A/N: I'd like to thank GhostWolf 88, PizzaSteve3902, ConfusedGoatee, Thou Craggy Knob, Stubat, RemyW, Guest, Cimar of Turalis-WildeHopps, DrummerMax64, Aninat131, Guest, JudyandNick, thecrazywriter14 and Tinbuzzard11 for their reviews of the last two updates! And to Zootopia News Network as well for featuring this story and the Pawcuffs on their site last week, I really appreciate that!

Savannah Central, Present Day:

"Tum te tum tum…"

Nick hummed pleasantly to himself as he crossed through the revolving doors of Precinct One the next morning. Judy had told him she was going in to work early instead of walking with him same as usual, which was fine by him because he supposed it meant she was trying to talk to other officers about the party before he arrived. It was only one more day to go now, and while he put up a cool and collected exterior, on the inside he was the most excited he had felt in ages; not since he was a kit had he looked forward to his birthday so much.

And the day was about to get better, for sitting at the front desk as usual was Clawhauser, munching on a jelly doughnut and talking to a familiar thin tiger who had his back to Nick: Tony Sanders, Nick's old classmate at the academy and someone Judy would likely have invited to the party. He and Nick worked different hours, with Tony working a more nocturnal schedule, but they still saw each other time to time; the tiger looked like he was nearing the end of his shift now. Both cheetah and tiger were speaking in what looked like hushed whispers, piquing Nick's interest further. He walked up to them without alerting them to his presence, and spoke up right behind the Tony's back:

"Morning boys, how's things?"

Both felines gave a little jump and turned to face Nick. "Oh, uh, good, things are good. What's up with you, Nick?" said Tony.

Nick inwardly smirked, deciding to play with their heads a little. "Well, as I'm sure Carrots told you, I'm having a birthday tomorrow."

Clawhauser perked up at that. "Oh yeah! She called me yesterday and invited to a dinner for you at Remy's Restaurant! No way I could say no – they got the best food in town!"

Nick processed this; it sounded like Judy and the cheetah had compared notes since yesterday. "And afterwards?" he asked, "Did she mention anything about, say, a party?"

Both Clawhauser and Sanders visibly stiffened.

"Nope, she said me this was just a dinner," Clawhauser said quickly, "And O-M-G, their desserts! They're always, always a surprise masterpiece!"

If that was an attempt at a deflection, Nick was not buying it. "You're getting the dessert? I thought you would have saved for when we got back to my mother's. She is making us cake, you know."

"Yeah, but I gotta have something at the restaurant or I'll just make a pig of myself at your mom's!"

"Hey, don't insult the pigs," said Nick. And then he turned to the tiger. "And what about you, Tony? I suppose you're conveniently busy tomorrow night?"

Tony took a minute to swallow the bite of doughnut he was eating. "Well, yeah, I'm on with McHorn tomorrow night, same as always."

"Suuure." Said Nick.

"I'm serious, just look at the schedule!" Sanders grabbed a sheet of paper from Clawhauser's desk and held it in front of Nick's nose. "See, McHorn and Sanders, 4 PM to 2 AM shift. If there is a party, I can't make it, sorry."

Nick scanned the paper. It seemed the real deal at a glance, he could see all the usual names and times on it, but then he spotted a couple of details that made him smirk in triumph and tap a hole through the paper with a claw:

"Waiiitaminit – this isn't a real schedule! It's dated last week, and there are none of the usual pencil marks in the margins!" Nick batted the paper away and faced the tiger with his paws on his hips. "Why Anthony Burton Sanders, you are in league with the rabbit!"

The tiger looked furious with himself, and opened and closed his mouth a couple times as if trying to spout out a denial, before he sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I'll level with you: she did have a surprise party planned for tomorrow night, but then she found out you found out and changed it to just a dinner instead."

"Then why give me the fake schedule? Last I heard you weren't on the dinner invite list."

"She…gave that to me days ago, when the party was still on. I must have picked up the wrong schedule, hold on-"

"Nice try, pal. I overheard her discussing those plans with someone else, and she specifically said she was setting up this dinner just to try and outfox me."

"No, I'm telling you, it's true! Why would she try to throw you a surprise party now when she knows you'll see it coming?"

"C'mon, Carrots and I have been playing these hustling games since the day we met! Trying to pretend this is a little dinner when it's actually a surprise party is just the kind of thing she would do, and your phony little alibi proves it! I know there's a party. She knows I know there's a party. I know that she knows that I know there's a party. But she doesn't know that I know that she knows that I know! The double-reverse-half-truths-check-and-mate gambit, as they call it in chess."

Clawhauser and Sanders looked at Nick like he had grown a third ear. "Ben…" said Tony, holding up the maple-glazed he was eating, "Just how much sugar is in these doughnuts? Because I think they're giving me auditory hallucinations." He whipped out a new schedule sheet and showed it to Nick: "See? Schedule dated this week, the usual pencil marks, and I really am in for tomorrow at four! I tried to get it off but the chief wouldn't allow it."

But Nick was having none of it. "Again, nice try pal. But nossir, some evening in the near future there is going to be a surprise party, and I will NOT be surprised. But don't worry, you just don't tell Carrots I know, and I won't tell her either."

Just then, the trio saw Chief Bogo enter the lobby, carrying a stack of case files under his arm and wearing his usual surly expression.

"Now you two watch this," said Nick, "If my calculations are correct, Chief Buffalo Butt will either have accepted Carrots' invitation, or he will have declined."

"Brilliant deduction." Said Clawhauser.

Nick ignored that as he strode up to the Cape buffalo. "Morning Chief, you got a minute?"

The chief paused where he was and glared down at Nick impatiently. "What is it, Wilde?"

Nick shrugged off the buffalo's stern look. "Well, I don't know if Carr – Officer Hopps told you, but I'm having a birthday tomorrow."

"So?" Bogo asked.

"Oh nothin', I was just wondering if she had invited you to the party."

Bogo gave a snort of derision. "I am sorry Wilde, but I make it a point not to get too involved in my officers' personal lives. As your commanding officer a certain amount of professionalism is required. You will get a few words of congratulations from me, but that is it. Whatever is going on, rest assured I will not be coming."

And without another word he turned hoof and left, marching towards the bullpen.

Nick shrugged. "Oh well, guess he declined then. I better get going, see you guys later!" And he took off after Bogo.

Once Nick was gone, Clawhauser raised his eyebrows at the tiger. "'Burton'?"

"It's a family name." Tony growled.

"Hmph."

Ten minutes later Nick sat at his desk, regarding the stack of unfinished paperwork before him with great disdain. He had gone to the bullpen expecting to be assigned to join Judy or go out on his own, but instead Bogo had assigned him to desk duty until she returned. His gut still wanted to say Judy's strange absence was party-related, but if the chief himself had acknowledged her early start he wasn't so sure.

It seemed as good a time as any for Nick to try probing some more about the party situation. Knowing better than to try questioning Flash the sloth over the phone he decided to try somebody who he knew would not be at work at nine in the morning. Digging out his cell, he selected a certain contact and put the phone up to his ear. There was a long wait at the other end, and then:

"WHAT?" grumbled the groggy voice of Finnick on the other end.

"And a good morning to you too Buddy," said Nick. "Listen, I just wanted to ask you: Has Carrots talked to you lately? About, say, a certain party?"

Finnick gave an irate groan at the other end, and Nick heard some shifting and creaking noises as if the fennec was changing position; clearly Nick had just woken him up.

"Yeah, last week she called and said something about some dumb surprise party, I said sure, then last night she calls me again and says it's just some dinner now. I said sure again. Is that all?"

"Did she happen to mention that was all just a ruse and there's a party after all?"

There was a slight pause which did not go unnoticed by Nick, and then Finnick answered: "No, she just said it was dinner at Remy's Restaurant and then back to your mama's for some cake."

"Where there will be people waiting to jump up and yell surprise the minute we walk in the door, yes, I am aware of how this is going to go," said Nick, smiling at the mental confirmation.

"If that's how it's going, the rabbit didn't say. But whatever it is, there's a free meal in there somewhere so I'm coming. Just don't expect any big presents."

"Aww, just your presence is enough, Big Guy."

"And speaking of presents," said Finnick, "Thanks again for that photo-op with you in the toot-toot costume. I got a picture of you in it taped to the roof of my van, it's now the first thing I see when I wake up."

"Awww, you mean I've replaced that old pinup of Pamela Antlerson? Gee, I'm flattered."

The slew of angry swear words that greeted his ears after that prompted Nick to hang up with a cheeky grin.

The rest of the day was fairly routine, with Judy returning to the precinct around eleven and her and Nick going off on patrol after that, catching three speeders and investigating a robbery throughout the rest of the day. Judy had acted unusually sheepish around him most of the afternoon, and Nick suspected this was due to her being nervous that he might question her about the party again. But true to his word to Clawhauser and Sanders he never brought up the subject, and by the end of their shift the rabbit was starting to act like her normal self again. However, when Nick had suggested they have dinner together after work she had gone straight back into nervous mode, stammering that she 'had other plans'. Knowing full well what she meant Nick had shrugged it off and bidden her goodnight, same as usual. He spent the evening by himself eating dinner and watching a new series on FurFlix, and it wasn't until he was getting ready for bed that he finally got the call he had been anticipating since yesterday:

"Hello, Nicky?"

"Mom! Hi, how have you been? I thought you were going to call me yesterday."

"Sorry Sweetie, it was harder to get that reservation at Remy's than I thought, but I did it! We're officially booked in for their best table at six."

Nick mentally put two and two together and realized his mom must have had to change her reservation plans due to his meddling yesterday. He felt a twinge of guilt.

"So, have you talked to Carrots lately?" he asked.

"Judy? Oh yes, she called me last week concerning your birthday. Color me surprised when she said you had never told her when your birthday was."

"Uh, the right moment never came up." Nick muttered.

"Uh-huh. Anyway, we talked it over, and she suggested instead of it being just you and me for dinner she and some of your friends would surprise you by joining us at the restaurant. I agreed."

"Surprise us at the restaurant? Don't you mean at, say, your place?"

There was a slight pause, and then Mrs. Wilde replied, "Of course not."

This ticked Nick's mental box.

"A-HA! Nice try, Mom! Ho-ho, Carrots, you're good, but you're not that good!"

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Wilde asked.

"I'm sorry Mom, but I know there's going to be people waiting at your apartment when we get back. I know you and Carrots have been planning a surprise party for me."

His mother didn't speak again for a minute, but when she did, it was with a cold harshness he hadn't heard her use in many years. "I am afraid we're not now, Nicky. But if we were, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

Nick felt a stone drop in his stomach at his mother's scolding.

"Judy went to a lot of trouble to set this all up for you, and here you are trying to ruin it! In fact, you did! Because of you, we've had to change everything! Whatever you found out, whenever you found out, the least you could have done was keep your mouth shut and just let it happen!"

Nick hung his head in shame. She was right. Judy had gone to a lot of trouble just to do something nice for him, and how had he repaid her? By trying to make it more difficult for her in the name of some mind game. That twinge of guilt from earlier turned into a full-on punch.

"I'm sorry Mom, you're right. Look, tell Judy I don't know, okay? In fact, tell her you convinced me there was no party, and I'll go along with it. When it happens, I'll be the most surprised fox you've ever seen. The pinnacle of shock and awe, I promise."

"You swear?" Mrs. Wilde asked, sounding to sound like her usual self again.

"Yes, I swear, fox's honor."

"Good, I'll tell her that then. In fact, I'll call her and tell her right now. Goodnight Sweetie, see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Mom. And thank you."

Nick hung up with a sigh, and then decided to check his e-mail before turning in. Laying back on his cot he opened the app and saw two new messages: the first was from Chief Bogo addressed to all officers, declaring that there was another early briefing in the morning and everyone was to arrive an hour earlier than scheduled. That one made him groan, but then the address on the other e-mail perked him up instantly: Sven at SJTalent dot com.

Smirking to himself as he read the message, Nick typed out a quick response:

Great, I'll send him your way as soon as I find him again. Thanks Buddy, I owe you one.

Then after resetting the alarm on his phone and setting it down on the nightstand, Nick turned off the lamp and buried his head into his pillow, sighing in contentment. Tomorrow was another early start, but for once he didn't care. It was his birthday, and for the first time ever he was going to have a party. He could hardly wait to see the bright smile on Carrots' face when everyone yelled surprise and he played the most flabbergasted fox anyone had ever seen.