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Sonic sat at his dining table alone, deep in thought. He had a lot on his mind. Symptoms that just didn’t add up to him.
Vomiting frequently, especially when he’d wake up or sometimes it’d wake him up. He was exhausted for the past week and wasn’t too sure why.
He thought at first it was just the flu but then there were the embarrassing symptoms. He had to go to the bathroom often to relieve himself. He felt slightly bloated, more so than usual. His chest felt tender and sore. The kicker was that he missed a cycle. That was what caused him to worry and he’d be lying if he didn’t say he thought about that possibility.
The last time he saw his lover was nearly four weeks ago. He vividly remembered that night, the passion, the fire, and every ghostly touch. Just thinking about it made him flush. Sadly, a week later, Shadow was sent on a mission, and like always, it was confidential.
Sonic sighed to himself wistfully. He knew that if he wanted to confirm this theory he’d have to go out and buy the test but he knew people would most likely stare. Sometimes being a hero was… tough to say the least, he loved helping but sometimes the Mobians tended to be pretty nosy about his private life. Maybe if he brought a friend it’d be fine but then he’d have to explain himself. He ran through a mental list of all his friends and there was no denying who the best bet would be.
His little bro, Tails seemed like the ideal choice. He was less likely to blab or judge he supposed and if it turns out the results were positive he could always celebrate with him after he talks to Shadow.
He grabs his communicator off the kitchen counter and dialsTails. It rings for a few beats before there’s an answer.
“Hey, Sonic what’s up?” Tails says cheerfully, some strange mechanical whirrings and what most likely was a torch.
Sonic blanked. He hadn’t even thought this through. How was he going to explain this? He knew Tails wasn’t a kid anymore, but this was rather an awkward ask.
“Hey bro, umm I was wondering if you’re free today to go to the store with me for a bit.” Darn, that was the best he could think of.
“...Sure? I’m free, I'll be there soon.” Tails said with uncertainty.
“Nah that’s okay, I’ll meet ya at your place. Closer to town anyways.” Sonic hangs up and dashes out of the house to Tails’ lab.
He makes it in no time and nearly startles the poor fox when he pops up behind him.
“Is- is everything okay?” He should have known that Tails would catch on, he’s very perceptive.
“Of course, can’t a guy hang out and do chores with his best bud ever” Sonic teases and ruffles the fox’s bangs. Tails laughs and tries to shoo his hand away/
“Okay okay, let's get going then.” Tails beams.
They get to the local supermarket in no time. Sonic zipped around as fast as he could, grabbed the test, and then snatched a bath mat to hide it in. Now he needed to figure out if he really needed anything else.
“A bath mat? What’s wrong with your other one?” Tails asked, confusion written all over his face.
“I- well I figured it was time for a new one. I think I need- oh! Milk and cereal! Can’t forget breakfast essentials.” He sped off and back with a shopping basket. Tails shrugged and the two carried on.
“So how are things with you and Shadow?” Tails asked nonchalantly as he looked through the candy aisle. Sonic flinched behind him and stiffened a bit. Tails grabbed a bag of pillow mints and turned around.
“We’re great.” Sonic stated flatly.
“That doesn’t sound like it, what’s wrong?” Tails inquired.
“Nothings
wrong
, I just- I miss him when he’s away with GUN is all.” Sonic deflated a bit, ears slightly droopy.
“Oh… Well, that’s understandable and hey, if you miss him that must mean you really love him. I’m sure he misses you too.” Tails soothed, trying to cheer his big brother up. It worked a little. Sonic stood tall and huffed.
“Yeah, I know he does.” The thought of how nearly every time Shadow was all over him after being away for so long. Touchy, affectionate, and well, needy in more ways than one. Sonic didn’t mind it though, in fact, he relished it. They often spent many reunions piled into bed with a nest of blankets and the sounds of purrs and soft churrs echoing through the room. Endless nuzzles and cuddles and grooming, it was perfect.
“Well did we get everything?” Tails asked, snapping Sonic out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, let's go.” They walked to checkout and Sonic distracted Tails from his secret purchase, He pretended he forgot chili and asked him to go grab some, the cashier looked at him strangely seeing his purchase but shrugged, an old anteater lady who couldn't care less. Sonic smiled sheepishly.
They arrive back at Sonic’s home a little past noon. Tails holds the door open as Sonic zips in and puts everything away. Tails plops on the couch and grabs a gaming controller.
“Wanna play that racing game you mentioned a while back?” Tails asks as Sonic re-enters the room.
“Uh yeah, sure thing just give me a minute.” Sonic smiles sheepishly and races to the upstairs bathroom, Tails thinking nothing of it as he sets up the game.
Sonic had hidden the test in his quills and as soon as he goes to pull it out he begins to tremble. He audibly gulps as he opens the package carefully, a pink and white stick comes out into his waiting paw and he shimmies out the paper instructions. He gives a once over, then rereads it again thoroughly, wanting to make sure he didn’t mess this up. It seemed simple enough, just pee on a stick and wait fifteen minutes for the results. So he does just that and then waits five minutes before Tails comes knocking on the door, he nearly jumps from being startled.
“Hey, you ready?” Tails sounds worried a bit but Sonic tries not to think too much about that as he scrambles to cover the test with a layer of toilet paper.
“Oh, yes umm, just- I’ll be out in a sec.” He nearly hollers through the door, his voice a bit shaky.
“Is everything okay, you’ve been acting off since you came to my place.” Tails is definitely not hiding his worry now and Sonic can’t bear to ignore it any longer. His mind swirled, trying his hardest to think of what to say. He could come out right and say he’s taking a test and is waiting. He could always just shrug it off and leave for a bit then come back to see the results but he doesn’t think he has the patience at the moment to wait. Then he thought, wait this is Tails. His little brother, and his best friend, they had talked a lot in the past about communication and this felt like it’d be a setback. He trusted him with his life, of course, he could trust him with this.
“...I don’t know.” He opens the door, and he’s shaking all over.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Do you need anything?” he knew Tails was trying his hardest to hide the panic in his voice but he could faintly hear the small quiver in his voice.
Sonic sighs shakily and rubs the back of his quills with his paw.
“I mean I’ve been kinda sick but I think it might be because of something else.”
“What are your symptoms?” Tails inquires immediately.
Sonic couldn’t help but chuckle softly, his younger brother had a habit of analyzing things scientifically and with scrutiny. It was endearing.
“Well umm, the symptoms I’m comfortable talking about are nausea, vomiting when I wake up, soreness and I’ve been feeling a bit tired lately.” he states in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Hmm, we can definitely rule out the flu.” Tails pressed a paw against his mouth, deep in thought. He began to pace for a couple of seconds and then he flinched, he turned and gave a long drawn-out gasp, eyes wide with surprise. Sonic winced, ears flattening.
“Are you-” Tails asked, eyes blown wide.
“Maybe? I dunno I’m waiting to find out right now.” Sonic crossed his arms and clutched them tightly in his paws.
“Does Shadow know?” Tails pondered.
“No, because I hadn’t thought of the possibility till today.” Sonic sighed.
“When do you find out?” Tails leaned forward, urging him for an answer.
“Probably right now.” Sonic slowly turned around, terrified to pull back the toilet paper, terrified to admit that he was changing in a way he didn’t yet know how to process. Tails hummed thoughtfully. Sonic picked up the thin piece of paper and softly gasped.
“I-I am” He nearly whispered as he plopped on the toilet lid, his legs felt like jelly, his mind racing yet feeling empty at the same time.
“Wow! Er- wait how are you feeling about all this?” Tails quickly masked his excitement, uncertain of how to respond given the lack of his big brother’s reaction.
“I don’t know!” Sonic nearly wheezed, his breathing increasing rapidly, his body shaking like a leaf, he clutched his heart tightly as the panic began to sink in.
“Woah woah, hey it’s okay, just tell me what you’re feeling, say the first thing that comes to mind.” Tails held Sonic’s trembling paws, his eyes were glazed with terror.
“Scared, unprepared, and oh Chaos what is Shadow going to think?!” He rises hastily, nearly tripping as he bumbles past his brother, out of the bathroom.
“What if he feels like I trapped him, what if he doesn’t want it? What if he resents me? Hates me?!” He’s leaning against the wall of the hallway as he stumbles to walk to his bedroom.
“Shadow wouldn’t do any of that, he loves you too much and it’s obvious.” Tails chimes in quickly, rushing behind him.
Sonic is still wheezing as he flops face first on his queen-sized mattress, scrabbling for purchase as he yanks blankets and pillows around him. All Tails can do is watch awkwardly as he sees his older brother’s turmoil unfold.
He’s huddled into a ball of blankets and pillows as he peeks at the twin-tailed fox.
“Do you really think so?” He couldn’t help how meek that came out but he meant what he asked.
“Of course! I’ve known you two for a long time now and the way he looks at you, no doubt about it!” Tails beamed, his tails flickering behind him. Sonic’s breathing becomes a bit calmer at that. His brother had always been a genius and more intuitive with his own feelings than he had been, it felt right to believe him.
Sonic sits up, the blankets falling down around him as he sighs.
“You’re right. I can’t help but feel nervous about what he’ll think though. We’ve never talked about having a family before.” Sonic sighs.
“Well, how do you feel about it, don’t think about his feelings right now, what do
you
feel?” Sonic looked down pensive and thought.
“I-I want to keep it. I mean I’d be fine with either option but I want to keep it. I think I’m just scared he wouldn’t. Ugh, I wish he weren’t away right now and I could just talk to him.” Sonic groaned in frustration, burying his face in a pillow. Tails placed a paw on his brother’s shoulder and smiled softly.
“Knowing you, you’d be too anxious to bring it up but hey, points for the confidence.” Tails snickered softly as he was playfully swatted by a pillow.
“Har har you got me there, I guess it's the anticipation that’s killing me here.”
“Yeah, any idea when he gets back.” Tails asked, Sonic shook his head and his smile faded.
“I guess it’s just a matter of waiting, your strong point.” Tails teased.
“Oh lucky me.” Sonic replied sarcastically.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had been five weeks of his most tedious work for GUN yet. All he wanted to do was go home. Yet here he was, fighting off a swarm of egg pawns by himself in the northern parts of Holoska. If he wrapped this up quickly, he’d finally get to go home.Dodging a fleet of pawns to the left, he used a chaos spear to the right, as it wiped out nearly a dozen. He used a homing attack on at least five pawns before alternating to destroy an additional ten pawns.He was nearly finished when his communicator rang with an SOS from none other than Tails. He glanced briefly at it before he dodged with a cartwheel and somersault to avoid an incoming blast from a smaller fleet of pawns. He answered the call and kept on fighting.“This better be important, fox.” He grunted as he dodged another attack and sent out a Doom spear attack, obliterating more than a dozen more egg pawns.“It’s Sonic, he’s been captured by Eggman!” Tails did his best not to sound too freaked out, but Shadow had learned enough about the fox from spending time with his lover to know when something was wrong.“So? Can’t he just get out of it lie he always manages?” Shadow remarked as he engaged in close combat with a pawn, swiping his fists left and right, blocking with ease.“Umm, not exactly. We could really use your help.”“What do you mean not exactly? He’s been in worse before.” He stated bluntly as he beat the pawn to pieces.There was an awkward pause on the line, Tails debating on what to say. He knew from the sound of it that the ebony hedgehog was clearly busy.“Miles,” He began sternly. “What aren’t you telling me?”“... It’s really not for me to say, but Sonic currently has a- umm condition?” He didn’t even sound too sure himself when he said it, which irked Shadow all the more. He delivered a few more homing attacks before he continued.“Better start talking, or I’m hanging up.” He was bluffing, but Tails didn’t know that.“Alright, alright! Sonic’s pregnant!” Tails squeaked out. Shadow nearly face-planted in front of an egg pawn from shock.
“WHAT!?” He barked out. He could just picture Tails cowering on the other line.“Look, it’s all very new information for both of us, including him. Can you help us or not?” he asked nervously. Sonic was going to kill him for delivering the news before him, but it was the only way he could think of getting Shadow to help ASAP.“Send me the coordinates, now.” Shadow hung up and delivered his final blow.“CHAOS BLAST!”________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Eggman paced back and forth in his lab. How could this be? Were his robot’s scan results really true? If so, if he didn’t release his current prisoner, he was done for sure.He could just picture the wrath of Shadow the Hedgehog.How utterly terrifying.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ He knew he should have been resting. He knew he shouldn’t be stressing. It was bad for the baby, as people would say. He seriously doubted Eggman would do anything to threaten an unborn child, he was evil but not a monster.His cell was a lot better than the one on the Death Egg, he actually had pillows and a blanket with a cot. Most likely courtesy of Orbot and Cubot, those robots were a lot kinder than anyone gave them credit for.Metal bars framed the entrance to the cell, and cold steel walls surrounded the young hero.Normally, in any given situation, he’d have spin-dashed the bars to escape, but he knew better given his condition.Sonic paced back and forth a few times before he ultimately decided to sit on the old green cot.He sighed deeply as he absentmindedly rubbed the small bump forming on his stomach. He was surprised at how far along he was, but it made sense.Mobian pregnancy, depending on species, usually lasted anywhere from six to nine months, hedgehogs falling into the six-month category, and if Sonic had done his math correctly, he was roughly nine weeks along.He missed Shadow; what he wouldn’t give to see him again, and yet he was terrified to see Shadow’s reaction to his pregnancy. They’d never talked about a family before, marriage had come up a few times but only as a plan for the future without Eggman causing havoc in it.Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen or heard from the Doctor since his capture two days ago. It was unlike the supervillain to go without an evil monologue or gloating.He was bored, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was a bit worried, too. He finger-combed his quills carefully as he heard the door unlatch and in came Orbot with a tray of food. “Hello, sir. I’ve brought you something to eat, given your condition.” Orbot stated in a matter-of-fact tone.“My condition?” Crap, how much did they know? He couldn’t help but worry again.“Well, your pregnancy, of course! Cubot and I congratulate you. I’m sure the Doctor would, too, but you know how he is.” He beamed.Of course, they knew, they probably had scanned his vitals on his way here, but that still left the question, where was Eggman?“He couldn’t be bothered to see me, huh?” Sonic leaned back against the wall on his cot, eyes lidded with an air of smugness.“Of course not. He’s much too busy preparing for Shadow’s arrival.” Orbot’s eyes widened in shock at his little slip-up.“Shadow?” Sonic questioned.“Drat, I’ve spoken too much. Look, sir, to be completely frank, we don’t intend on harming a child so eggman has been deliberating on- well-” The red robot hesitated, fiddling his fingers. Sonic leaned forward, waiting to hear more.“Well, what? Come on, you can tell me, it’s not like I can do anything in my condition.” he enunciated the last word with sass laced in his voice.“Well… Eggman might let you go, seeing as he’d never harm a child, and he’d really rather not deal with Shadow’s destruction.” Orbot wilted with every word.“Huh… and when will he make up his mind?” Sonic inquired, crossing his arms over his chest as he sat cross-legged. Orbot shrugged.“In any case, here’s something to eat. A Spagonian hoagie. I hear you like spice, and this was all we had.” Orbot set the tray delicately on the cot, it included apple slices and a glass of water.Sonic hummed appreciatively. He dug into the apple slices first as Orbot left.Sonic sighed wistfully. If Shadow was on his way, then that meant Tails called for aid, and he had a deep gut feeling that Tails had spilled the beans._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ He must have dozed off at some point, all bundled in pillows and a blanket curled against the cold wall of the cot. He groaned sluggishly, ears droopy, but perked when he heard sounds of chaos and destruction. It sounded like blasts against the wall, Booms echoed through the hallway.A small fleet of badniks marched down past his cell to a big metal sliding door.He sat upright, still tightly wound in the blanket. The sound was getting closer.He couldn’t help but feel an edge of nervousness. He knew deep down it was most likely Shadow here to rescue him, so why couldn’t he stop feeling so anxious? That was a trick question, he knew, but he couldn’t seem to relax.A particularly large smash was met with a badnik scraping against the floor down the hall, skidding to a halt in front of his cell.The badnik seemed to be short-circuiting; its movements were delayed, and sparks flew around its head as it twitched. Piercing mechanical eyes landed on Sonic, and the badnik rose and blasted a crater through his cell door.Sonic yelped in surprise, huddling in the corner of the cot, trying to hide himself with the blanket which, in hindsight, he knew was silly. Yet at this moment, he knew he was in trouble; this robot had gone rogue and was a bout to attack him.He chucked a pillow and then the empty dining tray to no avail. It advanced closer, lifting a cannon arm, and it began to charge up. Sonic gasped in shock. He grabbed the last pillow and shielded his belly from view in a futile attempt at self-preservation. Sonic shrank on the cot in fear. He scrunched his eyes shut.He heard a slice and the sound of metal being heaved and tossed outside. The unmistakable grunt of his partner as he disposed of the badnik.“Sonic.” He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, the flutter in his chest at how Shadow called out his name.He felt warm, gloved hands grasp his own and pull him gently forward into an upright position, blanket still covering him.He finally opened his eyes, and emerald met crimson. Shadow’s face was stern, and he held a steel gaze as he scanned his cobalt lover’s features. A gloved hand gently caressed a peach cheek.“Are you injured?” Shadow rasped softly/Sonic blinked slowly. How he had missed those red orbs, those crimson stripes, and that deep yet silky voice.“N-no, no, I’m okay. You?” He stuttered softly. Sonic grasped his gloved partner’s hands.“Better now that you're here.” Shadow spoke without missing a beat, and Sonic felt his heart soar.Shadow lowered his gaze to the blanket that covered a peach-colored stomach. He lowered his hand, petting through soft fur, and hesitated on Sonic’s midsection.“Is it true?” Shadow nearly whispered, his eyes searching emeralds for answers.Sonic felt his heart plummet, dread filled his gut. This was the definitive moment; he knew it, but he also knew that hiding the truth was wrong.“Yes, I guess Tails told ya, man I wanted to tell you first. I mean I- well- er if you don’t want to er- well I-” Sonic’s heart raced, and his body began to tremble as he mindlessly rambled.Shadow softened and pressed a soft kiss to peach lips, and Sonic practically melted. They kissed softly with so much tenderness. They held their kiss for a few more breathless moments before Shadow slowly pulled away.“Is this okay?” Sonic’s voice wavered; he couldn’t help but need the extra assurance.Shadow hummed softly as he caressed the small bump on Sonic’s belly.“More than, were you worried?” Shadow asked tenderly. Sonic couldn’t help but release a breathless chuckle.“Well, yeah! We’ve never talked about this. Not knowing what to expect was driving me crazy, not to mention that I couldn’t reach you, which drove me up the wall. I really missed you, ya know.” Sonic spoke with slight exasperation but endearingly.“It was… surprising but not an unwelcome one. You know how much I love you. I’d be honored to share something this important with you.” Shadow crooned.Sonic smiled dopely and smooshed tan cheeks in his hands affectionately.“I love you so much! Ack, we’re gonna be dads! This is gonna be such an adventure!” They nuzzled noses lovingly and shared a short laugh.“Let’s go home.” Shadow swooped his cobalt lover off his feet.“Woah, I can still walk, but yeah, home sounds great right now.”They walked out of the cell, and Sonic couldn’t help but gape at the wreckage.Badniks and parts littered the floor, some were even stuck in the metal walls.“Yeesh, I’d hate to be Egghead right about now.” Sonic grimaced.“Doubt the coward will even show his face.” Shadow huffed indignantly.Sonic hummed softly as he nuzzled his nose in the nape of Shadow’s neck.This was sure to be an adventure unlike anything they'd ever had.