Once the three left, all was silent in the bedroom.

Shadow was still leaning against the wall, his eyes narrowed at Sonic as the azure hedgehog laid down on his bed, which was unused for years, with his eyes closed, clearly sleeping after all the mishap that happened.

'What is he hiding?' The ebony hedgehog thought. 'He isn't like anyone I've met before. But then, I've never met anyone who's a good monster before…'

He pealed himself off the wall and advanced towards the azure one.

One step. CREAK!

One of Sonic's ears flicked, making the evil one freeze. There was a moment of silence, with Sonic's breathing the only thing heard in the room.

With his undead heart beating fast (doesn't make sense, I know), Shadow sighed and decided to fly instead (he's also part ghost, if you must know). He lifted his feet off the ground and zoomed to the other's bedside.

A gust of wind blew behind him as he did then once he was near enough, he landed on the ground, trying to be as quiet as possible.

'Now,' he narrowed his eyes at the hedgehog and placed a hand on the other's head. 'who are you…?'

His eyes glowed full-on red as he proceeded to read and explore Sonic's mind.

{IN SONIC'S MIND}

"Mommy Aleena, tell us a bedtime story!" a 5-year old Sonic pleaded as he bounced up and down the middle bunk of the triplets' bunk bed.

"Yeah, Mommy Aleena!" a 5-year old Maurice agreed as he sat on the bottom bunk. "Nic and I want a bedtime story!"

"Me too! Me too!" a 5-year old Ogilvie jumped from the top bunk and landed beside Sonic in the middle bunk. "Pleeeeease?"

"Well," Aleena scratched her head, unsure of what to say. "I don't know…"

"Ooh, I want to hear a bedtime story too!" an 8-year old Manic ran into the room and sat by Maurice with both hands together. "Please, Mommy Aleena?"

"Oh, can you please tell us one, Mommy Aleena?" a 15-year old Sonia entered the room, sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. "Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

Aleena looked at her children and sighed in defeat. "Oh, alright but you have to go right to bed afterwards. Deal?"

"Deal!" The five replied in unison.

"Alright, alright, children. Now, settle down," Aleena got a tuffet and sat down. "Hmm, let's see, what story to tell you…oh, yes! I know now! Listen up, children, for this is a story of discovery and romance…

"Once upon a time, many years ago, there were two monsters; one from Goodville and one from Evilopolis. The first monster was the young princess of Goodville. She had purple fur with flowing lavender hair and ocean blue eyes,"

"That's you, Mommy Aleena!" Sonic clapped his hands and cheered.

"Yes, it is!" Aleena giggled. "I am the younger sister of the eldest son/heir to the throne of Goodville, a.k.a your Uncle Charles,"

"But why do we call him Uncle Chuck, then?" Ogilvie tilted his head, confused.

"It's just his nickname," Aleena shrugged. "Anyway, back to the other story. While the good monster princess from Goodville was me, the evil monster from Evilopolis is someone you also know. She was a young Siren queen hedgehog back then but she still had her spiky blonde bangs and gorgeous emerald eyes…"

"Mommy Bernie!" Maurice yelled out happily. He was much more cheerful when he was younger.

"That's right!" Aleena grinned at her third eldest's enthusiasm. "Now, where was I? Oh yes!

"Now, one night, in the light of the full moon glowing above the dark sky, Bernadette and I met at the Gorge Border. The first time our eyes met, we were so frightened of each other that we screamed and ran away!"

The children giggled and so did Aleena before she continued to tell their tale. "Yes, we were shaken up at the first time we met but we were curious as well so, ever since that night, we were always at the Gorge Border. We met there but never spoke. We were always staring at each other, waiting for one of us to make a move. I was always behind a tree while she was always behind a boulder yet, at the corner of our eyes, we can see each other.

"Finally, one night, I gathered all my courage to try to speak with her. We met at the Gorge Border that night and stared at each other, as we usually do. I was about to come out from behind the tree when she came out from the rock first, her legs turning to a snake's tail as she slithered a little closer. I was surprised that we both had the same idea to try to communicate with each other as I came out of the tree and took a step closer.

"She stopped when she was at the gorge and I could finally see her accurately as her feet came back so she could stand. Her emerald eyes stared straight into my ocean blue ones. I came closer and closer until I was in front of her. Her spiky bangs were covering one of her eyes but I didn't care. She looked like any monster I would know, except for the fact that her DNA was evil.

"It took a while for me to say 'hello' with a slight wave. I wasn't really formal when it comes to greeting, despite of me being a princess and all. She didn't seem to mind and smiled. She did a curtesy and greeted back. I introduced myself and she introduced herself. We were both shocked to realize that we were both from royal blood but it both made us laugh at the end.

"For the rest of the night, all we did was talk. She got to know me and I got know her. I found out that she was the Queen of the Sirens in Siren Lagoon. Even if I knew she was a evil monster, she was kind to me and was acting like a gentleman, er, gentle lady, to me, treating me like the princess I really am. At the end of the night, she stood up and kissed my hand then she bid me farewell and left in a flash. It was so sweet…

"Ever since then, we met at the Gorge Border every night. We got to know each other more and more and I enjoyed her company more than I thought I would. We both shared a love for music so there were times I would bring my Enchanted Flute and she would bring her Lagoon Harp. We'd both play our instruments and sing any song we want all night long. Our friendship grew and grew. She became a best friend to me…

"But being best friends weren't enough for our fate, I suppose. Our friendship turned to sisterhood and from that, it turned to love. I fell in love with the first evil monster I laid my eyes on and I didn't have any regrets whatsoever. She fell in love with me as well and she showed it by courting me and trying to get me to date her for the whole night. I playfully tested her to see how much she wanted me and by the end of the night, we became lovers.

"Our meetings at the Gorge Border began to be dates. Soon, we even went to each other's lands to have romantic dates. I took Bernadette to the top of Mount Magic, where we had dinner and a great firework show when the volcano erupt with it's sparkles. It looked like it was her first time seeing fireworks as sparkly as those and, surprisingly, it was. Yet she enjoyed it quite well. I was falling in love with her in every hour and every day I spent my night with her…

"There was another time we went on our Crossover Date but this time, we went to her land. I felt frightened at first but being with her made me feel relaxed and comfortable. We went over to the Cavern of Crystals and had our dinner there. The crystals were so sparkly and shimmery that I admired them so much. It was so easy to see that this that she laughed. At the end of the night, however, she did something unexpected,"

"What is it, Mommy Aleena?" Sonia was eager to know, getting attached to their parents' love story, like her brothers. "What did Mommy Bernie do?"

Aleena giggled, a blush forming in her cheeks. "Oh, your Mother Bernie was so romantic! She knelt down on one knee and took out a small box in her hands. She opened it and it showed an engagement ring with a huge, diamond crystal that carved 'A B'. She told me how much she loved me and then asked me to marry her!"

"Aww!" the five made the same reaction, laughing happily.

"Oh, yes! It was quite brave and romantic of her! Of course, I said yes, adding how much I wanted her in my life. She slid the ring into my ring finger and kissed my hand then she stood up and kissed me. Oh, we were making out for half an hour until we decided to leave the cavern before anyone spotted us,"

"So you got married?!" Manic squealed. "Was it a great wedding?! Was it?! Was it?!"

Aleena's expression darkened as it turned into a frown. The children's smiles faltered before they exchanged worried expressions.

"Mommy Aleena?" Ogilvie asked. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Was it Uncle Chuck and Uncle Jules?" Maurice growled. "Did they interfere with you and Mommy Bernie?"

"What? Oh, no!" Aleena shook her head. "It wasn't Charles nor Jules who stopped our plans. Honestly, they approved of our relationship after I was able to show how nice Bernadette was to Charles and after Bernadette was able to show how caring I was to Jules. They said that we should have the wedding at once but…there was a problem that interfered…"

"What was it?" Sonic asked, frightened as he cowered behind Ogilvie.

"It was King Doom Hex, leader of all evil monsters." Aleena sighed. "He had ordered guards to guard the Gorge Barrier after sensing an essence of good monster aura. Of course, he was talking about me but he never found out. Bernadette was frightened for us and told us that we'd meet again but at that moment, we needed to stop seeing each other. It pained me to agree but we had no choice but before we separated, she gave a great gift to remember her…Sonia,"

"Me?!" Sonia was taken back. "I was a gift?!"

"Oh yes," Aleena nodded. "As in Bernadette got me pregnant and you became our first born child. It took 7 years for me to reunite with my beloved but by that time, we were very happy to have you as our child. Bernadette was so happy that she wanted another, thus creating Manic as our second eldest child. Unfortunately, King Doom ordered more guards around the Gorge Border so Bernadette was stuck in Goodville for a few years. After 3 years of being stuck here, Bernadette and I got you darling triplets,"

She pinched Maurice's cheeks and patted Sonic and Ogilvie's heads, causing the three to giggle in response.

"But then," Aleena sighed, her smile faltering. "our happiness didn't last long. Bernadette was able to go home but King Doom was somehow able to make the Gorge Border into an alarm system to find out who was transferring from Evilopolis to Goodville and back again. Bernadette and I had our final talk and kiss before we separated…for good…"

At that point, Aleena was in tears as she began to sob. Sonia and Manic exchanged worried expressions before going to their birth mother, hugging her softly.

"We're sorry that happened, Mommy Aleena," Sonia said.

"Is there anything we can do to make you smile again?" Manic wondered.

"Nothing in particular," Aleena chuckled. "But for now, story time is over. It's time to rest,"

"Okay." the triplets went back to their bunks and Sonia and Manic left the room.

Aleena smiled and kissed her young triplets a goodnight before leaving the room for them to sleep.

Unfortunately, they couldn't sleep at all. Maurice was pondering over the story, Sonic was imagining what had happened and Ogilvie was thinking of a way to resolve it.

"Guys," Sonic spoke as he kicked his legs around. "Do you think we'll ever meet Mommy Bernie in person?"

"I don't know, Nic," Ogilvie sighed. "But I hope we will,"

"Yeah, we will," Maurice turned over to his side. "When King Doom dies…"

"That's a little harsh, Ric," Sonic frowned. "Since we're part Good and Evil, doesn't that mean King Doom is PARTLY our king?"

"We're partly royals ourselves but…maybe?" Ogilvie shrugged before yawning. "Man, I'm too sleepy to think tonight. I'm gonna fall asleep any second…"

"Then go to sleep." Maurice grumbled. "I need to go to dreamland myself…"

Soon, the two were snoring away, leaving Sonic awake as he thought over the story their birth mother told them.

"I wish I could meet Mommy Bernie," he whispered. "and reunite our family…"