Chapter 9

"Look at those teeth!" said Jake, one of Judy's brothers as he held Nick's lip up to see his teeth. "Whoa!" said Jamie, who was Jake's twin brother. Feel this soft tail!" said Celeste. Fortunately for the little bunnies, Nick is a very deep sleeper. If he weren't, he would be very mad. One bunny was stroking his head like a pet dog. Nick rolled over on the couch while they were playing with him. "I've never seen a fox this close!" said Jamie. Nick moaned in his sleep. Unfortunately for the little bunnies, Nick moves around in his sleep a lot. "No...no! You can't have that! No!" Nick said in his sleep as he batted at the air. He knocked one of the bunnies off the couch onto the floor. "Aww...He's having a nightmare!" said Celeste, looking sad. "It's going to be ok, Nick," Celeste said while stroking Nick's paw. "No, It's not ok, Mom! It's too dangerous!" Nick said in his sleep. All the little bunnies started laughing and giggling. Nick shot up. "Mom!" Nick yelled while franticly looking around. "Where am I?" asked Nick. "You're on our couch!" said Jake. Nick looked down and saw the three bunnies. Nick breathed a sigh of relief. Nick got up and walked to the kitchen. Bonnie was there. Good morning, Nick. How'd you sleep?" asked Bonnie. "Good morning. Fine I guess," replied Nick. "Well, I'm making some blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Hungry?" When Nick heard the word blueberry, his eyes lit up and his tail uncontrollably started wagging. Blueberries were Nick's favorite fruit. The three bunnies tried to leap on Nick's tail as it wagged, giggling the whole time. Nick yelped in pain and looked behind him to see Jake sitting on his tail. "Could you please leave my tail alone?" asked Nick. "Why don't you three go run around outside? Breakfast will be ready once everyone's awake. Just don't run through the flowers on the edge of the fields!" said Bonnie. The three bunnies ran outside and slammed the door behind them. "How do you deal with so many kids?" asked Nick. "It's all about patience." Nick sat down on a bar stool at the counter and reached for the jug of milk in the middle of the counter to pour him a glass. "Why don't you go get Judy up, Nick?" "Ok." Nick gulped down the rest of the glass of milk and walked down the hallway to the bedrooms. Nick knocked on Judy's room "Judy? You awake yet?" asked Nick. "Five more minutes!" Judy said from behind the door. "Ok." Nick walked back to the counter to find Stu sitting in the chair he was sitting in. "Good morning, Mister Hopps," said Nick as he walked up to him. Stu jumped and gasped when Nick talked. "I guess you're not used to hearing a fox in the morning, huh?" commented Nick. "Guess not," Stu grumbled. "Don't mind him. He's just a little cranky in the mornings," Bonnie said to Nick. Then Judy walked up wearing her carrot pajamas. "Good morning, Judy!" said Bonnie. "Good morning," Judy said quietly as she sat next to Nick. "I guess I could start making a couple of pancakes for you," Bonnie said.

Nick ate as many blueberry pancakes as Bonnie cooked. She was an amazing cook. So was Judy. After breakfast, Nick and Judy were sitting on the porch in rocking chairs. "Nick?" asked Judy. "Yes, Carrots?" "Remember the day the gang was taken out? And that I had something I wanted to tell you?" "Yeah. What about it?" "Nick. I- I love you," Judy blurted out. Nick looked a little surprised. "I love you too," Nick said. "Remember my first day on the force, and I said you knew you loved me? At first it was just to be funny, but after, I thought that it was true, but I didn't say anything." "Me too." Judy put her paw on top of Nick's paw. Nick looked at her. Judy smiled. Nick smiled back. "Are they gonna kiss?" a little voice said from behind Nick and Judy. "Eww! Gross!" said another little voice. Nick looked behind them and saw a group of little bunnies looking through the window behind them. Nick sighed. "How do you get any privacy here?" asked Nick. "When I take a walk by myself usually," said Judy. Nick leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and started rocking back and forth. Judy took a sip of her coffee. "Nick?" Judy said. "Yes, Carrots?" Nick said without opening his eyes. "What do you think of my family?" "Besides being noisy, rowdy, annoying, bothersome, and not to mention nosy?" Nick gestured to the window for that last one. "I think they're wonderful!" Nick said. Judy smiled. "I'm gonna go back inside," said Nick. "Why?" asked Judy. "Peter wanted me to help him set up his new Zbox One." "Oh, ok." Nick opened the door and was tackled by all the little bunnies that were by the window. "Do you really love Judy, Nick?" asked one. "If you do, don't kiss her while you're here. That'd be gross!" said another. "Your fur is so much different than ours!" said yet another. The rest were giggling. Nick struggled to get up while Judy was laughing. "Like I said, wonderful!" Nick said with a huge forced smile on his face. Judy laughed even more. "Let's go!" said Nick. All the little bunnies followed Nick into the house.

Judy finally got that off her chest. She had wanted to tell Nick she loved him for weeks, but there never was a good opportunity...until now. Now that that was off her chest, but there was still another thing on her chest. She picked her diary up off the table between the two rocking chairs and opened the book to today's date. All she wrote was: "Confessed my love to Nick today, he confessed his own love to me as well!" Judy closed the book and set it back down.

The next day, Nick and Judy were taking a walk through the woods. Nick looked down at Judy. "Carrots?" "Yes, Nick?" "Would you like to go on a date tonight?" asked Nick, with a little bit of hesitation. "Where?" "Uh, how about that fancy restaurant in town I saw?" "The Rabbit's Foot?" "That's it." "Ok. What time?" "How about we go at 7?" "Sounds good." Nick and Judy continued to walk down the lonely path through the woods. There was a fallen tree beside the road that was used as a bench, and Nick walked over to it and sat down. Judy sat beside him. Nick held Judy's hand. "Nick?" "Yes?" "Remember when you were shot, and were unconscious?" "I don't remember what happened while I was unconscious, but yes, I remember." "Well, I rode with you in the ambulance. And while on the way, I kissed you on the cheek." Judy felt good to get that off her chest too. Nick looked a little surprised. Judy leaned closer to Nick and put her lips over Nick's and pulled him into it. At first, Nick was surprised, but after a few seconds, Nick pulled Judy into it too. Just as Nick let Judy's tongue inside, he heard footsteps and pulled away. It was a kind of short, fat fox. The fox had on overalls, and he was walking paw in paw with a vixen. "Hi, Judy!" said the fox. "Hi Gideon! I see you're taking Helen for a walk," replied Judy. "Yup. Had to get out of the kitchen for a while." "Gideon, Helen, meet Officer Nick Wilde. He's my partner," said Judy. Nick shook Gideon's and Helen's paws. "How do you do?" asked Nick. "Oh! Aren't you a gentleman," Helen said. "Chivalry is not dead, madam!" said Nick. Helen giggled. "Hey, Judy, I'd like to apologize again for my behavior when we were kids. I was a real jerk to say you couldn't become a cop," Gideon said. "Oh you don't need to apologize again! I forgave you the first time," Judy replied. Gideon smiled. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Nick," said Gideon as they walked off. Helen gave Nick a little wave. Nick watched Gideon and Helen walk around a corner and waited a little bit. Then he turned to Judy and smiled. "That could've been a little embarrassing," Nick said. "That's for shure!" Judy said. Judy looked at Nick and smiled. Nick smiled back. Judy leaned up and gave Nick a short kiss on the lips before walking back to her house. Nick got up and followed her, holding her paw.