A while passed since the two had gotten the dog. Sonic got him a collar and Knuckles always took him out for walks when he needed to.
What they probably didn't expect was that they'd get another arrival not too much later.
I guess Knuckles is probably still walking Kuru. He's taking a while though, Sonic thought. However, then again, everything took too long for him, so he figured it was nothing.
When Knuckles finally got back, he had brought someone extra with him. A baby Mobian cat, to be precise.
"Hey, um... I found this baby girl abandoned, and um..." Knuckles wasn't even sure what to say.
Sonic's eyes went wide as he glanced over. "You...you didn't..." Well, this seemed familiar.
"I did..." Knuckles replied sheepishly. "But look at her; she's so cute and all alone... plus, she's purple! And red and blue make purple, right? So... maybe we're supposed to take care of her?"
He wasn't sure if he was making any sense, but he had to try.
Sonic stood up from his position and walked over, gazing down at the baby wrapped in a little bundle. She stared up at him, her eyes a gentle yellow. It was true; she was a soft lavender color that turned purple at places. Sonic wouldn't say it out loud, but she was certainly cute.
"I-I dunno, Knux. I know we talked about kids, but... I mean, we don't even know how to take care of one!" He wasn't entirely sure of his answer. Obviously, they didn't know the advanced stuff, but the basics ran true; babies needed lots of sleep, food, and attention.
"We can learn how!" Knuckles replied. "Come on, we can't just leave her all alone! Can we keep her, please?"
Knuckles then pulled the puppy dog eyes. So did Kuru. Heck, even the baby was giving Sonic that face. It was 1 against 3 this time around.
Sonic staggered backwards at the assault, immediately turning nervous. "K-Knux, Kuru... n-ngh..." Why me...?
He struggled to keep what little composure he had left, then plopped down on the floor. "Ugh, alright! We can keep her, just... stop doing that!" he shouted.
Knuckles smiled victoriously. Kuru wagged his tail.
"So what should we call her?" Knuckles asked.
Sonic stood back up and stared at the baby. "Ah, hmm..." He smiled, placing his finger on the cat's nose and lightly stroking it to be playful with her. "Well, what would you like to be named, kitty cat?"
The baby said nothing, obviously, but the light stroking Sonic was doing caused her to gasp slightly. She pushed his finger away and scrunched her nose. "A-ah... ah!"
She bent her head down slightly, then sneezed, "ACHOO!"
Shockingly, a stream of fire shot from her mouth, setting the blanket she was wrapped in ablaze!
Knuckles quickly dropped the blanket and stomped the fire out. He stared for a moment at the child in his arms.
"I know, we'll call her Blaze!"
Sonic chuckled nervously. "IIII think that's a pretty accurate name!"
Blaze giggled, seeming to enjoy the name they gave her. Though, she looked down at the put-out fire and frowned, seeming apologetic.
"Hey, it's alright," Sonic said softly, lightly scratching the cat's tummy. "Kinda my fault anyways."
He then glanced up to Knuckles and smirked. "You're lucky I love you."
Knuckles blushed. "I love you too."
He gently scratched Blaze's little head. "And I love you too," he cooed.
Kuru barked.
"And I love you too!" Knuckles said to him, chuckling lightly.
Sonic looked around his house. Geez, this house was really only big enough for one. Now I've got Knuckles, Kuru, and Blaze here... He left the thought unspoken and stared back at Blaze. "I guess we've gotta go get a lotta stuff for her, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," Knuckles replied. "And we'll have to make sure it's all fireproof!"
Sonic nodded, then lightly shook Blaze's hand. "She's gonna give Egghead a real challenge when she gets older though!" he exclaimed. "Heh, bet she'll set his stache on fire."
Knuckles laughed. "I'd love to see that!"
Sonic nodded in agreement, then looked down at Kuru. "They'll let pets into stores, right? We could just go in with Kuru and see what Blaze likes," he suggested.
"Sounds good to me!" said Knuckles.
"Cool!" Sonic reached into Kuru's box of stuff, then pulled out a leash and attached it to Kuru's collar. "Sorry, bud," he said with a sheepish smile. "I'd hate bein' leashed too."
He looked up at Knuckles. "You gonna carry her the whole time?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think I will," Knuckles replied. "She can't walk yet, so someone's gotta carry her."
Blaze smiled, cuddling into Knuckles' chest.
"Shall we?" Sonic asked, walking out with Kuru.
Knuckles grinned. "After you!"
The four went into the village together and headed into the store. Sonic felt slightly embarrassed about searching for baby stuff.
"Need any help?" the owner asked. Sonic shook his head. "Naw, we're alright."
Knuckles tried to focus on the shopping, but he was too excited by the fact that he was finally going to be a father. Sure, the baby might not've be related to him or Sonic by blood, but he could already feel himself forming a bond with Blaze.
Sonic seemed to sense his excitement and looked back at him. "Careful, Knux. You might hurt yourself if that smile gets any bigger." He giggled, lightly poking Knuckles' cheek.
Knuckles giggled too. "I'm just so excited!"
Sonic didn't quite understand at first, but the situation quickly caught up with him. "Oh..." He smiled softly. "I-I guess she is kind of our daughter, huh?"
Knuckles nodded, still grinning. He gently scratched Blaze under her chin, and her tail swished as she let out a loud purr. She giggled, lightly holding onto Knuckles' hand.
"Should we get her some clothes too?" Sonic asked as he perused through all the bottles and pacifiers.
"Yeah, we should!" Knuckles replied. "Too bad they don't make fireproof clothes..."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Sonic said. "She's our daughter after all! She'll learn to control it in no time!"
"Our daughter." Knuckles loved the sound of those words. "Okay then! Let's find Blaze some clothes!"
Sonic grabbed an item box to stuff their items into, then snatched up a few things and moved on. "So, girly or not-so-girly?"
He picked up a small dress, then showed it to Blaze. Personally, he found it pretty unappealing, but then again, it's not like he'd have to wear it, though a small bit of disgust still showed on his face. Blaze stared at it, then let out a cute grunting noise and turned her head away.
"Not-so-girly it is!" Sonic exclaimed, returning the dress to its original spot and looking through the clothes again.
Knuckles spotted Kuru sniffing at a piece of clothing.
"Hmm, are you suggesting this one?" he asked jokingly.
Sonic looked down at it. He had to admit, it looked pretty cool. "Let's give it a shot."
He picked it up, then showed it to Blaze. "How's this one, kiddo?"
Blaze quickly lit up, pulling the fabric to her face and snuggling into it, letting out a soft purring noise.
"We've got a winner!" Sonic cheered, looking down at Kuru. "Nice job."
Kuru wagged his tail proudly.
"Good boy!" Knuckles said. "I guess we know what kind of things to look for now."
Sonic nodded. Eventually, they collected everything they needed, though it had taken a little longer than Sonic liked. Knuckles also had to hand over Blaze as, being the larger of the two, he was able to carry more stuff.
Once they got back home, Sonic sat down on his hammock, placing Blaze on his lap and looking over at Knuckles. "Just drop 'em anywhere," he said, pointing at all the bags the echidna had to carry. "Heh, sorry that ya had to carry most of it though!" He lifted up the single plastic bag he was holding for emphasis.
Knuckles grunted as he put the stuff down. He was a little annoyed, but be brushed it off. He and Kuru went over to Sonic's hammock.
"I don't think we've introduced you two," Knuckles said to Kuru and Blaze. He picked up Kuru and held him close to Blaze.
"Kuru, this is Blaze. Blaze, Kuru."
Kuru began to curiously sniff the baby cat in front of him.
Blaze giggled, then pet Kuru's head.
Sonic meanwhile noticed Knuckles' mild annoyance from before and pouted. "Hey, c'mon, I said I was sorry! You were the only one who could carry all that stuff!" He snuck a lip-kiss to the echidna since he was close enough.
Knuckles' cheeks grew warm. "Well, I guess a kiss does make it better..." He winked.
"Good!" Sonic said with a smirk. He then turned his attention to Blaze and lightly scratched her fur. "We should probably get her cleaned up and fed. We haven't done either since she got here."
"Oh, right!" Knuckles replied. "What do we feed her, exactly?"
"I bought some baby food and 'baby formula', whatever that is," Sonic said, digging into the bag next to him and pulling out both.
"So which one do we give her?" Knuckles wondered.
"I guess it doesn't matter," Sonic figured. Forgetting about the high-chair he'd bought, he cradled Blaze with one arm and popped one container of baby food open. "Pass me a spoon," he told Knuckles.
Knuckles grabbed a spoon and handed it to him.
"Alright, Blaze, open up," Sonic muttered as he scooped up a bit of baby food and held it up to her mouth. Blaze sniffed it, but scoffed at the smell and hit the spoon, sending its contents onto Sonic's face.
He winced, then gazed down at Blaze, who shifted between concern and giggling. Sonic tried to be angry, but laughed along with her anyway.
"I guess she doesn't like it," Knuckles commented, chuckling lightly.
Sonic gave a fake glare at the echidna, then closed the container back up and wiped the baby food from his cheek. "Alright, let's somethin' else then."
After trying out a few different containers, Blaze finally took to one of the flavors and ate without complaint. Sonic looked over at Knuckles and smirked. "Next time, you're feeding her," he said jokingly. He honestly couldn't blame her, as he could be picky too from time to time, and he'd certainly dealt with worse.
Just then, Kuru walked over to them and started sniffing at Blaze's food.
"No, Kuru!" Knuckles said sternly, but gently.
Kuru heard him and backed away.
"We already have one little babe to take care of; we don't need two," Sonic explained, trying to fake seriousness but laughing again.
"Kuru, you've got your own food," Knuckles said, gesturing to the food bowls.
Kuru, defeated, went over to his food dish and began to eat.
Once Blaze was fed, it was time to give her a bath. The two figured the bucket technique would work again, but any attempt to get Blaze dipped into the water caused her to cling to Sonic as much as she could while also letting out a small whine.
"Hm... well, this isn't working," Sonic said with a frown, trying to figure out what he could do. He wouldn't want to go into that bucket if he was Blaze either, but they needed to get her bathed.
"I guess she doesn't like water," Knuckles mused. It did kind of make sense since Blaze had fire powers, but it also made things much more difficult.
"No worries. I got this," Sonic assured. He got a small rag, then soaked it with water and body wash. "Blaaaze," he chimed, getting the cat's attention. "How's this?"
Blaze grabbed it slightly as he held it out to her, then relaxed as he ran it through her fur.
Sonic smiled. "There we go."
"Oh, that works!" Knuckles said.
Sonic chuckled. "Hold still, Blaze!" he said, the cat squirming and giggling as he reached her tummy. "Knux, we have a struggler! Someone doesn't like being a clean kitty!"
Knuckles laughed lightly. "Here."
He gently held onto Blaze to keep her from squirming too much. "Hold still, Blaze. You'll be clean soon!"
Blaze calmed down a little, but seemed ticklish there. Still, it didn't take long for Sonic to finish up and dry her.
"How about daddy Knuckles puts your clothes on?" Sonic asked with a smile. "He deserves a bit of a challenge too, huh?"
Blaze giggled.
"Uh, okay." Knuckles wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but he'd try.
He grabbed one of Blaze's outfits and started trying to put it on her.
Blaze was fairly cooperative, and with a little help from Sonic, she was fully clothed and looking comfortable in her outfit.
Sonic smiled, gently holding her hands in his own. "Who knew Kuru had such a good sense of fashion, huh?"
"Yeah, she looks great!" Knuckles said with a grin.
Kuru ran over to them, having heard his name. He sniffed at Blaze, then gave her a big puppy kiss.
Blaze laughed at the kiss, sticking her tongue out and licking the puppy back.
The two played for a while until Sonic had set the crib up, at which point he scooped Blaze into his arms and carried her over. She seemed unsure about what was happening, but quickly started pouting once Sonic tried to get a blanket around her. "Ah, c'mon, Blaze. It's time for bed," he tried to argue. He stared over at Knuckles for 'help', not wanting to conquer that adorable face by himself.
Knuckles walked up to them.
"Now, Blaze," he said, "we all need to get some sleep. You and Kuru can play more tomorrow."
He gave her a light goodnight kiss on the head.
Blaze giggled at the kiss, but still pouted. Sonic tucked her in, then went over to his bed and flopped onto it. "And I guess Kuru still doesn't want to sleep in his own bed?"
As if in answer, Kuru jumped onto the bed next to Sonic.
"Nope," Knuckles laughed.
"Ahhh, well, ya never slept in your own bed anyway," Sonic said with a small sigh, raising a hand out to Knuckles to gesture him to come too.
However, a wailing sound quickly came from the crib as Blaze began to cry, not liking being separated from her fathers.
"Aw, Blaze wants to sleep here too!" Knuckles said.
"Knuuux, you know that she'll never leave if we let her sleep with us tonight," Sonic argued, pointing at Kuru for an example.
"But she's so lonely!" Knuckles looked at Blaze sadly, then looked back at Sonic pleadingly. "Plus, she's probably scared after being abandoned," he pointed out.
"A-ah..." Sonic rolled over. "Don't stare at me like that."
"Please let her sleep with us," Knuckles said, "at least until she feels safe. Please?"
Sonic's ears flopped down. "Knuuux." He paused, then sighed and got up, walking over to the crib. "Alright, Blaze. Up," he told her, reaching in and pulling her out. She smiled up at him, cooing as she snuggled against his fur.
"You're lucky you're cute," the blue hedgehog murmured, lightly scratching her behind her ears. He sat back down on the bed, then laid back and allowed Blaze to rest on his stomach, covering her up to her neck with his blanket. "How's this?" he asked Knuckles, raising a brow and trying to be serious, though he couldn't help a smile at the adorable puppy and baby cat on the bed with them.
Knuckles smiled. "She looks cozy," he said.
He climbed into bed and snuggled next to his family.
My family. He grinned at that thought.
"Yeah, she does..." Sonic glanced over at Knuckles, then smiled softly and slowly fell asleep, Blaze following suit.
Knuckles smiled at how cute the two looked. Then, he too soon fell asleep, Kuru following suit.