Amy arrived home with a huge grin on her face. It had taken longer than she expected to get her part switched out. It involved a lot of cursing, banging the metal with her trusty wrench, some blood and lot of sweat. When that didn't work, she finally swallowed her pride and asked for help from one of her coworkers to help align the new part so she could get the dumb bolts in. But at last, she got it done. After which, she grabbed her duffel bag, threw in a few clean coveralls (and completely forgetting to take off the grease-stained one she'd been working in), grabbed her dirty clothes, dropped in her favorite wrench, and drove to the train station to buy a ticket, then headed home.

Hopping off her sleek, dual-sport motorcycle, a BMW F800 GS, Amy hurried into her family's burrow and, while ignoring her siblings' surprise at her sudden and unexpected visit (everyone knew she was working hard to restore a car for the Classic Car Show coming up in a couple of weeks), Amy ran straight to her room on the first floor below ground. Dropping her duffel bag next to her bed, Amy opened her closet and began rooting through her boxes of mechanic and car magazines until she came across the box she had kept all the magazines, photos, and paraphernalia in she had gathered on the Jeep Rallies during the time Finnick and Nicholas were racing with Honey.

Pulling the box over to her desk, Amy started pulling out magazines and piling them up on her desk. Finding the ones that covered the fourth year of their winning streak, she set them aside. Then she dug out the magazines where Finnick had been interviewed. She also pulled out several pictures she had bought online of the three small mammals standing in the winner's circle. Lightly running her fingers over the picture of Nicholas (the picture was in a protective plastic sleeve), Amy still couldn't believe her little sister was engaged to the sly todd. This was certainly better than a dream come true.

Next her gaze and fingers brushed over the picture of Finnick. Even though he was shorter than a rabbit, he never let the larger mammals push him around. He was a confident todd that was aggressive when it was called for, but also laid-back and easy going at other times. There was also a lot of intelligence shiny in his light-brown eyes. These qualities of his had always attracted Amy to the handsome todd. She also found his overly-large ears rather cute. And that bushy tail of his made her wonder if it was soft and silky like a rabbits, or was it made of stiffer fur?

As her fingers brushed back over Finnick's picture, a huge grin spread across Amy's lips. She was finally going to meet her idol! Not just meet him, but she now had the chance to become friends with him. When she woke up this morning, the last thing she expected was to be invited to the Zootopia Jeep Rallies and to work alongside her idols, but now—she was offered so much more. Not only would she soon be related to Nicholas Wilde, but there was a small chance she might be able to start her own family with Finnick, the one male she respected above any other.

Amy knew that a lot of mammals being interviewed weren't always as nice off-camera as they were on-camera, but since Judy was the one suggesting she keep an open mind about the small todd, Amy could only assume Finnick was a fun fox to be around. Which made Amy want to meet him all the more—and the sooner the better. Taking a deep breath, she hoped she wasn't setting herself up for heartbreak. But if there was any male worth putting her heart out for, it was Finnick.

Setting the picture down, Amy grabbed the Motor Sport Magazine that covered the October Rally that Nick and Finnick had won for the fourth year in a row (it also mentioned a bit about the three previous rallies they won that year), she headed upstairs to the dining room where her family was finishing up lunch. Finding her parents at their usual table in the back, Amy walked between two of the many long tables with bench seats (and dodging some of her siblings and cousins who were coming or going) as she headed over towards the older rabbits.

Her parents were sitting at one of the several large round tables situated along the wall that allowed for a more intimate eating arrangement. But at her approach, both her parents glanced up to greet her. Seeing her filthy appearance, Bonnie dropped her fork and it clattered against her plate. With her brow furrowed, Bonnie glanced over the greasy coveralls and oil-smeared fur her daughter was sporting with disapproval. Her dad, on the other paw, was surprised to see her back at the burrow when she had a classic car to fix up (like Judy, Amy had a one-track mind when it came to something that she was passionate about). Before either could say anything, though, Amy gripped her magazine tightly even as she spoke up, asking, "Do you guys have any idea who Judy's fox is?"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at Amy's choice of words, even as Stu choked on the bite of salad he was eating. With a cough and a couple of thumps on his chest, he stammered, "Judy's what!?"

Amy glanced at her mom, but seeing her slight shake of her head, Amy realized they hadn't yet clued Stu in on Judy's love affair with the fox or that her dad was soon to have a fox as a son-in-law. Not wanting to cause any problems, Amy decided to keep their engagement to herself. "You know, Judy's friend Nicholas Wilde, the fox who helped her out on her police cases and is now nursing her back to health." With a tilt of her grease-smeared face, Amy added, "The fox Judy is moving in with."

Stu harrumphed a moment, then said, "Amy, Judy and Nick are just friends, that's all. No need to go making more of the situation than there is." Pointing to his eldest daughter, he added, "Nick's a fox who is simply helping Judy get back on her feet. I'm sure once she gets back to work and can save up some money that she'll be ready to look for her own place again."

Amy nodded, even as she thought, Keep telling yourself that, Dad, if it makes you feel better. Glancing at her mom, she caught Bonnie rolling her eyes at Stu's adamant denial of what was happening between their headstrong daughter and the fox she was moving in with. Glancing back at her dad, Amy said, "Yeah, so, back to what I was asking." Dropping the magazine on the table as she planted her paws on the hard, wooden surface, Amy leaned towards her parents and repeated, "Do you have any idea who Nicholas Wilde is?" Her tail was twitching with the excitement of what she was about to reveal.

Her parents glanced at each other, even as the dining room went silent at Amy's pointed question. Everyone was curious about the fox their cop sister was moving in with, especially since she had been so depressed ever since she came home two weeks ago. Every ear in the large, spacious room was tuned into Amy, wondering what she had to say about the mysterious fox that had won their sister's friendship. Stu and Bonnie wondered about Amy's question, too. They knew some about Nick but had no idea how Amy would know him. Especially since she'd been wedged under that classic car of hers for weeks trying to get it show ready on time.

Before Amy could answer her own question, one of her brothers, a white buck with a black smudge on his nose, black-tipped ears, and a short, black stripe down the middle of his back, walked over and said, "He's probably some con artist, otherwise he'd never been able to pull the wool over Judy's eyes."

With fire in her eyes, Amy smacked the back of her brother's head (and leaving a nice gray oil streak on his white fur), saying, "No, Viktor, you illiterate, degenerative, reprobate—he is not a con artist."

"Ouch!" Viktor yowled. Rubbing the back of his head, he cocked his head and said, "I'm an illiterate what?"

"See," Amy said while pointing to his black, twitching nose, "the fact you don't know what those words mean proves you're an illiterate, degenerative, reprobate—AKA—a specist jerk who can't see past the end of his nose."

Viktor's eyes narrowed, even as Bonnie's own brow furrowed as she said, "Now, Amy, that is not how we talk in this house."

Amy harrumphed at her brother. "Viktor is the one who automatically assumed Nicholas was a criminal without knowing a thing about him. If that's not a specist jerk, I don't know what is." With a flick of her ear, she addressed her parents, mainly her dad as he didn't think Judy and Nicholas should be more than friends. "We shouldn't judge mammals by their species, the color of their fur, or the shape of the ears and tail. We should judge each other by individual merit and achievements."

Turning back to her brother and meeting his grey eyes as he continued rubbing the back of his head, Amy added, "So let me educate you, my illiterate brother, on the amazing mammal that is Nicholas Wilde." Picking up her magazine, Amy shoved it in Viktor's face. Pointing to the cover where Honey, Nicholas, and Finnick sat on the hood of their jeep while holding up a very large gold trophy showing they had won first place—again. "Nicholas Wilde is a multi-gold trophy winner!" Tilting her head, she asked, "Can we say that? Win-ner." Reaching forward to grip her brother's mouth, she squished his lips in a talking motion (and left more grease on his white cheeks in the process) while repeating, "Win-ner."

Viktor batted her paw away and grabbed the magazine, muttering, "Let me see that." As he skimmed over the cover, then turned to the main article that covered the team's stunning win, several of their siblings crowded around to see, too. All their eyes widened and their noses began twitching at reading about the difficult courses they traveled to win, all while ogling the detailed photos showcasing their stunning feet as several areas on the course had defeated or wrecked some of the other teams' jeeps due to the hard, rocky terrain with some steep, rocky drops.

With a triumphant leap and excited 'eep' Amy exclaimed, "Judy is living with a legend! Our sister is best friends with a jeep rally legend!" Clapping her grease-streaked paws together (and making her mom's eyes go wide to see the oil smears Amy had left on her brother's face), Amy said excitedly, "Oh, and you want to hear the best part!?" With another squee of happiness, she added, "Judy convinced Nicholas to enter the jeep rallies again this year and he and Finnick," she tapped the little fennec's picture in the magazine, "agreed to take me on as their assistant mechanic!"

Jumping up and down, Amy gave another squee as she explained, "I get to be part of the action this year! I'm so excited!"

"I'm excited for you, dearie, truly I am," Bonnie spoke up while eyeing her daughter's greasy clothes and paws, "but before you do any more celebrating, you get yourself downstairs and out of those clothes and take a shower. You're getting grease on everything!"

Clapping her paws together again, Amy did another little hop, then said, "Yeah, sorry, it's just that I'm so excited."

With a nod, Bonnie waved her paw towards the hallway, saying, "That's nice, Amy, but go get cleaned up first then you can come back up and celebrate."

"Okay," Amy said as she snatched her magazine back and skipped towards the doorway.

"Hey!" Viktor said, "I wasn't finished looking at that!"

Waving a paw over her shoulder, she hollered back, "Zoogle it. You can also find footage of the rallies on EweTube." Then she was out the door and down the stairs. After stripping out of her greasy coveralls, she grabbed some clean clothes (the clothes she had on under the coveralls were still pretty clean, but since she was taking a shower she wanted something fresh on, something nice to meet Finnick and Nicholas in) and headed for the showers.

After scrubbing her fur till it shined, she hopped out and got dressed. Looking in the mirror, she turned this way and that to make sure she looked good to meet her idols. She was wearing a pair of light blue jean shorts with pink, blue, purple, and yellow butterflies stitched into the back pockets and a string of little butterflies 'flying' up and down on either side of the outside seam of the jeans, from her hip down to the hem of the jeans, just above the knee. Wriggling her tail in the mirror, she was satisfied with the way the jeans hugged her hips and showcased her figure.

To go with the jean shorts, she had a matching shirt that was a few shades darker than the shorts with the same butterflies flitting about the front. Liking the way it looked on her, Amy returned to her room. Upon seeing the time, she squeaked in surprise as she needed to get back to the train station ASAP.

Tipping her duffel bag upside down, she emptied it out and then began throwing clean clothes into it, then added her two clean coveralls and her favorite wrench. Then she hastily added her phone charger and toiletries to the mix, along with a few other items she thought she would need, then zipped it up. Next, she grabbed her backpack and began carefully loading it up with the magazines, pictures, and other paraphernalia of Team Honey that she wanted autographed. Once it was full, she slung it over her back and picked up her duffel bag.

Making her way back to the dining hall, she grabbed an apple from the buffet table and turned around to ask, "Can anyone give me a ride to the train station?"

Silence spread through the dining hall. It was Bonnie who spoke up. "Amy, dear, why do you need to go to the train station?"

"So I don't miss my train." At her parents' surprised glance at each other, Amy explained, "If I'm going to be working with Nicholas and Finnick as one of their teammates for the jeep rallies I need to spend some time getting to know them, don't I?"

"What about your corvette you're fixing up?" her brother Richard asked. He was a brown and white rabbit with black ears and a black nose. "You just going to drop it!?"

Amy shook her head, "I'm waiting on the rest of the parts to come in, and they won't arrive till next Thursday." With a shrug and a grin, she added, "So I got a lot of time on my paws." Looking around, she added, "So . . . can someone give me a ride? I don't want my bike left at the Station that long."

Standing up, her sister Katelyn said, "I can drive you to the station." Katelyn was a white and grey brindled rabbit with dark grey ears, nose, and paws. She was also a soccer buff and was one of the star players on her team and helped coach some of the younger kits in her spare time.

With a squee of happiness, Amy said, "Thanks. I'm short on time, so we have to hurry."

"Amy!?" Bonnie called as she turned to leave. "Does Judy know you're coming down today?"

Turning to look over her shoulder, Amy answered, "I'm going to surprise her." With an excited wave, she said, "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I'll see you tomorrow. Love ya." And with that, she was out the door.

Bonnie and Stu, along with most of the dining hall, sat staring at the empty spot Amy had just stood. "Well," Stu finally said, "I haven't seen Amy that excited or happy in a long time." Turning to Bonnie, he asked, "Do you think she'll be alright."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. Amy was the oldest girl from their first litter and the second oldest of their kits, as she just had one older brother. "Amy is a remarkably successful adult and she's as stubborn as Judy when it comes to following her dreams. You know how long she's been wanting to join a team at the Zootopia Jeep rallies. This way, she won't be alone, she'll have Judy with her."

"Yes, but those Zootopia rallies are full of all those large mammals. They're not like the rallies around here where you don't have to worry about being stepped on or run over." Waving his paws around in worry, Stu added, "Those large mammals don't pay attention to us smalls. Why, they probably won't even see a small rabbit standing in the road and drive right over her!"

Bonnie bit her lip a moment as that was a worry she shared, but at the same time, Bonnie knew she couldn't stop either of their daughters. With their minds made up, there was no reasoning with them. Taking a deep breath, Bonnie patted Stu's arm and said, "Stu, honey, you know I'm terrified, too, but that's just how Amy and Judy are. They're our little triers. At least they won't be alone. Nick did a good job of protecting Judy before, so they should be fine. And the jeep rallies aren't nearly as dangerous as being a cop is."

"That's right, Dad," Alexia said from where she sat near their table. Staring at her phone, she sat watching some footage from the jeep rallies Nick had been in. "Nick's good. Team Honey was the only small mammal team that ever won first place. They won first or second place quite a few times, and their vehicle is sized for a wolf, so they won't get pushed around so easily by the larger mammals."

"Really?" Stu asked. Standing up, he made his way over to his second eldest daughter and peered over her shoulder to watch the action happening on her phone. The Nick on the screen was much younger than the one he'd talked to on the phone, but he was confident and aggressive in the jeep, yet patient and meticulous on the parts of the rocky course that had to be transferred slowly and with the utmost care. The badger beside him in the passenger seat was all smiles and excitement as they climbed up one rocky hill and down an impossibly steep ledge before racing down a sandy, rocky riverbed that only had a shallow trickle of water running through it in the late summer heat. (Alexia was watching the August rally where Nick won his second first place trophy after Honey made him the main driver.)

"Well," Stu muttered, "it does look like he knows his stuff."

Alexia nodded. "He does, Dad. Nick participated in the rallies for years so you shouldn't worry." Looking up, she added, "Amy and Judy are going to have a blast. I just wish I could join them for some of it."

Stu nearly panicked to hear another one of his daughters wanted to get down and dirty with all those large mammals. That was a heart attack waiting to happen. "Now wait just a minute. It's bad enough having two of my daughters playing such dangerous games, I don't need any others joining in."

Alexia rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't go for the whole rally, Dad. Maybe just for a day." With a bright smile and twitch of her nose, she added, "You never know, might be fun."

Stu sputtered for a minute then said, "Well, what about your kits? You don't expect to take them with you, do you?"

Alexia shrugged. "I don't know, I think the kits will have a blast, too." Stu didn't immediately respond, but upon seeing him getting ready to pop a blood vessel, Alexia quickly reached out and said, "It was a joke, Dad. I won't take the kits to Zootopia. I might take them to one of the local rallies to get a taste of what their crazy aunts are doing, but that's about it."

Stu took a deep breath, then forced himself to relax. "Well, that's okay, then." Taking another deep breath, he reached up and wiped a paw over his face.

Standing up, Alexia said, "Now speaking of kits, it's craft time. I might see if the little buns can help me come up with a good story about their dare-devil aunts adventuring in a jeep rally." With a chuckle while thinking of her kits, along with her nieces and nephews who enjoyed helping her come up with children's stories, Alexia added, "It'll be interesting to see what kind of illustrations they come up with." Patting her dad's arm, she said, "And don't worry, Dad, Judy and Amy will be just fine."

Stu watched his daughter disappear down the hallway, then scratched his head before turning and walking back towards the table he shared with Bonnie, lost in thought.

Bonnie was lost in thought, too, but for a different reason. She was still hung up on Amy's comment about 'Judy's fox.' She was struggling to come up with a way to ease Stu into the idea that Judy and Nick were much more than friends and there was nothing in this world that would convince Judy to move out. Judy would be marrying Nick very soon, but the thought of telling Stu was troubling if he was still so strongly against the mere idea of them being something more than friends. Especially if Stu continued pestering Judy to move out for no other reason than he didn't think Judy should be so close with the fox—her fiancé.

With a sigh, Bonnie turned back to her lunch of tomato and cucumber sandwich. With another sigh, Bonnie took a small nibble. It wasn't as appetizing as it was when she first sat down to eat. Although she was extremely happy for Amy, Bonnie worried about Stu's reaction to Judy's engagement to the handsome fox who was making two of their daughters' dreams come true. Hopefully Nick could make a good impression on Stu tomorrow, though she doubted Stu would accept their relationship in time to walk Judy down the aisle for her fox wedding, but he should be good to walk her down the aisle for their big bunny wedding next spring.

-/-/-

As Nick entered the living room carrying Judy, he saw Benji standing in front of the fireplace, checking out all his trophies and medals for winning the various races Honey had dragged him on. Most were of the Jeep Rallies since they were such a big event, but there were a few others, too. There were a couple of medals (1st and 3rd Place) for a Gyroplane Competition Honey had entered them in a few times. It was a newer competition and was held biannually with only die-hard enthusiasts attending, so Honey only entered a few competitions before her health got too bad to continue competing.

Upon seeing the unlikely couple, Benji gushed for a minute about the rallies and competitions Nick had won. Judy decided now was a good a time as any to announce that her older sister Amy had accepted the position of assistant mechanic for the jeep rallies. She then announced that Amy would be down in the morning with her parents and asked Finnick if he could come by after the rest of her family left so he could meet Amy and they could discuss the jeep rallies in detail and what her job would entail.

Finnick was a little surprised to be meeting Judy's sister so soon (they had only discussed the Jeep Rallies once), but after a moment of thought, he agreed. Although he wanted to avoid all the craziness that Nick and Judy were experiencing (and enjoying), he was curious to meet the doe who loved to get her paws greasy while crawling around under the hood of a car. Now that's not to say he hadn't met other good mechanics who were also females, but most of them were larger mammals and tough as nails—not a cute, little bunny rabbit.

Benjamin had his fist stuffed in his mouth to prevent a squeal as he listened to Judy and Finnick discussing her sister joining the rally. This year, the jeep rallies were going to be so exciting! And cute! He just couldn't wait for them to start! Whipping out his phone, Benjamin quickly fired off a text to his cousin who usually attended the rallies, letting him know he would be joining them this year and to call tonight because he had some amazing news.

With that taken care of, Benjamin turned his attention to the couple and heartily congratulated them on their upcoming wedding and insisted on seeing the engagement ring. Judy laughed as Nick set her on the couch then stepped back to let the excited cheetah sit down beside her to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the 'diamond' ring.

With Judy in good hands, he glanced over at Finnick to watch him roll his eyes before pulling out his phone to start a game. Seeing as his guests were occupied, Nick ran upstairs to grab the flash drive that last night's date was recorded on. Bringing it back downstairs, he plugged it into the tv and scrolled down to the video he was looking for. Turning it on, he then paused the video and handed the remote to Judy. Motioning for Benji to follow him into the kitchen, he showed the large cheetah where the popcorn was and snack bowls. He then made a large veggie sandwich for his girlfriend as Judy hadn't had lunch yet.

Once she and his guests were taken care of in the way of food and entertainment, Nick made his way down to the bunker to retrieve the first half of Skye's payment. Returning to the living room, he informed his friends he was headed into town.

Finnick growled out, "It's about time." Pointing to his larger friend, the small todd added, "And it better be piping hot."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Nick waved him off. Leaning over the back of the couch to plant a kiss on Judy's head, she smiled, then tilted her head back and tapped her lips. With a bigger grin, he then planted a hot kiss on her lips (to the happy squeal of Benji), then Nick said goodbye and headed out the door.

As he headed for the jeep, Nick pulled out his phone and called Skye, letting her know he was on his way. Skye replied that she was at the apartment, the door was unlocked, and he could come right in. After the call, Nick put his phone back in his pocket and climbed into the jeep. After starting the engine, he didn't immediately leave. Taking a deep breath, he tried to collect his thoughts. He hadn't had a moment to himself all day and hardly a moment too himself since his engagement yesterday afternoon.

Nick still couldn't believe that he was now engaged to the wonderful ball of energetic fluff currently sitting in his living room. Not only was he engaged, but he was also meeting her parents and a few (very few) of her siblings tomorrow morning. That had him a little worried. Although Bonnie was on their side and he was sure Janette would give him the benefit of the doubt for Judy's sake, he couldn't be sure about the others, especially her dad.

Taking a deep breath, Nick closed his eyes and leaned his head against the headrest. He had already been anxious about her dad finding out they were dating—what will happen when Stu finds out they're engaged? Or worse yet—married. With as impatient as Judy was for their marriage (Nick, too, if he was being honest), if they weren't able to tell Stu tomorrow morning about their engagement, then Nick was sure that Judy's dad wouldn't learn about their relationship until long after they were married.

How would he react after learning that his daughter was sleeping with a fox? That she had tied herself to a fox in such a huge and legally binding way? To a fox Stu didn't even think his daughter should be sharing a house with, let alone her bed? And what about the rest of her over 300 siblings? He had already met Henry and his specist attitude. Nick was sure Judy had a lot more siblings just as bad as Henry, with some being worse. And what about her stalker sisters who would try to sexual harass him once they found out he and Judy were an item? He thought it was bad enough with the stalker vixens he had to work with at Big's place, but he never imagined he would one day be stalked by a bunch of horny bunnies.

That was a nightmare just thinking about it. Nick was surprised Howlywood hadn't made a movie of it yet. Maybe something from 'Tails from the Crypt: Night of the Stalker Bunnies', or maybe 'The Twilight Zone: Foxy Bloodbath of the Horny Bunnies'?

With a shake of his head, Nick opened his eyes and gave out a weak chuckle. "What is the world coming to when a fox gets stalked by a bunch of bunnies?" he muttered under his breath. With a stronger chuckle, he imagined what Judy would do to her sisters if any of them tried laying a paw on him. He was really looking forward to an over-protective, jealous Judy defending her fox's integrity and their shared bed.

With another laugh, Nick put the jeep in drive and headed over to Skye's place. He didn't know what the future held, but he knew that as long as Judy stood with him, they could get through anything. Together they stand, divided they fall. As more mammals found out about their relationship, he knew this saying would become more and more true.

Turning his focus back to the road, he watched for the streets he needed to turn down to get to Skye's apartment. She lived over on Pack Street down on the outskirts of Savannah Central and bordering on Vine Country at the southern tip of the Rainforest and Canal Districts. Normally he would take the train down to Savannah Central, but with as much money as he was packing, he wasn't about to chance riding public transportation.

So instead, he had to crawl through traffic at a snail's pace once he hit the densest parts of the Rainforest District and again when he hit Savannah Central. He finally arrived, though, and parked outside her apartment complex. It was a tall, ten-story building that housed mostly predators. It was also one of the nicer buildings in the area. Not fancy, the building was tan with dark brown trim, but the complex sported large, well-kept up apartments with all the amenities.

Stepping up to the building, Nick punched in the code to unlock the outside doors (he used to come here a lot when he was still practicing law and needing Skye to find information to help his clients) and walked inside. Stepping into the elevator, he rode to the eighth floor and then walked down to the end apartment on the left.

Tapping on the door, Nick then opened it and walked in. The apartment had a small entryway that split into an open kitchen/dining room on the left. At the back of the room was a short hallway that led to the 2 bedrooms, a small office, the bathroom, laundry room, and a large storage closet. To the right of the entryway was the large living room, which is where he found Skye. The vixen was curled up on the couch, wearing a comfortable pair of baby blue pajamas (a t-shirt and pants ensemble) covered in yellow sleeping moons and stars. Skye also had a tub of rocky road ice cream in her lap that she was eating out of as she stared at the tv.

As Nick shut the door behind him, Skye glanced over and gave him a nod, then turned her attention back to the tv. Nick raised an eyebrow but didn't comment as he walked into the living room. Handing her the envelope with her payment in it, she reached over and took it, then nodded towards a manila envelope sitting on the reclining chair situated next to the couch.

"That's what I know so far on the jerk-wad," Skye explained. "It's all public knowledge, so nothing incriminating in it. I'll start tracking down his non-public info this evening."

Nick nodded as he picked up the envelope and sat down before he pulled out the printouts and started scanning through them. Skye's eyes widened to see Nick hanging out as she was sure he was only staying long enough to drop off the payment. Biting the inside of her cheek for a moment, Skye then asked, "Won't your bunny get mad if you're hanging out at a vixen's house?"

Nick's ear twitched as he looked up. Well, now he knew why Skye was giving him the cold shoulder when he first arrived. "Who? Carrots?" With a chuckle, Nick answered, "Fluff knows there's not a vixen alive who could tempt me." With a wave of his paw, he added, "I only have eyes for her."

Skye's mouth dropped open, then she jabbed her spoon towards Nick and exclaimed, "How can you find that skinny little thing attractive!?"

Nick raised an eyebrow as his tail twitched. With a smug smile as he remembered running his paws and claws all over Judy's sculpted body, he answered, "She's not skinny, she's muscular and lithe." Looking at one of his paws while flexing his claws, he added, "I can't get enough of running my claws through her fur. And her responses coupled with her scent!" Nick shook his head for a moment as a hungry glean entered his eyes. Pointing to Skye (who sat staring at him like he'd lost his mind), he stated, "You should really get a bunny of your own. Having one pinned beneath you messes with your instincts in the best of ways." He swiped his paw through the air.

Skye just stared at him like he'd grown a second tail. "Nick, have you gone completely insane! You're talking about playing with your ancient food source! Do all these savage attacks and retaliation from prey mean nothing to you!?" Grabbing her ears and tugging on them, Skye added, "She's a cop for crying out loud!"

Nick's smug grin couldn't get any smugger, and after a minute, he started laughing. "Skye, I said it messes with your instincts in the best of way, not the worst." Laughing again while remembering Judy's heavenly noises and questing paws, he added, "My instincts aren't telling me to hurt Carrots, but it is satisfying to hear and see her prey responses when her scent is telling me how much she enjoys it. And she's not passive herself. Fluff is very aware of what she wants from me and she's not afraid to simply reach out and take it." He was thinking of when she grabbed him Thursday afternoon.

Skye was struggling to come to terms with what her friend and frequent employer was saying. A rabbit was making demands of a predatory fox who was looking at her like she was his food. Had the world come to an end? Was hell freezing over? Was she somehow transported to some bizarre parallel universe?

Nick chuckled at Skye's baffled look. He wasn't afraid to talk about his relationship with the arctic vixen. Being in the information business, Skye knew the power words and information had and she would never say anything to bring harm to him—she owed him too much. She was also one of the few mammals he trusted enough to confide in. Although there were several vixens he had bad blood with, Skye had never done him wrong. Furthermore, it was fun messing with her. "I'm telling you—you need to find your own bunny." Tilting his head in thought, his ear canting to the side, he added, "Of course, finding a buck worthy of you might take some time, but keep your eyes open and who knows."

Skye stared at Nick a moment longer, then shook her head and went back to eating her ice cream while trying to ignore the crazy todd in the room. Grumbling under her breath, she muttered about how the last five years had rotted Nick's brain.

Nick laughed again, then stood up and headed for the door with the printouts in his paw. Putting his paw on the doorknob, he paused and turned to look at Skye over his shoulder, saying, "The wedding will be sometime next week if you wish to attend. Judge Princeton is going to be marrying us."

Skye nearly choked on her ice cream. After coughing and clearing her throat, she glanced up at Nick as if he had just announced he was the abominable snowman or Bigfoot or something. With eyes wide in disbelief, she sputtered, "You . . . you . . . you're what!?' Jabbing her spoon at him, Skye demanded, "Are you off your rocker!? Why would you marry a rabbit! It's bad enough rutting one!" Shaking her head, Skye then asked an even more ridiculous question, "Are you saying that rabbit actually wants to marry you! A rabbit and a cop is willing to marry a fox!?"

Nick simply laughed. "Willing? She's demanding it." With a flick of his ear and the wagging of his tail, he added, "And I couldn't be happier making the energetic ball of fluff my wife." Opening the door and waving over his shoulder with the printouts, Nick said, "Text me if you're interested and I'll give you the details once I have them." As the door shut behind him, he heard the dull ring of metal hitting the door making Nick laugh harder as he headed for the elevator.

Skye stared at the door for a minute, completely sure the todd had utterly lost his mind—the rabbit, too. It was a moment later that she realized she no longer had her spoon and her ice cream was starting to melt. She had also missed half the show she'd been watching. She never had time to watch tv or eat anything decadent on the days she worked, so she was making up for lost time today. But Nick's arrival had thrown a wrench into her lazy-day vibes. Now her mind was going around in circles over what Nicholas Wilde was up to—with a rabbit! The rabbit was as crazy as he was! Why would a rabbit cop who slandered every predator in the city want to marry one! What would possess her to want to even mate with a fox, let alone something so permanent as marriage!?

Skye knew Nick, being a red fox todd, was looking at the bunny as a permanent fixture in his life, otherwise he never would have taken her to his bed—but what about the rabbit? She knew most rabbits (contrary to popular belief) did have long, lasting relationships with their spouses once they chose one, but rabbits were quite insular and didn't branch out with other species much—especially when it came to inter-species relationships. That's not to say there weren't a few rabbits out there dating outside their species, but it was still with other small prey mammals who were quite similar to themselves. But for one to look not only at a predator for a serious relationship, but a fox, one of their ancient enemies—Skye just couldn't get her head wrapped around the idea. Rabbits were such timid, skittish mammals, she just couldn't picture one getting all hot and bothered over a fox, even if she was a cop.

With a huff, Skye folded her arms and stared at her bookcase (full of magazines dealing with computers and cyber innovations), mumbling, "Stupid todd. How am I supposed to relax today when you got my head buzzing with such outlandish ideas?" With a snort, she muttered, "What's so great about rutting a rabbit?" With another huff, she grumbled, "And telling me to get one of my own. Pahh." With a scoff, she said, "What self-respecting fox would fall for a scared little rabbit?"

With a shake of her head, Skye decided to save the rest of her ice cream by putting it back in the freezer. Retrieving her spoon from where it had fallen on the floor in front of the door, she tossed it in the sink, then made herself a nice, fat turkey sandwich for lunch. (Knowing Nick was stopping by today with the first half of her payment, Skye had splurged at the store last night on the way home.) Returning to the couch, she restarted the show she had been watching, and settled back down to forget about everything going on outside her large, comfortable apartment.

-/-/-

After leaving Skye's place, Nick headed over to the grocery store. Upon arriving, he called up Judy's parents (Stu answered this time, so Nick didn't have to get into any details about his and Judy's engagement with Bonnie). Stu thanked him for inviting Amy to attend the Jeep rallies with him and Judy, made Nick promise to take care of both his girls, and then proceeded to tell Nick about how great of a mechanic Amy was. Nick listened for a few minutes, intrigued to hear the mechanical exploits of his fiancé's sister, but then had to pull the buck up short so they could discuss the menu for tomorrow.

After a few minutes of discussion, they agreed on corn on the cob, veggie burgers, vegetable kabobs, a potato salad, and chips, along with homemade lemonade. Stu and Bonnie would supply all the vegetables and the lemons for the lemonade, while Nick would provide the burgers and buns, potato salad, and chips.

After hanging up, Nick picked up the items that he was providing, then picked up a few items for tonight's dinner with his mom. Lastly, he headed over to Bella Notte's to pick up Finnick's blackberry cobbler.

Upon arriving home, Finnick disappeared into the kitchen with his cobbler where he proceeded to gorge himself. Afterwards, he borrowed the bed he had used the other night in the loft apartment and passed out in a food coma for over an hour.

In the meantime, Nick sat down with Judy and Benji to go over the date video and discuss what they liked best, what needed to go into the final cut, and what could be cut out. Seeing how enthusiastic they both were, Nick let them come up and help him edit the videos. Benji was ecstatic while Judy hummed with happiness. Nick ended up making three videos. A 'dad' safe video that merely showed the daytime air tour (minus the few heated kisses they shared), then one of their dinner and karaoke, and then the last one was of their night tour.

Afterwards, Benji had to leave to help his family set up for the soup and sandwich line that evening. Nick and Judy said their farewells, thanked Benji for all his help that day, and then escorted him to the front door (they had been upstairs at the computer).

Benjamin waved, then turned to the door, but then stopped a moment and turned back to the cutest, oddest couple he'd ever seen. Nick was still standing on the stairs holding Judy, which put them almost eye-level with the tall cheetah. Taking a deep breath and grabbing his tail to knead it in nervousness, he asked, "Can I . . ." Benjamin took another deep breath and nearly wrung the life out of his poor tail. "Can-I-see-you-kiss?" he said all in one breath while running all the words together.

Nick and Judy's confused and worried expressions turned to surprise and then Nick grinned, even as Judy giggled. Looking down at his fiancé, Nick said, "I don't know Fluff, do you think our number one fan deserves seeing another kiss?"

Judy sat up a little straighter in Nick's arms (he was holding her bridal style), and smoothed out his shirt while saying, "Well, he is going to help us keep our relationship a secret and all those pesky bucks off my back."

Nick nodded, saying sagely, "Yes, yes, he is. And he did help me out this morning when I was in a pinch."

Judy nodded, then slipped her paws around Nick's neck as she leaned in a little closer to him. "And since he is our number one fan, I was thinking of asking him to give me away at our wedding next week."

Benjamin dropped his tail to plant his paws in his chubby cheeks, even as he squealed softly (he was trying really hard not to break his friends' eardrums. "Really Judy? I can give you away!?"

Judy looked back at Benji briefly and said, "Well, my dad isn't going to be there to give me away, and we don't have any rings yet for you to be the ring bearer, so why not?"

Benjamin gave another soft squeal, even as Nick said, "And Benji is the only friend you have at the Precinct. I think that alone makes him extremely deserving of quite a few privileges."

Judy nodded as she leaned back in towards Nick. Benjamin covered his mouth with both paws as Judy rubbed her nose against Nick's, saying, "Yes, yes, it does."

"So, one last kiss?" Nick asked, even as he the cheetah was practically vibrating from the anticipation of their forthcoming kiss.

Judy nodded against his nose, a huge grin on her face, then she parted her small muzzle and pulled Nick into her. The two kissed with all the love and passion they had for each other, and Benjamin just ate it up. He was getting a front row, eye-level view of their heated kiss and he just about had a heart attack at the cuteness of it all. His knees went momentarily weak and he stumbled back against the door. With one paw over his heart and the other over his mouth, he exclaimed, "I've died and gone to fluff heaven! Nothing should look that cute!" He was so overcome with fluffy goodness that Benjamin didn't even realize he'd used the dreaded C-word, not that Judy was in any position to say anything about it.

As Nick and Judy finally broke for air, Benjamin stepped over to them and grabbed their paws and clasped them together between his own. "You two are the epitome of what Zootopia means—predator and prey living together in complete harmony." With another soft squeal, he squeezed their paw again, saying, "Okay, my fluff batteries are recharged and I'm ready to take on the world." Releasing their paws and stepping backwards towards the door, Benjamin added, "Let me know when the wedding is and I'll be there."

Nick and Judy waved again, and Judy said, "We'll text you with the date and time once we have it."

Benjamin covered his mouth again to muffle his squeal of happiness, and then he whirled around and was out the door. Nick and Judy watched him go, then glanced at each other and laughed. With a shake of their heads at their highly excitable friend, Nick cared Judy over to the couch and plopped down and then leaned his head against the couch. "Whoo, what a day."

Judy giggled as she studied Nick's face. His eyes were closed and his muzzle was pointing towards the ceiling. "Yes," she murmured, even as she raised her paw to scratch the soft spot where his jaw met his neck. Nick immediately started purring that deep rumbling purr of his, even as she shifted on his lap so she was straddling his thighs. "It's just you and me now, Nick. No one else to bother us, interfere, or keep us from . . . enjoying ourselves."

Nick brought his muzzle down and cracked an eye at her, then he opened both eyes and glanced at the clock. "At least for the next hour and a half, and then I have to pick up my mom from the train station."

Judy rubbed her nose against Nick's, even as she felt his paws on her hips moments before he slid them up under her shirt to run his claws through her fur and against her skin. With a shiver of pleasure and anticipation, she added, "Well, all the more reason to enjoy ourselves now. We'll have to be on our best behavior once Vivian gets here."

"Hmm," Nick murmured as he kissed her chin, murmuring, "So, are you saying we get to misbehave for the next hour and a half?"

"Just a little bit," Judy replied while tilting her head back to give Nick full access to her neck.

"I like this plan," Nick murmured back as he began peppering her neck with little licks, nips, and kisses, before travelling back up her neck to capture her mouth."

Judy wrapped her paws around the back of Nick's head as she kissed him back. Originally she had only planned to relax on the couch with Nick and watch a few sappy tv shows, but after talking about their wedding and that kiss Benji had asked of them, staring at the stupid tv was the last thing she wanted to do right now. Especially after Nick reminded her his mother would be here in under two hours. She wasn't about to waste this precious, interruption-free time with him by staring at the dumb tv—even if it was a large, high definition flat screen.

Breaking the kiss off to catch her breath, Judy started kissing along Nick's jaw and down his neck while running her paws down his chest. His shirt had to go.


WingedKatt here. I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Next chapter we'll finally get to see all the toys Nick is hiding in his garage, Amy will arrive and finally get an autographed copy from one of her idols, Judy and Nick will have another fluffy moment alone and Judy will learn something interesting and very important about fox culture.

Ch. 76: Unexpected Arrival, will post in two weeks. Have a happy holiday and a merry Christmas. Stay safe. If you have any thoughts or questions, let me know.