Once they were back at Judy's, they helped set up the barbeque on a massive patch of grass behind the house. Nick had immensely underestimated the scale of the dinner, though. This was apparently a tradition; a huge barbeque was held before the family started helping with festival preparations, which meant that nearly the entire family was attending.
The fox stayed with Judy because he had a lot of trouble navigating the expansive structure of rooms and halls that was built underneath the main building. Most of the Hopps residence was underground, with only the main entrance being on the surface. Everything else, including the enormous kitchen and eating area, the huge laundry room, and the hundreds and hundreds of rooms for the bunnies themselves, had to be accessed via staircases and hallways leading from the entrance room. Judy told Nick that one of her brothers who was good at designing and art - he helped Gideon with making his business logo and the design that was his truck - was in the process of making a map of the house. Until it was finished, though, Nick didn't trust himself to successfully navigate the labyrinth on his own.
The two made constant trips from the kitchen to the grass area, then back down to the storage room to get plastic chairs and fold-out tables, then up to the grass area again. It took almost an hour and a half to get everything set up, and that was with the help of mostly all of the older siblings that weren't cooking and preparing food.
Once everything was ready, Nick realised why such a large space was needed. There were hundreds of chairs and nearly as many tables spread out on the grass. Four grills were roasting up the vegetables, and dozens of tables had utensils, plates, bowls, and napkins, while others had other food and beverages, including fresh fruit and veggies, baked beans, salad and toppings, sandwiches, and potatoes and greens, which Nick made sure to stay away from.
As the fox was getting fruit, he was surprised at the arrival of Gideon, pushing a cart with several pies on it across the grass. It seemed that he was pretty popular among the younger siblings, who all greeted him enthusiastically. Apparently his pies were a big hit.
He laid them out on an empty table, then went back to his truck for another cart, repeating the process two or three more times. Nick was amazed at how many pies the baker had made just for this dinner.
"He makes all of those by himself?" Nick asked Judy, who was putting toppings on her salad.
"Yep. He started making those a few days ago; he knew that twelve weren't going to be enough." she replied, glancing over at Gideon, who was setting the last of the two dozen pies on a table. Nick watched for a moment, impressed, then went back to filling his plate.
Once he was finished, he sat down at a table next to Judy. He started eating, sampling the roasted carrots first. He liked them, but not as much as the corn. He was finishing off a half of a sandwich that he had taken from Judy's plate when Gideon sat down across from them, his plate filled with mostly fruits and vegetables.
"Hi, Gideon!" Judy greeted him, Nick unable to do the same with a mouthful of food.
"Heya, Judy. Hi, Nick." Gideon replied, smiling at the two of them.
"Thanks for bringing the pies, they look delicious!"
"No problem! 'Fraid I'm gonna have to get more ingredients, though; I'm runnin' low." said Gideon before he started eating.
"Well, I think my dad's going to pay you for the catering, so that'll help, I'm sure."
The taller fox looked up and swallowed, a slight expression of confusion on his face.
"He is..?" he asked, glancing at Stu, who was eating with Bonnie and a few of the older siblings. "He don't have to do that..."
"Just think of it as payment for an order. Besides, it would make him feel better."
Nick was finally done eating the sandwich half, wiping his muzzle with a napkin before joining the conversation.
"How long does it take you to make those pies?" he asked, curious.
"Oh, not that long, a fair bit less than an hour each. I'm used to it, so I can make 'em faster now." the other fox replied, looking at Nick with a slightly proud smile.
There went that odd feeling in his stomach again. It was a bit stronger than it was the day previous, though, which concerned Nick. He decided to ignore it again.
"You're selling them at your booth, right?" he then asked.
Gideon nodded. "I gotta get up early t' help with settin' up, an' stay up late to bake, and I need ta bake a lot."
"We could help, if you want?" Judy offered.
"Thank ya, but I think I'm fine for now."
"How many pies do you have to make?" Nick asked.
"Around a hundred. Most I've ever made." Gideon replied, his ears flicking a bit.
"One hundred?!" Nick exclaimed, surprised. "You're selling that many?"
The other fox shook his head. "Nah, I'm makin' some for the pie-eatin' contest, too."
"There's a pie-eating contest?" he asked, his ears perking up a little. He then got a mental image of bunnies scarfing down pies nearly half the size of their bodies and he couldn't help but let out a snicker.
Gideon chuckled and the feeling in Nick's stomach got a lot stronger for a few seconds, his tail flicking a bit.
"Yeah, it's quite funny t' watch. Some of 'em can put those pies away fast, though." the taller fox said, grinning. "Personally, I think Judy should give it a go."
Gideon looked over at the bunny as Nick snickered again, an unamused look on Judy's face.
"You should enter this year, Carrots. You love food!" Nick then teased, smirking.
"Says the one who ate three large pizzas in a single sitting."
Gideon started laughing and it was Nick's turn to scowl.
"Carrots, you and I both know that I was extremely hungry and that was a really good restaurant."
"And what about the time when you polished off two bowls of pasta, a salad, and a shake before that huge blueberry sundae?" she asked, smirking up at the shorter fox.
"... I have a right to remain silent, officer." Nick grumbled, his ears flattening as Gideon's hearty laugh got louder.
After around three hours, everyone started to help clean up, throwing away their plates and starting to bring in any leftover food. Judy made sure to save half of a blueberry pie since Nick was too full to try any. The two of them and Gideon helped bring in the chairs and tables, then assisted a little with washing the pots and pans and cooking utensils. Everyone was rather tired after everything had been cleaned up, so, after saying goodbye to Gideon, Nick and Judy went back to Judy's room to sleep.
Nick sighed contentedly as he cuddled up with his partner, nuzzling her softly.
"Mm... We're getting up early tomorrow." the bunny informed him sleepily. "Don't worry, my dad'll have coffee made by then.." she then added in response to Nick's unenthusiastic grunt.
"You're gonna have to wake me up." he mumbled.
"I will, you sleepy fox." she said, smiling up at him.
He smiled gently back, looking at her as she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. He then felt that strange feeling again, and his smile disappeared.
The fox was very confused. Why did he keep feeling this, and what was causing it? He tried to find something in common between the times he'd felt the odd sensation, but he couldn't make any connections. Eventually, he pushed it from his mind and fell asleep, resting his muzzle between Judy's ears.
The next morning, Judy woke him up around four. He stumbled through the process of getting ready, not used to getting up this early at all. After he had gotten showered and dressed, he trudged along after the bunny, following her to the kitchen, where coffee was waiting for him. The drink helped, and he was nearly fully awake by the time they were riding in Stu's truck bed to the festival grounds, Judy cuddled close to him because of how cold it was. They finally arrived and saw that Gideon's truck was already there. The baker was setting up his booth when the three of them approached, carrying supplies for their own booth.
"Hey, y'all." Gideon said, looking back at them with a smile.
"Hi, Gideon." Judy replied, smiling in return as Stu started sorting through the supplies. "Have a good sleep?"
"Yep. Did you two?" he asked.
"Yep!" the bunny responded as Nick nodded.
They started to put together the small tent, hammering stakes into the ground and putting the supporting poles together. Once that was done, Nick helped Stu set up the table while Judy hung up the 'Hopps Family Farm' sign. As it started to get later in the morning, more mammals started to arrive and begin setting up their booths or putting up decorations. Nick had never seen so many carrot-shaped things in one place before.
When he wasn't helping Judy and Stu, Nick found himself watching Gideon. For some reason, he couldn't help it. The taller fox was setting up his tent by himself, having a bit of trouble with the instructions. He didn't ask for help, though, seemingly determined to do it on his own. As Nick was gazing at Gideon, he didn't notice Judy watching him.
"Nick?"
"Yeah?" he responded, pulling his eyes from the fox and looking around at the bunny, who came over to his side.
"Are you doing okay?" she asked.
Nick was confused at first, but then noticed that his tail was lowered and his ears were a bit drooped.
"Yep. Anything I can help with?" he replied, quickly perking his ears and tail back up and changing the subject, realising that Judy must've seen him staring and noticed his abnormal behavior.
"..Yeah. Would you like to help set up in the barn?"
"Sure."
If Judy had seen, she wasn't mentioning it.
They set off, walking down the path leading to the barn, which was situated near the entrance of the grounds.
"You still need to show me that video of the talent show, Carrots." Nick commented, smirking.
"No."
"Hm. Well, I'm sure one of your parents would love to show me, then."
"Why do you want to see it so bad?" the bunny asked, glancing at him.
"Why don't you want me to see it?" he asked in reply, glancing back.
"Because you'll make fun of me."
"Carrots, we both know that if I had a video of me in a talent show when I was nine, you'd want to see it and make fun of me for it, too."
Judy didn't argue with him on that.