Keep It Crescendo

Chapter 12: Greetings

Hey everyone! Thanks for your patience, my conference went great! But it was also a lot of hard work so I had to rest yesterday. Life stuff, y'know. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

November had been busy for Sonic and Amy. The two were busy coming up with new dance routines and practicing them with their dancers. Sonic and Amy occasionally ran into each other and engaged in small conversations. Amy was beginning to genuinely enjoy Sonic's company. She couldn't believe she had judged him so unfairly.

She found out that he actually wasn't the captain of the football team in high school. He was in cross country, and he was captain of his school's dance team. She should've known.

Sonic had also stopped participating in the club's dance competitions. He would arrive conveniently right after the competition ended, and he'd instead challenge her to laid back competitions.

Both were competitive, and a staple for Club Cielo's Friday nights. Some people would approach them and ask them if they were together, and they had to politely tell them that they were not. Amy cherished her Friday nights and she couldn't lie, she always looked forward to them.

Competing with Sonic was fun, because he would push her to be at her best, and that helped her become a better dancer.

Meanwhile, Scourge continued to send her flowers, give her gifts, and show her strange acts of kindness. It was incredibly odd, but she didn't think much of it until she invited him to join her for Cream's dinner.

"You can't come?" Amy asked. "Why?"

Scourge wrote a few notes on his laptop before facing her. She had visited him at his job. She had spent the entire night preparing a speech that would convince him to behave without him getting angry, but she turned out not needing it.

"My Great Aunt is hosting a dinner party and we're all expected to be there. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me but I figured you wouldn't want to because Eggman is going to be there, along with his family. I also figured you wouldn't want to leave your Grandfather alone."

Amy blinked, since when was Scourge so considerate? This was starting to get really weird.

"You go ahead and go to that dinner thing. I trust that you won't do anything you're not supposed to," Scourge told her, focusing his eyes back onto his computer and typing.

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but chose not to question it. If Scourge was going to be nice to her, she wasn't going to complain.

"Is Sonic going to be there?"

Amy's ears perked up, and her eyes flickered back towards Scourge, whose attention returned to her again. Scourge looked indifferent, and it was hard for Amy to understand what his reasoning for asking that question was.
"I don't know," Amy answered. "Last I heard his family was coming over from LA, so probably not."

Scourge nodded, seeming satisfied with that answer. He returned to type on his computer.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later," Amy told him. "I don't want to disturb you from work."

"You never disturb me," he immediately said before facing her. "I mean that."

She trained her eyes on him and tried to see what he was up to, but she found nothing. Why was he being so nice? With a nod and a small smile, she left the office. Scourge was up to something.

Sonic and Tails walked into Tails and Cream's apartment carrying a bunch of bags filled with food. Cream was on the couch sitting across from her Mom, who had arrived and would be staying with Tails and Cream for the week.

"VANILLA!" Sonic exclaimed dramatically, setting the bag down and approaching Vanilla with his arms extended.

"Sonic! My, look how much you've grown!" Vanilla exclaimed as she stood and embraced the blue hedgehog.

"Really? I look the same to me," Sonic scratched his head.

"You look wiser dear," she clarified, patting his cheek lightly. "Cream tells me your family will be visiting."

"They are, they're coming to the dinner," Sonic nodded. Tails approached Vanilla from behind Sonic.

"We're really happy to have you here with us Vanilla. Thanksgiving is never the same without you," he said as he embraced her.

"Thank goodness you're here Tails, I need to speak with you, please be seated."

"Momma—" Cream blushed.

"Now Cream, don't interrupt me," Vanilla scolded softly. "You and Tails are about to be parents, and that is not an easy job."

Sonic snorted, and Tails glared at him.

"Sonic, you come sit over here. I want you to hear this too. You will be a father one day too, and this could serve as some use for you in the future."

Tails resisted the urge to laugh, and Sonic lightly punched him while Vanilla wasn't looking. He then sat where she had her hand.

"Now listen, both of you. When a woman is carrying a baby, it is expected that her partner has patience with her. There will be times where she will wake you up early in the morning because she either feels pain or she's craving something. Please promise me you will support her. I have a friend in my Sewing Club who went into labor three months early because she was craving a piece of bread late at night and her husband wouldn't buy it for her."

Tails eyed Cream, who looked like she wished she could be anywhere but there at the moment. He smiled at her.

"Now now, I'm not saying you two would do that. Your parents raised you two boys well, and I know you're both supportive. I'm just informing you how difficult pregnancies are. Carrying a baby is not easy, and so it is the job of the partner to carry a little bit of the weight while she's carrying and right after she gives birth. You both promise you'll do that, right?"

"Yes Vanilla," Sonic and Tails said in unison. She smiled, satisfied with their answers.

"Very well, now did you boys bring apples? I'm going to make the three of you a delicious apple pie. Is it still your favorite?"

Sonic and Tails widened their eyes and made eye contact before scrambling to the groceries and pulling out a stack of apples. "They're right here!"

Vanilla and Cream laughed.

Sonic heard someone knock on his door at around ten at night. He had just returned from stuffing his face with Vanilla's Super Scrumptilicious Apple Pie of Heaven when he heard it. He opened the door and came face to face with Manic, who was holding a duffle bag in his right arm.

"LITTLE BRO!"

"SONIC!"

Sonic and Manic did a handshake, and Sonic, suddenly remembering that everybody else might be asleep, shushed his brother.

"Come inside," he whispered.

Manic obliged, and opened his mouth in amazement as his eyes lingered around Sonic's apartment.

"Wow! This is your place?"

Sonic closed the door, "Yup. Where is everyone?"

"Mom and Dad are at the hotel and Sonia is sleeping over with one of her college friends for the night. I didn't want to be alone with Mom and Dad so I decided to come crash your place," Manic answered as he lounged on Sonic's couch and took off his shoes.

"I'm glad you're here. It gets lonely sometimes, not gonna lie."

"Doesn't Tails live in the apartment right across from here?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I also can't be hanging around Tails that much. He and Cream ARE in their honeymoon."

"Oh yeah! I heard about the baby! Don't you think that's crazy? Do you feel old?" Manic asked, causing Sonic to scoff.

"I am not that old!" Sonic argued.

"You're right, you're not old, you're ancient."

Sonic threw one of the couch pillows at his younger brother, which missed him by an inch.

"Want pie?" Sonic offered. "Cream's mom made it and she gave me tons of leftovers."

"What kind of pie?" Manic asked, standing from the couch and approaching his brother.

Sonic opened the lid and Manic's eyes lit up. "NO WAY! Is this her legendary apple pie?"

"The one and only," Sonic chuckled, handing him a plate. "I'm stuffed. I think Tails and I ate like six pieces."

Manic served himself a slice, "You two are a riot."

"Riot?"

"Oh yeah, you're old so you don't understand teenage slang. It means you guys are funny."

Sonic scowled, "That is SO not what teenagers are saying right now. And I am NOT that old!"

"It totally is what teenagers are saying right now. Your generation needs to catch up. What was your slang? Hmm, let me think. 'That's mondo cool!' Or, 'Gotta speed, Keeds.'"

"Are you making fun of my middle school self?" Sonic accused. "And it's gotta speed, KEED! Not Keeds."

"Whatever, my point still stands."

"I work with teenagers on a daily basis, and I never once heard them use 'riot' in a sentence," Sonic argued. He was not letting this go.

Manic rolled his eyes, "See, that just goes to show how old you are. EVERYBODY knows that California is the state that starts every trend, duh! I bet you don't even know what Tik Tok is."

"How old do you think I am?" Sonic asked, amused.

"Pretty old. Twenty four seems like an ancient age to me. I wouldn't be surprised if your fur starting looking white like Dad's."

"You can sleep outside tonight," Sonic joked as he grabbed Manic's duffle bag and waved it in his brother's face.

"Wow, just like that?"

"Just like that," Sonic teased as he set the duffle bag down. "Want to watch TV or are you too tired?"

"Are you kidding? Do you know what time it is in California right now? SEVEN! I'm wide awake!" Manic exclaimed. "What show?"

"Cake Boss, I have a few new episodes recorded. By the way, I tried it, I forgot to tell you."

"You went to Carlo's Bakery without me?" Manic exclaimed. "Gee dude, you just made the Top 10 Anime Betrayals list."

Sonic laughed, and patted his brother on the back.

It felt good to be living with someone again.

Manic and Sonic spent the majority of the night awake and catching up. Manic told Sonic about a girl he was interested in, and how he didn't know if she was interested in him. Sonic told him about the friends he had made in New York, and how much he was enjoying his job.

The topic of Amy had come up, and Manic insisted to know more about her. Sonic was honest and told him everything that had happened since he had met her until very recently. He made Manic promise not to tell anyone about her situation, and Manic scoffed and claimed that he wasn't much of a gossip anyway.

They then went to sleep and Sonic gave Manic the guest bedroom. The next morning, Sonic went on a morning run, and when he returned, Manic was eating cereal. His eyes were focused on the kitchen top, and he seemed to be deep in thought.

"Dad would kill you if he found out you got into a fight with Amy's boyfriend," Manic stated suddenly, surprising Sonic.

"Don't tell Sonia, you know she can't keep her mouth shut," Sonic warned.

Manic shook his head, "Trust me, I know. Your secret is safe with me. Damn, that Scourge guy sounds awful. I feel really bad for Amy."

"You might meet her during the Thanksgiving dinner. I'm almost positive Cream invited her."

"I figured, that's why I've been thinking. You think she might take the Scourge guy? I was thinking about that all night."

Sonic froze. He sincerely hoped not. He absolutely, positively, did NOT want Scourge and his Dad to be in the same room.

"What if he tells Dad, Sonic?" Manic asked. "Dad will not hesitate to yell at you in front of everybody. Knowing him, he'll probably buy a ticket for you to return home immediately—"

"And then he'd lock me away in that stupid office of his," Sonic finished, a horrified expression on his face. "Crap, you're right."

"What do we do?" Manic asked. Sonic sighed.

"Nothing," Sonic shrugged. "It's not like I can ask Amy to not take him. If Scourge does go, we'll just have to make sure he and Dad don't communicate."

"Hey Cream, Amy and I decided to come early to help you with the cooking," Rouge sang as she entered the apartment. She held the door open and Amy walked in with her grandfather slowly, who greeted everyone in the room before being seated on the couch.

"Great!" Cream exclaimed. "Momma look, it's Rouge, and this is my new friend Amy."

"Hey Vanilla," Rouge smiled as she embraced her Aunt.

"Hi Rouge, how is Knuckles?"

"He had work today, unfortunately, but he should be home soon. Where's Tails?"

"He, Sonic, and Sonic's little brother Manic are doing some last minute shopping for dinner," Cream responded.

"Sonic is coming?" Amy asked. Cream nodded.

"Shadow should be here soon. I asked him to come early to help us cook. Believe it or not, Shadow went to culinary school."

"Really?" Cream asked, baffled. "He doesn't seem—"

"Like the type who could cook?" Rouge finished for her. "Yeah, he gets that a lot."

"I went to culinary school too," Cream smiled. "Wow, I can't wait to ask him all about it."

"Ugh, thank goodness he finally has someone to talk to about it. He tends to go on and on about certain recipes and techniques and no offense but I just can't seem to bring myself to care," Rouge shrugged.

Knock. Knock.

"That must be him," Amy announced as she opened the door. Sonic stood on the other side, looking well dressed and put together. Her cheeks went slightly pink.

"Hey Ames," Sonic greeted with a wink. "Mind taking this to the kitchen? I need to sprint back to the store to get the rest of the stuff. I'm just bringing this here now because Vanilla needs it for the turkey."

She nodded mindlessly and received the bag from him. He sprinted away, leaving her frozen on the doorway. Sonic zipped passed Shadow, who had been walking up the stairs.

"Hey Shadow," Amy greeted as she embraced him. "Here to help cook?"

"Yeah, Rouge isn't in the kitchen is she? Last time I let her cook, she almost lit my microwave on fire."

They walked inside, where Rouge scowled at them from the kitchen. "You're not going to ever let that go, are you Shadow?"

"Absolutely not," Shadow responded as he greeted Amy's grandfather, who had been watching the football game. "What are you planning to make Cream?"

"My Momma and I are going to make the turkey, we need help making the mashed potatoes, gravy and the salad."

"Mashed potatoes are easy. Rouge will do that with my close supervision," Shadow declared as he placed his hand on his chest. "I will do the salad and the gravy."

"Hey!" Rouge exclaimed.

"We're also planning to make chili dogs," Vanilla informed. "Mr. The Hedgehog and Sonic would very much appreciate it. Amy, would you mind doing that?"

"I could do that," Amy nodded.

It took a whole two hours to finish cooking the meal. Amy worked next to Cream and Vanilla who both gave her cooking tips. Cream and Amy spent an entire hour talking about their favorite cooking shows and how those shows were what influenced Cream to take up cooking herself.

Rouge and Shadow worked on the other side of the kitchen, where everyone heard Shadow occasionally scolding Rouge. He would utter things along the lines of "incompetent bat" and "Rouge, you're messing up the salad!" Grandpa Rose was so amused that he turned off the football game just to hear Rouge and Shadow arguing.

"Hey, where's Tails?" Rouge asked. "They've been gone for a long time."

"They can't find champagne," Cream explained as she texted Tails back on her phone. "All the stores have run out."

"Just ask them to come back dear," Vanilla suggested. "Champagne isn't that important. Besides, it's very cold outside, they could get sick. I'll make us hot chocolate instead."

"Okay Momma," Cream nodded as she pulled out her phone again.

Amy adored the dynamic between Cream and her mother. It reminded her of the dynamic she had with her own mother. She eyed the completed chili dogs and sighed in satisfaction before taking off her apron and approaching her grandfather.

"I wish I could help," he lamented. "I could have made us a mean dessert."

Amy gasped, "Dessert! Are we making dessert?"

"Sonic's mother is taking care of that dear," Vanilla reassured. "Aleena is making pumpkin pie."

Amy sighed in relief and took a seat next to her grandfather, "How was the football game?"

"Same old. The Mobian Riders won, as usual."

Amy frowned, "Sorry if this is boring."

Grandpa Rose blinked, "Are you kidding? This is the most fun I've had in months. Sometimes Amy, it is better to see than to speak. Besides, Rouge and Shadow gave me quite the show."

Rouge, who had heard the last part of that comment, smiled, "The Rouge and Shadow Cooking Show is on every night at 7pm, don't miss the next episode."

"There won't be another episode, because I've just cancelled the show," Shadow grumbled, snatching the mashed potatoes away from Rouge.

Grandpa Rose and Amy laughed.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"I'll get it!" Amy exclaimed as she hopped to the door. She opened it, fully expecting to see a blue hedgehog with emerald green eyes.
What she got instead was a blue hedgehog, except this blue hedgehog looked older, and he had brown eyes.

Sonic's father.

A purple hedgehog stood next to him, wearing the softest most beautiful smile Amy had ever seen. Now Amy understood where Sonic got his award winning smile from. Next to the purple hedgehog stood a pink hedgehog, who had her left arm wrapped around her mother's.

"Good evening," greeted Jules. "Are Cream, Vanilla, or Tails home?"

"Hello Sonia, Mr. and Mrs. the Hedgehog! Please come in," Cream stated, who stood behind Amy. "Momma and I just finished the turkey."

"Smells good," Sonia complimented. "Hi, I'm Sonia."

Amy shook her hand, "I'm Amy Rose, and this is my grandfather."

The three greeted Amy and Grandpa Rose cordially before approaching Vanilla and Cream.

"Where are my sons?" Aleena asked, approaching Vanilla and embracing her as if they were long lost friends who hadn't seen each other in ages.

"They should be back soon, they were doing a bit of shopping for us."

Shadow and Rouge approached Amy while Amy watched Sonia and Cream interact excitedly about the upcoming baby.

"Sonic is literally a carbon copy of his Dad," Rouge blinked. "It's mind boggling."

"I know," Amy agreed.

Jules shook hands with Vanilla before shifting his eyes to look at Rouge and Shadow. The blue hedgehog cleared his throat and approached them. "Are you friends of Sonic's?"

"Yeah, we are," Rouge nodded. "Hi, I'm Rouge. My fiancé Knuckles should be here soon, he's working at the moment."

"What does he work as?" Jules asked.

"He's an electrical engineer," Rouge answered. "He works at the Emerald Power Plant."

"Ah, are they the ones who work closely with the Chaos Emeralds?" Jules asked.

Rouge nodded proudly, "Knuckles is the only one who has strict access to the Master Emerald. He analyzes it and makes sure it doesn't run out of power."

"Brilliant," Jules complimented. "Do you work?"

"I do," Rouge smiled. "I manage my own jewelry store. Rouge's Jewels. So if you ever need to buy a ring for your wonderful wife, you know where to go."

Jules laughed, "It's good to meet another fellow business person. I will keep your recommendation in mind."

He turned to look at Amy, "Amy Rose, correct? What's your occupation, if you don't mind me asking? I don't mean to pry."

"Oh, not at all," Amy giggled. "I'm a choreographer. I own my own dance studio."

Jules twitched, but only slightly. If Amy hadn't known Sonic and Jules' rocky dynamic because of Sonic's passion for dancing, Amy wouldn't have noticed a thing. But she did, she noticed.

"Do you?" he asked. "What is it called?"

"Keep It Crescendo."

"Ah yes, I've heard of your dance studio," he nodded slowly.

"You have?" Amy blinked, genuinely surprised. Had Sonic told his father about it?

"Yes. I'm acquainted with Ivo Robotnik Eggman, and he has mentioned a thing or two about it. My son works at Eggman Studios."

Amy nodded, "Yes, we work across the street from each other."

"Across the street?" Jules exclaimed, baffled. "Does that not inconvenience your studio?"

Amy shrugged, "It does. But we've been doing fairly well, it wasn't until recently that we've had to work a little harder. Your son is giving my studio a run for our money."

She giggled, wanting it to be a joke, but she really wanted to see Jules' reaction to a compliment made on Sonic's dancing. She wanted to see for herself if he truly disapproved of Sonic's choices or if Sonic was just exaggerating.

Jules frowned, "Yes, well, I'm glad you've been doing well, especially in those circumstances. I wish your studio nothing but success."

Amy thanked him, and Jules turned to face Shadow, "And what is your name?"

"Shadow the Hedgehog, sir," Shadow greeted. "I own a record store right next to Amy's dance studio, and I have my own small catering business."

Jules smiled, "This room is full of hard working business people. It is refreshing to see that my son has chosen to surround himself with good acquaintances like yourselves."

The door opened, and Sonic entered the room with Tails, Manic, and Knuckles, whom had run into them at the elevator.

"Sonic!" Sonia exclaimed as she threw herself onto her brother. Sonic chuckled and hugged her back.

"Excuse me," Jules said as he left to approach Sonic.

"Hey sweetie," Aleena greeted as she kissed Sonic on the forehead. Jules lingered behind her, and as he and Sonic made eye contact, Amy was able to notice the obvious tension between them.

"Hey Dad."

"Son," Jules nodded.

"Well, now that we are all here, let's start dinner!" Vanilla exclaimed.

This chapter ended up being longer than I anticipated. Guess we have to split Thanksgiving into two chapters ;)

Please review and tell me what you think!