It was another wintry December day at work for Nick and Judy. On this day, they all had to get up early in the morning at the police station, it was rumoured that Commissioner Bogo had an important message to deliver to his officers. This was not to everyone's liking, as for the past few days the frost had been piercing even the thickest of furs and one really had to dress very well in order not to get cold on the journey to work. The first to arrive at the police station were Judy and Nick, who arrived in their police uniforms. They had been living together for two months, Judy had stopped renting a small and poor flat and she and Nick had decided that they would live together. They now rented a slightly larger flat, which was easily enough for two people. At first they had to save to be able to afford it, but thanks to their diligence and determination they managed to achieve their goal and in October they were able to occupy the accommodation.

"Howdy Clawhauser!" greeted Nick to the cheetah, who was, as always, munching on the cereal for breakfast that awaited him each day next to the computer monitor. The cheetah didn't have time to reply, all he did was wave his hand towards Judy and Nick with a spoon in his mouth.

"He'll never change," Nick said as he walked with Judy to the room where Bogo was handing out the day's assignments for the officers.

"You know, maybe it's a good thing...in general Clawhauser told you yesterday why we should show up so early ?" Judy asked.

"No, the only thing he told me was that Bogo seemed unusually calm. For a bull's blood that actually might be surprising " laughed Nick as they stopped at the hall door. Fox opened the door for Rabbit, who giggled and said thank you. There was no one in the hall. True, the lights were on and you could see that the floor had been mopped, but the chairs were hung on a table and the blackboards were tucked away. On them were usually the handbills of escapees who needed to be caught.

"Wait, why are the boards hidden?" asked Judy looking around the room. She and Fox took their place in the front pew.

"You know, maybe when Bogo puts them up he'll find that there are pictures of the mass of suspects to catch" laughed Nick.

"Stupid fox" laughed Judy. She liked his sense of humour. He was intensely ironic, but that was what she liked best about him. It seemed to her that she was the only one who fully understood his sense of humour. Sometimes when he said something ironically to someone that person didn't know if the fox was serious or joking, only Judy knew if it was ironic or not. Soon the rest of the officers entered the room taking their places in the room sitting down to their desks. They all greeted the couple who were already seated at their bench. A lot had changed since the wilderness. Judy and Nick weren't treated like police mascots anymore, they were real cops, you could even say the best in the station! Whatever the task was, they were the ones who knew how to do it. Fortunately, the last few days have been quiet and not too much has happened. Maybe it was because it would be Christmas in just a few days.

A few minutes later the door of the hall moved and slammed hard, it was Commander Bogo. At the sight of him everyone calmed down and the conversations in the hall quickly quieted down. The exception was Nick, who as always whispered something to the spirit for Judy, who interrupted him with a poke of her elbow. Then the fox giggled then shut up. Bogo put his briefcase on the desk , then looked over his officers with his sharp eyes.

"Nick, Judy," the commandant said loudly, which drew the attention of the two of them.

"Did you pull a prank on him again?" whispered Judy as her ears turned upright towards the commandant.

"Not this time " replied the fox quietly. Once Nick had the brilliantly stupid idea to tape the door of God's toilet cubicle shut with duct tape to get his attention for being late. It was supposed to be a kind of revenge for the fact that the week before, Bogo had yelled at Nick precisely for being late.

To Nick's misfortune, Glickenhaus also entered the bathroom and had to shout his name across the room. It was not the best day for him.

"And the rest" added the commandant , which made Judy and Nick calm down.

"It's that time..." added Bogo pulling a small suitcase from under the desk and opening it.

"Time off! Merry Christmas!" said the Commander changing the tone of his voice from serious to cheerful. He turned the suitcase over, in it were... doughnuts!

"To live not to die " said Nick getting down from his chair. He lined up behind the rhino and the lion. Judy wanted to join for the order, but Nick showed with his hand to stay , he would bring a donut for her.

"My dear fox" thought Judy with a giggle.

"It's been a great and fruitful partnership this year ... and we acquired two great cops! I got permission from the mayor to give you a week's leave, another unit will take over at the station during that time. You will be here on the 3rd day after Christmas. Task for today, enjoy your holiday...march away" Bogo said as the officers lined up to collect donuts. Once everyone had taken one, they all left the room.

"Quite a nice gesture from Bogo isn't it ?" asked Judy while eating her doughnut. Nick had long since eaten his, maybe because he hadn't eaten anything in the morning. Fox always got up at the last minute, the only thing he had time for in the morning was to take a short bath and one sip of coffee. The opposite of his behaviour was Judy, who always got up 2 hours before Nick. She had enough time to eat, drink, do her morning toilette, she had enough time to look at some more Facebook posts. She urged Nick , to get up earlier, but the fox preferred to sleep a little longer.

"Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are checking out " said Nick as he stopped at the reception desk to Clawhauser. Any policeman finishing his duty had to go to the reception desk and announce it.

"Judy and Nick ..enrolled. Oh, you'll see, you'll miss this place"

"Yeah, after Bogo for sure " laughed Nick.

"I'm serious, everyone who goes on Christmas leave comes back with a smile and says how good it is to come back here ... that's the magic of this place " replied Clawhauser looking at the police officers who were leaving the police station. They would only be back here in a week, quite a long time for police officers.

"And you're not going on leave?" asked Judy.

"I'm just the front desk guy haha, no... my holiday starts when you guys finish it " sighed Cheetah looking through the papers.

"Well..then merry Christmas and see you later" Judy and Nick said goodbye to their friend and then walked out of the police station. They were greeted by a piercing frost, but that didn't bother them too much as they parked their car next to the entrance.

"So carotta, are we going home?"

"hahaha, you must have forgotten that we're still going to get the presents" replied Judy ironically.

"No, please don't!" sighed Nick tapping his head on the steering wheel.

"I'm not going without presents for my family!" replied Judy to which Nick sighed heavily gripping the steering wheel again

"Okay, you're in charge, carrot," replied Nick as he pulled out of the car park reserved for police officers.


I hope you enjoy my new story! See you later!

(My first Zootopia story)