Judy woke up about an hour later with a smile on her face.

It was becoming more and more difficult to sleep with her growing abdomen; she now found that she often woke up several times throughout the night, but she had actually slept fairly well during her little nap after the weekend visit to her parents' home. She hopped out of bed and noticed that Nick was missing.

"Probably watching TV on the couch again," Judy thought with a sigh and a shake of her head.

She made the bed, smoothing the covers as she did so, before heading to the bathroom to take a nice hot bath. After her bath, she redressed and smoothed her ears.

"Nick? You down here?" Judy called as she carefully waddled down the stairs.

The house was silent, making worry creep into Judy's heart.

"Okay, maybe he went to get dinner?" Judy considered as she made her way to the kitchen.

Once there, she looked out the window and was shocked to see that their SUV was still parked in the driveway, the trunk of the car left open. The sun was setting now, illuminating everything with an orange glow. Judy swallowed hard, now very worried. She left the kitchen and headed down the hall to the front door, but stopped suddenly when she saw that it was wide open, swinging eerily back in forth in the day's light breeze. Stepping carefully, Judy approached the door and looked out into the yard.

"Nick?" she called, but there was still no reply.

Judy then quickly shut the front door, locking the deadbolt as she did so.

"Okay," she exhaled, her breathing hitched. "I think it's time to call someone."

Judy then quickly did a sweep of the bottom floor of the house, making sure Nick, or anyone else, wasn't present, but didn't find anything. She then made her way upstairs and did the same thing on the top floor before grabbing her cell phone and dialing Nick's cell phone number, praying for an answer. The line rang for a few moments before sending her to voicemail.

"Nick? Where are you? The front door was wide open, and the car trunk was open too, so I'm a little freaked out…" Judy said as she made her way back downstairs and toward the living room. "I'm going to go ahead and call the police, but please call me back if you can and reassure me that you aren't hurt."

Judy ended the call, looking down as she did so, just as she walked into the living room.

Due to the house's setup, the first floor consisted of the kitchen being closer to the front of the house, while the living room was toward the back. The living room was the only room in the house that led to the backyard, which was fenced in. There was a large sliding glass door on the far wall of the living room, opposite of where Judy entered, and it was surrounded by a few square feet of tiled floor on the inside and a large wooden patio on the outside. After Judy had ended the call, she looked up, her vision directly meeting the backyard from her view through the glass door, and the sight that met her made her gasp and drop her phone on the carpeted floor with a soft thump.

Things moved very fast after Nick had the bag thrown over his head. He had felt several paws snag him and throw him into what he assumed was a vehicle that was not his own. He had yelled out in surprise, but it was useless, as he was in the vehicle in seconds, which immediately sped away. He could feel rope tying his paws back behind him. His thoughts immediately flew to Judy, who he knew to be asleep upstairs, completely defenseless with both the SUV and the house left unlocked and unattended. Nick fought back and struggled, but someone much stronger than him held him down easily in the backseat of the vehicle that was now his prison for the time being. Nick began to think, breaking down the basics.

"They were waiting for us, there must have been a car parked across the street from the house or else I would have heard them pull up…They knew we were on a trip…They've been watching us…I don't have my tranq gun…Judy has hers in her nightstand, next to her phone, but can she get to it in time? Are they going to take her too or do something worse? Oh God, please let her and the babies be okay…"

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the vehicle come to a stop. He strained his ears for any voice or sound that might be a tip off to what was going on, but he heard nothing. He had no idea of what was happening or what he would do; he didn't even know what type of car he was in, and it was clear that he was outnumbered with at least one animal who was much stronger than him. Nick then felt paws on him again as he was dragged from the vehicle. He struggled again and yelled out for help, threatening anyone nearby with choice words.

"You touch my wife and I will personally hunt you down! You hear me? Huh? You made a big mistake buddy, I'm a cop! You're in for it!"

Nick could feel grass brush against his feet and legs as he was dragged for what he thought was at least four or five meters before he was thrown onto the ground. Someone grabbed him roughly and forced him up onto his knees.

"Execution style," he thought with horror, secretly beginning to pray for Judy's safety once he was gone.

"Funny, I thought Judy hadn't tied you down with a ring just yet," a rough voice chuckled.

Nick's breath caught quickly, the balloon in his chest causing discomfort.

"They know her name," he thought.

Then, Nick grinned and even laughed as he recognized the voice.

"Are you freaking kidding me right now, Finnick?"

A loud noise that sounded like hundreds of cheers met Nick's ears just before the bag was pulled from his head and he was suddenly face-to-face with his best con artist friend. Finnick was grinning, clearly proud of himself, and he was surrounded by dozens of animals, all cheering and hooting. Nick sighed heavily and laughed even harder as he shook his head.

"You almost gave me a heart attack, man!"

He looked around and noticed that they were in some kind of amusement park, and that only his friends were there. Finnick cut the rope from Nick's paws and let him stand. Once on his feet, Nick finally began to recognize those present. Finnick, Mr. Big and his henchmen, Weaselton, and all of his male work friends were there.

"Guess you're the one stronger than me," Nick laughed as he recognized the Chief.

"Was I ever not, Wilde?" the Chief smirked.

Finnick came back into view with a bottle of beer.

"We think Dad deserves one last party before his responsibilities come in," the fennec fox laughed as he handed over the bottle.

Nick rolled his eyes.

"A bachelor party?"

"Think of it more as a baby shower for Dad," Delgato laughed.

Nick took a long sip from the bottle and threw his hands up, making everyone cheer. From then on, things became blurry as the party began and the drinks were thrown back.

Judy almost cried as she saw the massive party in her backyard. Every inch of her yard was covered in streamers and balloons colored pink and blue. Nick's mother caught her eye and quickly ran over, opening the sliding glass door to greet her.

"Mrs. Wilde?"

"Judy, come here!"

"What is going on?"

"A baby shower, of course, Honey!" Judy laughed and sighed at how silly she must have seemed moments before when she was so worried.

"Where's Nick?"

"Oh, he's caught up in his own little party. Trust me, though, there's a reason these types of things are only for women," Nick's mother smiled with a wink.

Judy followed her into the backyard, where several animals called out in greeting. Judy waved and smiled, noticing that Fru Fru and her babies were there, as well as her female coworkers, her mother, Nick's mother, and the majority of her bunny sisters. There were tables set up around the yard; gifts on a couple of them, food on the rest. For the next few hours, Judy was showered in gifts and food, as well as congratulatory remarks as everyone told her stories about their own kids and gave her advice. She took time to catch up with each of the guests, including her own family, who she had seen only hours before. There was also quite a bit of gossip as the women talked about everything that had to do with babies, marriage, and of course, Nick. When the party dispersed, Nick's mother and Bonnie remained to help Judy clean up the backyard after she had thanked everyone and shown them out. Finally, Judy's mother had to say goodbye to make the long journey home, which left Nick's mother and Judy to put away the new things that Judy had acquired. It wasn't until much later in the night that the two heard a car screech to a stop in front of the house. The two looked out of the window to witness a group of completely drunk males trying to help an even more drunk Nick get out of the car.

"Oh, Lord," Judy sighed at the sight.

"I should probably leave you to deal with him," Nick's mother chuckled. "If I even talk to him, I'll end up beating him with a skillet."

Mrs. Wilde helped Judy out onto the front porch of the house just in time to meet Nick, who was staggering and nearly crawling. Judy thanked Mrs. Wilde as she took hold of Nick and directed him into the house. She led him to the kitchen, where she sat him down on the floor against one of the walls.

"Heyyy," he slurred at her once they were situated.

"You are going to have alcohol poisoning," Judy scoffed as she struggled to sit down on the floor next to him.

"I'm…I'm who–no, wait…Oh! I'm sorry, that's what I meant. I was…uh…what was I doing?"

"You were at your own little baby shower, or bachelor's party; there's really no difference. Your mother told me all about it."

"Ah, of course!" Nick exclaimed as he drunkenly threw his paws into the air, as if everything in the world finally made sense.

"You're unbelievable," Judy rolled her eyes.

"And you're cute," Nick hiccupped as he tapped Judy's nose.

Judy chuckled lightly before gently pushing him back against the wall. She then got up and found a glass to put some ice water in for Nick. When she returned with it, he drank it happily, nearly spilling it three different times. When he was done, she took the glass to refill it, but Nick stopped her with a tug on her arm just as she was standing up.

"H-hey, we have to–have to… talk."

Eyebrows furrowed, Judy carefully sat back down on the floor and waited for him to continue. He hiccupped once more and ran a paw over his face before sighing loudly, as if he didn't want to say what he was thinking.

"I…I don't think we–well, we can't…it's o-over."

"Nick, what are you talking about?"

"I-I'm leaving…it doesn't work–doesn't work anymore."

"What exactly doesn't work anymore?"

"You–or me–or…I can't remember."

"Are you saying we don't work anymore?"

Nick gestured to his nose, as if to say, "yes, that's it exactly." Judy's breath caught in her throat. Surely, he was too drunk to know what he was saying. He wouldn't actually leave her, not after all of this time…right? The doubt remained, nagging Judy as she sat on the kitchen floor staring at her drunken boyfriend. How could this happen? Weren't they happy? Hadn't they always been happy?

"No," Judy thought. "We haven't always been happy, but that's because we have fought like a normal couple. That doesn't justify this, does it?"

She felt tears begin to sting her eyes, but she refused to cry. After all, Nick was drunk, and she could be completely overreacting.

"Nick–"

"Shhh," Nick stated in a wavering tone as he sat up and put a paw to her mouth to silence her.

"Don't–don't make me stay–don't make me stay. I…have to go 'cause–I just have to go."

"Why do you have to go, Nick?"

"'Cause you–you don't care–you don't care 'bout me. I don't trust you–you just do whatever–whatever you want."

Judy bit back her tears as she listened to him, even more confused. She had always cared, hadn't she? Nick had always trusted her, hadn't he?

"Nick, I care about you," she replied gently.

"No, no, no, no. I know–okay, I know 'bout the money."

"The money?"

"The–the money you took from Fin."

"From Finnick?" Judy asked, a little puzzled. "Nick, I never took any money from Finnick."

Nick sighed as if he were a child being ignored.

"Fin told me, Val. I know 'bout–'bout the money."

"'Val'…" Judy chuckled lightly, now wiping the tears from her eyes in relief. "Nick, I'm not Valerie."

"You're–you're not?"

"No, Honey, I'm not," Judy laughed as she scooted across the floor so that she was leaning up against the wall next to the fox.

He was watching her closely, no recognition in his eyes. Judy reached out and brought his face closer to hers.

"I'm Judy, Nick. You know? Judy. Judy Hopps. Carrots?"

"Where's Valerie?"

"She's gone, Nick. You broke up with her a long time ago."

Nick nodded, seemingly mulling this over.

"Do you… do you miss her, Nick?"

Judy instantly regretted her words, but she wanted to know. Nick shook his head a little harder than he needed to.

"No, she's mean," he replied in slurred words.

Judy laughed and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry you didn't trust her."

Nick just shrugged heavily before looking down at the floor.

In that moment, Judy felt that she had a very strong look into Nick's world, something she rarely had. Judy and Nick had always been almost completely opposite, and when they understood each other, it was something truly special. Judy was very open, so for Nick, knowing how she felt on a daily basis was easy. The only thing Nick ever had to decipher about her was that she didn't like getting hurt in such a way that it restricted or limited her, which wasn't very hard either. Nick, however, was a complex character who simply smirked and let on a show that he was always fine when he really wasn't. Judy had learned that he had had pain in his life when he had told her the story of being muzzled for the first time, which she was more than grateful to know, but it felt as if that was all she knew; she didn't know Nick's dreams or passions, or his biggest fears. Now, though, she got another peak into Nick's world as it became apparent that Valerie was not just another ex, she was the ex; the ex that would always bother Nick because she had broken his heart after she had built him up to believe that they were perfect for each other. In that moment, Judy felt bad for thinking that he would ever do anything with Valerie, because only someone ignorant would think that. If she had really thought about it, she would have realized that Valerie had caused Nick so much pain that Nick wouldn't even think about her in that way ever again. Nick had only smiled and gone along with everything because that's just who he was.

Judy leaned in and kissed Nick on the cheek again, only pulling away to lean on his shoulder comfortably.

"I love you, Nick."

"Who are you 'gain?"

Judy couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm Judy."

"Right…Carrot?"

"It's Carrots, but yeah, that's me."

"I love you, Carrot."

Judy smiled and snuggled closer to Nick.

"Are we–are we dating?" Nick hiccupped.

"We actually are going to get married," Judy grinned again, truly amused.

At this, Nick's eyes widened considerably.

"Really?" he asked as he sat up and looked at Judy.

Judy nodded.

"Wow," he breathed. "You're–you are–you're super hot."

"Ha, thank you," Judy snorted.

"How…did I–I get you?"

"You basically got me pregnant."

Nick's eyes widened again.

"You're–really?"

Judy rolled her eyes as she watched Nick's reaction, but nodded in reply. It was as if she was telling him the news all over again. Nick ran both of his paws over his face in disbelief.

"Here," Judy smiled as she grabbed one of Nick's paws and placed it on her swollen abdomen.

Nick's face instantly lit up at the contact. Just then, Judy felt a small stripe of pain shoot across her abdomen. She winced slightly, momentarily caught off guard, but ignored it.

"Let's get you to bed, Nick."