"You've got to be kidding me."
"Oh, quit whining and pull over!"
"This is stupid, Carrots."
"Ugh, you're stupid!"
Nick briefly turned to look at his girlfriend, who was currently comfortably seated in the passenger seat of their SUV, and narrowed his eyes.
"Did you just call me 'stupid?'"
"No–! Err–yes–! Kinda…?" Judy's fiery attitude came to a speedy halt as she attempted to explain herself, while Nick scoffed.
"What are you, like five years old?" the fox smirked.
"I'll have you know that I am a mature adult with perfectly good insults. Now, pull over!"
"You don't need pickles right now, Rabbit!"
Judy threw her paws in the air and dramatically flung her body back against her seat. Clearly defeated, she began to pout like a small child. Nick rolled his eyes as he focused on the road.
The two were currently making their way to Tundra Town, where their mission was to keep an eye on some polar bears who had recently been up to some "suspicious activity," as stated by multiple witnesses. Judy, now ten weeks pregnant, had begun craving pickles (of all things) on the drive over, sparking a small argument between the two. Nick usually would get her anything she wanted or needed, due to her precious situation, but this was the fourth time this week she had interrupted something somewhat important just for a craving.
That morning, she had broken down in tears because they didn't have any carrot cake in their apartment.
"When do we ever have carrot cake?" Nick had asked, shocked.
"I don't know, but we need some now!" she had wailed in reply.
This whole conversation had taken place while Nick had been in the shower, as Judy couldn't wait for him, so rather, she decided to barge into the bathroom and tear down the shower curtain. Nick had screamed like a girl, but that hadn't stopped Judy from her onslaught about carrot cake.
Besides the new mood swings, cravings, and the occasional morning sickness, Judy's pregnancy was progressing fairly well. Of course, everyone knew of the couple's expectancy… well, everyone except Judy's parents.
She was a bit hesitant to tell the pair, as she was unsure of their reaction to her dating a fox, much less having children with him. Things were also a bit complicated to explain to her parents at the moment, since Nick and Judy weren't married. Nick had been planning to pop the question on Judy's birthday, but that was still months away, and he could tell that she was growing anxious about her parents not knowing. Neither one of the two wanted to tell Judy's parents about the pregnancy until they were married, but they couldn't wait much longer, or Judy would be too pregnant to lie to her parents. That was another wrench in the works: Judy didn't want to lie to her parents, which Nick didn't blame her for, but it sure didn't make things easier. On the other hand, Nick hadn't told his mother about the pregnancy either. In fact, he hadn't even told Judy about his mother. Judy had dragged him up to meet her parents a little while after they had first met, where he had been introduced as her (work) partner and nothing more, but Nick had never gotten around to tell Judy about his family.
His father had died years ago from all of the stress that life had brought him, and with no siblings or other immediate family, it was just his mother left. He talked to her often, and she knew that he was involved with a sweet bunny named Judy, who also happened to work with him, but that was about it. Although Nick could be labelled as a "momma's boy," he hadn't exactly shared everything with mommy dearest. Nick groaned internally at the thought of telling his mother he was going to be a father, especially since grandchildren were the only thing Mrs. Wilde truly wanted. Telling his mother was another hurtle the couple had to overcome in such a short period of time, but that wasn't all: Nick still had to tell Judy about his mother.
Oh, how messy life could be.
The two drove on in silence for a few more minutes before coming to a stop along a dim snow-covered street.
"You're starving me to death on purpose," Nick heard Judy mutter under her breath.
"Starving you? Well, how dare I!" he exaggerated with paws flailing, making Judy smile slightly. "How on earth can a bunny survive without pickles? My God, I guess I didn't pay attention to the Bunny Manual as well as I thought I had!"
"Oh, shut up," Judy giggled.
"No, I'm serious! I hope you read the Fox Manual better than I read the Bunny Manual, or else we're in trouble," Nick laughed as he reached for the rabbit, pulling her closer.
"I just wanted some pickles," Judy sighed as Nick pulled her in for a quick kiss.
The weather outside was cold, but the small space inside their car remained a toasty warm as they conversed.
"Yeah, well I just want some peace and quiet after all of your nagging."
Nick heard Judy's sound of indignation and then soon felt the familiar dull thump of her fist punching him in the shoulder. He chuckled at her angry expression.
"Kidding," he smirked.
Nick then turned his attention back to the outside world, keeping his eyes out for anything suspicious. Judy quickly followed his lead. A few minutes passed as the two witnessed nothing but the glistening snow falling heavily just outside the glass. It was Nick who broke the silence.
"We need to talk."
"Uh–oh, are we breaking up?" Judy joked.
Nick gave her a smile before continuing.
"We have to tell your parents, Carrots."
Nick was setting up for the inevitable. Unbeknownst to Judy, Nick had actually already used her phone to message her parents and let them know that they were visiting this weekend, and that they had some big news. He had also let the Chief know, just in case there was a work emergency. In just two days' time, he would pack all of their things in the middle of the night, place them in the car, carefully put a sleeping Judy into the passenger seat, and begin the drive to her home. Nick could already hear Judy screaming at him for doing things behind her back, which Nick was ready to counter with the incident she had pulled with his birthday party just a few weeks ago.
"Nick, we've been over this, we can't tell them–"
"Until we're married, I know, but I think it's time to consider telling them before then," Nick sighed as he saw Judy's face fall. "Carrots, I know you want to do this right, but they're your parents. We can't keep lying to them. Plus, even if I proposed today, it would still be at least another month until the wedding."
"We can just have a quick wedding that only takes ten minutes at the courthouse."
"But I know that isn't what you want. I know you want all of your family to be there, and I want you to have the best night of your life, not a rushed ten minutes. And besides, I don't want to propose to you in this car. I want to surprise you and make it a huge deal in front of our friends and family."
"Really?"
Nick could see the joyful tears welling up in Judy's eyes.
"I know, doesn't sound like the usual Nick Wilde, but really," he smirked.
"You're right," Judy laughed. "The usual Nick Wilde would probably propose to me, get Finnick to steal the ring, and then you two would sell it for a better profit."
"Who said I wasn't still going to do that?"
Judy gave Nick another playful punch to the arm as he chuckled at his own sarcasm. A comfortable silence fell between them for a few seconds, until...
"What about your parents, Nick? When are we telling them?"
Nick froze. This was the one thing he had been dreading.
"Nick?" Judy asked, suspicious.
"Uh, we can't tell them because… they, well, because…"
Judy gasped and put her paws to her heart.
"Oh, Nick, I'm so sorry! I had no idea that your parents passed away!"
Oh no.
Nick's ears flattened to his head as he realized how his hesitation may have come across as sorrowful loss of family.
"No, Carrots, my parents aren't dead. Well, at least my mom isn't–whoa!" Nick exclaimed as he quickly shot up in his seat at the sight of two polar bears crossing the street in front of the SUV.
The pair then entered a dark building nearby, all while glancing around with stiff glares. Nick quickly grabbed his phone and began taking pictures, only to be interrupted by the sound of a car door opening.
"Hopps, what are you doing?" Nick hissed as he saw Judy slide from her seat onto the snow-covered sidewalk below her open car door.
"Come on," she commanded, beckoning with her paw.
"This is just an observe and record mission, Rabbit!" Nick exclaimed as he clamored from the car, while trying to keep up with Judy.
When he looked up next, she was already standing with her back pressed up against the dark building, hiding in the shadows. Nick huffed an agitated sigh before slinking over to her location.
"So, what's this about your mother now?" was the question that greeted him.
"Are you crazy?" Nick whispered angrily.
"Oh, stop whining. We can observe better from inside."
"Inside? Have you lost it?"
"Shhhh! Do you want to get caught? Come on."
Judy grabbed Nick's paw, and together they lurked through the shadows until they came upon the door the two bears had entered through. Judy began to inch the door open as quietly as she could manage, while Nick stood there, anxiety taking over.
"This is an awful idea," he whispered.
"No, this is a great idea," Judy grinned as she creaked the door open. "We are going to solve this case, and then I'm going to meet your mother. Win–win for everyone!"
Nick rolled his eyes as Judy chuckled devilishly. When the door was finally open wide enough, Nick tried to take the lead by entering the building first, but Judy shot in front of him. Nick suddenly grew very tense as an unfamiliar feeling crept through his body. Something wasn't right. He didn't like that Judy was going into this dark, decrepit, old building, especially since she was pregnant.
"Carrots!" Nick reached out and gripped Judy's arm before she was out of reach.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't like this," Nick shivered, but couldn't tell if it was from the cold or this new worried feeling he was having.
Judy rolled her eyes at him before prying her arm away.
"Nick, stop joking around."
She turned and began to enter the building again, but this time, Nick grabbed her arm and held onto it with all of his might.
"Let go," Judy whispered, a little annoyed.
"No, I don't like this at all. Something doesn't feel right. Let's go back to the car."
"Stop being ridiculous, nothing is going to happen."
"You don't know that. It's too dangerous for you."
"Why, because I'm pregnant?"
"Yes! Please, just go back to the car with me. Please, justknow when to quit, Judy."
Judy stood silent for a few moments, studying Nick's frightened eyes.
"Fine," she finally sighed. "Give me your phone and I'll call the Chief to let him know what we saw."
Grateful for her sanity and common sense, Nick released hold of her and then looked down at his pocket in search of his phone.
That's when it happened. That's when Judy took off into the building, leaving Nick out on the street with a stunned look on his face and his paw halfway in his pocket. That's when Nick felt the worried feeling grow; it spread like fire through his chest as his mind raced. He hadn't even had the chance to move when Judy's scream rang out into the street. That scream rang in Nick's ears as he made his way into the building with his blood pumping furiously, and that scream continued to ring in his ears when he came across the horrific sight that awaited him.
That scream would haunt Nick forever.