The next day Nick woke up as he had the last three days. In bed with the bunny that already occupied so much of his heart. His family accepted her and hopefully her family would accept him. He was quick to get ready, noticing that he still had on his pajama bottoms. He remembered their conversation from last night, when she told him flatly there was no way she would do anything untowards in her parents' house. Of course he respected her wishes but they still slept in her old bed and they cuddled but nothing more. When the two came down to breakfast Stu and Bonnie gave them a look like they wanted to talk. Judy knew the look, it was a look she had gotten frequently as a child. Being rambunctious, she'd gotten in a lot of trouble as a child and her parents had subtle and not so subtle ways of telling her they wanted to talk. After breakfast Bonnie dismissed the other kids to go play and to steer clear of the nighthowlers.
"I take it this is about the letter," Nick asked.
"Letter?" Judy questioned.
"Nick's father sent us a letter," Stu explained, "And yes. Bonnie and I talked it over last night. We just brought in our crops for the season. Normally, we'd settle in for nice quiet couple months before planting again but it seems our usual quiet time will be put on hold."
"We already called him last night and made arrangements, he said to let him worry about transportation and accomidations," Bonnie explained.
"I told him we're simple farmers but he seemed hellbent on treating us like royalty. Honestly, it made me nervous," Stu replied.
"That's my dad, he doesn't do anything half-way," Nick laughed.
"Now we're just trying to figure out a way to tell the kids about this, most of them have never been to Zootopia. Making sure none of them wander off is a concern as well," Bonnie added.
"I'm sure dad has a plan for that too," Nick replied.
"300's a bit much even for our family though, so I went ahead and called the Grey family to join us. Told Mr. Wilde I did as well, he told us he had been planning to send them an invite but if we were inviting them he'd leave it to us," Stu pointed out.
With that settled, Stu and Bonnie decided to get to know Nick a little while Judy played with her younger brothers and sisters outside.
"So, your father runs an amusement park and what about the rest of your family?" Stu asked.
"My mother's retired, has been for a while. My brother works as a defense attourney and my sister is a famous chef called the Singing Savant," Nick replied.
"Imagine that Stu, I wonder if she's met that Gordon Rams," Bonnie replied.
"She has, she hates him," he explained, "He got her fired from her first restaurant. Said she wasn't paying attention because she was singing. She's the kinda' person who uses a coping mechanism to deal with stress and stay focused. For her, singing is that mechanism and she's good at it. She's no slouch in the kitchen either."
"Well at any rate, we're happy you and Judy could join us for the Carrot Festival this year," Bonnie commented.
"Carrot Festival?" Nick answered.
"Oh dear, it seems I've ruined a surprise she may have had for you," she replied.
"The Carrot Festival is a sort of harvest festival we have every year around this time. We missed her at last year's, I suppose she had other things on her mind," Stu explained.
"Work most likely, Judy's a very hard-headed person," Nick replied.
"And you accept that about her?" Stu asked.
"I've come to accept and love everything about her," the todd replied with a smirk.
The Hopps had heard people speak in glowing terms about Judy but never like this.
"I know it's gotta' be hard for you, hearing that a shifty fox like me is with your daughter but I don't just love Judy. I'm crazy about her, I'd do anything for her and I mean anything," he confessed.
Shortly after Judy came in, sweaty and covered in dirt.
"Hey Nick, tag in, will ya'?" she laughed through huffing.
"Too much for ya', Officer Carrots?" he laughed.
"Just get out there and play with the kids will ya'? And don't be too rough," she told him shoving him out the door.
She saw the looks her parents were giving her.
"What? Nick's actually good with kids, you should see him play with the elementry kids that visit the precinct once in a while," she told them.
Almost to confirm their fears they saw their kids running away from Nick chasing them but with the garden hose. Then somehow, they got ahold of the garden hose and chased him. All the while, the kids and Nick were getting sopping wet and laughing.
"See?" she pointed out, "Nick's a good person at heart. You just have to be open-minded and accept him for what he can't change."
The kids thought they'd be in trouble when some water got into the front seat of his car. After quickly checking to make sure that the dashboard didn't get too wet he turned to see some of the kids were already starting to cry.
"Hey, it's ok guys. It's just a little water," he consoled.
"B-but Nick,w-we got the inside all wet," one of the little girls sobbed.
"It's ok, I'm not mad Ok, yeah the car seats are a little damp but so what? Now are you guys gonna' cry over something little or are we gonna' keep playing?" he asked in a jovial tone.
Bonnie and Stu watched the whole affair and admitted to themselves that Nick was handling the situation better than they thought he would. Nick went back to playing with the kids and the kids seemed to have no problems with him. After a while longer of playing with the kids
"Nick, kids, it's getting late. Com'n inside," Stu hollered off the porch.
When they started coming in he got onto the kids about not tracking mud through the house.
"I think Judy's outta' the shower, Nick. I'll have one o' the kids show you there," he explained.
"Thanks," Nick replied.
One of the kids he'd been playing with a boy named Nate that reminded Nick of Alex when they were kids.
"So reserved for his age," Nick thought, "Alex always was the one to mature quickly. He just kinda' left me and Deb in the dust there."
Reconnecting with his siblings had afftected him more than he thought.
"This is Judy's room, thanks for playing with us earlier, Mr. Wilde," Nate informed.
"Thanks," Nick replied.
"Are you gonna' marry my sister?" the boy asked.
It seemed an innocent enough question but the boy's tone was serious.
"That is a question that keeps me up at night, kiddo," he answered.
Judy was reading a book she had picked up a month ago, "The Last Unicorn". He slipped past her as quietly as he could.
"Let the water run from the sink for a few minutes and don't take more than half an hour," she told him turning the page.
"Alright," he replied.
After his shower he headed back down and saw Gideon talking to the Hopps.
"Hey Gid!" he exclaimed with a friendly tone.
"Hey Nick. Mr. H would you min' terribly if I borrowed Nick f'r a bit?" Gideon asked.
"Go right ahead. He's your cousin and you wanna' catch up, right?" Stu replied.
Gideon led Nick to his truck and they leaned against it. At that Gideon lowered his tone and it sharpened.
"What in th' samhell d'ya' think yer doin', Nick!?" Gideon asked sharply.
"What's your problem!?" Nick asked returning the tone.
Nick could hear Gideon growling, this wasn't just an angry growl it was mixed with a consternation.
"Wait, you're in love with her too, aren't you?" Nick asked surprise replacing the sharp tone from earlier.
Gideon looked away mostly out of a desire to avoid answering the question.
"Look, I'm sorry ok. I didn't know you had a thing for Judy too," Nick apologized.
"Ain' yer fault, I'm more mad at m'self. I done blew all m' chances with 'er when we was young'uns," Gideon sighed.
"That warrents further explanation," Nick replied.
"She prolly tol' you 'bout some bully th' tormented 'er an' 'er friends when she was little," he explained.
"That was you!?" Nick exclaimed with surprise.
"Yup, I ain' fon' o' my choices from back then. Ev'ryuns got sumthin' they regret. I reckon treatin' her th' way I did is mine," the other todd explained.
"So that was the reason she had the fox repellant," Nick mused thoughtfully.
"Terrible sorry, Nick. We're kin, I shouldn'a blamed you for what I done," he apologized.
Nick didn't say anything he just smiled at his cousin and patted him on the arm, close to the shoulder, a gesture of forgiveness. When they reached the house Bonnie invited Gideon to stay for dinner once more but he again declined and now Nick knew why.
