List: AmyFan111, Lupus Silvae, GalexiatheChao, Sonic5521, GivenAnythingButLove, Masquerade's Girl243, and Rachel-1994! And, as promised in "Forever Love .V., I did update this story! Anyway, onwards, march!

Chapter 10

A Talk

The grass was green again, the sky momentarily clear of any clouds full of moisture. Excited birds started coming home from their long vacation in the southern end of the world, and squirrels and other animals that had hibernated through the winter, rolled over in a lazy manner, not quite ready for a wake-up call. Creeks and streams again started to fill with water, which made Sonic, a very happy hedgehog, for he loved to see spring awake the world.

As of now, however, he sat on the floor in his home, absently playing with Kyler in the living room. The fire that he had become accustomed to during the long winter blazed only because Amy had grown so fond of it, and even Sonic didn't see much a reason to not let it continue burning for another month or so. Amy sat on a nearby couch, reading a book about names for babies, for, even after so many months, she and Sonic still didn't have a name picked out for the upcoming baby. She shifted into a more comfortable position, and Sonic raised his head at the movement, for she seemed to be moving more than usual that evening.

"You doing alright?"

"Yeah, just fine. Why?" Amy blinked and looked at her husband in a dazed manner, and Sonic smiled lovingly.

"Well, ya just seem to be moving around a lot more, that's all," he remarked, and he shrugged as he turned back to Kyler and her blocks, the only toys she could stay and play with for hours.

"Is it a crime to move around a lot?" Her voice had a nice little ring to it, and she sounded cheerful, not tired, and overall, it warmed Sonic, knowing that, for once, she sounded content. He knew it wouldn't last much longer. Half of month eight had already passed, and again, Sonic himself was starting to fret about having two kids to love, and about staying up late at night to tend to the new baby. The back rub method wouldn't work on the baby after he or she was born; and he had a feeling it wouldn't work for Amy too well either. He sighed suddenly, feeling depressed, and Amy looked up from her book.

"What's up, honey?" Her eyes showed worry, and she scanned the blue hedgehog thoroughly, looking for clues over why he seemed upset.

"It's the same thing as usual, Amy," he muttered, and he turned to look outside. It was about seven in the evening, and it being late spring, the sun was only just starting to descend for the night. "I'm going on a run." He stood up, focusing his gaze on Amy for a second before stepping towards the door. Kyler looked up from her blocks, and blinked in surprise as Sonic opened the door to the house, suddenly leaving her to play alone. "Be back soon, 'Kay?" And he was gone.

Amy watched the blue streak of light rush past their territory, and she felt a pain in her heart. It seemed more and more these days, that he worried over the baby, and it bothered her that he couldn't be excited like she. Brushing away a stray tear, she was about to go back to her reading, when a pain, a physical pain, interrupted her.

"What's wrong with me?" Sonic snapped to himself, as he felt the wind against his fur. "I'm about to have another kid, and I'm not even all that excited! What kind of a husband am I?" The cobalt hedgehog closed his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't trip when he was only running through prairie grasses right now anyway. He hated being confused, and he hated treating Amy the way he was these days, even though she had done absolutely nothing. He knew he wanted another kid, but something just kept screaming at him, saying that he didn't want another. It made him feel weak.

Suddenly, the hedgehog fell backwards, and he looked up, realizing that he had run into some sort of building. Rubbing his aching head, he muttered to himself angrily, before picking himself off of the ground, and figuring out where he was. At first, he was dumbfounded to find himself at Amy's parent's house, but he only shrugged as he walked up the front porch steps. He needed something to take his mind off this whole thing, and he knew Jamie at least could help him, and he rang the doorbell.

The door opened a second later, and his sister-in-law smiled brightly at the sight of him, as she wrapped her arms around him, giggling.

"Hiya, brother," she said, giggling again, and Sonic smiled gently as he too hugged her. The young hedgehog looked up at him, before taking his hand and leading him into the snug home. "Daddy's gone shoppin', and Mommy's in the kitchen, helping me bake cookies. Wanna help?"

"Why not?" Sonic answered, and he followed the bouncy child into the kitchen.

"Mom!" Jamie called, as she entered the kitchen. "Sonic's here!"

"Oh?" Barbara turned to face the blue hedgehog, smiling kindly as she rolled the cookie dough up in a ball. "Why, hello, Sonic. What brings you here?"

"My feet," Sonic answered, smiling smugly. "I just needed to get away, and I ended up here."

A knowing flicker aroused in Barbara's wise eyes, and she turned back to the cookies, appearing casual.

"What did you have to get away from? Home's a grand place, Sonic."

"I know." The hedgehog settled himself in a nearby chair, watching the two females continue their baking. "It's just…"

"You're worried about the responsibility of having two kids, and having to be a perfect father who doesn't jump off cliffs and gets himself killed by your "part-time" job of fighting off evil, am I right?"

"H-how-" Sonic began, his eyes open wide, for she had nailed exactly how he felt. Barbara turned to him, allowing Jamie to go ahead and put the cookies in the oven.

"It's how every parent feels, especially fathers," she explained, her same gentle smile outlined across her face. "Give or take a bit of course. Not every father is as wild and devoted to keeping the world safe as you."

"Was Amy's original Dad like that?" Sonic found himself asking, and he leaned forward in his chair, suddenly feeling like a two year old who just discovered how to say "bottle". Barbara chuckled as she sat in a seat across from the hedgehog, and Jamie, not being very interested in the conversation-even as a young teenager- skipped outside to take in the day's last rays of sunlight.

"Uh-huh. Very," Barbara answered. She chuckled to herself, slowly remembering the details of her pregnancy twenty years back. "At first, he was so excited when I told him we were having a baby. He treated me like royalty when I began to show. But then, he suddenly got more worried about me, and it annoyed me a bit. He also suddenly felt like he wasn't ready to grow up, that he wasn't ready for the responsibility." She looked down at her folded hands, and then looked back up at Sonic.

"There are days, that I felt like he would leave me, because he still wanted to be a little boy. So many men do that, Sonic. They're scared, you see. And then, sometimes when they learn that they're to be fathers, or even after nine months when the baby's born, they run. Run from the life they had, and they try to go back to the past."

Sonic nodded. He had heard many stories about men like that leaving, especially those that hadn't even married the women they had made pregnant.

"I would never leave her though," Sonic stated, in a clear voice, and yet, he looked down. "I love her too much."

Barbara smiled again, leaning across the table.

"Then tell her that," she whispered. "Make sure she knows that you still love her, even if you don't want the child."

"But I do want the kid!"

"Does Amy know that?" Sonic hung his head, and sighed. He hadn't anticipated such complications when he had married Amy. "There comes a time, Sonic," Barbara continued, "When a boy has to grow up. Everyone does. And when a male crosses the line into manhood, either for love, or just to do the right thing, they really do become a man. When they take on the responsibility of a marriage, of a baby, of their jobs, and they can balance it out with their original life, then they're a true man. A man that has many girlfriends and has many children, but doesn't have a wife, or one that he sticks with, isn't necessarily a man."

"So then, Howard…"

Barbara shook her head.

"He wasn't a man." She smiled sadly. "I was too naïve and heart broken over my other dead husband to notice, though. I got lucky with Howard. If Howard hadn't had such strong morals, then…"

"It would've been bad?"

"Beyond bad." Barbara chuckled.

"But…How can I still have the life I used to, with another kid? I mean, I don't wanna have to take care of it- I want it to be like a companion, someone I can talk to, and that won't happen for years."

"Kyler's not grown up, is she." The sentence was more of a statement then a question, and the pink hedgehog continued. "Since Kyler came into your life over a year ago, Sonic, you've changed dramatically."

"In what ways?" Sonic questioned, his eyes enlarging a second time.

"In good ways, don't worry. With Kyler, you've learned more about how to be there for your family, you've gotten more responsible, and you know when to not be a goof-off."

"But, I wasn't tryin' to grow up," Sonic stammered. "I was just trying to do-"

"What was best for Kyler, I know." The pink hedgehog stood from her seat, slowly shuffling over towards the oven to check on the cookies. "Sometimes, a man grows up without trying. It's usually gradual. Men don't usually change in one motion, in one day. That's ninety-nine percent of the time impossible." Sonic chuckled. "But, I have come to learn, that men can change, in certain ways, over many, many years."

"So, I don't need to grow up now?" Sonic asked, his voice sounding hopeful. "I can still raise a family while acting young?"

"Now, I think you can answer that question yourself," Barbara answered, as she reached for an oven mitt, and called Jamie in from outside. Sonic pondered the pink hedgehog's words for a moment.

"Are you saying," he started slowly, waving absently to Jamie as she burst into the house, "That, I need to want to grow up, I need to want to change?"

"You almost got it," Barbara answered, as she handed a chocolate-chip cookie to Jamie. The young teenager kissed the cookie, giggled to herself, and ran back outside. "You don't need to necessarily want to change, but you need to know you need to change. The want will come eventually. And," she scrapped a cookie off the cookie platter, setting it on the now full plate, "Of what I've seen of you with Kyler, you'll make a great father."

Sonic brightened, and the pink hedgehog walked back towards the table, the plate of cookies in her hands.

"You really think so?" he fretted, for he had to be sure that someone was confident in him.

"Of course. You're very good with Kyler. And Amy thinks so too." Sonic gazed at Barbara with curiosity.

"She does?" Barbara laughed.

"She calls me more often than not, Sonic the Hedgehog," she teased. "I know more then you think when it comes to your marriage with her. Of course, I think she has a bit to tell you before she can expect you to feel confident about your fathering skills." She turned to the plate of freshly baked cookies. "You want a cookie, Sonic?"

Sonic smiled brightly as he took one. The warmth traveled through his body by just holding the small, oval shaped chunk of sugar, and he sniffed it contently before popping it into his mouth, savoring the sweet taste as it dissolved in his mouth. The telephone suddenly rang, and Barbara excused herself from the table, leaving Sonic alone to ponder the conversation.

'Amy's got a pretty wise mother,' He thought to himself. 'We're both pretty lucky to have her 'round.'

"Sonic." The blue hedgehog turned to his mother-in-law's voice, a second cookie in his hand. He first noted her body language: Worry wrinkles, wide eyes, and shaky fingers that clutched the phone. "Sonic, you need to get home."

"Why?" he asked, puzzled. He had wanted to stay for a while, maybe talk to Jamie a bit, say a, 'Hi' to Howard when he came home, but he stood reluctantly anyway, sensing something, and something big.

"It's time," Was all Barbara had to say, and Sonic's eyes too went wild, as he sped towards the door, and was gone towards his home at the speed of sound.