Chapter 5 part 1

School ended at two and the three hedgehogs returned home. Upon entering the home, Lady Wyndermere asked Sonic to go to the living room with a smile. "Sonia and Manic, you are welcome to join him. There is a surprise and tea for everyone to go with it."

Manic nodded before running to Ferrell. "Dad!" He smiled joyfully. He jumped on the roach's shoulder.

Ferrell laughed. "I guess you enjoyed your day. Want to tell me what happened?" He asked as Manic began rambling about his first day of school and they followed the others. He heard tales of his drama class which was also his literature class, the only class he attended that day and the upcoming tryouts along with the minor tutoring that they were getting from Bartleby to help get them up to speed before throwing them to the wolves. He left out the real reason since he didn't want to betray his brother's confidence though he was certain that Robotnik would have told Lady Wyndermere.

He had to cover his ears when a shrill squeal echoed through the corridor. "Sonia!" A young woman with red hair wearing a pink dress with yellow polka dots launched herself at his sister.

Sonia cried out as she opened her arms. "Mindy!" She hugged her best friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Lady Wyndermere invited us." She gasped as she saw the blue hedgehog. "Cousin Sonic? Is that you?" The vixen asked, looking as if she might cry.

"Min-min?" He asked tentatively. "Oh my gosh… Sonia, you know her? I thought I'd never see you again." Sonic's eyes blinked up and down and his breath quickened.

Mindy nodded. "Sonia, I didn't know your brother Sonic was my lost cousin. I would have come last night if I had." Mindy wiped her eyes before hugging the blue hedgehog.

In the living room, a middle-aged fox with a gray streak in his thick red hair sat with a cup of tea. When they walked into the room, his mouth fell open. He covered his mouth. "Ginny, is this possible? I thought he was gone…"

Sonic looked at the older man that he remembered. "Uncle Phin… how… Robotnik roboticized you. That's why Uncle Chuck didn't bring me to you." He sat down on the sofa, his eyes blinking up and down as fast as his legs could run.

The fox looked at Sonia as she came in. "My sister was his mother. She married our woodcutter and they adopted him. I would go out to visit them with Mindy. But the resistance was harassing them. All they wanted was to live in peace in their woodland cottage."

Sonia looked at her troubled brother. She could see the conflict in his eyes. She sighed and sat beside him. "I'm sure Uncle Chuck didn't intentionally deceive you Sonic. Perhaps he was mistaken." She gave a logical explanation to ease his mind.

Sonic looked up at her as gratitude flooded his eyes. "Maybe… Yeah, that has to be it. He didn't lie to me. He just made a mistake." He looked at them.

Phineas nodded as he looked him over. "Your mother would be so proud of you. I miss her so much." He held out a hand. "And look at you, in the red uniform of the central district. You would have gone to school with Mindy in the fourth district. They wear blue. This almost works out better, you would have disappeared in our uniforms." He laughed.

Manic pulled his copy of The Wizard of Oz from his school bag. "Ferrell, look what they gave me at school." He showed the roach. "It's for my literature and drama class. I'm going to try out for the school play. And Mr. Crockett wants us to read the book and the script. We have to go through a chapter a week and pick out the differences between the two. They have a lot of stuff from human days."

Ferrell nodded. "Makes sense. Robotnik is a human, one of the few remaining. No doubt he was somehow able to find and preserve much from that era. This looks like a good book. Maybe we could read it together."

Manic opened it and began reading softly. "The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles."

Lady Wyndermere slipped out of the living room and upstairs. She nodded to Sleet as she approached her destination. "Has he behaved himself today?"

Sleet shrugged. "He hasn't tried to escape if that says anything. Bastard."

She nodded as she entered the room. "Sonic had a good first day. I thought you'd like a report on his first day. Maybe to see a photograph of him in his uniform." She offered the old hedgehog a copy of the photo she took earlier. Charles turned his head and she pressed. "You act like the victim, Sir Charles, but you forget that I know the truth. I know your crimes but Sonic doesn't have to. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled. It is inevitable." She left the room, leaving the photograph on the bed. If he cared for the boy at all, he would want it.

She went back downstairs and watched the reunion before turning her eyes to Manic and Ferrell. Manic had fallen asleep with his book open. She giggled. "It must have been a tiring first day. Sonic, I got your room ready for you if you would like a nap as well."

Sonic shook his head. "Sixteen-year-olds don't take naps." He yawned despite himself.

Sonia and Mindy both laughed at the assertion. "Are you kidding? I nap whenever I have the chance." Mindy said. "When you run a district, you nap or you die of exhaustion."

Everyone laughed and Sonic gave in. "I could use a rest… it was a day… I've had days in the Freedom Fighters that were less stressful." Part of him wanted to stay with his uncle, but if he did, he knew he would ask why he told him his uncle and cousin were gone. He didn't want to know that answer.

Lady Wyndermere showed him to a bedroom with a sapphire embedded in the door. The room across the hall had an emerald. "The rope by your bed will call a servant if you need anything while you nap. I don't suppose you'd like me to tuck you in…"

He looked at her with an embarrassed blush. "I'm sixteen…" He said again but he wanted it. He nodded slowly.

She smiled at him and crossed to the bed with him. She helped him into the bed which was just slightly taller than his hedgehog height. "When I'm not here to help, you have a step." She indicated the step on the corner of the bed. Gently, she tucked him into a four-poster bed. He noticed that this one had a canopy.

"That feels good. Uncle Chuck never tucked me in when I was little…" He admitted. "And I really missed my mom. He said if I helped the Freedom Fighters then… then my real mother could come home and she would tuck me in whenever I wanted her to and she would teach me to read and everything. I'm sorry I lied and said he taught me. I just didn't want you getting mad at him. Robotnik said it was his last chance." Sonic pleaded for the woman to understand.

Lady Wyndermere nodded and stroked his brow soothingly. "While I don't want you to ever lie to me again, I will let it slide this time. I know why you didn't say anything. On that far wall, you will see a small bookshelf of books. And every night, I am going to read to you from those books. You'll soon be reading for pleasure as well as your brother does." She kissed his forehead.

Sonic laid down on the pillow and closed his eyes, allowing his exhaustion to win. Hopefully, things would be clearer after a little shut-eye.

AN: WIll Sonic be able to put two and two together? Will he accept Lady Wyndermere as a new mother?