This chapter is also available as an audio drama on YouTube!

youtu. be/zPWKeZuJwDw?list=PLIVs1D93vz38riF4nqo5uTmGpoU1yWeko

They were dancing, and partying, and drinking, and dancing, and… the music was getting louder and reminded her of something. But whatever, they are dancing, and undressing, and kissing, and… still this annoying song, are they playing it in a loop?

Judy's dream came to an abrupt end when she realized that she was not listening to a band but her parent's ringtone! She tried to jump out of the bed, but was still only half awake, so she landed on the floor with a muffled sound. Frantically she looked for her phone between the clothes scattered randomly on the floor. "Sweet cheese and crackers!" she mumbled. The bright daylight caused a piercing pain in her head – damn alcohol! – but eventually she found her ringing phone under the bed. Judy grimaced because of the bright display, breathed out deeply and accepted the call – Audio only.

"Oh my god, Judy! Are you okay? We've been trying to reach you since yesterday! We have been worried all night and eventually wanted to call the police!"

Judy grimaced again, the loud and fast voice of her mother was exactly the opposite of she wanted to hear in her current state. She sighed: "Hey, Mom. I'm okay, don't overdo it again".

"Oh Judy! You sound terrible! And what is with your camera? Are you really okay?"

"Yes, Mom. It was a long day yesterday and we were all partying until late at night. I was just woken up by your call. I promise, everything is all right".

"Oh, my dear! Of course, you were partying. We saw your interview on ZNN, congratulations for getting 3rd place! When do you two plan to come over?"

"Wha…?" Judy was reduced to silence, too much information this early in the morning. "What do you mean, when do we plan to come?" She sounded bemused, and that was so totally not her.

Her mother noticed immediately. "Are you sure you're okay, honey?" She asked worried and Judy sighed again.

"Yeah, but I'm not really awake yet. Could you please simply explain what you are talking about? I really need some coffee and a shower".

"Since when do you drink coffee?"

Damn it. "Mom. Please."

"Okay, okay. We saw your interview after your victory on ZNN, and the anchor man said you won the third place together with your boyfriend! And of course you have to introduce him to us! You said you have a free weekend, so you two have to drop by of course!"

Judy tried to ease down all this information, suddenly realizing that her parents meant Nick – without even knowing it! "Mom…"

"No excuses, dear! We have prepared a room for you two to sleepover and your siblings are coming over for afternoon tea and cake!"

Judy's ears dropped and all she could say was "Okay, but listen. About my friend…"

"No need for explanations! We are eager to meet you two this afternoon! Bye, dear, love you!"

"Mom!"– click.

Judy dropped her head against the bed frame, immediately regretting it, her headache getting even worse. When she lifted her head again, she saw Nick sitting upright on his bed, with the most shocked face she ever saw on him; even excelling the face he made the first time she hustled him. "You heard everything, I guess?" Nick just nodded speechless. "Well," Judy said. "You are the former Conmammal. Any idea of how to hustle us out of this?"

"Witness-Protection-Program?" Nick suggested lamely and collapsed upon himself.

"Not an option", Judy smiled mildly. "Do you have some light pain killers?" She asked. "I can't think straight with this headache".

Nick nodded and pointed to his desk. "Second drawer, and bring me some too, please".

Judy headed to the desk, pulled the drawer open, took two pills – one for her and one for Nick – and walked back to the bed. "I guess you will meet my parents today".

"I already met them, carrots", Nick replied and swallowed the pill grimacing.

"Not as my boyfriend".

"Oh... yeah... that part. Does your father still have his fox shocker?"

"Come on, Nick. He did not shock you last time!"

"That was before he knew that I'm eating his carrot, carrots".

Judy swallowed up on her pill and coughed. "Nick!" she snorts with laughter while holding her paw in front of her mouth and blushed. Nick patted her back with a sly grin. "He will not only shock you if you say something like that!"

"Okay, no talking about vegetables then".

"That could be difficult, given the fact that my family are mainly farmers", She winked. "But I will refer to your offer at a later time. However, I am in need of a hot shower! Want to join me?"

"I'm unobtrusively following you, Judy!"

After sharing a very long, hot and steamy shower, it was nearly noon. They grabbed some clean clothes and left for some lunch at a fast food outlet. Sitting outside of the store in the sun, each eating some fries and Veggie Burgers, Nick was the first to speak again. "Okay, let me recap this. You really said during an interview yesterday that you won the race together with your boyfriend. Your parents, being some country bumpkins, nevertheless watched this interview on TV. They have no idea, that this mysterious boyfriend is your partner on the force, much less a fox, and invited us to their home, so you can introduce your boyfriend to them. Did I forget anything about it?"

"Nope, that's pretty much it. But in my defense, I did not mention you as a boyfriend during the interview! I said that I won with my partner and friend. The news station concentrated that into 'boyfriend'".

"But you meant boyfriend, didn't you?" Nick sounded a bit unconfident, much to Judy's surprise.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why do you always question me about that? Are you so insecure?"

"I do not want to call it insecure…" Nick hesitated slowly. "I just still don't know why I deserve someone like you by my side, carrots. You could have chosen anyone".

Judy blushed, but smiled at him. "No idea, maybe I'm just a masochist. But you are everything I am looking for. So, to answer your last question: Yes. Yes, I meant my boyfriend in that interview. Happy now?"

"Maybe the happiest fox alive, carrots", Nick winked.

Judy's headache was better by now and she was already planning their weekend trip in detail. "First we have to pack a few clothes together. Maybe one backpack is enough for both of us? Whatever, we could take the train at 14:22 in the afternoon and arrive at 16:09 in the afternoon in Bunnyburrow. From there we can take the bus, so we don't have to meet my parents until we finally arrive". She was already typing her arrival time into her smartphone and sending it to her parents. "With John and Joshua coming, too, we can discuss the boyfriend topic first with mom and dad in private. When they are eased in, we can tell a few siblings and then it will reach everyone fast enough on the grapevine".

"Woah, take a break for a moment there, carrots", Nick winked at her. However, his heartbeat told Judy a different story: He was nervous, even somewhat scarred.

"Nick?" She bent over and put her paw onto his. "If you don't want to meet my parents, we…"

"No! No, it's okay, carrots. It is all just happening so fast".

"Okay, we can take it down a gear", Judy smiled. "Or at least, I can try", She added with a wink.

The rest of the noon past in next to no time. Judy packed some clothes for herself and Nick into a big backpack, as well as a few small presents she bought over time for her smaller siblings. Nick was off into the city, 'Getting a present for your parents, carrots. First impressions matter!' – she didn't tell him that it was too late for a first impression, as it would not be their first meet-up. But Nick wasn't in his best shape today, more twitchy than Judy had ever seen him. So it was best to have him out of her way for an hour. Maybe a present really could break the ice. At least she hoped, their parents wouldn't make it too awkward. Nick arrived shortly after two o 'clock, Judy already waiting with the backpack outside his apartment. He carried a bag of the size of a really big book, but not as heavy it seemed.

"Last-minute, as always Officer Wilde!"

Nick smiled apologetically and he kissed Judy until their Zuber taxi arrived. Nick held the door open for Judy and hurried to get in it, with their bags, too. "To the Main Railway Station, please!" – Judy ordered the driver and turned around to face Nick. "What did you get?" Prying for his bag, but the only thing she could see was some gift-wrapping paper.

Nick put on his sly grin. "You can guess three times, carrots".

Judy rolled her eyes, "Really?"

"Really! Come on, we have some time to kill".

'If it wasn't for Judy, I would never have the guts to make this visit', Nick thought to himself while they were boarding their train and searching for their compartment. The train was mostly empty, most people were driving to Zootopia for the Diversity Festival and only departing again tomorrow. But Nick had a very valid reason for driving with this train up to Bunnyburrow, and that reason was now just sitting right beside him with a bugged facial expression.

"Come on, that was at least seven guesses! If it is not a book about farming…"

"Nope".

"…then I have no idea. Just spell it out for me, pretty please?" she made really big and pleading eyes, looking directly into Nicks. The fox had to gulp down the lump in his throat and sighed defeated.

"Okay, okay, but don't look at me like that, carrots!" Judy smirked at him and was expectant while Nick was digging his phone out of his pocket, probably searching for a photo. He handed her his phone with a photo of Judy, jumping into the air with her medal in one hand. "I printed this photo at a copy shop, and put it with my exemplar of our medal into a wooden frame. What do you think?"

Judy was speechless for once. That was a really deliberated gift. "But Nick. It is your medal, you earned it! You can have mine when we are back, okay?"

"No need to, carrots. I already have the best prize of all!" He leaned into her and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

Judy blushed and looked at the photo on the phone again. "This is a really some great idea, Nick. I bet they will love it!"

"Of course they will, it shows their sweetheart winning a contest!" Nick laughed and Judy joined in.

"Touché!"

Nick pulled out a deck of cards. "Freshly bought and still sealed, are you in for a few rounds of cards?"

The train arrived on time and they boarded the already waiting bus. "Are you terrified?" Judy asked him with a quiet voice. His heart was palpitating like a jack-hammer with every kilometer they neared her parents' home.

"I am not terrified!" Nick mumbled, twitching his paws. "Just a little… unsettled".

Judy put her paw on his and leaned against his shoulder. His heartbeat eased a bit and Nick breathed deeply. "Everything will be okay", Judy affirmed him, she drew his face to hers with her free paw and smiled lovingly. "For better or worse, I will be there for you. Always, Nick".

He returned her look. "I love you". It sounded more like the last words of a fey, but eventually he smiled.

"I love you, too". She reassured him, squeezing his paw lightly and giving him a nice and soft kiss on his snout. In secret, she hoped, it would not be as bad as Nick was thinking, but she was not too sure about it.

It was nearly half past four when they got off the bus and walked the rest of the way to the big house, that was sunk into a hill, and overgrown with grass. A few dozen younger rabbits were playing here and there all around the house. However, as soon as one of them saw Judy and called out her name, nearly all rabbits were up in arms, running to Judy, hugging her or hopping cheering around her. Nick carried their backpack and was mainly unnoticed. Alerted by the shouting and cheering, Stu and Bonnie Hopps soon appeared out of the house with a big, happy smile.

"Jude the Dude!" her father shouted and spread his arms wide. Judy freed herself from her siblings and hugged her father heartily.

Next was her mother "Oh, Judy, my dear! It's so great that you made it!"

Nick was lopping carefully to Judy's side, waiting for her to finish hugging her parents.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad! Good to see you, and this is…" she was pointing in Nicks direction. However, at that moment Stu Hopps' face lost a little of its friendliness, but shook hands with Nick.

"Nick Wilde, sure thing! We already met last weekend". Her father said with a friendly tone, but Nick believed he recognized some undertone within it. Nevertheless, he greeted him as friendly as he could, Bonnie Hopps also greeted him with a smile, however also less excited just like her husband.

"Come in, you two! Joshua's already arrived with his family". Judy's mother turned to Nick again. "He is one of the few older siblings of Judy, together with John and Jana", Nick smiled with a nod, but was still feeling queasy.

"Sorry, we only prepared one room. But we will prepare another one after having tea", Stu said to Nick. "The guest room is just along the corridor, the first room on the left side. You can place your stuff there before we sit down at the table".

"I will show him!" Judy said quickly and rushed past Nick, gesturing for him to follow her. When they arrived in the guest room she wanted to say something, but two really small rabbits ran into the room. When they saw Nick, they made a hard stop and looked slightly scared. Nick tried his best to make a tame face and Judy intervened at once.

"Hey, Amie, Annabelle! This is Nick, my best friend and partner at work! He is really nice", she squatted before them and smiled. Amie was first to jumped towards the astonished Nick and hugged his leg.

"Hello Nick! I'm Amie!" Nick patted her head and smiled softly.

"Hi Amie, my dear". Annabelle was not as brisk but quickly got jealous when her sister was patted, so she rushed to hug Nicks other leg and shouted.

"And I am Annabelle!"

Nick laughed lightly and also patted her on her head. "Nice to meet you, too, Annabelle".

Judy was moonily watching her youngest siblings hugging the at least ten times her size fox, and Nick trying to look as harmless as he could. 'Two done, 273 to go' she thought.

After a while they sat at the big table in the dining room: Nick, Judy, Bonnie, Stu, Joshua with his wife and 17 kits and 44 of Judy's siblings. After each was served some cake pie – 'Blueberry!' Nick exclaimed exited to Judy who giggled nervous – they started to eat. After having a few bites Bonnie asked:

"So, you two teamed up for the sport competition Judy told us about?" her voice was a little shaky, but she sipped on her tea immediately.

Nick stayed quiet, looking at Judy. She returned his look, then turned to her mother. "Yes, the kayak-running-biathlon is a two-person-team competition, and getting the third place was really amazing, the rivalry was really strong!" – silence again. Nick thought about giving Judy's parents their gift, fitting the topping right now.

But at that moment Stu spoke out. "You must forgive us for our rude behavior, Mister Wilde". Her father was now speaking with a friendly tone. "But when we told Judy to visit us, we expected her to bring her boyfriend. Not her, you know partner on the force".

"Dad!" Judy cut him off, and Bonnie was also feeling queasy, plucking her husband's sleeve to gain his attention.

"What? I only wanted to tell him, we just … what?" He turned to his wife who mumbled something but Judy was at it again.

"You asked to bring my boyfriend, so what is the matter?"

"Excuse me?" it was the first time Joshua said something, but this caused Judy to turn to him now.

"Yes, Nick is my partner on the force. But yes, he is also my boyfriend! We lov…"

"He is what!?" – her father almost shouted.

"How dare you!" Joshua's voice was loud and angered. "This beast is your…"

He couldn't finish his sentence when Bonnie said "Joshua, please!"

"Close shot, Bon, at least he is a fox!"

"Dad!"

"Judy, dear…"

"Mom!"

"Judy!"

"Pred-Chaser!" the last word came from Joshua.

"Douchebag!" Judy shouted.

"Joshua!" Bonnie Hopps said in a sharp tone.

"Judith Laverne Hopps! As long as you are in my house…" her father shouted but Judy interrupted him again.

"What about Joshua? We are talking about my partner and boyfriend, not some foreigner!" Nick slowly stood up during the fierce crosstalk and excused himself with some polite words, still showing a smile on his snout. However, Judy knew he was deeply injured and offended and even his best deadpan was starting to crumble by now.

Judy's vantage point

She wanted to grab Nicks paw when he walked past her, but it just slipped from her hands, and Nick vanished out of the front door. Her first instinct was to run after him, but she was angry. Angry enough to let out a rant against her father and especially her older brother Joshua. Both were replying something but she didn't stop her ranting until a big and soft paw was put on her shoulder. Judy turned her head to continue her bluster but the strict and benignant face of her mother made her become silent.

"Judith!" Bonnie said assertively. "I realize you are probably a bit angry".

"A bit angry?!"

"Judith! Your younger siblings are listening, please!" Maybe it was her steady and still affectionate voice that made Judy quieten. In addition, her mother was right; a few dozen agitated and bewildered faces of little bunnies were staring at Judy right now.

"I am sorry, mum", She said, struggling to keep her voice quiet. "But I never would have guessed I had such bigoted siblings!" Judy was looking at Joshua, who simmered with rage.

"Judith Laverne Hopps!" Stu said her full name the second time within minutes.

"Or a father, embittered by the prejudice of foxes!"

"Judith, please", Bonnie tried to conciliate again.

"And even you, mom! I trusted that you would understand this, since you partner with Gideon Grey!"

"But that doesn't mean we have a threesome with him in our corn fields!" Stu blurted out angrily, but immediately regretted it.

"Stu!" / "Dad!" His wife, Judy and Joshua shouted as one. The old rabbit stood up, throwing his napkin down onto his plate and left the room with large and angry steps.

"Judith…" her mother turned to her again with a pleading look on her face.

"I love him mom!" Judy blurted and responded her look tenaciously.

"But…"

"No 'but's! I'm really happy together with him, how can you not see this?" Her mother's shoulders sank and Judy broke away from her, trying to run after Nick. She was just a few steps in front of the house when Joshua's voice stopped her.

"Are you totally insane, Jude?" His voice was calm but full of anger. Judy turned around with a deadly look.

"I'm feeling better than ever, nice of you to ask!" her voice was overturning.

"He is a damn fox!"

"He is a fox, a police officer and my boyfriend! And his name is Nick!"

"After all that you have experienced in your childhood, you still come to a fox's defense? He rigged you quite good after all!"

In Judy's mind, no further words were enough for this argument, and with a strong leap she was right beside Joshua and punched him hard into his side. Joshua repaid her by kicking against her legs and shortly after they were scrapping. Bonnie Hopps was standing helpless beside them and tried to calm them down, with no effort. When Joshua punched Judy into her stomach, she fell backward against a wooden cart with some straw and boxes with fruits and vegetables their parents had brought back from the market. Judy picked herself up, ran up to Joshua, and jumped right into his side.

"Judy! Joshua! Please stop!" Bonnie was pleading again, but it was Stu's loud voice, full of panic, which ended their fight abruptly.

"Amie!", followed by an even louder bang of wood and metal shivering.

Stu's vantage point

He slammed the backdoor shut when he left the house. Stu had let himself go, something very atypical of him, and he was annoyed about it. "How could she! Not only was she not going with a rabbit, but with a fox!" he cursed to himself. Yes, they collaborated with Gideon. However, this was business, and a profitable one. Nevertheless, he counted the cakes and the money twice when trading with the fox. Stu was raised and educated, that foxes are mammals you cannot count on. "And yet so much time has passed since then!" But his cutie pie, together with a fox? Maybe even rotting…? Stu smacked his head. "Oh god, don't even think about it, Stu!" he said to himself.

Over time, his feet had driven him towards the near carrot fields. Most of his kits were still playing and romping around and he sighed. It had to be this big far away city. All of his other kits who were old enough were filling his shoes on farming. He had overwritten quite a good part of his land to his oldest sons, and his oldest daughters married all well-heeled rabbits out of Bunnyburrow. The only one who left her hometown was Judy, becoming a police officer and all that in Zootopia. And what happened to her? Judy was always his favorite daughter and it was a big disappointment when she left a year and a half ago. But now she was even flirting with a fox from the city! This was all too much for him now.

Stu Hopps heard the laugher of one of his youngest ones, Amie. He smiled softly and turned around to look for her, but froze at once.

"Amie! Get away from that fox!" he shouted and made a gesture as if he wanted to wag away a wasp. The little bunny stood in front of Nick and looked bemused at her father up the hill. Stu made another distinct gesture and Amie let her head sank. She did something wrong, that much was clear to her, but she did not know what. Nick on the other hand figured it out immediately. He got up to his feet, waved smiling a goodbye to Amie and toddled off. Stu started to walk down the hill to get to Amie who still was standing there, like a little lost girl. It was a loud rumbling that caught Stu's attention. He casted about for the source of the noises getting louder, and finally he saw his big wooden cart bolting down the other side of the hill, right in Amie's direction. He started to run, knowing that he would never reach his child in time. His voice was filled with a deadly terror when he screamed her name.

"Amie!"

Seconds later the cart collided checkless with the tree, in front of which Amie stood moments ago.

Nick's vantage point

He couldn't bear the yelling any longer. With a resigned shrug, he stood up from the table. "I'm sorry for the discomfort; I'm going for a walk", Nick mumbled. Judy reached out for him – her touch flashed through his body – but he did not hold her paw. His whole body was stressed to keep a cool face, but inwardly he broke into pieces. This whole argument was about him; it was his fault. Fighting against prejudice in the city was different, he admitted. There were always Mammals calling him names, and in the past, they were often right. He was a Conmammal back then. Since he was an Officer with the ZPD he was treated differently, but it never died down completely. He coped with it. But this guilt he felt was not about him being treated badly, but he felt bad because of Judy. With all she had to bear because of him, it was a miracle to him that she still returned his love. However, this time it was her family, and Nick would draw the line at exactly this point. Maybe he was worth all the trouble he caused for Judy until now. But he definitely did not want to be the reason she would be at odds with her family! She would be eventually. Well, of course, she would – she is Judy Hopps, first rabbit officer of the ZPD! However, Nick could never demand this from her.

He reached a few trees near the road where the bus stop was. Perhaps he should just take the next bus. Weak-minded he stood there, looking over the countless fields and hills in front of him; when he sensed a light twitching on his tail. He turned around and in front of him stood one of those little bunnies he met first in the house, and the only ones that somewhat welcomed him. He tossed his sad face away and smiled softly, hunkering down.

"Hi, you are Anabelle or Amie, right?"

"I am Amie!" the little rabbit smiled brightly and Nick returned her smile. "You have a really big and fluffy tail, Nicky!" she giggled. Nick had to smile again. This small and pure bunny made him forget about the argument for a short moment.

"Oh, really? How does that grab you?" He winked and tossed his tail around him to nudge Annie with it. The kit laughed and jumped.

"You are funny!" she determined, and with a short jump, she was at Nicks legs and hugged him. Nick laughed, patted her head and enlaced her with his tail playfully. "Can we play tag together, Nicky?" She pleaded with big round eyes. The foxed smiled benignly but then sighed.

"I don't think that your parents would like that idea, Amie".

"Why not? I am always playing tag with my siblings!"

"Yeah…" Nick rubbed with his hand behind his head. "But I don't think they like me all too much".

"But Judy likes you?" This little bunny was putting him on the spot.

"Yes, I think so".

"Then I like you, too!" she declared, and her determined and happy grin definitely reminded Nick of Judy.

"Amie! Get away from that fox!" her father shouted from up the hill to them. Nick's shoulders and ears dropped and the little bunny was looking perplexed at her father. Stu pointed right at his feet, directing Annie to get to him immediately.

Nick waved goodbye to Amie: "Sorry, my little princess, I have to go now. Go to your dad, okay?" And with this words he slowly walked away in the direction of the bus stop behind a curve.

Nick had finally decided to drive back to the station and then back to Zootopia with the next train. Judy would understand. When she came back tomorrow, he would talk to her and break up with her. He had made a lot of mistakes in his life, coming to Bunnyburrow being his latest, but he would not take the blame for Judy being at odds with her family. This sacrifice was just too big. He sat down at the bus stop, when he heard some loud rumbling. There was some shouting, too. Somewhat concerned he sprung up and rushed around the corner of the street. Shocked, he realized a big wagon has gone rampant and was racing up to the trees he and Amie were standing at only a minute ago. Without thinking about it any further he ran in that direction as fast as he could.

"Amie!" Stu Hopps was screaming with deadly terror in his voice. Nick saw the little, sweet bunny still standing where he left her, the wagon only a dozen meters away. His inner fox senses wanted him to hesitate, but every cop-sense was fighting against it. He ran even faster. With a last leap, he pushed the startled bunny aside. 'Oh god, thank you!' he thought.

A dull impact made his whole body spin around and get crushed between the tree and the wagon. It didn't even hurt. Nick saw a few leaves falling down from the tree onto his face. The last image he saw was that of a lovely bunny. "Judy…" Then everything went black.

Many thanks to Sean Dalglish for his review and proofreading this chapter! (Feb 2017)