The next day when Judy showed up for work Nick was already there. He was chatting casually with with some of the other officers. Judy considered approaching them, but instead she ducked straight into the bullpen.

Nick and Judy usually sat together in the same giant chair but this time Nick sat directly behind her in the second row instead. She squirmed at the thought of Nick staring at the back of her head. Assignments were handed out by the chief and Nick and Judy left for the garage to get their cruiser.

"You wanna drive?" Judy offered hoping to start things off right. However his usual happy aloof expression hardened and he have her a cold glare. He ripped the keys from her hand wordlessly and stepped into the car.

The two animals drove in silence for quite some time before Judy tried to start a conversation with Nick but he simply stared down the road without acknowledging her. She tried to talk to Nick several more times but each time failed to get a response. He did speak to her when they made a traffic violation stop and when she asked about his cold shoulder he merely accused her of being unprofessional by dragging personal matters in to work. The rest of the day dragged on in similar fashion and Judy grew less willing to bury the hatchet. The two animals came to a silent agreement that they would only speak to each other when their job depended on it.

It wasn't until they returned to headquarters that Judy tried calling Nick out for giving her the cold shoulder but his only response was that he had no idea what she was talking about and then accused her of being an over emotional bunny.

"Maybe this isn't the career for you if you're going to take offence to every little gesture carrots. It's a tough world, maybe too tough for a cute little bunny."

Judy grew angry at her lover. She hated how he only acted cold towards her but laughed and joked with other animals.

By the end of the shift she was walking home alone for the second time since Nick began working at the ZPD.

The next day roles reversed. Nick had wondered if he took his revenge plot too far after he was blatantly snubbed by the little bunny, but now she wasn't ready to forgive him. They two continued their pattern of speaking only when they had to for work but the bunny was less capable of playing the cold shoulder and she found herself arguing with the large fox.

The next day continued like the first two, as did the day after that.

On the fifth day the two animals were clocking in their 78th hour of the work week when Nick randomly pulled the cruiser over to the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" Judy asked grumpily.

Nick sighed, "Judy, I'm tired."

"No shit, we've been working 12 hours a day every day this week and everyday last week. Suck it up fox."

Nick rubbed his face. "That's not what I mean. I'm talking about us, about what we are doing. I can't even remember why we are still fighting."

Judy sighed and relaxed a little, "I don't know either, it's been so long."

"We used to be friends, and now we're not. I miss that," Nick looked over to his partner. "I miss hanging out. I miss you. I miss being with you."

"Oh God Nick," Judy rolled her eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that, although I do miss that too. I just don't know what we need to do to get past this."

"Well for starters you could apologize for baring your teeth at me! And then again for being an ass."

"Come on, you can't say that you've been completely blameless in this. You've been all over the place for weeks. I don't know how to make you happy anymore."

"What a male excuse!" The little bunny barked.

"Damn it Judy. I don't want to fight anymore! I just want my happy girlfriend back."

"Well maybe I don't want to be your girlfriend anymore!" Judy's paw shot over her mouth at the realization of what she just said.

Nick was stunned. "Wow. Ok, so are you really breaking up with me?"

Judy could feel the tears well up in her eyes. They fell as she closed her lids. She didn't even bother hiding them. She took in a large breath. "I don't know Nick. Everything has been so stressful with Bellwether on the loose and we've been working so much and then the fight. I feel like I'm always tired but I can't sleep. My stomach hurts all the time and my head feels like everything is constantly spinning."

Nick nodded, he had been feeling the same, more or less. Without judy, Nick had begun to destress by drinking copious amount of beer. He could barely get up some mornings.

"It's all too much for me. I think," Judy spoke slowly, the plan forming as she spoke, "I think I might go back home this weekend. I need to clear my head. I need to get out of this city."

"And then what?" Nick asked sadly, afraid of the answer.

"I don't know. Maybe you do what you can to relax this weekend too. Try to forget about me for a little while and when we come back we'll see what we should do from there."

Judy looked up to her partner to find his eyes were just as glassy as hers.

"I don't want to lose you."

"I'll come back, just maybe, we've been spending too much time together? Maybe we are just too different to be anything more than friends? I don't know but I will come back." Judy reached over and gave Nick's paw a squeeze.

Two fat tears rolled down Nick's cheek and he nodded. The tone of Judy's voice was hopeful, but Nick couldn't shake the fear that no matter how the weekend ended, the Wilde-Hopps duo was through romantically.

Nick pulled the cruiser back into traffic and Judy sent her mother a quick text to let her know she was coming. They finished their shift and Nick walked Judy to her apartment to pack and then to the train station. Nick took Judy's hand as they waited for the train, the entire time his heart was breaking. She gave him a friendly squeeze before she withdrew and boarded the train.

Judy normally loved the view from the train as it soared through the various districts but today she sat on the train, completely numb. She arrived to the burrows after dark. Her brother Max was the only waiting at the station for her. He could sense her sadness but he was never good at comforting people so the two rabbits drove to the Hopps homestead in silence.

When they arrived Judy tried to give her usual perky greeting to all her family, but she was just too tired and at the first opportunity she sneaked off to her room and fell fast asleep amongst the blamkets and stuffed animals.

Judy slept through the entire morning and past lunch. When she woke the house was quiet. Her parents and all the older siblings were probably busy in the fields, finishing the harvest and preparing the fields for winter.

Judy wandered to the kitchen to make a sandwich, her stomach was still bothering her. She could see on the back porch her older sister Jenny was sitting and watching the little bunnies with Jill.

"Jill, how'd you get out of working?" Judy asked with a mouth full of bread.

"Oh, you're awake! I was starting to think you died down there," Jill called excitedly. In her lap was a tiny baby bunny.

"Aww, Jenny are these your new babies? They're so cute!" Judy scooped up a baby bunny and stroked its soft new fur. The feeling was very therapeutic.

"Hey Judy. What brings you around?" Jenny asked rocking one of the babies to sleep.

"Life just got really stressful and I needed a break. I put in almost 150 hours in two weeks because of a rogue prisoner. It got to the point where I can't sleep, despite being exhausted all the time and I constantly feel like I have to puke," Judy explained snuggling the baby.

"Sounds more like your pregnant to me," Jenny remarked calmly.

Jill gasped and stared at Judy but then she scrunched up her face in confusion. "Wait, aren't you dating that fox? You can't get pregnant from a fox can you? Oh! Unless you've been cheating! Are you having some sort of affair?"

"I'm not cheating and I'm not pregnant."

Jill pouted in disappointment.

"You're dating a fox? How did I not hear about this?" Jenny asked.

"Oh. My. Goodness. Don't you remember? Judy brought that fox home for the harvest festival and daddy caught them making out on the ferris wheel!"

"Really? A fox Judy? I must know all the juicy details. What's it like being with a fox?" Jenny leaned in and bounced her eyebrows.

Judy's heart ached. "I really don't want to talk about Nick right now, we kinda hit a rough patch."

"That's a shame but no one cares. What is he like in bed?" Jenny insisted.

Judy smiled at her older sister's tactless humor. "Well he is really sweet, and funny, although sometimes annoying."

"Ugh, that's every guy when you're in love. Give me the good stuff before I fall asleep," Jenny pressed as Jill giggled like an innocent child.

"Fine, he's huge. Are you happy?" Judy could feel her cheeks and ears get warm, "It's shaped a little funny 'cause he's got this thing called a knot but it feels really good. He also growls when he's really feeling it which is kinda hot and when we're done he likes to wrap me up in his arms and tail and it's so soft and warm and he'll snuggle me all night long."

"He snuggles?" Jill gasped.

"He growls?" Jenny raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Judy smiled thinking of being tucked away in the safety of Nick's embrace, "Yeah, the sex is kinda rough, but I like it, and afterwards he can be really sweet."

"And you two are going through a 'rough patch'?" Jenny asked.

"Well, we have been fighting a lot lately-"

"Since when?" Jenny cut Judy off.

"Um, maybe a month?"

"Did it start kind of suddenly? Like, you just noticed how annoying or immature he is? All. The. Time?"

"I-I think so," Judy stammered.

"Yeah, you're pregnant. Mazal tov," Jenny said casually as she put her sleeping baby down in a nearby play pen.

"That's not possible. There have never been bunny-fox hybrids before. It's scientifically unsound!"

"So? There's never been a bunny cop before. It was," Jenny paused, "socially unsound."

"That's different."

"Ok, it is but let me tell you something. Before these little buggers popped up," Jenny nodded to the bitty bunnies, "I was a royal bitch to Billy. Its hormones darling, nothing you can do but ride it out."

"I'm not pregnant and I wasn't a bitch," Judy concluded as she stood to leave she handed the cooing bundle back to its mother.

"Sure dear, but if you want to be positive I'm sure Jill has some pregnancy tests stashed in her room somewhere. She gets pregnancy scares even when she's not getting laid."

"Hey, I'm right here!"

Judy shook her head at her sisters' antics. Jenny always had a strange way of knowing things about other people that they didn't know about themselves but her delivery was always rough. Judy's stomach was still aching but she decided that she might as well try to go for a jog. The clean country air might be just the thing she needed to clear her head.

Unfortunately for Judy, Jenny's words continued to roll in her head. She couldn't enjoy the beauty of the fall leaves as she ran because all she could think about was the possibility of the impossible suggestion from her sister. Judy ran back home feeling no better than when she began.

As she made her way back to her room, she stopped in front of a curtain with unicorns and rainbows plastered all over it. Even though it looked like it Might belong to one of her youngest siblings, she knew it really belonged to Jill. She stared at the curtain for a moment knowing Jenny was right about their sister. She shook her head and continued to her room. She didn't make it more than two steps when she turned around and invaded her little sister's room.

Judy reemerged only seconds later with a box containing her prize. She ran and got some clothes and then locked herself in the bathroom

This is stupid. I can't be pregnant. It's not possible.

Judy sat on the toilet, voices in her head were fighting over what to do. She can't be pregnant. She knew that and she didn't need a pregnancy test to tell her that. And yet, Jenny had sparked a strange paranoia in Judy. Maybe she should take the test just to confirm what she already knew.

Judy ripped open the box and read the instructions carefully. Her chest began to beat heavier as she reached under the sink for a paper cup. She peed into the cup and set the test in the cup per the instructions. Now she had twenty seconds to wait. She began to count.

One, two, three, four, five…

She couldn't believe she was really doing this.

Ten, eleven, twelve…

Here she was thinking of breaking things off with Nick and starting a family with him at the same time.

Nineteen, twenty. She pulled the applicator out of the cup and set it on the counter. Now she had to wait two whole minutes for the results.

One, two, three…

She thought about Nick's warm embrace and his cool smile as she counted.

Seven, eight, nine...

But she also thought of his cruelty towards her the last few weeks.

Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…

They way he acted so cool and normal like nothing was bothering him.

Twenty one, twenty two…

He acted as if he didn't even care that they were fighting unless they were alone together.

Twenty eight, twenty nine…

And the way he bared his fangs at her.

Thirty three, thirty four…

How could she keep going with him knowing that he could do it again.

Thirty nine, forty…

This was only their first big fight. What if he did worse than bare his fangs at her next time.

Forty six, forty seven…

What if he struck her. Would he?

Fifty one, fifty two…

She stared at the device on the counter.

Fifty four. Fifty five…

No. Nick wouldn't do that. He might make her feel like dirt but he would never hit her.

Sixty, sixty one…

Halfway there. Judy imagined Nick's face again, smiling this time.

Sixty four, sixty five…

How could she want to break up with him when what she really wanted was to bury her face in his chest and let him comfort her through the pain.

Seventy, seventy one…

Tears ran down her face as she thought about his gorgeous smile, the cute way his tongue curled when he laughed, the way he could tease her without being condescending.

Seventy nine, eighty…

She thought about how amazing he was in bed. The way he made her feel things she didn't think was possible before.

Eighty six, eighty seven…

But still, something changed between them.

Ninety one, ninety two…

She still loved him. Maybe they just needed a break. Maybe they needed to focus on themselves for a bit. Or maybe they should put in for a partner switch when she got back.

One hundred, one hundred and one…

She would have to do that anyways if the test surprised her.

One hundred nine, one hundred ten…

Ok, She had a plan now. When she got back to the city she was going to talk to Nick about taking a break romantically. Play things by ear. Spend some time apart.

One hundred sixteen, one hundred seventeen…

Unless the test decided to surprise her in which case she would have to come up with a new plan.

One hundred nineteen, one hundred twenty.

Judy picked up the test. Her hands were shaking. There were the results in front of her.

"Ok," she sighed to herself, "Everything is going to be ok."

She threw the test in the sink and hopped into the shower.

Author's Note: it is so agonizing reading the reviews because I want so badly to repond but at the same time I don't want to give out spoilers (even though my writing is pretty damn transparent) and I want the story to speak for itself. Arg!