"I still think this is not going to end well." Nick looked out the window as the train left the station watching as the buildings of downtown slowly creep by. He had never been out of the city before so he was excited for that part of the trip, however meeting her parents without her telling them they were dating yet made him feel nauseous.

"Don't worry so much," Judy put her paw on his arm looking into his emerald eyes, "my dad has come a long way from giving me that fox away spray two years ago. You guys seemed to hit it off pretty well at your graduation."

"We did, he even told me to be sure to take care of you. I'm fairly sure that was only meant professionally though." They both shared a chuckle at Nicks statement, a nervous chuckle but one none the less. Nick looked at Judy and if someone else were to look they would see the same happy go lucky rabbit everyone knew, except he knew her better. The far off look in here eyes, the occasional twitch of her nose, that fake smile, her left ear draped in front of her allowing her paws to play with it.

Nick leaned down and kissed the top of her head breaking from her trance, she smiled and nuzzled into his chest. "So how and when are we going to tell them about us."

Judy got the faraway look in her eyes again, "I'm still trying to figure that one out.

"Should just straight up tell them, kind of like ripping off a band-aid just get it over with." Nick was looking out the window as the train crossed the bay separating the Savannah district and the woods of the outlying areas around the city.

"Well just have to wait and see, maybe the opportunity will present itself." Judy reached down and took a sweatshirt from her backpack, laying it in Nicks lap she stretched out along the bench they were sitting in and rested her head in his lap. "In the meantime, I'm going catch some sleep."

Nick looked down at her and smiled as she drifted off to sleep using his bushy tail as a blanket, her slow steady breathing comforting Nick. After a while of watching the trees get thicker around the train, he looked around and saw some of the other mammals, mostly bunnies, had spotted Judy sleeping in his lap and we're having hushed conversations amongst themselves. He caught a few laughs and searing glances coming from them.

He was about to see if he could move Judy without waking her to give them a piece of his mind when a soft frail voice snatched him from his thoughts, "Excuse me son, may we sit here please." He looked to his right and saw an old rabbit and his wife gesturing to the bench across from Judy and him.

"Not a problem sir, no one is sitting there." Nick smiled as the two elder rabbits took their seat facing Nick and Judy and began talking quietly to each other. They would glance over at the sleeping bunny then up at Nick, the female would whisper in the other's ear and he would laugh a little.

Nick tried his best to ignore the laughing and looks but a very noticeable laugh from the female rabbit finally broke him, "Is there a problem." Nick asked is a cold tone his smile leaving his face.

"No Officer Wilde, there's not a problem at all." The male rabbit kept his quite calm demeanor and smile never leaving his face. "We are just reminiscing about when we were younger and first started dating."

"Wait, you know who I am?" Nick was taken back that this elder couple knew him.

"Oh course we know you, both you and Judy are celebrities, everyone knows about what you've done for this city. It's not just the city you've helped, even out in the country mammals are finally starting to let go of their differences." The two elders looked at each other and shared a small kiss.

"I'm sorry, We've had our dealings with mammals not liking us dating so when I saw the quite talking and laughing I thought you were making fun of us." He looked down at Judy smoothing out the fur on her head, "It pains me when mammals do it and I try to hide it from her as best I can. I grew up with the looks of disgust and can deal with it, but she can take it hard at times."

"Some mammals are just backwards and unfortunately you may never change their minds. Take us for example, I'm a standard chinchilla bread and she's an arctic hare." Nick looked at them and besides the different ears, the fur color, and the lengths of their fur he didn't see much difference.

"Besides the obvious fur color I really don't see any difference honestly, I don't understand how two bunnies would have the same issues we do?" Nick was puzzled. How could two bunnies being together have anything close to the difficulties Judy and he had been going through.

"From the perspective of an outsider to rabbit culture yes we would seem like two regular bunnies just slightly different fur, but with the different species we are, we might as well be like you two. Our families and friends were extremely against our dating so we had to do it all in secret. It wasn't until we graduated high school that we decided to not care what other mammals thought and just live our lives as we saw fit." The male bunny pulled his wife even tighter into his chest, even with their old age and fragile bodies they still wanted to be as close to each other as possible, their love for each other was as strong as they day it sparked to life.

Nick looked back down to Judy and her sleeping form, curled up against him, the slow rise and fall of her chest, the softness of her fur as he gently slid his paw down her arm. He wished that other mammals would be as supportive of their relationship as these two elder bunnies. "I'm sorry, we've been sitting here chatting it up and I didn't get either of your names." Nick said looking to the elder bunnies.

"I'm Margret and my husband here is Cecil." The female bunny finally spoke up. "If I may so bold as to say, if you ask her I believe she will say yes."

Nick was taken back by the comment, "Ask her?" He looked down to make sure she was still asleep, "You mean to marry me?"

Margret had a warm motherly smile on her face, "Call it intuition, but from what we've seen on the TV, in the newspapers, and now at the station and here on the train I can honestly say she will say yes to marrying you. You both have a lot of love in you.. more than just for the two of you." She gave Nick a wink which made his ears stand straight up and the insides to turn bright red.

"Margret! you embarrassing him. I'm pretty sure kits are the farthest thing from his mind right now." Cecil shook his head, "I'm sorry. Like I said we gave up long ago caring about what mammals though of our relationship and now in our old age it's translated to not really have a filter and just saying the plain truth."

"Its perfectly fine," Nick said returning the smile "Actually I have thought about wanting to have kits of my own, someday. Just not in the near future. As it is there's one thing I have to do anyway before asking Judy to marry me, I have to.."

Nick stopped as Judy started to stir in her sleep. She stretched and yawned, blinked her eyes several times before looking up at Nick. "Hello there lovely." She sat up and kissed him.

Nick broke the kiss short, "Umm Judy, we have company."

Judy looked across and saw the elderly couple and immediately sat up turning bright red with embarrassment dropping her ears in front of her face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you were there." They started to laugh which caused Judy to peek through her ears. They didn't seem upset or disgusted at all which left her confused.

"We were just telling Nick here about how much you two remind us of when we started dating." Cecil reached across and patted Judy's knee, "No matter what any other mammal tells you, never be ashamed to show the one you love that you care bout them. Hug them, kiss them, just being there to listen to them talk about anything. Once you two get over what other mammals think about your relationship there will be nothing that can stop you." Judy looked at Cecil and was comforted by his words.

"I hope you right, this trip is going to be a difficult one. We're going to see my parents, and they don't know we are dating." Cecil looked at nick as Judy spoke, Nick slowly nodded his head and put on a slight smile. Cecil now understood what Nick needed to do before asking Judy to marry him, and realized why Nick was so nervous.

"The train will arrive at Bunnyburrow in ten minutes. Please take all your possessions with you."

"Well Margret, Cecil this is our stop." Nick stood up and started gathering their bags.

"We still have a bit more of a ride, we live down in Podunk, in Deerbrook county. If you're ever in the area please look us up." Margret took Judy's paw as she stood up, she looked at Nick then back to Judy giving her a warm smile and nod of approval. Judy wasn't sure why getting approval from this elder bunny meant so much to her but her eyes started to tear up as she then hugged her.

"Arriving at Bunnyburrow. Next stop Podunk"

"Time to go carrots. Margret, Cecil thank you. If we are ever in your area we will be sure to try and meet up." Nick shook Cecil's paw and took the bags as they walked to the doors.

"This is it, are you ready?" Nick looked down at Judy as the train stopped.

She lightly squeezed his paw, "I feel a lot better after the talk with those two."

The doors opened and they stepped out into the warm air with the rest of the mammals getting off, Nick took in the sights of the station "I'm definitely not in Zootopia anymore."

From the bunny ears on the building to the carrot columns holding up the roof he could defiantly tell everything here was designed by rabbits. Looking further out he could see all the fields and rolling hills of the countryside, taking a deep breath in smelling the fresh air. The was a certain charm to the area and he was enjoying it, until..

"Mom, Dad!" Judy called out and ran to her parents waiting by the station doors. She grabbed them in a hug as Nick walked up to the group.

"Its so good to see you, Judy." Stu let go of his daughter and turned to Nick reaching out his paw. "Officer Wilde, it's good to see you too. Taking care of our daughter in the big city?"

"Yes sir, and please call me Nick." He took Stu's paw in a hearty shake. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

"So Judy where is this mammal of yours, were eager to meet him." Stu was relaxing his grip on Nicks paw and trying to look for another bunny walking their way.

"Well dad, you see.." Judy trailed off.

"You're shaking his paw right now sir." Nick said, and instantly regretted it.

Stu gripped down on Nicks paw like a vice making him visibly flinch. His eyes locked onto Nick's like he was trying to burn a hole into his soul. "I'm what!? You're her… I asked you to take care of her. I meant it while you were working not to take care of her in the bedroom!" Stu was shouting and threw Nick's paw away in disgust.

"DAD!" Judy yelled trying to get his attention, "Can we please discuss this somewhere else, you're making a scene." They all looked around and saw every mammal on the platform had stopped what they were doing and was glaring at the group.

"Fine, get in the truck. Except you," Stu pointed a finger at Nick "You can walk, or take the train back to wherever. You won't be stepping a paw inside my truck."

"If he walks then I walk too." Judy went over and took Nicks paw. "Its only a few miles it will be good exercise, let's go Nick." Judy led Nick down the stairs of the platform and began walking across the parking lot of the station.

"Judy, Judy please stop." Bonnie called out to her daughter as she ran to her. "How about you ride in the back of the truck, I don't want you walking all the way home and Stu never said about the bed of the truck, just inside it."

Judy glared at her mother as Stu drove the truck up, "That sounds like a good plan Mrs. Hopps." Nick finally broke the tension. He threw the bags into the back and climbed into the truck bed with Judy climbing in after him.

"Judy wouldn't you be more comfortable up here with us," Bonnie called out.

"If he's not good enough to ride up there then neither am I." Judy called out to her mother and curled up against Nick who was sitting in the corner near the cab.

He wrapped his paws around her as the truck took off down the road. He began to feel his fur get wet through his shirt as Judy began to cry. He looked down to see her shaking in his arms openly weeping.

He pulled her in tighter and kissed the top of her head. She looked up her eyes red with tears, "I.. didn't think.. It would go… so badly." She tried her best to regain her composure but faced with the way her father reacted she couldn't control the tears.

Nick was crushed, not by the reaction of Judy's parents he had expected that. But seeing Judy crying like this, it hurt. He never wanted her to be in any pain and here she was completely devastated and crying he eyes out. "we'll figure something out I promise. Remember what Cecil said we may not be able to change every mammal's minds. The love we have for each other is the only thing that matters."

Judy sniffed hard and wiped her eyes lifting her head from his chest. "I know, I just didn't expect my dad to take it so bad. He works with a fox for crying out loud!"

"I know, but that's just a business partnership. You're his daughter, it's a bit understandable for him to be upset. Although yelling out about me taking care of you in the bedroom with all those other mammals around was out of line." Nick could still feel the sting of those words and the daggers from the looks the other mammals had given them.

The rest of the drive was quite except for the few sniffles coming from Judy. Nick watched the countryside and even after the incident on the platform he was still taken back by the landscape. Flowing green hills dotted with trees and rows upon rows of farmland. Living on the beach had alway been a dream of his but after seeing this maybe he was a country fox at heart.

He was shaken from his thoughts as the truck pulled off the main road onto a dirt road, at the end had a sign saying Hopp's Family Farm. He turned and looked around the side of the cab to see a series of hills in front of them, one they were heading to had a large two story house build right into it. The front of the house had a wide covered porch with multiple chairs and gliders sitting on it. From what Nick could tell it looked as if the structure went back into the hill and possibly underground as well. Several little bunnies were outside running around enjoying the evening light. A short distance from the house was a barn only slightly smaller than the house.

They pulled in front of the house as several of the small bunnies came running up to greet their sister and her boyfriend. They climbed down from the bed of the truck and a few of the little ones gave Nick puzzled expressions, but upon seeing Judy they both were swamped with little ones. Several grabbed onto Nick's fluffy tail rubbing their faces into its soft fur, "Looks like at least someone is taking a liking to me." Nick quietly told Judy as he looked at the kits playing around.

"Come in everyone… even you, Officer Wilde. Dinner should be ready, shortly." Stu called from the porch.

Everyone ran into the house except for two kits fighting over Nick's tail, he started walking pulling them along like they were skiing getting streaks of laughter from the kits. Nick and Judy gave smiles to each other at the antics of the kits, she reached down and picked them up and handing one to Nick. The kit reached up from Nick's arms pulling at his lips exposing Nick's teeth. Nick tensed up fearing the kit to start screaming or crying, "You gots some big teaf."

Nick let out a small chuckle at the innocence of the kit, "Yes I do, I use them to protect your big sister when we work." He pulled his lips back to expose all his teeth.

"You musta scare everyone. Not me, I not scared anything." The little kit did his best mean face and held up a clenched fist. "I like Judy, no mess wiff me."

This sent Nick and Judy laughing as the entered the house, walking in Nick was amazed at the space. The first room was a large open space easily taking up half of the downstairs with only a few columns holding up the second story. Multiple chairs and couches we arranged giving plenty of seating space even with all the bunnies running around. A wall ran along the back with a few doorways that Nick could see a large table with multiple bunnies moving around setting for dinner.

The kit in his arms started squirming wanting to get down and play with his siblings. Nick let him down and watched as he ran over to another group about his age. The kit kept pointing at his own mouth then at Nick making little fangs with his fingers, squeals of excitement coming from the other kits.

"Come on Nick, let's see if they need any help getting dinner set." Judy grabbed Nicks paw and led him through to the kitchen.

Walking into the kitchen Nick was in amazement at the sheer efficiency. Instead of piling food onto plates to place on the table they formed lines along either wall and everyone served themselves from the pots and platters on the stoves and counter top, except the little kits were helped by their older siblings. They then walked to the far end of the table and began eating, allowing little congestion to get food or a seat.

Nick got in line and poured himself some carrot soup, made a simple salad, and grabbed a blueberry muffin for dessert. He was about to seat himself with the rest of the bunnies when Judy called to him, "Nick we have a back room for the adults, that way it's not so loud and we can actually talk."

Nick followed Judy to the end of the table and turned into a small room that was hidden by a cabinet. Inside was Judy's parents and a few other of her older siblings that had stayed around the burrow, they all went silent as Nick walked in. He instantly felt uncomfortable.

"I'm surprised you found anything to eat Officer Wilde," Stu's comment were laced with ice.

Nick tried to shrug it off, "Judy here has been showing me different meals our of carrots and I really enjoy them."

"Oh really, was that before or after you had your way with her, and I'll be damned if you two think you'll be in the same bed under this roof." Nick felt like he had been sucker punched by her father.

"STU! DAD!" Both Bonnie and Judy snapped at Stu at the same time.

"I think I'll eat outside," Nick walked out of the room and made his way to the front porch.

Judy slammed her plate down send food flying, "I cannot believe you dad, how dare you say something like that! Yes were are dating, yes were are living together, and yes we sleep together. That doesn't mean we are having sex and definitely doesn't mean he has taken advantage of me. I'm a grown rabbit and can make my own choices, especially when it comes to who I choose to love!"

She stormed out of the room, through the house, and out onto the front porch. Slamming the screen door against the house making Nick jump. She walked down the steps and a few feet into the yard before stopping and falling to her knees. Nick was by her side in a flash holding her to his chest as she wept.

Bonnie and Stu stood by the front door watching the couple in the yard, listening to Judy cry. "Stu, if we don't make an effort to be supportive we are going to lose her forever." Bonnie put her paw on Stu's shoulder.

"I just don't know Bonnie. Yes, I've come a long way, but to have our little bunny dating someone like him. I don't know if I can accept it." Stu looked at his wife hoping to see reason.

"She's not a little bunny anymore Stu, She's grown up. She's making her own choices and as much as we may not like it we have to support her. Otherwise, we will push her so far away we will never see her again." Bonnie was trying her best to win over her husband, "Why don't we all go out for a hike and picnic by the river tomorrow. Maybe we can find some common ground and really get to know him."

"I guess, but I won't promise anything." Stu turned around and headed back to finish his meal. "I truly did mean they will not sleep together under this roof though, he can sleep on a couch out here."

Bonnie took that as a small victory as she watched Stu go into the kitchen with several pairs of eyes watching him. She turned around to see Nick carrying Judy back towards the house. She gave a weak smile and held open the door for him.

Nick gave a smile and nod back, "Where is her room she's so fatigued right now I'll bring her there."

Bonnie placed a paw on her daughters back rubbing it like she did when Judy was a kit, "I'll show you the way so you don't get lost." Nick followed her quietly, the only sound was the sniffles coming from Judy.

Bonnie led him upstairs to a door that had Judy's name on it and she opened it up. On the walls were several old ZPD posters alongside new ones with her on it. Nick placed her on the bed and placed the covers over top of her kissing her lightly on the head. He stood up and went to walk out when something on his eye on the wall. It was a cork board that had several newspaper and magazine clipping on it, all of Judy and his accomplishments.

The latest of the dock raid made him smile seeing the kit in his lap, "I like that one the best." Bonnie said walking into the room to see what Nick was looking at. "It shows the compassion you both have. The want to make things right with the city. You both really are making a difference." She looked down at her feet, "Even if some mammals are coming around a little slow."

"Mrs. Hopps.."

"Bonnie, please call me bonnie." She interrupted Nick and motioned for them to leave the room to continue talking.

Nick followed her out closing Judy's door. "I can't help it that we fell in love if I could I honestly wouldn't want to change it. What I do want to change is the way other mammals feel about us, not for me but for her. I don't want her to feel the pain I have. I grew up in a broken home where my dad would come home drunk complaining about no one wanting to give a fox an honest job. I ran away several times because he would get belligerent and take his frustrations out on me and my mom. I would come back because of her, I wanted to protect my mom so I would always come back. If he would go after her I would try to get him mad at me to focus the beatings on myself."

Nick had been following Bonnie while talking suddenly realizing they were alone out on the porch. Bonnie took a seat on a recliner and motioned to one a little bigger across from her. He took the seat and started back up again "One day he never came home. To this day I don't know what happened to him but my mom and I struggled even more after that day. The beatings ended but the meager money he did bring home stopped, she took odd jobs and I did my best as well. But as a ten-year-old, there wasn't much I was able to do."

Nick swallowed hard as tears began to fill in his eyes, "Then mom became sick. It was cancer and it went fast, thankfully. I know it may sound cold to say it that way but she had suffered so much already then having that suddenly piled on, I'm glad it took her fast. That left me on the streets until I met Finnick and he showed me the ways of the streets and how to hustle, and I was good at it."

Nick looked up and saw Bonnie was silently crying, "Then your daughter fell into my life and changed everything. I've never been any happier than when I'm with her, I have fallen for her completely and can't see my life without her anymore."

Bonnie slowly got up from her chair and walked over to Nick. She reached up and placed her paw on his muzzle, "You poor dear," She pulled him into a gentle hug. "to suffer all that then have us say those things to you like we did. I'm so sorry." Nick slid off the chair onto his knees returning the embrace, a few tears running down his cheeks onto Bonnie's shirt.

She let go of Nick and stepped back to look him in the eyes, "I am willing to give you a chance, you've done so much to keep her safe and make her happy. Who am I to say no to that. Stu, on the other hand, may be a harder sale. He has agreed to go out tomorrow to try and get to know you better if you would join us. All four of us out by the river for a nice hike and picnic lunch. Hopefully, he'll see you are worthy of Judy."

Nick wiped a paw across his eyes drying them off, "Sounds good. Hopefully, I can show him how much I do love her and I would do anything to keep her safe, and I do mean anything."

"I know you would Nick, now let's go inside for some sleep. I'll get you a blanket and some pillows, we don't have any guest bedrooms so hopefully a couch will do." Bonnie went to a closet and pulled out the items for Nick to sleep on.

"A couch will do fine Bonnie, thank you." Nick smiled, a genuine not forced smile as he accepted the item from her.

He laid down on a couch and wrapped himself in the blanket. As he laid his head down thoughts kept going through his head. How was he going to prove himself to them, "Bonnie seems to be giving him a genuine chance, but Stu? If he had a gun he probably would've shot me by now, what am I going to have to do to prove myself?"