This is a cute little bit of fluff that I came up with. In my head it was attached to a longer story but in light of the fact that I will probably never get around to writing that story out before I move on to my next idea I wanted to at least put this part of the idea into writing. It all happened because I found out about a period in a hedgehog's life called 'quilling' and I started to imagine Sonic's reaction to his first child having their first experience with it. Also Shadow's here too.

I didn't list an OC as a character for this story because the baby isn't really a serious OC. She's just a baby that they have - whether mpreg related or not, you can decide - and I called her Luna because I figured, "hey, this story is set at nighttime. Might as well name her after the moon." So, not a serious OC in any way, not that there's any fandom out there that needs another OC named Luna.

I'd like to hear your feedback if you liked the cuteness.

Quilling Time

Sonic awoke in the darkness of the master bedroom he shared with Shadow. In a room warm and dark with Shadow lying back-to-back with him he should have had the perfect conditions for a good night sleep and yet here he was, awake and perturbed. His groggy brain took a while to realise what it was that had stirred him.

Crying.

He sat up, panic rising further as he recognised the cries of a child in the next room.

"Luna!" he screamed, jumping out of bed and throwing the covers over Shadow's head in his haste to dash from the room and go the short distance down the hall to the nursery.

Dim light from the teddy bear shaped nightlight kept the nursery aglow like an ember in a dying fire. It was all the light Sonic needed to see the source of his baby girl's cries and it horrified him. There were spines all over the floor around her crib and even more within the crib itself where his child wailed and writhed. He was beside the crib in the blink of an eye to lift her out and hold her but his comfort didn't do any good. She kept squirming and reaching to the spines behind her head and shoulders.

He shushed and rocked her soothingly, trying to impart calm despite his heart racing a mile a minute. "It's okay, baby, I got you. Dada's got you so it's going to be okay, alright? Chaos, what happened? Whaddo I do?"

The main light in the room came on. Sonic turned to the doorway where Shadow stood looking into the room with concern. His eyes stopped on Sonic and their distressed baby first, taking note of the panic in his husband's eyes and posture, then panned down to the crib and the floor where her black and blue spines littered the bedding and carpet.

"What's going on?" he wondered.

"Something's wrong with Lulu!" Sonic cried. "All of her spines are falling out! We need to call a doctor!"

He started frantically picking up fallen quills, checking the bulbs at the roots for signs of mites or fungus. Shadow clutched the doorframe tightly, feeling fear for his daughter overtake him as well. He took a deep, measured breath. Staying calm was the only way to resolve a situation like this. He let go of the door and went straight to the shelf above the dresser to take down one of the baby books they kept there.

"Shadow! I need your help!" Sonic shouted, irritably watching his husband coolly flicking through pages. "I'm going downstairs to call the doctor."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Shadow said, interrupting him at the door.

"Excuse me?! Our baby's spines are falling out!"

"It might be not be anything to worry about," Shadow explained, having settled on one page. "Check her head and back for bald spots."

Sonic did so, laying her on her front over his arm while he ran his fingers between her spines. Despite the worrying number of spines that appeared to have exploded all around her, there were no bald patches at all but he often spotted the tip of a new spine poking through her skin between the rest. He reported that to Shadow, who just nodded.

"In that case, she's probably quilling," said Shadow, looking back to the book for more information. "She's almost twelve months old now, according to the book the first major quilling event happens at around the one year mark. Her body is just getting rid of the 'baby' spines and growing new ones."

Sonic felt a large breath leave his lungs in a stream of relief. Their baby wasn't sick but he wouldn't think it looking down at her reddened little face scrunched up as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Ooh, Lulu, you must feel terrible," he cooed before giving her a few face kisses. The only quilling event he remembered personally happened when he was twelve, almost thirteen, when his childhood spines fell out to give room to his bigger adult spines. It was a month-long and horridly painful process back then; it was hard to imagine that happening to his baby so young. He turned to Shadow. "There's gotta be something we can do. I can't stand seeing her like this."

"The best thing we can do is relieve her pain and irritation with a soothing bath and moisturiser," Shadow read. "It'll help with the dryness and soften the skin to make the regrowth a little easier. The book recommends something oatmeal based."

Sonic smiled with further relief. They had some oatmeal soap with the accompanying moisturiser leftover from a spell of dry skin she had suffered over the summer. He gave her another kiss on her head as she pressed her face into his chest and cried. "How's that sound, baby? A nice warm bath to make it all better."

"Not right now!" Shadow snapped.

"But she's hurting," Sonic whined.

"It's 2 a.m. and she's already had a bath tonight."

"Clearly it wasn't a good enough bath," Sonic retorted stubbornly. "She might not get back to sleep if we leave her like this."

Shadow grumbled but had to concede to that point. Even if he hadn't, it wouldn't have stopped Sonic taking Luna to the bathroom at the end of hall to start drawing a bath. He bounced her on his lap while checking the water from the tap, making sure it was the perfect temperature before allowing it to fill the tub. Then he searched through the cupboard under the sink for the remaining oatmeal wash.

"Do you think I should put some bubbles in too?" he asked, knowing Shadow would be nearby keeping an eye on things.

Shadow rolled his eyes but smirked at him from the doorframe he leaned against. Sonic spoiled her so much. "The soap might dry her skin out and make her more irritated."

"Fine," Sonic huffed and that got Shadow to chuckle. Sonic had probably wanted the bubbles for himself as much as for Luna.

He kept watch even though Sonic seemed to have everything under control. He'd found the oatmeal products and slipped her bed socks and gloves off to lower her into the tub but of course he didn't bother to look for the hamper when tossing them aside. Shadow picked them up to take them back to the nursery while Sonic lathered their baby up in oatmeal body wash, shushing and cooing to her as her cries died down a bit. Some of her spines dropped off into the bath water as he massaged it into her back and head with a soft bristled brush. Once she was lathered all over, he drained the water and ran some more to rinse it out. He picked her up and turned around to find Shadow waiting behind them with a soft towel to dry her off while she snuggled against Sonic's chest with her thumb in her mouth, still moaning in discomfort but no longer bawling.

"I think she should sleep with us tonight," Sonic suggested while he rubbed the moisturiser into her skin, going carefully around her new and old spines.

"No. She needs to stay in the habit of sleeping in her own bed."

"She just had a traumatising experience!"

"She just had a normal experience that all hedgehogs her age go through. If she sleeps in our bed she'll get her spines all over it."

"Fine," Sonic pouted, gathering her up in his arms to leave the bathroom with Shadow trailing behind them to shut off the lights as they went. "Then you can go back to bed and I'll sleep in the nursery with her."

They entered the nursery. Shadow retrieved the gloves and socks he'd placed back in her crib and handed them to Sonic along with her blanket so that he could wipe the shed spines onto the floor. Sonic reclothed her and wrapped her up in the blanket. He got a bigger one from the bottom drawer of the dresser and took them over to the plush recliner chair in the corner by the window. Shadow sighed at the mess on the floor. It was too late to be dealing with things like this.

"I'll sweep this up in the morning," he promised to nobody in particular.

"Sure thing," Sonic answered, leaning the recliner chair as far back as it would go and trying to make himself comfortable with Luna lying on his chest.

Shadow took the blanket he was struggling with from his grasp and pulled it up to his shoulders. He tucked the two of them in snug together. "Sleep well, love," he whispered, kissing Luna sweetly on the head.

"She will now that I'm here," Sonic quipped. "And what about my goodnight kiss?"

Shadow chuckled but obliged him with a peck on the lips. "Don't whine in the morning when you wake up covered in her spines."

"I won't. I'll just be glad that I was here for her during her time of need, unlike her heartless other father."

Shadow flicked him in the nose.

"Ow! No fair, Shads! I'm defenceless when I'm tucked in like this."

Shadow turned his back with an amused smile and walked away, pausing at the doorway to look back and whisper one last goodnight before switching off the light and closing the door. The nursery returned to that soothing ember glow stippling some of the dark away. Sonic relaxed into his chair, watching Luna lovingly as her eyes drooped. The heart beating beneath her head lulled the baby back to a peaceful sleep.