"Carrots, we've known each other for years now, and every moment of it has just been absolutely perfect, so now, I need to ask: will you marry me?"
"Oh, how sweet! No."
"Finnick, please take this seriously."
"I am; she could say 'no' at any time."
"She's not going to say 'no'," Nick stated with a roll of his eyes as he stood up from bent knee.
Finnick was standing in the back of his open van, watching Nick practice the perfect proposal. This was the tenth time the two had gone through the same rehearsal.
Finnick reached out and slapped the side of Nick's head.
"Of course, she's not going to say 'no,' you moron! You already proposed in your kitchen!"
Nick gave him a nasty look as he reached up and rubbed the sore spot on his head.
"That wasn't the big thing, though, man. Tomorrow's the big deal and I want everything to be perfect. I promised that this would be a big deal for her, so I have to make sure everything runs smoothly."
"Is that why I'm wearing a dress?" the small fox asked with a bitter look.
"You had to be in character," Nick snickered as he looked over Finnick, who was wearing his usual clothes with a yellow sundress roughly pulled over them.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Finnick snapped.
He then wiggled out of the dress in the most ungraceful way possible and threw the material in Nick's face. Nick pulled the dress off of himself and smirked.
"Look man, you know this is important."
"Nick, you don't need to practice. Anything you say is going to be perfect to her."
"I don't know that, though–"
"Dude, she's madly in love with you and she's pregnant; the situation couldn't get any more ideal!"
"I guess you have a point there," Nick chuckled. "You're going to be there, right?"
"I've got nothing better to do."
Finnick brought Nick in for a side arm hug before Nick bid the fox goodbye, and then left, turning out of the alley that Finnick's van was parked in and walking down the sidewalk of Main Street. It took a few minutes, but the fox eventually strolled his way right into the lobby of the ZPD. The lobby was silent – not even Clawhauser was at the reception desk – but that's what Nick had expected. He continued walking until he pushed through the door to the assignment room. The small room was packed with animal officers, including Clawhauser and the Chief; every officer of the ZPD was in that room, except Judy.
Nick had had to pull several strings and play his cards just right to work everything out, but he had managed to keep Judy at home for one day while he prepped for her 28th birthday party that would take place at their house the following night. Nick had been planning this party for a very long time, but things didn't start really going into effect until after Nick had secretly proposed to Judy in their kitchen on a sunny early afternoon almost five weeks ago. For the Wilde-Hopps household, things were beginning to speed up. Judy's pregnancy was progressing normally with no issues, but it felt like things were going so fast. In just another five weeks or so, Judy would no longer be attending work. Her maternal leave annoyed her, but Nick wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He had been patient and kind, but at eight months, she was coming home and staying home.
Nick strolled through the center aisle that split the room, right up to the podium that commanded the area. Once there, Nick recognized the Chief with a nod.
"Quiet!" the Chief barked.
All attention was then on Nick, who had been planning this since the moment he knew he was going to marry Judy.
"Alright, everyone, as you may know, tomorrow is Judy's 28th birthday."
Most of the officers hooted and cheered at this, but Nick continued.
"You all know her, because she's…well, she takes her job very seriously."
"That's an understatement!"
"Delgato! Be quiet!" the Chief snapped at the lion.
Delgato snickered, but sat down and obeyed.
"Delgato gets it," Nick chuckled. "But anyway, you all know that the party is tomorrow night at our place. I'll be proposing at the end of the night–"
This time, the entire room was filled with hoots and cheers that all showed the officers' approval. Nick couldn't help but smile, and tried to continue over the noise.
"A little bit later, I will assign someone to keep Judy busy tomorrow. I've already spoken to the officers setting up the party at the house tomorrow, so you know what to do. Judy's parents are coming into town and will come here until the party. No matter who is in charge of keeping Judy busy, she is the number one priority, which means all paws on deck. She gets whatever she wants, and no matter what, don't let her see her parents; she'll know something is up if she sees them. Clear?"
The officers nodded in agreement, clearly excited to have a mission that was so laid back and more on the fun side. The Chief dismissed them, leaving Nick to discuss some things with both him and Clawhauser.
"Clawhauser, you're in charge of getting all of Judy's friends who don't work at the ZPD here by tomorrow evening."
"Got it."
"Chief, well…you really don't have to do anything."
"I can do something, Wilde."
"Uh…" Nick hesitated. "Could you keep an eye on Judy?"
"You want me to play babysitter, Wilde?"
"Just keep her busy. I don't care what you do, just be careful, she's seven months pregnant for God's sake. Whatever you do, keep her away from the house and the precinct."
"I'm perfectly capable, Wilde."
The growl in the Chief's voice made Nick put his paws up in defense, but deep down, he knew no one was "perfectly capable" of containing a force of nature like Judy.
Nick hung around at the ZPD a little bit longer to iron out any possible wrinkles with the officers, but at a quarter to noon, he was forced to leave so that he could meet Judy for lunch at their favorite little diner just down the street. When he arrived, he found Judy seated at a booth near one of the front windows. She was staring outside, taking in the view of the busy city as cars and animals went by. Nick couldn't help but stare.
Lately, Judy was almost always in a sundress, since they were easier to wear with her growing abdomen, and no matter how many times she wore a sundress, Nick was always struck by how amazing she looked. Today, she was dressed in a periwinkle blue sundress with straps that joined just behind her neck. She hadn't ordered yet, and in fact, Nick was sure that she hadn't done anything but stare out of the window since she had arrived. At this thought, Nick smiled at how free-spirited Judy truly was.
"Hey, Carrots," he grinned as he walked over to the booth and slid in opposite of her.
She looked up and smiled big.
"Hey. How has your day been?"
"Pretty good, yours?"
"Kinda slow, but still pretty good."
They were briefly interrupted by a lion waiter arriving to take their order.
"The usual, Nick?" the lion asked.
Nick nodded, happy that Judy and he had been such loyal customers to the diner that their order was considered "the usual" for them now. Of course, "the usual" consisted of a Veggie Meal for Judy and a Predator Meal for Nick.
Once the waiter had left, Nick turned back to Judy.
"The Chief wants to see you tomorrow."
"Really?" Judy's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What for?"
"I'm not sure. He just told me he wanted to see you."
"I thought you were with Finnick today, when did you see the Chief?"
Nick cursed himself internally for not smoothing that out better. He had told Judy he was going to see Finnick, which had been true, but he had also promised not to go to the ZPD without her, as it was a day off for both of them and Judy didn't like being left behind.
"He called me," Nick quickly amended.
"Let me see your phone," Judy challenged.
Nick held his breath as he knew this wasn't going to end well.
"My phone is broken…?"
"Is that a question or a statement?"
"Alright, alright, you got me. I went to the ZPD."
"Dang it, Nick!" Judy exclaimed, sounding agitated, but still laughing as if she could live with it. "You promised you would take me if you went."
"But I couldn't take you today."
"Why not?"
"I just had paperwork; you would have been bored."
"You hate paperwork. You're lying and I can't figure out why."
There was the tone that made Nick want to spill his darkest of secrets to her. Her voice was so sweet and comforting that he just wanted to blurt out, "Hey! I know I already proposed, but I planned this amazing birthday party for you where I plan to propose again in front of our friends and family because that's how much I love you!"
Instead, Nick smirked at her lazily and then let out a quiet chuckle.
"You got me. I guess my lying skills haven't been too great since I quit hustling."
"So, what have you been up to?"
"If I told you, it would ruin it."
"Ruin what?"
The waiter saved Nick from answering by arriving with their meals. Judy narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she watched Nick continue to dodge the conversation, but the environment still held a very playful attitude, so she remained patient. It was a few minutes before either spoke again.
"Are you going to tell me what you've been up to?" the bunny questioned.
"You wanna know?"
"Yes."
"I'm cheating on you," Nick shrugged before looking up from his food to see Judy's reaction.
At first, Judy had no reaction; she just seemed to be deep in thought. Then, slowly but surely, a large grin broke out on her face.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" she giggled.
Nick smiled, but evaded again.
"It means whatever you want it to mean, Fluff."
The two finished lunch and then decided to go for a stroll down Main Street, paw in paw. While walking, they laughed and joked about a variety of things. They walked a few blocks before turning around and heading back to their SUV, which Judy had driven to the diner. On their way back to the car, Judy became increasingly tired, so Nick swooped her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the car. Judy giggled the whole way, telling Nick to put her down, but he refused.
The rest of the day went by in a fairly boring fashion, as Nick and Judy drove home and then spent the rest of their time watching movies. They cooked and ate dinner together, and then returned to the couch with popcorn to binge more movies. Halfway into the second movie after dinner, Judy fell asleep, her head resting on Nick's lap. Nick cleaned up quietly and then carried her upstairs to bed. He straightened up a few other things before crawling into bed himself.
In the morning, he was gone long before Judy awoke.
When Judy woke up, she was mildly cranky. The babies had been kicking a lot more lately, causing her more discomfort than pleasure as it began to affect her everyday life. When she woke up, the babies were kicking again, and her back hurt more than usual. Things did not get better when she looked over and found that Nick was missing. She didn't care if he was planning a party or not, she just wanted someone to cuddle with in bed. Judy dragged herself from bed and into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She found her frilly white sundress dangling from a hanger that someone had placed on the towel rack in the bathroom. She assumed it was Nick, and was stood correct when she found a little note clipped to one of the dress straps:
"Thought you would look nice in this today. The Chief is picking you up at 10:00. I'll see you later tonight. Love you."
Judy found the note sweet, but still grumbled at the fact that she would be forced to do quite a bit of moving around today. It was almost 9:15 now, so Judy got ready for the day and then made her way down to the kitchen to make coffee. A few minutes before 10:00, a heavy knock came at the door.
"Come in!" Judy called loudly.
The Chief entered the home, looking completely out of place as he made his way down the hall into the kitchen, where he found Judy leaning against a counter, a mug in paw.
"Hopps, I'm here to–"
"To distract me for the day while Nick plans a party, I know."
The Chief froze momentarily, not sure what to do.
"You know?" he eventually asked.
"I've known Nick for years, of course I know," Judy smirked. "Come on, I have some baby shopping to do today."
Judy then promptly sauntered down the hall to the front door.
"You coming?" she asked when she turned and found that the Chief hadn't moved.
Still unsure of the situation, the Chief followed. Outside, Judy looked at the Chief expectantly.
"Well?"
"'Well' what?" the cape buffalo asked, puzzled.
"I can't get in the car by myself," Judy stated with a roll of her eyes.
Chief Bogo, clearly out of his comfort zone, carefully helped the bunny into his police cruiser before going around the front of the car and getting in the driver's side. He hadn't even started the car before Judy was barking orders of where to go.
At the ZPD, Nick was also barking orders as several other ZPD officers helped him move tables and chairs into the trunks of a few different cars. The plan was that the officers assigned to setting up the party would pack all of the supplies into the designated vehicles, drive to Nick and Judy's home, and take everything through the gate to the backyard, where they would begin to set up. It didn't take long for Nick to help the officers load up the supplies and give them directions, so he soon found himself back inside answering any questions or concerns. Since the moment Nick had left his house, things had been moving at a very rapid pace. Before he knew it, all of the couple's friends (with the exception of their coworkers, as well as Judy's family) were at the ZPD, waiting for directions to the house when the time was right. At about 6:30, Nick received a call from Delgato, who was in charge of setting up the party, and received the word that everything was ready. Nick gave directions to the attendees before calling the Chief.
"Chief Bogo here."
"Hey, we're ready, where are you guys?"
The Chief cleared his voice awkwardly.
"Babies 'R' Us."
Nick cracked a smile at the thought of a tiny bunny dragging around a large cape buffalo as she shopped for baby supplies.
"Babies 'R' Us, huh, Chief?" Nick smirked.
"Come get your partner, Wilde," Chief Bogo snapped.
"Right," Nick chuckled. "On my way."
Nick left the ZPD and arrived at the store a few minutes later. When Judy and the Chief exited the store, Nick cracked another smile at the sight; the Chief weighed down by all of Judy's bags and Judy walking in front of him with a pair of sunglasses on and her wallet in paw. Nick jumped out and greeted them, taking the bags from the Chief as he did so, and then helped Judy into their SUV.
"You really went all out, didn't you?" Judy asked once they were on their way back to the house.
"You have no idea," Nick chuckled. "Did you have to torture the Chief like that?"
Judy only smirked in reply, which Nick laughed at.
When they pulled into their driveway, Nick grabbed Judy's arm to prevent her from exiting the car just yet.
"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I love you," the fox said with a smile.
"I love you too," Judy grinned.
Nick then leaned over and kissed Judy, letting the moment last. When he pulled away, he gave her one last smile before getting out of the car and walking over to the passenger side. He opened the door and held out his paw for Judy to take.
"You ready?"
"You bet I am."