Edited with Grammarly. Cleaned up a bit and whatnot.
It was perfect, almost foolproof. There was no way in heck that it could go wrong. Nick made sure of that for the entire week. 24/7, all day, every day, until Mother's Day, was just around the corner. Everything was in order: the restaurant was booked for the evening, and the cake - albeit small - was ready to be picked up. The movie tickets were pre-purchased and ready to be used after dinner. The one item that was to kick off the weekend was a bouquet of assorted flowers in the colors of Spring and Easter. And it was to be given to the most wonderful woman Nick Wilde has ever known in his entire life, his mother Deborah Wilde, the day before Mother's Day.
Nick picked up the flowers during his daily run around the block to double-check that everything was still okay for the following evening.
It wasn't.
He stopped by the restaurant following the flower shop and entered to check on the reservation status. By both the host and the manager, he was told that the reservation for two was canceled. When Nick asked why, they answered, with obviously blatant looks of hate and distaste for the tod, "There was a discrepancy in our booking system. The time you reserved for was already taken up."
Nick fumed at this, but he couldn't do anything about it. Until, of course, he spotted Fangmeyer and Wolfard in the line behind him and beckoned them over. He flashed the host and the manager his badge, as well as the wolf and tigress. He said with a slightly smug tone that he could have this place closed down because of discrimination towards a ZPD officer and tampering with the reservation system. That got them to backtrack and re-add Nick and his guest to the blank space on the list for tomorrow. He thanked the two odd lovebirds and left without another word.
Bouquet in one paw, and an ice cream cone in the other, Nick made the long trek back to his car, which happened to be a ZPD police cruiser. His personal cruiser. Five minutes later, he was walking up the sidewalk to the front door of his not-so-humble abode on the outskirts of Zootopia. It wasn't as big and pleasant as the other houses on the street, but it was still a decent tiny home that would be a good, cheap choice for new customers. If it wasn't already occupied, of course.
Nick shoved the remainder of his ice cream into his toothed maw and fished the keys out of his back pocket. Only for the door to open and reveal a rather scantily clad vixen standing on the other side. Nick failed to keep his eyes from roaming around her body; it was on full display with nothing but a bra and sweatpants to cover her modesty. He found himself fixating his gaze on her large, full breasts straining against the bra. He gulped and quickly looked up into her eyes, which were narrowed in a scolding stare.
"Where have you been?" she asked in a similarly scolding tone, which caused Nick to flinch. "I wake up this morning wanting to cook you a breakfast-in-bed, and you're nowhere in the house."
Nick's ears folded back and pinned themselves to his head. "S-sorry, mom. I...I didn't know. I was just...just going around town."
"Doing what, exactly?" she demanded none too softly. "Screwing around with a bunch of girls at the clubs? Gambling? Screwing that rabbit girl?"
Nick shook his head to all of them as she listed them off.
"Then what, Nick?" she asked, her tone shifting from scolding to near desperation. "Why did you leave without a single word or writing a note? I thought that you'd-" she faltered as tears began to fill her violet eyes and her throat tightened. "I thought you had left me like you did back when-"
Nick cut her off then and there with a swift hug, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him in a tight, comforting embrace. "I'm sorry, mom. I didn't know. And you're right, I should've left a note or said something, but at the same time," he paused to pull away and look down at her. "I wanted to surprise you."
Deborah Wilde looked up at him with wet eyes and damp cheeks, sniffling every now and then. "W-what do you mean? Why would you want to surprise me? What's the special occasion?"
Nick gave her a natural look of puzzlement and tilted her head. "You...you don't know what tomorrow is? Seriously?"
Deborah shook her head and cleared the tears from her eyes. "No, I...*sniff*...I was too busy stressing out over you and letting my emotions run amok to worry about tomorrow. Why? Is it a holiday or something?"
Nick cracked a small smile, thankful that her mood brightened, if only slightly, and guided the two of them inside, kicking the door closed behind him. "Well, I guess you could say that. That's why I got you these." He broke the embrace and took one step back. Then he brandished the bouquet of flowers before her, making her eyes widen, and put her paws to her mouth in shock.
"N-nick! You...you didn't..." Her eyes began to tear up again. Only this time, it was tears of joy. She gladly accepted the bundle with both paws, smiling and crying at the same time. She buried her nose into them and inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. When she pulled away and let out a satisfied sigh, opening her eyes in the process, she looked up at Nick in almost a dreamy manner. "I don't know what to say, sweetheart. I...words cannot describe how much I appreciate your gift to me."
Nick put his paws into his pants pocket and shrugged. "It's the least I can do, mom. Think of it as...think of it as my way of saying, 'sorry for missing out on all your previous birthdays." His ears drooped slightly, and he gave her a pair of puppy dog eyes. "I'm really sorry for that, by the way. I should never have left. I-"
Deborah silenced him with a paw clamped over his muzzle, her violet eyes sparkling in the dim lighting of the living room and a slight smile touching her muzzle. "It's okay, Nicky. I've already forgiven you. I thought that by now, you had gotten the message. You don't have to keep apologizing." She sighed as she released him and held the bouquet tightly to her ample chest. "But, I understand how guilty you feel about that, so I'll let it slide until I find your constant apologizing unbearable." She let out a soft laugh, pleasing and melodious to one's ears. Or, in this case, Nick's ears.
The tod joined in with a laugh of his own before wrapping her up again in a son's loving hug. "I love you, mom," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as it slowly broke and tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Deborah returned the gesture, placing her arms around his neck - bouquet and all - and buried her head under his chin.
"I love you too, sweetie. And thank you for the flowers."
Nick smiled and nodded. "You're welcome, and Happy Birthday."