Nick didn't want to leave Judy to deal with Zeke by herself, but given the circumstances, it was probably better if he made himself scarce. As he stepped out of the building onto the sidewalk, his phone rang. Nick didn't recognize the number, so he tentatively answered with a curt, "Hello?" and looked up to see Judy smiling down at him from her apartment window. He started to wave, his attention split between her and trying to listen to the phone, when a rhino barreled out of the darkness and plowed into him, flattening Nick to the pavement with a sickening crunch.

He nearly blacked out from the impact as he teetered uncertainly on the edge of unconsciousness. Moments later, his head started to clear. He caught his breath and heard Judy ask, "Are you ok, Nick?" Before he could reply, she yelled, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Miss, I'm sorry, I didn't see the little guy! You ok, fox?"

Nick felt Judy's soft paws on his arm and she spoke to the rhino again. "We're police officers, you know. I should haul your drunk ass down to the station!"

Nick opened his eyes and finally found his voice. "Carrots, it's ok. I'm ok, it was an accident." He sat up and looked for his phone. When he found it, he was thankful he hadn't still been holding the phone when the rhino stepped on it. Nick reached over and picked up the mangled remains and said, "Celly has seen better days, though."

Judy had been ready to yell at the rhino again, but instead she turned to Nick with a look of confusion on her face. "Celly? Wait, you have a name for your phone?"

Nick poked the power button futilely. "You think I'd let some anonymous stranger sit in my pocket all day?"

Judy stared at Nick for several seconds, before she laughed nervously. Nick smiled at her, amazed at how he could almost always calm her down with his stupid jokes.

The rhino reached down to help Nick up, but the fox waved him off and shakily stood with Judy's help. The rhino said, "Look, Mack, I'm sorry about your phone. Lemme pay for it-"

Judy interrupted him. "What's your name?"

One sniff and Nick could tell things were about to escalate. Between Judy undoubtedly considering hauling the rhino in, Zeke arriving at any moment, and his stomach feeling queasy from the smell of booze wafting from the large mammal, Nick just wanted him to leave. The extra fuss and paperwork that dragging him in would entail made Nick groan inwardly, and he just needed to lie down for awhile. "You're cute when you're overprotective, Fluff."

Judy looked at him nervously. "Are you sure you're ok? Maybe I should take you to the hospital."

Nick wasn't a big fan of hospitals, and he didn't think anything was broken or sprained. He shook his head. "Really, there's no need, Carrots. The only casualties are my dignity and Celly. I don't want you to rush your talk with Zeke, and I need to go lie down at my place. I'll see you tomorrow, ok? Breakfast at the coffeehouse, my treat."

Judy froze and her ears drooped. The rhino just stood there, peering back and forth between the two smaller mammals with a dumb look on his face.

Judy's expression tore at Nick. "Oh geez, Fluff." He pulled her in for a hug before he glanced up at the rhino and shooed him away with one paw as he spoke to him. "Don't worry about it, I needed a new phone anyway."

The rhino shrugged. "If I see you again, I'll make it up to you." Nick tightened his grip on Judy while the rhino walked away.

Twenty minutes later Nick relaxed on his couch, carrot themed ice packs on his left elbow and hip. He was bummed about his mangled phone. Nick hoped he could get a few things recovered from it, most of all the saved message from his mom. It was the last time he'd heard her voice before she'd passed away.

His mind wandered and he started to mull over Judy's recent obsession with having kits. Nick wasn't sure how it was with rabbits, but foxes didn't worry that much about having biological offspring. Though from what Nick could tell, it was pretty obvious rabbits felt differently. And for some reason recently her sister Hazel seemed to be egging her on. Since he and Judy couldn't have kits, would she want to adopt with a predator? For that matter, did he even want kits? He'd always joked that he was going to avoid messing up his kits by never having any. But he trusted Judy. If it came down to having this discussion, he was sure they could work things out.

As Nick started to drift off to sleep, he thought about the rhino. The mammal had been impossible to read, since the smell of alcohol wafting off of him had been overwhelming. Now that he thought about it, there weren't any bars in the direction the rhino had come from. Still, maybe he'd just left his or a friend's house. Something about the encounter with the rhino bothered Nick, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He fell into a deep sleep and dreamt about his mom.

He was a kit again, playing with his mom's antique hair comb. He listened intently as she read to him, the subtle scent of her floral perfume tickling his nose.

She paused and Nick looked at her face to see tears in her eyes. "You've got to go, Nicky. They're waiting for you."

Nick stood up and walked to the window to peer out at the backyard, where he could see a celebration of some kind. Their neighbor Rita was there, as well as Clawhauser and several Hopps family rabbits. Nick looked around the backyard until he spotted Judy sitting on the porch swing, crouched over something in her lap. She turned to smile at him, and he saw that she was holding a baby rabbit. Nick turned back to his mom, but she was gone.

"Ma? Ma, where are you? Ma?"

Nick woke up, the words still on his lips. He shuddered, and he could swear he still smelled her perfume lingering in the air.

Tears ran down his cheeks. He closed his eyes and pictured the antique comb his mom used to wear, with its intricate brass filigree surrounding a white stone and an inlaid green heart that matched the color of her eyes. When she read to him, he used to sit next to her and play with it, especially if the book didn't have any pictures.

He never saw her wear the comb again after his dad left. When Nick cleared out her house he'd hoped to find it, but sadly it never turned up.

His shoulder had started to ache again, so he got up and took some aspirin. He glanced at the clock. 2am. He sighed and started to worry about Judy. Since he probably wouldn't get back to sleep anytime soon, and he realized he'd left his uniform at her place, he may as well head over to Judy's apartment.

Fifteen minutes later he was in the park halfway there when he smelled a familiar scent.

"Carrots, what are you doing out here?"

"The same thing you are, I'd imagine. I missed my cuddlefox, and I was worried about you."

"I'm ok, just a little achy. I'm not gonna admit how much I missed my cuddlebunny, though."

Judy chuckled. "And of course you forgot your uniform at my place…"

Nick laughed. "Clever bunny. Or you would be, if you'd brought our uniforms with you."

Even in the dim light, he could see her smile and bite her bottom lip. Judy grabbed his paw. "Guess you'll just have to come back home with me then."

Nick liked that and realized he had started to think of her place as home. "You are a clever bunny. So, how did the talk-"

Judy shook her head. "Later. Let's get to bed."

"My my, Miss Hopps. So forward-" His mouth snapped shut when she abruptly yanked him towards her apartment.

The next day, Nick tried to stay awake as he sat in the cruiser with Judy while they waited for their afternoon patrol to end. They were both exhausted, and had arrived late to headquarters that morning where they spent several hours trying to finish their backlog of paperwork. At lunch Nick had taken the cruiser to pay a quick visit to the mole. There hadn't been anything more to discuss with the small mammal, but Nick decided picking out a new phone was better than trying to slog through more boring paperwork.

Nick yawned and shook himself awake before he pulled out his new phone, which drew a puzzled look from Judy. "Seriously Nick, an orange iCarrot phone?"

Nick grinned as he fiddled with the device. "Guess what I named it?"

She laughed and looked out her window. "I don't wanna know."

"Oh come on Fluff. Guess." He knew he'd wear her down, and eventually she'd be begging for him to tell her, if only to stop him from bugging her about it. He actually hadn't thought of a name for his phone, but he figured she'd come up with a few good ideas once she gave in and started guessing.

Instead, Judy teased, "Well, at least it's a step up from that old piece of junk you used to have." She continued to silently look out her window for a few moments at a nearby park where children were playing. "Learn anything new from the mole?"

"Nope. I just asked him a few more questions about the break-in and if he'd found anything else on my dad, but no new clues in either case." Nick sighed. "The Northland precinct is taking their sweet time getting the file together for me. I wonder if I should get Chief Buffalo Butt involved."

Judy's ears shot up. "Oh, that reminds me. My parents are coming into town early for the Generations Day celebration this weekend. I already asked the Chief for time off so I could meet them at the train station tomorrow morning."

NIck grinned. "Generations Day…. is that the bunny fertility holiday?" Judy turned and scowled at him. Nick knew what was coming and flattened himself against the passenger door as she flailed out and tried to punch him in the arm. "Hey there, mean bunny." He raised his paws placatingly. "Seriously, though, I'm not sure I understand it."

Judy rolled her eyes and thought for a moment. "It's sort of like Mother's and Father's Day rolled together, except it celebrates the birth of a couple's first grandkit." She paused and added, "We don't really celebrate Mother's and Father's Days like most other mammals."

Nick nodded. "I guess it would be rough for all bunnies to celebrate family holidays on the same day. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like taking your mom out to dinner in Bunnyburrow along with thousands of other rabbits on Mother's Day."

Judy giggled. "You're probably right." She paused and looked out the window again. "I guess it must seem weird that all the bunny holidays focus on, well… " She trailed off.

"Continuing the species?"

She nodded and her ears drooped. "Yeah, something like that."

Nick fidgeted with his new phone for a minute, before he said, "Look, I know we agreed not to bring up serious discussions in the car, but lately… well, you've been acting weird, and sometimes you seem sad around your sister's kits. Talk to me, Carrots."

She turned and smiled at Nick wanely. "We do need to talk. It seems like things keep getting in the way, huh?" Judy took a deep breath and looked down at her paws. "The sad stuff… it's mostly when I see her oldest kit. I never told anyone before, but I'd hoped to name my first girl kit Holly."

Nick considered her words for a moment before he said quietly, "Judy, I'm so sorry." He hesitated, then reached over and pulled her into a hug.

She shrugged, her voice muffled by his chest as she hugged him back and said, "It's ok, you couldn't have known." She held him for a few more seconds and then gently pulled away. "Alright, we better not get carried away while we're on duty."

They moved apart and Nick said, "How about you and I go out someplace nice? Just you and me, so we'll have time to talk and no one can interrupt us."

Judy looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday I had to drag you away from work, and today you want to take me out to dinner and talk about your feelings."

"I know, I've gone completely insane." Nick waggled his eyebrows. "Madly, passionately, crazy-"

Judy laughed and looked out the window again. "Ok ok, I get it. Did you have a place in mind?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking Antonio's."

"Ohhh, fancy. Actually, could we go there tomorrow, and take my parents? They don't get to eat out at nice restaurants often. Besides, you don't have to take me someplace fancy just to talk."

Nick hesitated. "I guess I can't hide from your dad forever."

"Don't worry about him, he's really a big softie. Just find something in common with him. Mom already likes you, and he'll come around."

Nick couldn't think of a single thing he and her dad might have in common, but he nodded anyway. "Ok, we can go to Antonio's tomorrow, but only if you wear that teal dress."

Judy looked at him and grinned. "Sly fox. We'll see if it still fits."

When Nick and Judy walked into the lobby of headquarters at the end of their shift, they noticed Clawhauser with a worried look on his face as he frantically waved to get their attention. They stepped up to his desk and he asked, "Did you see today's newspaper?"

Clawhauser held up a copy of the Zootopia Gossip, and Nick groaned. "The ZG isn't a newspaper, Spots. It's full of everything no real newspaper would bother printing."

The cheetah spoke, his face suddenly serious. "I only read it for the Gazelle articles." He opened it to the middle of the paper and pointed. Nick and Judy stepped closer to see a picture of them from the previous evening. Nick was stretched out on the pavement and she was standing over him, with the headline, Bunny Assaults Fox Boyfriend." The first line of the article continued, Does dating a predator make you more aggressive?

Nick snorted derisively and Judy huffed angrily.

Clawhauser spoke again. "Is this true? Tell me it isn't true."

Nick smirked. "Well, she does hit me in the arm all the- OW."

Judy scowled and looked like she was going to punch Nick again, but instead grabbed the newspaper and began to read the article. "How can they print these lies? You can't even see the rhino that knocked Nick down."

Clawhauser looked puzzled. "Why did a rhino knock Nick down?"

Nick, still rubbing his arm, quickly snarked, "Probably because I didn't have my mean bunny girlfriend there to protect me."

Judy continued to study the paper and said, "Nick, take this seriously." She looked up at the worried cheetah. "Don't worry Clawhauser, I haven't beaten up Nick." She handed the paper back and glared at Nick. "Yet."

Nick spoke as he and Judy walked towards the exit. "Don't worry, Fluff. No one reads that garbage." He looked over his shoulder. "Well, I guess Clawhauser does, but no one will take it seriously."

Judy looked pensive for a moment. "Who do you think took the picture?"

Nick shrugged. "I'm not sure, but it reeks of that scumbag paparazzi photographer, Ron Marmota. I've caught him following me around a few times since I first started at the ZPD. I haven't seen him in a long time, though."

"Wow, not a big fan, huh Slick? Why was he following you?"

Nick put on his aviators as they walked outside. "Most likely because I'm a shifty no good predator, like the ones in all the photos he sells to lowbrow tabloids like ZG."

Later that evening, Judy lay sprawled out next to Nick on the couch, asleep. He channel surfed with the remote in one paw while he gently stroked her ears with the other.

Finally settling on a cooking show, Nick closed his eyes and smiled. He still couldn't believe how well their conversation about moving in together had gone, and the relief they'd both felt afterward. He'd been nervous as he tried to start the discussion until Judy simply blurted out that she thought they should move in together. They still had to work out the logistics, as well as lay some ground rules, but he was actually excited about the prospect of living with her officially. Neither of them was keen on staying where they were, and Judy had mentioned finding someplace near the new warren, which suited him just fine. They agreed to talk about it more once Nick found his lease paperwork.

The conversation about kits was more awkward. After a few minutes, they both decided to table the discussion for now, since neither of them honestly knew what they wanted. Judy had no clue why her sister Hazel was acting oddly. They would just have to wait and see if they could find out what was going on with her this weekend.

Nick wondered again if he would be a terrible parent. As he drifted off to sleep, Nick did realize one thing: if he ever raised kits with another mammal, he wouldn't want to do it with anyone but Judy.

Some days Chief Bogo would yell at Nick so loudly, the fox was amazed the water buffalo didn't have a stroke. The next day, as Nick stepped through the front door of ZPD headquarters to find the Chief waiting for him in the lobby, Nick discovered that unfortunately this was one of those days.