List: Xoxomtmodnarxoxo, Satora-wolf, SilverDawn2010, GalexiatheChao, and Darkspine Sonic759!

…Well, writer's block is evil. I think we all know that by now. But alas, after like, a month 'vacation' from the only fun part of my life, I'm back! Thank you reviewers for your reviews that were constantly hanging over me this past month reminding me to get back on the computer and write, for goodness sake. It helped, trust me. xD Anyway, this chapter was requested by GalexiatheChao! She wanted me to write a chapter on Thanksgiving in the Sonic family. Yeah, by now it's totally late for the season, but the idea was great and I wanted to and…so here we are. Now enough talk, onwards, march!


Chapter twenty-eight

The Photo of Thanksgiving-Part IV

"I've got it!" Dash cried as he raced towards the ball flying in the air. Jumping up he reached for the football, but just as he was about to grab it a second blue blur rushed ahead, snatching the ball out of the boy's grasp.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Dash huffed as he landed back on the ground. Irritated, he raced after the culprit, tackling him to the ground only yards away from a touchdown.

"'Course it's fair," Flash replied back, a sideways grin on his dirt covered face. The six year old giggled, pushing his older brother off of him. "Right, Daddy? I didn't do anythin' wrong." Catching up to his two speedsters, Sonic grinned, a smirk so identical to Flash's that Dash had a bad feeling his father was siding for the younger of the two of them.

"C'mon Dad, you saw how he used his speed to his advantage," Rose whined, taking Dash's side, only because she was on his team, not Flash's.

"But Dash's used his speed all the time," Nick added coolly, a gentle grin etching his way onto his face. Rolling his eyes, Sonic glanced between the two different teams, oozing calmness. Being the referee really wasn't his thing, he figured, but he couldn't add his own speed to one team and not the other; that's what Amy said at least.

"I say that run didn't count," Sonic finally said, shaking his head firmly, his eyes sparkling in the midday sun. "Rerun."

"Aww, come on!" Dash pouted, but regardless he obeyed as he headed back to the thirty-second yard line, where the ball had been not two minutes ago. Playfully, he glowered at Flash, eyeing him suspiciously as Kyler, the quarterback for his team, began the count off.

"Hut hut!" Kyler yelled suddenly, and Dash was off, running towards the end zone with all his heart.

"I'm open!" he screamed, waving his hands in the air. But then Kyler was throwing the ball in the opposite direction, and with a start Dash realized she was throwing it at Rose. At first, he felt hurt. After all, he was the best runner on their team. But then he smirked lightly, understanding her thought process, and he zoomed off towards the other team's defense, blocking them with the wind his speed produced.

"Not fair!" he heard Violet giggle loudly before engulfing her in his dust, and he turned just enough to see Rose jump into the end zone dramatically.

The whistle blew, and then, "Touchdown!" sounded from Sonic. Giggling manically, Dash pumped a fist into the air.

"Who's cooler now, Flash?" he teased his younger brother, and Flash frowned, his competitive side getting the best of him.

You're going down, the child mouthed, and Dash merely smirked as he reached Rose to congratulate her with the rest of his team.

"Ya got three minutes to gwet bwetter," Samantha, the score keeper of the game, said to Flash and his team.

"How far behind are we?" Violet asked her little sister, and she leaned over towards her to try and read the toddler's messy penmanship. "Sam…that says we're ninety-nine points from them." The violet one blinked in surprise as Samantha nodded her head calmly.

"They'z a lot bwetter."

"Gimme that thing," Flash sighed, and he yanked the scoreboard sheet from her hands, glancing at it irritably. "Sam, how much are the touchdowns worth?"

"Ninety-nine ewch," she replied, a little upset that everyone was making such a big deal over nothing.

"Then we're only a touchdown off!" Nick calculated, grinning madly. "We can do that."

"We need a plan," Violet whispered, pulling her brother's into a huddle group. "An' it's gotta be fool-proof."

"You mean Dash-proof."

"Whatever," Violet sighed, rolling her eyes. "Sam, go distract Dash's team or somethin'. We can't have you hearin' our plan and than spoiling it."

"Hwey-"

"Go on!" Violet whispered hastily, shooing her sister away. "You'll be a big help if ya do." Wanting to be a help, Samantha smiled and skipped off to distract the other team. Violet grinned, turning back to her two younger brothers.

"Ok, so here's the plan…"

"'K kids, time's up!" Sonic hollered a minute later, blowing the whistle. "Mom wants us done in five minutes tops. Get in your places."

"Everyone understand?" Violet whispered hastily to the boys, and they nodded. High-fiving both, Violet jogged her way to her position of defense, watching Nick beside her as he began the countdown. Adrenaline rushed through her; this was the last run. No reruns. No second chances. Not unless they got a touchdown and went on overtime. But then, they were all about to go in for turkey and stuffing with their family and friends-

'No.' She shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind. This was not the time to be thinking about turkey.

"Hut!" Nick cried, and Violet was off, blocking Kyler the best she could from tackling their quarterback. Anxiously, she glanced behind her to see Dash right on Flash's heels. There was no way he'd be able to catch the football with their other brother hovering by him.

Smirking lightly, she made one last effort of pushing Kyler away before she took off running, allowing her legs to try and go up to a speed that would envy even Dash. Without Violet blocking Kyler, Nick made a desperate attempt to throw the ball towards the purple one, and she caught it just as Kyler tackled the boy to the ground, bemused upon seeing no ball in her younger brother's arms.

Jumping into the air, Flash pretended to have caught the ball, confusing Dash as he ran after his brother who took the longest way he could towards the end zone. Meanwhile, Violet continued running, ignoring Rose's yells of exasperation from behind her as she tried catching up. Without Dash to chase the runner, Kyler's team was doomed, and Violet laughed, amused that her petite plan was actually working.

Flash was two yards from the end zone just as Violet dived for it, and Dash tackled his little brother, still thinking that he held the ball somewhere within his arms.

"Ha!" Dash cried triumphantly, grinning madly. "You really think you can outrun me?"

"Vi seems to be able to," Flash replied back, and he grinned, laughing so hard his sides began to hurt, and Dash looked around, alarmed and confused when he spotted Violet two yards ahead, with the football in her hand.

"Tockdoon!" Samanatha called excitedly as she ran towards Violet, squeezing her happily around the middle. "Ya did i'!"

"It's not over yet, Sam," Violet explained, chuckling. "We're tied now. We gotta do one more play before one of us wins."

"But first," Sonic interrupted, as he made his way towards the end zone, Nick holding his hand, "we gotta go in for dinner. You know how Mom is; we can't be late, 'specially today."

"Awww," Flash mumbled, and he got up from the ground, wiping away the dirt and grass that clung to his spines. "Do we have ta?"

"Hey, it ain't that big a deal," Sonic explained, getting down to Flash's level. "After dinner we'll all come back here and finish the game. And then everyone else can see your last runs." He grinned, running a hand through the boy's messy spines. "Sound good?"

"Sure," Flash answered, and the kids and the father all started heading back home, Samantha taking her father's other free hand.

By the time the family had reached home, Amy was in hysteria mode as she put on the last finishing touches for the meal.

"Jamie called ten minutes ago, saying she'll be late," she explained to Sonic as she put him to work. She handed him the stuffing, shooing him towards the extended dining room table. "Mom and Dad will be here any minute now, and knowing Tails he and Tia will be too, unless of course he got caught up in one of his machines again. Cream-"

A warm finger suddenly fell on her lips, and Sonic smiled warmly at her, his face cocky yet calm.

"Chill," he whispered, dropping his finger from her mouth only to caress her cheek. "We're doing fine. Heck, we're ahead of schedule." Amy nodded, smiling weakly back at him, forcing herself to take a deep breath. The holidays were stressful, sure, but she hated making them so. Again she nodded and turned back to the food.

"Mom, the table's all set!" Dash cried as he ran into the kitchen, and Amy turned to face him.

"Good job," she replied. "Do you have any idea where Flash is?" The boy shrugged.

"Beats me," he answered, and then he laughed as he turned to leave the room. "Pft, yeah right, like he'd ever beat me."

"I'll go find him," Sonic said. As he was about to leave, he took hold of her arm. "Remember: it only seems stressful." Gently he kissed the tip of her fingers, his eyes on her the whole time, and then he winked, playful, carefree like always, and he ran off in search of Flash. Amy laughed. It was always like him to get her out of stressful moods.

A minute later the doorbell rang, and Dash ran ahead to get it. By then, Sonic had found Flash and had managed to get the hedgehog into the bathroom for a much needed shower, making him the only one not ready by the time Dash opened the door to Barbara and Howard.

"Grandma, Grandpa!" the blue hedgehog cried, and he leaped into his grandmother's arms. Laughing, she held her grandson close, amazed with how big he'd gotten in only the last three months, glad he still willingly hugged her. Pulling back, the boy grinned, and then ran into the house. "Mom, Grandma and Grandpa are here!"

"Well, let them in!" Amy called back, making Barbara laugh at her daughter's shallow order, and she allowed herself in, hanging her coat on the coat rack beside Howard's.

"Smells good, Amy!" she called, and suddenly Violet was hugging her, giggling, glad to see her.

"Grandma, did ya bring the pie?" the girl asked, anxious, excited.

"I got it right here." The women bent down to show the child her famous apple pie, and the hedgehog sniffed it cautiously, allowing herself to lick her lips.

"When can we eat it?"

"After dinner, dear, when we all have had enough time to digest all that turkey and stuffing." She poked her granddaughter's stomach for emphasis, and the girl giggled, rushing away, for she was ticklish. Smiling, Barbara made her way into the kitchen, placing her pie on the counter next to all the other countless dishes of food laid out. "My, you've been busy," she spoke admirably, and Amy turned to her mother, smiling tiredly.

"You've no idea," she replied as she hugged her mother. "Sonic and the kids helped me in the morning before caring out the tradition."

"Tradition?" Barbara didn't recall any tradition in the Hedgehog family without her, Howard, and the rest of the old Sonic Team.

"You know," Amy started. "The Kid Kickoff. Or, that's what Sonic calls it anyway. He lets the kids play their own football game, since they can't join the adults yet. They love it, so I couldn't let them not go play." She shrugged, and turned back to the oven to pull out the last platter. "Besides, it's easier for me when I don't have anyone running through the kitchen stealing bits of turkey."

"I bet it is," Barbara sympathized. Just then the doorbell rang again, and this time Violet was the first one to the door, much to Dash's dismay.

"Uncle Tails!" she cried, and similarly to how Dash had lunged at their grandmother, she half-tackled the kitsune in a big hug. Tia stood shyly behind Tails, answering the child's smile towards her with her own grin, and she fluffed Violet's spines. "Aunt Tia, you have to come see what I drew the other day. Momma says it's my best drawing ever."

"Can't wait," Tia replied, and she handed the green beans to Tails, not waiting around for his response as she followed her little niece up to her bedroom to see the fabled drawing.

Shrugging, Tails made his way into the kitchen, running into Sonic on the way who was chasing Flash with a towel.

"Flash, c'mon, you don't want the whole house wet, do ya?" he called after the boy as he stopped in front of Tails, and he sighed, shrugging. "Kids, y'know?" Tails laughed. "I tell ya, when Tia has your kid your life won't be yours anymore."

"But you love it that way," Tails replied, eyes twinkling, and Sonic shrugged, his own eyes lighting up. He could never stay mad long at kids; he'd never been able to, even as a teenager. Kids, although annoying sometimes, had a way of making him want to protect them. They were so helpless and so carefree, for they were too young to completely understand the harshness of the real world. Suddenly Flash zoomed up to his father and snatched the towel away as he shivered, water dripping off of his spines onto the floor.

"You gonna make me clean your mess?" Sonic questioned the child, foot tapping, and Flash shook his head slowly, allowing his body to receive warmth.

"No. I'll clean up the wet spots," Flash replied as he headed back to the bathroom for another towel.

"That a boy," Sonic encouraged, patting the cold hedgehog on the back. "Hurry it up now. We don't got a lotta time." The blue hedgehog turned back to Tails, shrugging. "Now, if only it was always that easy."

"Sonic, you're making me feel nervous for my own kid!" Tails exclaimed, and Sonic laughed, ruffling his brother's bangs as if he were five years old again. Tails rolled his eyes, not allowing Sonic to know how he actually enjoyed it when Sonic acknowledged those days.

"Well then, take this into consideration," Sonic started, "kids are soemthin' that'll drive you insane, make you wanna scream and pull your spines or fur out, make you cry even. But they're not something to be taken for granted over." Sonic glanced at Kyler who sat in the living room for a second, recalling for a moment all the drama that had occurred just to keep her alive. "You'll love him-or-her- Tails. There's no escaping it now." Tails nodded awkwardly, his focus on his wife. In only three month, that baby inside her…would enter the world. Change his life, as Sonic said.

The sound of the doorbell brought the kitsune out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Dash open the door to Cream, her mother, and Knuckles who stood behind her.

" Grandma, Aunt Cream, Uncle Knux!" Dash cried, hugging his 'aunt' and 'grandma', but merely shaking Knuckles' hand, eying him up and down cockily. "Where's that big shiny rock of yours, eh?" Knuckles forced a strained smile.

"At the shrine," he replied, letting go of the boy's hand. He wearily watched Vanilla make her way into the kitchen with her and Cream's food, and he wished he could've followed her, instead of being blocked by Dash.

"Hey, Knux, long time no see!" Sonic called, waving at his old friend. "How's that ol' rock o' yours doing? Still shiny?"

"You just stay in your own business," the echidna grumbled, turning even redder than he already was as everyone around began laughing.

"Can you tell we love you, Uncle Knuckles?" Dash asked in fake politeness, grinning.

"Oh yeah," he replied sarcastically. "I can tell alright." Walking into the kitchen, he set his store bought cookies on the counter. Amy had said he could only come if he brought something edible-besides the leaves he munched on by the shrine, that is. After a long dispute between him and Amy-which almost involved a hammer- Knuckles had decided that it really wouldn't be too much trouble to at least buy something at a grocery store. So that's what he had done.

"Don't worry, we didn't forget you, Cream," Kyler said, as she turned to her favorite aunt. "What's new?"

"Nothing much, dear," Cream replied. "Still working in that coffee shop…"

"The best coffee shop in town," Kyler put in, smirking. "That is, if I liked coffee." That earned her a laugh from Cream.

"Yes, it is the best in town, I'd have to agree," she said.

"Is it time to eat yet?" Rose asked as she walked into the room, wearing a pretty red dress Amy had specifically chosen for the holiday. Nick followed behind her, tugging impatiently at his shirt's collar. "I'm hungry!"

"Just as soon as your aunt Jamie gets here," Sonic answered. "An' don't even think about tryin' to steal some of the turkey in the kitchen, or Mom'll skin ya alive." He winked playfully at the children.

And then finally, the last ring of the doorbell sounded, and Dash, like usual, opened the door to find Jamie.

"Well it's about time," he said impatiently as she bent over and hugged him, and she laughed nervously.

"Sorry I'm late," she called, her hands holding a large dish of stuffing. "Got stuck in traffic coming back from the office."

"I still don't know why you work there," Barbara sighed as she took her daughter's dish from her, putting it into the kitchen. "I had thought you'd hate any kind of work with business in the name." Jamie shrugged, removing her gloves and scarf and placing them on the coat rack.

"Must be in my blood," she said, unfazed. She turned to the rest of the family then, grinning as she saw the rest of the kids and Tia walk into the room, as if they all knew it was time to eat without Amy's summoning.

"Well, now that we're all here…" Amy said as she walked into the living room with everyone else. "How about we all find our seats? 'Cause sure, it'd be nice to hang around and chat, but we'll be doing that while we eat anyway."

"'Bout time!" Dash exclaimed, and before Amy could say another word he zoomed off and found his seat at the second table. The family and friends laughed at his antics, and then quickly found their own seats. Once all seated, they all turned to Sonic, the 'man' of the house. The blue hedgehog laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"Hurry it up, Dad," Flash spoke up, impatient as always as he stared forlornly at all the food in front of him.

"Erm…so we really want me to do it?" For once, the hedgehog wasn't so keen on all the attention, and Knuckles laughed in his seat, already reclining against it.

"Go on, swift one," he joked, and Sonic frowned at him before closing his eyes, reaching for Amy and Rose's hands beside him, bowing his head.

"Dear Heavenly Father," he started, hearing the uneasiness in his voice strengthen as he continued on. "We thank you for the food you've provided for today, and all our family and friends. Thank you for keeping us all safe an' secure so far in this year; Tia's pregnancy, Jamie's new job, Howard's retirement, Tails' workshop not going up in flames when Flash messed with some fire there the other day…" Soft laughter filled the tables, and Flash flushed, embarrassed. "So yeah…thanks that we haven't had an Eggman replacement since…well, a while by now. Help us to have fun today, and to not eat so much that we cancel the football game…'cause that would be a bummer. Amen."

A chorus of amen's followed, and then the eating of the food began. Within seconds Dash and Flash had their plates stacked high with stuffing, turkey, and mashed potatoes, and it was a wonder that they had room for the apple pie at the end of the day. Samantha gingerly chewed on a few pieces of turkey, mixing the stuffing with the mashed potatoes and gravy in her spines before Amy had a chance to stop her. At that, even Knuckles couldn't help but crack a smile.

And as they ate at the dinner table, laughing, joking, remembering the good old days-the glory days, as Sonic always called them- Amy slowly felt the stress of the day fall off her shoulders. There was so much to be thankful for on this glorified day; she couldn't let the stresses of the season bring her down, not when they had only just started. She forced herself to not think about Christmas and all the demands that would be put on her then, and Sonic, seeming to sense her shifting mood, reached over and took her hand in his under the table. She blushed slightly, having never gotten used to his loving acknowledgements around the group. As the blue hedgehog continued his story on Rose's bad hair day three years prior (after all, Samantha's antics had to bring along kid stories from both father and mother), she turned to him, ever so slightly, and smiled. This man who held her hand in his…she loved him. Blunt, but at the time, she couldn't think of anything else. Sonic had always been one to sense trouble-Eggman trouble and mood trouble- and ever since they had first gotten together, so many years ago it hurt to count through them in her mind, he'd been there for her at her best and her worst. Hammer days, romanticizing days, hatred and loving days, hopeless days, strange days, and yes, even bad hair days. She smiled at the thought, squeezing her husband's hand, and even as he continued speaking he chanced a sideways glance at her, squeezing her hand back.

Kyler, who sat by Tails and Nick, suddenly looked up from her meal, blinking at her parents. Her father, although still rambling on about Rose's awful hair day (one of the worst and craziest days of her memory, and she wasn't even Rose), seemed distracted, and the girl suddenly noticed that the blue hedgehog had part of his attention on the family and friends, and part of it specifically on her mother. How she figured this out and no one else did, the girl would never know, but suddenly she had the urge to capture this moment in time between her parents, forever. In fact, this whole Thanksgiving day would be nice to capture.

Without even asking if she could be excused, the blue hedgehog rushed out of her chair, running to her room.

'Ky?" Violet called after her, but she didn't follow, too stunned to. Although a bit surprised at first, Violet noticed everyone merely blink and continue on with the conversation. Shrugging, she was again surprised when Kyler came back again, much quieter returning than leaving, and she snuck up behind her parents, eyeing them like she were a scientist.

"Kyler, whatcha doin'?" Flash asked, and just as Sonic turned around to face his daughter, she snapped her very first photo on her new camera, given to her on her birthday not two weeks ago. Sonic raised an eyebrow, smirking lightly.

"Glad to see you're finally using that thing," he remarked. "But what were you trying to get?"

"You and Mom," the child replied, a bit embarrassed, and she hid the camera behind her back, her face flushed.

"Me an' Mom?" the blue hedgehog asked, still confused. "Why? I mean, it's not like we're doing anything picture worthy…" Slowly, almost hesitantly, the child pointed at her parents' joined hands.

"Aww, how cute," Knuckles joked teasingly, smirking at the pair. "What else have you two been doing while we supposedly heard a story about bad hair days, hmm?" At this, both tables began howling, and Sonic playfully glared at the echidna, his grip on Amy's hand not slacking at all by the remark. If anything, the pressure built.

"You an' me, in fifteen minutes," Sonic dared, smirking dangerously. "Football field in the park. We'll see who's cooler after that." This only made the tables laugh all the harder. It had been ages it seemed since the two had fought with an audience to cheer one or the other.

Kyler, sensing the tables' attention back to her parents and not her, went in for the kill a second time. This time, she made sure she wasn't being watched as she took her second picture of her parent's holding hands underneath the table. With the flash blinding the room, she bounded off to her bedroom to escape another embarrassing blush on her muzzle. She giggled the entire way up, proud of herself for saving such a memory on such a day as Thanksgiving. She'd have to start making a habit of these photos, she figured.

Of course, she didn't know she actually would.


Thanks again for the idea, GalexiatheChao! I'll try and get your second request up faster this time! Hope you guys all enjoyed.

~Ksonic~