Zootopia: Undercover Pursuit

Chapter 8: Family

Chapter 8: Family

The road to the Hopps family home was fairly straightforward. They had to walk several kilometres on a snowy road (this village was a bit forgotten and the snowblower came through about every other day). However, Stuu's off-road pickup truck was easily able to cope against the few centimetres of snow that lay quietly on the road. Fortunately, it wasn't quite as cold during the day, so the snow was coming down hard, so the winter tyres gave plenty of grip. Passing through short stretches of woods that were covered in snow-white powder they emerged onto long and straight stretches of road that were punctuated by gentle curves to the left or right or through smaller villages with a dozen or so houses facing each other. There was very little traffic on the streets, hardly anyone drove a car in this area because usually the rabbits did not go far from Szarakówek (most of the rabbits were involved in growing carrots, there were exceptions like Judy who left their place of residence) and in addition they had everything close by. The doctor, the school, the shops, it was all close by in the area, so no one had the need to leave here. When Judy and her parents drove to her family home, she told them what it was like to work in the police force now. Her role in the force had changed dramatically and she was no longer guarding parking meters handing out tickets, but as she recognized herself, she was a real cop. She talked about the flat she bought "on her own" through her diligent work (she couldn't say she bought the house with someone else, the questions would start and with whom she rents it, and that would be terribly awkward for Judy). Then she went on to tell them what practically every day at her job was like, telling them how she caught all sorts of criminals. When she told them this as she always did with childish excitement, her parents listened to it with a look of mild horror on their faces. Her parents were overprotective, every time Judy talked about using a gun their ears drooped down and their faces became blurred.

"But you come out of these actions all right, don't you daughter?" her mother asked.

"Yes, I said I had a good partner at work," replied Judy.

"Well, if he's so good you could have invited him to join us, at our place the door is open to everyone...well except foxes...and bears...and wolves...and..." and so Stuu could list a dozen more kinds of predators, but he was interrupted by Judy.

"Dad please... times are changing, not every predator has to be bad" Judy explained.

"Yes of course, but you know how it is, it's always good to have eyes around your head. You never know when..."

"Dad...it's not those days anymore" interrupted Judy again for him with a slightly louder voice rolling her eyes. She didn't like this classic talk of species division, she couldn't relate to it at all, after all she was in a relationship with a fox. It was mainly because Judy was so irritated by her father's words. It meant that it would be hard for him to break the news of their relationship. If they heard that their daughter

was in a relationship they would be very happy, but their happiness would surely fade when they noticed who their daughter was dating.

"If we are on the subject of predators, you said a fox has joined your service? How is he doing?" asked Bonnie.

"He's a really good police officer. He does his job to the best of his ability, he's punctual, quick to respond and quick to learn," countered Judy l to which Stuu snorted a short laugh.

"Who has ever seen a fox perform the duties of a policeman? They're mostly con men," replied Stuu.

"Dad...how many times do I have to say that the days of looking down on a species are long gone? In Zootopia, everyone can be who they want to be and there are no restrictions on that. Not every predator is immediately not good." said Judy again trying to be calm, although her patience with her father's stubbornness was slowly running out.

"Here Judy is right, the weasel helps us in the field," countered Bonnie.

"When he loses to me at cards" countered Stuu.

"The important thing is that he helps. If the fox is in the police force then everyone deserves that chance" added Bonnie which surprised Judy. Back when she was first about to go to Zootopia her mother had a similar mindset to her father but now, Judy was surprised to find herself approaching predators more neutrally than skeptically compared to Stuu. He was very stereotypical and it was hard to get traditional thoughts about predators and especially foxes out of his head. It was a sure help to have an easier conversation to start about Judy's relationship with the fox. She promised herself that she would talk to them about it.

"Well, Gideon Greys used to be quite a jerk too, and now he's your best employee" remarked Judy.

"That's true too, Gideon has changed beyond recognition. You see Stuu, not every fox is bad" replied Bonnie, to which her husband sighed. He didn't have much to say, he knew the two women were right so he just smiled modestly and nodded affirmatively.

"And changing the subject, how have you been? We talked about me a bit a lot," Judy asked.

"We're coming then you'll see. You don't even know how we've been waiting for this moment" replied Stuu.

"Awww, Well I had to come for Christmas right? I really wanted to see you guys too, I missed you" replied Judy. She couldn't wait to see her big family that she loved with all her heart. It was probably her best present for the upcoming Christmas. To spend time with the people she loved.

Finally, after a journey that took half an hour, they arrived at their destination. Before their eyes appeared a large white house, whose roof was covered with white down (like the rest of the houses) whose windows were decorated with Christmas lights. Stuu stopped in the middle of the yard so Judy could get out of the car, surely the family was waiting for her.

"Go to them Judy. We stashed the presents," Stuu said. The daughter nodded with a motion of her head, then got out of the car as requested.

"Oops!" sounded Judy as she felt the snow up to her thighs. There was a lot more snow here than in Zootopia, but she might have expected it. Lifting her legs higher, she trudged through the thick layer of snow to avoid getting any more of her clothing wet. Eventually she reached the stairs that led to the brown front door. Her heart sped up when she saw them. She was stressing about this, it had been so long since she had seen them. She imagined their reactions when she stepped inside. This could be so cute.

"'Okay, I'm coming in' Judy thought as she knocked on the door, then went inside. She crossed the hallway that led to the kitchen when the sight of the whole family appeared in front of her, waiting until she entered the room.

"Welcome home Judy!"

Meanwhile, Nick was already in their flat. He had already managed to park his car in the garage and now that he had nothing to do he was drinking coffee and watching Zootopia through the window. This was probably the first time he had done this with interest. Previously he had never taken a brief view out of the window, not being very interested in what the metropolis looked like from a distance. But now that he was alone and his only reason to leave the house was to do some shopping there was nothing left to do but stare out the window. He still had to dress the Christmas tree, as he and Judy had no time together during this time, and he had promised his partner that he would send a picture of the dressed Christmas tree. Rabbit, for some unknown reason, wasn't quite sure if the fox would fulfil his promise. The fox himself didn't particularly want to do it, after all he was alone, but he had to fulfil Judy's promise As Nick drifted off in his thoughts pondering things, the phone on the table suddenly rang, drawing the fox's attention.