A/N: I got my first review, and it was a good suggestion. I've been meaning to write this for awhile now. It changed from it originally had be set in my head, but I like this one much better.
SonicAnon - Thank you for the great suggestion! I hope you read this and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Anyway, this is how Mariam was born into the world. She was born 2 months early. She was a tiny baby. A cute, adorable tiny baby that Shadow probably didn't allow anybody to touch for the longest of times.
Mari's Introduction
When his wife managed to convince him to go out shopping with her, he expected baby item shopping. He expected her to want to go somewhere to eat. Hell, he would have expected his wife to want to go shopping shopping for herself. He was fine with all of that stuff. He was not fine with Eggman attacking the city. He didn't know why the good doctor hadn't given up yet. He was getting up there in age (though Shadow was sure he probably couldn't say anything given his own - circumstances). Either way, Dr. Eggman was his same old self. He was trying to destroy the city. Shadow didn't know if he knew a Chaos Emerald was around or what. What did he know? He had been separated from his wife in the chaos - his pregnant wife.
"Eggman!" he growled. "Knock it off!"
He warped to the eggmobile before landing on one of its fins. He snarled at the villain before his hands lit in a red with a gold tint glow. Dr. Eggman chuckled as he started to sweat from nerves.
"Well, Shadow, what a surprise!" he said after gaining composure. "I'm used to see that blue nuisance appear right away not the Ultimate Lifeform himself."
The hedgehog continued to snarl at him. The Bee bots flying around them noticed his anger to the extent that even they were staying away from the black and red hedgehog. Dr. Eggman continued as he realized Shadow wasn't going to give him a response. He laughed a bit before tilting his flying machine causing Shadow to stumble a little before he righted himself.
"I heard you got married recently," the man said. "I never thought you the settling down type, Shadow the Hedgehog. Of course, I did send a gift. I suppose you never got it?"
"Sent it back in the mail," snapped Shadow. "Call off your robots now!"
"And, why should I do that?" asked Eggman as he raised an eyebrow. "It's been so long since I got some good destruction in. I felt as if I was overdue."
Shadow grabbed him by the collar of his jacket before bringing them nose to nose. Dr. Eggman winced. He could feel the anger radiating Shadow.
"You can destroy all the city that you want," rasped Shadow. "But, you can do that after I find my wife."
The villain blinked before laughing a bit with a nervous chortle mixed in with it. He had heard about the grey hedgehog being pregnant. He supposed Shadow had a right to be angry and in a panic. Eggman grinned. Then again, he was evil.
"No, I don't think I will," the doctor said as a blast from one of his robots caused Shadow to release him. "I'm evil, Shadow. Why would I call off my robot army for one measly hedgehog? So, as far as I can see it, you should be finding your wife more so than tormenting me."
Shadow stared at him before staring at the robots in the air and below him. He kicked off the wing of Eggman's flying machine before spin dashing through a couple of the robots. His warping came in handy as well. It didn't go long distances, and he wished he could focus enough to locate Krystal at the very least. The city was in chaos. He had to wonder with the Blue Wonder himself as at the moment. He held up his communicator before pushing a button on it.
"Rouge," he said. "Where are you and Omega?"
"We're hanging around," replied his teammate. "Why?"
"Eggman is attacking the city. And, in all the chaos, I've lost Krystal."
"You did WHAT?!" snapped Rouge. "How do you lose your WIFE, Shadow?!"
He groaned. He knew Rouge was going to react in such a manner. She was rather attached to the grey hedgehog he had married. His ears pinned back as he felt guilt bubbling up his throat. He knew he should have kept a better watch on her, but all went to chaos when the evil scientist himself attacked.
"We'll talk about my slip up later, Rouge," he said. "I need you to contact Sonic. Then, I want you to help me fin -" He paused in his stride as he spotted a familiar shade of grey. "Contact Sonic." He was with his wife in a flash before making a noise. Why did she look like she was in pain?
"S-Shadow," Krystal managed to mutter as she saw him. "I - baby - hng."
It took Shadow a bit to process her broken sentence before his ears perked straight. She was not having this baby now, was she? He made a noise. The Ultimate Lifeform didn't know what to do at the moment. He couldn't take her to the hospital. It was chaotic within the city. But, he didn't know where else to go - His decision was made as he placed Krystal in his arms. Her breathing was ragged and heavy as he stared at her. Sweat was pouring off her head as well.
"Hold on," he muttered before activating his shoes. "We'll be at the hospital in no time."
Shadow bounced his leg up and down as he sat on a bench in the hallway. He wanted to be in the room with Krystal; however, there were a lot of doctors in with her at the moment. He knew it was getting her upset. He left to at least to give her a bit of room to breathe. He stared out the window as he waited. Sonic had showed within minutes of getting a message from Rouge. He took out Dr. Eggman with ease. So, currently, he and his team were also waiting for any news.
"Can you stop that?" asked Sonic as he gave Shadow a look. "You're making me nervous, and it's not even my wife in labor."
Shadow stopped bouncing his leg before he turned a sharp glare to Sonic. He snarled, "Excuse me if I don't know exactly how to act right now. It's not your wife that went into labor two months early."
"Calm down, boys," said Rouge as she appeared with drinks. "We're all worried about Krystal and the baby, Shadow. No need to snap anybody's head off."
"This is all my fault," the black and red hedgehog muttered as he placed his head in his hands.
Red eyes stared at the tiny hedgehog within the plastic incubator. Wires were attached to her - a lot of wires. He breathed out the breathe he didn't even know he was holding. She was small. She was tiny. He placed a hand on the incubator before making a noise. His daughter was lying in this machine to keep her warm and alive. His other hand turned into a fist to visualize his frustration.
"Shadow?"
He turned to stare at Krystal. She was run ragged. Her face was covered in sweat, but it didn't bother the female hedgehog. She was more concerned about her husband. He stared at their baby for a moment longer before walking over to her. She smiled at him before placing a hand on his cheek.
"It's not your fault," she said.
"Are you sure?" he asked her as he placed a hand on top of her own that rested against his cheek. "I feel like it's my fault."
Krystal smiled as she looked at the incubator. Her smile turned into a frown. No, it was her fault. She couldn't protect their child from harm. Shadow saw her expression before grunting.
"Listen, if I'm not allowed to blame myself, then you're definitely not allowed to blame yourself," he said to her.
"I couldn't protect her," muttered Krystal. "She was born early, because I couldn't protect her from any danger."
"The doctor said high stress induced your labor early," explained Shadow. "If we're blaming anybody, it's Doctor Eggman."
Krystal closed her eyes to keep the tears from starting before she nodded. "O-Okay, yeah, I can live with that blame placement." She stared at Mariam. She wanted to see her daughter. "Can - Can you bring her here? I want to see our Mariam."
Shadow stared at his wife before nodding. He moved the incubator closer to her careful of all the cords and wires. He placed the incubator next to her bed. He sat on the bed next to her to watch their baby sleep. He doubted Mariam would open her eyes anytime soon. He stared at her curled ears.
"We've advanced so much as a species," he said. "But, our young are still born with their ears closed."
Krystal laughed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. That's a bit strange, but she'll be safe with us."
"I'll make sure of it," said Shadow as he gave Krystal a small smile. "Nothing will ever harm our daughter."
Krystal hummed. "Where's Rorik?"
"Still with Sonic and Amy. Where he was before we went shopping," answered Shadow.
"Good," she said. "At least, he was safe from Eggman's attack."
A nurse blinked as she came into the room to see the incubator moved. She sighed before smiling softly at the couple who were watching their baby. She hummed before walking over to them.
"Your wife got to hold Mariam in all the chaos of her birth," the nurse said. "But, would you like to hold her, Mr. Shadow?"
Shadow made a noise as he stared at Mariam. He was no stranger to holding newborn children. He was there when Rorik was born. Though, Rorik wasn't as tiny as his daughter. He wasn't afraid of hurting him like he was afraid of hurting her. Krystal managed to elbow him a bit to snap him out of his thoughts.
"Hold her," she said. "You're not going to hurt her. I promise."
Shadow made a face of uncertainty. How was she so sure that he wasn't going to hurt their daughter? He was so tiny.
"She's so small," he muttered. "I …"
"He'll hold her," Krystal said making the decision for him. She shifted in the bed to allow him to sit a bit more comfortable next to her. "Then, you can slowly watch him melt at the mere sight of her."
Shadow gave her a look. He did not melt at the near sight of Rorik; he definitely was not going to melt at the near sight of his - he stared at the little girl that was placed in his arms mid-mind monologue. His ears moved back and forth before curling downward a bit. She had his fur color. She had all his fur color. His eyes softened at the sight of his daughter. He saw her in the incubator, but it wasn't the same as holding her.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" asked Krystal as she laid her chin on his shoulder to stare at Mariam. "We made a good child."
Shadow barked out a laugh before nudging Krystal causing her to yelp and squirm from being ticklish. Her greatest weakness was found by him a few years ago, and she regretted letting him find out ever since. After a moment, she found her position back on his shoulder. She smiled as she saw his expression.
"She's beautiful," he finally agreed as her little hand managed to grip his finger. "Are you okay?" He turned to look at his wife.
Krystal nodded. "I'll live. The doctor said I would have been in more trouble if I didn't get to the hospital as fast as I did." She smirked. "I told him it helped that my husband was as fast Sonic the Hedgehog - possibly even faster."
"It's still too early for you to trying to seduce me, Kris," he joked.
Kris gasped. "It's never too early to seduce you." She paused. "Okay, maybe it is a little too early to be trying to seduce you."
He chuckled before his attention went back to Mariam. Her eyes flickered open for a moment. He blinked before smiling. "She has two different colored eyes."
"What?" asked Krystal as she looked down at her daughter. "Oh, come on, I missed it." She pouted a bit.
"I'm sure you'll see them soon enough," he said before nuzzling Krystal. "You should get some rest as well."
"What are you going to do?"
Shadow smiled at her. "I'm going to hold Mari as long as possible."
