Chapter 4

Shadow walked into the door of his new home. It still felt odd to him having a place to call home. As he took off his shoes, the smell of pizza wafted into his nose. Shadow went into the kitchen to find Knuckles washing dishes for dinner. Knuckles looked up and said, "It appears the great Houdini has returned from his disappearing act."

Shadow frowned, "Concentrate on your work washer-woman."

Knuckles growled as Sonic stepped into the kitchen and said, "Come on ladies, let's retract the claws and get along. I think the pizza is almost done." Sonic went to the oven and opened it, "Hey Shadow, toss me that oven mitt over there."

Shadow did so while saying, "Wow, Sonic. All of this cooking is making me think you've gone from a hero to a housewife." Sonic rolled his eyes as he slid the pizza half out of the oven to check it.

He slid it back in and said, "Well Shadow, around here, we take turns doing chores such as cooking, cleaning, and dishes. This week, I'm cooking, Knuckles is doing dishes, and Tails is in charge of general cleaning. Of course, if you want a snack or something you have to get yourself and if you make a mess then you have to clean it. We all pitch in. So that means come next week, you have to take up a chore."

Knuckles snickered, "I think he should be on cooking duty."

Sonic chuckled, "That sounds like a good idea."

Tails walked into the kitchen, "What sounds like a good idea?"

Sonic pulled the pizza out of the oven, "Shadow having cooking duty next week."

Tails thought for moment, "Hmm. Yeah that does seem like a good idea. What do you think Shadow?"

Shadow crossed his arms, "Do I look like Chef Ramsey to you? I don't even know how to cook an egg!"

Sonic all but dropped the pizza, "What?! Dude, that's sad. But I guess the best time to learn is now before you accidently poison us next week."

Shadow replied, "And how do propose I learn?"

Sonic smiled, "I'll wake you up early tomorrow and I'll show you the ropes."

When the pizza was cool, Shadow once again took his plate into his room and declined Tails' invite to eat with them. Shadow sat on his bed and ate his pizza. This is fantastic! Who'd thought that Sonic, of all people, could cook? And be damn good at it! All too soon, the pizza was gone. Shadow contemplated getting seconds, but his pride held him back. After giving him so much crap about cooking, Shadow couldn't basically compliment Sonic by getting more of the pizza. Open mouth, insert foot. thought Shadow as he got up. Shadow entered while Knuckles rinsing plates. The pizza pan sat on top of the stove with a lone slice.

Knuckles gestured to the pizza and said, "Sonic left that extra piece for you. He figured you might want seconds." Shadow eyed the pizza longingly but he made no move to eat it.

Instead, he handed his plate to Knuckles, "No thanks."

Knuckles scoffed, "Come on man! I hate to admit it but Sonic is a damn good cook and I know you want that pizza."

Shadow looked about before picking up the pizza, "Don't tell Sonic."

Knuckles grinned, "Of course. If he asks, I'll tell him I ate it. Which is exactly what I will do if you don't hurry up." Shadow couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he ate the pizza.

The next morning, Sonic roused Shadow early, "Come on sleepy-head wake up!"

Shadow groaned, "Ugh. Why?"

Sonic took up his trademark grin, "Cause you're gonna help me make pancakes." Once in the kitchen the two gathered their ingredients. As he finished stirring the batter,Sonic said, "Now comes for the tricky part. Cooking them. Turn on the stove." Shadow did as was told. When the pan was heated, Sonic dropped some butter inside and swirled it around. "OK, I'll do a couple than you try." Shadow watched as Sonic poured the batter into the pan. With a smooth flick of his wrist, Sonic flipped the pancake. After letting it cook, he then slid it onto a plate, "See? Nothing to it. Give it a shot." Shadow nodded. He poured the batter and waited for the bottom to cook. After a minute, Shadow flicked his wrist to flip the pancake. However, he flipped too soon and the pancake fell apart midair and landed with a splat in the pan. Sonic said, "You flipped too early. Give it more time."

Shadow frowned, "Thanks Captain Obvious." After allowing his splat to cook properly, Shadow tried once more to flip it. The pancake flew high into the air, hit the ceiling, and stuck there. Sonic turned away as he tried not to burst out laughing as Shadow turned red with embarrassment.

Sonic turned back to Shadow, still snickering, "Here, maybe you should try a spatula." At that moment the pancake fell from the ceiling and onto the side of the pan. Sonic couldn't help burst out laughing. Shadow smiled as he saw Sonic double over. As Sonic continued to laugh, Shadow was unable to hold back a laugh of his own.

Knuckles awoke to the smell of burning food and the sound of the smoke alarm. He got up and stormed into the kitchen to find Sonic on a step-stool trying to disable the smoke alarm while Shadow was removed a charred pancake from the heat of the stove. Knuckles put his hands on his hips, "What the hell is going on? Sonic please that me Shadow didn't burn all of the pancakes."

Shadow glared at Knuckles, "Hey it's not as easy as it looks!"

Sonic turned off the smoke alarm, "Calm down, Knux I made plenty before I let Shadow practice. Shadow, go to Tails' room and tell him breakfast is ready."

Shadow went down the hall to Tails' door and gave it a solid knock, "Tails! Breakfast is ready!" When no answer came, Shadow opened the door. To his surprise, the room was empty and the bed was still made as it had been the previous morning. Knowing the only other place the little fox would be, Shadow went to the basement. He opened the door and completely disregarded the sign that read, 'Knock first please.' Upon going down the steps and into the lab, Shadow found Tails asleep with his head on his desk. There papers with blueprints, calculations and notes scrawled on them scattered all over the desk along with pens, pencils, erasers, and a calculator. Shadow went over and gave Tails a little shake, "Hey Tails. Wake up its time for breakfast."

Tails opened his eyes with a moan, "Shadow?"

"Yeah. Come on, breakfast is on the table." Tails nodded as he sat up and stretched out the kink in his neck. He then left the basement to get freshened up. Shadow looked at the mess of papers and thought, Tails must have been working until he collapsed. But why? Why would he work so hard on this project? Is it because of me?

The next few days came and went. In no time at all Shadow found himself with the now enormous seeming task of preparing at least 2 meals a day for 3 people, not including himself, for a week. Sonic coached Shadow as best he could and made sure whatever he managed to make was at least edible. On Thursday morning, Shadow had successfully managed to make pancakes with almost no help from Sonic. After everyone had a plate, Shadow took his portion to his room as usual. As Shadow began to eat his pancakes, which he thought were pretty decent, there was a knock at his door. Shadow put his plate to the side and opened the door. Tails was standing there with his plate. He smiled, "Mind if I join you?" Shadow's ears went up in surprise.

He stammered, "Uh, N-no, come in." Shadow opened the door wider and stepped aside so Tails could enter, "Have a seat." Tails sat down on the futon that also served as Shadow's bed. Shadow sat down next to him and picked up his plate.

After a minute or two of eating, Tails said, "The pancakes taste pretty good."

Shadow shrugged, "Thanks. It's not as good as Sonic's though."

Tails replied, "Well, at least it tastes good. Plus, the week is almost done. Next week is Knuckles' turn to cook. We're pretty much going to be living on scrambled eggs and sandwiches. So it could be worse."

Shadow chuckled, "That makes these pancakes taste a little better." Tails laughed and took another bite of food.

After a moment Tails turned to Shadow and asked, "Shadow, can I ask you something?"

Shadow looked surprised again at Tails' forwardness, "Um, sure."

Tails paused before asking, "Why don't you join us at the table during meals?"

Shadow cleared his throat, "Well, I don't know, I just didn't feel…" Shadow stopped as he searched for the right words.

"Like you belonged?" finished Tails.

Shadow nodded, "Yeah." Tails smiled again. At first, Shadow was confused. Why is he smiling like that? Does he think this funny? Shadow became angry. I see what this is about. Yes, let's all laugh at the Ultimate Lifeform who appears to have some insecurities. That's probably the only reason he came in here and invited me to stay with them! To mess with my head and get in a good laugh!

Just as Shadow was beginning to seethe with anger, Tails spoke, "You don't have to feel that way Shadow. You're part of this family now. This is your room and this is your home. That is, if you want it to be." Shadow's anger dissolved at Tails' words. Tails had finished his pancakes. He got up and went towards the door. Before exiting, he turned and said, "The pancakes were great Shadow. Hopefully we'll see you at dinner."

Shadow tried to put up a guarded expression with an indifferent, "Perhaps you will." Tails sent another smile Shadow's way and left.

Later that day, Sonic was coaching Shadow on making burritos for dinner. Shadow acted like he was listening but his thoughts were elsewhere. Earlier when Tails smiled at me, was he trying to be kind? Why does he care so much about whether or not I get my memory back? Does he really consider me a part of this little, what did he call it? Family? I'm a newcomer here and I've never had a particular reason to like Sonic and the others. Because of my past actions, Sonic and Knuckles appeared to have an apparent dislike for me. Yet, Sonic is here teaching me how to cook! How can they bring themselves to trust so easily? Could I ever do the same?

That night after dinner was finished, everyone gathered in the kitchen to get food. As Shadow made his plate, Tails said, "Are you going to eat with us Shadow?"

Shadow hesitated, still wary and unwilling to be deceived, "Actually, I was going to-"

Sonic spoke up, "Come on! There's an extra chair."

Knuckles chimed in as well, "You gotta stop bein' a loner sometime!" Shadow was unable to prevent a burst of laughter. Against all of his instincts and better judgment, Shadow took the empty seat. At first conversation was a bit slow.

In the back of Shadow's mind, old habits made him think, This is a bad idea. All they're doing is making you feel comfortable. Then when you least expect it, they're going to betray your trust, use you to their own ends, and hurt you. That's how it always goes. Shadow kept searching the faces of his roommates for anything that would suggest deceit. He combed their words for double meanings and hidden insults. However, he came up empty handed. The other three people sitting at the table seemed sincere. His fears calmed for the moment, Shadow allowed himself to loosen a little and got involved in the conversation about Eggman's unusual lack of disturbances. A debate soon started about why Eggman was so quiet. It was serious at first, but suggestions about Eggman quickly spiraled into ridiculousness as they poked fun at the villain. By the time they were done, everyone was laughing to the point of hysteria. Tails tried to drink a sip of water, but it only came squirting out his nose. Sonic was laughing so hard that he fell from his chair and onto the ground. Still laughing himself, Shadow extended a helping hand to Sonic. Sonic accepted the gesture and Shadow yanked him to his feet. The two stumbled backward and fell laughing to the ground once more. That night, for the first time in his life, Shadow felt like he belonged.

Author's Note: Hello! Here's yet another chapter I hope you like it. It would seem Shadow is finally starting open up to Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. I wonder how Tails is doing with the machine? Guess we have to wait and find out! Please read and review. P.S. I'm sure all of you know that today is June 23. That means that today is…. SONIC'S 21ST BIRTHDAY! WHOOO! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONIC!