Chronicles of Zootopia

by Anheledir

Starting near the end of the movie this series introduces us to the relationship Nick and Judy are starting to begin. After having a rough start it stabilized eventually in a timespan of over a year, but new problems are already waiting: personally and professionally. There will be old antagonists again as well as new ones - will our beloved couple master these new challenges, too?

26. 3x05 - Sister Act

"A birth-date is a reminder to celebrate the life as well as to update the life." – Amit Kalantri

---

It was nearly daunting how fast the week went by. Nick and Judy had talked a lot about the last weeks and how their life had changed: For the better and for the worse. The nightmares and fears since the bomb assault decreased, but Judy's pains in the chest and the few bare spots in her fur that were visible even when clothed, were a constant reminder. On Thursday Nick had a call with Doctor Carter to arrange his next four appointments – the first one was already on the next day on Friday. But the young couple also read and talked a lot about rabbit pregnancies, and especially those about mixed-species pregnancies. They even started to plan how to alter their apartment, making it more suitable for kits.

On Friday morning after their breakfast, they both went to the inner city by tram. Nick had his appointment with Doctor Carter and Judy wanted to officially inform Chief Bogo about her pregnancy and request maternity leave for the time after her sick note. When they arrived at Precinct One, Judy hesitated to enter it for the first time.

Nick stopped and turned around, "Everything okay, carrots? Are you sure you want to go to Bogo already this week?"

"It's okay".

Judy smiled and took a deep breath. Even when having a rough start as a small prey, everybody respected her and the work she accomplished like any other police officer by now. But she still had some reproaches because of Officer Reed – he had to protect her particularly because of her size. Now she couldn't even help their colleagues for several weeks while being sick, but she was also afraid how Bogo would react because of her maternity leave. Of course, there were quite some women on the force, but those who had children were mostly on office duty or in-door staff. There was no Officer on field work with children – as far as she knew. But that was exactly what she planned to continue to do in the future, going on patrol with Nick and 'kicking the buts of the baddies', as she had called it while talking with Nick.

Nick was still watching her and she finally winked: "Come on, or you'll be late to your appointment".

He gave her a short kiss and smiled, holding the glass door open for her. They approached the front-desk from the left side so Clawhauser wouldn't see them immediately. It was only when Nick was leaning on his desk, that the cheetah turned his head pleasantly surprised – but couldn't see the little rabbit yet.

"Nick! How are you? I thought that you had a free week! How is Judy?"

"I have an appointment with Doctor Carter at ten o'clock". Nick smiled with a short side-glance to the clock on the wall behind the desk. He still had a few minutes left. "But you have to do me a small favor, Big-Ben".

"Suuuure! What is it?" the cheetah was propping his head on both paws, his arms resting with the elbows on the desk and looking eagerly to Nick.

"Well, I know how you sometimes have the tendency to freak out. Just remember, that you are a big and strong guy and how painful a few broken ribs could be, especially when starting to hug someone…" Nick winked with a sly grin.

"Oh… erm…?" Clawhauser was looking a bit quizzical, not quite sure what his fox-friend was talking about.

Nick made a step to the side and nodded his head with a wink in Judy's direction. The cheetah's eyes widened and with a joyful squeak he jumped off his chair and ran around the front-desk, approaching Judy with arms extended.

"OHHHH, JUDY!"

The rabbit grinned a bit, preparing to be crushed any moment, but Benjamin took a short break before gently hugging her while grinning from ear-to-ear.

"You're looking as cute as always!" he shouted with glee.

"Thanks, Ben". Judy smiled with a sigh and Nick snickered.

"Okay, I think I can leave you both alone for an hour. See you later, carrots". He said and gave his rabbit a quick kiss between her ears before walking to the stairs, heading for the second floor.

"How are you doing, do you still have pain? How are your kits? Oh, we are all missing you two already! If I had known that you were coming today, I would have planned …" the cheetah bombarded her with questions after he sat behind his desk again.

Judy grinned and held up her paw as a sign to hold up for a moment. "That's exactly why I didn't announced it in advance", she winked. "I just wanted to accompany Nick for his appointment and take the opportunity to officially inform Chief Bogo about my pregnancy and request maternity leave. Don't make a fuss about me being here today, please".

"Okay". Clawhauser looked a bit disappointed but then smiled again already. "Oh, it's so great to see you again on your own feet! We were all concerned when we saw you in that wheelchair last week during the funeral, but didn't have the opportunity to talk to you or Nick as you left quickly again. But Bogo made it clear to all, that you need some time to yourself, or we would all have been visiting you already!"

"Yeah, the last one-and-a-half weeks were a little bit rough…" she smiled. "But since we're already talking about it, how are the investigations regarding Ramses and Bale going on?"

"I…", Clawhauser hesitated, "…actually I think that I'm not allowed to talk about those with you, as you are involved yourself and too close". He looked nervous and not too happy.

"Come on, just a quick summary. I will show you my first ultrasound picture in return, deal?" she winked with a wide grin.

---

"Come in!" – Doctor Carter waved to Nick after he had knocked on her door and entered. "Hello, Nick. Great that our appointment worked out even on such short notice!" she shook his paw and they sat down on the two couches.

"When we have to meet, we can also do it as soon as possible so I can get back on duty", He smiled noncommittal.

"You consider these meetings as some kind of penalization, don't you?"

"Well, you said we would just talk, but based on your evaluation I was put on office duty".

"That was no punishment, Nick. It takes a while to fully realize and eventually process traumatic events, and you are putting yourself and your colleagues in danger if this happens at the wrong moment while in the field".

"That wouldn't happen!"

"I believe you right now, but you cannot know that".

"I'm fighting against the prejudgment of being a coward and unreliable fox since I joined the police. Your evaluation will render all my efforts to nothing again!" Nick sounded frustrated.

Doctor Carter still stayed calm, explaining: "I saw experienced officers and detectives that were on duty for more than twenty years, who were suddenly scared stiff in a critical situation, because some details reminded them of an event they never really processed. This is something that can happen to everyone and really has nothing to do with your species".

"Do you really believe others will be able to differentiate that?"

"You should put more trust into your colleagues", Samantha smiled encouragingly.

"Oh, great. Now we are discussing my trust-issues, too?" Nick rolled his eyes annoyed.

"We can talk about everything, Nick. These meet-ups are for you, and of course we can talk about anything that you perceive as an issue. But don't hustle me with a psychologist act, and I won't hang out on it either".

The fox sighed and nodded, "Sorry".

"Well, now that we have cleared that up: How is Judy doing? I heard that you took this week off to stay at home with her".

"Her injuries are healing well, but she is still in quite some pain because of her broken ribs".

"Oh, I understand. Yes, those chest injuries are really inconvenient. Normally you would immobilize the broken part of the body, reducing the pain drastically. But a cast around the chest would obstruct breathing even more as it is already due to the injuries and is rarely an option. In a few weeks it should get better after the body build up some callus", – when Nick looked somewhat surprised, Doctor Carter winked: "I'm not only psychologist but an educated doctor".

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be impolite". Nick smiled somewhat embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it", She smiled kindly. "But you are aware that it will take a while until Judy can get back on duty with you then? Even when it doesn't hurt anymore in a few weeks, she will be able to do some light office work at most. As a general rule, it will take around three months for broken rips to heal completely".

"Yes, our family doctor already informed us about that. Actually, it may take even longer for her to return into active duty…" Nick sighed, but also smiled a bit.

"Does your doctor expect some complications?" Doctor Carter inclined her head.

"Not really a complication…" Nick hesitated – "Judy is pregnant".

"Oh! Congratulations, Nick!" Samantha Carter smiled widely. "After all that's happened, I guess that is some really great news. I guess, you two already planned to have kits for a while then?"

"Actually…", Nick rubbed his neck – "…we seriously talked about it the first time after the assault".

Doctor Carter nodded slowly. "That's nothing to be ashamed of, Nick. Those things are prone to make everyone think about their future. Some stop bad habits, some try out new things or fulfill some long-deferred wishes. And especially in case of a couple it's only natural to think about things like marriage and kits". She frowned a bit, then continued in a more quizzical tone: "You said, that Judy is already pregnant. Regarding that you two talked about it only last week…"

"You said you are also a medical doctor; I guess you are wondering about the timeframe?" Nick smiled somewhat.

"We don't have to talk about it, I'm just somewhat curious", she smiled and, when Nick nodded, continued – "I think you wanted to try it with in vitro fertilization, but that would take more than just a week. And I don't think that a serious doctor would begin with the procedure with her current injuries. Are you the father, or…?"

"Well, that would explain my trust-issues if I weren't, right?" Nick smiled friendly.

"I won't deny, that I thought about it", Doctor Carter smiled forthcoming.

"It came as a surprise to us too. But maybe I was a rabbit in my prior life", Nick winked.

"You don't like being a fox?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"You are speaking of foxes being distrustful; believing others and especially your colleagues would not rely on you because of your species. Marrying someone of another species and even thinking about being a rabbit in your prior life…"

"That just was an idiom", Nick rolled his eyes.

"Maybe, but it emphasizes your basic attitude, don't you think?"

"I didn't marry Judy because she is a rabbit or because I don't want to be a fox! I love her because she is a beautiful, intelligent, loving and a snappy mammal. It had nothing to do with her or my species!" Nick sounded upset again.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to minimalize your relationship or emotions! What I was talking about is, that maybe some of your concerns – like the missing trust of your colleagues – are just a mirrored attitude of yourself".

"It's not my attitude, but experiences I made with others".

"I guessed so. You also grew up here in Zootopia, right?" Doctor Carter asked, and Nick nodded confirming. "It was a different time back then; we predators were more often confronted with prejudice, and it was even worse for foxes, living in the Meadowlands. But look at you now: You are an honored police officer, proving all those old prejudices wrong! You married a wonderful woman regardless of her species, again despite every prejudice against fox and rabbits – and I know how serious foxes take romantic relationships. Now you are even having your own kits. You were fighting hard to prove everyone wrong who tried to pigeon-hole you! And now being successful you are afraid you will lose all of this again".

"Assuming this to be true…", Nick said slowly – "Wouldn't this be quite comprehensible?"

"This is what I was trying to say, Nick", Samantha said smiling friendly. "You proved everyone wrong, but yourself. It's not like others aren't trusting you; you are assuming they aren't because you wouldn't if you were in their spot. After all that time, you are still trying to fight your worst enemy: Yourself".

"Great, I'm not a narcissist, but the opposite. What do you call that?" Nick sighed.

"When it comes to an extreme you would call the opposite someone with major depression. But in your case?" she smiled – "It's all too faunal to fear losing what you had worked hard for. Just because you are talking with a psychologist doesn't mean you are mentally ill. I'm just trying to help you to be more balanced and pleased with your own achievements".

Nick leaned back on the couch, thinking about Doctor Carters words for a while in silence. He finally asked: "What has all of this got to do with what happened in the car park?"

"Although you did your best, and succeeded, a colleague who trusted your decision died. You were in doubt for several days if it was your fault or not, and even now – knowing that it wasn't – you fear that your colleagues would hold it against you, And the next time you are in a critical situation, have to make a difficult decision and trust your intuition, it's possible that this fear will paralyze you. This explosion made your own fears that you carried with you for so long surface again, And I want to help you to process this".

"And I thought that I had a tough job…", Nick snickered with a wink.

Samantha laughed – "Don't worry, you are a good guy with decent character; that makes my job easier".

---

"Hopps!" – Chief Bogo greeted his only rabbit officer with his usual noncommittal facial expression. "Take a seat, please".

"Thank you, Chief", Judy smiled a bit and climbed on one of the big chairs.

"It's good to see you walking on your own again. How are your injuries?"

"They're okay." She smiled – "Could really be worse."

"Though she be but little, she is fierce!" Bogo suggested with a small smile.

"You're citing William Shakespaw? Never thought of you as being a fan of the classics, Chief!" Judy snickered.

"Hrmph…" Bogo snorted. "Well, I guess you're not only making a courtesy visit, Officer Hopps?"

"No, Sir.", Judy shook her head. "I'm here to officially request maternity leave for after my sick note has ended".

The cape buffalo leaned back in his chair, watching Judy carefully over the edge of his reading glasses. "Do you remember what I told you the first day Officer Wilde and you came to me, suggesting you were fraternizing?"

"Yes?"

"I seem to remember saying that I don't care what you do in your private time as long as it will not interfere with your job", Bogo grumbled and took his glasses off.

"Y-Yes…?"

"Well, I think you can call getting pregnant interfering quite obviously with your job!" he leaned forward.

"But Sir, I …" Judy seemed to feel somewhat uneasy.

"Just kidding!" Bogo smirked, stood up from his chair and handed his hoof to Judy. "Congratulations, you two!"

Judy twitched with her muzzle and laughed shortly, shaking his hoof relieved. "Thanks Chief! So you're fine with it?"

"You should have seen your face", Bogo winked. "Your maternity leave will be approved of course, Clawhauser will hand you the appropriate form. I guess you know that he already informed us on Monday?"

"He mentioned it … but I thought I should inform you officially in person nevertheless".

"Sometimes I wonder where this cheetah gets all of his information. A Sloth would probably outrun him, but he always the first to have the newest information and rumors".

Judy decided, that it was definitely not her job to inform Bogo about Clawhauser's informant and just agreed with him. "I have something else on my mind, Sir."

"Yes?" Bogo leaned back again.

"I was wondering, if I'm still allowed to return to normal duty after my return…"

"What makes you challenge this, Hopps?" Bogo raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I know no female Officer or Detective with children that is still on field work. Of course, I will be at home for a while, but … I never thought of abandoning my regular job permanently and really want to go on patrol with Ni… Officer Wilde again after my return".

"Hopps, be assured that I will save your place in my squad as long as needed, and Officer Wilde will be reassigned as your partner when you return; I'm sure that no other can bear with him in the long run anyway", Bogo smiled slyly. "In fact, we have a few Officers on field work with children. But most of them request shifting to office duty because it's more safe, and even when I said I would save your place … I want you to at least think about it. Your risk is even higher, because you and your husband are both working on the force; I guess I don't have to emphasize the possible risks, especially to you. But I will leave the final decision on this to you and Wilde. If you are sure about coming back to the squad, you will be welcomed! Be assured we already started to miss our cute token bunny." – he smirked on his last words and Judy rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, Chief. I promise I'll think about it", she smiled a bit.

The intercom was beeping and Clawhauser's tinny voice was heard: "Chief, Officer Wilde wants to talk with you for a moment".

"Speak of the devil…", Bogo rolled his eyes and answered the intercom: "Send him in".

It took a minute before he knocked on the door. Bogo called: "Come in!"

Nick entered the office and saluted: "Good morning, Sir!"

"Wilde! Take a seat, I just talked with your partner… and congratulations for you, too!", Bogo handed him his hoof with a light smile. "I didn't expect you before next week, what's the matter?"

"Thank you, Sir. I just had another appointment with Doctor Carter and just wanted to inform you that I would like to accept yours and Detective Marki's offer".

"Glad to hear that, I will inform him and you report on Monday directly at his department. Anything else?"

"No, Sir."

"Okay, I think we were finished, too, Hopps?", Bogo turned his head to Judy who nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

"Dismissed, then! Unlike you, I still have some work to do today!", he grumbled.

Judy and Nick were nearly out of the door when the rabbit stopped and turned around again: "You are coming tomorrow evening, too?"

"We will see…", Bogo muttered without looking up from the case file he already started to read.

---

On their way out, Nick and Judy met Delgato and Wolford who had arrested a panda. Of course, the two colleagues wanted to congratulate the pregnant couple and they talked for a short while. When they finally left the precinct, it was half past eleven and drizzling, making them head for the subway station rather quickly. The next train heading to the main railway station was due in six minutes – Judy's two litter-siblings Ralph and Clara were visiting them over the weekend as it was Judy's and theirs 26th birthday the next day. With so many children it was only natural that not everyone's birthday was celebrated with a big party after reaching a certain age. After that the litter siblings normally met and had a small celebration among themselves. Last year they met at Ralph's burrow and Clara suggested to meet in Zootopia this year. The two bunnies had announced their arrival for 13:12, so Nick and Judy had planned to go for a short walk beforehand; but as they did not bring an umbrella, they now drove to the station immediately and killed time with a coffee at Starpaws.

"So, how was your meeting with Bogo?" Nick asked after they entered the train and sat down on a bench.

"You were right, he tried to kid me. First blueberry muffin is on me", she grinned with a short roll of her eyes.

"Yessss!", Nick made a fist-pump and grinned happily like a dog with two tails.

"Dumb fox", his rabbit leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled. "He was really nice otherwise, said he would save my place in the squad as your partner for when I return".

"See? You were falsely alarmed as I told you, carrots." Nick smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. "No other could stand my charming personality as a partner in the long run anyway", – Judy began to snicker and Nick raised an eyebrow: "What?"

"That's exactly what Bogo said, too".

"Some buffalo swallowed a clown for breakfast, mh?", Nick sighed with a smile.

Judy took his paw and got off their bench as the train just arrived at the station, pulling Nick with her giggling: "Don't pout, you know he's right, foxtrot".

"That makes it even worse, carrots!" Nick winked and they headed to the coffee shop.

They both took a large latte and some muffins – blueberry for Nick and with chocolate chips for Judy. After finding themselves a table a bit apart in a corner, Judy asked: "And how was your therapy session?"

"Doctor Carter believes that I got a few trust-issues!", Nick chuckled.

"No way!", Judy put a paw in front of her mouth with wide open eyes in played shock. "And she needs to be a doctor to get this insight?" – she started to giggle a bit.

"That's quite counterproductive, cottontail…"

Judy giggled even more – "I'm sorry, Nick. But that is one of your most obvious character traits…". When the fox started to pout again, she put her paw onto his and smiled. "I didn't say it's a bad trait, it's really cute from time to time. Maybe it's just somewhat hindering when it's regarding our job."

"Says the paramount example of self-assurance."

"Not always, as you know for sure", she smiled and took another sip of her latte. "Wanna talk about it, or was your meeting already enough for today?"

"Well, to be honest I think that those sessions are somewhat helpful…" Nick took a thoughtful bite of his muffin and eventually told her what he talked about with Doctor Carter.

---

When the Zootopia Express arrived, Judy and Nick were waiting in the middle of the platform and kept watching for Judy's siblings. As Nick was obviously larger than the rabbit, he saw them first and waved smiling in their direction. Ralph was carrying a handgrip and walked towards them while Clara ran towards her sister with short leaps – Judy had to stop her with her outstretched arms so Clara would not accidently crush another of her ribs and finally they hugged carefully and giving quick kisses to each other's cheeks.

Nick was a few meters behind Judy, walking over to them slowly with a small grin. When he suddenly got a quick smell of a decent but all-so-familiar scent, he turned his head and saw Evelin approaching them from the other end of the platform. When she saw that Nick had noticed her, she winked with a big grin to him and put a finger in front of her mouth as a gesture to stay quiet. After arriving at Nick's side, he took her small bag and Eve snuck up on Judy, who was currently hugging Ralph, and eventually put her paws from behind over Judy's eyes who squeaked in surprise – but Evelin's pregnant belly pressing against Judy's back revealed her immediately who also came for a visit and she turned quickly around, shouting with glee.

"Eve! You're here, too!?", Judy hugged her best friend and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You're really a great cop, recognizing even the smallest traces", Evelin snickered.

"Dumb bunny", Judy outstretched her tongue and grinned. "You should feel lucky that I made enough lasagna so you can eventually have some, too".

"I called us a Zuber, he will collect us in a few minutes at the main entrance. Walking home in the rain isn't desirable, I like my bunnies dry and happy", Nick winked and took Ralph's bag, too, walking ahead while the four bunnies were following him a bit slower and talking eagerly.

When they left the railway station, their Zuber driver was already waiting and it took them ten minutes to get home. Nick brought their guests bag into the guest room and thoughtfully leaned on the wall.

"Hey, Nick. Everything okay?" Ralph had entered the room, searching for the fox.

"Mh…? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking how to best split all of us into the different sleeping rooms", he smiled. "You and Clara can sleep here in the guest room and I will stay on the couch so Evelin and Judy can both share our bedroom".

"Eve will probably protest against this, she didn't intend to banish you from your own bed!"

"Nah, that will be no problem. Besides I would never let a pregnant rabbit sleep on a convertible sofa or the couch", he winked.

"Your guest bed is big enough for all three of us!" Ralph smiled. "We have all shared our bedrooms with so many siblings for so long, that's really no problem at all".

"Let's postpone this decision until later, I guess Judy is already in the kitchen preparing lunch!" Nick took a long sniff and patted Ralph on his shoulders. "Come on, I chilled a few bottles of your favorite apple beer – how was your journey?"

Judy had banned everyone from the kitchen while she was preparing lunch, and later got a lot of praise for her lasagna from all her guests and Nick.

"It's nearly the same as mine…" Evelin pondered, "But you changed something, didn't you?" – when Judy wanted to protest, Eve grinned and made a defensive gesture. "No, no, nothing bad, really! It tastes great, but I know how my own recipe tastes. You gave it your own touch, didn't you?"

"Well, maybe I made a few very small variations to your recipe", Judy snickered.

"She isn't even telling me what she changed, can you believe this?" Nick pouted.

"I remember when you tried to make this Hollandaise Sauce from the fresh asparagus Mom sent us", Judy was talking reproachful to Nick, then turned her head to her siblings with a wink. "Since then we have a small fire extinguisher in the kitchen!"

Ralph made big eyes, Clara and Evelin just started to giggle. Nick sighed and dropped his gaze, starting to clean up the table.

"You can sit down in the living room while Nick and I clean everything up", Judy smiled.

Evelin laid down on the couch, her head resting on Clara's lap and her feet on Ralph's. The three were quietly talking and giggling when their hosts joined them, bringing a few glasses and bottles on two tablets with them.

"Why are you all crowding on a single couch?" Nick raised his eyebrows irritated, but Judy snickered.

"We rabbits prefer groups, we are generally not too happy being alone. Not even on a couch when visiting the only sister that lives 300km away!" Evelin snickered.

"You can just agree that you love all the attention being pregnant", Judy winked and sat down with Nick on another couch.

"Don't you miss all of this, sis?" Ralph asked smiling.

"Hey, she is not alone! Maybe I am no rabbit, but I'm at least as cuddly as you", Nick snickered and the other rabbits joined in laughing.

Judy smiled to her fox and gave him a kiss. "Our regular visits in Bunnyburrow made it easier, but of course I miss all of you".

"Speaking of missing you", Evelin smiled. "I already asked Ralph and Clara to be godparents for my first litter, but it would be really great if you would agree, too, Juju."

"Aww, that's really nice of you, Eve!" Judy's eyes were beaming happily. "You know of course, that I have to refuse, but I feel lucky that you asked me nevertheless".

"Why do you have to refuse? And why do you say 'of course'? I'm being totally serious about that; I really want you to be their godmother!" Evelin frowned and looked irritated.

"How would I perform my obligations as a godmother when I live here in Zootopia? Also, I will be working in the near future again. Those aren't good premises, and you know that. You, and especially your kits deserve someone closer and with a lot more time for them!" Judy smiled; she didn't seem to be envenomed about it, only a bit sad.

"Sorry, but do the godparents in rabbit families have a special purpose? In fox families we have two godparents for our kits. They will adopt them if something bad happens to both parents while the kits are young. But when I listen to you two talking about it, there seems to be some different tasks for the godparents?" Nick cocked his head and looked questioningly to Judy and Eve. But it was Ralph who was starting with an answer.

"Well, as you probably now, rabbit families can have quite a lot of kits".

"You don't say!" Nick looked shocked and the rabbits giggled.

"Of course, the parents still have jobs, or in case of a family business quite some work to do, besides parenting that is", Ralph said, then Clara continued:

"So, if a bunny gets pregnant, she declares a few godparents for their litter. For the first litter that's usually the own litter siblings of both parents, depending on the litter-size sometimes an additional siblings-litter. There are always siblings in each family that are caring for the household of the burrow and the child education of the other kits mainly. Some of those even make a job out of it, later – becoming a kindergarten Teacher like Eve for example!"

Judy continued and turned to Nick: "So, while the parents are caring for their kits for the first few weeks, the godparents take care of their godchildren over the day in the following years to relieve the parents. So our kits education is still in the family and not in the responsibility of a foreign baby-sitter", she smiled and turned back to her siblings. "And that's also the reason I have to refuse, Eve. Not only am I living far away from home, but both Nick and I still have jobs. We didn't even have a solution yet how to take care of our own kits, there is no realistic chance we can regularly look after yours, too. As happy as I would be to do it!" she smiled regretful.

"You are all correct", Eve said. "But you missed another aspect of the godparents: They are very important role models for the kits. And you are not only my best friend, Judy, but also my big role model since we were kits".

"And you really want to appeal this fate for your own kits, too?" Nick snickered and received a hard punch against his shoulder for it from Judy.

"Well, beside her mate selection I see nothing wrong with Juju", Eve winked.

"Pff…", Nick folded his arms and leaned back against the couch, nipping on his apple beer.

"I'm really touched, Eve, and I feel honored", Judy smiled widely.

"Then just agree, and I will stop bugging you about it", Eve grinned.

"But…" Judy began, but Evelin threw a pillow in her direction.

"No buts, Juju. The distance is as obvious to Sven and me as the fact that you and Nick are working. We still want you as close friends and role models to play a big role in our kits life", Evelin smiled and turned her head to Nick. "Oh, you two that is, Sven and I agreed that we want you both as godparents. Our youngest siblings simply love you, foxy, and you will be a great godfather to our litter, too".

"Me? Are you sure?" Nick gulped a bit embarrassed. "That's really an honor, thanks Eve. But I'm not sure if I can measure up to your expectations".

Judy smiled first to Nick, then to Evelin and nodded. "Okay, if you really insist on it. But I already feel guilty for not spending enough time with them!" she sighed winking.

"That led us to another subject!" Clara said smiling. "You said you didn't want to become a godmother because of the long distance and because you're working. But you are having your own litter in a few weeks, too! Did you never thought about asking us to be your godparents?"

"I… err…" Judy hesitated nervously. "To be honest, I didn't want you to slide into the awkward situation of having to refuse it. I'm the only rabbit of our family living this far away from the burrow. It's just impossible to maintain all of our traditions", she sighed somewhat sadly and leaned her head against Nick's shoulder, who put his arm around her.

"And what will you do after your maternity leave? We all know how much you love your job; I cannot imagine you as a house-bunny. The same for you, Nick", Ralph questioned them.

The fox cleared his throat, "My mother offered to look after our kits during the week while we are at work. She isn't the youngest and it will be no durable solution, but it will make her happy and at least it's a short-time solution for the first few months".

"We also visited a playgroup for prey here in Zootopia, but they don't support our uncommon working shifts. Also, they don't accept any predator kits to 'avoid problems'." Judy rolled her eyes. "When we told them about our mixed-species kits, they wanted to call us back but never did. So, as I said before, we don't really have a solution yet, but there are still a few weeks left".

"She really didn't intend to ask us", Ralph frowned and spoke to Clara who nodded and answered:

"Yeah, I would be spiky about it if I wasn't so shocked!"

"Maybe she's been in this big city for too long and has forgotten about all her family values. I mean, this is the classical situation why the godparents exist: First-time parents, both working full-time and being slightly overcharged by their first litter", Evelin talked with Ralph and Clara as if Judy and Nick weren't even there.

Judy wanted to say something, but Ralph interrupted her before she could even start: "I guess, she would concede the long distance and that it's her own fault for having left the burrow".

"Since when does the family end on the border of the burrow? Besides, Zootopia isn't too far away, it's just a two-hour ride with the Express", Clara answered.

Again, Judy wanted to say something, but this time Evelin interrupted her beforehand: "It's just a short ride, still you cannot commute on a daily basis. But when they are going to visit us on weekends in Bunnyburrow, some of us could accompany them and stay with them in the guest room during the week. There would be a dozen siblings willing to help them out, let alone the chance to visit Zootopia. So, I would be willing to visit her twice a month. This would also give them the chance to spend additional time with my kits, too! Miriam, Fiona, River and Jenny all agreed to this idea, too – what about you?"

Judy and Nick were looking at each other, both rather perplexed as the other rabbits were planning on solving all baby-sitting-problems as if they weren't even attending.

"I bet Mel would love to come to Zootopia from time to time", Ralph said, talking about his wife.

"Me, too! I also have a few friends here but only rarely have the opportunity to visit", Clara said grinning.

"Yeah, seems as if there really is no big thing about this. I have absolutely no idea, why Juju never thought of asking or even just talking with us about it", Eve concluded with a sigh.

"Maybe it's the influence of this fox she had married: He slowly tries to isolate her from her family and finally bring her into total subjection… she seems to be a big fan of this pred-prey-thingy..." Clara said thoughtfully.

"HEY!" Judy straightened up on the couch with narrowed eyes. She knew exactly that her sister was only joking, but wasn't sure if Nick knew it, too. And at this point it was more safe to eventually break up the little show her siblings obviously had planned. "I think we get what you are talking about!" she snorted with a small grin.

"Are you sure?" Eve grinned at her sister.

"Yeah", Judy smiled widely, got off the couch and tried to hug all three other bunnies at once, some tears in her eyes. "I didn't want to bother you with our problems and had totally forgotten that with such a great family there is no problem I couldn't bother you with".

While all four rabbits were cuddling, Nick got off his couch and started to shuffle in direction of the kitchen.

"Hey, foxy! Where are you going?" Evelin snickered over Judy's shoulder.

"Someplace where I'm not isolating your cute bunny even more from you", he muttered moping.

All rabbits paused at once, Clara looking rather shocked and even Evelin twitched nervously with her muzzle. Judy didn't say anything, but her ears were twitching a bit. Nick was near the door, letting his shoulders and tail droop, when Clara leaped off the couch and ran after him.

"H-Hey, Nick! I… I was just joking!" she stood in front of him with big pleading eyes.

"Yes. Of course", he indifferently patted her head and passed her slowly.

"But Nick…" Clara wasn't sure what to say or do and looked seeking for help from her siblings.

"Sweet cheese and crackers…" Ralph muttered, "That worked out different than originally planned".

While Evelin got off the couch and walked after Nick, too, Judy turned to Ralph: "What do you think would happen if you are going to insinuate such things?" – by now she was pretty sure that Nick was only acting – his heartbeat wasn't slow and sad, but more 'playful'. But she was totally fine with him having a tit-for-tat response for her cocky siblings and playing along with him.

Ralph just shrugged: "We thought that you would have said something up to this point of our dialog, so we just wanted to provoke a reaction. But it was not our intention to insult or hurt Nick, I promise!"

Evelin had caught up with Nick in the meantime. "Hey, foxy…" she said slowly, reaching with her paw for his arm. Nick stopped, not looking at her and still pouting. "We didn't mean to hurt you; it was meant as a joke but it totally backfired. Come down here, Nick…", she smiled encouraging and held her arms in his direction.

When Nick turned around, he squatted in front of her and Evelin immediately put her arms around his neck, hugging him gently. "I'm really sorry, Nick"

Nick, who was looking over her shoulder in Judy's direction, started to grin slyly and patted Evelin's back with a deep playful sigh. "I know, Eve…" – he watched Judy already rolling her eyes with a small grin as she could imagine what he was up to.

"Are you okay again, Nick?" Eve asked carefully, still hugging him.

He grabbed with one paw around her butt and with the other around her back, straighten up again and lifting her on his arm, whispering in her ear: "Sure, now after I caught myself a little dessert."

"Eeek!" – Evelin was startled for a short moment, then squeaked and struggled with her legs, laughing. "Dumb fox! Let me down!"

Clara and Ralph didn't realize what had happened but Judy giggled quietly and watched how Nick was carrying her struggling sister to the empty couch and carefully laid her down. When Evelin wanted to punch Nick on his shoulder, he grabbed her little fist and lowered his head with bared teeth, licking with his tongue over his lips.

"Tasty bunny…" he snarled, and Evelin was paralyzed from shock and just stared at those dangerous looking teeth heading for her throat.

"N-Nick…?" she whimpered quietly and in the next second Nick was smiling friendly without showing his teeth anymore.

"Yes, Eve?" Nick cocked his head and smiled at her with his big, innocent, green eyes.

It took another few seconds until Judy could hear how Ralph exhaled deeply and then started to laugh.

"Oh, you should have seen your eyes!" Judy giggled amused and walked over to Nick and Eve. Clara trudged back to Ralph, too, and sat beside him.

"Okay, never fool around with a predator again", she muttered and nudged Ralph with her elbow.

"Sweet cheese and crackers…" Evelin panted quietly. "I feel like… I have no idea how I feel!" she straightened up on the couch again, glancing to Nick. "I was quite sure that you weren't going to bite me", she smiled. "But I still felt like… like…" Eve took a deep breath and Judy snickered.

"Yeah, I know exactly what you are talking about, sis", she winked.

"Be glad, that I didn't have my kits right here on your couch!" Evelin replied her wink. "Wow… okay, I could use a shower now! Would you mind if Nick joins me?" she grinned.

"You already had your foxy-sample, I keep the rest of him for myself" Judy laughed.

"Okay, maybe you can join me then? I need someone to help me with my back, I'm not as agile with this belly as before", Eve winked, got off the couch and pulled Judy on her paw along to the bathroom.

"I would have helped, too!" Nick shouted after them with a sly grin and both, Clara and Ralph, laughed.

"You gave me a real scare, Nick!" Clara pouted, but was grinning nevertheless.

"Aww, come on. You can dish it out but cannot take it on the chin?" he winked and sat beside her on the couch, putting his arm around Clara's shoulders.

Ralph was still snickering, "She is just green-eyed because you bared your teeth against Eve, as she is curious about that pred-prey-thing hersel… OUCH!" he laughed when Clara punched him hard on his arm, flashing her eyes at him.

"Is that so?" Nick grinned slyly, but then was thinking about how a big and cozy cheetah tries to growl dangerously and waves clumsily with his paws after a small rabbit – he suddenly winced on this mental image and took a big, long sip from his beer.

"But to take up the point you made earlier", Nick said after putting his empty glass down on the table again. "As generous as your offer is, that would be a lot of traveling for you just to support us with the kits".

"Not as much as you would think. You already travel to Bunnyburrow every two weeks on the weekends and one or two of us would just accompany you to Zootopia and back to Bunnyburrow. Also there are so many volunteers among the family, that each of us would only come here every few weeks or even months. If we are helping out our siblings for a few days in a burrow on the other side of Bunnyburrow or here in Zootopia, there really isn't a big difference. As long as you still have a guestroom for us to stay, there will be no problem at all!" Ralph was explaining and Clara nodded from time to time approving.

Nick smiled softly, noticeably emotional. "Already planned all of this, didn't you? You are really some great friends!"

"Even better", Clara winked and nudged him with her elbow. "We are one family! And that's just how things work between ourselves. Bunnies are great at logistics, you know", she winked.

---

"It would be much easier if you just join me in the shower, Juju", Evelin laughed. She was standing inside the shower with running water and Judy stood before the shower-door, massaging her sisters back with some shampoo, stretching her arms and watching out to don't get wet herself.

"You really have no shame, do you?" Judy giggled nervously, her muzzle twitching slightly.

"Oh, come on. We saw each other and all of our siblings naked dozens of times! Why should I be ashamed in front of you, sis?"

"That was a few years ago, we were kits back then…" Judy muttered.

Evelin suddenly turned around and posed with her head cocked and a paw put on her waist. "I don't think that I have changed very much since then", she smiled slyly – "Okay, besides my slightly larger belly now".

Judy smiled awkwardly, her inner ears turned bright red by now. "You look really fantastic and beautiful as always, sis. It's just that I… we…" Judy gestured nervously with her paws – "We are now adults and not kits anymore! You cannot be naked in front of others willy-nilly!"

"Why not? I'm quite confident about my body and feel comfortable even naked", she grinned. "I find it rather funny that you are such a prude but at the same time having your little pred-prey-games with your foxy".

Judy put her paw in front of her mouth. "Eve!"

Evelin laughed and took a step to the back, the water now running over her head, ears and back. "Come on, make a photo of me for Sven. Just to make sure he will miss me even more this weekend".

"What!? You are joking, right?" Judy looked genuinely shocked.

"Absolutely not, sis" Evelin chuckled. "Aren't you teasing Nick from time to time with some dirty messages or photos?"

"No!" Judy wished the ground would open and swallow her up.

"You're a drag", Eve snickered – "Come on, taking a photo of me for Sven will not kill you."

Judy hesitatingly pulled her phone out of her pocket while Evelin was already posing naughtily again, the water dripping over her head and her ear over one side to her shoulder. It took Judy a few tries to make a sharp photo without jerking and breathed deeply.

"Okay, here you go. But I'm not sending it to Sven from my phone!" Judy winked.

Evelin snickered and stepped to the border of the shower, "Let me see it, sis!"

Judy sighed and stepped up to her, turning the phone screen around for Eve to see. But when she was in range, Evelin grabbed her sister suddenly and dragged her fully-clothed into the shower. Judy shrieked surprised and tried to get hold of the shower-door, but it was already too late and a short moment later she was standing beside Evelin, the water running down all over her head and soaking her clothes. Evelin laughed furiously when she noticed the abashed look on her sister's face, taking a photo of it immediately with the phone she had captured moments ago.

"Very funny. Ha. Ha", – Judy just stood there, fiercely flashing her eyes at her sister.

"Sorry, Juju", Evelin was still laughing hysterically. "But that's just a sight for sore eyes". She put the phone on a soap tray and tried to grab Judy's shirt at the bottom. "Come on, now you'd may as well pull off those clothes and join me in the shower as I suggested before", she giggled and Judy let Eve reluctantly help to undress her.

"Dumb rabbit", she muttered, still somewhat embarrassed.

---

Nick, Ralph and Clara were browsing the photo album Judy had made when the two other sisters joined them again.

"Ah, finished your shower finally?", Nick smiled and Judy crawled on his lap, cuddling him tightly without saying a word while Eve was still giggling quietly and sat down on the couch, too. Nick raised his eyebrows and fondled Judy's neck and back. "What have you done to my bunny?" he asked worried but Evelin just shrugged with a grin.

"We just showered together, more or less voluntarily", Eve winked while Ralph and Clara started to snicker.

"Judy showering together with another rabbit? You are really unbending today!" Clara grinned.

"She just dragged me under the shower while I was still fully dressed!" Judy muttered pouting into Nick's chest.

"Aww, my poor little rabbit", he patted her head but grinned. "I wish I had seen this!"

Judy punched him halfheartedly and Nick, snickering, gave her a kiss between her ears.

"I discussed with Ralph and Clara that as we are already celebrating together in the Hollow Bar tomorrow, we could relax at home tonight. We thought about a movie night and a board game party, what do you two think?" Nick suggested, still crawling Judy's ears.

"Great idea! Movies and board games also go well with pizza", Evelin clapped her hands. "This way nobody has to prepare dinner and we can all just have some fun!"

Judy had straightened up again in the meantime and took a small pill together with a large sip from her glass. "Sounds good to me, too" she smiled and tried not to turn a hair.

"Your chest again?" Nick whispered into her ear while the other rabbits were discussing what movie to start with. Judy nodded slowly, leaning against his upper body with a quiet sigh.

"Just give me a few minutes until the pill takes effect and I'm fine again" she smiled at him, tilting her head back. Nick gave her a soft kiss, feeling sorry that he could do nothing more to ease her pain.

Their first film was 'A Night at The Pawspurry', a rather old movie Nick had as a DVD and none of the rabbits knew: Some wealthy dogs named Steve and Doug enjoy frequenting nightclubs and fail miserably at picking up woman. Their dream is to party at the Pawspurry, a fabled nightclub where they are continually denied entrance by a bulldog bouncer, and hope to open their own club. An auto accident with a famous wolf and film-star gives them a foot in the door. Inside, they meet the club's owner, and two gold-diggers believe they are wealthy businessmen: Vivica, a Supermodel and Russian Wolfhound, and her friend Cambi try to work the Pawspurry Guys for their money; only to find out the pair is broke. Steve finds his father shoving him into marriage with the next-door neighbor, a poodle named Emily, but Doug keeps this from happening. Fortune smiles, and the two brothers become the co-owners of a new nightclub.

It was a hilarious but also quite disturbing 90 minutes of a movie – but with some good old music – and everyone had a lot of fun, Judy even taking another painkiller pill because the laughing made her chest hurt.

"Wow, those two head-bobbing losers really got a date in the end and their dream came true. That's even more unrealistic since those cartoon-musicals", Judy giggled.

"Yeah, and what two bombshells they are. One even working for the police. Hey, Nicky…" – Evelin grinned, "Was that movie some kind of plan or template for your relationship?"

"Are you suggesting me as a bombshell?", Judy asked snorting.

"All I was hearing when I first saw you was 'Beeew, Beeew, Beeew', the ambulance came and took me away, 'cos the sight of you stopped my heart", Nick quoted grinning.

Judy rolled her eyes: "Can you believe I actually had sex with this sucker?"

"Actually", Clara giggled, "I could imagine him after he scored within 23 seconds, running out of the room and high-fiving his success.

"That's rather unfair", Nick smiled slyly. "Even if it only took half a minute, there would be no chance I would run outside immediately" – and when Clara looked questioningly with a grin, he turned to Judy: "You really never mentioned our 'mandatory cuddling time' to them?"

Judy's inner-ears tuned into some shade of red while the other rabbits were watching her closely.

"We will talk about that later", Evelin winked. "Okay, we still have time for another film. What about 50 Shades of Prey?" – Ralph laughed silently but Clara and Judy just looked at her in shock.

"S-Sorry, I don't think we have this movie in our library", Judy muttered.

"Only because, I'm not allowed to buy it. I've been curious for quite a while what all the fuss is about this movie", Nick muttered.

"Oh, I bet Ben will lend it to you!", Clara shouted but regretted it immediately.

"Ben?", Evelin and Nick were both watching her closely with a sly grin.

"We will talk about that later, too", Evelin promised with a wink.

They opened the electronic streaming archive of their cable provider and browsed through the available movies. The action movies were declined by the women, the romantic ones by the boys. It was Evelin's choice that decided the second movie: 'Cruel Intentions' – a movie Judy didn't protest against as she didn't know it yet:

Kathryn – a female puma – and Sebastian – a male cheetah – are seductive, manipulative step-siblings who get what they want, when they want it. Kathryn makes a bet with her step-brother: He must bed Annette, the doe and daughter of their school's headmaster, before the end of summer break. Annette has stated in a magazine that she would wait until love and marriage to sleep with another mammal. If Kathryn wins, she gets Sebastian's vintage Porsche. If Sebastian wins, he gets Kathryn – the only mammal he knows he'll never have. Also in play is Cecile, a naïve rabbit whose mother had enlisted Kathryn to help her fit in at her new school. However, Kathryn (with Sebastian's help) plans to ruin Cecile's reputation as revenge on Kat's ex-boyfriend, who left her for Cecile.

Calling the movie suggestive would be a large understatement; a lot of scenes caused Judy to wince in embarrassment while the others just snickered, if at all. The rather sad end made our police-bunny shake her head.

"This Kathryn is such a manipulative beast!", Judy rebelled. "And that's why drugs are banned!", she winked.

"Oh, she wasn't a manipulative, sex-crazed puma just because of the drugs, Juju", Evelin declared. "And you really didn't know of this movie before? It's one of the first one's addressing inter-species-sex after the big taboo was raised 20 years ago!"

"Showing Cecile as a naïve little rabbit was rather unfair!" Judy pouted, "This prejudice is even enforced."

"Oh, the only enforced part is the sex in Part Three of the movie between the gazelle and the wolf, as far as I remember", Evelin frowned thoughtfully.

"Are you joking!?" Judy stared at her.

"Well, it's kind of enforced: The gazelle has a boyfriend but is blackmailed with pictures the wolf made while she was having a one-night-stand with a tiger…"

"Okay, we are not watching this movie now, too! I have to assimilate this first part first", Judy rolled her eyes and leaned against Nick – and recoiled at once with a terrified look at the small bulge in his lap. The fox didn't say anything, but they both re-positioned quickly. With little success, as she could still hear his excited heartbeat.

"I think in the end Kathryn got what she deserved, and Sebastian sacrificing himself for Annette is indeed really sad, but how Annette is on his side afterwards and ensured that everyone learned about his step-sister's real nature, is just poetic justice. Even with Cecile playing a naïve rabbit, I like her role. Oh, and she definitively seems to have fun with the cheetah", Clara said.

Judy and Nick exchanged a look on that last sentence, then looked back to Clara with a big, sly grin.

"You have to know it", Nick winked at Clara who suddenly got a sheepish look herself, attracting Evelin's attention.

"What are you talking about?", she asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Clara declared with a death stare, throwing another pillow to a grinning Nick and Judy. Before it could hit the rabbit's chest, Nick put his arm around her, blocking it and turning his head to Clara with an urging voice:

"Please, be a bit more careful. You know, her broken ribs are really painful".

"Okay, I would suggest that we order some pizza now and after that we could still play some games. What do you think?", Ralph eagerly rubbed his belly. "I have to admit, I'm quite hungry again."

Nick got off the couch, fetching some prospects for delivery services. He also brought some pencils and sticky notes, putting them on the table – 'for later', he stated. They studied the menu and decided on two big family pizza's, both with mixed toppings.

"And what should we do while we wait for them to be delivered?", Judy asked the group.

"This is what I brought the sticky notes for", Nick winked. "We write the name of any mammal – real or fictional – on a note without you seeing what we are writing. Then we stick it on your forehead and you have to guess with yes/no questions who you are! If we have to answer with 'yes', you can ask another question, otherwise it's the next Mammal's turn. Of course, we write small notes for everyone…"

"Sounds funny!", Evelin grinned and grabbed some sticky notes. "And I already have a perfect idea for you…" – she wrote something on a note and applied it to Clara's forehead: 'MOM' – resulting in quite some giggling within the others.

"OK, I'm next!", Ralph took the notices, wrote 'Nick' on it and applied it to Nick's forehead, resulting in much more giggling and an irritated look by the fox.

"Fine, but then I'm next", Nick said and applied a sticky note to Evelin's head, reading 'Judy', which caused non-stop giggling.

"Oh dear…", Evelin said with a grin but then applied a note to Judy's head reading 'Cecile'. Last one was Judy, who applied a note with 'Gideon' on Ralph's forehead. As they were all sitting in a circle and looking at each other with a grin, Evelin snickered: "That will be funny!"

"The youngest rabbit begins", Nick winked, looking to Evelin.

"Well, am I a rabbit?" – "Yes, you are", the fox answered.

"Female?" – some laughing by the others, "Yepp".

"One of the Hopps' family?" – "Yes!", Ralph replied.

"Single?" – "No, sorry", Ralph snickered.

"OK, who is next? Clara!", Evelin stated.

"Me? Well… I'm a prey?" – "Yes", Nick nodded.

"Rabbit?" – "Oh yes", a few snickered.

"Female?" – "Yepp", Judy said.

"Married?" – "Definitely!", Evelin snickered.

Clara gasped: "Am I pregnant?" – that caused a moment of silence and the others were facing each other. "Uhm…", Evelin replied thoughtfully, "Not as far as we know!" – Clara stopped short and Ralph was next:

"Obvious question first, am I a rabbit?" – "No!", most others giggled and Ralph furrowed.

"Nick, you're next", Judy grinned and the fox looked thoughtfully.

"I'm not a rabbit, right?" – "Correct, foxy", Evelin answered.

"Am I a predator?" – "Not really, but as a species… yes", Judy grinned.

"Oh, great. I'm a winey fox, right?", Nick rolled his eyes and all others laughed: "Yes".

"Well, you don't know too many foxes… am I good looking?", he grinned. "That's a very subjective question, foxtrot" Judy said and Evelin added: "You are not a scarecrow, but also not as good looking as you are thinking yourself".

Nick sighed, "I hate to be myself…"

The others giggled and removed the notice from Nick's head. "Congratulations, sly fox", Judy gave him a quick kiss and grinned.

"You can go next, carrots", he winked.

"Rabbit?" – "Yes", Ralph grinned.

"Female?" – "Definitely", Clara added.

"Hopps?" – "Meep, sorry", Evelin grinned and was next to ask the next question again:

"Well, I'm a female Hopps' rabbit that is married… pregnant?" – "Yepp", Ralph grinned.

"Having birthday in a few hours?" – Judy grinned and nodded.

"Aww, I always wanted to be you!", Evelin giggled and took the note from her head.

"Okay, I am a female, married rabbit and you don't think that I'm pregnant", Clara continued. "Hopps' family?" – "Definitely!", Evelin snickered.

"Older than Evelin?" – "Yes", Judy nodded.

"Okay, that leaves it to Jana and Jane – as I'm definitely not married myself and Judy is pregnant" – "Sorry, dear. None of them", Ralph shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

"I'm still a bit clueless… only knowing I'm no rabbit. Am I a predator than?", Ralph asked curious. "Yes, you are", Judy nodded with a grin.

"Lucky shot… a fox?" – "Good guess, yes, you are!", Clara giggled.

"Nick's mother?" – Nick's face was a dead pan but the others were hysterically laughing: "No, definitely not!"

Judy sighed, "Okay… I'm a female rabbit, but not from the Hopps family. There are not a lot of rabbits outside the family we are all knowing by name. Am I a fictional character?" – "Yes, my little innocent carrot, you are", Nick grinned.

Judy thought for a while, then widened her eyes: "You didn't, did you?"

"Did what?", Evelin snickered.

"What was the naïve little rabbit in the movie called again? Cecile!" – Judy pouted when the others clapped their paws and slowly removed her notice. "I'm no naïve little rabbit!", she muttered.

"OK, I'm next again. But I'm at a loss currently… female, married Hopps rabbit, older than Evelin, most likely not pregnant and neither Jana nor Jane. But there are no other Hopps rabbits other than… oh… OH! That's nasty! I'm Mom, right?", Clara looked indignant but then started to laugh.

"Well, that leaves me as the last one… I'm a fox, but not Nick's mother! Is Judy pregnant from me?" he grinned, resulting in broad laughter from Evelin and Clara, and a dumb look from Judy and Nick.

"OK, most probably not…", Ralph muttered with a grin. "But I would guess then, that I'm Gideon", he winked and a still laughing Evelin removed his note from his forehead.

"Another round until the pizza arrives?" Judy suggested and they allocated new notices to everybody again.

---

They interrupted their game when the pizza arrived half an hour later and shared the different types of toppings amongst themselves. Most slices of the pizzas were eaten by Evelin and Judy, closely followed by Nick. But even his hunger was nothing compared to that of two pregnant bunnies. Ralph and Clara were already content with two big slices and sharing the third one.

After their dinner, Nick disappeared into the kitchen for half an hour while the rabbits were talking about all kinds of different things, browsing through the photo album Judy made, touching and caressing Evelin's pregnant belly, talking further about the idea of some siblings visiting Judy and Nick for a week in the future to watch after their kits. Judy really loved the idea, but would have never suggested it on her own.

Just as they were getting unsettled and Judy wanted to shout for Nick, the fox entered the living room again with a large tablet and five big cocktail glasses with colorful content and decoration.

"I thought I could try to be creative again", he winked. "One virgin caipirinha for Evelin and a safer Sex on the beach for carrots … a Long Island Ice Tea for Clara and a Tequila Sunrise for Ralph", he put the drinks in front of them and took a Sex on the beach for himself. "I worked at a small Cocktail Bar on the Sahara Strip for a while a few years ago, hopefully I didn't forget too much", he winked.

They clinked their glasses with best wishes for the soon-to-be mothers and for their upcoming birthday and that they managed to all have this great evening together. After everyone took a few sips from their drink, Nick was showered with honors. They started another game: Munchkin, with the pirate and zombie extension:

Munchkin is a dedicated deck card game that has a humorous take on role-playing games. All players start at level 1 with the goal of reaching level 10. Players primarily progress by killing monsters, and level up every time they kill a monster. However, players can freely use cards against monsters and other players during play, allowing them to either assist or to sabotage others during their turn. Due to the highly competitive nature of the game and the presence of rule-breaking cards, players are encouraged to use unfair tactics against others, to act mercilessly to further themselves at the expense of others, or to use cheat cards to affect outcomes (such as fixing the roll of the die).

You could think that the nature of the game was cut out for Nick, but the bunnies turned out to be even more shifty and sneaky than the fox. It was a long and sharp contest, but Evelin won the first round – together with Judy, playing the card 'Enough brain for two'. Of course, Nick was seeking revenge, and demanded that the winner of two out of three games would decide what game to play next. A bad decision as it turned out: He tried to sabotage Evelin's achievements, but just to tease him all others were supporting her and keeping Nick on low levels while Evelin was soon winning again.

"How humiliating to lose, of all the games, this one as a fox!" he sighed, but smiled and shook Evelin's paw. "Congratulations, sly bunny!"

"So, I get to decide the next game?", Evelin slyly grinned while they all bundled the cards of Munchkin back together.

"I guess so. Something special on your mind?", Ralph asked, sipping on his Tequila Sunrise, already feeling a bit dizzy.

"You bet", Evelin winked. "Let's play truth or dare!"

Judy groaned quietly, she always happened to be Evelin's victim on this game. Ralph and Clara were a bit too enthusiastic, and Nick made a mental note to reduce the alcoholic parts of their cocktails the next time.

"Fine with me, I have nothing to hide", Nick winked and added to his mental note some reduced alcohol for his own drink, too.

"We will see, foxy!", Evelin winked and searched for something that could be used as a bottle or spinning needle. She finally took a carrot from a basket, bit off the green bunch of foliage and gave the small carrot a test-spin on the table. "Perfect! And as you lost the last game, you may begin the new one", she winked at Nick.

"Let's see…", Nick gave the carrot a powerful spin and it landed on Clara.

"Oh, that was sooo obvious!" she giggled, "Okay I choose 'Dare' – didn't drink enough for the truth, yet", she winked.

Nick smirked, "You have to pretend to be a snake and wiggle over our floor for a minute."

Clara got off the couch, wiggling over the floor without using her arms and legs, just moving her body back and forth. When she finished, she stuck out her head at the table and hissed at Nick with a grin, resulting in even more laughter.

"Okay, so I'm next!", she declared and gave the carrot another spin – the vegetable pointed to Judy, who immediately declared 'truth'. "Well, bunny-cop…", Clara winked at her, "Did you ever steal some money from your brothers, sisters or parents?"

"No! Of course not!", Judy pouted indignantly, then spun the carrot. When it pointed to Nick she grinned: "Truth or Dare, foxtrot?"

Nick thought for a moment, "I'll play it safe with you being in charge…", he raised his eyebrows with a wink. "Dare!"

"Okay, then you have to hop around the table like a real rabbit", Judy winked and Nick got off the couch and making some halfhearted jumps. "No, no, no! No rabbit is jumping like this! Make it… smooth!"

While the others were already laughing, Nick squatted, slowly shook his butt and tail, then leaped about twenty centimeters ahead, landing again with squatted legs. He repeated that for about two minutes until he finally completed going around the whole table and let himself fall tired on the couch. "That's really exhausting!" He slowly grabbed the carrot and spun it – and it landed on Evelin.

"Truth", she said sweetly.

"Mh…", Nick thought for a moment. "On which piece of furniture did you make love on the last time?"

Judy breathed sharply, Ralph and Clara giggled but Evelin and Nick were just smiling slyly at each other, without flinching.

"While swimming in the pool at our parent's house", she said nonchalantly, already spinning the carrot again, it now pointing to Judy. "Truth or dare, sis?"

Judy had wide eyes and wasn't sure what to do: "Dare, just to be sure."

Evelin smiled: "You will have to eat a piece of chocolate" – Judy already smiled relieved, then Evelin continued: "After Clara had licked on it!"

"What?!", Judy stared at her sister.

"You've already had a lot of other things in your mouth, I'm sure. Let's just begin with this chocolate for now", Evelin winked.

Clara was already licking on a bar of chocolate and held it to Judy who sighed and ate it finally. "You will be sorry for that, sis", Judy flashed her eyes at Evelin, who just giggled.

When she spun the carrot, it landed on Ralph who was still giggling and chose 'Truth': "When did you last kiss another rabbit?"

"Today at the station, I kissed you as a welcome!", he grinned and Judy rolled her eyes.

"Kissed another rabbit in a sexual way!", she added.

"Oh, that would be just before we left Bunnyburrow this morning. I gave Mel a kiss goodbye", he winked and took the carrot, spinning it quite powerfully. When it landed on Evelin again, she said 'Truth' again and Ralph thought about a question. "Hm… as you and Judy share nearly everything, have you also seen Nick naked yet?"

Her answer was quick and unexpected: "Yes" – Ralph and Clara both looked surprised, Judy rolled her eyes and Nick snickered quietly.

"Would you like to … explain this?", Ralph suggested curiously.

"On the day I came for a visit to tell Judy that I'm going to get married, he was clearly not expecting any visitors and stood naked in the living room". Evelin winked at the fox while Ralph and Clara snickered even more.

"Did you like what you saw?" Clara asked grinning, but Evelin shook her head.

"Only one question per turn, sis", she winked and spun the carrot. When it pointed to Clara, the rabbit quietly said 'truth'. Evelin started to grin widely: "Do you currently have a girl- or boyfriend here in Zootopia?"

"I...", Clara started nervously, her muzzle twitching furiously. "I-I… don't know if you can already call him that. We are just friends and currently learning more about each other", Clara took a – dangerously big – sip from her cocktail and rubbed her ears nervously between her paws.

Ralph had to nudge her with a grin to remember her that she now was spinning the carrot. It landed on Judy.

"Truth…", Judy grinned.

"How many bunnies have you seen naked – excluding our family?", Clara grinned at her.

"I-I…", she spoke with a stammer and quickly took a sip from her – unfortunately – non-alcoholic cocktail. "E-Excluding all of our family… no others", her voice dropped to little more than a whisper. Evelin and Clara giggled while Ralph was looking at his sister with a soft smile.

"I don't think that's a bad thing, sis. Don't mind your jealous sisters, you found your prince charming nevertheless", Ralph winked.

Judy smiled thankfully and spun the carrot – pointing it to Ralph.

"Truth!", he said with a smile.

"How many litters do you have planned with Mel?", Judy asked.

"We are currently having three, but Mel and I agreed that we want at least five. But probably not more than seven. Still working on number four", he winked and the others giggled.

When he spun the carrot and it landed on Nick, the fox decided for the 'truth' and Ralph asked: "Earlier this evening you referred to mandatory cuddle time while we were watching 'A Night at the Pawspurry' – I think now is the perfect time for you to explain that", he winked.

Nick looked a bit surprised and his ears straightened up. When he shared a quick look with Judy, her looks were telling him "You maneuvered yourself into this, now live with it!"

"Well…", he started while rubbing his neck and taking a big sip from his Sex on the Beach. "It's just some … anatomical fox thing."

"We are all ears", Evelin grinned widely while Ralph and Clara giggled quietly. Judy wished, she could drink at least one glass of wine or take a large sip of any cocktail. The following explanation would be embarrassing and she had not even told Evelin about it until now.

"While our…", Nick took a deep breath and started again. "When a fox is on the brink of … finishing his sexual act, his … you know, penis… swells considerably".

"Shouldn't it swell before you start?", Clara giggled.

"No… Yes… I mean, it becomes erect, of course. But the later swelling prevents the fox from becoming loose directly after. Both partners stay connected and have to wait for… the swelling to go away. It's something in our biology, I cannot do anything against it. And as it lasts for 20-30 minutes, we just call it our 'mandatory cuddle time'". When Nick finished, his fur was even more red than usual and the rabbits – except Judy – were grinning widely at him.

"I wish we could introduce this for male rabbits, too!", Evelin snickered and Clara nodded laughing:

"Yes, that would make things way more romantic!"

Before they could talk even more about the subject, Nick spun the carrot on the table. When it pointed to Judy, she sighed and made a short gesture with her paw: "Dare".

Nick smiled softly, "Don't worry. I will be merciful to you… just show us the last pictures on your phone". While Judy was fumbling in her pockets for the phone, Evelin started to laugh hysterically. As Nick was thinking about the pictures they made in the park yesterday, he didn't quite understand what was so funny. It also took Judy a few seconds: When she couldn't find her phone in her pockets, it was like she was struck by lightning.

"I think it's still on the soap tray in your shower, Juju…", Evelin winked helpfully and Nick raised his eyebrows.

Judy got off the couch, quickly walked to the bathroom and when she returned she stared on the phone screen, browsing through the last pictures from today. "No way!" she pressed the screen against her body and her muzzle and inner ears had a light-red color.

"Come on, you cannot chicken out!" Evelin giggled and just when Judy wanted to argue with her, Nick quickly grabbed the phone from her paw and grinned.

"It couldn't be worse than my last confession, so just let me see…" – he stopped midsentence when he browsed through the first two pictures Evelin had made of her after she had undressed Judy completely under the shower. Those were definitely the first pictures of adult Judy naked he had ever seen. Nick browsed to the next picture and saw Judy's abashed face while standing fully-clothed under the shower. Another swipe with his paw and he coughed nervously, covering the screen immediately with his paw and looking embarrassed first to Judy, then to Evelin. "That… turned in a complete different direction than I intended, I swear!", he stuttered and put the phone with the display down on the table.

Ralph and Clara tried to grab it at the same time, but already being too dizzy, Clara missed and Ralph got hold of the phone. When he turned the display back on, he saw the kinky photo of Evelin posing in the shower and raised his eyebrows. "Nice one, Eve!", he smiled. "But I like the one with the smiley on your belly made of foam from last week even more". He browsed through the other pictures and had to laugh on Judy's abashed look, fully clothed. "You misunderstood the concept of a shower, sis", he winked. Another swipe and he saw the picture of Judy standing naked in the shower, but without any posing. "A little less belly and not as confident in her posing as Eve, but you sure still look as beautiful as I would have imagined". Clara, who was looking over his shoulder, gaped: "Wow, you really have some trained abs and leg muscles, Ju! But you should train your posture, you're posing like a sack of spuds, not the sexy bunny you are! Oh, I really envy your slender waist!"

Judy was looking defeated and even a bit reproachful to Nick.

"Sorry, carrots…?", he tried not to giggle and put his arm around her shoulders. "But to be fair, those are some really beautiful photos of you and definitely nothing to be ashamed of", he gave her a lovingly kiss and Judy smiled a bit.

"Thanks…"

Beep-Beep … Nick's phone was quietly notifying some incoming messages and Evelin grinned, having Judy's phone in her paws. "Don't worry, I send them to you for later admiration". Judy grabbed her phone protesting while Nick was laughing together with Clara and Ralph. Seconds later, his phone notified him about another message. He turned his head to Judy who was holding her phone again and smiled slyly.

"I hope you don't worry that I send him yours, too. I think it's only fair, after everyone else but him already had a close look".

When Judy wanted to intimidate Evelin with this, it didn't work. Her sister was just starting to laugh: "Oh, Juju. If anyone of you wants to admire my body, you don't have to rely on a photo. You could have just asked…" – and with this words she took off her shirt, revealing her white bra she undid in a second.

Nick didn't say anything, just stared at the half-naked bunny that was sitting opposite him. Even Judy couldn't answer and just looked at Evelin with a slightly open mouth, not sure how to react. It took a few seconds, then Eve stood up from the couch. She walked up to her sister, putting her arms around her neck, then leaning in to kiss her… twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, …

When Evelin leaned back again and grinned to Judy, the other rabbit's face was a mess of emotions – but Nick was sure, it pleased her! – and Evelin whispered not-too-quiet, crawling over her cheeks: "Happy Birthday, Juju!"

It took Nick a few more seconds to break his looks away and searched for the wall-clock: It was exactly one minute after midnight, Evelin's timing was perfect. He walked up to Clara and Ralph, hugging each of them eagerly and with a wide smile – wishing them both happy birthday. Evelin had dressed her shirt again by now and hugged Ralph and Clara, too. Nick walked in the meantime up to Judy, who had somewhat recovered from Evelin's act, hugged her carefully and gave her an affectionate kiss: "Happy Birthday, carrots. May all your wishes come true!"

---

They played for about two more hours, but around 1 o'clock Ralph and Clara were already too tired to pay full attention. The cocktails weren't extremely strong, but enough for small rabbits – Nick would have his eyes on them tomorrow when they were in the Hollow Bar. Even when it was unlikely, he didn't want to risk that any of the rabbits was taken advantage of while drunk.

After the other litter-siblings were sleeping in the guest bed, Nick insisted on Evelin sleeping with Judy in their bedroom and he would just sleep on the couch. When the rabbits said good-night to him, and all lights were off, he already regretted his decision. Even when Judy was just a few meters away, he now had to sleep alone. But it was okay, he tried to persuade himself – her scent was still ever-present. He just had to close his eyes and think about something different…

Judy was sitting on her bed, together with Evelin. They were both still talking and giggling about the last hours. After a while, Judy got off the bed and first undressed, then pulled over a nightgown, much to Evelin's amusement.

"You are really wearing such a thing at night?" she giggled.

"Only when I'm sleeping alone or in the same bed with someone other than Nick", Judy winked at her.

Evelin rolled her eyes and got off the bed herself. After she undressed, she looked around but obviously couldn't find a nightgown in her own bag. While Judy was crawling on the bed again, Eve suddenly saw something to pull over…

"What by the green carrot you doing?" Judy stared laughing at Evelin, who had pulled over Judy's police uniform top and was just closing her utility belt over her naked waist.

"I'm Judy Hopps and I'm making the world a better place!", Evelin imitated Judy's voice really convincingly while jumping onto the bed. Judy was still laughing and Evelin grinned at her. "And you are a really bad rabbit!"

"I don't think so", Judy held her stomach still laughing and stuck out her tongue to her younger sister. "You on the other side are arrogating the rights of a police officer when wearing this uniform. Better get it off or I have to eventually arrest you", Judy giggled.

"Arrest me… with those?", Evelin spun one end of the handcuffs around her finger and winked.

"Exactly!" – Judy tried to leap forward and grab the handcuffs from Evelin, but her sister was faster; and when Judy landed on the bed again, her left paw was already handcuffed. "Hey! That's not fair!"

"You're right… here, have the key…", Evelin smiled and handed her the closed paw. When Judy tried to grab for it, Evelin held her tight and within seconds handcuffed her other paw. Evelin giggled: "Being a cop is easier than I thought".

"You're not a cop, you're just a mean little sister!", Judy smiled with a chuckle. "Okay, well played. Now give me the key so we can both go to bed, Eve".

"Oh, come on… I'm just starting to have some fun!", she snickered.

"Eve!" – Judy urged her but her sister was already pulling Judy's handcuffed arms over her head and hung them up on one of the bedpost.

"Just admit, that you liked our kiss earlier, and I will let you go", Evelin winked, squatting over Judy's body, but her sister just laughed.

"That would please you, wouldn't it? Nope, I was just …. caught by surprise, that's all!"

"Oh, that's just too bad. Maybe I have to… convince you further", she started to slowly pull up Judy's nightgown and eventually kissed her belly.

"Eve!", Judy urged her again, but less earnestly now.

"What in the dickens is going on?" Nick entered the bedroom with sleepy eyes, then watched puzzled between Judy and Evelin.

"Just a police interrogation?" Evelin suggested with a naughty smile, still having Judy's uniform top on.

"Nick! Could you please help me and release my paws?" Judy sighed with relief when she saw her fox. With a shake of his head Nick approached them both, searching for the keys for the handcuffs on his utility belt. When he started to open Judy's handcuffs, Evelin grinned and put her paw on her side.

"How boring, that opened up so many possibilities. But you always have to be her knight in shining armor!"

When Judy's paws were finally free again, she gave Nick a kiss on his cheek and smiled, while taking the handcuffs. "Thank you, foxtrot."

"You are welcome, carrots", he chuckled.

"That could have been a really fun night, Juju", Evelin winked at her.

Judy hugged her smiling, patting her on the back. "I'm sorry, but you really have to undress this uniform…" – within a second she had handcuffed Evelin's paws behind her back and nudged her back onto the bed with a sly grin.

The younger rabbit was first surprised, but when laying on the bed with her paws handcuffed behind her back, she grinned. "I don't think so, it's really comfy! And I don't think you have the guts to force-undress me…" she winked with a wide grin.

Judy posed beside the bed, smiling slyly. "Maybe you are right, but there are ways and means…" – she turned around to Nick and smiled as sweet as sugar: "Darling, I wonder whether you could handle that for me?"

Nick snickered and turned around to Evelin who was looking at them with big eyes. When Nick kneeled over her body, she smiled – but less confidently than before. "Don't you dare, foxy! Your wife is watching", she winked – but Nick just shrugged and quickly undressed her, opening only one handcuff at a time to retrieve the arm from the uniform, then handcuffing her again.

"As good as new, carrots", Nick smiled and held the uniform back to Judy.

"She still has those photos of me on her phone… I think you should convince her to delete them again, don't you?" Judy smiled smugly and Nick nodded with a smile.

When he turned around to Evelin, he slowly let his claws come from his paws and crawled over her body. "We two have something to discuss… darling…"

The moment he reached her thighs, she winced and said terrified: "You don't have to do that!"

He slowly grabbed both her tights, whispering: "Maybe. But don't worry, I will be gentle…. less or more!", lowering his sharp teeth with his tongue slowly licking over his lips, whispering quietly: "Carrots…"

---

When Judy blinked slowly, she felt that her fur was soaked with sweat and she heard her own heart palpitating like crazy. Her whole body was shivering, one of her paws crawling over her chest, the other one between her legs. 'Carrots…' – she heard Nick's voice again, sounding sore and begging. Yes, she wanted him to do it, her whole body was shaking again…

The fox was still carefully shaking her on the shoulder and finally she slowly seemed to wake up, blinking a few more times.

"W-What…?" she breathed shallow.

"You are dreaming, carrots… and whatever it is you were dreaming, you are driving me totally crazy for the last half-an-hour!"

Judy was still not fully aware what happened, just regretting to be half-awake now. "Just do it, Nick…" – she moaned silently with pleasure.

Nick closed his eyes, breathing deeply and trying to ignore his bunny's scent right now. "You are still dreaming, Judy!", he whimpered quietly and eventually decided to bite her gently into her ears.

With a moan of pleasure and pain, Judy winced and her eyes finally blinked awakened. When she eventually realized that she had only dreamed the whole scene and was still pleasuring herself right now, she straightened herself embarrassed in bed with a start, grimacing because of the sudden pain that whitewashed all pleasant feelings.

"Sweet cheese and crackers…", she panted quietly, holding her chest in pain and all kind of strange images were dashing through her mind. She now remembered, that Evelin was sleeping with her siblings in the guestroom, not with her in this bed. And she had never thought of being together with Nick and her at the same time before now! What kind of strange dream was that?!

"Carrots…?", Nick spoke quietly, sounding worried and very concentrated; he was sitting beside her in their bed. She turned around startled, starring at her fox like he was still a part of her dream that didn't vanished.

"Are you really there?", she put her paws on his muzzle and stroked him softly, then smiled when he didn't vanish. But Nick's pupils dilated, he took a long and deep sniff with his nose and wheezed groveling. Judy's chest pain was slowly eclipsed again by the backwash of her dream and Nick's current reaction of her scent; she grinned slyly, crawling along his neck and back, alternating between nibbling and kissing him fondly, until Nick finally lost the last vestiges of self-control and eventually threw her onto the bed. The dull pain and blazing pleasure made her shiver and moan again.

It was nearly half an hour later when they both were cuddling together, panting exhausted. Judy kept a stiff upper lip despite her chest pain, that was vaguely throbbing, but it was nearly covered by all other feelings.

"I hope the reality could live up to whatever you were dreaming, carrots", Nick whispered quietly, stroking her head and ears. Judy winced embarrassed and avoided looking in his direction. "Judy? Is everything okay?" The rabbit nodded slowly and Nick didn't probe any further.

"Nick?", she finally whispered insecurely.

"What is it, carrots? You can talk with me about anything, I will neither laugh nor adjudge you. Promise". He smilingly gave her a soft kiss between her ears and she snuggled even tighter against his chest.

"That was such a strange dream…"

"Well, maybe strange things are teasing you?", he snickered. "At least, you married me!"

She giggled and crawled over his chest. "You are as normal as a mayflower compared to this dream."

"Just forget about it, then… or you may tell me about it, just to get it out of your mind."

"Well, it started when we all decided to go to bed, and you offered to sleep on the couch so Evelin could sleep with me in our bed."

"That's exactly what I suggested, carrots", Nick winked.

"Yes, but rather than sleeping in the guest room together with Ralph and Clara, Evelin accepted your offer in my dream…"

"Aww, two cute little bunnies together in our bed. I would love to witness this!", he snickered.

"In my dream, you did. But I will never work up the courage to finish if you interrupt me continuously!", she winked and gave him a small kiss. After a few seconds, she eventually continued…

---

When Evelin entered the kitchen in the morning, she was surprised to find Nick already preparing some breakfast.

"Hey, foxy! Already up so early?"

"Good morning, Eve!" Nick tried to balance some plates and mugs. "Just preparing breakfast for our birthday rabbits".

The rabbit snickered and took the cups from Nick's paws. "I had the same idea. Could I still help you?"

"You're a guest, too! Just sit down and lean back while I …"

"…turn potential pancakes into carbon?" Evelin snickered and quickly pulled the pan from the stove, dark smoke already starting to fill the kitchen.

"Oh dear", Nick made a frustrated face. "I admit I might be somewhat overchallenged right now".

"Don't worry, you're down but not out, yet", she winked. "But what is that great smell?" she sniffed at the stove door.

Nick scurried to the oven and carefully opened the door, but only some sweet smell and steam escaped. "Phew, just in time!" – he took some oven cloth and pulled a baking plate out of the oven. "Those are Madeleines made by a family recipe, I trained with my mother every week for two months. You are always making so many great things, I just felt compelled to contribute something of my own".

"They smell and look delicious, Nicky!" Evelin smiled impressed. Then with a side look to the pan: "But you still wanted to make some pancakes?"

"Well, I've no idea if those Madeleines are edible, and it couldn't hurt to have a bit of a selection, it's their birthday after all", Nick smiled and put the small cakes from the baking plate onto a porcelain dish.

"Most likely they are more edible than those burned remains", she pointed to the pancakes and winked. "Your Madeleines smell great, don't worry. But if you still insist on making some pancakes, just let me take care of it".

When Judy entered the kitchen a short while later, Nick and Evelin were sitting at the table and giggling together.

"Am I intruding?" she asked with a light smirk, approaching Nick and giving him a kiss.

"Even though, you are always welcomed, Juju", Evelin snickered and hugged her older sister.

"I hope so!", Judy sat beneath Nick and scented the tea. "Ah, fresh chai. Since when do you drink such exotic blends, sis?" – she poured some tea in her own cup and added two table spoons of sugar.

"Nick suggested that this has been your favorite blend for a while now and that I may like it, too. It's really exotic compared to our herbal and fruit tea in Bunnyburrow. But it's tasty, good choice".

The older bunny took a quick sip from her cup and sighed with pleasure. "One of the advantages of living in the big city, sis", Judy smiled at her.

"And shopping malls!" Evelin grinned. "We absolutely have to go shopping today, I have no fitting dress for this evening! And I think I'm starting to notice a little bigger belly on you, too. The only cocktail dress you own will not fit you anymore, neither".

Nick rolled his eyes and said sarcastically: "A shopping trip with two pregnant bunnies, that will be a gas!"

"Did I hear 'shopping trip with my sisters'?", Clara leant on the door frame, yawning but grinning widely. Ralph was standing behind her, smiling with as much pleasant anticipation as Nick did just moments ago, too. "I need to gather my strength ahead of that! Do you have some tea and pancakes for me, too?"

"Just take a seat, I will bring you your breakfast in a second", Nick winked and got off his chair. When he returned from the kitchen, he carried a silver plate decorated with paper streamers and confetti – and three small plates, each with a Madeleine powdered with icing sugar and a burning birthday candle: "(singing, together with Evelin) Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear litter-two, happy birthday to you!"

Ralph, Clara und Judy grinned and clapped their hands and each took a small cake – hesitating a short moment with clothed eyes – and finally blowing out their candles.

"Those smell great!" Judy nosed it and Clara nodded asking Evelin: "Are those Madeleines? Did you try a new recipe?" – Ralph was already biting in his and moaned with pleasure.

"Sorry, guys – those are made by Nick, I wasn't even in attendance while he made them but enjoying a hot shower", Eve grinned.

"You?!" Judy and Clara asked simultaneously to Nick, Ralph just looked surprised with his mouth still full.

The fox put his paw on his chest, letting his shoulders sink and had a hurt look on his face. "You are killing me! I still have some pride and emotions! Well, at least I did until seconds ago…" he sighed.

Judy and Clara looked at each other, then leapt at Nick and each gave him a kiss on a cheek with a big smile – this time Evelin was prepared for it and took a photo at just the right moment and grinned. Ralph walked up to him and just patted his back.

"Thank you, Nick. You are still able to surprise me after all this time!", Judy snickered and bit into her mini-cake, moaning with pleasure again. Clara was already having her second bite and Ralph had finished his Madeleine by now.

"I'm glad the two months of practice with my mom were not wasted", Nick smiled. After putting down the silver plate he went to the kitchen and came back with a bowl full of half-a-dozen more Madeleines, offering Evelin and Ralph another one at once.

"Two months to learn a simple recipe? At this rate, you can take over kitchen service when we retire", Judy snickered and took another sip of tea.

"Do you want to try a cup of chai, too?", Nick looked questioningly at Clara and Ralph, ignoring Judy's comment with a small wink.

"Sure, why not", Clara smiled, still a bit tired and sat down together with Ralph.

---

Nick and Ralph were leaning on the handrail outside of a millinery, each one carrying a paper bag with garments and other small purchases of the girls. They had already spent five hours in one of Zootopia's biggest shopping malls, Ralph and Nick mostly tagging along behind the three sisters, standing or sitting in a corner or outside the shop, waiting. It wasn't even that they were beggaring themselves, most of the time they didn't buy anything or just some small things. Judy, Evelin and Clara were kidding around like teenagers, goading each other into even the wildest and craziest clothes to try on. After a while, Ralph suggested that he and Nick could just as well wait in one of the cafés and when none of the sisters objected, the two exhausted good brothers strolled to a small French Café on the ground level.

"It's unbelievable how much time women can spend just with trying on clothes they know a priori that they would never buy them. 'Just to see what it looks like'. I mean… is this an attempt to wear us down or to test our patience?" – Ralph sighed, receiving a cup of tea and cookies from Nick who just returned from the counter.

The fox snickered, "Maybe, but Judy has a rather clearly laid out wardrobe. A few more fancy clothes won't do any harm. I really like it how she is unwinding with Evelin around this weekend".

Ralph took a sip from his tea, put a sugar cube into the cup and started to stir it. "I didn't want to touch upon the subject with her around, she would just shrug off", the rabbit said slowly. "How is she doing? I mean the injury and all that. Judy seems to process it well, but she would also never let any of us see her vulnerable".

Nick smiled softly, "Our little Miss invincible". He thought about it for a moment. "She barely talks about that day; I asked a few times but didn't want to pressurize her either. It was a jar for her to be confronted with the dangers of our job suddenly, for both of us. But she is still bound and determined to keep her chin up."

"That sounds exactly like Ju", Ralph smirked. "And her injuries? Don't they cause some complications regarding her pregnancy?"

"Broken ribs are quite painful and Judy always hesitates to take those prescribed painkillers. Moreover, it will still take a few weeks until it gets better again. Nevertheless, according to our doctor, it is not impairing the pregnancy – or vice versa. However, there are other possible intricacies with mixed-species pregnancies. The scientific community in this area have achieved some great successes over the last few years, but our physiology is still kinda different. It will make the whole process rather exhausting – and I bet that Judy will try to downplay it, thinking she has to cope with it on her own. For such a cute little bunny, she is really tenacious!" – Nick giggled.

"If you want to stand out from the masses in a family of a few hundred siblings, you have to be tenacious", Ralph winked with a grin. "But I know exactly what you mean. Did she ever tell you the story of how she walked home all alone from the other side of Bunnyburrow when she was only four years old?"

"No way!" Nick grinned. "What happened?"

"They were on a school excursion, learning all about evolution and how the relationship between prey and predator had changed. But of course, back then and in the countryside, there was still a lot of mistrust, especially in a town like Bunnyburrow where only a very small amount of predators were living at this time. Well, some schoolmates were arguing that prey should never trust predators, and our teacher was an old-school hare, eager to agree with those schoolmates. You know Granpop? Our teacher, Mister Gruber was exactly like him. Well, Judy always being the free spirit, argued that they were all wrong and that predator and prey are now living in harmony. That the problem was not their species but their attitude – and we were only four years old, as I already mentioned! Therefore, Judy got a reprimand and was not allowed to visit the rest of the exhibition. Moreover, because it was a long walk home and the bus wasn't there already, she should sit and wait in front of the town hall for the rest of the class to finish. However, when we all left the town hall an hour later, she was gone. Mister Gruber did nearly have a heart attack, and a few beatnik otters were making fun that they had hunted and mangled her, as she deserved it as a little prey alone on the streets. One of them even had a shred of her shirt and before Mister Gruber could get a hold of them, they ran away. The whole class was in distress, let alone our parents! The police and a few dozen volunteers were searching the whole town, and Judy? When Mom and Dad got home late that evening in tears, they found Judy playing with her siblings in the living room. She later told them, that those otters were really trying to beat her up to steal her little handbag that looked like the head of a rabbit. However, she fought them back with a large stick and finally ran away – walking home all alone for several kilometers through the fields. She had no idea, how much everyone was worried when she had suddenly be gone."

Nick listened carefully to Ralph and visualized the whole scene. He finally smiled softly, "She hasn't changed much since then. Always saying what she thinks, and ramming her head against the wall. Nevertheless, I am always trying to keep up with her, so she is not on her own anymore".

"Well, maybe you understand what made us all wonder when Judy announced you as her boyfriend back in the days. After everything that she had undergone with those otters, with Gideon, and several more incidents, … Judy announcing a relationship with a predator – even a fox – was quite shocking in the first place. I confess, I felt a bit of pity for our parents", Ralph snickered. "But it was always obvious to me that you have to be someone special for her, otherwise she would not bother with you, and not even a year later you two are married, we are best friends and you are as much a part of the Hopps' family as every other child of us is. You have no idea how glad I am that you and Judy met".

Nick blinked nervously and looked taken aback by the rabbit. "Wow… I… don't know what to say. You already know that I love you all, so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now". He maybe sounded a bit pathetic, but Ralph grinned at him.

"Rendering a fox speechless is enough of an answer I think".

---

"I'm coming in if you don't step out of that changing booth immediately!" Evelin demanded while waiting together with Clara in front of the small changing cubicle.

"You stay where you are!" Judy exclaimed. "I'm still trying to figure out how this scrap of cloth could be worn as a dress. I had swimsuits that covered more of my fur than this thing!" she sounded a bit desperate.

Evelin rested on a small chair and just giggled while Clara rolled her eyes with a wide grin: "It's called a cocktail dress, sis. You are supposed to look sexy in this, not like you're going for a walk in Tundratown!"

"You're joking, right? This is just some kind of underwear and you have just forgotten to hand me the dress, too" she sighed.

"I'm counting to three, Juju…" Evelin stood up from her chair with a grin.

"Oh, come on! The cloth on the front has a low cut nearly to my belly and is partly transparent, on the back there isn't even some cloth above my scut, and the dress is ending well above my knees!" Judy complained, still hiding behind the curtain.

"Three!" Evelin said impatiently and with a jolt, she drew the curtain of the changing booth open, revealing Judy eyeing herself in the mirror.

"Oh my goodness!" Clara exclaimed out of sheer joy. "I knew you were hiding a gorgeous body under all those granny-clothes of yours!"

"At least I don't feel as naked when wearing them as I do now!" Judy turned around to face both her sisters.

"Be glad that your belly is still rather flat, without knowing it, your pregnancy isn't necessary noticeable. I would need more cloth to hide only my belly than your dress contains", Evelin snickered, having a long look at Judy.

"What dress?! I only see an oversized shawl with holes in it! It's hardly covering my chest!"

"I thought you wanted something that isn't constraining your chest too much because of your ribs?" Clara giggled.

Evelin was tickling with her paw over Judy's back and her sister winced. "Perfect for some cuddling while dancing", she exclaimed with a grin. "But seriously, Juju. Compared to your usual clothing style this might seem a bit extreme, but it is really a beautiful dress and you are looking absolutely gorgeous in it. It'll feel a bit odd at first, but with your build you can be much more confident". Evelin was twitching here and there on the shoulders, sleeves and front until she was satisfied and nodded. "By the way, you are not going to wear a sports-bra with this dress tonight, too…" she pointed to Judy's chest with a grin.

"You are killing me, Eve!" Judy whined with a desperate look into the mirror again.

"I can think of something better …" Evelin winked at her while biting on her lip with a sly grin. "Apropos devouring, you already saw your litter-sisters dress?" she grinned and pointed to Clara who was wearing a revealing dress made of a black-transparent cloth with just opaque spots and stripes in a dark red-brown color; resembling the pattern of a tiger-cheetah-mix.

While Clara was presenting herself with a proud grin, Judy mumbled: "Sweet cheese and crackers", then looked to Evelin and her dress: It was in a dark blue and shoulder-less, but while it still covered her belly, it had a low cut on the back and covered most of her legs. "Why are you allowed to wear this, while Clara and I are half-naked? That's unfair!"

"It's somewhat difficult to find something really sexy when you are in the last quarter of pregnancy, sis. But you will experience this sufficiently early I guess" Evelin winked.

"Maybe I should try on something different, I'm feeling a bit off-color in this … touch of nothing" Judy sighed with a last look into the mirror; but this time she was even smiling a bit and admiring herself somewhat.

"We are celebrating our 26th birthday, Jude, and this time we are not in Bunnyburrow, where everyone would look at us judgmentally for being magnificent ladies, but in Zootopia! Just savor all the looks you will get this one time. We will have a great time, I promise!" Clara had approached the other two bunnies and put her paw on Judy's shoulder with a confident smile.

"Exactly!" Evelin nodded in agreement. "And now let's change into our own clothes. We still have to visit a lingerie shop!"

"W-What!?" Judy made big, shocked eyes.

---

Taking a large sip from his coffee, Nick was breathing deeply. "Wow, what a story! No wonder your parents were in quite a panic when Judy introduced me as her boyfriend! But leaving Grandpop out I think I have a rather good reputation by now", he winked. "Time for stage two of my brilliant plan!"

Ralph smirked, "That is?"

"Devouring your sisters, of course!" Nick tried to laugh a bit crazily but it sounded like he had choked on something and Ralph snorted with laughter.

"Sorry, Nick. I really like you, but you don't stand a chance against them even though two of them are pregnant" Ralph chuckled. "Evelin and Judy are like fire and brimstone, and Clara is in no way inferior to them when in … I mean, when it comes to a fight!" – Ralph coughed slightly with a small grin.

"Don't worry, I can detect a bunny in heat by this time sometimes even before they know it themselves", Nick laughed. "However, that lead me to a question I thought about since I've known Judy…"

"Fire away, bro!"

"I always wondered why Judy and Evelin have such a strong relationship. Clara is her litter-sister; wouldn't it have been all natural for them to be as close as Judy is with Evelin now? I even thought for a while that Evelin was part of your litter".

Ralph watched Nick for a while, thinking about the question. When he finally looked away and took a sip from his tea, he asked a bit quieter, "You know about Flowers? I saw her photo in the album yesterday Judy had made for you".

Nick nodded slowly: "No details. She was your litter-sister, but died only after a few days".

Ralph continued with a short sigh. "Clara and I were the first two of us to be born. Then there were some complications for Judy and Flowers, they both entangled with the umbilical cord. Judy was finally all right after all, but Flowers did not get enough oxygen for a short while. As our parents told us, Clara and I were holding each other from the first second and the newly born Judy did not let go of Flowers. Nevertheless, our little sister died after a few days during the night. Our parents discovered it only after a few hours, Judy was still holding her little sister and did not want to let her go – even she was getting cold. We were not aware of all of this back then of course. However, when the next litter was born nearly a year after this, Evelin was the first one and the moment she was laying alone on the blanket, our little Judy leapt from her grandmother's arm and immediately hugged her newborn sister as if she was afraid she could otherwise disappear like her former sister. From this moment on, Judy and Evelin were inseparable – and still are. We all love each other of course, but Judy's and Evelin's relationship is just something special".

Nick's face was sad; he did not expect the background of Judy and Evelin's deep friendship to be such a mournful one. Now he somewhat regretted that he had asked Ralph about it, if at all it should have been Judy telling him this. He slouched his shoulders and swallowed hard on a piece of cookie he was chewing for several minutes now.

"Don't worry, it's all a long time ago. Of course, we miss our little Flowers since our parents told us about her; as Judy would describe it: She is always with us in our hearts and living among us as the bond between her and Evelin. We don't grieve over it anymore… and neither should you, Nick" – Ralph smiled warmly and patted Nick's paw.

Over the next hour, Nick questioned Ralph about all kinds of different things regarding bunny kits, how to nurse them and on his role as a father in general. The rabbit was partly amused, but did his best to answer all of the fox's questions. It was already afternoon when Judy, Evelin and Clara finally entered the small café, too. Each of them had a big paper bag in their paws and they grinned satisfied.

"Hey, sis! We thought you had forgotten us and were heading home alone" Ralph snickered and got two more chairs for his sisters.

Judy sat down next to Nick, giving him a soft kiss. "I spent more time in those stores today than I have in the past year", she sighed with a giggle.

"Found something appropriate, carrots?" Nick asked grinning.

"That's a matter of opinion, you can decide for yourself this evening", she snickered and took a large sip of Nick's tea.

"Don't listen to her, Nicky" Evelin snickered. "Clara and I made sure that she will just look incredible tonight"

Nick turned around to Judy and looked into her eyes, then after a few seconds answered with a smile: "That's not really difficult; she always looks incredible in my opinion".

---

It was half past seven in the evening, Ralph and Nick had dressed in white suits, Nick also wore a white hat with a black hatband and had a black cane with a silver knob in his paw. Ralph was trying to pull himself up, but still snickered amused.

"You are not serious about this, are you?"

"I always loved those classic accessories, only the upper class wore those in the late twenties!"

"And now no one does, what does that tell you?"

"That today' mammals don't have any sense of taste?" Nick grinned.

Ralph gave Nick another glance-over, and when the fox started to twist the cane in his paws and improvised some dance-moves, the rabbit shook his head and laughed. When Nick finished, he took his hat and took a bow while Ralph clapped slowly.

"You are really inimitable, Nick".

With a sly grin, Nick threw the cane in the air, spun around his own axis and wanted to catch it again – in that very moment he saw that Judy had entered the room in her new dress and smartened up by her sisters, watching him with a tickled pink grin, leaning in the door frame. Nick froze at once, starring at her and letting the cane fall onto the floor.

"Sweet cheese and crackers…" he mumbled with a gaze, his eyes almost popping out; Ralph followed his look and whistled approvingly.

"You're not taking that ridiculous cane with you, foxtrot" Judy snickered.

"I'm not taking the cane with me…" Nick repeated trance-like.

"Oh, and forget about that hat, too. I'm not gonna show up in the Hollow Bar with a fox at my side that's wearing that".

Nick let the hat in his hand drop to the floor, still devouring the unusual looking little bunny with his eyes.

Ralph nodded approvingly – "I always knew, that our litter had the best looking Hopps children. You look stunning, Jude. Literally", he grinned with a side-glance to Nick, who was still starring at her without moving".

"I find the reaction of your husband a bit alarming, sis", Clara cocked her head. "Shouldn't he be accustomed to seeing you with a lot less clothes on?" she giggled and Judy smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, there are a whole lot of sexy gray shades between being casually dressed and being naked. I don't believe that our fox experiences this bold side of our Juju often", Evelin said with a sly grin while stepping between Judy and Clara from behind. She first gave Clara a small kiss on her cheek, then turned around to give Judy one likewise; but her sister randomly turned her head to her in the same moment, resulting in Evelin giving her a short kiss on her lips. Clara, Evelin and Ralph started to giggle immediately while Judy turned red from embarrassment. When she heard Nick quietly whimpering, she detached from her sisters and approached him emphasized slowly with a sly grin.

"I'm not sure we can take this fox with us, he seems to be broken", she put her paw under his chin and closed his slightly open mouth. Judy could hear Nick's heart nearly exploding in his chest and she must agree that it was a great feeling to tease him like that.

"With that dress I'm sure you can pull whoever you want from that party tonight", Evelin giggled and Nick winced.

"I bet, not only the male mammals…" Clara added with a wink. Ralph just stood there with a wide grin and observed the play, already being accustomed to such things when his sisters were in heat or pregnant. They always tried to exhaust the situation, having a thing for playing the severe bunny-sisters. However, he also remembered Nick's advice that the mammals in Zootopia react differently to those in a village like Bunnyburrow – he and Nick would have some beady eyes on them for sure. At this moment, his sympathy was all with the fox: He had to agree, that his three sisters looked gorgeous; but in combination with their pheromones, it must be a torture for a mammal with such an exceptional olfaction like Nick.

"If you don't make a compliment immediately, I'll really consider going without you because it took quite an effort to dress up like this and I'm really in need of an ego boost now", Judy whispered with a sly grin.

When he bowed down a bit to give her a kiss between her ears, his lips were shaking. "You're really wearing me out" he mumbled and ran his claws over her back, making her shiver. "Beautiful bunny…"

"You three look like Charlie's Angels" Ralph snickered, approaching his other two sisters.

"More like Hopps' Angels - would that make you our 'Bosley'?" Clara grinned and Evelin snickered.

"Ladies, you can call me whatever you like!" Ralph winked and first gave Clara, then Evelin a kiss on the hand and finally went between them and linked his arms with theirs. "What about you two, are you accompanying us?"

Nick put his arm around his bunny, letting his paw rest on her hip. "We are ready to go; I want to swagger in the public with having the most beautiful lady of Zootopia at my side!" Nick grinned and Judy giggled quietly.

"I hope someone called a Zuber, because I'm not going to walk all the way to the bar with this dress. I don't want to get Pneumonia as well!" she winked.

---

When they arrived at the Hollow Bar, the location was crowded but Nick spotted Francine – an elephant, colleague and friend – in a large group sitting at a few tables near the stage. Most of their friends and colleagues had already arrived and were chatting. The four rabbits were following Nick who tried to clear the way for them, and the others were greeting and hugging them, wishing each of them a 'Happy Birthday' – with Evelin warding them off that she was only a guest, and Judy had to remind everybody who tried to hug her about her still hurting chest. Most of their guests were colleagues from the precinct, but there were also some other friends like Emmit Otterton and his wife, Renato Manchas, Fru Fru with her husband (and Nick was sure he saw Kevin and Raymond as their bodyguards at the bar), and several more.

When they all sat down again, a doe came by and took their orders for drinks.

"Next round is on me!" Bogo exclaimed with a slight grin. When their drinks arrived a few minutes later, they all raised their glasses and looked to the group of rabbits. "For your birthday, all the best wishes …" he started and the whole squad joined in, shouting:

"Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!" – stamping on the ground and battering on the table, and finally they were all chinking their glasses.

Many other guests quickly noticed the cheering group and a few started to sing loudly, with more and more of the other guests joining in – including the live band who played along:

"For they're jolly good fellows, for they're jolly good fellows!
For they're jolly good fellows (pause), which nobody can deny!
And so say all of us, and so say all of us!
For they're jolly good fellows, for they're jolly good fellows!
For they're a jolly good fellows (pause), which nobody can deny!"

When the cheering and clapping slowly decayed, the rabbits thanked everybody with a happy smile. Clara managed to have a seat right beside Clawhauser who tried not to stare too obviously at her dress. Judy quickly noticed and lightly pushed Nick with her elbow to get his attention and pointed with her head in her sisters' direction with a grin. Evelin was eagerly talking with Fru Fru, who was really keen on her pregnant belly, and Ralph chatted with Bogo and the Ottertons. While Judy was chatting with Francine and Fangmeyer, Nick was having a talk with Alex, a badger and friend he and Judy met during a case, and McHorn – all having quite a good time.

It was about 22:00 when the band leader on the stage announced the beginning of the karaoke night – some special event that happened every second Saturday. Two half-drunk female pigs started it off with 'Man, I feel like a woman', not necessarily striking all the right tones but with full self-confidence. Next on was a young and a bit shy looking brown bear, singing 'Take my breath away' with an unexpectedly great singing voice – turning the bar into a sea of lighter lights. A female bear near the stage, obviously his date tonight, was really over the moon with his performance and blowing a kiss into his direction.

Francine and Fangmeyer started to persuade Judy to also sing a song, quickly accompanied by more colleagues. It didn't take long and Evelin and Clara witnessed the scene and without hesitating they grabbed Judy from both sides and dragged her along to the again empty stage.

Ralph tapped Nick, who was absorbed in a talk with the Ottertons, onto his arm and said with a nod in the direction of the stage: "That could get interesting…" he snickered and when Nick realized who was talking with the band about what song to play, the fox grinned.

"Oh, definitely!"

It was Clara who started to sing: "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want…"

Followed by Evelin, who was stepping beside her: "So tell me what you want, what you really, really want!"

Judy finally approached from the other side and also sang: "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want…" – followed by Evelin's answer again.

Clara continued: "I wanna, (Evelin and Judy: 'ha') I wanna, ('ha') I wanna, ('ha') I wanna, ('ha') I wanna really, really, really wanna zigzag ah".

The first two lines of the verse were sung by Evelin, the other two lines by Judy – the refrain sang by all three of them: "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends!"

Their performance was really good, Nick immediately assumed that it couldn't be the first time those three rabbits had sang this song together and grinned while clapping and whistling with the others after they finished: "If you wanna be my lover…" – all three stood together, hugging each other, Evelin and Judy resting their heads on Clara's left and right shoulder.

While another one started to sing 'Beat it', the three bunnies were welcomed at their table with a lot of cheering. All three of them were a bit puffed and Nick noticed Judy's painful facial expression at once in spite of her smiling attempt. He handed her two of her painkillers he had took along preventively. Judy was not too pleased, but took them gratefully with some sips from her cola nevertheless.

In the meantime, Clara and Evelin tried to convince Ralph to sing a song, too.

"Come on, sis. You know I'm not good at singing!" he tried to make some excuses but in the end, he gave in, emptied his beer and stood up with a sigh. "Okay, okay – but I have warned you!"

He had a short talk with the band and after a very short intro, he sang: "I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself: What a wonderful world". The rabbit didn't have the dark and smoky voice of the original, but he wasn't bad either – a lot of guests started panning their lighters again, everyone listening quietly to the slow and dreamy ballad. In the end, Ralph got quite some applause and even a few whistles.

Judy hugged her brother when he walked back to their table: "That was wonderful, really heart-warming."

"I'm happy if you are pleased, but it's nothing compared to your performance with Evelin and Clara" he winked and ordered another beer.

"Where's Nicky hiding? He has to sing a song tonight, too!" Evelin snickered and quite a few others were chiming in. Judy looked around, Nick wasn't on his seat anymore where she had left him just a minute ago. At that moment, the band started to play a slow rumba and Nick said into the microphone:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my wife, who is still the love of my life, is celebrating her birthday today among us. This song is for the most beautiful woman I know – this song is for you, Judy…" he stood on the stage with his enamored smile while the band finished their intro:

"Someday, when I'm awfully low. When the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you and the way you look tonight.

You're lovely, with your smile so warm, and your cheeks so soft, there is nothing for me, but to love you and the way you look tonight".

Judy was getting all emotional again, swinging slowly to the beat and listening to her fox singing. She thought back to over a year ago when they were in this bar, too, and she heard Nick sing for the first time – "Wicked Games" was the song back then and they started being a couple that evening. Now they were married, she was pregnant and celebrating her birthday together with her siblings, best friends and colleagues in the same bar, and Nick was singing for her again.

While the band was playing the instrumental part, Nick stepped down from the stage and took Judy's paw into his. When he tried to draw her with him back onto the stage, she made no resistance and followed him. Putting his arm around her body and giving her a short kiss on the cheek, he finally continued to sing:

"Yes, you're lovely, never, ever change. Keep that breathless charm. Won't you please arrange it? Cause I love you just the way you look tonight!"

Judy just watched him with her happiest smile, swaying slowly to the song.

"Darling… just the way you look tonight" Nick finished the song and while the band was playing the last notes, he embraced Judy and they shared a deep and loving kiss while the crowd was cheering and whistling to them.

When they finally approached their table again, they had to bear some smirks and cheeky comments from their colleagues. Only Evelin was anomalously quiet, not giving a single barefaced comment but just smiled at them happily, leaning against Ralph's shoulder. During Nick's performance, it was the very first time this weekend that Evelin missed her husband from the heart; the song really got to her and Ralph put his arms around his sisters shoulder to comfort her.

"Sorry, I didn't want to bother you, dear brother" she smiled after a few minutes and patted his arm. "But Nick's song and watching them together was just so touching".

"No excuses needed, sis" Ralph smiled at her. "Are You okay now?"

"Yepp, just a short mood. Where is Clara?" Evelin smiled again, sipping from her non-alcoholic drink and looking around.

Ralph pointed with his head to the big cheetah and grinned softly. Clara was sitting on Clawhauser's lap and talking quietly with him, their paws folded together and giggling from time to time. Most colleagues were peeking every now and then in their direction with a small grin, but nobody said anything and left them alone.

Around midnight the karaoke night ended and the band played for two more hours some quiet and slow songs. The guests, who were mostly at the bar to party or for the karaoke night, left gradually and the remaining ones either talked quietly at their tables or danced together to the music. The colleagues who had the early shift bade farewell, too. When it was shortly after two o'clock in the morning, Nick had a special wish for the last song the band should play. After a quick talk with the bandleader, he returned to Judy: "May I have the pleasure of the last dance tonight?" – The band started to play 'Slow dancing in a burning room' and with a smitten smile, Judy followed Nick to the stage, embracing him and started to slowly sway with him to 'their' song.

"I love you, my sly fox" she whispered quietly and Nick smiled.

"I love you, my sly bunny" he replied and while the lead-guitar was playing a great solo they noticed that Ralph and Evelin were dancing together, too. When the song finished, they looked at each other with a content smile and slowly walked back to their table where only Benjamin and Clara were sitting together – all of their other guests had already left at least twenty minutes ago. Ralph had already paid their last drinks and Nick called a Zuber to drive them home.

Clara was slightly drunk and Benjamin offered to carry her to their taxi. He finally bid farewell to all rabbits and Nick with a big hug and left them in a good mood, walking home.

"I would have bet that you two would at least spend the night together, sis" Evelin grinned at Clara after they were sitting in their taxi.

"We don't want to rush things" she declared, giggling tiddly.

Nick and Judy shared a quick look, and then grinned. "Well, Benjamin is at least a mammal with a heart as big as his hunger for donuts – and a real gentleman. You could have chosen worse" Judy winked at her dizzy sister.

It took them only five minutes to arrive at their apartment, Nick and Ralph supported Clara walking to the elevator and finally to their flat. When she laid down on the guest bed, she almost fell asleep immediately. The others grinned somewhat, but Ralph was also feeling the effects of the alcohol by now.

"I think I will go to bed, too. What about you?" he asked the other three.

Evelin nodded slowly, "Don't get me wrong, Juju. I would love to talk with you the whole night, but my back and feet are killing me by now."

"You're getting old, Eve" Judy snickered.

"Be glad that you are currently only in your third week, it won't be much longer and you will have to carry a belly as big as a squash with you, too!" Evelin winked and stroked over her belly smiling. "Have a good night you two, we'll see you in the morning", she gave Nick and Judy a quick kiss and followed Ralph into the guest room, closing the door behind her.

Nick and Judy went into their own bedroom. Nick put his jacket, trousers and shirt onto a chair and let himself fall backwards onto their bed. "I hope you had a great evening and birthday, carrots", he smiled softly, looking at their ceiling. He heard some rustling but Judy didn't answer him. "Carrots? Are you okay?" he asked somewhat curiously. When he propped his upper body up with his arms and elbows, Judy was standing in front of their bed, still having her new dress on and smiling at him. He admired the look for a moment and smiled. Judy climbed slowly onto the bed, carefully readjusting her dress so it didn't get out of place, and finally knelt above him, her legs beside his hips.

"It was a really great evening, Nick" she smiled – then slowly grabbed behind her and pulled the dress above her head, throwing it into a corner of the room. She was wearing some really hot and transparent lingerie with lacing, definitely something Nick had never seen on her before. She could hear how his heartbeat accelerated again like the first time he saw her this evening and he slowly gulped; she started to grin slyly at him, deciding to tease him just a little bit longer: "And now I'm claiming my birthday present…" she leaned forward, rubbing all over Nick's fur with her paws and kissed him passionately.

---

Many thanks to Sean Dalglish for his review and proofreading this chapter!