Family day part 5 (final chapter)

Nick was picking up wildflowers on the way back to the farmhouse. Judy watched with piqued interest as he nimbly used his nails to tie the green stems to each other. His fingers danced along the stems, tying them with intricate knots, some that she hadn't seen before. She was impressed by how gentle he was with the flowers. She never once saw him break a stem or lose petals.

"Who taught you how to do that?" She asked softly, as he picked up a bright yellow flower. He seemed to be following a pattern: yellow, white and pink.

"Well, when I was a kid, I memorized that stupid scout's manual." He began. "I learned every type of knot and since I didn't have any rope, I used to make these for my mom and honed my skill."

"That was sweet of you." She teased, playfully jabbing him in the side with her elbow. He snickered.

"How dare you." He placed the finished object around her right ear, making it fall neatly on her head. Judy smiled and stroked the floral band. Nick bent down towards the grassy field, picking up more flowers to make another to match. He was a bit hesitant to start making them at first. He was actually embarrassed that a male fox like him knew how to make flower crowns. He originally thought that it would ruin his cool factor with Judy and everyone else he knew if they ever found out. However, he decided to just show Judy; he trusted her. He knew that she wouldn't think less than him. In fact, the only reason he started doing it was to forget the tense moment they had earlier.

"You should teach me how to make these." She said with a smile.

He hummed, thinking it over. "I don't know if you can do it, Whiskers; it takes a steady paw." He smirked, picking up three baby's breaths, swiftly tying them into the band of flowers.

"I can do it!" Judy argued.

"Plus, it takes practice; it took me years to master and-done!" He slid the other finished band down her left ear, making it look like she had two pigtails held together by flower scrunchies. His muzzle contorted, stifling a laugh at how cute she looked, like a very girly bunny.

"What? Don't laugh you dummy! Let me see!" She giggled, giving him a punch in the arm. He gave her his phone, making sure the camera was facing her. After one look she gasped.

"Oh wow! These are actually pretty good!"

"What do you mean "pretty good", it's great! I am a professional." He boasted, with his chest out. Only to breathe out, "But don't go bragging about it, those stuck up giants at the ZPD will never let me live it down."

"Not even Clawhauser? he might like one!"

He shivered at the thought. "Especially him. That bigmouth will just tell everybody."

She brushed the beautiful and bright flowers with her paw. She never knew that Nick had such talent. She wondered what else he could do.

"Well, I love it." she said, handing him back his phone. Nick made sure to grasp her paw when he grabbed for his phone, and caught a glimpse of her blush. He chuckled at the sight of her suddenly moving her eyes to the side. He bent over, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, her cheeks turning red. "What was that for?"

"Do I really need a reason for doing anything?"

She gave him a small smile as he grabbed her paw, holding it as they walked along the trail in silence. Judy began to think of the hour before, when the two of them had been in tears. She had never seen Nick cry before, and she felt guilty for putting him through it. She never would have thought that Nick had the same doubts that she did. While she could never have children with him, she had never thought about his feelings. She had never considered that the fact that Nick would be unable to give her any children made him feel that he was preventing her from having a happy life.

Nick turned, feeling her paw squeeze tightly against his. She stopped, causing him to pause in his step.

"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing the serious expression on her face.

"I was just thinking about...us and not having kids." She bit her lower lip, making Nick swallow a lump in his throat. "A-and I'm not saying that we should break up, because I don't want to." She squeezed his paw again. He frowned, listening to her speak. She was staring at her feet, trying to find the right way to say what she was feeling. She blushed.

"B-but...if we do decide to um...g-get married, and have a family, we can always a-adopt?" He blinked. He had never thought about that. Judy laughed nervously at hearing no response from him. She was beginning to regret even saying that. This was the second time she had brought up the thought of having children together. She forced herself to glance up at him, wanting desperately to see his reaction. He held a straight face before nodding, a slight blush forming.

"Y-yeah...I mean, w-we could do that. Maybe. In the future, way way way into the future."

Her ears lifted up. "Really? You would want to?"

He dug his paw into his pocket, looking away. "Sure, why not?" He shrugged. Her face life up when he turned back at her with a grin. "And if you want we could always try that new artificial stuff that animals were talking about, but if we do that we'll have a freaky hybrid baby...or babies."

Her face immediately went red. Nick started laughing when she punched him.

"That's not funny!" She stepped back, her face the color of a cherry tomato. "Besides..." She crossed her arms, her cheeks puffed. "That won't work anyway since we're not compatible."

His laughter died slowly. Wiping a tear, he glanced back at her. "But won't it be something to have little predator/prey mix? They'll have your hearing and my night vision." He shook his head, rubbing his side as he felt it begin to bruise. Judy rolled her eyes, but they slowly widened when an idea came to mind.

"Wait, that could be something..."

Nick blushed. "I-I was just kidding, Whiskers, I mean we can't really-!"

"No, no! I mean we could adopt foxes and bunnies, one big mix! That's something!" She jumped, already imagining it. "Oh that would be perfect!...Right?"

Nick smiled, staring into her beautiful eyes. He imagined both of them sharing a house, maybe a large house in the city just for the two of them and perhaps 5 or 6 kits and kittens running around. Just the two of them together with their kids.

"Right. Perfect." He put out a finger. "But I ain't marrying you just yet!" She slapped his finger aside.

"I hope not!"

"Well, Maybe tomorrow...ow! Stop punching me!"

When Judy's parents found out what had happened, they were furious. Her parents, along with all of the family members who were present during the fight immediately took action by making Billy leave the farm. Her parents could hardly believe that a bunny they knew as a child would treat their daughter so cruelly. Not to mention Nick, who defended her. Judy was glad to hear her father had decided that Billy would no longer be allowed to come back to their home or to stay as a friend.

The police were not called, which was another good thing because it would ruin Nick's reputation. She was afraid that animals would start to distrust him again if word got out that he had instigated the fight. Sadly, being a fox could certainly cause some trouble. She was glad that Nick wouldn't be facing the possibility of jail time.

"Why don't you sit next to me, Nick?" Judy's father, Stu, asked sincerely. "After what you did, you've earned a permanent place with the Hopps family."

He couldn't believe it when Stu extended his paw towards him, a sign of respect and acceptance. Nick took it vehemently.

"I would be happy to, Stu!"

"Mr. Hopps."

"Oh...Mr.Hopps, sure."

Judy's ears perked up when she felt tiny paws pulling at her dress. Around her was a swarm of her sisters and cousins, staring right at her flower bands. One of her sisters, who was five, spoke up.

"Where did you got those pretty flowers, Judy?"

Another girl bunny spoke up. "Yeah, I want one!"

Judy smirked, picking up her little sister. "Really? Very pretty huh?" Her sister nodded. She brought her over to Nick, who ears sprang up in horror at seeing all the little girls. "He made them for me, so why don't you ask him to make you some?"

Suddenly the swarm came over to him, jumping excitedly and yelling.

"I want one! I want one! I want one!"

Nick cringed, moving his arms up and trying to escape from them. He looked to Judy, silently imploring her to rescue him. She only giggled at his demise. She moved her paws towards him, urging him to accept.

"W-wait all of you want one?" He asked, surprised that they even wanted to get near a fox like him.

"Yes pwease!" One girl yelled. "Can you make us some, judy's boyfriend?"

"Uh...sure, why not? Go find some flowers and I'll make you all one."

"Yay!" They all ran in different directions, grabbing as many flowers as possible. Judy walked over to him, grabbing his paw.

"Looks like they like you." She whispered. He tilted his head to gaze at her.

"You think so? I think they're just using me; that's what you bunnies do."

"No, they do. I even heard some of my aunts and uncles saying how impressed they were during that race and how you punched Billy."

"You know my paw kinda hurts now that you mention it, I think I might have broken it. Here, kiss it to make it feel better." He put his knuckles up to her lips, but she pushed them away.

"They're fine! You baby...come on, it's time for dinner and you heard my dad. He wants you to sit next to him."

"What a honor." He joked. She leaned her head on his shoulder, giving him a sideways hug as they both walked inside the farmhouse.