I DO NOT own any Sonic characters in this story except Maria. In case you're wondering All the characters are OLDER. By about...9 years. That means Amy is 21, Sonic is 24, and Shadow is...old. 59 years old. Dang. Anyway to the story!

"We're here." Amy slowly looked up to find them on the front porch of her apartment. She sighed with relief, glad that she was home. She looked up to Shadow, about to thank him but she noticed his expression as he looked at her, as if he were waiting for something.

"Oh the key." She looked at her attire, realizing she was still in her nightdress. She clutched her head with her free hand, trying to remember where she placed it.

Shadow waited patiently for an answer until Amy let her hand fall back to her side. She sighed heavily and looked up at him.

"You think you can get us inside without the key?" He replied with a swift kick on the door causing it to open. Amy smiled to herself, glad that Shadow didn't overdue the blow on the door, and only left minimal damage. She felt Shadow walk them in and set her on the white leather couch in her living room.

Maria, who was still in Shadows grasp, reached her arms out to her mom. Shadow gently set her on Amy's lap. Maria snuggled up to Amy, glad that her mother still was able to hold her. Amy looked up and saw Shadow rummaging through cabinets, probably looking for ointment for Amy's wounds.

Feeling dizzy, Amy laid her head on a soft pink pillow. She closed her eyes, trying to relax herself. She heard the soft sounds of Maria sucking her thumb and Shadow still looking for any treatments. "What a night." She thought to herself.

"Amy." She opened her eyes to see Shadow standing there with two pills and a glass of water.

"These should help with your head." He said to her as she took the objects into her hands. She quickly took the pills, drank some of the water to wash down the pills, and set the glass on the side table beside the couch. She leaned her head on hands, waiting for the medicine to take affect.

After a while, little Maria tugged on her mother's sleeve. Amy lifted her head from her hands to see her daughter holding an empty bottle. Amy smiled sweetly to her daughter as she took the bottle and stood up. Shadow stood there, wanting to see if Amy needed any assistance. Amy seemed fine as she walked to the kitchen and prepared some milk for Maria.

Maria sat, waiting for her bottle. She watched as Amy poured the milk into a bottle and put the cap on. Amy looked at her awaiting child and laughed to herself.

"Sometimes she can be so much like you, Shadow." Amy said aloud. Shadow averted his gaze to Maria, who held that same look he had when he's concentrating.

"Like father, like daughter." Amy thought to herself.

She tightened the cap on the bottle before returning to the living room. Amy watched as Maria smiled brightly when she entered the room. Amy returned to her seat and set Maria in her lap. Maria eagerly grabbed the bottle with her little hands and began to drink. Amy held the bottle slightly upright, helping her daughter hold it.

Shadow watched curiously as Maria quickly finished off her bottle feeding. Amy gently took the empty bottle away and set it next to her water glass. She then lifted Maria onto her shoulder and patted her on her back until a little burp escaped her. Amy smiled and brought her back to her lap.

"I think it's time for you to go to bed." she said to the little hedgehog who yawned widely. She cradled Maria gently, as she got up and walked over to a small "naptime" bed. As she set her down on her back, she put a warm blanket on her daughter. Maria closed her eyes in comfort and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Amy walked back to seat and sat down. She looked at Shadow who stood in the same place as before. He stared straight ahead of himself, as if pondering about something.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked bluntly. He looked back at her, before turning his gaze to Maria's sleeping form. She followed his gaze and turned back to him to find his ruby eyes staring at her. She could see confusion, anger, but also sadness, in them. She sighed and leaned back on the couch.

"I guess we have a lot to talk about." she said quietly. Shadow simply nodded. Amy sighed before speaking.

"You might want to sit down, this could take a while." He took the request without a word and sat beside her. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands as he waited for Amy to speak. Except, no words came, only the steady inhaling and exhaling of her breath. She apparently didn't know what to say, so Shadow decided to ask the question.

"What were you doing out there at this time of night?" he asked. She shook her head slowly, not wanting to reveal why.

"I'd rather not say." She involuntary rubbed her face, remembering how Sonic hit her. He noticed this but decided not to say anything.

"All right then. Why don't you want to tell me?" He asked looking at her. She avoided his eyes, not wanting him to see through her.

"I just don't, all right? Just ask me a different question, not concerning this issue." she ordered rather than asked. He took the demand to thought and decided to go her way. He knew how stubborn the pink hedgehog could be.

"Fine. How about telling me about our daughter?"

"A much better question. What do you want to know about her?" she asked, relieved that he was so willing to go for another question.

"Date of birth, what time she was born, somewhere along those lines." Amy looked up as she tried to remember everything she possibly could the day Maria was born. She tapped her chin thoughtfully as it all came back to her.

"Ok, her birthday is December 22, I think she was born at 11:25P.M, and, I'm not sure if I'm right about this, but I believe she weighed...6 3/4 pounds." She returned to pondering on the weight before she looked back at Shadow.

"I think it's right though. Anyway, anything else?" she asked pleasantly. No answer. He only sat there, either trying to memorize everything she told him or thinking of something else. They sat in complete silence for what seemed an eternity.

"Shadow?" Amy asked, not wanting anymore of the silence.

" I would like to know why you never told me that you were going to have Maria in the first place." he asked suddenly. Although his words were gentle, Amy felt as though they were meant to be harsh.

"Although I'd rather not answer this, I think you should know this," she sadly, "remember that day, when you...left?" Shadow eyes narrowed slightly feeling anger well up in himself. Not towards the female hedgehog beside him but towards himself...for being such an idiot.

"Yeah?" he replied when he saw that she wanted an answer.

"Well that was the day I was going to tell you about her but what you told me...made me feel like you could care less if I told you." He looked at her with a shocked expression. Did what he say really feel like that to her?

"Amy...I had my reason's for leaving. I didn't intend for them to come out the way they did." Amy only stood and walked over to her sleeping daughter.

"It's all right Shadow, that was the past. We've got to worry more about the present." She steadily picked up her daughter and turned back to Shadow.

"And I think our supposedly long converstation has come to an end. I'm going to send Maria to her bedroom and then I'm going to hit the sack. You're welcome to stay in the guest bedroom." Her back to turned to him as she walked down a hallway and the opening and closing of the little girls door could be heard. Shadow's ears twitched slightly as Amy's footsteps disappeared as she went to her room.

Woohoo!!!Second chapter!! What or who did Shadow leave? Why did he leave? And Why is he angry with himself? Questions need to be answered!! anyway...what do you think?