This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.
Chapter 3: Little Changes
Rouge got up and looked out the window, not that there was anything there, she just wanted to look out at the world that would soon be waking up. This was the most peaceful time of day, before most people were up, and after even the latest night owls were gone home. It was at this time that the party was over, and work was coming. It was a reminder that not all hours of the day were a party, even in a 24-hour city.
As Rouge walked back to the couch to watch the fire again, she remembered that her time in Mobotropolis, wasn't always fun and games; sometimes, there were quiet moments, times that the seriousness and reality of her relationships were brought into the open for retrospective.
It was some months after their first night as a threesome that the first big change came to their new family; it was quite the shock when Shadow came home and told them what Sally wanted. A visitor from a nearby land came and told them of a serious problem, and wanted Shadow to come and help them solve it. Rouge and Bunnie had no idea how long Shadow would be gone for, but they weren't ready for how lonely they would be.
It had only been two weeks, but they were lonely weeks. Rouge and Bunnie knew they would miss Shadow while he was gone, but even in each other's company, neither really knew what emptiness and longing they would feel. Of course, they had each other, but that was scarcely enough; they loved each other, and the three of them made an interesting ensemble, but Shadow was the linchpin, and their love triangle was held together more by their respective connection to him than to each other.
For those first few nights, they were getting along as well as before Shadow's departure; Bunnie was getting a kick out of the various things that Rouge knew that did not bear revealing with a male in the room, and others that were meant as practice for when Shadow returned. But after a week, things calmed down, way down. On the seventh day, Bunnie retreated to her room and slept in her own bed, instead of sharing the master bed with the bat; who in turn didn't seem to mind the break in the action. For the next few days, the pair spoke casually with each other whenever they met, while sitting down to breakfast, or passing in a hallway; other than that, the pair were growing distant.
Each morning, Rouge would wake up and come downstairs to the kitchen, there she found Bunnie who already had breakfast ready for the both of them, but the rabbit had little time for any chit chat, she ate quickly and was out the door before Rouge could even touch her toast.
Rouge was getting tired of the animosity that was developing between her and Bunnie, but there was little she could do; Shadow was the glue of this family, and there was little that the two girls had in common otherwise.
It was another day just like the last few that Rouge came downstairs. Today, she got up a bit earlier, she wanted to catch Bunnie before she left for work.
"Good morning."
"Mornin'. Yah up early today."
"Early to rise, early to bed, and… uh, something about good health."
"Early tah bed and early tah rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
"I knew it was something like that."
"Ah'll have breakfast ready in a minute, I usually put yours on after mine because yah sleep in a bit."
"Me sleep in? You're the farmer who gets up at the crack of dawn."
"Maybe yah should go out and get a job instead of just hanging out around here."
"I have a job, I'm the one who does the shopping and generally keeps this place clean. Getting a 'real' job would cut into my free time."
"Ah bet that's a real life that yah have."
"You have a point. I was thinking of starting a little business of my own: a little hot spot downtown, a place for people to go to party in the evening and late into the night. For a city to not have a night life is a real tragedy."
"If anyone is going to show people how to have fun at night, it'd have to be yah."
"I do believe that was a snipe."
"Take it as yah…" Bunnie twitched her head a bit. "…will."
"You alright?"
"Fine, just a bit of a cold."
"They've been working you too hard on the fields, dearie."
"Hard work is good for yah; it builds character as well as the body."
Rouge was going to continue with a snide remark, but she stopped herself when she realized that this wasn't the morning conversation she woke up early for.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"For us, for how things have been the last two weeks."
"Yah mean since Shadow left."
"It's more than that. Ever since I got you involved in this 'three-way' idea, I could tell that you were never fully comfortable with it. It was always you-Shadow-me or me-Shadow-you, we never really connected. I guess I don't really love you; at least, not like this."
"Ah'm sorry too. I couldn't bring mahself to tell yah that before."
"Well then, friends?"
"Friends."
"…sitting down for a friendly chat."
"…eating a friendly breakfast."
Bunnie had finished preparing the morning meal and brought over two plates of food. As Bunnie laid the plate in front of Rouge, she looked up and saw the rabbit's face lacked her normal youthful appearance, replaced with the look of death incarnate.
"Speaking of 'healthy, wealthy and wise', you don't seem too much of the former. Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine, just a bit of sinus trouble."
"A bit of sinus trouble, perhaps nausea? I think you should see a doctor."
"It's not serious, I just feel a little tired, that's all."
Rouge wasn't convinced, and didn't want to leave Bunnie alone in her misery. "I'm taking you to the doctor's tomorrow."
Bunnie was about to argue, but Rouge wouldn't let up.
"Don't argue, just stay home from work, get some rest, and we'll see Dr. Quack tomorrow. Now let's get you right up to bed; I'll fly out to the farms and tell them you're out sick for a few days, while you rest."
Bunnie was feeling better the next day, but Rouge wasn't satisfied, and dragged the rabbit to the hospital anyway. After a few minutes, Bunnie was in an examination room and dressed in a simple white paper gown. Rouge was sitting in the room, like she was the rabbit's mother, while the doctor was poking and prodding Bunnie from several directions, sticking probes of all shapes and sizes in every hole and cavity that she had.
"Is this really necessary?"
"Hush, let the doctor do his job."
"Yah're not mah mother." Bunnie turned to the doctor. "Is this going to take long? Ah've got work to do, and Ah feel fine."
"You sure didn't look fine yesterday; just forget about work and humor me, I'd hate it if you dropped dead from some weird tropical disease."
Rouge sat there while the doctor was examining Bunnie; although she awaited the official results, she had a feeling deep in her gut as to the outcome, a situation where women's intuition was never wrong.
The doctor had finished his exam and checked his notes again. "Alright, we're all done here. Bunnie, there's nothing wrong."
The rabbit looked over to Rouge. "Ah told you."
Rouge ignored Bunnie; she knew in her gut that there was nothing wrong, but that wasn't the whole story.
The doctor finished his analysis. "Bunnie, I'm almost certain that you are pregnant."
As the duck spoke the last word, Rouge mouthed it as if she was lip-syncing the doctor; it was exactly what she predicted.
"Ah'm… pregnant?"
"Congratulations. I figure you're in the middle of the 1st trimester, the nausea you felt yesterday will probably come back a few times over the next few months. You'll also be putting on weight pretty soon, I'd suggest against 'eating for two'; you're having a baby, not bulking up for professional wrestling."
"Right."
"I have some pamphlets with some info, and if you have any questions you can always drop in. Nurse Mina is a trained midwife, she can help you with any problems."
"Thanks."
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off for a round of 18."
"18? You mean golf? There's no golf course around here except… the mini-golf?"
"I have to practice my putts, now if only they had a driving range around here."
The doctor left Bunnie and Rouge, and the rabbit changed back to her normal clothes. Watching the duck leave, Rouge whispered. "What a quack."
The bat turned to the half dressed Bunnie. "Scared?"
"A little bit, Ah've never been pregnant before."
"No kidding." Rouge smiled at the moronic statement. "C'mon, I've heard that Tikal is here; if she hasn't gone into labor yet, maybe you can talk. I'm sure that she'd have some good advice, better than him."
"Hi Tikal, hanging in there?"
Tikal looked over to the two visitors. "I'm doing alright, the contractions have been coming quickly, but it's not too bad yet."
Bunnie was looking at the echidna's state with concern. "How much longer are yah going tah be like that?"
"No idea, these two are the ones in the driver's seat."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not really; it's more uncomfortable than painful, but that'll change soon enough."
Tikal could see the distant and worrisome expression on Bunnie's face.
"Is something wrong?"
"What, who me? No Ah'm fine."
"I may be uncomfortable, but I'm not delirious with pain, I can tell you've got something on your mind."
"Oh it's nothing serious, but Ah…"
Rouge could see how much trouble Bunnie was having talking about her pregnancy, the result of the fear of the labor pains. "She's just worrying herself over what's coming 6 or 7 months down the road."
"6 or 7… Bunnie, are you expecting?"
Bunnie was a little shy to answer, not fully believing it herself. "Well, kind of."
"Oh come on, you can't be 'kind of' pregnant."
Rouge wasn't about to wait for Bunnie to stammer out an answer. "We just saw the doctor about half an hour ago, and that's the prognosis."
"Well, there you go; I'm very happy for you."
"Uh, thanks."
"You don't sound very happy."
"Ah'm just scared, that's all."
Bunnie was trying to keep from fidgeting around, but Tikal could easily see it.
"Motherhood is not something to be scared of. What is it? Are you concerned about the pain? Are you worried that you won't be a good mother?"
"Ah don't know, it's just that everything is changing so fast."
All sorts of thoughts had been running through the rabbit's head, she was going to be a mother, she was going to go through a lot of change and a lot of pain over the coming months, but it was also going to change everything about her life and her future. It wasn't the pregnancy that scared her the most, it was what life would be like with a baby, and what affect it would have on her and Shadow. Just what would Shadow be like as a father; she knew that Shadow had a hidden dark streak, but she had never seen it, she could only hope that it would never arise around their child. The closest thing to his "dark" side was the way he acted sometimes in bed, in private with only him, her, and Rouge.
Bunnie glanced at Rouge, this whole time, she hadn't even considered what Rouge was going through. Just what would she do? There was the bet that the two girls had going: whoever got pregnant first would get Shadow. Would Rouge be so willing to let him go? Did Bunnie actually want to let Rouge go? All these questions were making her sick to her stomach, or maybe that was part of the morning sickness.
Tikal could see that Bunnie was tying herself up in knots. "Bunnie, I'm not a mother yet, but I'll give you some advice. Don't worry, that will only make things worse. When the time comes, let your instincts kick in; they'll do the work, and you'll do fine."
"Ah suppose your right."
"Of course she's right, you'll do fine. Besides, it's not like you'll be raising him all by yourself."
"I'm sure Shadow will be a good father." Tikal grinned wide. "Shadow will be totally floored when he hears this."
Rouge brought her hands up in a stop motion. "Woah, hold it. Would you not tell him."
"You don't want me to tell him?"
"No, we want to tell him when he gets back."
"I think Shadow has a right to know." Tikal nodded her head. "O.K., I won't spill the beans."
The door opened and Knuckles walked in, carrying a brown paper bag.
Rouge looked at the red echidna. "You've got some nerve showing your face around here after what you did."
"What?"
"Don't act dumb, you know what we're talking about."
"You're crazy."
Tikal saw the plain brown wrapper. "Is that my lunch?"
"Right here, hun."
Rouge continued her silly 3rd degree. "Ah ha! Trying to bribe a witness, this doesn't look good for you."
Bunnie had no idea what Rouge was going on about, she wasn't sure if Rouge knew what she was doing. "What are yah going on about?"
"Hush, I'm very close to getting a confession."
Knuckles rolled his eyes into his head. "What brings you two here anyway."
"Are you saying we can't visit a friend just because she's also your wife?"
"Only if you're going to keep acting stupid."
"If you're going to behave like that, we're not telling you."
Tikal was unwrapping the bag. "Bunnie's pregnant."
"Hey! Why'd you tell him that?"
"Because he's my husband."
Rouge was faux pouting. "Oh, that excuse."
"So, Shadow finally did it; funny how it's not you he knocked up."
"And what's that supposed to mean?!"
Knuckles paid Rouge no more attention and sidestepped towards Bunnie. "Congratulations, how long will it be?"
"A fair bit, Ah'm only a couple of months in."
"I'm sure you'll make a great mother. As for the father, if that jerk steps out of line, you call me and I'll gladly straighten him out."
Tikal had just taken a bite of her lunch and spoke through her food. "Dear, that's a horrible thing to say."
Rouge sniffed the air as an odd odour filled the room. "What is that?"
"My sandwich, pastrami and limburger on rye."
"Limburger?!"
"Some girls crave pickles and ice cream, others like fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, I like rank cheese."
The bat could feel her eyes watering. "Well, we had better be going; we have to get some shopping done. Enjoy your lunch."
"What do we have tah get?"
"Pickles and ice cream; if you're going to be having any cravings, it'll be for something normal."
As the pair were about to leave, Tikal called out to them. "Bunnie, I wish you luck with the baby, and I know that'll you'll make a fine mother. And one more thing; congratulations."
Rouge and Bunnie left, leaving Tikal and Knuckles.
"How are you doing, my dear?"
"I'm alright, but now I'm a bit worried."
"What is it, the babies?"
"No, it's about Shadow. Bunnie's pregnant and they don't want me to tell him yet, but he's far away and in the middle of a war zone." Tikal sighed. "Sonic died without knowing that Sally was carrying his son, I don't want that to happen to Shadow."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"I haven't decided."
After a quick visit to the nearby grocery store, Bunnie and Rouge returned home with their arms full of bags; in the kitchen, the pair put the groceries away. While rummaging through the bags, Rouge pulled out a large jar of pickles.
"Care for one now, or are you going to wait?"
Bunnie sighed, she heard about the stupid stereotype: pickles and ice cream.
Rouge put the pickles away, and went back to the rest of the groceries.
"Well then, do we start moving today, or wait until tomorrow?"
"What do yah mean? Move where?"
"Rooms, you're going to be living in the master bedroom now, and I'll take your room. That little cubicle of yours is hardly big enough for you and Shadow."
"Oh, yeah."
Rouge smirked. "I guess this is a lot to take in all in one day. We'll do it tomorrow, but you might as well get used to it; we'll switch rooms tonight, and move our stuff tomorrow."
A barrage of images raced through the rabbit's head, she would be spending the rest of her life with Shadow, with a child, probably with other children after that. Up until now she never really considered what it would really be like, she was always caught up in the here and now.
That night, Bunnie was standing in front of the large bed in the master bedroom, wearing a white silk nightgown that Rouge picked out for her some months ago, ready for a night's sleep that she believed would not come at all. She lied restless in bed, her mind muddled with all the dreams and fears of the future rushing at her and crashing like a train wreck.
As she looked at the ceiling that bore the same white tiles that her room had, she wondered if it was such a good idea to switch rooms; right now, she wanted to be back in her normal bed instead of the large and empty master bed that she would be sharing with Shadow from this point on.
A knock was heard at the door. "Bunnie, can I come in?"
"Yeah."
Rouge entered the room and came up to the bed with the small figure of the rabbit looking completely out of place on the giant mattress.
"How are you doing?"
"Ah feel a bit queasy."
Rouge pulled up the side of her pink lace nightie and sat on the side of her bed.
"Is that the baby, or the butterflies?"
"Ah think the later."
"You need to calm down, all this worrying will tie your stomach in knots, and it won't be good for the baby either."
"Ah know, but it's all so much."
"I'm right here; if you want to talk about this or anything, I'm more than willing to lend an ear."
"Thank yah, but right now Ah'm just scared out of mah mind."
"Then tell me what scares you the most."
"When Ah saw Tikal in the hospital, Ah thought the pain would be bad. Then Ah started to think about what it would be like to have a child and if Ah'd make a good mother. But while lying in this bed, I began to realize that Ah'm here facing this alone."
"You feel alone?"
"This bed, it's so lonely, being here by mahself in this big huge bed. Yah said this bed is for me and Shadow, but he's not here, he's off on some crazy mission many miles away. I don't know where he is right now, or when he's getting back." Bunnie started to cry, and choked in her tears. "What if, what if he doesn't come back? What if he dies? What if Ah'm left to raise the baby by mahself?"
This was a fear that Rouge knew all to well, she was raised by just her mother. "Bunnie, until Shadow returns, and he will return, I'll be here for you; I'll be the loving 'husband' that you need at your side until he comes home. And you can bet your life that when he comes back, the two of you will live a happy and long life together. You're not alone, you'll never be alone, I promise it to you."
"Thanks."
Rouge looked down at Bunnie lying in the large bed and gingerly brushed away her hair.
"In the meantime, I've done some wild things in my time, but I've never made out with a pregnant woman before. So move over."
"Ah've got a better idea: why don't we go downstairs, Ah've got a hankerin' for a late night snack."
Rouge smiled when she remembered that day. She thought some strange thoughts: What would have happened if she was the one who got pregnant? Although Rouge admitted defeat rather graciously to Bunnie, would the rabbit have reacted the same? Would she force Bunnie away, or let her tag around as a mistress or something? What if neither of them got pregnant; or worse, what if they both got pregnant? Rouge could just see the odd result of that, the large cathedral, hundreds of visitors, and at the front of the procession, a black hedgehog sandwiched between a bat and a rabbit, both wearing ornate wedding gowns, both with their bellies stretched out and squeezing him in.
{That'd be some wedding.}
