Nick glanced at his phone and grinned. Although him and Finnick didn't usually talk about serious stuff which didn't involve one of their more elaborate hustles (which they hadn't actually done in years), he knew Finnick was always there for him—for whenever and whatever—even if he did complain and grumble most of the time. Which was weird, Finn didn't complain about driving all the way out here to make a delivery for a bunny. Nick really expected at least a token complaint or maybe even an argument to try and put it off till tomorrow.

With a shrug, Nick thought, Mehh, his loss. Just means he didn't have to waste time arguing with the little fennec or owing him a favor. How many favors do I owe Finnick now? Too many to count since the little fennec rarely cashed in on them. Slipping the phone in his pocket, he walked around to the front of the garage and glanced down the 4-foot embankment of the cement ramp that led down to the garage doors. The area directing in front of the doors was flat, and then sloped up and curved around and met up with the long, cement driveway that led to the front of the house. Glancing at the large double doors, he considered the trips he still needed to make—groceries, dinner tonight, the meeting with Bogo tomorrow.

Glancing back towards the house, he pictured the old, beat-up truck Judy had highjacked from her family farm yesterday morning. Who knew how many miles were already on it? And over 200 more were needed before it made it home again. Yeah, I'm not driving that old truck all over Zootopia. Jumping down the embankment, he walked to the thick, wooden doors and fished out his keys, then inserted the garage key into the large, heavy-duty padlock and turned it. With a satisfying click, the lock dropped off into his paw.

Cracking the doors slightly, he secured the lock on one of the doors, then pulled them both towards him and then out. As they swung open on silent, well-oiled hinges a solid steel door was revealed. Grinning, he punched the code into the electronic lock, and when a red light appeared at the top of the box, Nick sang the voice activated passphrase. "Hey diddle, diddle, the fox and the fiddle, the badger jumped over the moon. The little fennec laughed to see such a sight, and the dish ran away with the spoon." Nick laughed at his own joke (there was a reason Finn didn't have a key to the garage), and as the red light turned green the heavy metal doors began to slide open, which slowly revealed the interior. The bright sunlight burst through the open doors and lit up quite a few of the machines hidden within but could only illuminate about half the garage. The building was too deep and spacious.

Flipping on the lights, the rest of the garage was flooded with bright LED lights. "Gah, wrong switch." Quickly flipping the switch off, the garage was once again plunged in semi-darkness before another switch was flicked to turn on softer, fewer lights. Dropping his hands from his eyes, Nick murmured, "Much better."

Walking over to the heavily modified vehicle that had once been Honey's, Nick studied each tire to make sure they were still fully inflated. Satisfied, he opened the driver's door and climbed in. Sliding the key in the ignition, he listened with satisfaction as the vehicle purred to life. Letting it run a minute, he checked the gages and made sure everything was still running properly.

Happy with the vehicle's performance, he shifted it into reverse and twisted to look over the backseat as he backed the vehicle out of the garage. Turning it just after topping the ramp, he put it in drive and drove around to the front of the house. Parking next to the old farm truck, Nick turned the engine off and hopped out. He couldn't wait to see Judy's eyes light up when she saw it. He'd make sure to have his phone ready to snap another picture to add to his Death by Cuteness folder.

Chuckling at the thought, he walked up his balcony stairs, but paused next to his door, his ears twitching to catch a faint sound. That sounded like . . . Opening his balcony door the sound suddenly got much louder. "Yep, Judy's phone." Hurrying through his room and into hers, he grabbed the phone from her bed and, seeing who was calling, swiped the accept-call button.

"Judy, don't scare me like . . . You're not Judy," Stu grumbled at the same time Bonnie said brightly, "Hi, Nick."

"Yeah, hi again. Do you guys have radar or a sixth sense or something for calling when Judy is asleep?"

"Asleep?" Stu questioned. Why was his daughter always sleeping when he called? Was the fox doing something to her?

"Yes, sleeping. She's taking a nap." Walking over to Judy's balcony door, he unlocked it and stepped outside.

"So where is she now?" Bonnie asked curiously. It was obvious Nick had just walked outside as she could see the side of the house behind him.

"We had lunch out on the deck and she fell asleep afterwards. Just give me a second." Rounding the corner of the house, he walked over to his chair.

"Deck? You have a deck?" Stu asked, now curious himself.

"Yes, I do, among a great many other things." Sitting down, he spun the phone around so they could see Judy. "See, she's sleeping soundly."

Bonnie could see that Judy was completely relaxed and didn't have a care in the world—which was a vast improvement from how she looked yesterday morning. "Look, Stu, there's our little bun-bun."

"She's not smiling," Stu observed dourly.

"Oh, Stu," Bonnie murmured at the same time Nick said, "Of course, not, she's relaxed. But if you really want to see her smile, here." Reaching over, he ran his fingers up the side of Judy's ear. A smile immediately tugged at her mouth and she hummed in pleasure.

Stu and Bonnie both froze at seeing the fox's large paw caressing their daughter's long, sensitive ear, then Stu exclaimed, "Stop that! Don't touch her ears!"

Nick froze and mentally cursed himself. He hadn't intended to let them see him touching Judy's ears, knowing it wouldn't be well received. He thought of stopping, but the damage was already done, so he decided to keep going. Asking in a confident voice he didn't necessarily feel, he said, "Why should I? Judy has already given me permission, so why should I stop?"

Stu sputtered, unable to come up with a proper response. With a soft voice, Bonnie asked, "Nick, do you know the significance of touching a bunny's ears?"

"Well, I'm not very familiar with rabbit culture, but Judy did say it's something special. That a bunny doesn't let many people touch her ears." With a smirk they didn't see, Nick added, "From our conversation, I understand it means something a little different when a male is touching her ears."

Bonnie nodded as she watched Nick's paw continuing to pet Judy's ears while Judy purred at the light contact. It was obvious to her what Judy was telling Nick in allowing him to touch her ears, and with how soft and gentle Nick was being with her daughter's sensitive appendages, he probably felt the same way.

"And you're still touching her ears?" Stu accused. He did not like seeing the fox's dark paws on his daughter. The fox was so much bigger than she was and had such sharp claws and teeth! A rabbit should never be with such a dangerous predator.

Nick sighed at Stu's words and dropped his paw as he sat back in his chair and flipped the phone around so he could see them. "Look, Mr. Hopps, I have the highest respect for your daughter, and I would never take advantage of her, nor will I do anything to hurt her. Her happiness is the only thing I care about."

"Well, she'll be happiest with a nice buck!"

A smug smirk slowly spread across Nick's face as he lifted his hand and rested his elbow on the armrest, then leaned his cheek against his open palm. With an expression that said, 'Oh, really?' Nick asked, "Is that why Judy is, what? 23? 24? And has never had a boyfriend? Because there's so many bucks lined up to make her happy?"

Stu stammered out, "Well, that's . . . I mean . . ."

"Tell me, Stu—Can I call you Stu?—how many bucks have stopped long enough to really get to know Judy? To listen to her hopes, dreams, and aspirations, and then encourage her in those dreams? Not only encourage her with a slap on the back, but then have gone out of their way to see she succeeded? To give her a chance to prove herself." With a raised eyebrow, Nick continued, "Tell me one buck that has or would do that for Judy?"

"Well, I mean . . . I can't . . . off the top . . ."

"You can't name one because he doesn't exist. Judy isn't a typical bunny and so a typical bunny will never be able to make her happy. She needs someone who can keep up with her—physically and intellectually—and is strong enough to have her back, who can pick her up when she's feeling down, and give her the push she needs to succeed." His smug smirk widened as he added, "They also need skillful fingers to give phenomenal ear rubs when she's stressed out or wants to relax."

Stu sputtered for an answer, then finally said, "Like you can keep up with her intellectually!"

Nick's eyes widened, then he doubled over laughing, with the phone smashed against his leg. It took some time for him to get his laughter under control enough to sit up and bring the phone back up. "Oh, that's good," he muttered while wiping tears from his eyes. "I needed a good laugh."

While glaring at him, Stu demanded, "What's so funny, fox?"

Nick's smug grin became smugger as he returned his cheek to his palm, his eyes half-lidded. "Maybe you should ask your daughter about my—ability—to keep up with her intellectually before you insult my intelligence."

Stu opened his mouth to argue, but then Bonnie smacked the back of his head. "Ouch," he whined.

"Leave Nick alone, Stu. I still need to discuss this weekend with him."

"But, Bon . . ."

"Enough, Stu, we'll talk about it later." Ignoring her husband, Bonnie turned her focus back to the vulpine on the phone. "Now, Nick, has Judy mentioned the trip we're planning to Zootopia?"

"She mentioned it in passing, but we haven't had a chance to discuss it in detail. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, Judy said she wanted us down on Sunday and maybe have a barbeque. Will that be alright?"

"I don't see why not. There's plenty of room here."

"That's great. So the next question I have is: Would it be alright if a few of Judy's siblings came down? They're all very curious about you and want to see Judy's new place."

"Temporary place," Stu muttered behind Bonnie, but he didn't butt into the conversation.

Nick froze at Bonnie's question, then slowly asked, "How many is a few?"

"Oh, just a dozen or so." Seeing Nick's ears flatten back and disappear behind his head, Bonnie paused, then asked, "Is that too many?"

"Way too many," Nick stated flatly. "I might be able to handle about five of them, but definitely not a dozen or more."

"Oh," Bonnie murmured. She wasn't expecting this kind of answer but could tell the idea of so many bunnies greatly bothered Nick. She'd have to ask Judy about it later and see if there was a specific cause for his unease. "Well, we can work with that."

"That would be great. You'll probably want to talk it over with Judy and see who she'd prefer to come down. That'll help narrow down the list."

"Okay, I can do that. Are there any questions you have for us?"

"Actually, there are. First off, are we allowed to use the vegetables that were in the truck?"

"Of course, dearie, it's the least we can do after you took Judy in."

"Okay, question number 2: Can you send down one of Judy's siblings tomorrow with her wallet? If she hadn't already been in the Woolsgreen system, we probably wouldn't have been able to get her pain meds last night."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good point. We'll talk it over and see if someone can bring it down."

"We have a meeting with the Chief tomorrow at 10, but we should be done by 11 or 11:30, so if they come in on the 12:00 train, we can pick them up at the station. You might want to collect a single box of Judy's stuff if someone's coming down tomorrow. You can talk it over with Judy on what she wants in the box."

Bonnie didn't immediately answer as she felt a little overwhelmed by Nick's insights and suggestions. When Judy had told her this morning that Nick thought of everything, she wasn't kidding. His ability to see the whole picture and think ahead was astounding. Every time she spoke with the fox, she could see more of why Judy was falling for the smug todd. And he had been right earlier, in criticizing the bucks here in Bunnyburrow. Not one of them would have put in even a fraction of the thought Nick had to see that Judy was taken care of and comfortable.

"Okay," Bonnie finally said, "we'll do that. Is there anything else we could do?"

"Hmm, I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but if something comes to mind, I'll be sure to discuss it with Judy. Oh, whoever comes down will only need a one-way ticket, since they'll be taking the truck back."

"That's fine, but if you need the truck to get Judy to her appointments, we could pick it up after her leg heals. Or the two of you could bring it back in person. We'd love to have you come down for a visit."

"I have my own vehicle, so we'll be fine in that respect." Pausing a moment in thought, he then said, "If you're serious about me coming down for visit, I have no objections. Seeing the place where Judy grew up has my interest peaked." With a bright smile, he added, "And I know Judy would love to come back for a visit, especially if she got to drag me around with her."

Bonnie beamed happily to hear Nick was open to the idea of a visit. She really wanted to see how he handled their large family. And if she was reading Judy right, it wouldn't be long before the smug todd joined their ranks. Although the idea of one of her children with a predator was still a strange one, and a bit unsettling, if it was Nick and Judy, she thought it could work. He was so careful and thoughtful of their headstrong daughter, and there was no denying just how happy he made their little bun-bun feel. Beaming even brighter, even as Stu frowned behind her, Bonnie said, "Perfect. Then we look forward to seeing you in Bunnyburrow just as soon as Judy's leg heals. Now that that's out of the way, we'll let you go, but be sure to have Judy call us when she wakes up."

Nick nodded, then said goodbye and ended the call. Staring at the phone a minute, he then sat up and moved his legs to hang over either side of the chair with his feet resting on the deck. Dropping the phone on the chair between his legs, he rubbed his paws over his face. "Gah! Why did I have to pet her ears in front of her parents! So stupid!" He never intended to show that sort of affection in front of her family, least of all her specist father.

But he couldn't help it. They'd barely been back together for 24 hours and already it felt like they'd been together for months. He was just so comfortable around her—it left him defenseless. And his carefully crafted mask he'd worn for years to hide his true feelings—gone. It'd been thrown in some back corner of his mind to be forgotten whenever she was in his presence.

Running his paws down his face again, he glanced over at Judy. "Carrots," he hissed softly, "you've ruined me. I don't even want to think about the names Finnick's going to call me when he arrives." Throwing his paws up in the air, he exclaimed, "You've gotten to me and I can't even hide it!"

Judy didn't respond at first, but then her nose started twitching and then she yawned. (So cute! Nick thought while watching.) Rubbing her eyes, she murmured, her voice thick with sleep, "Nick?"

"I'm here, Carrots. How was your nap?"

"Hmm, it was good." Yawning again, she then asked, "Were you talking to someone? I thought I heard voices."

Nick's jaw dropped. "Sure, sleep through the whole conversation I had with your parents—your dad wasn't happy to see me again—and then wake up only afterwards while I'm muttering to you. Good one, Carrots."

Judy blinked, then asked curiously. "You were muttering to me? About what?"

"You've completely ruined me!" Nick huffed as he leaned back in the chair. After tossing her phone to her, he pulled his legs back up on the lounge chair, folded his arms, and stared off over the garage to the rolling hills and meadows beyond.

"I ruined you?" Judy questioned while setting her phone on the table. She'd been soundly sleeping, so how could she ruin anything?

Nick met her baffled gaze and threw his arms up in the air again. "Yes, you ruined me! You've completely demolished my defenses and threw my mask in some dusty corner of my mind!" At Judy's wide eyes and gaping mouth, he continued, "While showing your parents that you were safe and sleeping comfortably, I reached over and petted your ears, all because your dad was complaining you weren't smiling."

With splayed ears and wide eyes, he added, "I didn't even think twice about touching you in front of them—and let me tell you, your dad was not happy." Grabbing his ears and pulling on them he exclaimed, "He's now convinced that I'm taking advantage of you and have some nefarious plan hatched to seduce you, then leave you broken and crying."

Judy bit her lip while watching Nick spaz out. She definitely wasn't expecting to reveal to her parents, and especially not her father, just how close the two of them were, but what was done was done and there wasn't any use worrying about it. What she needed to worry about right now was Nick, and assuring him everything would be okay.

….

Hi, WingedKatt here. I hoped you enjoyed Nick's second phone call with the parents. The trip to Zootopia is set and now Judy has to calm Nick down.

Chapter 15: What I Want will post on Wednesday. In it we'll learn more about fox culture and Nick and Judy will enjoy a touch of fluff.

If you have any thoughts or comments, I'd love to hear from you. Have a great weekend.