24 December

The Christmas period was certainly a time that everyone enjoyed, regardless of their age. It was a magical time when white powder fell on the city, making it white, every flat or house had a Christmas tree with all kinds of baubles and lights, and the city streets were filled with Christmas decorations, making the charm of the city even greater. Everyone was enjoying the time, as were Judy and Nick, who were preparing for Christmas. On December 23, the day before, they decorated their Christmas tree with red and white baubles and blue and green lights, the effect was quite impressive as they looked at the sight. On the 24th of December, that is the day, they were preparing for the supper they were going to have with their modest group of two. It was their first Christmas together spent in a relationship. After the boy-girl relationship had been cemented, they became so close that they moved into Nick's house, which was located near the town of Zootopia.

The first of the two to wake up was the fox, who, waking up, felt the embrace of a beloved rabbit on his cage, which laid its soft head on his strongly muscled frame. Nick laughed at seeing her, kissed her tenderly on the forehead, then pushed her body delicately away from him onto the soft mattress of the bed. He wanted to lie there without her hug for a while to get up a moment later, to surprise her - to make her breakfast in bed.

"I don't know why, but I think I've forgotten something...I think Judy and I did everything, we did the shopping, we dressed the Christmas tree...I'm probably imagining things" Nick thought as he lay and stared at the white ceiling. He kept thinking in his head that he had forgotten something important, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what he might have forgotten or why it would be important. He usually did not forget important things, so this time he did not try to think further about what he might have forgotten. As you can see it must have been an unnecessary thought for his mind.

When Nick got bored of thinking, he got out of bed to eat his breakfast and make it for the rabbit, who was still plunged into a deep sleep. He put on his dressing gown which he could see on the bed rail, slippers on his feet and got out of bed. As they walked down the stairs to the ground floor of the house he could look for a moment at the dressed and ready Christmas tree that stood in the living room boasting its large, green branches that were lush with needles. It took them a while to dress it, as they couldn't initially fit it through the entrance to the house, but soon managed to do so by pushing it through the door. Then, when dressing the tree, the fox tripped over the lights and stepped on two of the baubles, which made Judy a little nervous, but they eventually managed to work together to dress the tree after the ordeal. Now the neat, lush Christmas tree stood in the living room waiting for the presents beneath it. After a brief observation, Nick made his way to the kitchen, specifically the kitchen island, which had cabinets that held coffee. Without his morning coffee, Nick was not going to be full of energy all day.

"Here I have you," Nick said triumphantly as he scooped up a package of his coffee. He placed it on the shelf, then poured water into the kettle to boil it for his coffee.

While the water was boiling Nick decided to find some sort of tray on which he could prepare breakfast for his darling rabbit. After all, she wanted it to look nice, and to have plenty of room for coffee, and food with some dessert. He wanted to start the day well and surely doing it in this style would not only improve the mood for him. Judy would be very pleased with her fox. As Nick opened the individual cupboards in one he came across some sort of large square box that was wrapped in a Christmas package with a red bow.

"Hm? What is this..." Thought Nick curiously. He took the wrapping with curiosity. Observing it he noticed with it being a gift, on the small label was written "For my Nick3"

"Aww...she's such a sweetheart" thought Nick when he realised it was a gift for him. He put the package back in its place, then closed the cupboard. As he continued looking for the tray, he wondered what it could be? New shoes, some kind of console, a phone? Nick really had no idea what the rabbit could have come up with, he was surprised to find he had a present. He hadn't seen her buy one anywhere, and they were going to spend the next few days together all the time. In any case, he couldn't wait to tear off the Christmas paper so he could see the contents of the package.

"Wait a minute...a present...oh shit!" Thought Nick, opening his eyes wide as he remembered what he had forgotten. He had forgotten to buy a present for Judy!

"I forgot! Shit! And I was supposed to buy it, today we were supposed to be preparing food for Christmas... Damn, I'll have to let it go, but what will I buy for her? I don't know what she would like..." Thought Nick shocked. He hadn't asked Judy what she would like for Christmas, admittedly she hadn't asked him either, but he expected her to hit it off better than he did. He also didn't like the fact that he would have to leave Judy for a bit while preparing the food for Christmas Eve, but he didn't want to leave Judy without a present. He would be very ashamed of it if it ended up that way.

Once the water for the coffee had boiled, Nick poured the caffeinated energy drink, then ambled behind the table gazing at the Christmas tree that was glowing with different colours.

"What would a girl like Judy like to get? She's a pretty tough character..." He was figuring out all the time in Nick's head. Judy was quite different from other girls, she wasn't very interested in very ladylike subjects, he stuck to various topics not necessarily related to girls.

As Nick pondered this, his attention was drawn to footsteps from the side of the stairs coming towards him. He quickly noticed that it was Judy, who had also decided to get out of bed.

"Good morning honey, what are you up so early for?" Judy asked when she saw Fox sitting at the table sipping his coffee.

"I could say the same about you hehe" laughed Nick, to which Judy let out a short laugh. As she got closer to him she sat down next to him leaning on his shoulder.

"Usually you stay up late" added Judy gazing into the fox's emerald eyes from which a slight embarrassment could be read. Nick quickly broke their eye contact getting up from the table pushing Judy away gently giving a sign that he wanted to leave.

"Judy, wouldn't you be offended if I left for a while?" Nick asked before he started walking towards the stairs.

"What for?" Asked a surprised Judy. Nick hadn't mentioned anything about having to leave on Christmas Day, in fact no one had to, so the question made her uneasy.

"Emergency, I beg Judy, I'll tell you everything tonight" replied Nick almost pleadingly to his partner.

"Ugh...but what about our cooking together...you promised me that..."

"We'll still have time to cook, I can guarantee you that" replied the fox letting out a short laugh. Judy agreed despite some reluctance nodding her head in agreement.

"All right, but come back soon. You promised..."

"I know honey, I'll be back as soon as I can" replied Nick interrupting for Judy. He quickly went to their bedroom where he changed into long grey trousers and a white shirt over which was a black Christmas jumper. He took his leather wallet from the cupboard, which he then put into his trouser pocket. He was ready to go out to get a present for Judy. He started down the stairs quickly. Before he left the house he approached Judy to kiss her hard and tenderly on the cheek stroking her head gently.

"I'll be back sooner than you think," Nick said. He put on his shoes and then opened the door. The hunt for a gift was about to begin.