Chapter 15: Message

While Nick was looking in the utility room for all sorts of ornaments for the Christmas tree that he and Finnick could decorate it with (Judy had long since made sure there were plenty of ornaments), Finnick found a remote control for the TV. He didn't think long before he decided it would be a good idea to fire it up and look for something good that would be airing on t.v. right now.

"Let me tell you, it's pretty cool living like this. I'd like to live in one in the future," exclaimed Finnick. Nick laughed quietly at this remark waving his head from side to side rifling through more cardboard boxes until he found a box of people for the Christmas tree.

"Gotcha!" Said Nick ceremoniously pulling out the box. The box contained chains, lights and boxed baubles that had been recently purchased.

"Ah, I found it! Judy would kill me if I didn't find them" sighed Nick relieved to see the box of decorations. He rose from his knees holding the box in his hands. He wasn't particularly surprised when Finnick switched jokes on the t.v. looking for something on the television. Nick snatched the remote from his paws, which surprised him , but he wasn't going to fight the host.

"Let me choose something," Nick said as he selected a music channel. There was a very festive tune going, 'Merry Christmas Every One'. It was a very old song, Nick had listened to it when he was still little, it was a song that was not only related to Christmas but also remembered childhood for both of them.

"Ah, I remember we ran away from school once to go to a concert to this very song remember?" Finnick asked.

"I remember, maybe even all too well. Remember afterwards we went for pizza and then we met your form teacher as we were leaving?" asked Nick to which they both burst out laughing.

"I remember! Unfortunately it wasn't the best day for me. But when I think about it...how stupid it was! I remember him looking at me!" replied Finnick with a laugh. Even though it ended in a reprimand at school this situation became more comical than sad over time.

"It was beautiful..." replied Nick when he was interrupted by the ringtone on his phone. He looked in his pocket and an involuntary smile appeared on his face.

"Judy is calling" The fox communicated.

"Be quiet now Finnick" asked Nick, which startled his friend, but he didn't have time to ask anything because Nick had already picked up the phone and pointed his finger at him not to say anything.

"Hi Judy, how's it going?" asked Nick sitting down next to Finnick who smiled ironically at Nick. He came up with an idea that was a little unfair to Nick, but it didn't bother me too much.

"All-in-all, it's been a really long and tiring day for me, but well... I've had a great time and I'm already looking forward to Christmas Eve! And how is time going with my fox?" asked Judy.

"It's fine, I'm just sitting by myself..."

"Hi Judy!" interrupted Finnick for Nick, which surprised and upset Nick at the same time. He ran his hand over his face waving his head from side to side.

"So you're saying you're sitting alone?" laughed Judy at which Nick cast an ominous glance at Finnick who started laughing.

"Ekh...I'm sitting with this idiot called Finnick, you should associate him" replied Nick. Finnick started laughing even more seeing the embarrassment and at the same time nervousness on Nick's face. It got to the point where he fell on his back laughing so loudly that Judy heard it and started laughing herself, which made Nick a little embarrassed.

"Well, Nicki, I don't want to disturb you, but call me when you get to bed, I have some important news to tell you"

"Sure...bye" replied Nick, then hung up with Judy.

"I told you not to speak!" threw Nick in Finnick's direction, who had slowly already started to catch his normal heart rate after laughing as he sat down quietly next to Nick.

"Chill out man! Why didn't I say something?" asked Finnick curiously.

"Well...let's just say Judy doesn't tolerate you very much" said Nick which surprised and curious Finnick who slid closer to his friend.

"Meaning? Not very understanding?"

"Since I became her boyfriend and a police officer she asked me to cut contact with those who were seeing each other and pulling me down the wrong path, you were on that list too" replied Nick.

"That's why you didn't want to hang out with me?" asked a puzzled Finnick. He never expected his friend to ever listen to any girl. It was impossible in his opinion. He knew Nick too well and knew that if he persisted, no one would ever knock the idea out of his head again.

"No! of course not. But you know how it is, we bought this flat, we became a couple, I changed jobs...too much change to have time for anything else" replied Nick.

"Sure, I understand...but will we be seeing each other now?" asked Finnick.

"I think so...we could go out for some pizza or something"

"If we're on the subject of pizza, why don't we order some? I'm actually hungry and it's unlikely you can cook anything but eggs" Finnick countered, which Nick immediately decided to deflect.

"You can't cook either"

"Oh no, that's why I suggest we order a pizza. How about that?" asked Finnick. Nick actually didn't mind the idea so he agreed by handing Finnick his phone.

"As long as it's not Hawaiian," said Nick.

While Finnick was fixing dinner for them, Nick busied himself with dressing the Christmas tree so that it looked amazing. It was beautiful on its own , its lush covered with heavily green needles, its volume made it look beautiful, but Nick wanted to add a "Wow!" effect to it.

As he looked through the ornaments he wondered what message Judy wanted to give him. It could have been a lot of news, but the word "interesting" automatically meant that it had to be something special. Curiosity was great, but Nick had to hold off on that for a few hours.

After completing their task, Finnick and Nick decided that their Christmas tree would have a classic look, so the main colour was white, which dominated both the lights and the chains that fell from the crown of the spruce to the bottom of the tree. The lights surrounded the tree from all sides illuminating it with a sparkle as white as snow. In the lights, the men decided to play with colours by adding black and dark blue baubles around the tree to the white glow. There were a few mishaps while hanging the chains and lights, one of the baubles broke, but they both didn't care. The main thing was that the tree was dressed and they both enjoyed it. Just as they were finishing up and observing the decorated tree, the doorbell rang.

"It's probably pizza, I'll get it" Finnick communicated as he walked up to the door. By this time Nick had taken a picture of the Christmas tree and sent it as promised to Judy who was to see the tree.

Finnick returned with two large pizzas which he placed on the glass counter, Nick stared in amazement at the two large pizza wrappers.

"You ordered two large pizzas for two people?" asked Nick to which Finnick nodded with a motion of his head.

"Ugh...how much do I owe you?" asked Nick. He started to look around for his wallet, but Finnick showed him to relax and sat down next to him.

"Relax, it's pizza from the diner he works at. We got it for free," Finnick replied.

"Wow, you always know how to trade something in your favour "

"after all, that's how he works, those are the perks. Now eat before it gets cold" countered Finnick. They opened their pizzas and started consuming them while talking to each other about various topics. Nick talked about his work, Finnick listened and vice versa. Time slowly passed and it was getting dark outside the windows, so dark that Nick had to turn on a stronger light because it was practically Nighttime. They were both surprised when they noticed that it was already 10.50 p.m. They put the slices of pizza they had left on the table top and were already getting ready for bed.

"What do we have tomorrow?" asked Finnick as he approached his suitcase looking for his night clothes.

"Tuesday...the day after tomorrow's Christmas Eve, why?"

"Christmas Eve...well, we have everything ready, don't we?" Finnick asked.

"Yes...as a matter of fact, yes, everything was ready," replied Nick.

"That's good...I'm tired ... and full hehe. Good night" said Finnick unfolding the couch he was lying on.

"I'll still talk to Judy, but good night, have a good night" replied Nick to which Finnick laughed.

"You miss her" said Finnick.

"Come on she's my girlfriend. Of course I miss her"

"I understand, you'll see each other soon anyway...good night " replied Finnick with an understanding smile laying back down on his pillow. Nick went to the wardrobe to take out his leather jacket. He didn't want to disturb Finnick, so he decided that he would talk to Judy outside on the balcony. It's quite cold , probably on the downside, but it will probably be a fairly short conversation. He put on his jacket and hat, took his phone and went to the balcony. He immediately felt the cold breeze pinching his nose, but he paid no attention to it. It was quite frosty and uncomfortable, but the fox sat comfortably on the armchair as if nothing had happened and called Judy.

"'It must be below 0' thought Nick as he connected with Judy.

"Oh, Nick you called after all! I thought Finnick was more important"

"Come on, he's my friend, you know that. You better tell me what you have to tell me"

"Ah, yes. Today I was talking to my mum about relationships, you know...like ours" began Judy which made the fox curious.

"Really? And how?"

"And how? She said it was pretty weird...but yeah! She said she would be able to accept it!" Replied Judy to which Nick laughed with glee. He would have loved to shout something, but he couldn't because of the curfew that was already in place. He felt mega joy when he heard that. They finally knew that at least one of their parents would allow it, and that was already an important step in their relationship.

"And how's your dad?" Nick asked.

"Well...I haven't talked to my dad yet, but the groundwork is that my mum believes in relationships like this...Nick, it's important for us "

"Yes I know, you don't even know how happy I am to hear that!" Replied Nick excitedly.

"Believe me I could barely contain myself when I heard that from Mum. That's all I wanted to say, I'm very tired, I'll call you after Christmas Eve...merry Christmas darling"

"Merry Christmas, I love you "

"Aww, I love you too, bayy" replied Judy then hung up. Nick was happy after this news. He still had concerns that her parents might be stubborn about Judy getting involved with a rabbit, but thankfully that's not the case...at least with her mum. even if dad was stubborn, her mother's support means a lot in this situation. Nick pondered this, for a few more minutes, but through the stinging cold he went into the house to warm up and go to bed. It would soon be Christmas Eve.