Bonnie sat in her favorite chair, rubbing her paws together while watching her husband pace back and forth with the phone to his ear. "She's still not answering, Bonnie. Why isn't she answering?"

They'd tried calling their fearless daughter a few times in the late afternoon, and then a few times in the evening. The longer they hadn't heard from her, the more worried they became, but it wasn't until the 10 o'clock news came on that they heard about a major incident happening at the Natural History Museum. The ZPD hadn't released any information, claiming it involved an ongoing investigation. What they did reveal was that the officer involved (the name was withheld for the time being) had been injured but was expected to make a full recovery.

Stu and Bonnie felt their hearts squeezed with fear, knowing Judy was somehow involved. When calling her had failed to produce answers, they'd called the Zootopia General Hospital and had learned that Judy had, indeed, been seen by a doctor there, but had checked out shortly after 9. They'd been frantically calling and texting her ever since. Midnight was fast approaching and both knew they wouldn't be able to sleep a wink until they knew their daughter was safe.

They'd even called the ZPD trying to get answers, or at least a way to contact her, but that avenue was also a dead end. The ZPD couldn't tell them anymore than they already knew—that she'd been dropped off at the hospital but had already checked out. The ZPD had no current address for her and their only means of contact was through her cell phone—which simply went to voicemail.

Stu didn't bother leaving a message this time, but took the phone from his ear and stared at it a moment before hitting the end-call button. With his arm dropping limply to his side, he murmured listlessly, "Where is she, Bon-bon? She left her wallet on her dresser and she didn't take any clothes with her."

Standing up, Bonnie walked over to her husband and put a hand on his shoulder before leaning against him. "I don't know, Stu."

"It's like Zootopia opened its huge jaws and swallowed her whole! Like she just vanished off the face of the planet!" Stu exclaimed while waving his paws around in frustration.

"I, know dear, I know." She rubbed her paw across his back. "I'm sure she found a friend to stay with."

"What friends? She never talks about any friends. Was she even there long enough to make any friends? She said the other officers were nice to her, but I wonder, Bon. No one has called or stopped by to check on her since she came home."

Bonnie hesitated a moment, then said, "Well, there is one person Judy mentioned that might be willing to help her—provided she could find him, and if he forgave her."

"Who are you talking about? She never mentioned anyone to me."

"Oh, Stu, I told you about him. Judy was sobbing about a friend who'd done so much for her, and then she'd turned around and thoughtlessly betrayed his trust. She hadn't seen him since the press conference, but it was obvious she was miserable over losing him. I'm guessing it was a bigger contribution to her depression than her 'I broke the city' explanation."

Stu was speechless for a moment, then exclaimed, "She was heartbroken? Our Jude the Dude? Our little tryer who's never had time for boys? She went and got herself a city boy!?" He had a hard time imagining his little Jude the Dude with a boy, let alone a city boy. She always turned her nose up to the bucks they'd sent her way.

"Oh, Stu, I don't think they knew each other long enough for that." Returning to her seat, Bonnie added, "But it was obvious from the way she was bawling her eyes out over the boy that her feelings went deeper than just friends."

Stu chuckled to himself and muttered, "Our little tryer finally found herself a buck to settle down with."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes and pierced her lips but kept her thoughts to herself. From the way their daughter had been talking, Bonnie had a sinking feeling that Judy's friend wasn't a buck at all, or even prey for that matter, but was a predator.

Stu suddenly spun around as he finally processed what Bon had said earlier. "You're saying Judy might be staying with this boy? Alone?" Bringing his phone back up, he immediately dialed Judy's number again. "He better not be trying anything with my little girl."

Bonnie put a hand over her eyes but didn't say anything. Their daughter was a grown doe and needed to make her own choices—but that didn't stop her from worrying. Like Stu, she knew that some choices had a longer lasting consequence than others. And if Judy had, indeed, chosen a predator, then that complicated things immensely. She wanted her daughter to be happy, but could she be . . . with a predator? Would he treat her right?

"Pick up, pick up, pick up," Stu kept repeating. When the voice mail finished its message and beeped, he said, "Judy, dear, we need to talk." A pause. "This is really important, okay." Another shorter pause. "Young lady, pick up the phone right now! And you better not be cadoodling with some buck in Zootopia!" The phone was suddenly ripped from his paw and he spun around to see Bonnie glaring at him.

"Really, Stu? We don't even know if she is staying with him."

"But—"

"No buts. I'll be in charge of the phone the rest of the night."

"But Bon-bon . . ." At Bonnie's glare and foot thumping, Stu snapped his mouth shut, then sheepishly said, "I'll go . . . take a little walk. Get some fresh air."

"You do that, Dear."

….

Nick blinked his eyes and brought a hand up to block the glaring light that had awakened him. They'd left the lights on and now they were bothering his eyes. As he tried to sit up, he felt a warm weight pressed against his back. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Judy had slumped over his back and was using him as pillow. Since he was still using her lap as a pillow, her awkward position didn't look very comfortable.

With a large yawn, he wiggled his way out from under her light weight and sat up. As she slid down the back cushions of the couch, she immediately reached a paw out, her nose twitching, as she searched for him. When her paw bumped into his leg, she gripped his pants and scooted over until her cheek was resting on his thigh. With a sigh of contentment, she snuggled into him.

Nick's heart melted at the sight and he couldn't control his tail as it draped around her like a warm, fuzzy blanket. As the tip brushed her cheek, she immediately wrapped her arm around it and buried her nose in its soft hairs, taking a deep sniff of his scent. With another contented sigh, she snuggled his tail closer and relaxed back into a deep sleep.

Reaching over with a soft smile, Nick ran his claws lightly over her forehead and down her back, much as she'd done to him earlier. A small smile crept across her face and she sighed happily. Running his claws one last time down her back, Nick sat up straighter and rubbed his face as he tried to feel alive. Glancing around the room, he looked for a clock and then realized he hadn't reset the clock to the DVD player.

Digging his phone from his pocket, he glanced over and spied Judy's phone still charging on the end table. Glancing at his own phone to see that it was a little after 1, he pushed his phone back in his pocket and reached over for hers. The red light had gone off, telling him it was fully charged, so he unplugged it. Moving to put it on the coffee table, he noticed the screen remained black after removing the power source.

He lightly tapped the power button, but the screen remained black. With ears flat against his head, he glanced down at Judy. "Car-rots—you never called your parents!" A whine escaped him as fear entered his eyes. Glancing down at the little silver device, he whispered, "We are so dead!"

Pushing the power button down, he waited for the phone to power up then glanced at the notifications that appeared on the lock screen. "Carrots," he whispered again, "you weren't kidding." There were 37 missed calls and 71 unread texts. "Your parents are going to kill you when you finally talk to them."

While contemplating Judy's imminent demise at the paws of her stressed-out, overly-worried parents, the phone suddenly lit up and began vibrating in his paw (Judy had actually remembered to put her phone on silence after leaving Mr. Big's). Jerking his paw back in surprise, he dropped the phone and had to scramble to catch it. Seeing two older rabbits staring back at him from the contact picture, he about had a heart-attack.

"Carrots, it's your parents. You need to wake up." Looking down, he gently shook her shoulder. "I shouldn't be the one answering this." Judy merely snuggled back against him and sighed blissfully. "Car-rots," he whined again.

The phone stopped vibrating and he groaned. Dropping his paw holding the phone down on his leg, he ran his other paw through his head-fur and let his head hit the back of the couch. "We are so dead. Your parents will kill you for worrying them, and they'll kill me because I'm the shifty fox that dragged you to his den in the middle of the night." Glancing down at her smiling face, he couldn't help but smile, too, even as his stomach crawled with anxiety.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there smiling at her, his clawed fingers lightly caressing her ears as he tried to calm his fears, but the phone disturbed his peace as it vibrated in his paw once more. Staring at the phone as if it was death itself, his ears flattened against his head and he whispered through the side of his mouth, "Car-rots!? What do I do? They're calling again." He couldn't stop the whine that escaped his muzzle.

The phone continued vibrating, demanding attention. Taking a deep breath and plastering on a winning smile that came out as more of a fearful grimace, Nick bit the bullet and hit the accept button.

"Oh, Judy! Finally! You're . . ." Bonnie froze at seeing a fox on the phone.

"You're not Judy," Stu frowned with accusation heavy in his voice.

"Am I Judy Hopps? No, no I am not. I'm Judy's friend, Nick. Nick Wilde. Nice to meet you." With a slight wave, he tried to look non-threatening.

Bonnie's paw shot to her mouth and she exclaimed, "You're Nick!"

"Um, yes," he said hesitantly.

"Oh, glorious day, she found you."

"Really?" His ears swiveled upright as hope began to replace his fear.

"What are talking about, Bonnie. Who is he?"

"Oh, come on, Stu," she said while glancing sideways at her husband. "It's Nick, the friend Judy told me about."

"You mean the one she was sobbing about?" Glaring at Nick through the phone, he said, "But he's a fox, Bon, and Judy was heartbroken over a buck, wasn't she?"

"No, Stu, I never said her friend was a buck, and neither did Judy." With a bright smile at Nick, Bonnie continued, "The way she was talking about you, I figured you had to be a predator, but I wasn't sure."

"Wait! What! Judy was all depressed over . . . over a fox!?"

"Oh, Stu, really. He's not just a fox—he's Judy's best friend." Pushing Stu aside, she focused back on Nick, whose fear was now replaced with eager interest. "So, Nick, since you have Judy's phone, I take it Judy is with you?"

"Oh, yes, sorry." Flipping the phone down, he showed them Judy's sleeping form, saying, "As you can see, she's safe and happily dreaming." The small smile on her face as she snuggled his tail could not be ignored.

Bonnie was frozen, hardly believing that this was the same girl with droopy ears just earlier that day. Seeing her smile, even in her sleep, warmed her heart—and it was obvious who was to blame for her pleasant dreams.

"You're sleeping with our daughter, Fox!"

Nick's ears splayed back again. "Have I hauled your daughter up to my room and had my way with her? No, no I have not." Glaring at the rude buck, he continued, "As you can see, we're both fully dressed and passed out on the couch. We had a very long day and while waiting for her phone to charge enough to call you, the stresses of the day finally caught up to us and we fell asleep."

Still glaring, Nick added, "I would never do anything to disrespect your daughter, nor would she let me." Sitting up straighter, his face became animated as he exclaimed, "Do you know how hard Judy can punch? I do! After experiencing a few of her excited punches, I have no desire to find out firsthand what one of her angry punches feels like!"

"Oh, Stu, stop it. Nick is taking care Judy, so you should be thanking him, not yelling at him." As Stu opened his mouth to argue, Bonnie cut him off. "Would you rather he left her alone to wander the city streets alone, with no money and a dead phone?"

Stu stared at the ground. He didn't like the idea of Judy staying with a fox he didn't know, but thinking about her being left to wander the streets of Zootopia in the middle of the night was even worse. "No, I wouldn't."

Turning back to Nick, Bonnie said, "As you pointed out, Nick, it's been a long day. Now that we know Judy is safe, we can finally go to bed. You take good care of our little girl and we'll talk to you tomorrow. Be sure she calls us as soon as she wakes up, you hear."

"I will. And thank you, Mrs. Hopps."

"Just call me Bonnie."

"Okay, Bonnie. Have a goodnight." With a slight nod towards Stu, Nick added, "Mr. Hopps."

With a smile, Bonnie pressed the end button and carried the phone over to her nightstand. She had so much to think about! Seeing that Judy's friend was a fox was a bit of a surprise, but there was no denying the fact that he made her little girl happy.

"Are you sure about this, Bonnie," Stu asked as he followed his wife over to their bed. "He is a fox, after all. How do you know we can trust him?"

"Because Judy does. Because she's happy with him. Because Nick makes her happy. What more could we want from a boy our daughter is interested in?"

Stu grimaced at the thought. "Are you sure she sees him as more than a friend. I mean, come on, Bonnie? A rabbit and a fox? When has that ever happened before?"

"I'll admit it, I'm not sure how it would work, but this is Judy we're talking about. She's our little trier that always did things differently than other rabbits. It scares me, but that's who she is. That's the only way she can be happy."

"I know, Bon-bon, but a fox? Even if you're right about her feelings, does he feel the same way? Would a fox even look at a doe? Don't todds chase after every vixen that crosses their path?"

"Stu, you're talking about rabbits, and Judy isn't like that, so I'm sure Nick isn't either. But at any rate, we need sleep. The night is short and morning will be here before you know it. Come on." She patted the bed beside her.

Lost in thought, Bonnie exclaimed, "Oh, I'm so excited." Clapping her hands together, she started making a list of things to do tomorrow, all of them revolving around their headstrong daughter. "We'll have to plan a trip to Zootopia and bring Judy her stuff. She wasn't wearing the clothes she left in, so Nick must have found her something else to wear, which is relief, but Judy will need her own things. And we'll have to pick up the truck, too." Gripping the bedsheets, she practically squealed. "I can't wait to talk to Judy in the morning. We have so many things to discuss." Now that her daughter had been found safe and sound, with a friend she trusted, all of Bonnie's fears slipped away.

As Stu climbed into bed, he listened to his wife prattle on, but wasn't comforted by it like he normally was. When Judy came home two weeks ago, he'd been elated, but Judy wasn't happy here. It's like she'd left her joy and enthusiasm back in Zootopia, and no mattered what they did, she never seemed to get better. She'd smile and talk when pressed, ate with the family, but her smile never reached her eyes.

But having seen her tonight, there was no denying she'd found her smile in Zootopia. That she found it in the arms of a fox disturbed him, but Bonnie was right. Judy trusted him and he'd have to trust her judgement—at least for now. Going to Zootopia was now starting to sound like a great plan. It'd give him a chance to meet this todd and see if he was everything Judy thought he was. And the sooner they left, the better.

….

Hey, WingedKatt, here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Nick got a lucky break here with Bonnie's understanding and support, as well as glimpse into his bunny's state of mind.

Next chapter, He's Amazing, Mom, will post on Wednesday, which surprisingly enough will bring us to Wednesday morning in the story. What will the new day bring to our intrepid duo?

Any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear from you. Have a great week.