Archive of Our Own ^beta

Judy received a call from her boss while out on a morning run. Apparently, one of yesterday's arrests had spilled the beans to Fangmeyer during the night and she was needed as soon as possible to look over the new case file. Dressed in nothing more than running shorts and a tank top, she decided against going home to change or grab a quick breakfast. Instead, she turned at the corner and started heading towards Zootopia Police Department.

"How about we grab a bite to eat before meeting Chief?"

"Choc pops!"

"Ugh, no, there's no way you're having those this early in the morning. How about a fruit salad?"

"Berries?"

"Auntie Anteater's has your dad's favorite. We'll stop there."

"Whole bowl?"

"I think we'll get two and see how it goes."

After waiting in line for ten minutes to pick up their orders, Judy booked it over to the police station with the knowledge that Bogo would get grouchier and grouchier the longer she took. Even on her days off, Zootopia's criminal underbelly waited for no one, as the Chief loved to point out. Judy sometimes wondered if there was an evil conspiracy going on, purposely devised to interrupt her weekends off.

"Oh my God, is that who I think it is?!"

Clawhauser was practically falling over the reception desk when Judy walked up to greet him, eyes wide and fixed on the stroller in front of her. His outburst attracted the attention of everyone else in the atrium, about fifteen officers turning to see what had sent Clawhauser into such a melodramatic uproar. Francine and Elaine were the first to figure out what was going on, both elephants racing down the stairs to see Judy's little tagalong visitor.

"He's so tiny," cooed Clawhauser. "Almost two years, right?"

"In three months."

"How dare you hide this little bundle of cuteness from us for so long! He has Nick's eyes. And maybe his tail?"

"All red foxes have those, Benji."

"I know, I know, but they always say that kids pick up traits from their parents, blood or not."

"He does have a disturbing love of carrots."

"Carrots! Mommy?"

"You can have some when we get home, sweetie."

The elephants and cheetah spent a good seven minutes gushing over Judy's son, clearly tempted to reach out and pinch his still-chubby cheeks. Judy more than understood the temptation, but was also relieved when they managed to restrain themselves. Finley was still in the nipping stage and the last thing she wanted was for him to get a solid bite on her coworkers' fingers.

"Hopps!"

"Whoops, gotta answer that. Bullpen?"

"As always."

"I'll be back in a little bit. You can fawn over him once we're done."

"Does he like donuts?"

Judy grimaced and said, "Not until his third birthday. Same with the pawpsicles."

"Awwww."

With quick hops, Judy rolled on over to the bullpen, her fellow officers arm-wrestling and bickering when she entered the room. Bogo was already at the podium, trusty docket laid out in front of him. He always seemed to have a sixth sense for the Wildes and pointed right at her without looking. No one paid attention to them, instead cheering on Delgato and Snarlof in their contest of strength.

"Don't just stand there, Hopps. We've got less than eight hours to apprehend this perpetrator and Anderson needs to..."

The Chief trailed off when he turned around, eyes moving down and down to stare at Judy and the stroller she'd stopped beside the podium. To his credit, all he did for a half-minute was fiddle with the docket, obviously startled by this sudden turn of events.

"Am I to assume this is the newest Wilde we've heard so much about?"

Now that caught everyone's attention.

"Four months and going strong," said Judy as she wandered over to her usual seat. "I was out for a morning run when you called and didn't have time to return home. Don't worry, Fin will behave while we're here. He has his fruit salad and toys to keep him occupied."

Bogo looked more than a little skeptical of this pronouncement, eyeing Fin like he was a particularly clever and lascivious criminal mastermind. A few of her colleagues started to snicker at the sight, but promptly shut up when Bogo turned his sights on them. Fin just continued to babble at his toy lions. Such a good little kit, thought Judy with a smile. He was more well-behaved than the eighteen officers in the room with him.

"And your lesser half?"

"Nick should get here in the next hour," assured Judy. "He was running errands when I called him."

The Chief pointed at Fin and said, "Not a peep, understood?"

Fin just stared at the cape buffalo, fingers and muzzle covered in blueberry and mango juices. His shirt and pants had spots on them too, but Judy could get the stains out with a strong detergent. Her mother had some good recipes that she'd been putting to use in recent weeks.

"Okay, let's get started then. First order of business..."

To Judy's relief, Fin was quiet through the whole debriefing, too busy observing all of the megafauna to disrupt Bogo's tirade against Tundratown's newest batch of criminals. Still too young to understand what was being discussed, Judy didn't mind Bogo talking about the latest homicide case, Fin's focus pinned on Grizzoli's twitching tail behind them.

Judy had a feeling that if she unstrapped her son, he'd dash straight for it.

"Chief! Looking good this morning."

"Shut it, Wilde! Now sit your ass down and keep your spawn from chewing on Grizzoli's tail."

"Daddy! Daddy!"

The lion officer quickly whipped said tail behind him, more than a little embarrassed at having been caught goofing around and playing with the tiny fox. Judy was happy when the debriefing ended about five minutes later, her son's fingers already clawing at the safety straps of his stroller. After speaking with Anderson, Spitz, and Fangmeyer, they'd be free from work for the rest of the weekend.

"So, we finally have proof that mini-Wilde exists?"

"We said we'd bring him in eventually, but a police station isn't exactly the best place for a toddler."

"Seems pretty well-behaved to me."

Judy shrugged and said, "He's surprisingly calm and laid-back for his age. My parents chalk it up to his personality. Some kids are just low-energy and content, I guess."

"My sister was the same way," said Delgato. "Never caused a fuss or any problems."

After twisting a wrap around her back, Judy unstrapped her son and positioned him against her chest, easily balancing his light weight. Fin wouldn't be small for much longer, so she was taking advantage of it while she still could. Judy tried to wipe down his messy muzzle and fingers, but there would be no cleaning those until he was dunked in some water.

"Could you grab the stroller, Nick?"

"On stroller duty yet again. Would you look at this? She's a total baby hog. Never lets me carry my own kit."

"Whine, whine, so much whining."

Before leaving for their daily assignments, most of the officers meandered over to say their hellos to little Finley, McHorn and the polar bears being extra gentle when they reached out to pat his grabby hands. Grizzoli seemed to be Fin's favorite, the lion not once objecting to Fin's curiosity with his grand mane and tail. Judy and Nick had kept their son hidden for the past four months, wanting to bond with him on their own time and without the stress of anyone outside the family being all up in their personal business.

Adopting Finley had been a trial in and of itself. Interspecies adoption was still pretty rare, and predator/prey adoptions were almost unheard of. Of course, this hadn't discouraged Judy and Nick in the slightest, both of them adamantly pushing through the foster care system to find kits in need of a family. Rabbits almost always came from huge families and were taken in by relatives if anything happened to their parents, so that option was scratched off the list right away. Foxes, on the other hand, were more solitary and often overlooked in the foster care system.

Thankfully, they'd had their occupations, fame, and Chief Bogo on their side, so acquiring Finley had gone a little more smoothly than they'd anticipated. However, it had still taken fourteen months for a judge to decide that they could bring a predator child home with them.

"I'm gonna take him to the bathroom and see if he has to go," said Judy as they walked out to the atrium. "With him still so new to training, I'd rather avoid an accident."

Fangmeyer snorted. "My niece decided to relieve herself all over me last week. That little lady's gonna be in training pants whenever I babysit her from now on."

"Yeah, Fin hasn't done that yet."

Everything in the bathroom went according to plan, Fin not having an accident and going potty like a big boy. Judy promised him more blueberries and a trip to the playground for doing so well. By the time she returned to the reception desk, Nick had already finished going over the homicide case file with Fangmeyer and Anderson, the wolf and polar bear looking none too happy with the sketchy information they'd gathered so far.

"This is gonna be a long shift," groaned Anderson. "But I'll take Tundratown over Savanna Central any day. Sand just isn't meant to be in some places."

"All done?"

"I think I just ruined any shred of happiness they had in their lives."

"Your husband's a menace," said Fangmeyer. "And we're probably gonna have to swim through sub-zero water. Just great."

"Ohhhh, there he is!"

Clawhauser was up and around the desk in seconds, eyes practically glowing as he took in Finley and the toy lions he was playing with. Green eyes wide with wonder, Fin held out a toy for Clawhauser to examine and gush over.

"Your parents called, Carrots," said Nick. "They want us to visit next weekend for Violet's bridal shower."

"They just wanna steal Fin for a couple days."

"Sounds good to me."

"Ditto."

"Can I steal him for a couple days?" said Clawhauser. "We'd have so much fun. I bet he's a Gazelle fan, isn't he?"

"He's a fan of chewing on his toes right now."

That made Clawhauser grimace and honestly, what did he expect? Toddlers were filthy little creatures. Judy preferred not to think about what Fin stuffed in his mouth when they weren't looking. He'd chewed on Nick's sunglasses the other night, completely ruining them for future use.

"You need to bring him around more often," said the cheetah with a firm nod. "The Chief probably won't yell as much if there's a child around."

"Oh really?"

"Well, I'm just gonna get back to the desk now. See you later, little Wilde!"

Clawhauser sprinted away from their boss, pretty much leaping over the desk to get back to his seat. Not for the first time, Judy wondered if the Chief got a thrill out of scaring people shitless.

"Get your tails in gear and catch me a criminal, Fangmeyer. Off with you!"

"Yes, Sir."

"And as for you two," said Bogo, "Or three. I have a new case waiting for you on Monday morning. Officers Spitz and Wolford will be working it until then, so make sure to set up a briefing time before you leave. And that is unsanitary, Hopps."

Fin was chewing on the head of a toy lion that he'd dropped on the floor not one minute ago.

"If that's the dirtiest thing he puts into his mouth, then it's a good day," said Judy. "At least he's not trying to eat worms anymore."

"Or butterflies. He still likes to chase them, though."

Obviously deciding that they were too much of a headache to deal with, Bogo left with a small wave to Fin and headed up to his office. After realizing that she didn't have time to finish her morning run, Judy waved for Nick to push the stroller while she continued to carry Fin against her chest. As usual, their son was content to stay close to his mother, watching everyone and everything as they left the building.

Unfortunately, they didn't notice the trio of reporters that were waiting outside for them.

"Officers Wilde and Hopps!" shouted a rather scruffy-looking zebra. "Is it true that you adopted a predator child?"

"Who gave your adoption papers approval?"

"Do you think it's safe and natural for a prey animal to raise a predator?"

"Have you had any difficulties with him yet?"

Judy wrapped her arms tight around Finley to shield him from the overzealous reporters. By keeping a low-profile, they'd been able to avoid attention for the last four months, but it was only a matter of time before someone tracked them down at the ZPD. Neither parent had wanted Fin to be with them when it happened, though.

"Umm, no com—"

"What's going on out here?" demanded Delgato. "We have no scheduled press conferences today."

The imposing tiger reached over and took Judy by the shoulder, leading her and Nick right back into the precinct while Francine, Adams, and McHorn charged out to deal with the reporters. Knowing McHorn, they'd be slapped with loitering charges within the hour.

"Wolford saw them hiding at the bottom of the steps about an hour ago," said the tiger. "Should've warned you before that debacle could even happen. They're like vampires, I swear."

"It's alright. We knew this was gonna happen at some point."

Nick sniffed and said, "They'll be regretting their choice of profession once McHorn's through with them."

"The kit okay?"

Bouncing her son a little higher, Judy bumped noses with Finley before they were back in front of Clawhauser. As expected, the cheetah started to fret over them like a mother-hen, saying several times that he hoped those nasty reporters were slapped with loitering or harassment charges. They'd apparently been keeping an eye on the ZPD for several days now, just waiting for the Wildes to show up with their new child.

"He's fine," said Judy, "Just a little bewildered. What? You want your daddy?"

"Aww, c'mere, Fuzztail."

Fin made grabby hands until Nick took him, more than happy to cuddle the kit until he calmed down. Delgato gave Fin a light scratch on the head before heading back outside to see what punishments McHorn and his lackies had decided to dole out.

"I guess we'll be taking a car home today."

Spitz waved from where he and Link had been looking over yet another case file. And unlike Nick's stunt during the Night Howler case, it took them less than two minutes to run a plate check on their burglary suspect.

"We're heading over to the Rainforest District, so we can give you a ride," said the llama. "There's a couple car seats in the second floor closet, too."

"I'll run up and get one," Link volunteered. "Just give me a couple minutes."

"Thanks a bunch, guys."

The zebra scoffed as he walked by and said, "I'm not exactly a fan of seeing those vampires preying on you two and your baby. Hope McHorn nails 'em."

"I kinda wanna go watch it."

"Nick!"

"What? Nobody's better at making you feel like a piece of camel dung than McHorn. He turns reprimanding into an art form."

"Twenty dollars on him getting at least two for loitering?"

"You're on."

Judy rolled her eyes and tried not to look too amused; there was no need to fuel Nick and Spitz's gambling proclivities. And then her phone started to vibrate, the all too familiar jingle of her parents echoing through the atrium. After taking a deep breath and giving Nick the side-eye, she answered to the superimposed face of her father.

"Hey there, Jude the Dude! Where's our grandson?"

"Love you too, Dad," snarked Judy as she turned the phone so they could see Fin more clearly. "And he's right over here."

"Cheese and crackers, he's gotten even bigger since we last saw him!"

Bonnie's voice drew Fin's attention and he turned around to wave at his grandparents' squished together faces. In truth, it had only been three weeks since their last visit to Bunnyburrow, but Bonnie and Stu were adamant about regular weekend visits so they could see and cuddle their only non-bunny grandchild.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. H!"

"Morning, Nick. Wait, are you two at work? Why is Finley at work with you? Did things not work out with the babysitter?"

"I knew this would happen!"

"Nothing has happened! Everything's fine with the—"

"I know Nick's mother has him most of the week," said Stu, "But that backup babysitter of yours looked kinda shifty. Two background checks just isn't enough nowadays. And I'm sure Mrs. Wilde would agree with me. She only wants the very best for our little Fin. The munchkin's her only grandkit, after all."

"Okay, just listen, we're just here for—"

"You really should've contacted your cousin Maisie. She lives on the outskirts of Zootopia and you know she'd—"

"Dad? Dad! No, Dad, everything's fine. It's actually our day off, but Chief Bogo had some urgent business to discuss with us and it couldn't wait until Monday, either."

"Oh, well, that's good to hear," said Stu. "Now, when are you coming to visit?"

"Your sister's bridal shower is next weekend."

"It'd be the perfect time for a visit. We even have a whole batch of blueberries ready for harvesting. Your brother Ethan set aside two bustles for the family foxes. And some raspberries for your mother, Nick."

Nick smirked and said, "Oh, that does sound very tempting."

"Grandma!"

"Hello there, darling. And would you just look at those teeth! They're coming in so nice and sharp. Good and healthy diet does that, you know."

"Well, she is the daughter of carrot farmers."

"Nick..."

About a half-dozen officers were trying not to laugh at the parent-daughter conversation. Normally, it would've annoyed Judy to no end, but after their run-in with the reporters not even ten minutes ago, some levity was much needed at this point.

"I've got the car seat," said Link as he descended the stairs. "Ready to go whenever you guys are."

"Well, that's our ride, so we've gotta go. C'mon, say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, Fin. Give 'em a big wave and kiss."

"Bye bye!"

"Oh, goodbye, sweetheart. Hopefully, we'll be seeing you this weekend. We love you!"

"Love you, too."

Judy shut down the phone before her parents could continue on; when Fin was involved, they always tried to stay on MuzzleTime for as long as possible. They'd even agreed to come to Zootopia for his second birthday and Judy didn't even want to think about the huge stack of presents he'd be getting from them. Thanks to Gideon and Nick, neither of her parents cared in the slightest that their grandson was a fox. It just seemed to make them all the more proud of him.

"Whew, now that that's over," said Judy as she snatched Fin from Nick's arms, "Let's head on home. I'm bushed from all this drama. Way too early for it."

"I kinda want to stay and see what McHorn's gonna—"

"Now, Nick!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming. Keep your tail on, Carrots."

After folding up the stroller and getting Fin situated in his car seat, Link and Spitz drove them straight home and somehow managed to avoid lanes of congested traffic. Nick and the zebra bickered over which football teams would win the Regional Finals while Spitz cursed out anyone who tried to cut him off. All Finley did was babble at whoever was willing to listen, showing his lion toys to Link and Nick in equal turns. They ohhhed and ahhhed at the appropriate moments.

"And we're here," said Spitz about fifteen minutes later. "I'd charge you, but that's against company policy."

Nick flicked a coin at him. "Keep the change, you filthy animal."

"Says the filthy animal who had fleas last year."

"Hey, that suspect was hard to take down and then rubbed himself all over me," said Nick as he unstrapped Fin. "If I'd known what he was doing, I'd have thrown him straight into the river."

"Thanks for the ride, you two. Stay safe."

"It's my middle name."

"Oh really? That's odd, because I thought it was Frederick."

"Shut it, Wilde."

With that said, Link and Spitz raced away to start hunting their burglary suspect. Hungry for an early lunch, Judy didn't waste any time in opening the door to their townhouse and storing the stroller in a nearby closet. Nick was right behind her, their son already demanding to be put down so he could run off and play with his toys.

"I'm not leaving the house any more today, got it?"

"Loud and clear, sweetheart."

With practiced precision, Nick and Judy threw together a pair of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, munching on crackers and carrot slices the whole time. Judy hadn't had time to eat her own breakfast, so she decided to combine the unopened fruit salad with some leftover eggplant lasagna for Fin. Unlike his vegetarian parents, the little fox liked to eat bugs and a few types of fish, which had done quite a bit to diversify their refrigerator and cabinets.

"We need more squash and crackers."

"Broccoli, too."

"And you should give your mother a call sometime night. Fin has a check-up on Tuesday and she might need to take him."

"I know, I know. Just let me—"

Fin darted between their legs and shouted, "Mommy, Mommy! Look!"

"Oh, that's a lovely beetle."

"Yes, it's huge and amazing. Where'd you find that thing, buddy?"

"Under the couch."

"Here, why don't you just give him to me? We'll put Mr. Beetle-bob outside so his family can find him."

"He's lost?"

By the time Nick and Fin returned from the backyard, Judy had eaten half her sandwich and a whole bag of potato chips, not feeling the slightest bit ashamed of her ravenous appetite. Chasing after a toddler and catching criminals was a lot of work. Throw Nick Wilde in there and you essentially had two full-time jobs.

"Well, looks like I'll have to call the de-bugging service again," said Judy as she collapsed at the kitchen table. "We both know that he's gonna stick one in his mouth at some point and I don't want him eating strange, unclean bugs."

Nick held up his phone and said, "McHorn nailed three of 'em for loitering. Spitz owes me twenty dollars."

"You two are impossible."

Chuckling at his wife's exasperation, Nick sauntered up behind Judy and started to massage her shoulders. The former didn't even try to bite back a groan of pleasure, feet tapping with happiness against the kitchen floor. This apparently also caught Fin's attention, who toddled in from the living room and looked up at his parents as if they were some bizarre puzzle to be solved.

"Mommy's a little stressed, Fuzztail. Rubbing her shoulders helps her feel better."

Fin seemed to contemplate this for a moment before plopping down on his butt and reaching out for Judy's left foot. Little fingers pushed haphazardly at her ankle and foot muscles, no rhyme or reason to the pattern. It took everything Judy had not to crack up laughing.

"My leg feels better already, sweetie."

"Smelly."

Then Fin leaned over to lick his mother's big toe, face twisting when he didn't like the taste. With a shake of his head, Fin pushed himself up and darted off into the living room. He'd be back in a few minutes with something else to show them.

"Oh yeah, he's gonna be a real winner with the ladies," said Nick. "Might get slapped a few times, but a real winner in the making."

"That makes me feel so much better."

"Because he's gonna be just like his daddy? Well, I was quite the heartthrob in my—"

Judy pinched his leg. "Yeah, I've got no desire to hear about your scandalous younger years, Mr. Wilde. If I wanted to know what you got up to back then, I'd call Finnick over for dinner."

"He's a lying liar who lies."

"Strange, but that story about two vixens throwing you out the back window of Mr. Big's car sounded a whole lot like—"

"We promised never to talk about that again."

"I think it'd make a great bedtime story for our son," said Judy. "He'd love to hear about Daddy being covered in giant leeches."

"You are a cruel, cruel bunny, Mrs. Wilde."

"And you're a dumb fox, Mr. Wilde."

Fin shrieked from the living room, probably tripping over the coffee table for the second time that week. If he'd conked his head, then whatever was left of their already unpleasant day would be flushed down the toilet.

"Whelp, no rest for the weary."

"I'll get the ice pack," said Nick, "If you get the tears."

"Vixens and backseat windows, Mr. Wilde. Vixens and backseat windows."

"Yeah, yeah, you know you love me."

Judy hopped up to kiss him and said, "Yes, yes, I do."

"Mommy!!"

"Cheese and crackers, that doesn't sound good. Could you grab his stuffed bunny while you're at it?"

"Ten-four."