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Chapter 3

When the Friday meeting time came, the two mammals met next to a colorful fountain in the middle of Zootopia's largest shopping mall. Or rather, three mammals…

"Mike?" The bunny was clearly surprised to see the little fox along with his father.

"Judy!" The boy practically leapt to hug her. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Um, it's nice to see you too but-"

"He wouldn't let me go without him." A familiar voice explained and Nicholas Wilde approached them. He was dressed in a suit, like usual, but without a tie and his shirt was unbuttoned at the top. Judy had to admit that this way of wearing himself really suited the fox.

"Does this mean we're having a three-mammal dinner?" She asked with a smile.

Mike stepped back and waved his small paws. "No, no, no. It's just you two, it has to be a real da-" His father's paw moved with snake like reflex and clasped around the little muzzle.

"What did we agree on before coming here, Michael?" He asked in a calm manner.

The boy nodded and Nicholas removed his paw. "To not comment on the dinner." He recited from memory.

"Good. Now off you go, I will wait here." And he sat down by the fountain, pulling out his phone.

Judy glanced from one fox to another. "Wait, am I to understand that you want me to go shopping with Mike?"

"That's what I just said." He replied without looking up from the screen. "Don't worry, he has my credit card, so you're covered."

And before the bunny had a chance to reply to that, Mike grabbed her paw and turned to his father. "So we can buy anything, yes?"

The attorney waved him off with a paw. "Yes, yes, now go before the day ends."

The boy whooped with a small jump and dragged the surprised Judy away, leaving his father to look through his emails.

.

.

Judy's head was spinning.

There were two reasons for this. One was the sheer amount of clothing one could find in the stores here. There were dozens of dresses specially made for bunnies and the lamb shop assistant kept bringing in more, at the same time complimenting Judy on her slim figure.

The second one were the prices. Some of the clothes the little fox insisted on for her to try them out were so pricey that they represented her quarterly salary.

Once again, she thought about politely refusing such an expensive gift, but she couldn't bring herself to do it when she saw the happiness on Michael's face.

"Mike, I have to ask, why buy something like a dress for me? It's so far from cheap that it's practically on the other end of the universe." She inquired with concern, but the boy just laughed at her question.

"Haha, don't worry about that. Dad doesn't spend any money if he can avoid it, which means he saved up a lot. A dress like this won't make a dent in his finances."

She sighed with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I'll believe that. Unfortunately, ZPD salaries can't compare to attorney's earnings."

Michael placed his elbows on the table he was sitting at and rested his muzzle on both paws. "Then why won't you marry my dad?" He was grinning from ear to ear.

After a brief, silent pause, Judy laughed at his words. "Sorry, do what?"

"Yeah, I'd have a mom, you wouldn't have any issues with dresses anymore and dad wouldn't have to be lonely…" His smile shrank when he realized what he said at the end. "Oops…"

Judy's ears perked up. "Is that the real reason he asked me out? Because he's lonely?"

Mike quickly waved his paws in front of him. "Nonono, that's not it… He, uh… well…" His ears drooped and he let out a sigh. A one that usually would come from an adult with a lot on their mind. "Sorry, it's because I see him every day, I can tell. He never shows that and he constantly focuses on work. But I know that he'd be happier with someone at his side."

Judy stared at the fox with half lidded eyes. "Soo, that's why you asked him to take me out for a dinner?"

Mike flinched. "Wha? No, I don't know anything abou-"

She leaned to him and gently tapped his nose with a finger. "Come on, Mike. You can't fool me. Why would someone, who was so upset with me on one day about playing with his son, just walk up to me the day after and ask on a da-." She froze, realizing what she was about to say. "Dinner." The bunny corrected herself.

Mike offered her an apologetic smile. "Yeah, sorry… I confess. And I know that adults always tend to complicate things, but… Give my dad a chance, please?"

Looking at these green, pleading eyes, Judy was certain that if she'd refuse, then she'd be burning in hell for that.

"Okay…" The doe breathed out. "I'm not saying 'no'."

The boy squealed happily and threw his arms around her in a hug.

.

.

"Dad, we're back!" His son's voice announced their return to Nicholas Wilde.

"About time, it was starting to get late-" He paused when he raised his eyes and saw Judy. Together with Mike and the shop assistant, they chose a light blue strapless dress cut at the thigh, along with a matching bolero and a delicate necklace they found in a jewelry store.

Mike grinned, seeing his father's reaction. "Dad? What do you think?"

The adult fox cleared his throat and slid the phone back to the pocket. "Well, it looks like now I am a bit under-dressed."

.

.

Later that evening, after they sent Mike away to his grandmother, the fox and the bunny arrived at their table in La Griffe, which Judy happened to know was one of the most expensive restaurants in Zootopia. Nick pulled back the chair for the bunny, helping her to sit down.

"You know," She said jovially, with a slight smile. "Under different circumstances I would think that you are trying to bribe me."

He raised a brow while sitting down himself. "Bribing officer Judy Hopps? Deemed to be one of the best and most honest officers in the entire ZPD? That would be stupid of me."

She rested her chin on folded paws. "Oh? You've checked me?"

"Valedictorian of her year in the academy, best paw-to-paw combat expert in Precinct One, awarded an order for her services by mayor Lionheart himself, her age…"

"Ehem!"

"…is unknown, but she appears very young." He finished smoothly.

She awarded his speech with a half-lidded gaze and a grin. "Do you always screen females that you invite to restaurants, or is it just me?"

He showed a small smile. "Apologies, professional habit."

"Yes, I can imagine. Especially when you you're known to win over 90% of the cases you're involved in. The exact number would be 91,71%. An independent attorney, working for anyone who can afford his wages, from huge corporations to private clients like Mr. Big." She summarized the fox.

Nicholas adorned a smug smirk and raised a glass of wine for a toast. "To professional habits." She raised her own glass and they clinked them over the table.

They enjoyed their meal, Judy taking a mental note that, despite being a predator, Nicholas did not order any meat. She wondered whether it was an eating habit or he did it out of consideration for her.

After the main course, they were served the dessert and engaged in a talk about their work.

"…surely, we would have won that case if not for your involvement." She stated, without any accusation in her voice.

"Dear Miss Hopps, de minimis non curat lex. It was a case so minor that hardly required my attention at all."

"Dura lex, sed lex, Mr Wilde. The law is the same for everyone, regardless of the severity of the offense."

The vulpine attorney simply shrugged. "I was just doing my job, you were doing yours. No hard feelings, I hope?"

Judy sent him a wink over her glass of wine, as she took another sip. "I have not determined that yet."

"Oh? Then why accept my invitation?"

"Curiosity, I suppose…" She ran a finger around the edge of the glass. "I must admit that after the umpteenth time we had to let a suspect go because of a certain fox, I've begun wondering what kind of person we are against."

He rested his muzzle on the back of one paw. "Know thy enemy?"

The doe reacted with a chuckle. "You could say that. At first I was a bit angry with you, that you waste our time and effort we put in catching those mammals in the first place. But now I learn that you have a son and it made me think that a family mammal can't be such a bad person everyone take him for."

"Thank you, I guess?"

She graced him with a brilliant smile. "With all that said, may I ask you a personal question?"

Nicholas leaned back on his chair and took a sip of his wine. "You can try, but I can't promise that I will answer it."

"Fair enough." The doe nodded. "Okay, why exactly someone with your education and skills decided to work for the… let's call it 'slightly shadier' part of the society? You could cooperate with the ZPD, for example and help defend innocent mammals."

The fox looked at the glass in his paw. "Hah, you can't even realize how many times I've been asked this question already. But to satisfy your curiosity: maybe I could. But my reason is simple," He moved his gaze to Judy. "The pay is different." At that point he raised a finger to stop her response. "And you can lecture me all you want, but that's how it is for me. As a single father, I have to think about my son's future. So if anything happens to me, he will have enough financial stability until he'll be able to stand on his own two paws."

She stared at him in silence for a few seconds, before slowly reaching over the table and placing her small paw on top of his. "Don't you think he's more concerned about having a family than some stupid money?"

They stayed like that, silent, paw in paw, staring into each other's eyes.

Eventually, Judy glanced down at the table and looked at her paw like she's seen it for the first time in her life. She withdrew it quickly. Nicholas remained still, but followed her movement with his gaze.

Both of them didn't comment on what just happened and ate their dessert.

After the meal, Nicholas called a cab for Judy and accompanied her to it.

"It was a nice evening." She said tilting her head a bit to the side and her lips forming a small smile.

Nick replied with a smile of his own. "Well, if you'd like, we could repeat it."

Now Judy showed him a smirk. "Oh? Is that a request from Nicholas Wilde or rather Michael Wilde?"

In response, the fox gently took her paw and leaned down to place a kiss on top of it. Then he raised his head a little. The doe noticed a playful spark in his eye. "I have not determined that yet."

Judy laughed and got into the car. "Then they can both know that my answer is 'yes'. She closed the door and the cab drove away.