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This was the life.
It was a beautiful summer afternoon in Bunnyburrow, and Nick was reclined on a cheap lawn chair, his aviators perched on his nose and a beer sweating in his paw. Judy, his partner of one year (and three days! she'd insist), was tearing across the lawn after her little siblings, the chair beside him abandoned in favor of dominating a game of freeze tag. Nick couldn't have wiped the grin off his face for all the blueberries in the world.
Nick settled further into his chair, chuckling into his beer when Judy misjudged her speed and slipped, crashing onto the grass. She laid there for a moment, dramatically wailing that she was injured, but only one of her little brothers was dumb enough to fall for her trick. When he crept close enough to check on her, Judy tagged him, leapt to her feet, and chased after her next victim.
Nick kept his eyes on her. He was lucky enough to work beside her nearly every day at the ZPD, but seeing her kid siblings, her home, brought everything about her into perspective. Every family member he met and every ridiculous tradition they invited him to participate in helped Nick to understand how Judy had grown into the bunny she was. She wasn't a divine creation as he had once suspected, an angel dropped into his lap to drag him kicking and screaming into polite society - she was a woman who had fought for every scrap she had in the city to make her family proud. Nick could have kissed Bunnyburrow and all its hokey nonsense for its paw in creating his stubborn, empathetic, ingenious partner.
Something snapped behind him.
Nick's ears swiveled. He glanced over his shoulder, and there, hiding behind the leg of the empty armchair, was one of Judy's little brothers.
He couldn't have been older than ten, red google-like glasses strapped into his fluffy tan fur. He jumped when Nick spotted him, but held his ground, even when Nick forgot to smile without teeth.
Three weeks prior, when Judy had initially invited Nick to spend the weekend with her family, she had instructed him to focus on learning the little ones' names first. At the time, he had brazenly assured her that he would learn all of their names, almost offended that she had assumed he couldn't. When she had informed him that she had over three hundred siblings rather than the two dozen or so he had been expecting, Nick had been much more receptive to her advice.
Nick had studied the comically dense yearbook she'd walked him through harder than he'd ever studied anything in his life. Unfortunately, that was a low bar to clear, and this kid was not one of the thirty or so that he was confident about.
Nick squinted at the rabbit behind him. He was from the second youngest litter, for sure, and the glasses were a helpful hint. He wasn't grey like Robert or George, which meant that he was either Patrick or... Benjamin? Benson?
"Hey..." Nick started slowly, nodding to the bunny. "... It starts with a B, right?" he asked. The kid frowned and shook his head.
Shit. Well, at least that narrowed it down.
Nick snapped. "Patrick!"
The bunny's posture straightened a little, his ears perking up, and he nodded, looking pleasantly surprised that Nick had gotten there at all. Nick couldn't imagine how frustrating it must have been to have hundreds of siblings, to be a drop in the veritable bucket of rabbit babies. He would have to flip through the yearbook again that night.
Nick grinned. "Patrick, my man!" He slowly offered a curled up paw for a fist-bump. He'd learned the hard way that high fours offered with too much enthusiasm inspired a lot of panicked screaming, but so far, fist-bumps had been fair game. Patrick's nose twitched, and he cautiously accepted it, weakly tapping Nick's fist with his own. Nick pulled his paw away and shook it out as if the kid's raw strength had caught him off guard, and Patrick giggled.
"What can I do for you, kiddo?" Nick asked, pulling his sunglasses onto his forehead. To his surprise, Patrick immediately puffed up, looking not scared, but... protective?
"Are you in love with Judy?" the bunny asked boldly.
Oh.
Nick's eyes widened and his heart did something that felt unhealthy. Judy had warned him that her siblings were going to ask him a lot of invasive questions, but he had been expecting more "do you eat people" and less "do you want to kiss my sister". He almost preferred the former - at least that had a simple answer.
"Woah. That is a big question, squirt." Nick rolled his neck, developing a crick in it from staring over his shoulder, and nodded to Judy's empty chair. "Why don't you sit down with me?" Patrick's eyes darted between the lawn and Nick for a moment, but eventually, he crept around the chair and hopped into it. Nick nodded approvingly and settled back into his seat. "Now, what makes you think I'm in love with your sister?"
It was a tricky question; it deflected the accusation well enough, but it also would offer Nick important information: how goddamned obvious he was being.
He was sure Judy knew that he... well, that his feelings for her extended well beyond the bounds of typical friendship, but he wasn't sure that he wanted the L word being thrown around before he'd so much as gotten the guts to ask her out to dinner. Especially not in front of her family.
It was just his luck, then, that the other kids were starting to take notice of his interrogation. A handful of bunnies had gathered a few feet away on the lawn, curious but not brave enough to approach. Nick respected Patrick's guts. He'd have to give the kid one of Judy's police badge stickers.
"You've been making mushy eyes at her all day," Patrick answered. "That's how Rosie looks at Thomas B. at school."
"I do not!" one of the bunnies watching cried, the red ribbons on her ears bouncing from how hard she stomped her foot.
"Do so!" Patrick shouted back. "You have a big fat crush on him!"
"Stop it!"
Nick interrupted before the verbal slap fight could start in earnest. "Hmm, mushy eye making is pretty good evidence." He leaned a little closer, lowering his voice just in case his partner's hearing was as good as she claimed. "I'll tell you this much: I do like Judy. I like her-" He glanced around. "Can I say a dirty word?" Patrick's eyes went wide and he nodded.
Score. "I like her a butt-ton," Nick said.
Patrick snorted and a few of the younger bunnies watching squealed with laughter. Some of the kids closer to Patrick's age looked disappointed that it wasn't something more exciting, but hey, you can't win 'em all.
"Isn't loving someone the same as liking them a butt-ton?" Patrick asked.
Nick swallowed and looked back across the lawn to where Judy was shouting at her brother to stop in the name of the law, grass stains on the knees of her leggings. He nodded absently. "Yeah... yeah, I guess it is."
Patrick didn't reply. Nick turned to find him tensed up like a spring, wide-eyed and- uh oh. Nick knew that look.
"Patrick-" Before Nick could finish his sentence, the bunny had already leapt from his chair and bolted for Judy, screaming and waving his arms all the while. Nick jumped to his feet only for the little ones to scatter, reminding him that he couldn't even give chase! Hunting down one of Judy's sheltered siblings probably wouldn't go over well, even if all he was planning on doing was giving the snitch a serious noogie.
"MR. NICK IS IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Patrick wailed for the whole world to hear.
Damnit!
Nick slumped back into his chair and shrank as much as he could manage, splaying a paw across his eyes. "Kids are liars! Whatever he's telling you is a lie!" He called weakly.
Between the gaps in his claws he could see that Judy was doing his job for him, pinching her brother's ear and at least trying to hold back her laughter. "Pat! When someone tells you a secret, they are trusting you to keep it safe!"
"He never said it was a secret," Patrick argued. Judy straightened, and... oh, great. Nick knew that look too.
"Is that so?" she asked mischievously. She put a hand on Patrick's shoulder and marched to Nick's hiding place, her other hand on her hip. "Your honor, my client claims that the defendant failed to specify that the information shared was to be kept a secret. Mr. Wilde, is this true?"
A few of Judy's siblings were distracted from their game and snuck back within earshot, pretending to be preoccupied with kicking rocks or staring at bugs. Nick kept an eye on his new jury, aware that anything he said could and would be held against him at dinner that night.
"Your honor, everybody knows that-"
"Objection, it's a simple yes or no question."
"Overruled!" Nick barked.
Judy laughed. "You can't be the judge!"
Nick glanced around and plucked his beer can from his cup holder. "Fine, he can be our judge. But good luck, I know this guy. Watch this." He wiggled the can and out of the corner of his mouth squeaked, "Sustained!" It startled a laugh out of Patrick, and Judy glowed.
"Aw, c'mon-!" Nick sighed and pinched his nose. "Alright, alright, I didn't technically say the words 'keep this a secret'."
"Open and shut case, Your Honor," Judy addressed the beer can.
Nick waggled a finger. "Ah, ah, ah, don't I get to give a testimony?"
Judy raised an eyebrow at her brother. "What do we think?"
Patrick crossed his arms confidently. "Let him talk." Nick laughed before he could stop himself. He liked this kid.
"Your Honor," Nick began, gesturing to the can, "it is a universally understood truth that confessions of love are to be kept secret. If I, allegedly," he emphasized, "made any such confession, the plaintiff would have known to keep his mouth shut." He playfully glared at Patrick who squirmed and fought back a grin, the picture of unapologetic guilt.
"Do you have any evidence that this truth," Judy made air quotes, "is universal?"
"Yes, in fact, I do," Nick stated smugly. "I would like to call a witness!" He scanned the lawn for a certain bunny in particular. It wasn't long before he spotted her picking grass at the base of a tree nearby, clearly still listening if the angle of her bow-clad ears was anything to go off of.
Nick stood and strolled a few feet closer. "Rosie?" The bunny froze and stared up at him, nose twitching. Nick lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Wanna get back at your brother?"
She chewed her lip as she considered it, her instinctual fear of the big bad fox warring with good 'ol fashioned sibling rivalry. As it always does, sibling rivalry won. Nick could barely contain his glee when she nodded. "Attagirl! Follow me."
He led her back to the scene of the crime, tail flicking proudly. "Rosie Hopps," Nick put a paw on her shoulder and swelled when she didn't so much as flinch, "can you confirm that Patrick here told me you make mushy eyes at Thomas B.?"
"He did! He's a tattler!" Rosie declared, stomping her foot again.
"But, Rosie, you didn't explicitly tell Patrick to keep this information a secret, did you?" Nick asked in his sweetest voice.
"He shoulda knew!"
Nick grinned. This couldn't have been going better. "Oh? Why's that?"
"You'd hafta be stupid not to!"
There was an uproar from the jury; some of the older kids began telling her off, but the majority were laughing hysterically. It was the cutest thing Nick had ever seen. "Rosetta Hopps!" Judy admonished.
"I rest my case," Nick bowed to the beer can. To Nick's surprise, Patrick burst out laughing, seemingly aware of his crime and unconcerned about his sentencing. As Judy quietly told her brother and sister off for telling secrets and saying rude words respectively, Nick slunk away, hands in his pockets and his traitorous judge slash beer forgotten.
He wandered around the yard for a while, smiling a closed-lipped smile at any bunnies that paid him any mind. He even recognized a few and earned two careful fist-bumps, each of which he wore as a badge of honor.
The majority of Judy's house resided underground, but the visible structure was nothing to sneeze at, a vast maze of additions cutting into acres and acres of farmland. Nick followed its perimeter, admiring the perennials planted against the walls and the complex irrigation equipment. He rounded a corner and found himself facing an open field that backed up to a crop of trees, the rays of the setting sun slipping between creeping branches.
Nick had no idea how Judy's parents kept track of so many kits; in his youth, he could have disappeared into that brush forever.
"So. Anything you wanna tell me?"
Nick turned to find Judy sauntering over, hands clasped behind her back. She was attempting to act aloof but was doing a poor job of it, grinning broadly with a fond glitter in her eye.
Nick nodded, returning her smile. "Yes ma'am. Your siblings are adorable."
Judy huffed, creeping closer. "Anything else...?" she pried.
"And... you'd make a good lawyer," Nick dodged, his throat tight.
"And...?"
She really wasn't going to let him get away with this one.
"And..."
Nick glanced at her, and God, she was stunning. The setting sun was making her fur glow like a halo, its reflection a golden drop in the deep purple oceans of her eyes. He swallowed.
"... I like you a butt-ton," Nick sighed.
Judy let out a breath that was halfway to a laugh. "I love you too, dumb fox."
Nick's heart felt like it would bound right out of his chest, but before he could so much as squeak, Judy was kissing him. Judy was kissing him. Nick closed his eyes and melted against her lips as a year's worth of tension was finally released into the sticky summer air. He slipped his claws into the thick fur at her neck, and it was so soft, he could have nestled against her chest forever, and-
A small gasp rang out. The pair parted and turned, spotting the source in an instant. Rosie was peeking around the wall of the house, her jaw slack.
Judy stiffened. "This is a secret," she tried.
Rosie mer her eye for only a second. Then she was tearing back toward the front of the house.
"MR. NICK IS KISSING JUDY!"