"Sonic, feet off of the table please."

"C'mon mom, my feet ain't even touching the table!"

"Don't be a smartass. Miles? Pass me the salt"

"One minute mom I gotta fix this..."

"Tails, listen to your mother!."

"UGH FINE"

Tom Wachowski couldn't help but smile to himself, leaned against the kitchen counter, one hand clutching a freshly opened can of beer and the other with the thumb tucked into his belt. Before him, a lanky blue hedgehog casually swung his feet from the surface of his empty tray (technically not the table as he pointed out), while a taller, scruffier yellow-and-brown fox set a partially disassembled toaster onto the polished wood and moodily spun his twin tails, teased on by his female counterpart who swapped a mischievous look with the blue hedgehog. Tails lethargically reached up and grabbed a tub of table salt, handing it to his mother who offered him a light smack on the head, scolded him, and then planted a kiss on his nose.

Tom sighed. His back rubbed against the kitchen cabinet. Watching his family... his wife, his sons, his potential-future-daughter-in-law... everything was good. Everything was perfect.

Tom vaguely ran one hand over his head, noting triangular ears. Brown fur. Quills.

Well. Almost everything was perfect.

"Thomas!"

Tom yelped and jerked, scrambling to catch his precious beverage as it left his hand, before his ass met the floor in a rather undignified display of boobery. Fortunately, by the grace of God, the beer was saved.

Tom's ears drooped slightly as he met his wife's gaze, Maddie Wachowski towering above him upon what had been christened, by her bluest eldest son since their return from the other world, as 'the Captain's Chair'.

A brown Mobian hedgehog sheepishly swished his can around for a moment, his wife glaring upon him with fists on hips, ears swivelling and eyes darting as his brain attempted to compute a non-alcohol-related reason for his present disposition. "Uh..." Tom's brain fiddled around for a moment. It found a semi-appropriate answer. "uh... meow?"

Maddie Wachowski merely cocked her head, one eyebrow arching as she cast judgement down upon her hapless spouse. One hand rested on a hip, a spachelor quivering with cheese in the other, gripped in a white-gloved hand.

A black-furred brow arched. "What you doing down there, hun?"

"Well..." Tom said, legs now folding into a crossed position and tail tucking beneath his left buttcheek, "just thought I'd... lie back and admire the work of the master chef?"

The husband and wife held each others' eyes for a long while... before eventually Maddie released a snort of laughter, black nose flaring at her husband's antics. "Get up and go sit down, you fool!" the black hedgehog chuckled, shaking her head as she returned to her work. Tom offered a mock salute and climbed back to his feet, a feat significantly easier these days thanks to his brand new, Mobian-ised Hedgehog stature. Tom stood and tottered over to the table, climbing into the chair and settling himself into place. Around him, the kids assisted in preparing the meal, Sonic and Tails joined by Tails' 'special friend' from Mobius Zooey, while Maddie directed operations from the Captain's Chair. Bill and Tony, the family's two golden retrievers, mooched happily around the kitchen, eagerly awaiting any scraps of food that might fall their way.

"Uh, hey, Earth to Tom?"

Just like old times.

"Dad!"

Tom's head was presently resting in one hand, eyes staring into nothing, until he vaguely registered a white glove flying at him. He reacted just fast enough to register the item of clothing before it smacked him in the face with a slap, eliciting a reaction of high amusement from his eldest son.

"Oh man!" Sonic Wachowski cackled, covering his mouth with his now ungloved hand, "nice catch, Donut-Hog!"

Tom removed the glove from his face while, before him, the kids laughed at his misfortune. Even Zooey joined in, both hands clasped over her mouth in embarrassment. Tom shrugged, arching a mocking eyebrow at his eldest. "That all you got, Blue Devil?"

Sonic flashed his lopsided grin and spread his hands. "Hey now! Gotta be gentle with you old-timers!"

"Hey! I'm forty-eight!" Tom retorted, throwing Sonic's glove back at him. The glove missed its mark, sailing over the edge of the table and slapping onto the floor, of great sudden interest to Bill and Tony. "Not sure what that is in Space Hedgehog years, but I'm not over the hill yet!"

"Oh sweet Jesus, give it a rest you two..." Maddie groaned from the counter as she directed Tails about with her spachelor, the fox now being the tallest member of the Wachowski clan and the most capable of reaching up to the kitchen counters. The black hedgehog plopped down from her stool, wiping her hands on her tank top and retrieving a large dish of something hot from the oven. "Now come on, guys! Who wants lasagna?"

Eventually, with assistance first from Tails and Zooey and (with prodding from Maddie) the hedgehog father-son duo of Tom and Sonic, the table had been set and was now populated with dishes of freshly-made homemade lasagna, salad, boiled eggs, garlic bread, and condiments. Five hungry Mobians dug in, Maddie receiving compliment after compliment for her work, and conversation sprang up. The family were enjoying themselves, Sonic chattering endlessly about the adventures he and his mother had been up to on the other world. Maddie asking Zooey how she had been finding Earth. Miles half-paying attention while he ate and fiddled with the broken toaster he'd fished from somewhere. Tony and Bill on Food Patrol, awaiting any scraps that happened to make their way to their assigned zone.

Tom remained silent. He picked and poked at his food, eating slowly, very content to just take it all in. His family was together again. Him, Maddie, the kids, even a future daughter-in-law. All was well. All was good.

Despite the craziness of the last few weeks... vacationing on their sons' homeworld, being mysteriously transformed into Hedgehogs themselves, fighting against a returned Robotnik, and being apart from his wife for nearly a fortnight... everything suddenly seemed so normal once again. And Thomas Wachowski was very happy indeed.

But that had been then.

This was now.

...

Tom rubbed at his eyes, memories of that evening playing through his mind as his ungloved hand ran down his face. His eyelids parted again and he vaguely observed the hand. Brown fur. Pads. Claws. Still four fingers and a thumb, but not a human hand.

Tom huffed, allowing the hand to fall and half-heartedly raising a mug of coffee with the other. He sipped at the liquid in an attempt to stifle the hangover raging in his skull. He winced. It was clap cold. He must have zoned out longer than he thought. Tom's eyes raised from the drink and surveyed the kitchen from his perch at the table. It was empty. Early evening daylight illuminated the room. There were some dirty dishes in and around the sink. Empty cans of beer left on the counter. Dog bowls long licked empty, remaining where they'd been abandoned on the laminate flooring.

The joy and activity of the night his wife came back... gone now.

Tom stared into nothing, the light outside slowly developing into a gloom as the sun continued to lower. Eventually the click clack of claws caught his attention, his ears reflexively perking and swivelling toward the sound.

"Hey there buddy... hey pal..." Tom's voice cracked, having gone unused for some time, as he leaned down to scratch and fuss at a pair of large yellow canines that had happily approached him. Bill and Tony wrestled for space at their dad's legs, big brown eyes beaming lovingly up to him. "You boys hungry? You want your dad to feed you? Yeah, good boys..."

The dogs managed to snap Tom out of his present state of dysfunction. The boys needed feeding, and watering. And while Tom was vaguely aware that it had been days since the canines had been taken for a walk, they still needed an hour in the garden.

Tom did all of these chores in a daze, only speaking to fuss his canine companions. Their company was enough to get him through an hour or so... before he found himself stood in the middle of the living room, thumbs tucked into his belt, gazing wearily about the place.

Too quiet. It was just... too quiet.

Tom glanced to an old clock mounted on the wall, vaguely registering the time before making his way toward the stairs. He paused at the bottom. Each step was almost up to his knee.

He sighed miserably, before raising his foot and beginning the long climb upstairs, one hand gripping the bannister above as he did.

Tom did his best to ignore the family photographs on the walls.

It was a long, silent climb up the stairs through the unlit house, but eventually Tom found himself framed in the doorway to the bedroom. He stood there, quietly, just gazing into the empty space. The bed was still unmade. A few clothes were scattered over the floor. The dim gloom of the evening sunlight cast a melancholy glow over the scene.

Tom's shoulders slumped. His ears and quills involuntarily slackened. He closed his eyes.

...

"Man, that feels SO much better..." Maddie's voice echoed from the bathroom, accompanied by steam wisping through the door and the sound of bare feet over wet tiles. "I haven't had a proper shower in ages..."

Moments later, a very damp black hedgehog emerged from the bathroom, wrapping herself in a towel as she padded into the bedroom. Maddie Wachowski wore a grimace as she secured her towel. "Takes a little longer to get dry though than before..." she looked up toward Tom, a curious smile slowly working over her peach muzzle. "What?"

Tom, for his part, reclined on the bed with his hands behind his head. He smiled happily. "Nothing."

Maddie climbed up onto the bed, which was shoulder-height to her now, and set her hands on her hips. A black eyebrow raised. "What are you thinking, mister?"

Tom's eyes widened, his face splitting in an innocent grin. "Nothing!"

"Nothing?

"Nothing!"

Maddie cocked her head, long quills sliding over her shoulders. She screwed her eyes and wore a mocking expression, pretending to be in thought. "Hmm... okay." she said eventually, before padding over the covers and nestling in beside Tom. He raised his arm and brought her close, feeling her warmth and dampness and she snuggled in. They lay like that for a while, just holding onto one another, the room silent around them.

"I'm just glad you're back..." Tom said eventually, turning his eyes to meet hers. "I missed you, Mads..." he said quietly, "I really did."

Maddie smiled back at him, her features those of a Mobian Hedgehog but her true self shining through her eyes, "I know honey... but I'm here now, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Tom said wearily. He planted a kiss on her forehead and yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his arm as he snuggled further into his pillow.

"It was amazing though, Tom..." Maddie went on, the places Sonic showed me... It's like nothing on Earth! We found so many places to take runs... I got to meet so many nice people..." Maddie breathed deep, staring into nothing as she revisited her adventures on Mobius in her mind, "it was like... I was home..."

"Mhm," Tom grunted absently, his own eyes closed as he slowly began to noddle off, "well now you're home, and the family's back together... maybe we can finally start getting back to normal..." Tom's eyes opened as he vaguely inspected his hand. "Well... some kinda normal, anyway... even if the kids go back soon, so long as it's you and me..." Tom offered his wife a small grin. "Taking on the world together again, right?"

Maddie didn't respond, merely continuing to stare into nothing. Tom nudged her with his elbow, worried by her silence. He did his best to ignore her hedgehog features, picturing the woman she had been before. "Mads? Everything okay there?"

"I've been thinking..." Maddie responded, looking back to Tim and lightly taking his hand in hers, "I know... when you came back to Green Hills, and I stayed behind with Sonic... I know I said I just needed a little more time. But now... I don't know, Tom..." Maddie delivered her words slowly, deliberately, looking away as she tried to form what she wanted to say. "Too much has changed... when I was there I felt like I belonged, and now I'm back? It's not right... Tom..." A pause, before she released a huff of breath and locked her eyes back on his. "I want to go back. I want to go back with the kids. Permanently."

Tom didn't respond, though Maddie felt her husband immediately go still. She squeezed his hand.

"I know you wanted to settle back down here," she continued, "but we're both retired... I can call my sister and her family and just explain before we-"

"No."

Maddie paused. Her ears perked, and she cocked her head. "Tom? Baby I know it's not what you wanted but-"

"NO!"

Maddie recoiled in reflex, ears pinning back at the outburst. Tom's expression had transformed from one of weary incredulity, to one of shock.

"No, Mads!" Tom said again, louder than he probably meant, "no way! I... I want to stay here. I want to stay home, and I want... I want everything to be normal again. I want everything to go back to the way it was before we went on that damned vacation!"

Maddie's heart sank at her husband's pleading tone. Through that brown face and peach muzzle, she could see the man she'd married was suddenly very, very distressed. "Sweetie... it's for the best... we'll be with the kids and their friends, and other people like u-"

Maddie's words caught in her throat. She was suddenly aware that Tom's grip had tightened. And kept tightening.

"No..." Tom slowly began shaking his head, "No..."

"Tom... you're hurting me..."

Maddie recoiled her hand as Tom let go, only to raise his finger and point viciously at her, "No, Maddie! You are NOT going back there!"

Shock gripped Maddie as her husband's sudden spite caught her by surprise, before anger quickly flared in her chest. "Excuse me?" She hissed, unable to believe the tone her beloved husband had just used, "I am your WIFE, Thomas Wachowski! Don't you DARE tell me what I can and cannot do!"

"Oh, my wife?" Tom growled, those big blue eyes suddenly very unfamiliar, "that why I've spent two weeks sitting alone, waiting EVERY NIGHT for you to come back from the other side of the universe?"

Maddie hauled herself to her feet, both hands raising as she turned to storm away. "I'm done," she snapped, "I don't know what's got into you Thomas, but I am NOT having this conversation."

"Hey!" Tom scrambled after her, angrily crossing the bed and hopping to the floor as she made for the bedroom door, "where the Hell are you going?"

"Away from you!" Maddie shot a glare over her shoulder as her husband followed, "I'm going back, Thomas. And if you can't deal with that then... then I guess I'm going alone!"

Tom paused at the sudden threat, his spines raising reflexively in fear. "Get back here!" He said, angrily following after her and raising his hand, "Maddie get b-"

Smack.

...

Tom raised his hand, gently rubbing at the spot where his wife had hit him. The lump was still sore beneath the peach fur. Tom didn't know how or why the fight had escalated so quickly... the stress and anxiety of everything that had happened over that month must have finally caught up with them... but when Tom had grabbed his wife by the shoulder, she had reflexively spun and hit him hard. He'd been on his ass, staring with shock into the face of an unfamiliar black hedgehog he didn't recognise as she bared her teeth at him. He'd responded in kind, by instinct, and for that moment neither husband nor wife knew one another any more.

Maddie had been right. A lot had changed. Too much.

Maddie had gone that very morning. She'd spent an hour in the boys' room, crying her heart out as Zooey comforted her. Tom had slept on the couch.

She didn't even say goodbye. Just gathered some things in the morning and next Tom knew... the house was empty. The kids had gone too. They had their own lives to return to after all. "Go take care of your mother," Tom had told them, when Sonic had offered to stick around and keep company, "I'll hold the fort back here. Okay kiddo?"

The blue hedgehog had responded with a worried look, before the two shared a hug. "Sure thing, pops."

And that was it. His family were gone. And Tom was alone.

The sun was now well on its way to sinking for good, the room now in darkness as Tom merely stood where he was. Body slack, thumbs tucked in belt, in a doorway twice his height.

Tom considered going to bed... but he couldn't didn't want to face whatever thoughts would rattle around his head, alone in the dark. At least... not without a beer inside him.

Tom Wachowski made a decision. He crossed the room and retrieved his cell phone from the table, a padded thumb unlocking the device and scrolling through his list of contacts. Wade was off work tonight. And Tom fancied a drink.

He really did.