Author's Note: A lot of your reviews here at FF are starting to get more detailed and interesting, which is something that we're both enjoying reading.

But, there was one review that caught my eye – something about having Shadow a little out of character, so I thought I'd take a bit of time before the chapter to explain that to the regular readers and anyone else that might jump into the story later on.

Well, it might seem as if Shadow spending all that time with Amy and giving her advice is a tad out of character. But it really isn't.

Why?

Well, character development. While I doubt Shadow is a happy feely hippie, I would like to think that some of the resentment that he's had towards the world since Maria's death would have been lessened after the events described in his own game title. But you can't make an introverted, bent on destruction hedgehog all cute and loveable in one turn, thus the sarcastic and mocking tone of voice he has when he's first introduced into the story in Ch. 5.

Secondly, if it seems that he's spending a little too much time with Amy, it's because he's developed a growing affection for her. How it came to be will be discussed in a later chapter, but it should be noted that he never fully acted upon it out of respect for Amy's feelings towards Sonic, which was hinted at in Ch. 6.

Thirdly, I think I should mention that this won't be the last time Shadow's feelings towards Amy come into question, so please, remember that when reading later chapters.

(Sonic's P.O.V.)

This is a joke, right?

I walk over to the answering machine and replay the message in full. Replay it again.

And again.

And yet again.

I can't believe this.

She's pregnant?

And that's when it happened – an urge to prove that I wasn't imagining or dreaming this up. A desire to make sure that this was absolutely true.

I dashed into her bedroom, and swiftly began to rummage through her dresser and closet. Shirts, pants, and dresses flew in every possible direction as I emptied out the contents.

Only to turn up with nothing.

I turned to the little nightstand and began to examine the items on top of it. An alarm clock and telephone. A notebook and pen. A few framed pictures, but nothing.

In my frustration, I ended up kicking the bottom mattress of the bed. As I do, something slides out from underneath the pillow that she sleeps with. Carefully, I pick it up and realize that it's a pitch black piece of paper the size of my palm.

I turn on the light, and almost instantly, the hidden contents are illuminated, revealing a picture of something that I can't quite make out.

A sonogram.

It had her first and last name, along with the time and date it was taken, which looks to be from over the past 2 weeks. That's the most I could make out.

And that's when it happened. It caught me completely off guard, right when I was in the mist of attempting to make sense of out this relatively new information.

Laughter. Not from the walls, or even my inner voice. But from my physical body. Not my normal cocky laugh or ha-ah funny chuckle, but flat out laughter.

And at this time, that seemed to be all I was capable of doing.

Suddenly remembered Tails rambling about different responses the body could exhibit to various forms of shock. From things like going blind and mute to even laughter.

And if this doesn't qualify, then I'm not quite sure what else does…

In the mist of this…shock, I somehow wind up in the living room, laughing my ass off while sitting in a corner across from the answering machine. The sonogram is still within my grasp, and while it appears to be nothing more than a black piece of paper, I now know it to be otherwise.

The laughter continues. Laughed and chuckled so hard to the point of becoming numb to the touch.

Numb enough to even lose track of the time, because that's when she comes in.

I hadn't bothered to lock the door behind me after I entered, so she was a bit startled to find it already unlocked.

At that point, I'm not looking directly at her, but my ears perk up the instant I hear her yell "WHAT THE HELL?", as she's scanning the tornado of a mess in the living room and surrounding area.

Keep in mind, the 'mess' that she's ogling is in fact the little search I held earlier.

Next thing I knew, she's right beside me, with a worried look on her face as she frantically attempts to rouse me from my numbness.

"Sonic, did something happen?" she asks, while tugging on my left arm.

I don't answer, and this only causes her to fret a bit more.

"Sonic, are you alright?" she wails, with tears starting to form in her eyes.

More silence ensues, with a density that can only be felt when something dramatic is about to occur.

I laughed.

She's taken aback by this, obviously frightened by the sudden shift in expression.

"Sonic?" she finally manages, as a perplexed look rises as the first of many tears begin to fall.

And then, without saying anything, I handed her the blacked sonogram. It didn't take long to elicit some sort of reaction, as she instantly realized what it was. Widened eyes and dropped jaw that automatically asked, "Where did you find this?"

"When were you planning on telling me about this? After the kid was in pre-school?" I exclaimed.

I'm a bit taken back by my tone of voice, but as more tears continue to form and fall from her eyes, I continue: "How could you keep something so serious from me for so long?"

She's shaking her head in response, as if to try to appease me in some way, while managing to mumble something about how she was going to tell me about it today.

Sure.

By this point, I've collected myself up off the floor, dusting myself while she's still there, crying. Her crying intensifies as I send a rather cold stare down her way.

"You had me worried sick these past couple of weeks with your weird behavior…making me think that something was wrong.

When you knew this whole time.

...the whole fucking time.

Would it really have been so hard to let me in on it, rather than finding out, a bit awkwardly I might add, from the damned answering machine!"

I don't hesitate to play the entire message in full for her, including the part that questions the paternity of the child.

…that was a whole other level of anger in itself.

"I need get out of here. But I'm more than sure that Shadow would gladly go on a diaper run or two just for you."

And with that, I dash out, leaving her upset and weeping in the whirlwind of a mess that had I created, both emotionally and physically.

That was at least 6 hours ago, around 4:30 p.m. The sun has set now, and I'm all by myself, in a remote spot in the Mystic Ruins.

So many things…feelings have rushed through my mind in the last few hours than anything else in my entire life.

Firstly, and fore mostly, I feel like I was betrayed. She's obviously kept this from me for a good bit, and it doesn't make it hurt any less that I had to found out from a secondary source rather than her.

While I know I haven't always been someone that would exactly listen (rather, I'd run away while she was in mid-sentence at times), I thought I was getting better in that department at least. I've learnt to give her more of my attention and listen to what she had to say.

I guess she was thinking I wouldn't have taken her seriously or something else to that effect.

But damn it – I was trying. Trying to be a little bit better in that area for her sake.

It's almost as if she doesn't trust me to take something this important seriously…

Then there's that incident that happened occurred almost a year ago. I was unable to save the life of someone who was counting on me.

It still bothers me. Even though the general public has forgotten about it…even though Amy and the others have assured me that I wasn't at fault….I still feel responsible.

And if I'm feeling like this over the death of a kid that I didn't know personally, how the HELL am I going to feel if something ever happens to this kid that she's carrying?

And this is just touching upon the base of it. There's then the question of paternity. Shadow possibly fathering a child with Amy is just something that I find wrong on so many levels.

Images of the two of them making love and enjoying themselves have also been running and playing back in my mind ever since I first heard that message.

She could have been two-timing me the whole time and seeing him on the side. Or seeing him that whole time we weren't together.

But those thoughts are drowned out by the image of the sweet girl who would always follow me around on nearly every adventure I went on since I first met her.

The same girl who boldly declared her love for me every chance she got.

Who would get fiercely jealous of anyone who she felt was a threat towards any feelings I might have for her.

It instantly succeeds in making me feel guilty for even questioning her fidelity, as I've always known where it lied.

But I suppose, even with that in mind, that one can still have a little bit of doubt…

And that's when I realized how harsh I had initially been towards her.

Without a moment's notice, I dashed over to the Mystic Ruins Train Station to catch the next train back to Station Square…

And back to her.

The trains running this late in the evening only come once to every hour, so I was only reaching her place around 1 a.m. the next morning. The door was still open, and I turned on the living room lights to find that everything had been picked up and put away. I walk over to the answering machine; half expecting to find that dreadful message, only to find that it had been deleted.

A bit relieved, I proceed over to the bedroom, where I find her. Like the living room, everything that I had misplaced and dislodged has been put back into its proper place. Everything looks okay.

Everything that is, except her.

She's still in the same clothes that she had been wearing earlier today, including a red winter jacket. I carefully tiptoe over to her and turn on the lights, only to frown at what I see.

She had cried herself to sleep, as her pillow is soaked all the way through, with the sonogram still in her hand.

Ever so gingerly, I rouse her from slumber, only to have her begin to cry the instant she realizes it's me.

"Don't cry", I say, as softly as I possibly can. I gently begin to wipe away her tears as they continue to fall.

She pushes my hand away and proceeds to sit up to face me. Her eyes are filled with a bit of uncertainty, but with determination quickly gaining over it.

"If…if you don't want anything to do with this", she starts, "It's up to you.

I can do this. With or without you.

Plenty of other women have raised children on their own, and so can I…"

She breaks down into more tears, to which I scoop her up in my arms and hold her tight. She resists at first, but eventually gives way and begins to wail freely into my chest.

"It's yours…and I would never...cheat on you…" I can hear her say, as muffled as it may be.

I gently nuzzle her forehead, and whisper "I know" into her ear, though I'm a bit uneasy as I say so.

We're like this until at least half past 2, where by this time, I've finally convinced her to wash her face and slip into her nightgown, for the baby's sake. I tuck her in, while I climb beside her on top of the covers, holding her tight.

Before she drifts off to sleep, I tell her how much I love her and how everything is going to be alright.

Though at the current moment, I'm not quite so sure about the latter.

And that's the end of this chapter folks. Things are shaken up a bit here, and while they seem 'okay' at the moment, they're going to get a little bit worse.

All this stress and drama is definitely not something that an expectant mother should be put through, and it's going to show in the next installment of this story.