Normally, she was beauty incarnate. She had sparkling eyes that glistened like a lake. She had a cute, button nose that her lovely daughter inherited. It was not as long as his, and that was probably for the better. When they embraced, it was a wonder that his long nose did not accidentally poke her eye out, robbing the world of what was her beautiful eyes. She had a smile that brightened his and his daughter's day, and soon, their newest members: a boy and a girl.

She would hopefully have her jade green eyes and small nose. She would look just like her mother. Her brother would look just like his father. He would have his speed, try to be like his father, and drive his sisters and mother crazy. He dreamed of those days. He dreamed of those days often. His twins would become part of his family, his greatest adventure. Being the impatient hero that he was, he could not wait much longer for them to arrive.

But he could wait for a little while longer if it meant Amy would stop snoring like a drunken sailor.

It was only 2 a.m., but he was still wide awake just watching her obnoxiously snore. How could someone who was so peaceful be so loud and disruptive when they were not even moving? He was not so much marveling at her snoring, but rather he was completely bewildered by it.

Sonic enjoyed his rest. He really did, but he would rather be well-rested at night so he would not have to sleep in and miss out on the day. "So much for that," he thought.

Getting desperate, he slowly reached his hand over to her mouth and sealed her mouth shut. Surprisingly, she stopped. She began breathing normally through her nose. He let out a huge sigh of relief. "Finally," Sonic said as he snaked his arm around her growing stomach. In only two short months, he would be the father of—.

SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!

He quickly took his hand off his wife's stomach and looked at the ceiling, flailing his arms in frustration. "Chaos!" he yelled softly. "What did I ever do to piss you—!" He stopped himself to think about it for a second. "Oh, right."

Shaking his head, he turned back toward Amy and sighed. "Guess it's the chair again tonight," he said.

Amy had been snoring heavily a lot recently. She only did this when she was pregnant. He had war-like flashbacks to the times when they were expecting their firstborn, Gracie. Amy snored so loudly at night sometimes that the neighbors would close their windows in the middle of the night just so they could get some peace. How he envied them. As much as he hated doing this to her, Sonic had his limits. Her loud snoring could make the heaviest of sleepers become insomniacs.

Amy was also wrestling with mood swings because of her pregnancy, which was the icing on the cake. She would always freak out that Sonic left her during the night while she was pregnant, but he would always be sleeping on the living room recliner with a homemade blanket covering him up. It was happening so much recently that it might as well have been a broken record. He would get hell for it the next morning, but if it meant Sonic could salvage some sleep, he was all for it. He would just have to calm down an emotional Amy for the umpteenth time.

Having made up his mind, he slyly got out of bed. To make up for his temporary disappearance, he walked to other side of the bed and quickly kissed her. It bought him a small sugar rush. He loved the touch and taste of her lips… a lot. He liked them more than a chili dog pizza.

Their embrace brought him a few seconds of silence. He then walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. The moment he closed it, she began snoring again. He shook his head.

"I love you, babe, but you need to see a doctor about this." He walked down the hall to his kitchen and flipped on the light. "Might as well get myself a drink," he said as he began pouring himself a glass of milk. Sonic downed the tall glass without stopping and placed his empty vessel in the sink.

Next, he was off to the living room's closet where he found a homemade blanket, courtesy of Amy. His blanket had the colors of everyone in the family: cobalt blue for Sonic, pink for Amy, and navy blue for Gracie. Soon, she would have to make another one to accommodate the twins, but that was for another time.

He sat down on his very large, beige recliner, and that term was not thrown around loosely. The oversized chair was that and more considering it could hold two people without a problem. Amy and Sonic have relaxed on this thing for so many years now. Sometimes, they even fell asleep next each other on it. Sonic then sat down and was within reaching distance of the light switch, so he flipped the lights off and got cozy.

He could not get comfy on his left side. Maybe his right? Nope. How about on his back? Still nope. Facedown? No, and now he was just getting uncomfortable. He groaned again and covered his face. He had been awake for so long that he was now over-tired.

"Why can't I just fall asleep?" Sonic asked with exasperation. Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway. He perked up his ears and hit the light switch. He did not think that his conversation with Amy was going to happen until later in the morning. Oh, well. He might as well get it done now.

"I know, I know. But your snor—." He cut himself off as he found out who was rounding the corner. He was right about one thing. It was a female that walked into the room, but this one was not covered in pink fur. She was navy blue and had her mother's pale muzzle. Amy let her grow her quills out a bit as they were a little longer than shoulder length. She was dragging her teddy bear along the wooden floor. It must have been her best friend and comforter for the last few minutes, because she was sobbing and sniffling like crazy.

"Gracie, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Daddy…!" He immediately got out of the chair and crouched in front of his little girl. She put her small arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. Did she have that dream again?

"Shhhhhhh," he comforted as he began to rub her back. "It's okay, Gracie. It's okay."

"Daddy!"

"Gracie, please be quiet. Mom's trying to sleep, okay?"

"S-Sorry, daddy," she forced out.

He kissed her cheek and put his hands on her shoulders. "Now what's wrong, pumpkin?"

"I-I-I… I had-had… th-th-tha-that dream ag-g-gain." He figured as much, and he had an understanding look on his face to go along with it. Ever since she accidentally walked in on him watching a play-through of that frightening videogame, she has had these nightmares. She was only six years old, but ever since seeing the video, she would always whimper and show a fearful face whenever she passed a Chuck E. Cheese. The animatronics just seemed to stare at you, make you uncomfortable. What were they planning to do to her?

He kissed her head and gathered her in for tight hug, which she gladly accepted. Her grip was completely around the back of her father's neck as she cried and whimpered, making sure that the fear she showed could be replaced by comfort, love, and understanding.

"They aren't going to get you, Gracie," he comforted. "I won't let them."

"Ca-Can-Can y-you m-m-m-ma-m-make them-m g-go aw-away?" she stuttered.

"Let me talk to them."

He took his little angel by the hand and slowly walked her down the hall. "Daddy?"

"Hmm?"

"Why were you s-sleeping on the chair?"

He looked and pointed to the ajar door. Yes, Amy was still going strong in there. "Take a listen."

She did so carefully. "Again?"

"Yeah, except tonight, it's worse."

Sonic opened the next door right. With a flip of the lights, Gracie's bedroom light revealed a tan room with brown splotches of paint that looked like wild horses running around the room. Her lights comforted her a little bit, but not very much. As she eyed the closet, her body trembled. She did the safest thing she could think of at that moment: run behind her dad and hide behind his legs.

"They can't see me! They can't see me! They can't see me!" she said very quickly. However, the more she spoke, the more her voice broke. He hated seeing her this spooked.

"Don't worry, Gracie. They can't see you."

"Are… Are you sure?"

He nodded and grinned. "Positive. Now…," he said as he propped her up on her bed. Next, he gave Gracie her little teddy bear. She hugged it fiercely to relieve some of her stress. "Listen, Gracie. I'm going to go into the closet and talk to them, okay?"

"But daddy!" she screamed.

"Shhh!" She was quick to hush up, but the scared look on her face was still there. "Mommy's sleeping right now, so we have to be quiet!" he said in a whisper.

"Sorry. I just… I just don't want you to die in there!"

He smiled and took a knee to reach her eye level. "Don't you worry about me for a second, sweetie. I've dealt with worse. Much worse. I'll be just fine. 'Kay?" She nodded. "Good," he said as he kissed her forehead. "I'll be back in a moment."

With that, he walked away and slid her closet door open. He shut it as he went in, and it terrified Gracie that her dad was so willing to go in after them—and in the dark no less!

"Guys?" he asked curiously. She heard steps coming from the closet. She hugged her teddy bear tighter as she thought that her terrorizers were walking towards him. Little did she know that Sonic was actually stepping in place to mimic him traveling deeper into the closet. "I know you guys're in here. I need to talk to y—. Oh, there you are. Freddie, it's been a while, hasn't it? Where're your friends? … Ah, there they are! Bonnie, Chica, Foxy; how're you doing tonight? I would assume you're pretty proud that you've scared an innocent child. … Now listen, guys, how many times do I have to tell you guys to lay off of my little girl? You're scaring her to the point where she's getting afraid to go to sleep. I know that scaring people is what you do—I understand that—but could you pester some other kid? … Why? Because I don't want her to be afraid of monsters in the closet like you and your buddies. Whatever happened to you guys back in the day that made you this way is your problem. Do not make it my daughter's, 'cause if you do, you'll have to deal with me. You really don't want to tick me off, boys 'n' girls. You have made this my problem for long enough, and I'm sick of seeing my girl like she is now! There are many more children who are much more deserving of monster jump-scares than Gracie. Take Silver and Blaze's son, Derrick, for example. He's a little turd who digs you guys. Pester someone like him; not my daughter. If I hear about any more nightmares you've given my little Gracie, then you can say 'good-bye' to those fuzzy bodies of yours. I know a guy who's good with machines and metal endoskeletons. I'm sure he could scrap you out and make you into something else. … I can see the looks on your faces. They're the same looks I've seen on Gracie: fear. Don't think I won't do it, guys. I've dealt with worse things than you. But more importantly, I don't take kindly to anyone messing around with my family. Now, do we have an understanding? … I thought so. Now run along and ruin Derrick's night, would ya?"

Gracie waited with fearful anticipation as she listened to her brave and strong father speak. She was sure that the monsters would get him, ruining her life forever. For as long as he was in there, she clung onto her teddy more and more, almost popping the poor thing's head off. Not even a crowbar or the jaws of life could've ripped her away from her soft bear.

She exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw her daddy slide the door open. She immediately dropped her bear and hugged her father. Tears of joy streamed from her face as she knew her dad was A-OK.

"A-Are they gone, daddy?" she whispered.

He smiled and rubbed the top of her head. "You bet, kiddo." To see her look up at him like he was her hero, it reminded him of how Amy gave her that same look. She wasn't the only girl in the family who thought that he was her hero.

"Don't worry, Gracie," he said. "They won't bother you again."

"Are y-you sure?" Her question might have been the most important thing she has ever asked him. He knew it meant everything to her. Sonic would never dare lie to her about this kind of thing. He knelt down and looked her in the eye with a smile.

"Gracie Madeline Hedgehog, I swear it."

His words truly did mean the world to her, and she smiled warmly at her daddy. She threw her arms around her father's neck and gripped him fiercely. Yep, she inherited her mother's deathly grip. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around his little princess and picked her up. For her, it was definitely a big moment.

"Okay, Gracie. Ttime to get some sleep," he said as he put her down. She yawned in response. "That's what I thought."

He set her down gently on her bed, covering her with her large blanket. Her blanket kept her very warm in the winter time. Sure, spring was around the corner, but they were hit with a massive early-March snowstorm. That meant that Gracie would be enjoying a snow-day with her best friend Chloe the Vixen, Tails's and Cream's oldest daughter.

Just as he began to leave her bedside, she called out, "Daddy?" He looked back to see a scared look on her face.

"Yes, Gracie?"

"Can I… can I sleep with you and mommy?"

He sighed and replied, "Gracie…."

"Please, daddy? I just wanna be with you in case they do come back."

"Gracie, I told you that they aren't gonna come back." Sonic's insomnia was evident in his voice. He was getting irritated at this point, and it sounded more like a hiss. Gracie began to tear up.

"Way to go, Sonic," he thought. "Now, Sonic… all you need to do is apologize, but be stern. Don't give in to her puppy-dog eyes."

"Pleeeeease?"

"Don't fall for it, dude. Don't do it." He sighed. "It's official. You've gotten soft."

"Come on," he said. She lit up and scooted out from underneath her covers with the teddy bear in tow.

She took her father by the hand, but was curious as to why they were not going into her parents' room. "We're not sleeping with mommy?"

"Trust me, with the way she's snoring, neither of us will get a wink of sleep." Sonic noticed something about himself: all the talking he did made his mouth dry. "Need something to drink? Like water or milk?"

"Milk, please," she said with a yawn. The hedgehogs walked into the kitchen as Sonic flipped the light switch. He was quick to get out two glasses and the gallon of milk. Amy did not like the fact that Gracie was drinking whole milk like Sonic, but she was moved around so much and was so energetic that did not hinder her weight or health in the slightest. She truly was her daddy's daughter.

Sonic set the gallon jug down and picked up two powder mixtures in tin containers, one in each hand. Turning to Gracie, he asked, "Strawberry or chocolate?"

"Pink," she said pointing to the strawberry flavoring.

"Ah, ah! 'Pink,' what?"

"Sorry, pink please."

"That's better." He put the pink powder in her glass and chocolate powder in his. He poured in the milk after that and stirred them up. It was not even breakfast yet, but already his required amount of dairy.

When done, he offered the small glass of pink milk to Gracie who said, "Thank you."

"Cheers."

CLINK!

Sonic downed his in one shot, but Gracie displayed the better manners by taking small sips like her mom has told her to do many times. When she finally finished her drink, she gave her glass to Sonic to put in the sink. He would clean those glasses later in the morning. He needed sleep.

"C'mon," he said as Gracie followed, shutting the light off on her way out. Her dad picked up the blanket and sat down first. Gracie crawled on next, laying face-first on his chest with her bear in her left hand. With her in position, he slinked the blanket over the both of them as Gracie buried her face into her dad's fuzzy chest. Who needs a pillow when you have a father's chest fuzz?

He had the heater going, he had a homemade blanket that was keeping him toasty, and now he had his daughter warming up his chest. He was, in a word, cozy. He even put an arm around Gracie to make her feel even safer than she already was. His recliner was feeling very good, and he was starting to nod off.

"Daddy, I can't sleep."

Ughhh… so close.

Sonic opened up his eyes and rubbed them with his free hand. "Are you still scared, Gracie?" he asked amid the yawning.

"No, not with you here." Hearing that made his heart melt. "Can you tell me a story?"

He sighed. "I guess. What do you want to hear? That one with the princess?"

"No, I want something different."

"Well, what do you want to hear?"

She thought about it for a second. "Tell me about how you and mommy met."

Okay, he could admit to himself that it was not the story he thought she would choose. Amy and Sonic's first meeting was… memorable. Their night together did not lead to Gracie's conception, but it easily could have. He was afraid that this day would come, and he wished that she would not have asked at such an early age. So now, he had to run through the important details of his and Amy's first meeting while remaining as PG as possible.

"O-Okay," he said. "Well, Amy and I met about… I wanna say nine years ago. It wasn't on a date or anything like that. We met at a bar in the Minneapolis. We'd just gotten out of some bad relationships. But when I was there with her, we just clicked. We had a drink or two together, we…," he almost said they had too much fun, "grabbed a pizza to go, and we just started dating afterwards." He sighed happily. "I can still see your mother there. She was wearing some faded blue jeans, she had her quills down; heh, she looked adorable in that red t-shirt of hers… we had a great time that night when we needed it most. Was that good enough for you, Gracie? I know it wasn't very romantic or—." He stopped himself when he saw that she was not paying much attention. Actually, she was not paying any attention at all. Her head was turned to the side, and she was snoring silently. He smiled warmly and kissed her on the head. "Sorry for being so boring," he apologized. "Good night, Gracie."

The pink hedgehog was in her native and domestic habitat, carrying two little ones inside of her, but it only for a few more weeks. She began to move in her sleep, feeling the need to hold onto something, or rather someone. But as she reached for him, she kept getting nothing but air. After a few empty swipes, she cracked her eyes open. He was gone… again.

"Where the heck?" she thought. "Did he leave me?! Oh, Chaos!" Then she thought it through rationally. She hated how moody she got because of her pregnancy. "Wait… aw, brother; was I snoring up a storm again?"

She darted her eyes to the clock. 6:43 in the morning. She could see that it was not very light outside, but there was enough light to see the beautiful, natural art that was frost on a window. Jack Frost was busy once again.

"I better go find him."

She rolled out of bed and threw her robe on. Heater or not, she was feeling chilly without a big blanket covering her.

She moseyed down the hall and looked straight at the couch. He was not there. Looking more to left, Amy found him. She was a little surprised to find out that he was not alone. Gracie was curled up on his chest and sleeping soundly with her teddy bear still in her arms. His right arm was still around Gracie's back having never let her go once. She was jealous of her little girl having him to sleep with.

She walked silently to the big recliner and admired how peaceful they were. Unbeknownst to her, he really deserved this sleep. He had a longer night than she could have imagined.

His eyes began to flutter. Silent stepping or not, he could hear Amy's footsteps. Her mad snoring that was brought on because of her pregnancy made him a lighter sleeper than he usually was.

"I was snoring again, wasn't I?" she whispered. He nodded. "Sorry…," she said bashfully.

"It's all good," he whispered back. "But there's still time for us to sleep together."

She beamed and carefully made her way onto the recliner mid-recline. What was surprising about her was that, despite being very pregnant, she was still able to slink next to Sonic without a problem, all while Gracie still slept soundly.

When she was good, he moved the covers slowly towards her, but not waking up the little angel on his chest. Amy was now officially under the covers and cozy again. Sonic, meanwhile, took his left hand and placed it on her growing belly, rubbing it slowly. He looked at her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Two more months."

"Two more months," she repeated.

His left arm went behind her neck and shoulder. She looked at him again and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Her head and eyes were getting heavy again, so she rested her pink head in the crook of his neck. He chuckled and rested his head on hers. They were warm. And now, peaceful and quiet.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

One last one-shot before school begins for me tomorrow morning. Yep, senior year's upon me, and i just wanna get it all done. The Sonic Project is still in the long process of being written, and i'm gonna try for a Christmas release date (or beginning-of-uploading date).

So this one-shot is a sequel of sorts to "Home Alone Tonight" and "Long Way from Home." I have this little headcanon that Sonic and Amy met in Minneapolis, Minnesota, got married, had Gracie, Amy still works at that publication company, and still live in snowy Minnesota with all of their friends. But that doesn't mean that Sonic's a Vikings fan (he's a Packers fan just like me (XD)). If i was going to make a sort-of sequel to my one-shots and tie them together, i wanted to focus on Sonic and Gracie's relationship and how much she trusts her father.

That's about all i got. Sonic, Amy, Tails and Cream are the property of SEGA and Sonic Team, whereas Gracie and Chloe are mine. Talk to you later.

Oh, and Gracie saw Sonic watch Markiplier's playthrough of FNaF, just in case you were wondering.

SHUT UP, NURSE!