A/N: After several months of searching, Judy finally comes face to face with the vixen she has been looking for.
I have good news! Evergreen is also now on Archive of Our Own (AO3). I will be updating this story on both websites moving forward. Any previous and future art has been and will be inserted directly in the AO3 version of the story (I wish I could do that here on FFN, but that's still not possible).
This chapter is a longer one than usual. In fact, it's the second longest chapter of the story to date. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks to BeecroftA, aomagrat, Bloodfox22, Tinbuzzard11, Lupin1968, Robert Escher, TheAlienHeart, Guest, J Shute, side-fish, BoltDMC, InTheLionsDenOnDA, and Guest for reviewing!
Also, a special thanks to BeecroftA for editing this chapter.
Chapter 26: Same Mistake
This had to be a dream.
Despite the commotion that was happening all around, Judy could only hear the sound of her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She stared wide-eyed at the fox in front of her, still holding said fox's phone in her paw. This had to be a dream. There was no other explanation for it. She had searched for Nick's mom for so many months, to no avail. And now, just a few minutes after finally making a breakthrough in her search, that very same vixen had showed up to her workplace and was now kneeling on the ground right in front of her.
"Evie…Wilde," Judy whispered, still in disbelief. "You're…Nick's mom."
The fox suddenly looked a lot more worried than she already was. She gulped, nodding slowly.
"Y-yes…I am. You…you do know Nicholas? Did something happen to him? Is…is he alright?" she clutched her paws together tightly, looking terrified of what Judy was about to say.
Despite the fear that was on the fox's face, Judy could only feel an overwhelming sense of relief upon hearing her ask that question.
She's worried about Nick! That means she still cares about him!
Her mind was a blur of thoughts and emotions. She almost forgot what Evie had just asked. All she could think of at that moment was doing a big victory dance around Nick while singing 'I told you so!' until the fox's ears fell off. Her thoughts immediately began firing off in a dozen different directions from there. She began to imagine Evie following her back to her place. She could show the vixen around, show her Nick's things, maybe even offer to hide her in the room and surprise Nick once he came back for the weekend. Or maybe she could invite Nick to a nice restaurant and then have Evie walk in, pretending to have come in by accident. The possibilities were endless.
She shook her head; she had to take this one step at a time.
"Yes, I know Nick. He's perfectly fine, Mrs Wilde," Judy finally replied.
Evie took a moment to process Judy's words, and when she did, she heaved a huge sigh of relief, looking as if a huge load had been lifted off her shoulders. Judy wasn't sure what Evie had thought happened to Nick, but seeing the vixen this way only further vindicated her belief further that Evie still cared about her son.
The mammal pileup was starting to come apart now, and the affected mammals were beginning to disperse around the lobby. Judy's ears perked up and swivelled to the left. She turned her head, barely catching a glimpse of Officer Fangmeyer jogging right past her; the tiger didn't seem to notice that the Code-Bread-breaching bunny was standing right there. Judy immediately headed away from the centre of the lobby and towards a less crowded corner behind one of the larger pillars, motioning for Evie to follow her. The vixen scrambled to her feet and grabbed her handbag, running over awkwardly while trying not to trip over her oversized raincoat.
Once they were safely out of eyeshot from most of the lobby, Judy held out the fox's belongings that had spilled from her handbag earlier, including the vixen's phone. Evie gratefully took them from her with a nod, stuffing them one by one back into her bag haphazardly. When she got to her phone, she paused, seeing the missed call notification on the screen.
"Ah, that's not important right now." Evie dismissed it, placing her phone back into her bag before looking back down at Judy. "Right, umm, Officer Hopps…"
"Oh, no need for that, Mrs Wilde, 'Judy' is just fine," she replied.
"Ah, alright. Judy…there's so many things I want to ask, I'm not sure where to start. But before that, I hope I'm not disturbing your work or anything."
"No no, it's perfectly fine. I'm actually off duty today, which is why I'm not in uniform." Judy glanced down at herself with a chuckle, before looking around the lobby. It looked like the other officers had the situation under control; there were already several janitors present to mop up the excess water on the lobby floor.
"Ah, okay," Evie replied, sounding a little puzzled by Judy's explanation, though she didn't seem to question it further. "I've actually been looking for you for a while now. I tried calling through the phone lines, but the officer over the line told me that you weren't accepting calls, so I decided to try my luck coming down in person. I didn't expect to see you here in plainclothes, though. I must be very lucky to have bumped into you right now, considering it's your day off."
"Yeah, well, funny story about that…" Judy chuckled. "Anyway, you said you've been looking for me?" Judy had to force herself to hide her excitement from showing on her face, lest the fox think that she was missing a few marbles.
"Yes, I was. I wanted to ask you about my son. But you already said just now that I was Nick's mom…does that mean that he already told you about me?"
Judy nodded. "Yes, he did."
Evie didn't respond for a moment, looking like she was expecting the bunny to say something more than just those three words. After a couple of awkward seconds, the vixen spoke up.
"O-oh! I see. Anyway…" Evie replied, sounding a little uneasy. She was quick to change the subject, something that did not go unnoticed by Judy. "…I saw you on TV the day Mayor Bellwether was arrested. And then I saw Nicholas standing outside a hospital with you. There were a lot of news articles going around after that. They were saying that he had gone savage and attacked you, which was why you were in the hospital."
If Judy had been drinking anything, she would have done a spit take.
"What? No, that's ridiculous! That's not what happened at all!" Judy waved her arms in front of her. "Nick didn't attack me, Mrs Wilde. He saved me. He was at the hospital because he was accompanying me there while they were operating on my leg. He helped me to get away from the press and brought me home afterwards."
"He…did all that?" Evie asked, looking shocked. "But how did he…I mean, you said he saved you? I'm sorry, I know it sounds strange of me to ask this, but do you think you could fill me in on what happened? I know you were the one who helped to solve the case, but how did my son get involved in it? Did he get into some sort of trouble with the police?" Evie asked, seeming a little anxious about Judy's potential answer.
So she really doesn't know…Judy thought. It wasn't a surprise, considering that Evie and Nick had been estranged for a while now. But she still felt a pang of sadness that the vixen in front of her didn't know even a little of what happened to her son; of how much he had done to save the city—and her. She was about to open her mouth to launch straight into a full retelling of the entire story from start to end, but seeing the look on Evie's face gave Judy reason for pause.
She may be worried about Nick, but she probably wouldn't be too happy to hear the details about how we first met…
It was probably best to leave out the details of tax evasion and pawpsicle hustling for now—not to mention all the near-death scenarios that they had gone though. Judy had to ease her in, slowly.
"Well, no, Nick wasn't in trouble with the police. He was just…going about his business when he got caught up in the investigation. But he was an important witness; he knew one of the missing mammals who disappeared at the time, so I convinced him to tag along with me and help with my investigation until we found all of them."
"I…see," Evie said. For the briefest of moments, it looked like a frown had crossed her face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "And what about your leg? How did you injure it?" She asked worriedly, looking down at Judy's leg.
Moms will be moms, I suppose, Judy mused to herself.
"I injured my leg towards the end of the investigation when we were being chased by Bellwether and her cronies in the Natural History Museum," Judy said slowly, making a mental note to not mention anything about how Nick was almost shot and turned savage. "Nick helped to carry me to safety. Not only that, but he was the one that helped to trick Bellwether into confessing that she was the one behind the entire Nighthowler incident. If Nick wasn't there, Bellwether would have gotten away with it. And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be standing here right now, either. I owe my life to your son, Mrs Wilde." Judy smiled widely.
"I…I didn't know. I had no idea." Evie stammered. Despite Judy leaving out so many details, the fox looked like she was already overwhelmed by everything that Judy had just said.
"The details weren't released to the public at large," Judy replied. "I heard about the rumours going around in the news, but I didn't think that they were crazy enough to suggest that Nick went savage…"
"I suppose I should have taken them with a grain of salt…" Evie mumbled. "But the short of it is that Nicholas is okay, right?"
"Yes. He's perfectly alright. And doing quite well for himself, in fact." Judy beamed. Her words seemed to send a huge wave of relief over the vixen.
I can't wait to see the look on her face once she finds out exactly how well Nick is doing…
"I see. I think I understand now. Thank you so much for sharing all this with me, Judy." The vixen smiled, putting a paw over her chest. She stood up straight, bowed her head slightly…
And then turned around and walked away.
Judy could only stare.
What.
The fox had already taken three steps before it finally clicked in Judy's head what had just happened. She shook her head rapidly. As her legs finally came to life, she began sprinting after the fox.
"W-wait! Where are you going?" Judy called out. She took a few leaps forward, closing the distance quickly until she was keeping pace beside Evie. The fox slowed her steps, glancing down at the bewildered bunny beside her.
"I'm going home. Is…something wrong?" Evie asked, looking genuinely surprised.
"Yes!" Judy immediately blurted. "You just got here!"
"But…I've already asked everything I needed to. I don't want to take up any more of your time. Unless there's something you needed from me?"
Judy couldn't believe her ears. It was like something had short-circuited in her brain. This didn't make sense at all. The fox had braved the pouring rain to come down all the way to ask about her son. She obviously cared about him, so why was she leaving?
"I…don't understand. You came all the way here to ask about Nick because you were worried about him, right? Don't you want to see him?" Judy asked.
That question made Evie recoil visibly. Her tail twitched, and her eyes began to dart left and right; she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there at that moment.
"I…umm…maybe some other time. I have something I need to settle at home, so I really need to get going…" Evie began to speed up her pace towards the front entrance. Judy felt her heart skip a few beats. She didn't have much time; if the vixen made it out of the lobby and into the rain, it would be nearly impossible to stop her.
She had to think of something.
Judy took several large leaps forward, getting herself in between Evie and the front door. The rain continued to pour down relentlessly behind her—she was close enough to the entrance that she could feel some of the raindrops splattering against the back of her head. Her paw instinctively reached into her pocket and pulled out Evie's profile printout—the piece of paper that Kang had printed out for her just a few minutes ago. She unfolded it and held it out in front of her for Evie to see. The paper did have its intended effect; Evie froze in her tracks, blinking a couple of times in surprise.
"Is that…me?" Evie asked, not seeming to understand.
"Yes, it is. Mrs Wilde, you had a missed call on your phone earlier, right? Actually…that was me. I came to the precinct today to get your number and your address because I was looking for you. But then the whole mammal pile-up happened, so—"
"W-why were you looking for me? Have I done something wrong?" the vixen cut her off before she could finish. She took a step back, suddenly looking very alarmed. Her eyes were still locked on the piece of paper in Judy's paws. Judy felt her fur stand on end.
Oh no. Bad idea bad idea! It suddenly occurred to Judy just how poorly her actions could have been interpreted. The way she'd pulled out Evie's profile in front of her—in the middle of the precinct lobby, no less—it looked as if she were trying to arrest the poor vixen!
"Ah, no no no! You haven't done anything wrong, Mrs Wilde!" Judy quickly replied, folding up the paper and stuffing it back into her pocket. "I just wanted to meet you in person because I wanted to talk to you!"
That didn't seem to assuage the vixen in the slightest. Judy's heart pounded in her chest; her eyes darted back and forth in a panic as she thought about what to say. And then, it suddenly hit her. She quickly reached inside her bag and rummaged around until she felt something soft, before pulling it out and holding it in front of Evie. Nick's red neckerchief came into full view, and upon seeing it, the vixen's eyes widened.
"That's…is that…Nick's?"
She recognises it! Judy heaved an inward sigh of was worried for a second that Evie wouldn't recognise it, but the look on the vixen's face was more than enough proof that she did.
"Yes, it is. I was looking for you because I wanted to talk to you about this," Judy replied.
"But how…why is that with you?"
"Nick was carrying this on him during the investigation. When I injured my leg back at the museum, he used it as a bandage to stop the bleeding. He doesn't know that I'm still holding on to it right now, but I know that this is very important to him. Also…"
She reached back into her bag with a paw and felt around inside until she found Nick's old photograph, lifting it out gently. She held both items out towards Evie now.
"This neckerchief…it's the same one as the one in this photograph, isn't it?" Judy asked, even though she already knew the answer.
With shaky paws, Evie reached out and took the neckerchief and the photograph from Judy, feeling them over as if she weren't sure that they were real. Seeing both items side by side seemed to trigger a whole flood of emotions in the vixen's face all at once: surprise, joy, but also pain, wistfulness and regret. Evie looked at the neckerchief first, running her paw over the elaborate pattern that ran along the edges of the cloth. She then stared at the photograph silently for what seemed like forever, her eyes looking a hundred miles away. Judy could only imagine the torrent of thoughts that were currently running through the vixen's head right then.
"…Yes, that's right." Evie finally replied. "It's the very same one."
Judy put her paws together pleadingly, looking straight into Evie's eyes.
"Mrs Wilde, I know you're busy, but I really need to talk to you about this. Please, do you think you could stay a little while longer?"
Evie hesitated for a moment. She still looked uneasy, but after a few moments more, she exhaled slowly and nodded.
"Alright. What would you like to talk to me about?"
Judy glanced around the lobby, before looking back at the vixen.
"I was thinking of going somewhere a little more comfortable. There's a café just beside the precinct. You can see it from here; it's the green building over there." Judy pointed out of a nearby glass window. "It's not sheltered, but it's a short walk away. Would you be okay if we spoke there over some tea or coffee?" Judy asked, stepping aside to make way for other mammals who were walking into the precinct.
"A warm cup of coffee does sound like a good idea," Evie replied, handing the neckerchief and the photograph back to her. Judy tucked both items back into her sling bag as the fox pulled the hood of her raincoat over her head and began to head out the door.
The moment Evie's eyes were off her, Judy allowed herself a couple of seconds to let her shoulders slump to the side in relief. Somehow, she had averted disaster, though she still wasn't sure why Evie was in such a hurry to leave. She did have a hunch, though she wasn't completely certain yet. She began to follow behind the fox, but as her paw felt around the inside of her bag, she suddenly remembered that she forgot to pack an umbrella in her bag earlier that morning.
Darn it. Maybe I can just borrow one from Kang…
She glanced over her shoulder towards the front desk. Unfortunately, Kang wasn't alone. Wolfard was currently having a conversation with him. And although the kangaroo looked like he would rather have been doing anything else at the moment, there was no way for her to talk to him without being noticed by Wolfard. And the last thing she needed was a lengthy interrogation on why she was back in the office on her off day.
Sighing to herself, Judy turned and ran out the front door. The heavy raindrops immediately began to pelt against the roof of her hat. As large it was, her hat didn't provide nearly enough cover to protect her body from the downpour. She clutched her sling bag close to her chest, trying to shield it as much as she could. Eventually, she managed to catch up to Evie, who was slowly trudging through the increasingly waterlogged pathway. The fox's ears perked up as she heard splashing footsteps from beside her, and she looked down to her left. Evie let out a gasp.
"Judy! Where's your raincoat? Or umbrella?"
"Oh, don't worry, Mrs Wilde, I'll be fine, my hat is good enough; it's just a little bit further anyway—"
"No no, I'm not going to let you do that." The vixen stopped in her tracks and grabbed her by the arm. Before the bunny could protest, Evie lifted her own arm and pulled Judy right under her raincoat. Judy quickly pulled her hat off and held it over her chest so that it didn't get in the way. All of a sudden, she was dry. And pressed up against a very fluffy tail which was curled around the vixen's side.
"Are you okay?" Evie asked. Judy couldn't really think of an appropriate response right then—or any response, for that matter—so she just nodded.
Evie began to walk again. Judy quickly kept in step with her, though it was a little difficult because the fox herself was trying not to trip over the part of the oversized raincoat that was dragging along in front of her. Seeing Evie's struggles left Judy feeling puzzled. The opaque raincoat was the cheap, disposable plastic kind, clearly meant for a mammal much larger than she was. Did the vixen not have enough money to afford a proper raincoat?
That might also explain the food coupons in her bag…Judy thought.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a twitching red appendage right beside her face. Evie's tail was twitching every time water splashed against it. The fox seemed to be trying to curl her tail higher up her waist, but she was having trouble doing so on her own.
"Oh darn it…Judy, I'm sorry to trouble you, but do you think you could hold my tail up for me?"
Judy blinked.
"Uh…of course."
Judy slowly grabbed the fluffy appendage, holding it well above the ground to prevent more water from splashing over it. At that moment, it suddenly occurred to her just how crazy everything was. Just that morning, she had no idea on where Nick's mom could possibly have been, and now, not even twelve hours later, she was holding the very same vixen's tail over her head.
How quickly things had changed.
The next thought that entered her head was just how much Evie's tail felt like Nick's. Soft and fluffy tails ran in the family, it seemed. The distant memory of waking up with Nick's tail cuddled up to her chest suddenly popped into her mind. She quickly shook the thought away, glad that inner monologue was something that existed.
Judy, do not ever mention how much you enjoyed snuggling her son's tail.
They eventually made it to the outside of the café. It was filled with mammals, but thankfully there were still a couple of smaller tables that had just been vacated near the back of the café. Judy slipped out from under the raincoat as Evie took it off, flicking off the excess rainwater before folding it up and stuffing it into a plastic holder in her bag. The fox then glanced around to make sure there wasn't anyone else nearby, before shaking her tail several times to dry it off. The fur on her tail poofed up slightly, before settling back down.
"Thanks, Judy. You know, sometimes I wish I had a stumpy tail like yours. Grooming this thing can be a real pain sometimes." Evie chuckled.
"Ah, oh yeah. Stumpy tail," Judy replied. It was strange to hear Evie making small talk and chatting as if nothing had happened earlier. She wasn't sure what to make of it.
The two of them entered and headed to one of the empty tables. A deer quickly dropped two menus at the table. Without even looking, Judy looked at the waitress and ordered a cup of warm apple tea. Evie looked at the menu for a few seconds, before ordering a latte. The waitress scribbled onto her notepad and left, leaving the two alone.
They both stared at each other for a few seconds. Evie shuffled a little in her chair, resting her paws on the table and looking straight at her.
"Alright, Judy. You said you wanted to talk to me about that neckerchief. I'm guessing you want to know the story behind it?"
Judy placed her bag on her lap and opened the flap, pulling out both the neckerchief and the photograph once more and placing them on the table. Thankfully, they were both still completely dry.
"Actually, Nick already told me what happened with the Junior Ranger Scouts. It was a terrible thing to happen. I'm sorry."
Evie blinked, looking visibly surprised.
"…That's alright. I'm surprised that he told you about what happened; that story is one that he normally keeps very close to his heart. He never wanted to talk about it after it happened—not even to me."
"Well, it's a long story on how I know. But the short of it is that I was about to lose my badge, my career—everything. But Nick came to my defence and stopped it from happening. I was near my lowest point, and I think that's why he shared that story with me. That's when I learned just how hard Nick's life was growing up as a fox. Things weren't easy for him back then." Judy paused for a moment, before adding: "I'm sure they weren't easy for you, either."
Evie didn't respond. Judy placed her paws on the table.
"Also…I heard from Nick about what happened between the two of you after that incident. About how you both drifted apart, and that you're not on very good terms right now. He told me that you two haven't spoken in a while."
It took a few seconds, but after Judy said those words, Evie's expression changed visibly; she looked like she just had an epiphany after hearing what the bunny had just said. The fox leaned back in her chair, her head drooping and her eyes becoming half-lidded.
"…It's been a couple of years now. That was the last time I spoke with him." Evie whispered. "Did he tell you about that, too?"
"He did." Judy nodded. Evie's brow creased ever so slightly.
"If you already know this much, why are you telling me this, Judy?"
Judy swallowed, pausing for a moment before answering.
"I know Nick hasn't been visiting or calling, but he still cares for you. When he told me what happened between the two of you, he looked incredibly sad about it—sadder than I'd ever seen him before. I think he blames himself for what happened, and I'm sure he regrets what he did. But more than anything else, he really does want to see you again, Mrs Wilde."
Evie let out a small exhale that sounded a lot like a scoff.
"…Are you sure about that?"
"Of course I am," Judy replied, a little shaken by Evie's reaction, but not letting it show. "Even after everything that happened with the Junior Ranger Scouts, Nick still kept this neckerchief with him. He carried it with him wherever he went. When I asked him why he did that, he told me that you had to scrape together enough money to even buy the uniform, so he didn't want to just throw it away. That's how I know he still cares about you. Nick kept the neckerchief because it was a treasured memento of his mom. Of you."
Judy stopped there to give the fox time to let her words sink in. That little bit was something she had planned and rehearsed for months now, and she felt pretty good about how she had managed to deliver it. But still, Evie didn't seem convinced. She was still staring down at the table, not saying a word. Judy knew she had to do more to persuade her.
"Mrs Wilde, I don't know exactly what happened between you and Nick, but I do know that he's a good fox. I've seen it with my own eyes. He wants to make things right with you, but I think he just doesn't know how."
Evie was still silent. But after a few more seconds that felt like forever, she finally opened her mouth.
"…A good fox, huh?" She mumbled softly.
"What was that?"
"Judy…" Evie spoke a little louder now. "That book you have in your bag…does that belong to Nick as well?"
Judy's eyes widened. She looked down at her bag, realising that she'd forgotten to close the flap after taking out the neckerchief and the photograph. The pointed corners of Nick's old sketchbook were sticking out like a sore thumb. She suddenly realised that Evie hadn't been staring at the table; the fox had been staring at the sketchbook in her bag. And with that realisation came a growing uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Yes, it does."
"…May I see it?" Evie asked.
"Oh, sure." Judy replied as casually as she could, taking the book out and placing it on the table. Evie picked the book up slowly, turning it over and inspecting both sides of it. After a few seconds, she opened it and began reading through the contents.
While Judy watched the vixen, the waitress returned to the table with their drinks. Judy and Evie mumbled a quick 'thank you' to the waitress, who promptly left to tend to other customers in the café. Evie didn't even look at her drink, seeming more concerned about the contents of the book. From the way that she was holding it, Judy could only see the upper half of Evie's face. The vixen's expression was neutral at first, though with every flip of the page, Judy noticed her brow growing increasingly furrowed. At some point, the page flipping grew faster. Evie's eyes began to dart quickly from the centre of the page to the top right-hand corner—where the dates were written. She flipped the pages a few more times. Suddenly, her eyes came to rest near the bottom of the book. Judy didn't know what Evie had read, but the vixen suddenly looked crestfallen, like something had just broken and given way inside of her. Evie placed the book down, the edge of her mouth quivering slightly.
"Mrs Wilde?" Judy asked.
"…I've seen this book before. Nick always kept it hidden from me, locked in a drawer in his room. He never wanted to tell me what it was; he said that it was like his personal diary. I was hoping it would have been something different, but I guess it wasn't." Evie gently slid the book across the table to Judy. Instinctively, her eyes fell onto the same spot that Evie had been looking at earlier. There were a few sentences there, but she knew which one Evie had been looking at in an instant.
"Must be home before 10 (mom late shift). Excuse: Study group with friends (Mon, Wed), track and field practice (Fri)"
Judy's heart sank.
"Wait, no! It's not what you think!"
"It's alright, Judy. You don't need to explain it to me. I guess I always knew the truth, but I didn't want to admit it. I should have known better. It's my…" Evie trailed off. "…Never mind."
"No, you don't understand—Nick gave me this book because he'd left all this behind! He's not doing any of those things anymore!"
"Oh really?" The fox's eyes suddenly narrowed, and she glared straight at Judy. "If that's the case, then why don't you tell me what he was really doing when the two of you first met?"
"W…What?" Judy asked, recoiling slightly from the fox's sudden change in demeanour.
"You haven't been fully honest with me, have you? I noticed you were rather vague about a lot of details when you were talking about how you and Nick first met during your investigation. You said he was 'going about his business' when he got caught up in the investigation. Tell me, what business was that, exactly?"
Judy felt a chill run up her spine. She hadn't expected that little omission to have come back to bite her like this. The vixen was now staring straight at her with an intensity that rivalled Nick's when she'd messed up during that horrid press conference. And although the circumstances were different, Judy felt a strange sense of déjà vu right then and there.
"Well?" Evie pressed, folding her arms across her chest.
"He was…pawpsicle hustling," Judy finally answered. Evie's brow furrowed.
"That's what I thought. And tell me: did Nicholas actually help you with your investigation willingly?"
"…No. Not at first."
"Then why did he?"
"Because…I blackmailed him."
"With what?"
"Threatening to report him for tax evasion," Judy squeaked, feeling herself shrinking into her chair.
With every word that was said, Evie's expression grew more and more pained. And hearing that last sentence seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back. She clenched her paws, her breathing starting to grow heavy.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. So why are you really here, Judy? Is Nicholas scheming to try and get something out of me? Did he send you to try and butter me up because he's too much of a coward to come and lie to my face himself?" Evie suddenly raised her voice, snapping at her. It was enough to make Judy recoil visibly. The bunny's ears flattened behind her head; she suddenly felt very, very small.
"Mrs Wilde, I…"
Evie suddenly froze. The anger in her eyes faded away. She blinked a few times, before looking away from Judy. A second later, her arms uncrossed, and she dropped her elbows onto the table with an audible thump. She hung her head in shame, placing both paws over her eyes.
"…I'm sorry, Judy. That wasn't…I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."
In that moment, it dawned on Judy just how much suffering the vixen was going through. There was a profound grief that ran so deep that Judy could almost physically feel it under her fur. Evie had probably held out a little bit of hope that things weren't what she had thought. But seeing that sketchbook didn't just confirm her fears; it proved that Nick had been lying to her for far longer than she had ever imagined.
Evie…
The vixen stood up. "That was a terrible thing that I said. I'm sorry for shouting at you. I should just go; please excuse me—"
"Mrs Wilde, wait." Judy stood up from her chair, her bag falling to the ground below the table. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth immediately, but I wasn't trying to hide it from you. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you about it. It's true that Nick was still doing the things that you saw in the book when I first met him. But everything else I've said has been the truth; he isn't doing any of this anymore."
Judy paused, taking a deep breath.
"I wanted to have Nick be the one to tell you this himself, but I think you need to know this now. He's in the ZPA. The Zootopia Police Academy."
Evie blinked.
"Come again?"
"He's in the middle of ZPA training, Mrs Wilde. He's already been in there for more than four months; he'll be taking his final exams soon. He just needs to get through that, and he'll graduate as a police officer. The first fox on the force," Judy replied softly. She pulled out her phone, going to her photo album and scrolling a little before holding the screen out towards Evie. "Here, you see this? This was last week, at the academy entrance. He took a picture of us together after he booked out for the day. He was so tired he didn't even bother to change out of his training clothes."
Evie took the phone from her, staring intently at the photo on the screen. It was a picture of Judy with Nick, the fox looking distinctly rumpled and exhausted, dressed in a navy T-shirt with a ZPD crest on it.
"You can swipe through the list. These are all the photos that Nick sent me over the last few months while he was in the academy," Judy added.
Evie sat back down and flicked her thumb across the screen several times. As she did so, her paw seemed to tighten around Judy's phone. The fox's lip trembled, and she blinked quickly, her eyes looking a little mistier as she did so.
"Judy, this is…I can't believe…is this true?" Her voice was shaky now.
"It is."
"But how? No fox has ever…"
"After everything ended, I wanted to ask Nick whether he wanted to join the force, as my partner. But I never had to ask; he made that request himself. All I did was to put in a good word for him to my boss. But everything that Nick had to do to get this far—all the training, all the tests—that was all him."
Evie stared at the photos a while longer, before finally looking up from the screen. Her eyes still misty, she held Judy's phone out towards her. As Judy leaned forward to take the phone from her, Evie suddenly reached out and grabbed both of Judy's paws, holding them tightly together.
"Thank you. Thank you for giving him a chance." Evie's voice broke slightly, and she swallowed her words, looking like she was trying to calm herself down. "Thank you for changing him."
At long last, Judy felt a smile returning to her face. Seeing the vixen trying to hold back tears sent a wave of pure relief washing over her. And with it, the uneasy feeling she'd felt ever since sitting down at the table finally began to dissipate. It had taken her trump card, but she had finally managed to convince her.
She gently grasped Evie's thumbs, allowing the fox to squeeze her paws as long as she wanted. The vixen's paw pads felt noticeably rougher than Nick's—indicative that she had done a lot of manual labour over many years. Judy remembered Nick mentioning before that they weren't well off in his younger years, and that his mom had to take on a lot of dead-end jobs just to get by. Her thoughts drifted back to the oversized raincoat and the food coupons in Evie's bag. Was the vixen still working those jobs? Was she still struggling to make ends meet?
Judy shook the thoughts away and forced herself to focus. She could find out more about that later; right now, she still had one more important thing left to ask. Her relief quickly turning into excitement, she stood up from her seat, trying her best not to shake the fox's paw too vigorously.
"Don't worry about Nick; he's been doing a great job in the academy so far. I have full confidence that he'll make it through. Although, I'm sure some encouragement from you would go a long way…" Judy hinted with a smile. "Would you like to come back with me to my place to see him? It doesn't have to be today, but I'm sure Nick would love to see you before his graduation. Or if you prefer, we could go out for a meal together! We could go to one of Nick's favourite brunch spots. Oh! Maybe you could 'just happen' to show up in the shop at the same time! Imagine the look on his face when he sees you standing behind him!" Judy grinned, her excitement continuing to grow.
That will give me enough material to tease him for the rest of the year…I mean decade, Judy thought, grinning inwardly.
Evie smiled, looking at Judy for a few long moments. Her paws loosened slightly.
"Judy, I…"
"Oh, oh, and at his graduation, I'll try and get you front row seats! I bet he'll sob a little when he goes to take his badge and he sees you right there. I'll be giving a speech, but I can ask someone to get a video of him!"
She suddenly paused, feeling the fox's paws squeezing her own. Judy looked back at her. Evie looked straight into her eyes.
"Judy…I'm not…I'm not going to his graduation."
Judy's train of thoughts came to a screeching halt. Or rather, the train derailed and fell off a cliff, erupting in a fiery explosion midair.
"W…what?"
"I'm not going to see him, Judy."
"But why?!" She pulled her paws away from Evie.
"Because it's obvious he doesn't want to see me. And…I don't deserve to see him, either."
"But, the neckerchief, the pictures…and you just said—"
"Nick has good reason to not want to ever see me again," Evie said, cutting her off. "Don't get me wrong, Judy; I still love him more than anything, I always will. But…he's broken my heart so many times, and I broke his, too. I should have done more to support him after what happened with the scouts all those years ago. But I kept trying to force him to see things the way I did, instead of letting him decide for himself. That's why he wrote this book, and that's why he left and never came back. You said you know about what happened two years ago, right?"
Judy nodded.
"That was when you tried to get him to tell you everything, right? But…he didn't."
"Yes, that's right. Ever since Nick moved out, he would only call me a few times a year. Usually on my birthday, or on his. I'd try to ask him to come home to visit. But every time, he'd brush me off, say that he was busy, or come up with all sorts of reasons as to why he couldn't visit. One time he said something about rushing out a business proposal, another time he said he got snowed in at his client's office in Tundratown. Every year he would make up a bunch of excuses, and every year my hopes of ever seeing him again faded. I waited, and waited…and then suddenly, it was his thirtieth birthday. At that point, I hadn't seen him in person for almost ten years."
Evie stopped to take a rather long sip of her coffee, before putting it down and clearing her throat again.
"For those ten years, all I could do was hope and pray that he would one day find his way, and that he would come home, sit down, and just…talk it out with me. I'd waited so long, but nothing. That was when I realised that I could never change him. I couldn't force him to walk the path that I wanted, no matter how much I thought it was right. At the end of the day, I gave him that ultimatum because…because I just wanted to protect what was left of my broken heart."
"Mrs Wilde…"
"But that's no excuse. I was angry, yes. But I just slammed the door in his face. If he had ever been on the fence about telling me the truth, what I did pushed him over the edge for good. And I was right; he never tried to call again since. And at this point, even if I did call him, he probably wouldn't even pick up. He might have even blocked my number by now. After everything I said to him, I have no right to walk up to him and act like his mom. The best thing for me—for both of us—is to just move on with our lives."
Judy could have crushed her teacup in her paw right then and there.
"No, don't say that! Nick wants to make up with you. I know he does!"
"Really? Well, he's not here with you now, is he?" Evie replied flatly.
"That's…I mean, he's busy with the academy training, so…"
"Maybe. But tell me, Judy; if my son really felt that way, why is that piece of paper in your pocket? Surely you could have gotten my number and address from him instead of having to go through the police database." Evie pointed out.
"I…" Judy trailed off. She glanced down at her pocket, feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of a good response to the question. And the fox in front of her knew it, too. Evie leaned forward in her chair.
"In all the time that you have known Nicholas, have you ever heard him say that he wanted to see me again? From his own mouth?"
Judy opened her mouth to immediately blurt out a 'yes', but the word caught in her throat. Even though she believed that Nick wanted to, she knew that she couldn't say that to Evie; it wasn't the truth. And although she could have lied or told a half-truth, she knew that her moment of hesitation had cost her. Even if it hadn't, she didn't want to lie about it; Evie had suffered more than enough from lies already.
"…No, he didn't. I asked him to try and talk things out with you, but he told me to drop the issue."
"…I thought so. It's not surprising, really. He's been in the academy for over four months already, as you said. If he really wanted to have anything to do with me, I'm sure he would have tried to reach out to me by now. But he probably hates my guts—and for good reason, too. I've done nothing but let him down his whole life. I'm a failure of a mother." The fox looked like she was sinking deeper and deeper into the pits of despair with every word she said.
Judy refused to accept it.
"I don't believe that, not one bit. I heard the way Nick spoke about you, Mrs Wilde. He still thinks of you as the sweetest, kindest person he's ever known. And I don't just think that; he said it to me himself. And if he knew that you had walked in this downpour all the way to the ZPD to find out whether he was okay…I know he would understand. I know he would want to see you again."
For a moment, Evie's expression faltered, but just as it looked like she was going to crack, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and bit her lower lip.
"…I wish I could believe you, Judy. But…I can't. Not unless you had some proof that Nick wanted anything to do with me. You wouldn't happen to have any…would you?" she asked, sounding almost hopeful.
"But what about the neckerchief that Nick kept? He kept it because he cares for you; isn't that proof enough?" Judy rebutted.
"Or maybe he just kept it to blow his nose." Evie replied quietly. "It's a nice sentiment you have, but it doesn't prove anything. This on the other hand…" Evie tapped a finger on Nick's sketchbook. "This proves he's lied to me since he was a kit, Judy. Who's to say that he won't lie to me now? If you were in my position, how would you feel? How would you feel if you found out your own flesh and blood lied to you for over twenty years?"
Judy hesitated, looking down slightly.
"I…don't know. But Nick has changed, Mrs Wilde. He's not the same fox that he was before. Please, give me a chance. Come with me to see him. Let me prove to you that everything I said is true."
Evie shook her head slowly. "Even if I did believe you…I don't think I could trust myself. If I go there and see him, I might snap and say something terrible, like what I did to you. I might just make everything worse between us. I…I don't want to make the same mistake again. I'm sorry."
This can't be happening, Judy thought. She had thrown every single card she had at Evie—the neckerchief, the photograph, the pictures of Nick in the academy—and it still wasn't enough. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out; she couldn't find any words to say.
Evie managed a sad smile. She stood up and walked over to Judy, getting down onto one knee and gently grabbing her paw once more.
"It's okay, Judy. I appreciate you trying to mend things between me and my son, I really do. In fact, what you've told me today has been the best thing that I've heard in years. You've made this old fox very, very happy. You've done what I was never able to do for him. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but if you can…please continue to believe in him. I still love him, and I will continue to love him till I die. But for now, I'll be happy to watch him from a distance."
Those words should have sent Judy over the moon, but after hearing that last sentence, she felt like everything was falling apart around her.
Evie glanced out a nearby window.
"The rain is letting up. I shouldn't take any more of your time. I've told you everything I wanted to, Judy. I think it's time I went home."
No, I'm not going to let it end like this, Judy thought. She tightened her grip on Evie's paw, looking her straight in the eye now that the fox was at her eye level.
"You said you wanted proof, right? If I can show you proof that Nick still cares about you, would you be willing to see him?"
Evie hesitated.
"…Yes, I would."
Judy placed her paw over her chest, looking into the fox's eyes with determination.
"Then I'll find you that proof, Mrs Wilde. I promise."
Evie smiled a little sadly, nodding her head.
"Even if you don't, you're always welcome at my home. Thank you, Judy…for everything."
With that, the fox let go of her arm, stood up, and turned to leave. But not before stopping by the counter to pay for the drinks. Judy was about to run up and stop her, but it was too late; the money had already been handed over the counter.
As Judy watched the fox leave, she just stood there, unable to properly process everything that had just happened over the last hour. After the older fox finally disappeared into the crowd, the reality of the whole situation finally began to sink in. And when it did, she felt a big sinking feeling in her gut.
She had a feeling that she'd made a very big mistake.
"You found her?!"
The voice that exclaimed through the phone speaker was incredulous.
"Yes, I did," Judy replied, flopping onto her chair and setting her phone on a small phone stand. There was a brown bunny staring at her incredulously from the other side of the screen.
"When? How?" Robbie asked excitedly.
"Last week. She came all the way to the ZPD to look for me in person. And just when I'd gotten her address and number, too. Sorry I didn't call you earlier; I know I promised to once I found Nick's mom, but after everything that happened, it slipped my mind completely."
"No need to apologise, sis," Robbie shook his head. "But wow…this is great! I can't believe she's the one that ended up finding you when you're the one who's been searching for her for months. Heck, if you think about it, you could've done nothing and still ended up meeting her anyway." Robbie chuckled.
Judy closed her eyes for a moment, resting her head on her paws while her ears flopped behind her.
"…Actually, I think it might have been better if I'd just done nothing."
Robbie's smile vanished. "What do you mean, sis? What happened?"
Judy sighed. "It's…complicated. Long story short, she was worried about Nick, which was why she came to the precinct to find me in the first place. She didn't know anything about what he'd been through, so I told her about how we met, about the Nighthowler investigation, and then about Nick being in the academy. Everything was going great, but…I messed up."
The brown bunny frowned, leaning in closer to the camera. He didn't say anything, but his face was a clear indication that he wanted her to continue. Judy reached out and lifted the brown sketchbook from beside her and held it in front of the camera. Robbie seemed to recognise it immediately.
"Nick's journal?"
"Yeah. You were right; there was a clue in there about Nick's mom—her name's Evie, by the way. That's why I had it with me on the day that I was looking for her address and her number. But she saw the book in my bag when I was taking out Nick's other things, and she asked to see it. I mean, I couldn't not show it to her, right? But because of that, I basically confirmed for her that Nick had been lying to her for most of his life. There was stuff written in here—old excuses he would give her when he was really out hustling. She had suspected it, but I just drove the final nail in the coffin."
"I mean, that's not your fault," Robbie replied. "You couldn't possibly have known that she would recognise the journal…"
"It's not just that. She saw a printout of her profile and figured out that I had to go through the police database to find her details. And because of that, she thinks that Nick doesn't want to have anything to do with her. If I'd just been there empty handed, she would have had more reason to believe me. Argh! I'm so stupid! What was I thinking?" Judy slammed her fist against the table, thumping her foot against the floor at the same time.
"Sis…" Robbie's own ears flopped behind his head. "I'm sorry things didn't work out, but please don't beat yourself up over it. If she doesn't want to reconcile with Nick, there's not much you can do…"
"But she does want to reconcile with him!" Judy said, her voice rising.
"She…does?"
"Yes! She said it herself! But she's blaming herself for what happened between her and Nick. She thinks she failed him as a mother; she doesn't even want to give herself a chance to make things right. She's acting like…like…NICK!" she yelled, throwing her arms into the air, before dropping them onto the desk with a loud thud.
"…Like mother, like son, huh?" Robbie mumbled.
"Yeah. I guess that proves that they really are related…" Judy groaned. "I tried my best to convince her that Nick still cares for her. I showed her some of Nick's things that he kept from his childhood days, like a picture of the two of them together. And I really thought that I had her after I showed her the pictures of Nick in the academy. But it still wasn't enough. That stupid mistake I made just cemented the idea in her head that Nick hates her."
Judy slowly raised her head, looking straight at her younger brother through the screen.
"This is all my fault, Robbie. What am I going to do? If Nick finds out I made things worse between him and his mother, he'll never forgive me. He'll never speak to me again; and even if he does, he'll nag at me for the rest of my life about meddling in other peoples' business!"
"Well, technically, it's my fault too, since I was the one who gave the suggestion about the journal and encouraged you to do it…" Robbie mumbled, his voice growing progressively softer.
"No no, none of this is your fault! I know you were just trying to help," Judy quickly waved her paws in front of the camera for a moment, before sighing again. "This is my mess, and I'm going to find a way to fix it. Evie won't believe me unless I can show her hard proof that Nick wants to reconcile with her. And that's exactly what I'm going to find."
"But how?"
"I'm…still working that out," Judy sighed. "I tried looking through all of Nick's stuff again to see if he'd ever written down anything about wanting to reconcile with his mom, but I couldn't find anything like that here. I even tried looking through his huge pile of junk at his old place under the bridge, but nothing."
"I…honestly don't think Nick would have written down his feelings in a book. It doesn't sound like something he would do…from what you've told me about him, at least," Robbie said.
"Yeah, that's true…" Judy sighed. "I guess my next best shot would be a recording of him saying it. She can't possibly deny that, right? The issue is that Nick never mentioned wanting to reconcile with her, much less see her. I mean, that's why he told me to drop the matter in the first place. And even if he did want to, he would never tell me such a thing straight up; he's not the kind of fox to talk openly about his feelings. Not unless…" Judy slowly raised her head and opened her eyes.
"Unless…?" Robbie parroted.
"Remember when Mom and Dad came to visit me here after I'd been discharged from the hospital? That night, Nick stayed over at my place. It's a long story, but the short of it was that he tased himself. And then overdosed on my medicine by accident. He got all loopy and started admitting all sorts of things that he normally never would, kinda like he got hit with a truth serum. Maybe if I—"
"Sis, please tell me you're not thinking about drugging Nick to get a confession out of him." Robbie frowned.
"Uh…" Judy replied. "I mean, no, of course not! I wouldn't…maybe?"
"Judy!"
"I'm kidding! I'm not going to drug him!" Judy exclaimed, before groaning and slumping back in her chair. "…I just wish I could sit down and have a talk with Nick. Like, a real heart-to-heart talk. I know he cares about his mom, and I know he wants to make things right with her. I just wish he would say that out loud to me. If I could just hear it from his own mouth, I know that would be enough to convince Evie."
She didn't hear anything from her phone for a while, which prompted her to sit back upright and look at her phone screen. She thought that the video feed had frozen, but she could still see the slow rise and fall of Robbie's chest. He was completely still; his eyes looked like they were a hundred miles away.
"Robbie?"
He still didn't respond.
"Robbie!" Judy waved her paw in front of the camera. The brown bunny finally snapped out of his trance, shaking his head quickly and looking back into the camera with a surprised expression.
"A-ah, sorry, sorry! I kinda spaced out for a moment there."
"Are you okay?" Judy frowned. Her brother's behaviour was a little odd. He seemed oddly invested in her current predicament, though she had no idea why.
"Yeah…I was just thinking about something. What if…what if you told Nick the truth?"
Judy blinked. "What?"
"I mean, what if you told Nick everything that you just told me? That his mom came to find you at the precinct, and that she was scared to see him again because she blames herself for what happened between them? Nick feels—I mean, he probably feels the same way. If you explained it, I'm sure he would understand. And then you could go with him to her place and then sit down and talk it out."
Judy shook her head.
"I can't do that, Robbie."
Robbie paused for a moment before answering. "Why not?"
"I know Nick. If I tell him about what happened, he'll know that I went behind his back to search for his mom, and he won't listen to anything I say after that. He'd just pick out the parts he wants to hear and use them to say that he 'knew it all along'. And even if I did manage to drag him over to her place, things might just get worse between them again. If that happened, I wouldn't just lose Nick as a friend again. I would ruin any chance of him and his mom ever getting back together again. I need to get Evie on my side first, Robbie. I can't let Nick know before that."
Robbie went silent for a long while, looking more troubled than Judy expected him to be. She knew that her younger brother was always the empathetic sort, but he somehow looked more concerned about the situation than she was.
"Robbie, are you okay?" Judy asked. "You've been acting a little weird for a while now. Is something wrong?"
"N-no, I'm fine, sis. Everything is fine," Robbie replied with a sigh.
"Hey, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Judy said in a soft and gentle voice, before watching the screen carefully. The camera may not have been the highest quality, but it was still clear that something was troubling the younger bunny.
"…I know. I just…" Robbie hesitated. "…I feel like it's my fault too. I know Nick is an important friend to you, and I don't want you to lose him. I wish there was some way I could help." Robbie glanced away, looking more than a little glum.
Is that really it? Judy thought. His answer made sense, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of Judy's head that there was something more that was going on behind it. But before she could ask a follow-up question, Robbie held a paw up in front of him, glancing over to his left which was out of view of the camera.
"Hang on, sis, I think someone's at the door. Can I call you back in a minute?"
"Oh, sure. Of course," Judy replied. Robbie nodded, his finger reaching towards the screen before the feed cut off.
Judy was still smiling at the camera all the way until the call ended, following which her smile instantly turned into a frown.
Something is definitely up with him, she thought. The problem was that she had no idea what it could possibly have been. Whatever it was, she knew her little brother well enough that he would probably just clam up if she tried to probe him any harder. And she had a more pressing issue to worry about. She had to find a way to have a real conversation with Nick about his mom—preferably without the use of narcotics. But there was no way he would agree to talk to her about it. Not unless…she made him.
A lightbulb lit up in her head. She couldn't believe she didn't think about it sooner.
The fight!
She had originally planned to use her win to make Nick see his mom, but that plan was definitely out of the window now. But there was something else she could do. She could use her win to make Nick sit down with her and have an honest, heart-to-heart talk with about his mom, with no deflecting or trying to change the subject from him. And even though it would be pretty obvious to Nick by that point that Judy was still trying to meddle in his family affairs, it didn't matter. All she needed to do was to lead Nick through the conversation long enough for her to get him to say something about wanting to reconcile with his mom.
And then, all I need to do is to record him saying it, she thought, opening her drawer and pulling out her carrot pen. It wasn't a very original idea—and it was far from foolproof—but she knew it was the best option she currently had.
It wasn't going to be easy, though. For one, the fight was scheduled for a month from now, only a week before the graduation ceremony. That wasn't a lot of time to both get a recording out of him and to convince Evie to see her son—much less convince her to attend his graduation. More importantly, there was still one fundamental truth that she had to accept: everything hinged on whether she could win that fight. But she knew she had no other choice. This was her only way to make things right.
Her phone on the table began to buzz again, with Robbie's profile picture flashing on the screen. As she reached her paw out towards it, Evie's despondent words echoed in her mind.
"I've only ever let him down; I'm a failure of a mother."
Judy clenched her paw around her phone, determination beginning to fill her heart once more.
No you're not, Mrs Wilde. And I'm going to prove it.