Chapter 4 – Amy's Doubts
Weird. There was definitely something weird going on. First Sonic starts telling me how much he cares about me when he hasn't done that in, like, well, practically ever…and then I walk into my Create-a-Cake shop one morning and find the office light on when I know I'd turned it off the night before. A couple of my employees had keys to the place, but none were due in for a few hours, so it kind of creeped me out.
"Lydia?" I called, thinking that perhaps one of them had come in early for some reason. Getting no answer, I flipped on some more lights and continued nervously into the office. No one was there, and nothing seemed out of place--except that there was a single sheet of paper in the laser printer's output tray. I walked over and plucked it out.
It was a picture, a photo…that looked like it had been taken from inside the cake storage room, of nothing in particular. I made my way to the back of the shop and peeked into that room, but nothing seemed amiss there either. Strange as it was, I didn't have time to dwell on it; there was a lot of work to do.
Lydia the lynx came in a few hours later, but by then things were really busy. I barely had time to manage a quick question as we crossed paths on our way to the counter and back. "Hey, did you happen to come in last night after closing or earlier this morning?"
"No," she answered in her distinctive tribal accent, "why?"
"Someone came in here after I closed…uh, I'll tell you about it later." The full sheet graduation butter pecan with hazelnut frosting in my hands was growing heavier by the second, so I hurried with it to the front counter. That was the last we spoke of the odd matter until it came time to close again.
"Hmm…" she mused after I described what I'd arrived to find, "maybe it was dat weasel Shinelich. He is always forgetting deh things an' he has tuh come back, you know?"
"Maybe…." Considering it as I swept the floor, I decided that he had done weirder things in the months since I'd hired him, after all. "Yeah, you're probably right." I figured I'd send him a text message after closing, just to be sure. The incident was all but out of my head as I went to tidy up in the storage room. I closed the door to sweep behind it and froze as I discovered another laser printed photograph taped to its backside. This one was a snapshot of the cabinets under the shop's bathroom sink. I peeled the paper off and was studying it with growing perplexity or whatever you call it when Lydia called from the front.
"Ms. Amy, are you ready? We bedder hurry if we are tuh beat deh storms, yeah?"
"…Okay…be done in just a sec!" I stuck the paper back to the door and continued cleaning. Whatever this was and what it was all about, I didn't have time to mess with it.
Lydia joined me for a quick supper at McDonald's after we left the shop, mainly so she could tell me about her recent first date with Shadow. As badly as I wanted to know how it went, I was a little bit afraid to ask, to be honest. I'd lost count of how many times I'd set Shadow up with a nice girl, but he didn't seem to like any of them, and a lot of them didn't find him so likeable either. They all more or less told me that they had a really hard time understanding him, reading him, figuring him out…and some found him downright creepy. That's why I'd decided to try setting him up with Lydia this time. Ever since we first met I'd found her to be very good at reading others; she always seemed to know just what I was thinking or feeling and even knew to let me alone during the times I didn't feel like talking. Perhaps, I thought, she might be just the kind of companion Shadow needed.
"Deh date was preddy short," she started out after downing a couple of her chicken nuggets. "He is an interesting one tuh talk tuh, vedy much on guard, does not like change. I spoke on some dhings from his life, asked him about you."
"Really??" In my spike of interest I kind of jerked my sandwich down, and glob of McRib sauce dropped from it onto the edge of its box and part of the table. Lydia reached across with her napkin and began to wipe it up for me. I practically grabbed it from her hand, urging her to forget the mess and go on. "What did he say?"
"Mmm, his walls, dhey got about ten feet thicker. He would not say much, an' it was hard for me tuh, mmm, see past dhat exactly what he was feeling about dhat time."
"Wow, if you were having a hard time it must have been bad!"
She chuckled a bit. "Aha ha ha, it is just what I like tuh do! I had tuh, mmm, concentrate vedy hard, really focus, tuh pick out what were dhose dhings he really liked, and what was just somedhing tuh say, yeah? He dalk about everydhing very much deh same way." I wasn't sure what to ask as she paused to chew her fries, but she quickly saved me the trouble. "I dhink it is his son dhat he loves most, more dhan anydhing else."
A bittersweet warmth rose inside of me. "…Well, what do you think? Are you guys gonna go out again?" Again she chuckled.
"Aha ha ha! I dhink he found in me very liddle interest. His words, dhey come out only tuh be polite, yeah?"
"Ohh…." I sighed at the thought of yet another hope trounced, but the sentiment was cut short by a startling clap of thunder. "Whoa, looks like the storm's almost here!" We both hurried to finish our meals and bid each other goodbye, then I dashed to the counter for one more order, to go.
A short while later, I'd barely set foot in the front door of the house when the takeout sack was snatched from my hand from below.
"Woo hoo, finally!" Iris exclaimed, then raced to beat Sonic to the kitchen. As father and daughter dove into their Mickey D's, I wandered past them to the sink and peered through the window at angry clouds thundering outside. All I could really see, though, were the thoughts of the past clouding my world within.
No excuses. I knew what I did was wrong. What had started out as a simple summer vacation had ended with me mated to Shadow, but for all the wrong reasons. Call it a moment of vulnerability or whatever, but the fact was that I gave myself to one man while my heart was yet with another. My biggest mistake, though, came after that; I left him without so much as a word. Bad circumstances or not, he didn't deserve that…and we all ended up paying for it. Perhaps everyone had had their share of mistakes in the matter, but at this point, I really only blamed myself.
Letting Shadow keep Mercury had been, in a sense, my way of making it up to him…and while I didn't want to think of it as yet another mistake, there were undeniable regrets…like the three years I didn't get to spend with my baby, and the fact that the majority of his life he lacked the constant presence of a mother figure. Even now, aside from special occasions, I saw him twice a week at best. But then, considering how things could've turned out, I supposed to myself that I should be grateful for at least that much. Until Shadow settled down with a new girl, however, someone decent and fitful to be Mercury's new mother, I would never feel at ease about things. But who? Who was truly the right one for him?
"Hannah Montana!!"
I turned around, blinking, to see my daughter at the table holding up the toy from her Happy Meal. Sonic groaned at it.
"Aww, Amy, you were supposed to get her the Transformers one!"
"Nuh uh," Iris differed, "I like this one better!" Her words met an exaggerated expression of shock and repulsion on Sonic's face, and she giggled. Aw, she was so cute. Poor Sonic, he was already losing his tomboy to the girly things she was growing into…yet another regret for me, having failed to give him a son of his own.
I was still feeling sorry for my poor husband through the next couple of days, until Sunday, when Tails came over for a visit. Since the cake shop was closed on weekends, I was home to make some sandwiches for the boys while they chatted. It wasn't long before Sonic had hogged down most of the tea, so I set about brewing a fresh pitcher. I dropped in on Iris while waiting on the water to boil, and there she was, switching back and forth from video games to online chatting while her food sat on the plate hardly touched.
"Iris? Honey, your bread's gonna get all dried out."
"Yeah yeah, I'll get to it," was all she had to say as she continued to type. I paused to pick up some dirty laundry off the floor and drop it in her hamper a few steps away.
"Don't forget," I urged her as I made my way out. I was near the end of the hall, about to go back in the kitchen, when a comment caught my ear from Sonic.
"Then again, Shadow does seem to have a thing for easy girls."
Ohh, my quills were searing. Considering that Shadow hadn't had any other mates since me, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out just who he meant…and in front of Tails this time!!
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I demanded as I stomped back into the room. He jumped in his chair and tried to play it off.
"I-I was just…kiddin' around…!"
That wasn't about to excuse it. I stood there for a moment with a hundred different ways to curse him out running through my mind, but I didn't want to make Tails any more uncomfortable than he already was. Nevertheless, something came out as I spun around and marched off.
"UGH, I have had it with you!!!" I retreated downstairs lest the rest of my rage explode. It wasn't long before he was right behind me, still spouting the joke excuse. Didn't he get it?! It didn't matter whether he was joking! It was still an insult, and it still hurt! I kept up my furious pace through Iris' playroom, to the back wall. With nowhere else to go, I dropped down into her Pokemon beanbag chair, and broke out into tears. "Is that all I am to you?!"
"Amy..!"
"After all these years, you'd think you could finally let it go, but no! You're never gonna let me live it down!!" I wasn't sure if he could understand what I was saying through all the sobbing at this point, but I didn't care. He got the point. "What is it going to ta-ake?" The rest of my grief soaked into Pikachu as I buried my face into his cherry red cheeks.
Sonic was quiet behind me now. After I heaved a few moments longer, he stepped over and crouched beside me, speaking softly.
"Amy…I'm sorry. I…you're right. It was out of line." He tried to put a hand on my shoulder, but I quickly slapped it away. There was no way he was getting off that easily. Saying nothing more, he stood and took off, back upstairs. Wow, what an apology. I turned aside and continued to lie there, alone, suddenly wondering to myself why I didn't just stick with Shadow. He never would have treated me this way. I didn't get to ponder it much further, though, before the rapid footsteps told me Sonic was on his way back down. I just buried my face in the beanbag again. "Amy," he started back up, "umm, I…was saving this for our anniversary, but I want you to have it now…."
It sure wasn't what I expected to hear. I was too curious not to look. Slowly, wearing a mixture of anger and defiance on my face, I turned to see just what he was offering…and all at once I couldn't breathe.
There they were, seven little diamonds, like baby Chaos Emeralds, smiling brightly at me from their golden home.
He went on. "And…I want you to know that I promise I'll never bring that deal with Shadow up again." He waited quietly for a response from me, but all I could do was continue to gawk at the ring. It wasn't the fact that it was such a gorgeous, expensive gift that had me so dumbstruck with awe. It was the fact that he'd gotten it for me despite the fact that I'd stopped asking him years ago…and everything it represented. My motion was stiff with residue anger as I took it into my hands, many more feelings now welling within. I clipped a breath, then another, my mouth widening to speak…but all I managed to do was break into tears again. Sonic looked a bit confused. "…Do you like it?" I nodded and held it close to me as I leaned into him. His embrace followed, the never failing source of comfort. He rested his chin on my shoulder with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry…."
Ever the polite guest, Tails was still upstairs when we finally made our way back up there. I felt guilty for putting him in such an awkward position.
"I'm so sorry I blew up in front of you like that," I started to tell him, but he wouldn't have it.
"No no, you're fine, really," he assured me with an upright hand. "It wouldn't be normal if you guys got along a hundred percent of the time." He then pushed himself up from his seat and nodded to me kindly. "Thank you very much for the great lunch!"
My apologetic smile sank into a pout. You're not leaving already, are you? The tea! I still need to make some more tea!"
"Oh no, don't worry about it."
"No, please, I insist! I'll feel bad if you go away on such a bad note! Please stay a little longer."
He lowered his head with a shy smile. "Well…okay, if it's really no trouble…."
"Of course not!" I prompted him to sit back down, then jogged into the kitchen to find the water simmering. I had a full pitcher back on the table in less than a minute. As I refilled their glasses and added a few cubes of ice, Sonic reseated himself, upbeat but quiet. I took it upon myself to break the silence. "So what else has been going on in your life, Tails?"
"Uhh, well, for the most part it's been the same old, same old, still messing around with that engine prototype and all, but uh, there was something else that kinda came up…." His brow took a pretty solemn dive, which left me a little concerned.
"What happened?"
"I, uh, ran into this girl, a mouse named Cedar, and it turns out she's related to Maple the possum." When he glanced up at us, I'm sure my face had to be as stunned as Sonic's. He was quick to go on. "She's nice and everything, but, um, she says she wants to meet Shadow."
"You told her?!" I shrieked. His ears went flat.
"I couldn't not tell her!"
Even Sonic was leaning in. "Why does she wanna meet Shadow?"
"Closure, I guess," Tails replied with a shrug. "And, uh, this might sound kind of silly, but…I was thinking of perhaps trying to get her and Shadow together." That was all he got out before Sonic was making a big T in front of him with his hands.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Seein' how the last one turned out, do ya really wanna go there??"
"She's not like Maple!" Tails protested, but I had to side with Sonic on this one.
"Well, we didn't think that Maple was like Maple, until it was almost too late!" I glanced over as Sonic started to add something to that, but for once he stopped himself. The poor fox sank back in his chair.
"I know…but please trust me on this! I mean, I practically ruined Shadow's life, so the least I can do is try to help fix it!"
I slapped my hand on the table. "You did no such thing!"
"Even if that's the case, Amy," he slowly said to me, "I'll never stop feeling that way."
The words struck a chord within my own guilty conscience. Maybe…maybe he was right. What he was doing wasn't all that different from what I'd been trying to do for months.
"…Well," I finally answered, "maybe it'd be a good idea if you and I talked with her first. And if she does meet Shadow, I don't want her anywhere near Mercury."
"Fair enough," Tails agreed with an eager nod. "I'll ask her the next chance I get."
Once our guest had excused himself, things pretty much went back to business as usual. Neither Sonic nor I brought up the subject again, though if he was anything like me it had to be on his mind at least a little. That awful experience in Maple's garden replayed through my subconscious off and on the rest of the day, and I even dreamed of her that night. By the time I got to the cake shop the next morning I'd managed to shift my focus back onto the day's work ahead…but that didn't last long.
I slipped on something when I headed into the storage room, and three aluminum pans dropped from my hands as I threw my arms out to catch myself. They were all empty, thankfully, but they made a terrible racket that echoed through the entire place. I was still muttering under my breath about the headache I was gonna have all day when I knelt to retrieve the pans--and found myself staring into that photo of the bathroom sink again. The tape had failed and allowed it to slip off the door.
"Forgot all about this," I mumbled aloud, clamping the sheet between two fingers just before gathering the scattered pans. That Shinelich, he never did respond to my text message. After finishing my business in the storage room, I headed back into the office, where the first printout remained. Looking it over again, it became clear to me this time that the snapshot had been of something in particular after all: the door. It was a clue to check the door. Surely, then, the second shot was also a clue! I scurried to the bathroom with rapidly growing interest, and I flung the sink's cabinets wide open. Aside from a plunger, some various chemicals, and a few rolls of toilet paper, though, there didn't seem to be anything to see. I crouched and nudged a few things around, sighing. Then, for some reason, I thought to look up under the sink, and sure enough, another piece of paper was taped to the bottom of the basin. One of the corners ripped off as I tugged it free.
The third clue was yet another laser printed photo, which directed me to yet another location within the shop. Again I sought it out, and again I was rewarded with another picture. Whoever had been responsible for this little game had gone to a lot of trouble, and to be honest, it was a lot of fun! I spent the rest of the workday photo hunting when I wasn't too busy baking and decorating and taking orders, and Lydia even helped with a few. Some were more difficult and had me stumped for hours. Finally, as closing time neared, I found what would be the final piece. A document-size manila envelope had been hidden underneath the cash register, and inside was the strangest picture of all.
"What's this?" Sonic asked when I handed the envelope to him that night.
"You tell me." I plopped down on the couch next to him and stretched. "Somebody left it for me at my shop."
His expression morphed into puzzled curiosity when he slid out a strangely overhead snapshot of himself talking with a yellow hedgehog across a counter. "This is…the place where I got your ring…."
"Look what it says on the back."
Flipping it over, he read a brief comment in cursive ink:
Thought you should know what he's been up to.
"Huh…. Who left this?" He turned it back over and studied the front again.
"I don't know. I just found it there today." After we both stared at it a bit longer, he suddenly broke into laughter.
"You think it's the paparazzi?"
Even I had to laugh at the thought of that. "I don't know, it's weird! It's like someone was trying to clue me in that you were getting me the ring…but who?"
"Whoever it was, they're too late! Heh heh heh!"
Looking back on it now, I guess I was kind of naïve about the intentions behind the exposure, but hey, I'd worn out all my brain cells just trying to find the dang thing! It was a few days later, on my way home again, that I actually encountered Rouge the bat. She was sitting in the branches of a tree barely strong enough to support her weight, one leg leisurely crossed over the other. I glanced her direction and couldn't help but notice that she was directly eyeing me.
"…Hi, Rouge," I greeted simply, making a point of not slanting my tone one way or another. I was never quite sure what to make of her.
She stared for a second longer before answering. "…You're in a good mood." Before I could respond to that, she went on, "I don't suppose you've found the information I left."
"Information…? You mean the pictures?" She returned an eye rolling nod. "Um, yeah, I found them, but…I'm not sure I understand what you were wanting to show me…." That, and why the heck she broke into my cake shop to do it.
"I just thought you'd appreciate being informed of your husband's infidelity."
"Oh, i-it's not like that," I stammered, having been caught a bit off guard. "He just went to that store to get me a ring for our anniversary! See?" The seven diamonds twinkled their hellos to Rouge as I held my hand up. Her eyes grew wide, and within seconds she was on the ground and coming over for a better look.
"……Well, well," she finally remarked after pulling my hand into careful inspection. "It's even worse than I thought."
"What?!" I gasped. "It's gorgeous!"
"The ring is fine. It's excellent. But that's just the problem."
By now I was practically covering it with my other hand, as if it needed protection. "What do you mean?"
"Doesn't it seem the least bit peculiar to you that he's gotten this for you now, all of a sudden, all these years after you actually got married?"
"It wasn't really all of a sudden…I mean, he told me that he felt like he didn't let me know how much he cared enough."
"Sounds more like a classic case of a guilty conscience to me," she countered, now pacing around me like a predator. "The guy goes out, finds an easy mark, takes it, then feels rotten about the rotten thing he's done and gets his real girl a gift to paint himself as the loving, dedicated mate he's not." She came to a stop in front of me and turned with a sneering smirk. "Surely you're not that gullible." The smirk spread a bit when she saw me blinking, staring, at a gaping-lipped loss for words. "I know it's not the kind of thing you want to hear, but we girls have got to look out for each other, you know? Anyway, I've got things to do, so…see ya."
Rouge flapped her wings, and just as quickly as she'd turned my world upside down, she was gone.
I peered down at my ring. It still twinkled so sweetly, so bright and pure…but I knew I'd never be able to look at it again without wondering…without those doubts overshadowing every facet's sparkle. Whatever the truth was, I had to know for sure.
Rather than wait all week for my next day off, I decided to begin my quest for truth over an extended lunch the next afternoon. I ran home first for a quick shower, though, to ensure my identity didn't precede me. Sonic found that a little odd, but I just told him I had to meet with an important lady and wanted to be extra fresh and clean—which was true, actually. Afterward, when I went to grab Rouge's photograph, I found that he'd thrown it in the trash. Hm. I dug it out when he wasn't looking and was on my way.
My heart was pounding as I walked in a growing daze toward Kay's Jewelers. What was I going to say? As I rounded the corner and the store came into sight, I suddenly caught the heavenly aroma of fresh baked cinnamon rolls, a very welcome and much needed comfort. To my disappointment, though, the scent turned out to be coming from a kiosk shop selling flavored nuts rather than fluffy pastries. Still, I stood near it and inhaled deeply while working up the nerve to approach the lady at the jeweler just steps away.
Another girl's voice asked from beside me, "Would you like to try a sample of cinnamon almonds, ma'am?" I turned to see an ash gray tanuki offering a tray with several tiny paper cups. Whoa, was this the girl that Tails had gone out with? As rare as it was to see their kind in this area, she more than likely was the same one. I thanked her and gently removed one of the cups. There were three almonds inside, and while I wasn't a big fan of dry nuts, they smelled delicious. I went ahead and popped one in my mouth.
O. M. G.
It was all I could do to keep tears from spilling out. I practically swallowed it whole just to get the cinnamon hell off my tongue. No wonder that place was called The Nuthouse!! But, I found, it had been just what I'd needed; it hit me at that point that I, too, needed to be strong, to just go in there and do my thing. So I did.
"Excuse me," I began as I reached the counter. The yellow hedgehog was bent over straightening out some necklaces, but she quickly righted herself and smiled at me.
"Hi there! What can I do for you?"
Now that I was seeing her up close, I realized that she was much prettier than she'd seemed in the photo. My heart started going up my throat again.
"Umm…I was just wondering…if you remember seeing this hedgehog…." I quickly pulled the picture from its now grease-stained envelope and handed it to her. As she looked it over, her brow pursed in a mixture of surprise and concern. She glanced back up at me briefly before speaking.
"Well yes…this man comes in here almost every day." She blinked at me and the aghast gape now frozen on my face. "Why do you ask?"
I forced a breath, remembering cinnamon hell. "I'm his wife, and I was told that he had been coming here for some reason…."
"Ohh, his wife! Of course, I recognize your ring now that you mention it. He's told me all about you!"
"He, he has…?"
"Mm hm, he tells me how sweet and lovely you are and how you work all day and still do so much more when you get home." I didn't think my eyes could get any wider, but they were. She went on, "I think he first started coming here because he was concerned about an incident between me and my own…guy, back when he came and bought your ring. He's been dropping by to chat ever since."
My expression probably hadn't changed all that much, but the feelings behind it were now astronomically different. "Oh…."
"Where did that picture come from?" The lady stepped out from behind the counter and began to make her way out of the store. I grabbed the photo and followed her out.
"I got it from someone I know." We stopped just beyond the storefront, where she stood gazing up towards the skylight, shielding her eyes from the midday sun with a dainty hand.
"Based on the angle it was taken," she noted, "it looks like whoever took it had to be way up there."
"Oh yeah, the one who took the picture is a bat." I stared at the ledge myself for a few moments longer, then turned to her. "Hey, I'm sorry for bothering you with all this. I was just wanting to get it all cleared up."
"It's all right," she assured me with a warm smile. "I'm sure if I were in your shoes I'd have done the same."
I thanked her for being so understanding and turned to be on my way when I then found myself face to face with the tanuki from the nearby kiosk. She looked almost angry.
"'Scuse me, did I just hear you right? Did you say there was a bat taking pictures?"
"Uh, yeah," I replied, taking a step back. She leaned in, squinting.
"White fur, boobs hanging out all over the place?"
A nervous clip of a laugh slipped out. "That's the one."
She snorted and snatched the photo right out of my hand. "I knew it!" There was a brief silence after that. "…What am I looking at?"
"Well," I started reluctantly, "the bat thought my guy was cheating on me, but it was just a misunderstanding."
"Really, Trixie," the other hedgehog sighed, "we should be getting back to work…."
Something else had come to mind as the picture was handed back to me. "I wonder, though, what she was doing here in the first place." Trixie looked past me to her friend.
"She sure was bent on talking to Shadow that day!"
"Shadow?" I echoed. "Shadow the hedgehog?"
"Yeah, you know him?"
Definitely something weird going on. "Yeah…."