nothing that said we couldn't pick a minor if we wanted too. The judge ruled in our favor and I think it was then that my brother met Laura." She closed the lids and stacked them on top of each other before sighing. "About a week later, my grandfather excommunicated my brother for quitting the family business."

"And from what I understand from Chief Clawson, your brother outmaneuvered your grandfather," Nick said.

"That he did," she said sliding the boxes over to him, "My brother created new accounts and transferred all the money in the ones grandfather set up for him into new ones. After that, he and Laura moved into their own place and eventually got married; whereas the family was barred from making contact with him. My grandfather even went so far as trying to blackball my brother from accounting, which didn't work. Now, I think you need to get back before these get cold."

"How much do I owe you?" he asked as they went back into the main area.

"Cops normally get a twenty percent discount," she said smiling, "But because you're taking care of my niece, that means you're family. And I don't charge family so long as they eat here, or show me a recent picture of my niece."

Nick smiled as he sat the boxes on the counter before pulling his phone out and said, "I'll do you one better." He queued up a video and turned his phone so she could see the screen before saying, "This was from a talent contest that happened where we were." He hit play and smiled as he watched the bunnies face. The entire room went silent as the sound of the young kit singing started to play.

His eyes darted around the room briefly as he heard the occasional sniff. Once it was finished, he put his phone away and asked, "Better than a photo?"

"I-I-I didn't know she could sing like that," she said grabbing a napkin and wiping her tears away. Before anyone knew what was happening, she looked over at one of the officers and said, "Call your boss and tell him that for tonight only, any ZPD officers that shows his badge gets a large three-topper on the house."

"Free pizza just for showing you our badge? What brought this on?" the officer asked smiling, "Let along, who was that singing?"

"Yes, you get a free pizza for showing your badge, Officer Snarlov," she said looking at him, "And that was a video of my niece singing."

"You're welcome, fuzzy, and enjoy the pizza," Nick said picking up his order and leaving.