"Oh, my God."

Those were the three words that Judy said when Nick walked her through their gate to their backyard and she finally saw what awaited her.

"SURPRISE!" the crowd screamed when they saw the couple.

"I brought enough for everyone," Delgato laughed as he stepped forward with two freshly iced beer bottles in his paws.

Nick opened his mouth to reject the beer, but Finnick beat him to it. The tiny fennec fox shuffled over quickly, jumped up and grabbed the two bottles, and then gave the lion a sour look.

"She's pregnant, and he's right in front of his pregnant girlfriend. Rookie mistake," Finnick chastised as he took a swig from one of the bottles before walking away.

Delgato, who had been left in an awkward position, merely shrugged and walked back into the crowd. Nick rolled his eyes and looked over at Judy to see if the situation had upset her, and was presently surprised at what he saw instead.

He had seen Judy smile quite a bit over the last few months, but the smile that dawned on her face in that moment might have been the brightest he had ever seen. The surprise birthday party that Judy had thrown for Nick had been big, but this party topped it easily. When putting everything together, Nick had decided to design the party in the way he dreamed his and Judy's party after their wedding would go. He had hired a professional DJ, had installed specific lights for just the right colors, had invited everyone the couple had ever had contact with, had ordered a designer cake, and much more, all for one night. It took a massive dip out of his savings left over from hustling, but he didn't regret one second of it as soon as he saw Judy's smile.

It was nearly 7:00 and the party had clearly been in full swing before Judy had even arrived, but she didn't mind one bit. She was such a social bunny that she fit in with the crowd easily, greeting those she saw. Nick followed closely behind, doing the same. They soon found themselves in the center of the yard, surrounded by partygoers. Judy turned to face Nick, who leaned down to hear her.

"I can't believe you did all of this for me!" she yelled over the music.

Nick couldn't help but smile at how happy she looked.

"It was nothing!" he yelled back.

"This party makes the one I planned for you look like nothing!" Judy laughed.

"I still loved it!" Nick shrugged with a grin.

Judy looked around at the party before looking back at Nick.

"The neighbors are going to hate us!"

Nick shrugged again.

"Who needs 'em?"

Judy laughed and grabbed his paws in her own, pulling him to dance with her.

The night went by a little too quickly for everyone's liking, but that was only because the night was beyond amazing. The cake was cut a little after 9:00, and Nick and Judy had tried to throw their pieces in each other's faces every chance that became available as the crowd yelled, "Go! Go! Go!" Judy had won the cake war by faking a baby kick enough that Nick came over, concerned, which was when she had shoved a massive amount of cake and frosting in his face. The crowd had yelled in delight, and Nick, who was completely shocked, wiped the cake off and then shoved the messy paw right in Judy's face. The two had laughed themselves to tears. The rest of the night, Nick and Judy danced until Judy was all tuckered out and Nick had to carry her over to one of the tables that sat close to the DJ. After setting her down, Nick checked his phone and saw that it was nearly midnight.

"Smile."

"What?"

"Smile, Carrots."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Judy rolled her eyes, but gave him a gorgeous smile, which he quickly snapped a picture of with the camera on his phone.

"Why the picture?" Judy asked once he had lowered his phone.

"My new homescreen. Last one I had was from Christmas."

"The one of me stuck in the snow?"

"That's the one."

"Aw, but that one was really cute," Judy pouted.

"Relax, Carrots, I still have it, and besides, this one is way cuter."

Nick showed Judy his phone, the photo now set as his background. Judy giggled at the photo of her smiling in a silly way with bits of cake and frosting still on her face.

"That's not cute at all!"

"I'll change it in a few months," Nick laughed. "When you're lying in a hospital bed holding our four babies."

Judy tilted her head and gave him an "aw, how sweet" look. Nick grinned at her before glancing at his phone to check the time again.

"I'll be right back," he said as he gave her another smile along with a quick kiss on the lips.

Nick stepped up onto the makeshift stage the professional DJ was set up on and thanked the DJ as he handed him a microphone. The music quieted down and all attention was on Nick once again. The balloon in his chest fluttered with anxiety at the sudden attention, but this was what he wanted, right?

"Uh, hello, everyone. I hope everybody is enjoying the party so far. I would like to start off by thanking all of you for coming tonight, and to especially thank those who helped me pull this off. I, uh…well," Nick paused for a moment, not really sure where to begin out of all of the things he wanted to say next.

The silent audience watched with anticipation as the fox ran a paw over one of his ears, smoothing it back momentarily.

"Well, I have known Judy for over three years now. I, uh, met her while I was hustling pawpsicles, ha. She was a meter maid at the time and was upset that I had hustled her," Nick paused to chuckle along with the crowd. "She then hustled me into helping her with a case – uhm, the Night Howlers case, in fact. I didn't want to help her, but somewhere along the way, I–well, I couldn't help but care. I was very intrigued with this little bunny's ambition to solve this case. I mean, she was willing to do anything to find this otter, and even when she was at her busiest, she managed to convince me to join the police force, of all things. Without Judy, who knows where I would be now. I surely wouldn't have this many friends, I wouldn't be this happy, and I definitely wouldn't be seeing my mother this often."

The crowd laughed again, and Nick caught his mother rolling her eyes.

"I, uh, I also wouldn't be with my, uhm, my life mate if Judy and I hadn't crossed paths all that time ago."

Nick looked at Judy, who smiled, tears clearly in her eyes.

"I knew things were perfect when Judy and I first starting dating, because, well, nothing really felt different; nothing felt forced or awkward, it was just us being us on a new level. About seven months ago, on the night of my birthday party, which many of you attended, Judy told me she was pregnant…and, uh, I won't lie, I was pretty freaked out. I mean, you all saw me that night."

Some audience members hooted and cheered in reply, while others laughed.

"But I was genuinely happy, because once again, Judy was giving me something that I probably would never have had if I hadn't met her."

Nick paused once again, his heart fluttering in his chest as he prepared for the big moment.

"A few months after I met Judy, I went out and bought…well, I, uh, bought a wedding ring."

Nick removed the wedding ring in question from his shirt pocket and held it up for everyone to see. He had told Judy that he would hide it somewhere different before secretly proposing to her in their kitchen a month ago, but he couldn't bring himself to part with it after it being with him for so long. Thankfully, Judy hadn't gone looking for it.

At the sight of the ring, the audience cheered happily, and Judy covered her mouth with her paws.

"I never knew if I would use it," Nick continued. "Because we weren't even dating at the time, but ever since that day, something inside of me has just known that I would be giving it to her. In about two months, I will have officially been dating Judy for two years. I was going to propose on the night of our anniversary, but something told me that that wasn't right. I knew that if I was going to propose to a girl like Judy, I–uh, well, I was going to have to make a big deal out of it, because she deserves nothing less. To be honest, I proposed to Judy in our kitchen about a month ago, because the ring fell out of my pocket, really."

The crowd laughed once again and Nick saw his mother throw her paws up in defeat, as if to say, "I thought I raised him right." Nick let out a small laugh and nodded to confirm the fact that he had let the ring fall from his pocket.

"So, technically, I know what Judy's answer is, but I just couldn't wait to propose, and I wouldn't have thrown this party if I thought she was anything less than perfect. Judy has given me so much in these last few years, and a lifetime is not enough time to thank her for all of it, but it's a good place to start…" Nick said as he bent down on one knee and looked directly at Judy. "So, Carrots, will you marry me?"

It was as if everyone in the crowd was holding their breath as Judy made her way up to Nick on stage.

"Now or never," Nick whispered with a chuckle.

Judy returned his smile before leaning down and grabbing the carrot pen (which she had given him years ago) from his shirt pocket.

"Always the theatrics, Nick, but I'll be honest, I'm marrying you because I like to be a little dramatic now and then too," she whispered, leaving Nick slightly puzzled.

She then brought the pen to her mouth as she pressed the "record" button.

"Yes."

The entire crowd cheered at the very clear word, surely waking the entire city as they did so.

"You already knew my answer," Judy giggled as Nick leaned in and kissed her.

Nick finally gave her the ring before sweeping her up into a hug. Judy was crying and laughing, not wanting to be anywhere else as she held on to Nick tightly. Nick looked down at her and felt that balloon in his chest inflate in a pleasant way, knowing that all of the time he had waited to propose had been worth it. He didn't care that he had bought the ring too early, that he had waited too long to drop to one knee, that he had almost ruined everything by letting the ring slip into Judy's sight weeks before the actual event, because now the world felt absolutely perfect to him.

Nick had never been one to cry often, but he cried now.