VI.
The red pen was only used for crucial situations. For instance, if there were a letter that needed to be mailed ASAP, Amy would address the envelope in the red pen. If Sonic needed Amy to look at a picture he drew, he'd draw it in red (don't ask…). If an important event were coming up, Amy would mark it on the calendar in the red pen. Today, it was the latter.
The pink hedgehog looked at the date on the calendar hanging up on the fridge: April 7th. She flipped through the pages until she got to January the next year. She circled the word in the red pen – the month the doctor said the baby was due.
Ten months. That seems a bit longer than I've heard it was supposed to be, Amy thought to herself, recapping her pen. Amy had checked out just about every book on pregnancy and mothering the library had to offer, and she still didn't get it. Each book gave different information. Some said it must be nine months before a baby is due. Others claimed it was from eight to ten months.
I guess it all depends. That leaves me about eight months to go…
Amy flopped down on the couch and picked up her script, reading the title "Wicked" over and over. Something felt weird. She reached towards the back of her shirt and slipped her hand under to adjust her bra strap. It had been feeling strange all day. She focused on her script but gave up and chucked it across the coffee table. Amy had already memorized the whole thing, right down to the punctuation marks and could recite it in her sleep. Amy nearly drove Sonic insane asking him to read with her all the time. She was so bored when he was at work.
The phone rang breaking the silence. Amy hoisted herself up off of the couch and jogged for the phone.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Well, hey there, sugar! If you don't sound just as happy as a puppy, no offense to those fuzzy little rascals, of course!"
Amy laughed out loud. There was only one person she knew who apologized for using animals in her expressions.
"Pat!" Amy grinned, reaching under her shirt and trying to fix her bra again. "How are you? How was your vacation?"
"Oh, it was relaxing, and then again, quite boring." Amy could almost envision Pat smiling over the phone. She was always smiling. "Enough about me, sugar plum. I heard about the itty-bitty bundle of joy just around the corner, sweetie!"
Amy blushed. "Oh, it's really exciting, Pat! But Sonic doesn't seem too happy about it…"
Amy heard Pat Haven cluck her tongue. "I wouldn't worry about it, precious. Women feel they become mothers once they find out. Men don't feel like fathers till the baby actually comes outta there. Men are very different, so don't take it personally."
Amy nodded, even though she knew Pat couldn't see it. "All right, Pat. I…"
A ringing sound filled her ears.
"Er…Pat? Someone's at the door, could I call you back?"
"That's fine, love. I'd better be scooting off anyway. Come and visit me sometime! Love yah, sugar!"
"Love you too! Bye!" Amy felt much better when she hung up the receiver and headed for the door.
Just as she expected, Rouge stood there grinning with a large bag in each hand.
"Heya, doll," she said, leaning over to peck her friend's cheek. "Doing anything today?"
Amy shrugged and smiled back, tugging her shirt down when it rose up. Was it always this tight? "Just got back from rehearsal. Stay for dinner?"
"If you insist," Rouge let herself in and dropped her bags on the floor, massaging her arms. "I have some things for you."
Amy looked on, puzzled, as Rouge leaned over and unzipped the first suitcase. The hedgehog bent down to the bat's level and reached inside. Rouge looked pleased when Amy gasped at the lovely flowery babydoll top she pulled out. She reached in again and pulled out some large khaki pants. When Amy gave her friend a questioning look, Rouge laughed and replied, "They're from the boutique, and I thought you could use them."
Amy cocked her head, observing the large clothes – none really in her size. "They're really nice, Rouge, but I won't be showing till about June...I'm not that big yet."
Rouge laughed out loud. "I know you're not getting bigger around the middle, hon. I'm talking about 'the girls' up top," she said, gesturing to her breasts. Amy looked down at her own and realized that Rouge was right. No wonder none of her clothes really fit anymore…plus Sonic had been looking at her with a weird expression for the past few days.
"Ohhh…" she said, suppressing a giggle. "Well, thanks, then!"
Rouge and Amy pulled out the rest of the "almost maternity" clothes, as Rouge called them, and Amy held them up to herself, enjoying the new smell of each one. The bat knew Amy's style, color, patterns…Rouge knew everything.
"Just one more problem, Rouge," Amy confessed. "What about my…?" she trailed off, adjusting her tight bra again.
Rouge held up one finger and unzipped her other bag. Amy looked inside and gave Rouge a knowing glance.
The bat shrugged. "I know everything."
……………………………
When you have new clothes, you always have this nice, excited feeling inside of you. You check yourself out in the mirror dozens of times before changing into another outfit again and again. You spend hours mulling yourself over in the mirror because you love the way the new clothes smell and how clean they are. This is exactly how Amy felt as she tried on outfit after outfit, haven't have gone shopping in a few months because of job interviews, auditions, you get my drift.
Amy felt much more comfortable in her new clothes and thanked Rouge over and over again. Rouge just shrugged.
"You've got to look nice for our baby shower tonight."
Amy smacked herself in the forehead. "Baby shower? It's tonight? I completely forgot!"
Rouge raised an eyebrow. "How could you forget? It's all you've been talking about for the past week and a half."
Amy sunk down into a nearby chair. "Wow…I guess I was so worried about the play and…" she shook her head. "Well, thanks for reminding me, Rouge..."
Rouge shrugged again. "Anytime."
……………………………
Amy was the last one to show up for her own baby shower. Even Sonic marked it in red on the calander.
Weird.
He even nodded when he noticed the new clothes that actually fit her.
"Snazzy," he commented.
Rouge was the first to greet them and lead them into the large house. Everything was decorated with light pink and baby blue streamers and balloons from wall to wall. Amy got dizzy every time she looked up at the towering ceiling. Cream nearly knocked Amy over when she jumped her, jerking Amy out of her dizzy spell.
"Amy!!" she squealed excitedly. "This is so great! Is it a boy or girl?"
The pink hedgehog laughed. "We don't -"
But the cute bunny was too excited. "…Susie, maybe, for a girl. Think that's cute? I like Elizabeth, too, but there's already this author I know named Elizabeth…"
Even Shadow nodded to Amy, but that wasn't enough. Sonic nearly dragged the black hedgehog over to his own wife to say congratulations. Shadow looked extremely uncomfortable, but Amy gave him a hug anyway.
Amy finally pushed her way through the many friends to Tails. She hugged him tightly.
"What's up, Tails?" she asked. "Busy as usual I hope?"
The fox brushed his bangs out of his face and grinned excitedly. "Yup. I just invented a jetpack that doubles as a digital camera and a toaster!"
Amy nodded, pretending she thought it was an amazing idea. "Well, that's really great, Tails. I…"
"That's not all!" the eager fox proclaimed. "I'm also working on this teleporter that can transport things from one place to another with just a press of a button! It doesn't really work yet, though. Right now it can only transport apples, and then they end up blowing up anyway – makes great applesauce – but I'm sure if I can calibrate the detonationator, I could…" and yet again, Tails' voice trailed off into his own little world, and that's when Amy knew it was time to slip away.
She finally caught up with Knuckles, and knew Rouge was not kidding when she said he was still in shock about the pregnancy. His face had a scary looking smile plastered onto it when he greeted her and said, "Hello, Amy. How nice to see you."
Amy fought the urge to laugh in his face. "You too, Knuckles. Sorry we missed you last week. I was at a rehearsal so…"
"What's up, party people?" exclaimed a loud voice. Sonic made his way over and stuck his arm around Knuckles' shoulders, who looked as though he was going to hurt somebody. "Oh, come on, knucklehead. Drink and be merry! The baby won't be around for months!"
Amy shot a distained look in Sonic's direction, who winced under her glare.
"Haha, only kidding, Knuckles!" Sonic said nervously, patting his friend on the head. Amy rolled her eyes.
"Who wants cake?" they heard Rouge yell from the kitchen. There was a loud cheer as everyone rushed into the next room. But Amy didn't feel hungry.
Were Sonic and Knuckles really dreading having kids?
……………………………
AUTHOR'S NOTEWell, here it is, just a quick little scribble. Tell me if this chapter seems rushed, I think it does…
CURSE YOU WRITER'S BLOCK!! If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I mean, I really do have the whole story planned out…just not everything. But I'm visiting my old home this Friday for a month (ug, three days stuck in the car with Thing One, Thing Two, and Malodorous the Ogre.) Once I get there, my amazing cousin and I will be brainstorming ideas for the story…I hope it's good…
Comments are always
treasured! You guys make me feel so nice!
You know, I feel like this series is like one of those movies that didn't even need a sequel, and the sequels just made them worse, such as Shrek, Aladdin, Ice Age…bummer. But this series was just supposed to be for fun, so I'm not worried…
~Elizabeth Black