The hoglet waddled to the kitchen pulling his little toy car by the string, the headlights blinking every few steps. Sonic poked his head around the corner to see Amy standing by the sink, talking into her communicator. He could tell by her tense posture and strained voice that something was up.

"You have got to be kidding me! Sigh...is there any possible way you could stop and pick up a few things for me?"

"As much as I would love to drop this ridiculous mess and do a mindless errand, I can't. You'll just have to wait or figure it out yourself." a low voice on the other side growled, "Alright, thanks anyway." she hung up, laying her head in her hand, muttering. "Great..."

Worried that something was wrong with his pink friend, Sonic let go of the string, forgetting his toy and staggered to the stressed hedgehog. He tugs on her leggings to get her attention. "Hmm? Oh hey, baby, what is it?" she asks tiredly, "What's wrong?" he signs. "What?" Amy asks, confused.

(Although Sonic and Shadow had been giving her sign language lessons recently to communicate with the blue blur while in baby form, she only knew a few signs and her ABC's.)

"What's w-r-o-n-g? Mama Dada n-e-e-d help?" he fingerspelled slowly, making sure his fingers were correctly shaped and clear for her. "Oh, um... well, I was just asking Shadow if he could pick up a few things we need," she replies, bending down to pick up the hoglet. "But he and Knuckles are stuck helping the Gogobas with something." Sonic rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know. Those guys are more of a pain in the butt than Eggman." he nodded, agreeing with her. "What n-e-e-d?"

"Unfortunately, there are a few things I really need to get from the market. Shadow and Knuckles are stuck with the Gogobas, and Tails is working, so that means I have to go and get the supplies myself." he shrugged, asking,' so what's the problem?'

"That means you have to go with me. I can't leave you here by yourself." Sonic frowned, "W-a-i-t t-o-m-o-r-r-o-w?"

"No, it can't. I need these things today." He whimpered, not liking the idea of having to go out in his current state. He didn't want anybody in the village to see their blue protector as a vulnerable little baby. It was embarrassing enough being this way around his friends, though he was getting over that, but having total strangers, villains, and criminals catching wind of his condition would surely bring bad news.

"D-don't worry!" Amy smiled reassuringly, "I have a plan so that no one will recognize you." he cocked his head to the side. "Luckily, I bought the perfect outfit just in case something like this happened!" She chirped, touching his nose with hers briefly, and walked with him into the nursery expertly sidestepping the toys scattered along the hallway.

Setting him on the changing table, she quickly went to the dresser and picked out something blue. It was almost the same shade of blue as Sonic's fur but slightly darker. "I got this little costume on sale. What do you think?" Amy asks, revealing the outfit was a cat costume. It was much like his footie pajamas but had a long tail attached and a hoodie to cover his quills, complete with cat ears. He looks over the outfit, skeptical if this would fool anyone, "Trust me, this will work." Amy says as if she could read his thoughts.

Gently pushing him down, she gets to work fitting Sonic into the costume.

Pulling the hoodie over his head, she clasps her hands and cooes, "Ooohh aren't you just the most adorable little thing!" the hedgehoglet blushes looking away. "This is just too cute! I have to take a picture. Here Sonic, come on, look at the camera and smile for Mommy!" she points a little camera on the communicator at him. He looks back up, the blush still on his cheeks with a baby smile, making him look even more babyish.

CLICK!

Amy squeals hopping up and down, "SO CUTE! Yes, your just the cutest wittle hedge! Yes, you are!" She continues to coo, tickling her fingers at him, and rubs her nose with his. Sonic giggles falling back. "Alright, my little emerald. Let's get moving."

Quietly sucking on his paci Sonic shifted his head away from Amy's chest just enough to see his surroundings.

They were currently standing in a random aisle at the grocery store; Amy was looking for something on the shelf while he was secure in the baby carrier facing her and hiding in plain sight.

Sonic nervously glanced down the aisle behind them; no one else was there. That was good, and so long as he kept his facing his Mommy, no one would see his face and suspect that it was him.

"Hey, Amy!"

Silently gasping, Sonic quickly hid his face again.

Amy jumped startled. She turned to see a female yellow fox waving and walking towards her. She sweatdropped, feeling guilty for allowing herself to get distracted and not keeping her guard up. There was no escape; leaving now would be suspicious. Amy quickly looked around to make sure no one else was watching, so long as she kept her cool and Sonic continued to stay hidden, no one would be the wiser.

Taking a calming breath, she tried to act normal, "Hey Zooey! What's up?"

"What's up? You practically dropped off the face of the earth for the last few weeks! Where have you been? I haven't seen any of the gang except for Knuckles and Shadow. What's going on?" the fox asked worriedly, "Oh, it's nothing! Eggman's just not done anything recently, so we've all been taking a bit of a vacation." Amy waved her hands casually. "What about the other two?" Zooey asks.

"Shadow and Knuckles? Oh, they volunteered to keep watch of the village to make sure nothing happens so we could relax."

"Oh, well. I'm glad you guys are ok. What's with the baby, by the way?" she pointed to Sonic, who started to shiver, feeling Zooey's piercing gaze on his back. He dearly wished Amy would hurry up and finish this conversation before his cover was blown.

"Oh, I-I just started doing a little babysitting." the fox bent down slightly, "Aww, they seem shy, hey little one, can I see your face and say hello~?" Sonic whimpered, shaking his head 'no.' Zooey frowned, disappointed, "You don't want to say hi?"

"Come on; it's ok. No one is around. It's just Zooey. I think she'll keep our secret safe." Amy whispered, encouraging him with a soft nudge. Sonic hesitated, he was sure that Amy was right in that the female fox wouldn't gossip, but he still felt unsafe, exposing himself in public even a little bit. With her reassurance, he slowly showed his face to the fox, who was patiently waiting. "Oh my gosh! Hello, little one! Wow! Look at those beautiful eyes of yours. Why did you want to hide them away from me, you silly thing." the hoglet blushed at the compliment and shyly smiled behind the pacifier in thanks.

"Amy, could I?" Zooey asked timidly, holding her hands out, "Sure! Just be gentle with him."

What?! Sonic's eyes widen in alarm as Amy pulls him out of the carrier and puts him into the fox's arms, whimpering; he reaches out for Amy, "mama mama mama."

"It's ok, Sonic. Just let her hold you for a minute." he looks up at the fox warily, allowing her to cradle him gently but looks fixedly back to Amy, half afraid she'll leave without him. "Did you just call the baby Sonic?"

"Yeah...ya see..." Amy leans into Zooey's ear, whispering, "Sonic had a little accident; this is just a costume." she discreetly pulls the hoodie down just enough to allow Zooey to see his quills. "Oh my goodness, you poor thing!" the fox gasps hugging the hoglet, "When did this happen?!"

"A few weeks ago, but don't worry!" Amy waves her hands, "He still has all his memories and everything. He's just stuck as a baby until Tails finishes working on a cure for him."

"I see...is there anything I can do to help?" she asks, looking at both hedgehogs in pity, "Not really, just keep this under wraps, ok? We don't want to cause a scene." Zooey nodded, "Right, I understand." smiling down at Sonic; she gave him back to Amy. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to our cute brave blue hero, now would we." she bopped his nose. Happy to be back with his Mommy, Sonic smiled at the fox and squeaked in thanks. "You're welcome. Well, I'll see you two around. Bye!"

"Bye!" Amy and Sonic waved as she left, then breathed out in relief, "See, I told you everything was gonna be ok." he looked up at Amy and cooed, nodding; she pats him on the head. "Since you were a good little boy, I'll let you pick out whatever treat you like. Just hold on a little longer, and we'll be all done." The hoglet smiled widely and squeaked cutely, making her giggle. "Oh, Sonic...Sonic...SOnic...SONic...SONIc...SONIC!"