Chapter 20

Gazelle drove into the parking garage of the police station and went into the lobby. Ben wasn't there, he was helping McHorn get some stuff out of the storage locker. "Ok, you'll need to hide in here until it's time for the concert," Nick told Gazelle. "Ok, I've got it," Gazelle said. Nick opened the door to the janitor's closet and had her go in. "Sorry there isn't much room, but you'll only need to be here for about twenty minutes." Nick shut the door and left. Bogo picked up the microphone and spoke. "We will get the entertainment started within twenty minutes, so stay here. You won't want to miss this." Bogo set the mic back down and walked off the stand. There was a refreshment table over by the far wall, there were tables with chairs around them in front of the stand for people to sit and eat. There was a big tree on top of the permanent kiosk in the middle of the lobby. Clawhauser was sitting at a table with a bunch of Christmas themed doughnuts. "Hey, Ben. You ready for the band coming to perform tonight?" Nick said as he sat down next to him. "M-hm," Ben said as he stuffed his face with doughnuts. Nick laughed and walked off. Nick sat down at the mixer and waited for the time when Gazelle would be performing. Nick looked at his watch. It was time for Gazelle to get on stage. Nick went to the closet and knocked on it. "Gazelle. It's time to get to the stage," Nick whispered. "Ok," Gazelle said as she opened the door. Gazelle stood behind a curtain and waited for Nick to announce her. Nick walked to the mixer and picked up the mic in the booth. "And now, we have our very special guest. She is here to perform for you tonight. Give a very warm welcome to... Gazelle!" Nick said. Everyone started clapping and Ben's eyes got wide and his arms dropped. "Good evening, police officers of Zootopia!" Gazelle said as she came on the stand. "I came to do this special for you, Benjamin Clawhauser," Gazelle said, looking right at Ben. Ben almost fainted, and his smile was huge. Gazelle started singing her Christmas album, with Nick running the sound system. When it was over, Gazelle got off the stage and sat down at the same table Ben, Nick, Judy, and Bogo were sitting at. "Nice to meet you, Ben," Gazelle said as she shook Ben's paw. Ben was just gaping and staring at Gazelle. Gazelle giggled. "You're funny, Ben." Ben finally got the nerve to speak. "Th-t-thank you, Ga-Gazelle." Nick smiled and knew that Ben was living his dream of meeting Gazelle face to face. Over the course of the night, Gazelle gave Ben her phone number, and Ben gave her his. Ben finally got comfortable talking to her, and even asked her out to dinner next week, to which, she accepted. When she said yes, Ben fainted.

The party was a huge success, and all the committee members got a bonus in their next paycheck. Nick knew how he would spend his. When Nick got his bonus, he went to the Savannah Central Mall. He entered the large glass doors, and saw the huge crowd in the mall. Nick suddenly felt very small. Nick shook it off and went to the jewelry store. He looked around, but couldn't find anything that he thought Judy would just love, So Nick went to the electronics store. Nick looked around and saw the tablet that Judy had always wanted on sale. Nick grabbed one and began walking to the checkout. While he was walking, he saw a toy robot. There was a sign that said it could interact with other robots. Nick had a fun idea. He pulled his paw cover off and waved his left hand in front of the robot. The robot turned on and saw it. "How are you doing, fellow robot?" asked the robot. "I'm doing fine," Nick said in a monotone voice. "You're voice needs an upgrade," the robot said. Nick laughed and stuffed his paw cover in his coat pocket and continued walking to the checkouts. Nick was holding the tablet with his left paw, and set it up on the counter. The cashier was a young college age vixen. When she saw Nick's hand, she screamed and dropped her phone. "What's wrong with your paw?" She yelled. Nick smirked and pulled his sleeve up a little to show her it was a prosthetic. She calmed down a little and scanned the tablet. "An accident at work. At least they gave me this cool new paw," Nick said. Nick and the cashier were the only ones in the store. "What do you do? What happened?" Nick pulled his wallet out and took his credit card out and his badge and handed both to the vixen. "Officer Nick Wilde, ZPD," Nick said, taking the badge back. "Oh, yeah! I saw you on tv two years ago! There was that hostage thing and they said you lost a few fingers," the vixen said. "There was a second attack and I lost the rest of my paw," Nick said, holding his paw up. Nick pulled the cover out of his pocket and put it back on. Nick grabbed the bag with the tablet and put it in his backpack. He walked out the store and back to his car. He went back home and Judy wasn't there. Nick went into the bedroom and wrapped the tablet and hid it in his nightstand. Just after he sat down on the couch, Judy walked in the door. "Hey, Carrots! How have you been today?" Nick said as she walked in. "Good. I've been out shopping for all of the family." Nick suddenly remembered that he was going to do shopping for the rest of the family too. "Could you put on the gifts that they're from both of us?" Nick asked. "That's what I was going to do, Nick." Nick continued watching tv, while Judy wrapped the presents. Judy came back out an hour later and sat next to Nick. Nick kissed her on the cheek when she sat down and she smiled. Nick laid his tail on Judy's lap. Judy grabbed it, hugged it, and snuggled it. "You like my tail, don't you?" Nick said, smirking. "Yes. I do so very much!" Judy said, still hugging his tail. "It's time for bed, Carrots," Nick said, standing up. Judy followed him into the bedroom.

Author's Note:

The part in the store where Nick took the prosthetic cover off was just a preview of what I'll start doing more often. I like to play around with little things like that. You can expect me to play around with the fact that Nick has a prosthetic throughout the story. (And beyond!)