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After yet another long week of enforcing the law, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps were ready for the weekend. Though Nick was relieved that he once again had the opportunity to sleep in, Judy had made plans for the entire weekend; namely wedding planning. Nick grumbled his displeasure about having to be involved with all of it, wishing that they could just go to the courthouse and have a small ceremony and be done with it. Judy, like so many other girls, dreamed of a big wedding; an outdoor wedding to be precise. As she went on and on describing everything she wanted, Nick kept seeing their bank balance growing leaner and leaner. Traditionally, the father of the bride was expected to pay for the wedding, but with Judy parents having two-hundred seventy five bunnies to take care of, that was out of the question. Knowing he was fighting a losing battle, Nick gave in, agreeing to Judy's wishes, albeit it grudingly.

"Okay," said Nick, setting down at their desktop computer. "I suppose we should start by sending out invitations."

"Right," agreed Judy. "Let's make a list."

Nick opened the word processing program on the computer and pulled up a blank document to start out the list. Stretching his paws in preparing to type, the fox turned around, looking at Judy.

"Please tell me we don't have to mail out an invitation for everyone of your siblings, honey bunny."

Judy scoffed. "No, dumb fox. All of my siblings are either still living at home or in Bunny Burrow with the rest of my family."

"Just checking," mused Nick. "My tongue would get pretty dry licking two-hundred and seventy five stamps."

"Smart alec," snorted Judy. "You know very well that stamps already come with the adhesive on them these days."

"These days, everyone should be sending digital invitations, not sending paper through snail mail."

"Not everyone has a computer, Nick."

"What about a cell phone?" he said, "It's 2016. I think everyone has one of those."

"Not all of my family," stated Judy.

Nick spun himself around in the computer chair, facing Judy in complete disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me. Do they even have electricity in Bunny Burrow?"

Judy twisted Nick's right ear, "Yes, we have electricity, you smart ass!"

"Ow, ow, ow!" said Nick, pulling Judy's paw off of his ear before rubbing it. "If your mother was here she'd be chastising you for that filthy mouth of yours."

"Nick,' grumbled Judy. "Would you please get back to the list?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Nick, spinning his chair around so that he was once again facing the computer. "Okay, so we obviously have your parents, Stu and Bonnie Hopps. They'll take care of informing all your siblings. . . " Nick paused, making Judy wonder what the matter was.

"Was is it?" asked the rabbit.

Nick spun around to face Judy once more. "By the way, you'll want to have carrot cake at the wedding, right?"

"Nick!"

Grinning and amused that he had made his fiance grumpy, Nick spun the chair back to face the computer. "Okay, I'll take this seriously, honey bunny."

Nick and Judy made an exhaustive list of all her family members in Bunny Burrow that she wished to invite to the wedding. If Nick thought that their bank account would be lean before, after Judy had finally named off her entire family he thought that they might need to take out a loan to pay for the wedding; not a pleasant thought to the money conscious fox.

"Okay, I think that's it for my family. Now, onto your side."

"Alright," said Nick, feeling his paws ache. "Uh, would you mind taking over the typing, honey bunny? My paws are killing me."

"Sure," said Judy.

Nick relinquished his seat to Judy. As he stood up, he realized that his legs were almost asleep from sitting for such a long interval. Leaning down, he rubbed at them with his paws, trying to restore life back into them from the lack of circulation. As Nick was feeling the warmth of blood flowing back into his legs, Judy spoke aloud, naming out Nick's family members as she typed them.

"Let's see," said the rabbit. "We have Cindy Wilde, your Mom. There's your Uncle Bill and Aunt Sophie, your cousins Richard, Alan and Denise. . . ."

Judy went on and on, typing away, when something suddenly popped into her mind. In all the time she'd known Nick, she had never once heard him mention a word about his father. Judy knew that Nick had been raised by his mother, but had no idea as to the whereabouts of his father. The cop in Judy knew that there were only a few reasons for this. One: Nick had never known his father. Two: His father was dead. Three: Nick knew who his father was, but didn't wish to have a relationship with him.

"Nick," said Judy as she slowly turned around to face her fiance. "What about your father? Should we invite him?"

Immediately, Nick stopped rubbing his legs. Standing straight up, he slowly folded his arms, an irritated look hung over him. "No," he said flatly.

"What . . . what's the deal with your father anyway, sweeite?" said Judy, in a calm voice.

"The deal is, my father is a worthless, no good son of a bitch," said Nick, his face looking angrier by the second. Against her better judgment, Judy continued to press the issue.

"But is there any chance you might . . ."

"Judy," interrupted Nick. "I don't want to talk about my father, okay?"

"Okay, okay," said Judy, trying to calm down her husband to be. "Let's go back to the list."

"Good idea," said Nick in a none too pleasant tone.

Judy breathed a sigh of relief. She had obviously hit a nerve with Nick, who grew hostile when she even brought up the subject of his father. To say that Nick was sensitive about the subject would have been a tremendous understatement. As the couple continued with their invitation list, Judy decided that she was going to have to find out more about Nick's father, and she knew just the person to talk to.

Later that day, Judy told Nick that she was going out shopping for some groceries. This was only a ruse for her real purpose She couldn't get the thought of Nick's father out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. She wanted to know why it was that Nick hated his father so much; what it was he did to make Nick so bitter.

"Apartment C12," said Judy to herself. Walking up to the door of a low rent apartment building. "Here we are."

She knocked on the door and waited. Her sensitive hearing picked up the sounds of footsteps getting closer to the door before the stopped. There was a brief moment where the person behind the door must have been looking through the peep hole to see who was knocking. Then, the door opened.

"Judy," said the vixen standing in the doorway. "Come in!"

"Thanks, Cindy," said Judy as she walked in to the apartment and closed the door behind her.

"Sorry, if the place is a little messy," said the vixen. "I've been working a lot at the restaurant lately, so my cleaning's kind of been neglected."

Judy looked around the tiny apartment of Cindy Wilde, Nick's mother. It was a small area, with a single, torn couch being the only furnishing that Judy could see in the living room. Taking off her jacket, Judy sat down next to Cindy.

"Could I get you something to drink?" offered the vixen.

"Oh, no thank you," said Judy. "Thank you for agreeing to see me."

Cindy smiled, and Judy could see some of the same features in her as she did in Nick. "You're always welcome here, Judy. After all, you're going to be my daughter-in-law!"

"Thank you," said Judy. "Cindy, I've got a favor to ask of you."

"Sure," said the vixen as she crossed her legs. "What is it?"

"Could . . . could you tell me about Nick's father?"

Cindy was taken aback. "Nick's father?"

"Yes. Earlier today, Nick and I were making up the guest list for the wedding and I brought up the subject of his father and he got really upset. I'd never heard him mention anything about his father, and after how he reacted, I didn't want to press the issue any further."

Cindy got up from the couch and went over to the refrigerator, bringing out a beer. Twisting the top off, she took a long swig before setting it down on the floor. "Nick's father . . . what is there to say about him? He knocked me up and then abandoned us."

"Has Nick ever met him before?" asked Judy.

"No," said Cindy. "I didn't even tell him who his father really was until he was sixteen. He's never shown any interest in wanting to meet his Dad."

"Maybe I could change that," said Judy.

"Honey," said Cindy before taking another drink of her beer. "I highly doubt that, but you can try."

"I want to try. I don't want him going through the rest of his life hating his father," said Judy. "Do you know how I can get in touch with him?"

Cindy sighed. "I have his phone number, at least I think it's still his phone number. I haven't called him in years . . . so it might not even be in service anymore."

"Could . . . could you try?" asked Judy.

"Yeah," said Cindy. "I'll try and set something up for you, but don't get your hopes up."

"Thanks," said Judy, giving the vixen a big hug. "I hope I can have Nick reconcile with his father."

Judy gave Cindy a hug before heading out the door. As the door closed, Cindy shook her head. "Don't count on it, honey."

Another week went by and Nick and Judy were enjoying a quiet Saturday afternoon at home snuggled up on the couch and watching a movie. The week had been particularly long for the two as they had been forced to work double shifts three of the give workdays. It had been grueling work, with a triple murder in the 1st Precinct's jurisdiction. Chief Bogo had ordered the extra shifts in response to the homicides, vowing to make that case priority number one. With several officers on the case, the perpetrator was eventually brought into custody by the precinct's new star officer, Nick Wilde. After that, Nick was even more appreciative of his weekends.

"Mmm," said Nick as Judy rubbed up against him. "Nothing like spending some quality time with my honey bunny."

"And I love spending quality time with my handsome fox," added Judy.

Nick ran his paws through Judy's long, silky smooth ears. Judy pulled away, propping her feet up on Nick's lap. The fox smirked over in Judy's direction. "Does my honey bunny need a foot massage?"

"She she does," said Judy. "Would you please?"

"My pleasure," said Nick. "After all, rabbit's feet are suppose to bring good luck!"

"Oh," said Judy, feeling the tension and pain melt away from her feet. "Nick . . . that feels wonderful."

Nick rubbed away at Judy's feet, making his fiance feel like a million dollars. Unfortunately for Nick, he suddenly felt his stomach grumbling.

"Uh-oh," said Nick, putting a paw on his stomach.

"What's wrong?" asked Judy.

"I need to go to the bathroom!" said Nick, moving Judy's feet off his lap and making a mad dash to the bathroom.

"Great," said Judy. "My foot massage ends and now I won't be able to go in the bathroom for an hour!"

As Judy waited for Nick to finish his business, there was a knock at the door. Jumping to her feet, Judy ran over and checked to see who it was through the peephole. A tall, middle-aged looking fox in a very expensive double breasted tan suit was standing outside of the apartment.

"Oh my God," said Judy as she unchained the door and released the lock. Opening the door, she was greeted by the fox smiling at her pleasantly.

"Is this the home of Nick Wilde?" asked the fox.

"Yes it is!" said Judy, awestruck by who it was. "Your Norman Skulk, the industrialist!"

Norman Skulk, mulch-millionaire and known to everyone in Zootopia was one of the richest animals in the city. He had grown up poor, but had amassed a fortune through lucrative business deals. Very much in the public eye, Skulk had been involved in philanthropy, charity and numerous events.

"I am," said Skulk. "You must be Judy."

"I'm Judy," said the rabbit, still blown away that Norman Skulk was standing in her apartment. "But, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I . . ."

Norman was interrupted by the sound of a toilet flushing in the background. Nick soon appeared, looking much better than before he'd run into the bathroom as though he was fleeing from a tornado.

"Oh," said Nick, wiping his forehead. "I feel much better after . . ."

Nick caught sight of Norman and instantly stopped in his tracks. Judy ran over, grabbing Nick's arm. "Nick, Nick, Norman Skulk is in our house! Can you believe it?"

Nick cocked his head to the side while Norman attempted to talk. "Hello, Nick . . . you look good."

Nick's look of confusion was slowly turning into the very same expression of anger Judy had seen when she brought up the subject of his father. Judy, confused at first, looked back and forth between Norman and Nick, and then it finally dawned on her why Norman Skulk was standing in her home.

"Wait a minute . . . you mean . . . you mean Norman Skulk . . . is your father?"

"Well, I . . ." began Norman.

"I wouldn't put it any higher than sperm donor, right, Dad?"

"Nick, I'm sorry about . . ."

"Day late and a dollar short, Dad," said Nick, his voice oozing with contempt. "Tell me, how many other secretaries did you knock up and then fire, huh? You remember what it was like, growing up poor, right? Well, guess what? That's exactly how Mom and I lived, in dirty, filthy apartments that should have been condemned. Oh, it was so much fun living on food stamps, getting made fun of because your clothes are too small but your Mom couldn't afford to go out and get new ones. You happy to hear that that's how your son grew up, Dad?"

"I'm sorry I put you through that Nick."

"Oh, you're sorry? I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that you're the biggest hypocrite and liar in all of Zootopia! I wonder what everybody would think if they found out you have a bastard son who was forced to work as a con artist to try and make it in the world? You think that might blemish your public image? As far as I'm concerned, you're the bastard and con-artist!"

"Please, Nick, hear me out."

Nick stomped over to the door, flinging it open. "Get out," he snarled under his breath as he pointed out to the hall.

"I'm begging you, Nick . . ."

"GOD DAMNIT, I SAID GET THE HELL OUT, NOW!" screamed Nick at the top of his lungs.

With his head hanging low and tail between his legs, Norman Skulk, millionaire and philanthropist, walked out of his illegitimate son's home in disgrace. Nick wasted no time in slamming the door behind his father as he huffed and puffed in a terrible wrath.

"I can't believe the nerve of that asshole," growled the fox as he went out to the kitchen. "Showing up here like he can just ask for my forgiveness!"

Judy, realizing that plan had backfired terribly, tried her best to conduct some damage control. "Nick, are you alright?"

"No," said Nick, getting a plate out of the cupboard for some food. "The last person in the world I wanted to see was that piece of shit. How did he even know where I live?"

The fox opened the refrigerator, sticking his head in to look for something to eat. Judy knew that she had to confess her involvement in the ordeal.

"Nick . . . it's my fault."

"What do you mean," asked Nick, still angry.

"I . . . I went and saw your Mom. She called Norman and must have told him where we live. I didn't mean to upset you."

Nick stopped rumaging through the refrigerator. Slowly, he moved his head out from inside and closed the door. His plate still in his paws, he glared angrily at his fiance.

"You . . . you did this?" said Nick, barely able to contain his rage.

"Y-y-yes, Nick." said a a sheepish Judy.

Nick took the plate and slammed it down onto the kitchen floor. The ceramic dish shattered into several pieces as it gouged the linoleum. Judy screamed in terror as she witnessed Nick's terrible wrath.

"Nick, you're scaring me!"

Nick pointed his paw at Judy, shaking it angrily. "Unbelievable, Judy. Un-fucking-believable. I told you to leave it alone, and what do you do? You bring that scummy sack of crap over into our house. Well, good job!"

"Nick, please forgive me!" begged Judy.

Nick shook his head in disbelief. Grabbing his jacket, he opened the door and headed out, with Judy following close behind him.

"Get away from me," said Nick. "I don't even want to look at you right now."

"Nick, let's talk about this!" begged Judy. It was at this time that several tenants in the building had opened their apartment doors, wondering what all the commotion was about. Nick saw an adult male beaver sticking his head out the door and staring at him.

"The hell are you looking at?" snarled Nick. "Mind your own fucking business!"

The beaver heeded the fox's advice, going back inside and shutting the door. Judy continued pleading with Nick as the elevator door opened and he got on.

"Nick, please, come back home! We can talk about this!"

Nick just glared at her in anger as the doors closed, taking him to the ground floor. Judy ran back into the apartment, tears running down her face as she sobbed. She had gone from making a wedding invitation list to wondering if there would even be a wedding now.

Judy spent the next few hours trying to call and text Nick. Sitting at home, she had no idea where Nick was, or if she would even see him again. It was all she could do to maintain her sanity. She tried calling several animals she knew, hoping that they had seen Nick, but she came up empty pawed. The hours kept rolling by, with daylight eventually giving way to darkness. Judy continued her calling and texting, but the stress of worrying about Nick's whereabouts had taken its toll. With her eyelids feeling the weight of much needed sleep, she crawled into bed. She cried herself to sleep, wishing that her handsome fox was lying next to her.

At almost two in the morning, Judy's phone rang. Waking from her sleep, she saw the contact name "Jack Wolfard" and aswered it.

"Hello?" said Judy. "Jack, what is it?"

"Judy," said the wolf on the other end. "You need to come down to Brock's Bar on 52nd Street right away."

"Why?" asked Judy as she jumped out of bed.

"It's Nick," said Jack. "He's gotten himself into some trouble."

Judy's blood ran cold. As angry as Nick had been when he left, there was no telling what he might have done.

Judy arrived at Brock's Bar half an hour later. Parking her car, she pulled her jacket tightly against as the cold night air was made worse by a strong breeze. Instantly, the rabbit noticed two squad cars sitting outside of the building. She ran over, seeing Nick's partner Jack Wolfard was on the scene.

"Jack, what in the world did he do?"

"I was working an extra shift when I heard the call come in over the radio. Looks like Nick got himself really drunk and started making a scene. When the owner came over to tell him to calm down, Nick went and slugged the guy."

"Oh, sweet cheese and crackers," said Judy shaking her head.

"Owner's Brian Brock. He's over there talking to Officer McHorn."

"Thanks Jack," said Judy, patting his paw.

"Don't thank me yet," said Jack. "He still wants to press charges."

"I'll see what I can do. Where's Nick anyway?"

"Back of my car. He's really wasted."

Judy went over to Mr. Brian Brock, a badger who was still holding the left side of his jaw. "Mr. Brock, I'm Officer Hopps. What can you tell me about this occurance?"

Brock snarled at her. "How many cops do I have to tell this to? This asshole fox gets himself shit-faced and starts yelling and hollering. I go over there to tell him to settle down, and he gives me right hook to the chin! I shoulda kicked his ass, I use to box, you know!"

"What can we do to make this go away, Mr. Brock." asked Judy.

"Don't try to pull that crap on me," growled the badger. "I don't give a shit if that fox is a cop. He punched me, at my own place of business!"

"Mr. Brock," said Judy, seeing a crowd gather around the parking lot to see what was going on. "I'm begging you to let this go away."

"Why? This cop something special to you?"

"He's my fiance," said Judy. "If this gets out, he's looking at suspension or even getting kicked off the job. He's a great guy. He's just . . . going through some personal stuff right now."

Brian Brock shook his head. "You think that's gonna work on me, rabbit?"

Judy played another card. "How about this," said Judy, reaching into her pocket and bringing out a business card. "This is my personal card. The next time you get stopped in traffic, or even a friend of family member gets stopped, just show the cop this and have him call me. We can make that go away, I promise."

The badger took the card, examining it. "Quid pro quo?" he said.

"Exactly," said Judy, nodding. "You do me a good turn and we'll repay the favor."

Snorting, the badger gave her a hard look. "Alright, but you tell that fiance of yours that if I ever catch him around here, I'm gonna kick his ass real good!"

"Don't worry," said Judy. "You won't be bothered by him again."

Judy now had the unpleasant task of seeing Nick in a severely intoxicated state. Opening up the back door to Officer Wolfard's squad car, she found Nick, his eyes bloodshot, his speech terribly slurred.

"Judeeeee," he said, trying to reach a paw out to her. "Lemme take 'nother swing at, at that somofabiiiiiiitch."

Jack Wolfard came over and helped Judy take the drunken fox over to her car. Nick had no chance of being able to walk unaided. His legs were like spaghetti noodles as the rabbit and wolf dragged him over to Judy's car. Much to Judy's disgust, Nick decided to throw up just before he got inside the car, leaving a massive puddle of vomit all over the paved parking lot. Jack then opened the door and threw Nick into the backseat and shut the door.

"You gonna need any help getting him home, Judy?" asked the wolf.

"No," said Judy. "I'll manage."

"Okay, call me if you need anything," said Wolfard.

Judy climbed into the car. Turning the key in the ignition, she looked into the backseat, seeing a snoring Nick lying spread out.

"We're going to have a very long talk in the morning," said Judy.

Judy managed to get Nick out of the car, into the building and up to their apartment. It wasn't easy, but Judy didn't want any of the neighbors who might happen to be up catch some uniform cops dragging one of their fellow officers inside due to being intoxicated. Judy laid Nick on the couch and threw a blanket over him before heading off to bed; not looking forward to what the morning would bring.

Judy awoke much later than usual that morning, seeing as how she had been forced to get up in the middle of the night to deal with her fiance's poor judgment. Walking into the bathroom, she found Nick hovering over the toilet, no doubt throwing up from the excessive amount of liquor he had consumed the night before. Judy scowled at him.

"You remember what you did last night?" she asked before putting toothpaste on her toothbrush.

"Vaguely," said Nick as he put a paw on his throbbing head. "I remember downing lots of shots of Johnny Walker. Next thing I know, I'm in the backseat of a squad car. I think Jack was there."

Judy spat the used toothpaste out of her mouth, rinsed with water and spat that out too. "Yeah, Jack was there, and so was I once he called me and said that you got yourself into a jackpot."

"Sorry," said Nick, feeling his stomach churning.

"You remember hitting the bar owner?" asked an upset Judy.

"I hit the owner, I don't even . . . oh shit!" Nick lowered his muzzle back down into the toilet, throwing up even more. Judy closed her eyes, unable to watch her love getting sick.

"Yes," said Judy, once Nick had stopped vomiting. "You hit the bar owner and he wanted to have you locked up, but I talked him out of it."

"Thanks, honey bunny," said Nick, trying to stand up.

"Don't call me that right now," said a very angry Judy. "I hope you realize that you not only put your job at risk, you put Jack's job and my job at risk because you made an incredibly stupid, stupid, decision! What were you thinking; going out there and getting drunk like that?"

"I guess I wasn't thinking," said Nick. "I won't do it again. I promise."

"When I think about all the stupid things you could have done last night. You could have gotten yourself killed, Nick! You wanna leave me alone by myself. Oh . . ."

Judy reached her hand back, then swung it around, slapping Nick on the face. She regretted it immediately.

"I'm sorry, Nick," she said, sobbing.

"I deserved that," said the hung over fox. "How about I go take a little nap, then we can talk about this some more, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Judy.

Nick took a three hour nap, waking up just after noon. Though still suffering from a minor headache, his nausea had vanished and the light wasn't bothering him anymore. He and Judy sat down on the couch, talking about everything that had transpired in the last twenty four hours.

"You remember me telling you about how my Mom had to save up to get me that scouts uniform?" said Nick.

"Yeah, I remember," Judy said.

"You know what the worst part of that was? It wasn't even those kids muzzling me, saying they wouldn't trust a fox in their troop. It was the fact that my Mom worked so hard so get me that uniform, and then what happens? I can't even use it. I felt worse about that than those snot-nosed kids bullying me."

"Was she upset with you?" asked Judy.

"No, but I could tell that she was hurt. She'd spent money we could have used for bills on that stupid uniform. It was rough, growing up like I did."

"You know," said Judy, slightly annoyed. "You're not the only kid to grow up in poverty. You don't have to go getting drunk, hitting animals and smashing plates because your hurting."

"I know," said Nick softly. "I just . . ." he could feel the tears start to well up. "I just hated seeing my Mom struggling to support me. I hated seeing her tired, always having to work two jobs to support us! It was awful Judy."

"I'm here for you, Nick." said Judy putting her arms around her handsome fox as he continued crying. "We need to discuss some more things though."

Nick broke their embrace, rubbing the tears away from his face. "Okay, what do you want?"

"First," said Judy. "I want you to promise me that you'll never drink again. I don't think you know when to stop."

"I know," said Nick, lowering his head. "I think I get that from my Mom. I know she drinks a lot."

"Maybe you two could start going to meetings?"

"I can try," said Nick. "I don't know about Mom, though."

"Give it a chance, Nick," said Judy, trying to boost his confidence.

"Now, I want to know . . . do you still want to get married?"

Nick looked at her completely befuddled. "Of course I do, Judy. Do you?"

"Yes," said Judy, putting her paw on the fox's lap. "More than anything."

"Good," said Nick taking hold of her paw. "I'll start going to meetings to night. I'm going to try and take Mom along with me."

"Thatr's my fox," said Judy. "Remember, I'll always back you up, just like you said you'll always back me up."

"Always," said Nick as they embraced in a kiss.

A month went by, and Nick had been true to his word, going to AA meetings, and taking Cindy along with him. She was hesitant to admit she head a problem at first, but as she listened to other animals' testimonies, she gradually became more self-aware. For so many years, she had gone home and gotten hammered that she scarcely paid attention to her actions. Together, mother and son helped each other on the road to recovery. Nick had been telling his partner Jack Wolfard this story at the Precinct house, when Jack made a startling revelation to the fox.

"Ten years for me next month, buddy," said the wolf.

"What's ten years from next month?" asked Nick.

"Sobriety," said the wolf. "I've been clean ever since."

"Jack . . . you mean you're a . . ." said Nick.

"Alcoholic? Yeah, I am," said Jack.

"So, that's why you tried talking the bar owner out of pressing charges, isn't it?"

"Yep," said Jack. "That and I was just trying to help out my partner."

Nick slapped his paw on Jack's back. "Thanks, pal."

It was then that Nick felt his cell phone vibrate. Taking hold of it in his paw, he looked at the screen. It was a message from Judy with a hypertext link. Unsure of what it was, Nick pressed the link which brought him to a news site containing a statement from his biological father, Norman Skulk.

"I am writing these words today to let everyone know that for years now I've been keeping a secret from the public. Long ago, when I was still a young fox, I was involved in a relationship with my secretary. This affair lead to her conceiving a child, whom I have never acknowledged until now. Though for his sake, I will keep his identity anonymous. I just want to apologize to my friends, family, but most of all my son. I am so very sorry."

Nick held his cell phone in his paws, appearing to be frozen in time. Jack, who had been watching Nick reading the text, shook his partner, trying to break him from the trance.

"Hey," said the wolf. "You alright?"

Nick said nothing, merely showing the text of the article to Jack. Reading it, Jack shook his head in disbelief. "Wow . . . I would have never guessed Norman Skulk was that type. Wonder who is son is?"

Nick finally came to his senses and looked over at his partner. "I have to go make a call, Jack. Okay?"

"Sure. Take your time," said the wolf.

Nick walked outside as he fiddled with his cell phone. "Mom? Yeah, I have a favor to ask you."

One week after Norman Skulk's public confession, Nick and Judy were at their apartment, waiting for a very special visitor. Nick paced back and forth nervously, wanting the visitor to hurry up and get there.

"Nick, would you stop that? You're going to give me motion sickness!"

"Sorry, honey bunny," said Nick.

"He'll get here when he . . ."

KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK!

"Here," said Judy, finishing his sentence.

Nick ran to the door. Breathing in deeply, he opened the door and none other than Norman Skulk was standing at his doorway.

"Hi, Dad," said Nick nervously.

"Hi, Nick," said Norman. "May I come in?"

"Sure," said Nick, escorting his father over to the couch where the two of them sat down together.

"I'm glad to see you wanted to make amends, Nick," said Norman. "I don't want to go to my grave thinking that my own son hates me."

"I don't hate you . . . not anymore," said Nick.

"Good," said Norman. "Your mother tells me that Judy was the one who convinced you to reconcile."

"Yeah," said Nick, smiling at the rabbit. "My honey bunny tries to see the best in everyone."

Judy returned his smile, and felt she might cry before the this was all over. Nick looked back at his father, who wanted to say what was on his mind.

"Nick, I know what I did was wrong, and I can never make up for that. I was so incredibly selfish for wanting to keep your existence a secret. We can't change the past, but I'm hoping we can have a future together."

Nick looked into his father eyes, wanting to hear the words in person.

"Nick . . . I'm sorry," said Norman.

With tears welling up in his eyes, Nick threw his arms around the father who had once abandoned him and his mother, whispering into his ear. "I forgive you, Dad."

Judy had to take out a tissue to wipe her eyes and blow her nose from the overwhelming emotions that swept over her at seeing a father and son make up. Norman wiped the tears away from his son's face.

"It's been a hard year for me, Nick. I lost my wife to cancer, but at least I got to have a chance to have a relationship with you for the first time in my life."

"I want us to have a relationship," said a still emotional Nick.

"Oh," said Norman. "There are two foxes outside your apartment that would like to meet you!"

"Really?" said Nick.

"Yes. Excuse me for a moment," said Norman. Walking over to the door, he opened it and called out. "Kids, you can come in now!"

Two teenage foxes, a male and female walked into the apartment and over to Norman, who presented them to his son.

"Nick, this is Anthony and Amanda, my twins. Anthony, Amanda, this is Nick Wilde. He's your big brother!"

"Hi!" said a cheerful Anthony and Amanda together.

Nick rose to his feet. "Big brother?" he said. "Aw, I have a little brother and sister!" Anthony and Amanda ran over to Nick as he opened his arms to embrace them. Judy used up another tissue as she once again started blubbering from her emotional outpouring.

"Dad," said Nick as he had his arms around his young half-siblings. "I take it Mom told you that I'm getting married to Judy, right?"

"She did, yes," said Norman.

Nick looked over at Judy, who nodded approvingly. "I'd very much like you and my little brother and sister," said Nick as he ruffled the younger foxes ears, "to come to the wedding."

"I'll do you one better than that," said Norman. "I'll pay for the wedding."

"What? Really?" said Nick.

"Why not? I think I owe you at least that much for all you've been through. Besides, it sounds like Judy has quite a large family to bring to the wedding ."

Nick went over to his father, embracing him once more.

"Dad."

"Son."