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Nick wiped the sweat from his brow as he sat atop his riding lawn mower. It was particularly hot and humid that day in the neighborhood, but he knew that the lawn needed mowed soon or the Neighborhood Association would be knocking on his door with a nasty letter saying that he was in violation of some lawn ordinance. He turned the mower one final time and rode it into the garage, where the grinding of the motor reverberated in the large garage. Turning the key, he shut it off and hopped down.

He walked outside once more to examine the job he'd just finished. The fox had grown up in an apartment building and never even had a yard to share with other tenants. Now, here he was with his own very own yard. He breathed in the scent of freshly cut grass as he looked approvingly at his work.

"Nice job, handsome fox," a voice said to him.

Turning around, he saw his wife Judy with a glass of lemonade in her paws for him. Taking the glass, he downed it in one gulp. Smacking his lips together, he smiled at his wife.

"Thanks, honey bunny," he said as they walked inside the house.

Inside their spacious home, Nick instantly felt the coolness of the air conditioning engulf him. Closing his eyes, slumped down on his rocking recliner and tried to relax.

"I don't think I could have made it ten more minutes out there," said Nick, wiping the sweat from his face with a handkerchief.

"Oh, you big baby," said Judy, shaking her head. "You know, we didn't have air conditioning at my home in Bunny Burrow."

"I know, because you didn't have electricity, or running water, and everyone was illiterate--ouch!"

Nick felt his right ear being tweaked by his wife, who was always very sensitive about here home town. Rubbing his injured ear, he picked up that day's newspaper and started reading, but was interrupted by his wife.

"Oooh," said Judy, grabbing her stomach.

Nick lowered the paper, seeing his wife holding her tummy. Getting to his feet, he ran over and guided her to the couch to sit down.

"You okay?" asked Nick, obviously concerned.

"I'm fine," said Judy. "It's just I could feel those babies kicking around in there."

Judy, now several months into her pregnancy, had been home on maternity leave. The Zootopia Police Department employees were given a very generous benefits that allowed for a parent to take an entire paid year off work during pregnancy and after birth. Judy had requested a transfer to once again work with Clawhauser in dispatch and records when she learned that she was pregnant. It had only been in the last month that she had decided that it was best both for her and her future children to go on leave.

Nick placed his paws on his wife's stomach, feeling the commotion that was going on inside of her. He smiled, knowing that someday soon, he was going to be a father.

"I can't wait to see what our kids look like," said Nick. "They'll nodoubt be incredibly handsome like me."

"Yes," said Judy. "I'm sure they'll inherit your smart-ass gene as well."

"I sincerely hope so," said Nick, giving his wife his typical sly fox grin.

"Nick," said Judy, her tone somewhat serious. "There's . . . there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Okay," said Nick. "Shoot."

Judy sighed. "Ever since I was a little girl, I didn't want to be anything but a cop. I bugged my parents about it all the time, I read books about police, trying to learn what it would take to be a cop. I lived my entire life for nothing but preparing to be a cop, the first rabbit police officer! But now . . . now I just think . . ."

"I know what you're going to say," said Nick.

"You do?" said a mildly surprised Judy.

"You want to stay home with the kids after they're born, right?"

"Yeah," said Judy, rubbing her bloated stomach. "I thought I would spend my entire working life as a cop, but I just feel so attached to the idea of staying home, watching the babies play, seeing them take their first steps, hearing them say their first word. I don't want to miss those things."

Nick put his arm around his pregnant wife. "I know, and if you want to do that, I'll support you one hundred percent."

"You said you'd always back me up," said Judy, nuzzling Nick under his chin.

"I always will, honey bunny. Look, you don't have to worry about quitting the force. You said you're goal was to become the first rabbit officer, and you did! You solved the Night Howler mystery, graduated first in your class and have shown the entire city that small animals can achieve big things."

"I guess I have," said Judy, who now started laughing. "I just never expected to fall in love like this."

"Especially with a fox, right?" asked Nick.

"Especially a handsome, charming fox like you," she added.

Nick snuggled up to his wife and she rested her head on his chest, but quickly pulled away.

"You stink!" she said, covering her nose.

"Sorry," he said, feeling embarrassed. "I was sweating like crazy outside."

"Well, go take your sweaty butt to the bathroom and take a shower--a long shower!" ordered Judy.

Nick rolled his eyes, all the while grumbling as he went to the bathroom to take his nice, long shower.

Nick and Judy decided to go to bed early that night. Nick would have to work tomorrow morning, and between having a wife late in her pregnancy, and being assigned to a very important case in Major Cases, he wasn't feeling the greatest.

"You alright, Nick?" asked Judy, turning the lamp on her side of the bed on.

"Yeah," said Nick none too convincingly. "It's just that Lt. Edwards gave Jack and I a stinker of a case we have to solve."

Nick and Judy had decided long ago not to discuss work when at home, so whatever was on the fox's mind must have been important to him to break the rule.

"How big of a stinker?" asked Judy.

Nick flipped his lamp on. "Bad, I mean really bad."

"Okay," said Judy, sitting up in bed. "Tell me what it's about."

"You sure?" asked Nick.

"Yes," said Judy.

"I don't want to cause you anymore stress than those little brats inside of you already are," joked Nick.

"You won't," reassured his wife. "Lay it on me."

Nick sighed. "So, Jack and I have the 'honor' of trying to figure out who's been pulling off all of these burglaries around the city."

"Doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary to me," observed Judy.

"You'd think so," said Nick. "But there doesn't seem to be any kind of MO in the thieves pattern, other than they're targeting the wealthy animals in town."

"Can't have the rich and famous fearing for their safety, can we?" mused Judy.

"That's exactly why I didn't want this case, Judy. I know all the media that's going to be surrounding this case, and I don't want to deal with it. Besides, if Jack and I can't solve whose been pulling off these heists, I might want to start looking for a new career."

"What have you got on them so far?" asked the rabbit.

"Not much," said Nick with an exasperated sigh. "We have camera footage of them, looks like a male and female raccoon, but no prints, no fibers, no DNA or any kind of other forensic evidence. So, we have these two raccoons plundering the affluent citizens of town, and only Jack and I are on the case!"

"Do you think that Lt. Edwards will give you any more detectives to put on the case?" asked Judy.

"No," snorted Nick. "That elephant's too busy sticking his trunk up Chief Bogo's ass!"

Judy laughed. "He probably thinks that's where his next promotion is."

Nick managed a laugh at his wife's observation. Turning to his side, he put his arms around the noticeably pregnant rabbit. Judy nuzzled her head up against his chin, feeling safe and content whenever she was close to her handsome fox. Nick closed his eyes, as he too never failed to receive comfort from being close to his wife. Judy was now too far along in his pregnancy for the couple to be intimate, but Nick was far too concerned with the well-being of his wife and future children to even suggest intercourse. Opening his eyes, he moved his paw down to the protruding stomach of the rabbit; feeling the movement of his children to be.

"Wow," said the fox in hushed awe. "Won't be long now before we'll get to hold them, talk to them, feed them, play with them. . ."

"Change them," added Judy.

Nick curled his nose. "Yeah, I guess we'll have to do that too. Oh well!"

Nick continued rubbing his paw along his wife's belly, looking deeply into her soft, purple eyes.

"Hey, Judy," said the fox.

"What?"

"What do you call a one humped rabbit?" asked Nick with a smart-alec grin on his face. Judy rolled her eyes at her husband's question.

"Pregnant!" said Nick with a laugh.

"Go to sleep, dumb fox," said Judy as she turned off her lamp. "You're going to need it!"

Nick got up the next morning, but was careful not to wake his still sleeping wife. He hopped in the shower briefly before getting out and changing into his work attire, selecting a tan suit with a green tie. Going out to the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a trio of eggs. This would be the only chance throughout the day where the fox would be able to fry up eggs without Judy complaining about the smell. As a rabbit, she was none to fond of the smell, but after she became pregnant, the smell was absolutely nauseating to her. She strictly forbid her husband to prepare them when she was awake, so Nick was lucky to have seized an opportunity this morning.

Major Cases, the department that Nick and his partner Jack Wolfard were assigned to, was located in the 1st Precinct, so Nick didn't have to acclimate himself to a new building. Getting out of his car, he waved over to his partner who had just arrived.

"Hey, Jackie boy!" shouted the fox as he moved closer to him.

"Hey, Nick," said the wolf. "You think today's gonna be the day?"

"For what?" snorted Nick. "To solve the case? Sure, and maybe I'll be promoted to Chief of the Department!"

"No need to be a smart-ass," observed Jack as the two of them walked into the First Precinct building.

"I'm a fox, Jackie-boy," said Nick with a grin. "Being a smart-ass is part of my nature."

Nick and Jack waded through the throng of uniform cops and plain clothes detectives as they headed towards the squad room, a common area in Major Cases that contained the desks of the detectives, as well as monitors, dry-erase boards and other materials.

Nick sat down at his desk, which was directly across from Jack's. He looked at the left corner of his desk, seeing the picture of him and Judy together. No matter how bad he felt during the day, all he had to do was look at how happy he was with the love of his life and it helped him to carry on. Nick then opened the file drawer of his desk, pulling out the manilla folder containing the scant information he and his partner had collected for their present assignment. The folders contents included blurred photos of the two perpetrators, complaining witness statements, and times and locations of the crimes. Nothing else was inside.

"Oh," said Nick, putting his paws over his face. "I'd give anything to get off this case!"

Jack, who'd yet to sit down, was busy staring over at the corner of the squad room. Lt. Edwards, the squad supervisor of Major Cases, was in his office talking to someone whom the wolf did not recognize. Jack couldn't make out exactly what species the person was, but he had taken notice of him when he saw that the person was wearing a cowboy hat; something that was extremely unusual in Zootopia.

"Hey," said the wolf, tapping Nick on the shoulder. "Who's that?"

Nick stood up and looked over in the direction Jack had pointed. "I don't know, but something tells me that we're going to find out here really soon."

"Wolfard, Wilde, get your tails in here on the double!" called out the booming voice of Lt. Edwards.

Not wanting to upset their boss, Nick and Jack did as they were told, swiftly entering the corner office of the Lieutenant. Inside, both beasts instantly took notice of the figure he'd been speaking to. A tan coyote wearing a cowboy hat, bola tie stood before them. Nick took notice of the single star badge pinned to the coyote's chest that read "STATE OF TEXAS".

"Boss," said Nick. "What's this about?"

"Nick, Jack, say hello to Detective William Mack, El Paso Police Department. He's here to assist with your case."

Nick had wanted help with what he saw as a "stinker" of a case, but couldn't for the life of him understand why it required getting assistance from Texas. The coyote shook Nick and Jack's paws cordially, before asking that they call him "Billy".

"What is it that you think you can do for us, Billy?" asked Nick, curious to see what the coyote had to offer.

"Well," said the coyote, his accent thick with Texas twang. "About six months ago, we had an incident back in my home town of El Paso. You see, there was this wealthy, old timer who lived in this great big castle of a home. Everyone in town knew he was well off, and no one ever gave him any trouble, 'cept for these two scum buckets here!"

Billy pulled two mugshots from the inside of his sports coat to show Nick and Jack. "Right here! This is Billy Joe Sullivan. He's the one that shot the old-timer and killed him. This here, that's his girlfriend, Bobbie Sue Murphy, she's responsible for actually taking the old guy's money and running off."

Nick and Jack studied the photos, comparing them to the pictures they had in their file. The resemblance was remarkable, but Nick wanted to know more.

"How did you come to the conclusion that these two were in Zootopia, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Don't mind at all, Nick! We'd first heard word that the two were headed south into Mexico, and we knew it would be near impossible to get the Federalis to cooperate with us, but when we talked to Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue's friends, they all said that those two were headed to greener pastures than Mexico!"

"Doesn't get much greener than Zootopia, does it?" observed Jack.

"Sure don't!" agreed Billy. "So here's the deal: I'm gonna help you two catch these varmints, you get all the credit, and I'll take 'em back to El Paso!"

"Why take them back to Texas?" asked Nick. "You'll have to extradite them, and that could take quite some time."

"Doesn't matter to me," said Billy. "You send 'em back to Texas, and we'll get to fry the little bastards much quicker then you city slickers can!"

Nick and Jack looked at one another and nodded. Clearly, Billy Mack was going to prove to be a useful ally in the pursuit of Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue. All the animals present shook paws, agreeing to help each other in the spirit of cooperation. Inwardly, Nick was apprehensive. Only this morning he thought he was dealing with burglaries, but now he realized that he, Jack and Billy were after two wanted murderers, and there was nothing more dangerous than an animals that knew it was cornered.