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I'm not sure who first observed you can't choose your family. The fact has been known for a long time. There are choices allowed to you, but the family into which you're born in not one of them. No choice in our genetic makeup... At least not yet. On the other hand, you can pick your friends. And you can pick your nose. But you shouldn't pick your friend's nose.

You Don't Choose Your Family

Susan looked around as they waited to board the train. "I thought your hamster friend was coming. Is he going to ride in the small compartment or something? I have some med school questions to ask him."

"He couldn't make it," explained Nick. "The danger of making yourself irreplaceable. He got called in for some autopsy the department said couldn't wait. You may face it yourself if you become a doctor. Me? I am so replaceable the captain is glad to give me time off. It was harder to spring Judy, but I convinced him it was the only way to get rid of me for a week."

Judy rolled her eyes, "False modesty does not become you."

The fox chuckled and shrugged, "When you're as great as I am false modesty is all you can afford." As they boarded the train he told Susan, "I can give you his number if you need to talk with Doc Wheeler."

"I'm not sure I need to talk with him," Judy's sister answered. "I just figured if he was here I'd ask about classes I should be taking now to look better when I apply for medical college." As they settled into a passenger car she had another question, "So how long 'til we arrive?" Why did you call Bitter Root a ghost town? No one lives there? Why would the train stop in a ghost town? I don't believe in–"

"Goat town," Nick explained. "Goat town. In the days when most towns were single species there were just goats there. It's still the dominant species."

"And I don't understand why you're getting married in the middle of nowhere! Mom will–"

"And your job, when you get back to Zootopia, is to call Bonnie and tell her that there were simply too many friends to invite. We didn't want a large wedding, and there was no way we could have a small wedding. If you invited animal W then animals X, Y, and Z would all have their feelings hurt if we didn't invite them. So it was just easier to get married without inviting anyone. No one has to feel we liked someone else more because one animal was invited and another wasn't."

"And, officially, you're here as my witness, not here because you're family," Judy reminded her sister

"And we explained that we need to keep this low key because of police department regulations," Nick added.

"Don't let 'em kid you," Finnick told her, "Nick never cared for police rules. They're keeping it low key because Nick is ashamed to be marrying a rabbit."

"How many witnesses do you need for a wedding in Bitter Root?" asked Mirage. "I could toss short stack here out the window for that comment if you want."

"Thank you for the offer," responded Judy, "but I'm taking Nick for better or for worse, and I have Finnick in the worse column."

Mirage sighed and addressed Susan, "Finnick is jealous of Judy. The only time he was able to turn a credit and keep it was when he was working with Nick. When Nick fell for your sister–"

"I ain't jealous of no rabbit," snarled the fennec. "But working with Nick was a hell of a lot better than working for a slave driver like–"

"Before you finish that thought," Mirage told him, "remember, I have the return tickets in my pocket." She patted her travel vest. "So, unless you plan on running behind the train on your stubby little legs while Susan and I ride in comfort you'll keep your thoughts to yourself."

"As soon as I pay off my debt," Finnick muttered.

"Once you get your debt paid off you can negotiate a raise if you want to stay on as my roadie, but you pay off the gambling debts first."

Finnick lapsed into silence.

Nick glanced at his watch as they stepped onto the platform at the Bitter Root station, "We need to move, supposed to be at the city clerk's office at one."

Susan and Finick signed the certificate before the brief ceremony. The younger rabbit raised an eyebrow, "Judy? It says you're keeping the name Hopps. You're not taking his name?"

"His idea."

"His idea for you to stay Hopps? Really?"

"Why so surprised," asked Nick. "Judy Hopps is famous. No one's heard of Judy Wilde. It's just not a rabbit name."

"Probably doesn't want anyone to know he's married to–" Finnick began to say. He saw Mirage pat the pocket holding the return tickets and closed his mouth. The feline smiled that he took the hint.

"... I now pronounce you wed," the clerk told the pair and added her own signature to the certificate before rolling it up and putting it into a stiff cardboard tube. "This needs to be filed at the municipality in which you will reside within... It's usually thirty days, but it can vary. You said Zootopia?"

"Yep," Nick nodded.

She started to hand him the tube, but Judy grabbed it. "Not that I distrust you," she assured Nick.

"Of course not."

Nick and Judy treated friends and family to lunch after the ceremony. The best restaurant in town might have been a third-rate diner in Zootopia, but it was the best the town had to offer.

"Really," Susan demanded, poking an unpleasant looking something on her plate with a fork, "the clerk said this was the best place in town to eat?"

"You heard her," Judy reminded her sister.

"They have a McGuffins," added Nick. "Josh recommends it highly."

"We eat at too many McGuffins when we're out on the road," Mirage told him. "But under the circumstances it does sound tempting. Maybe you need to be a goat to appreciate this."

"Or a ghost," suggested Nick.

"This might kill me," Suze complained.

Before the fox and rabbit left on the three o'clock to Plainview Finnick drew Judy aside for a minute.

"Yes," she asked, when he seemed to have trouble framing his thoughts.

"Uh, keep Nick happy," he finally managed in a gruff tone. "Best friend I ever had."

"I'll do my best," she promised. "How much longer until you're out of debt to Mirage?"

"If current rate of tours keeps up, maybe six months. I'm never going into hock again."

"Want to bet?"

"Not funny, bunny."

"Sorry, but I'm glad Mirage likes the job you're doing."

"Did she say that?"

"You heard her, she said ask for a raise after you're out of debt."

The fennec brightened slightly and managed a grin, "Yeah, she said that, didn't she."

Nick and Judy's train had barely left the station when Nick's phone rang.

"Uh-oh," was Judy's opinion. "Someone forgot something."

"Nope," Nick told her, checking caller ID. "Hey, wassup?"

"You and the rabbit now married?"

"Yep, and she seems wildly happy with the fact."

"You do too," whispered Judy, wondering who the call was from, but assuming the question had been about the marriage.

"Her sister was sorry you weren't here. She had some questions about classes to take to make her look better for medical college." Nick's comment told Judy that Doc Wheeler carried the other end of the conversation.

"Tell her to call me."

"Already did. How'd the autopsy go?"

"Lousy. You can find evidence of murder, but how do you prove an accident? The fact his wife just upped the insurance on his life two hundred and fifty thousand suggests murder, but it's too circumstantial. Accidents happen – especially to do-it-yourself electricians who climb up metal ladders to try and repair a power line."

"Ouch."

"So, I've sent blood and some organs to the toxicology lab for full spectrum analysis for anything, but cause of death will be blunt force trauma, origin uncertain, if they don't come up with anything concrete. The trauma is consistent with a fall, or someone who knows how to fake a fall."

"Well, if that's all..."

The hamster laughed, "Would love to chat for another hour, but I've got plans for tonight and your wife would never forgive me. I just wanted to say congratulations. See you eventually."

"Sounds like the autopsy didn't go well," Judy commented after Nick hung up.

"He'd have rather been with us. How do you prove if an accident is really an accident or a cleverly disguised murder."

"Was it wearing sunglasses and a big, floppy hat?"

"Was what wearing sunglasses and a big, floppy hat?"

"The accident. If it was wearing sunglasses and a big, floppy hat maybe it was a murder in a clever disguise," giggled Judy.

Nick rolled his eyes. "That hardly sounds like a clever disguise. Doc would see through it in a minute. You're in a silly mood."

"No I'm not," she assured him, jumping onto his lap and rubbing her nose against his. "I'm in a happy mood. Tonight I'm making love to my husband."

His arms went around her, "And tonight I'm making love to my own wife, as opposed to someone else's."

"Do you have to kill the mood?" demanded Judy.

"Sorry, if I spend the next fifteen minutes kissing you, will you forgive me?" he asked, and kissed her.

When the kiss ended she smiled, "Definitely!" And they resumed kissing.

At a cough from the conductor Nick produced their tickets and Judy got off his lap and sat beside him. Nick put an arm around her as she leaned against him.

"Oh... Wow," the rabbit suddenly proclaimed. "We haven't talked at all about where we're going to live or anything!"

"I assumed I was moving to your apartment. We might finally get rid of some of the old furniture you inherited when you moved in and buy our own."

"Your record collection! Are we going to move the records into the spare bedroom?"

"I'm not entirely sure. My immediate plan is not to give up my apartment."

"You don't sound very confident about our marriage."

He kissed the top of her head. "I'm feeling very confident about us. But right now I don't want to move my records. I'm thinking I can sublet my apartment if I find someone trustworthy. I'll make it cheap as long as he lets me keep my records there for awhile."

"Or she."

"She?"

"You think females can't be trustworthy?"

"Ernie is male."

"You've already worked it out, and didn't tell me!"

"You've been busy with your report. It's my record collection and apartment, so it's my responsibility and that's why I started making plans."

"So your apartment is empty for a month or so until he graduates from the academy? When do you decide what to do with the record collection?"

"They whole point in a sublet to Ernie would be flexibility... Nothing definite yet. I am kind of assuming he'll be assigned to a precinct that's not too far away."

Judy smiled, "I'll bet the former mayor, who appointed the new police commissioner, could get him assigned anywhere he wanted. We could use him at the First."

"A lot of precincts are begging for short officers. And I don't want to call in too many favors. The Fifth is quiet, and it might be a good fit, but it would be a trek from my place. Fourth would probably be the best fit. I feel like Kane would help show him the ropes."

"And you've already talked with Detective Kane, haven't you?"

"You seem awfully sure I–"

"I told you, you think things through, sometimes too much, before you tell me."

"Is there anything wrong with what I'm thinking?"

"No, it sounds perfect. I'm just saying I'd like to be asked for an opinion sometimes."

"Then I promise to faithfully ask for your opinion, sometimes."

"You spent way too much time single. You have no idea how to treat a wife."

"Of course, if I'd gotten married I might still be married to that vixen, and wouldn't have been available for you to trap. I prefer to think I avoided the bad first marriage and got the trophy wife the first time around."

Judy chuckled and snuggled closer.

There were no stops between Bitter Root and Plainview, and the track fairly level and straight. Nick looked at his watch as he put bags in the trunk of the rental car. "Might be there closer to six than seven, if we don't get stuck behind some tractor."

Two cars were parked on the street in front of the Meadows home when Nick pulled up. A vixen, about Nick's age, sat on the porch reading. She looked up at the sound of Nick parking, then stood and yelled in the doorway, "I think they're here," before heading down the steps towards the rental car. "Nick?"

"Coral?"

"It's been how many years?"

"Too many," laughed Nick.

"And, context suggests this is Judy," observed the vixen, looking at Judy.

"Nailed it in one," agreed Nick. "Judy, this is Uncle Charlie's daughter, Coral. If memory serves she's a realtor."

"That hasn't changed. And if you're curious, but too polite to ask, still single. But I've been dating someone with potential the last couple months."

"No one has ever accused Nick of being too polite."

"Something else that hasn't changed," laughed Coral.

"Well, if you need any advice on catching him, tying him down, and putting your brand on him, Judy is the one to ask."

Judy spoke in her own defense, "Eleanor is so nice. I don't know what went wrong with Nick."

"The whole family asks that question," Coral sighed. "It may just be the males of the family. Aunt Ellie and I are perfectly normal. You've met my dad... But Nick is the worst."

"Worst what?" Eleanor asked. Nick's mother had come out to meet her son. She greeted Judy with a hug.

"Just talking about how insanity runs in the Meadows family," Coral explained. "I suggested it was limited to the males."

"Insanity is hereditary," Eleanor agreed. "We get it from our children. Chance is here too."

"Coral's older brother," Nick told the puzzled Judy.

"Just Chance. Left his family in Plainview," Coral told the couple. "He may have inherited some of Dad's prejudices. Not sure if he's told his wife and kids that Nick was getting married to a rabbit."

"Bad attitude for a banker."

"Anyone is encouraged to open an account. But if I dated a lynx he'd–"

"Are you coming in?" came a yell from the house. "We'll cut the cake without you if you don't come in now!"

"That sounds like our cue to go in," Nick told the females. "I could use some cake to take the taste of lunch out of my mouth."

"Not too much," Eleanor warned as they headed inside. "Don't spoil your appetite for dinner."

"Let me know what we're having first."

Coral gave Judy a look of sympathy. "I'm heading back in a hour. Can't help you with your male problem. I think that's Chance's plan too. We just came over to meet the new family member, and see what's happening in Fox Ridge." She glanced at Nick, "Dad gives you a heap of credit. Thanks. I haven't seen him this happy in years."

"We're going to be eating cake for a week," commented Nick on the size of the cake as he cut himself a second slice.

"Don't overdo," his mother reminded him. "And a few of the animals you met last time you were in town are stopping by." Noticing Judy's look of alarm she assured the bunny, "They won't stay long. That vixen, Pride, who's on the football team, said she'd stop by. I'm not certain, but she may ask you to work with the team this week."

"How're they doing?"

"They're in the district championship game. They beat a division two and a division one team in the playoffs. No one can remember the last time a division three school played for the championship."

Pride, aka Streak, arrived with two other players half an hour after Nick and Judy arrived. With her companions, another vixen and an armadillo, the vixen went straight for the bunny. "Can you come to the park tomorrow and help the team practice?"

"I'm flattered you asked, but I think I need permission from the coach. I don't want to go behind her, or his, back."

"We don't have a coach," the armadillo told her.

"We have Streak."

Judy looked skeptical.

"Ms Redpaw is having chemo and had to stop coaching. The school says Mister Prowler is supposed to be coaching us, but he just coaches the male team, those losers, and lets us do what we want."

"I'd still like to give your Mister Prowler a call if you–"

The second vixen whipped out her cell phone while Judy was talking. "Mister Prowler? Would you tell that rabbit Streak was talking about it's okay if she wants to work out with the team?" She then shoved the phone in Judy's direction."

"Two sound good to you?" Judy asked the trio after speaking with the coach.

The other two looked at Streak. When she nodded her head 'yes' they nodded yes in agreement.

Streak managed to get Judy to one side. "Some of the players think I'm too bossy. I want you to tell them they should listen to me."

"I really don't want to be judge on whether–"

"And I brought some game tapes," the vixen said, reaching a paw into her bag and pulling out some DVDs.

Judy sighed, "I'll try and give them a look tomorrow, okay?"

Eleanor managed to shoo well-wishers out by eight-thirty. Chance and Coral had left earlier, as predicted, so Judy and Nick sat down to a late dinner with his mother and uncle. Charles Meadows still seemed uncomfortable, but was in better control than on their first visit.

Uncle Charlie did much of the talking at the table, with the conversation focused on recent changes in Fox Ridge. Nick had predicted it would take years to make Fox Ridge an attractive destination, and saw no reason to modify his prediction. But if his uncle was right the town was showing more signs of renewal than Nick had dared hope. On the other hand, Nick reflected, his uncle might be overly optimistic in his assessment of any sort of signs of life.

Nick and Judy retired to a bedroom at the far end of the large house early that evening. They unpacked the little they brought, and Nick produced an envelope. "I have a gift," he told Judy.

She was clearly puzzled. "Do I have to guess, or you'll give it to me?"

He handed it over, "It's a negligee," he explained, handing it over.

Judy tore open the envelope. "You bought this for me? I don't think there is enough material here for night gown for a mouse."

"I never said it was gift for you," he grinned. "Seeing you in that will be a gift for me."

"You are an evil, evil fox, Mister Wilde," she told him, walking over to him and putting a paw on his chest. "Corrupting a poor, innocent rabbit." She pushed him gently in the direction of the bed. "I will have to punish you for that."

"So, how corrupt are you?" Nick leered.

"You'll see," she promised.

He put his arms around her and they fell back onto the bed. The gift would need to wait for another night.