Chapter 14: Christmas Tree

The first night, after the day Judy had left had passed peacefully and without problems. When Finnick fell asleep, Nick was still texting with Judy about various topics without worrying about tomorrow. He would have loved to call the rabbit now to talk to him, but he couldn't. He knew that for the time being no one could find out about them talking to each other, or at least for the moment. For the time being they had to keep it a secret. The conversation mostly consisted of Judy talking about how warmly she had been welcomed by her family, who had shown her love and warmth from the very beginning. Nick when he read this felt pain in his soul, due to the fact that he himself could not count on such a welcome, but despite the pain he enjoyed the rabbit's happiness. Eventually Judy asked about Nick and how he was doing. The fox didn't really have anything to tell, as there was very little going on at his place Apart from the fact that Finnick was staying with them (he didn't bring it up), he had nothing to write about. And that's when Judy reminded about the Christmas tree, to which Nick laughed briefly seeing the rabbit's text.

"She's good, she remembers everything," thought Nick, when Judy started admonishing him for putting up a Christmas tree in their flat. There hadn't been time to do it before, but these few days off gave a little more relaxation. Nick waited 20 minutes for a reply, but decided finally that the rabbit had fallen asleep as his message hadn't even been read.

"'See you tomorrow Judy' thought Nick. He put the phone on the dresser and then turned to the other side of the bed. He could finally feel more comfort.

The next day, as the sun came in lazily, Nick woke up according to his alarm clock, which surprised him. He lazily sat up on his bed and watched the alarm, which showed 6.30 a.m. It wasn't until several moments later that he was so sleepy that he forgot to even turn the alarm off for the time.

"Damn" sighed Nick turning off the alarm, then lay on his back again trying to sleep. Unfortunately, however, the sun that was also waking up made it impossible for Nick to fall asleep even if he wanted to so badly, and he didn't look the most tired. The first thing he did was turn on his phone to see if he had any notifications from Judy. He was slightly disappointed when still Judy hadn't read his messages, but he consoled himself with the fact that she probably couldn't. He straightened up, then put his slippers on his feet, tied his black dressing gown over himself and wandered into the kitchen to make himself breakfast and coffee. He saw that Finnick was still asleep, but decided it wouldn't be a bad idea if he made him some coffee. He poured water into the kettle, poured instant coffee into the cups, poured water into the kettle and waited quietly until the water boiled. When it did, he poured water into his coffee glass, and immediately poured for Finnick, who was also already slowly waking up judging by the way he made short moaning sounds and turned from side to side. Nick came up with an idea, which was rather mean, but funny in his opinion. He quietly walked over to the still sleeping Finnick, who was oblivious to the situation, and took the piece of cloth he was sleeping on in his paws. Nick waited for a good moment then pulled at the white material causing the cloth to curl up under the fox and Finnick fell to the ground, which instantly roused him.

"Hello, what happened!" cried Finnick getting up from the floor. He quickly looked around as his gaze stopped on Nick holding the cloth. He didn't need to say anything else when he noticed his friend who had just burst out laughing still holding the material he had pulled in his paw. Finnick felt a little nervous, but he couldn't be angry. Nick's laughter made him start laughing himself, even though he shouldn't have. His body ached a little, but the sight of Nick laughing made him involuntarily laugh himself.

"Okay Nick, tell me what we're having for breakfast?" asked Finnick when their goofiness was over and they both got a little more serious enough to prepare some breakfast.

"Ekh well...may I suggest fried eggs with bacon, is that suitable?" asked Nick looking through the contents of the fridge.

"Mmm sounds good! I'll have some " replied Finnick licking his lips hearing the dish Nick had mentioned. He nodded with a shake of his head and then grabbed all the necessary products that were required for breakfast on the kitchen counter.

"There's coffee on the counter, drink if you like " Nick communicated to which Finnick nodded with a motion of his head. Finnick sat down at the table top and watched his friend who was preparing breakfast for them both.

"What are we going to do today?"

"Ugh...I'm going to drive you to your flat, you're going to pack so you have clothes for the next few days and I'm going to look for some Christmas trees so I can dress them up."

"Christmas tree? Why any Christmas tree?" asked Finnick to which Nick shook his head sideways.

"Judy wants there to be a Christmas tree. I have to do it, it would be nice if you could help decorate it"

"In decorating? Sure! I remember when we were younger we loved doing that! Ah, it's nice to go back to old times sometimes though"

"Something about it...ok, your portion is ready. More of mine and we can leave" Nick communicated handing a plate of food to his friend. Just looking at her made drool fly from his mouth. It looked lively, colourful and above all tasty. Finnick when he took one bite into his mouth made a sound that meant the food was above average.

"It's great! Did Judy teach you?" asked Lis to which Nick nodded with a motion of his head.

"She knows a lot more recipes, but she only cooked on weekends because she has practically no time during the week" replied Nick. Soon his portion was ready as well. He put it on a plate and, sipping his coffee, ate his first breakfast. During this time he looked to see if Judy had spoken. Unfortunately still to no avail. He put the phone aside and he and Finnick consumed their breakfast in silence. They needed the strength - the meteorologists warned of a fair amount of frost in downtown Zootopia, which was exactly where they were going to go, as Finnick lived close to the Centre and the Christmas tree purchase Nick was going to go to was in the centre of town. After 15 minutes of coffee, they were both ready to hit the road. The clock was already striking 9.30 a.m.

"Get it together Finnick, we should be leaving now" said Nick putting his dishes and Finnick's in the dishwasher , then he took the car keys from the dresser. He put on his favourite leather jacket and put on his beige shoes. Finnick dressed in a more modest black jacket and the same colour shoes.

"We can probably get going now, can't we?" Nick asked. Finnick nodded with a motion of his head and left the flat. Nick looked around the flat to make sure he had taken everything, then locked the door behind him.

The flat where Finnick currently lived was located in front of the city centre. It was a rather modest street that had in it a few shops, one restaurant, a few other buildings serving services and blocks that were lined up one behind the other. It could be considered a suburb of the centre. The block where Finnick lived had been built quite recently, so Nick wasn't too surprised when they pulled up to find a black high-rise building that was covered in reflective glass. The men agreed to meet back here in an hour, once Nick had managed to find a suitably sized Christmas tree. Nick left Finnick at the flat and drove downtown to go to a shop where he could buy a Christmas tree.

The shop was located on the north side of Zootopia (opposite his and Judy's flat), so it took a while to get there. Traffic jams, slippery pavement (which meant he couldn't drive fast) and bad luck about the lights, which were constantly red, meant that the journey for Nick was taking an awfully long time.

"Well, an hour might not be enough for me" thought Nick. At one of the intersections, there was a huge traffic jam that was slowly moving forward Then Nick wondered what Judy was up to at her house. She must be having a great time, because so far she still hasn't written back to his last message. All the while, he remembered the pivot Judy had made to him. He hoped she would talk to her parents about their relationship so they could move their relationship forward, something Nick was already thinking about. To be honest, he was already planning to do it, he wanted it badly himself, but Judy's parents are a very big barricade for them. He didn't have to worry about his own because he hadn't visited them for a few years, but Nick didn't want to think about that.

Once he got there, he was able to calm down a bit. When he found a parking space, he got out and immediately headed for the hall where the Christmas trees and other plants were stored. Walking through the shop and listening to the Christmas music that was playing on the speakers was undoubtedly a very pleasant activity. Nick strolled through the Christmas tree aisles looking from side to side, admiring the tall spruce trees that had snow on some of their branches that involuntarily fell to the floor. Nick stopped at some to get a closer look at her. He wanted to touch it, to think about how it would look in their flat, he created visualisations in his head. Some was very tall, but had few needles, so it looked very bald. On the other hand, one was low but had very many needles and looked lush and lively. Fox wanted to find a compromise between one and the other so that it would be the best Christmas tree. His search ended when he saw a Christmas tree that stood at the end of the hall. Nick looked at it and knew almost immediately that it would be the choice. It was of medium height (it was twice Nick's size) and had lots of healthy, hard needles that were an intense green colour.

"I'd take it if I were you," said the shop clerk in a low tone, stopping next to Nick.

"You say?" asked the fox.

"Of course! Look at those healthy needles, their intense colour and the growth of the tree! Perfect" replied the storekeeper to which Nick calmly nodded his head.

He looked at it carefully considering it all around him until he finally made up his mind.

"All right. I'll have this one," Nick asked pointing with his hand at the tree. The storekeeper nodded with a motion of his head, then called the other two men over to him.

"Get the tree ready for you sir" said the man to which the two nodded. They took the tree off the presentation platform and wrapped it in netting so that it would not be damaged. 5 minutes later the Christmas tree was ready and the employees helped for Nick to carry the plant to the cash register to be served.

"$150 please," the cashier said. Nick took out the dollars, and along with the employees, put the tree in the car (its trunk rested against the back seats and the crowns on the cockpit in the front). It wasn't the most comfortable solution, but there was no better way. Just as he was about to get into the car his phone rang. He quickly took it out of his pocket hoping it was Judy, but to his disappointment it was only Finnick.

"Where the hell are you Nick? I've been waiting for an hour and a half!"

"Ugh, sorry...traffic jams and stuff. You're not likely to get cold, are you? I'll be there in twenty minutes" laughed Nick hanging up on his friend. He got into his car and went to pick Finnick up from his house.

Nick tried to get back for his friend as quickly as possible, but the footsteps meant that Finnick had to wait an extra half hour before Nick's car appeared to his eyes. Finnick didn't hide his displeasure when he got into the car and threw his bags in the back, but he didn't want to argue the point. Instead, he admired the Christmas tree Nick had bought, which he even liked.

"Judy would be happy to see what kind of Christmas tree you picked out" Finnick pointed out to which Nick laughed.

"She'll see, don't worry."

"How?"

"I'll take a picture of it" Nick replied.

"I see, you want to show off your choice"

"Not necessarily. Judy wanted me to buy a Christmas tree and for me to dress it, so I didn't have much choice. She really likes Christmas...it's something fantastic for her" replied Nick.

"For you, no? Remember when we were looking forward to Christmas?" asked Finnick at which Nick's face turned serious.

"But that was a dozen years ago. Now we're grown people, we've grown out of it."

"Well, as I hear Judy no" laughed Finnick, but Nick's gaze made him quickly cut his laughter short.

When they arrived at the flat, Nick helped for Finnick to carry his luggage into their house. Even though he was supposed to be here for four days max he had taken quite a bit of luggage with him, which Nick didn't even know what was in. That wasn't his main concern, he was thinking more about how to move the over 2 (or maybe 3) metre high Christmas tree up to the 10th floor.

"Come on Finnick you can help me" called out Nick to his friend who was unpacking. He grumbled a little but eventually went to help Nick. The fox's plan was quite simple, they were to bring the tree into the guilt and then take the lift to the flat. Despite the first attempts, which were not very successful and ended with the tree catching on the doorstep, in the end, they managed to get the tree out of the car and slowly transported it to the lift. After five minutes, the men carried the three-metre high tree inside the flat and put it on a special place, which had already been prepared.

"Ok, time to cut the netting" said Nick proudly when the Christmas tree was already standing. He grabbed a knife and cut the mesh of the net. As he cut the mesh, the Christmas tree opened up showing its true dimensions, which were impressive. It really was a beautiful Christmas tree and it looked just as Nick had imagined it in this place.

"It looks beautiful, Judy will be proud".

"She'll see tonight, let's get on with dressing it" replied Fox, then headed into the room to find the baubles and lights for the Christmas tree.