22 Home Hunting

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First of all, I apologize for the late posting this chapter. Life, the holidays and writer's block have all played havoc with my writing.

Aaaaaaanyways, everyone have a Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.

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As Nick watches Gideon get in his old bakery's delivery truck, he can't help but be amazed at how far he's managed to come after his parent's passing. From a basically suicide walk, to finally having a real family of his own – mate, kits, a home with plenty of space and fresh air ….

"Nick, is everything all right?" he hears Joe ask him in the background.

Wearing a huge grin and not afraid to face to older coyote, Nick tells him "More alright than you can possibly imagine!" is his only reply.

While in the process of reading over and signing papers, Nick makes the ultimate decision to commit to purchasing both of the properties, all the while hoping that Judy approves.

After signing his intent to purchase both properties and leaving a very sizeable deposit, Nick leaves the realtor's office in a major good mood.

After starting the GTO, Nick works up a short text message as the car warms up, detailing the commitment to buy not only the house and included property, but the several acres of woodland that surround the home on 3 sides.

Finally satisfied with the contents of the text, Nick hits send and throws the vintage muscle car into gear, being careful with the gas since there's new fallen snow about and he really doesn't want to go sliding around into something or someone.

By the time Nick has gotten back to the motel he has several texts and more than a few missed calls to answer.

Taking a deep breath, Nick decides to make a conference call to three of the four mammals that he sent his initial text to, knowing full well that Judy still doesn't have access to her phone until later that day.

With Bonnie answering first (being more or less free to answer), then Deb and finally Darci, Nick tries to explain the happenings of the previous day.

"Okay, if you'll all just keep the questions to a minimum, I'll try to lay everything out for you …" Nick tells the three.

After going over the happenings that Judy had to endure with first the overzealous jackalope jake, then necessarily needing to gloss over the fight with Frizzard, Nick finally gets to the part about possibly finding a suitable home for himself, Judy and the kits.

"So," begins Bonnie "the homestead you found is just outside of Aurora?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"And you say it's on Copperhead Road, correct?"

"Again correct … where's this going?" Nick asks as he picks up a slight hint of amusement in Bonie's voice.

"Well, it seems that you've unknowingly stepped on Stu's toes by purchasing that place!"

"Really? How so?"

"I seem to remember him saying something about trying to purchase some prime bluegrass property over there, but the realtor stipulated that the house and outbuildings had to be included in the initial sale with no provisions made for splitting the property up even after the sale. He was NOT happy!"

"So which of the eleven elves was he then?" asks Nick, trying to bring a bit of levity into the conversation.

"They were dwarfs Nick, NOT elves!" interjected a giggling Darci, with Deb snorting laughter in the background. "And there were seven NOT eleven."

"Tomato, tomahto, whatever …" answers the todd.

"Aaaaany way," continues a still amused Bonnie, "Stu is probably gonna have an aneurism when he finds out that you, of all mammals, are going to buy that particular plot of land."

"And there are several acres of woods that surround the property on three and a half sides that I included in my offer as well." states Nick proudly.

"Really?" asks Deb who finally joins the conversation.

"Yeah," Nick admits "I'd like to keep any potential neighbors at a long arm's length as long as I can."

"Sounds like a good idea," pipes up Darci "I've heard rumors of some development outfit wanting to build condos or a subdivision or some such thing out that way."

"You'll be glad to have the woods for protection from the weather as well," admits Bonnie "some of the storms we get can get really nasty!"

"Glad to hear that. During my travels" Nick puts a touch of emphasis into the word travels, hoping that the does would understand) "I had to tolerate some really vicious weather from blistering heat in the desert to sub-freezing temps on the Sibearian steppes. This should help keep Judy and the kits a lot more comfortable."

Speaking of, why isn't she in on this call?" asks a curious Bonnie.

"She won't get access to her phone or laptop until tomorrow after training hours, around 5 pm, and she won't be released from the academy for the weekend until NEXT weekend. I've sent her several items that she'll be able to access later tomorrow."

"Stuff besides what you just sent us?" asks Darci.

"My … umm conversation with a certain hare buck that you three 'd be better off NOT knowing." Nick admits.

Picturing in his mind's eye the confusion that the three does were probably having, Nick expounds slightly "It's kind of a security thing – only a few mammals need to know exactly what went down, and you are really better off not being in the loop."

"Umm, Nicholas…? begins a slightly concerned Bonnie.

"Yes, he's still alive … well at least he was last I heard." Nick tells his mother-in-law, which relieves her to no end.

"So," begins Deb "when can we all go and take a quick look at your new home?"

"Well," begins Nick "I'd really like to show it to Judy first, because if she doesn't like it, there's no real point in everyone else seeing it." Nick tells her, even though he's fully committed to buying the property and surrounding woods.

"That's … really the most responsible and sensible thing to do I guess." admits Bonnie "I guess we can wait a few more weeks."

"Or … you three can tag along next Saturday when I take Judy to see the property and the four of you can have a field day deciding what you all want done to the place so we can hopefully have it finished by the time Judy graduates from the Academy." Nick suggests. "I'll be happy to show y'all around, and maybe you can help me get the place ready for us to move in … you know, clean and stuff!"

"I think that we can do that, and I'm pretty sure we can get the rest of the 'J' litter to help. Dad pretty much outed the entire litter, as I'm sure you've probably already figured out." admits Darci.

"That would be extremely helpful," admits Nick "and it'll give me a chance to meet a few more of Judy and y'all's family."

"We'll get busy putting the word out to anybunny who we think is open to you two being together, find out who might be available for cleaning duty and for helping to move stuff from your place in Zootopia or whatever new stuff you two might get." Darci tells Nick.

"I'm sure Judy will be okay with that. Now, it sounds like we've all got plenty on our plates, so I'm gonna hang up and get to it on my end." Nick tells the does.

"And we'll all start gathering help here. We'll give you a call when we get things more or less put together so we can coordinate everything." Bonnie suggests.

"Sounds good to me!" Deb says and Darci agrees.

With everyone hanging up, Nick starts to make a list of what he thinks he wants to move to their new home in Aurora, knowing that all the while that he'll need to run it all by Judy before coordinating with Bonnie and whoever else will end up helping and setting it all in stone.

Looking at his list, Nick decides to make two columns, one for stuff from his place and one for stuff from his parents' home.

After finishing his initial lists, Nick decides to order a pred special pizza from a local pizza place.

While waiting for his pizza, Nick decides to open a new Zoogle maps app on his laptop – one that shows property lines of any properties, his intended purchases in particular.

As he enters the lot numbers for both the house property and the woods surrounding the property, Nick makes a startling discovery.

While the app shows the property lines for the land that is included with the house, the lines extend around 45 feet past the outside of the tree line.

Since it's fairly early in the afternoon, Nick makes a quick call to Leaphorn to confirm the property lines for the woods and tells Joe of his concerns.

When Leaphorn tells Nick that the property is being surveyed as they speak and that he'd get back to the todd as soon as he learns the results, Nick forces himself to calm a bit.

Roughly 45 minutes Joe calls back with some disturbing news – the field adjoining his property line has encroached exactly 41 feet as of the last Zoogle maps download. The fence had been purposely been removed and trees, shrubs and other vegetation and been cut down and cleared out. The coyote also told Nick that he'd e-mail copies of the survey to him for his records.

Thanking Joe, Nick immediately made a call to his lawyer in Zootopia informing of the ongoing situation, and forwarded a copy of the survey results as well.

His next call was to sheriff Justice, appraising him of the ongoing situation, and asking the bunny to please find out who owns the adjoining farm land and to try to find out why they were either intentionally or unintentionally taking his property.

While Nick is finally trying to chill for a bit, his phone rings and to his amazement it's Judy!

"Fluff … Judy, is everything okay? Are you hurt, is-"

"Nick, please stop, I'm fine, everything's okay I promise." she says calmly.

"Then why-"

"I'm able to call today because of all of the drama here earlier. The major decided to allow me to use my phone to let you know that I'm fine and to make sure that you are too."

"… So …"

"So, do you miss me yet? I sure miss you!"

"Yeah, of course I do! Have you checked any of your text messages yet?"

"Nah, I figured that I'd call you before I did anything else. What's up?"

"Well … I found a really nice place around Aurora for us and the kits."

"Great! Details please!"

"They're actually in my last text, but the short of it is this … the place is about seven miles out of Aurora, with about an acre under fence so the kits have plenty of room to play when they get old enough. There's a fair-sized bluegrass patch on the back part of the property and it's surrounded by a fairly large wooded area on three sides."

"That sounds wonderful, I can't wait to see it! Do mom, Deb and Darci know about it?"

"Of course. I texted them the same time I texted you. They wanted me to take them and show it to them, but I told them I wanted to show you first. If you don't like it, I won't buy it."

"Niiick …" was all a now partly choked-up Judy could say.

"Fluff?"

"Nick … if … if you think I'll like it, go ahead and buy it, I can help pay for it after I start working."

"Judy, when I sell my place in Zootopia, the new place will be paid for and we'll have plenty left over."

"But ... I want, no … I need to help. I don't want to be a burden. You've already done so much for me and the kits."

"Judy, it's always been a male's responsibility to provide and to protect his mate and kits, while traditionally it's the female's responsibility to keep the home and raise their kits. Yeah, I know you wanna work when you can and I have no problem with that, you know that. We'll work something out so you don't feel like you're not contributing, okay?" Nick tells her.

… "Nick?"

"Yes?" he asks, not quite sure where Judy's going with this.

"I really wish you were here right now; I could really use a good hug!"

"Soon sweetheart, soon. Next weekend 'll be here before you know it,"

"I know, but still …"

"Chin up Fluff. In the meantime, I'll head back over to the place and take some pictures for you. Maybe that'll help a little."

"Okay … ummm, before I forget, I talked to the major, and I'll be getting off at around three next Friday. Fredkin said I could leave early so I would have plenty of time to make my doctor's appointment."

"Good to know, I'll be sure to be there on time."

"You're gonna go in with me, right?"

"If you want me to, of course."

"Of course I want you to, why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, just making sure."

"Okay. Well, I'd probably better get going now, I've got an exam tomorrow morning and I need to be able to max it."

"One quick word before I hang up," Nick tells her "there's a certain video that I forwarded to your laptop. I'd seriously suggest that you wait until Saturday to watch it. It's my … discussion with a certain hare and I'd hate for you to mess up your test because of it. And before you ask," he hurries to mention "yes as far as I know he's still breathing, but he was a bit the worse for wear by the end of it."

"I'll … try to remember that. Anyways, I'm gonna hang up now, love you and can't wait to see you next weekend."

"Love you too. Get some studying done and get some sleep. G'nite!"

After hanging up, Nick feels a tiny bit remorseful that he didn't tell Judy about the issue with the property boundaries. Tempering his guilt with the knowledge that they'll be talking again tomorrow, he decided to come clean with the information, but at least she won't be worrying about that particular detail while taking her test.

With his pizza finally arriving, Nick settles back to enjoy a few slices, when he gets a call from sheriff Justice.

"Hello, Nick Wilde here …"

"Yeah Wilde … I've got a bit of info for you on the property line thing."

"Okay, shoot!"

"The owner is a bunny named Woody Harellson, and he is disputing your claim that he has tried to encroach on your property."

"I'll call my lawyer first thing in the morning and turn him loose on this Harellson character. I sent him a copy of the survey results and I'm sure he'll make short work of that clown."

"Something else that you should know." adds Justice "Stu Hopps is a cousin of Woody's, and he'll fight tooth and claw to be able to retain the property. Stu carries a lot of weight in the Tri-Burrow area."

"Well, the firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe have taken on the worst of 'em all in Zootopia and won, so pardon me if I'm a bit enthusiastic!"

"I guess we'll have to see how things shake out." admits Justice.

"I'm gonna head over to the property tomorrow and take a bunch of pictures to send to Judy. I'll scope out just how much of the tree line that Harellsen has tried to steal."

"Try to not create too much of a ruckus please. Let the lawyers take care of this." asks Justice.

"I'll do my best, but since Harellson has probably been alerted by Hopps, he'll probably be keeping an eye out for anyone poking around."

"Well, I'll leave you to it then, let me know if anything happens … oh, and before you head there, stop by the office for a few minutes." as the sheriff breaks the connection.

After going to the motel's refreshment center (vending machines) Nick gets a couple of bottles of water and returns to finish his pizza, then heads to bed.

Up early, Nick takes care of his morning routine, then heads to Gideon's for breakfast, which seems to be a normal thing now, before heading to the sheriff's office.

Entering the sheriff's offices, Nick is directed to Justice's office buy Junior.

Tapping on the door, Nick is motioned in by the overweight buck.

"What can I do ya for sheriff?"

"Well, I figured that since you're going to be nosing around at that property today, you might as well do so in a more or less official capacity." he tells Nick as he paws the todd a badge.

"Really? I'm not going to complain, but I really don't start until Monday."

"Stop by the supply room and pick up your new uniforms and gear on your way out. If Stuart Hopps or Harrelson try to give you a hard time, let them know that they'll be messing with the Tri-Burrow sheriff's office. It might give you a bit of an edge up. We really don't have a patrol vehicle for you yet, but I'm sure that you'll make do with your civilian vehicle for a couple of weeks."

"Weapons?"

"You'll be given pepper spray and a stun gun. We haven't gotten your lethal in yet but it has been ordered. Since you were authorized lethals when you were in the ZPD and were a member of the military, you'll be allowed to carry your own personal one until then. I would advise you to be overly cautious in using it though."

"Thanks. Since I know that you were allowed access to my ZPD records, I'm sure that you already know that I was more than judicious in using one. I appreciate it."

"I expect you to file and official report on whatever you find out there as well."

"That I can do."

"Nick …" begins Justice tentatively.

"Sir?"

"While I don't quite understand the attraction of two entirely different species to each other, I absolutely respect what you especially have done for Judy, especially considering how Stuart has treated her. If everything that's out on the streets is even remotely true, you and she have my undying support."

"Thank you Buford, I appreciate it."

"Now, get out of my office and check out that property boundary dispute …"

Entering the males locker room, Nick quickly changes into his new uniform, impressed that it actually fits. Donning his duty belt and other newly issued equipment, the todd decides to make a slight detour back to the motel room to pick up his lethal and holster, simply because it feels more natural to carry it as part of his normal uniform.

Picking up his Sig P229 Custom and belt holster in leu of the shoulder holster he normally wore as a detective, Nick knew that he'd probably better let Judy know about the lethal when he talked to her tonight so she wouldn't be taken by surprise by finding out later.

Arriving at his (hopefully) soon to be new home, Nick first takes a few pics of the front of the property, then he walks around the house and shop.

Heading inside he takes a ton of pictures of every room, then the inside of the garage and finally the shop before heading out back to take a few of the roughly 5-acre plot of prime bluegrass.

Activating his new (to him) body cam, Nick takes several pictures of the wooded area that surrounds the property, then moves through the woods to find out just how much land has been intruded on by Harellson.

As he exits the tree line, Nick sees that there's actually more damage than the Zoogle maps showed.

A quick estimate revealed that at least 50 feet had been intruded into the tree line judging by his glances to where the corner posts that once held the fence indicated where the boundaries used to be.

As a beat-up pickup neared him, Nick got an uneasy feeling and popped the snap on the retaining strap on his lethal pistol.

When a vastly overweight buck rabbit climbed out of the truck, Nick noticed that he also had a shotgun in one paw.

"Whadda want pelt?" was the greeting he got.

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