Chapter 2.
Please Review.
No Flames.
Everyone in their usual outfits.
...
Scourge and Amy's Apartment.
Living Room.
Afternoon.
When Amy came home later that afternoon, still clutching the white envelope, Scourge was waiting for her, sitting on the cream-colored leather couch in their living room.
"Where have you been?" Scourge asked.
For a moment Amy hesitated then she faced her older twin brother, deciding to go for a half-truth.
"I met with some friends." Amy said.
Scourge narrowed his eyes. "Who?" he asked.
Amy took her time, putting the envelope down on the coffee table with her right hand and taking off her shoes with both hands. "You don't know them." she said.
When Amy left earlier this afternoon, Scourge had still been in his room, refusing to come out and listening to some sad love songs, drowning in self pity. Honestly, Amy was convinced that her absence would go unnoticed but it didn't.
Scourge's gaze wandered to the envelope. "What's this?" he asked.
"Oh, um, just some... papers." Amy said.
Scourge frowned. "Papers." he said, skeptically.
Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, for heaven's sake. Can't you stop being so inquisitive? I'm an adult! I can do whatever I want as long as I don't hurt anyone!" she asked, picking up the envelope with her right hand.
Amy didn't look at Scourge as she stormed off, heading for her bedroom.
After shutting the door behind her with her left hand, Amy went straight to her bed, sitting down on the quilt in different shades of red her mother had made for her for her 18th birthday, before moving abroad, leaving her husband and children behind.
Amy opened the manila envelope again with both hands, pouring out its contents, spreading everything on her bed around her, contemplating. Amy had to admit that Shadow's and Sonic's mother was right. A part of Amy, a more instinctive than rational part, had already decided that she wanted to have a child with the 2 hedgehog brothers. Now Amy just had to figure out if that would be a wise decision.
A knock at the door.
"Ames, can I come in?" Scourge asked.
Amy sighed. "Yes, of course." she said, starting to pile up all the papers in order to put them back into the envelope with both hands.
Scourge opened the door with his right hand and walked in. "Let's please not fight, okay? I have enough of fighting. And it wasn't my intention to-" he said but stopped, looking at the pictures of Shadow and Sonic, Amy hadn't yet put back into the envelope.
"Who are those 2 guys?" Scourge asked.
Amy hesitated. Should Amy let Scourge in into her secret, that she had set her mind on becoming a mother, taking the first steps into that direction? Scourge was Amy's brother, her twin brother, after all. Scourge and Amy had shared their mother's womb, so wasn't it natural to share other things as well?
"Well, the friends I told you about, the friends I met today, I met them online first. These pictures are pictures of them when they were children." Amy said.
Scourge frowned, crossing the room and joining Amy on the bed. "I don't understand. Why did they give you pictures of them when they were children?" he asked.
Amy took a deep breath. That was more difficult for Amy than she had thought.
"It... could be interesting for me. Because I want them to be the fathers of my child. It might give me an idea how my child could look like." Amy said.
Scourge shook his head. "You don't make much sense, Amy. Are you dating them or what? By they way, are you dating two guys at the same time? That doesn't sound like you. At all."
Amy sighed. If Amy wanted Scourge to understand, really understand, she had to start from the beginning. So Amy told Scourge about her wish for a child, about her joining the website and finding Shadow and Sonic, their exchange of messages, the first meeting. At first Amy was hesitant about mentioning her encounter with Aleena because retrospectively she had to admit that it was weird but a part of her was glad to have met that woman.
"She is a real mama bear, Scourge. Really! To some extent she reminded me of our mother, before-" Amy said but stopped.
Scourge did. "Before she abandoned us? Before father started drinking?" he questioned.
Amy sighed again. "She didn't abandon us. She simply moved away. You could visit her, you know. Like I do. She always asks about you." she said.
Scourge smiled sadly. "If she had stayed with us, she wouldn't have to ask. Then she could see for herself." he said.
Amy knew that Scourge was still hurting because their mother had left them shortly after their 18th birthday. Whenever their mother called, Scourge refused to talk to her, just handing the telephone over to Amy. But Amy knew that their mother had her reasons for leaving like that and Amy understood. Scourge didn't and won't even want to try.
"Anyway, let's not talk about mother, let's talk about you." Scourge said, changing the subject. "How serious is that wish of yours? Do you really consider getting impregnated by 2 strangers?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course, why else would I have met with them?" she asked.
Scourge shrugged. "Just checking. Can I have a look at those papers?" he asked.
Amy nodded, handing the envelope over with her right hand.
Scourge took his time, perusing every document as if his life depended on it with both hands. Finally Scourge looked up, smiling at Amy.
"I think they're a good choice, Amy, really. Especially the fact that they are completely clean reassures me. Because, you know, if you want to get pregnant, you will have to do it with them without any protection." Scourge said.
Amy blushed.
It wasn't the first time that Scourge and Amy talked about sex, but usually it was about his sexual encounters or lack thereof, not hers. Maybe Scourge believed Amy was still a virgin, for all she knew.
"Thank you, I know how it works." Amy said disrespectfully, taking the papers back from Scourge with her right hand.
...
5 Days Later.
Station Square.
Scourge and Amy's Apartment.
Amy's Bedroom.
Evening Time.
Shadow, Sonic, and Amy met again next Friday night.
This time in Shadow's and Sonic's hometown, New Mobotropolis, though it was rather a village, as they admitted, at their favorite tavern, Stardust. Frankly, it was the only tavern in the village in walking distance from their home.
While Amy was getting ready, Scourge curiously observed her styling efforts.
"Don't you think it's too much? You don't go to the Oscar's, after all, just some rural boozer." Scourge asked.
Amy, who was currently straightening her hair with both hands, caught Scourge gaze in the mirror. "You are really disrespectful. We are not living in a metropolitan area either." she said.
Scourge shrugged. "At least our town is bigger than theirs. And you can find its name on every map. I didn't find theirs!" he said.
Amy rolled her eyes. "Honestly Scourge, don't you have anywhere else to be? It's Friday night! Go out. Have fun." she said.
Scourge sniffled. "You are heartless. You know very well that I'm not in the mood. I don't like going out alone. And there is no one left I could go out with, you have your own life now, our friends have their own lives, and Jet and I are history. There is no way I will ever forgive him for what he did to me!" he said.
Amy felt awful as Scourge had told her about Jet's infidelity, one of the reasons why he thought that Shadow's and Sonic's negative test results for almost all STDs were definitely a huge pro for choosing them as fathers for her child. Scourge had confessed that, of course, he and Jet had usually been safe when having sex, but not always, which meant that he had to get tested and was now waiting for his results.
"I'm sorry, Scourge. But if this is really over between you and Jet, you have to start from scratch, find someone else, be happy!" Amy said.
Scourge smiled sadly, watching Amy straighten her quills before she placed her red hairband with both hands. Amy was dressed in her usual outfit.
"I don't think I will ever find someone who loves me unconditionally. We are cursed, Ames. We are cursed since the day our parents conceived us. Why else would my beautiful, kind and intelligent twin sister opt for... sperm donors and co-parentship in order to become a mother? If anyone, then it would have been you who deserved a happily ever after with prince charming." Scourge asked.
Amy was touched as her older twin brother was really depressed and she felt bad for leaving Scourge alone in his state but once in her life she had to be selfish. If Amy backed out now then maybe Shadow and Sonic would find another woman who wanted to become the mother of their child and she was somehow sure that she didn't want any other animal men to father her child, though she didn't know why.
Sighing, Amy turned towards her older twin brother, embracing Scourge with both hands, pressing their foreheads together, something they hadn't done for years, interestingly, she remembered something her mother had told her once, that as babies she and Scourge were always seeking each other's closeness, cuddling and embracing each other, even directly after birth.
"Scourge, do me the favor and go out! Don't stay home alone! At least go over to father's, spend the evening with him. He is as lonely as you." Amy said.
Scourge took a deep breath and then he nodded. "Yeah, you are right, I'm just being stupid. Have fun tonight, sis, but please don't get pregnant right now, okay? I'd like to meet them before you... you know!" he said, winking at Amy then left her alone, so that she could finish putting on her gloves before going out in order to meet the potential fathers of her child.
...
1 hour later.
New Mobotroplis.
Night Time.
Amy didn't arrive on time, though this was due to the fact that the village's name wasn't sign posted on the highway, only the neighboring villages. Thus, Amy missed the right exit which cost her 15 minutes but the pub itself was easy to find. And, as expected, there was enough parking space in front since most patrons came by foot.
...
Stardust.
When Amy entered the tavern, the locals stared at her which made her nervous.
"They know." Amy thought.
Shadow, Sonic, and Amy know that you are not able to have a functional relationship and therefore want to become pregnant like this. Amy's first impulse was to bolt, but then she somehow found her courage.
"Who cared what they thought?" Amy thought.
Holding her head high, Amy looked around searching for Shadow and Sonic and then she found them, close to the bar. Amy would never forget the expression of pure happiness on Sonic's face as soon as he spotted her, nudging his older brother with his left hand, so that Shadow also turned into her direction, smiling shyly.
Amy took a deep breath and walked over to Shadow and Sonic.
"Hey, hi." Amy said and felt that her enthusiasm sounded fake.
Nevertheless, Sonic beamed at Amy. "Glad you came! We were almost afraid you had changed your mind!" he said, seeming so sincere that Amy felt bad for her earlier observations of leaving.
"I'm sorry for being late, I missed the right exit on the highway." Amy said.
Shadow shrugged. "That happens to everyone who doesn't live here. Come, have a seat." he said standing up, straightening Amy's chair with both hands.
Shadow and Sonic seemed to be so eager in doing everything right, it was really endearing.
Once Amy was seated, Shadow asked her what she wanted to drink. Noticing the tankards of ale in front the 2 hedgehog brothers.
"Oh, something without alcohol, please, like table water or some juice, I have to drive, after all." Amy said.
Shadow and Sonic looked at each other for a moment.
"Well, if it comes to that you can stay at our place. Mom is quite fond of you, told us not to screw it up tonight." Sonic said.
Shadow rolled his eyes. "Well, I think you just did, Sonic. But anyway, we have some spare bedrooms at home. And mom loves guests, so..." he said.
Amy nodded.
If Amy was honest to herself, she needed something with alcohol in it to survive the evening, being almost as nervous as when she took her finals, graduating from university.
"Thanks for the offer, by the way. In that case... what about some wine then?" Amy asked.
Shadow looked relieved. "I'm sure that's no problem." he said then signaled for the barkeeper to come over. "So, Vector, what wines do you have?"
The green crocodile, who was wearing a gold chain, looked surprised. "Well, the usual, of course, red, white, rosé, sweet, medium-dry, dry..." Vector said.
Shadow sent an asking glance in Amy's direction and she smiled a charming smile, saying.
"A medium-dry rosé would be fine." Amy said.
Vector looked at Amy as if noticing her presence for the first time then nodding into her direction. "Of course, at your service, miss!" he said.
Amy looked questioningly at Shadow and Sonic who simply looked at each other, shrugging, before answering.
"Well, I think it's some kind of insider joke, you'll get used to it." Sonic said.
Amy simply nodded, not asking why she should get used to it.
"Wasn't that implying much more than only having a child together?" Amy thought.
However, Shadow, Sonic, and Amy spend a pleasurable evening.
Whereas the conversation during Shadow, Sonic, and Amy's first meeting revolved more around their lives in general, their jobs, their families, their interests, they now went into detail. Shadow and Sonic had already told Amy that they were both working in the family business, that being a small workshop for wood and metalworking, but now they elaborated on the kind of things which were built in the workshop, like furniture, fences, doors, sculptures, sometimes according to customer wishes, sometimes their own designs.
"Wow, that sounds amazing." Amy said, sipping her wine with her left hand and it was already her second glass.
Sonic shrugged. "Well, that depends. Although Shadow and I are also sometimes creating stuff, we have mostly other tasks to fulfill, like, in Shadow's case, taking the photos of the completed works for our website and me running this website." he said then took a sip from his ale with his right hand.
Shadow elaborated. "Of course, there is more what he and I do in the family business, I, for example, help our uncle run this business, whereas Sonic deals with the customers, taking orders, reacting to their complaints and such." he said.
Amy was impressed. That would explain why Shadow and Sonic still lived at home, so they were not simply momma's boys. Of course Amy had checked out the website, after Shadow and Sonic had told her about the workshop. Just to make sure that it wasn't made up because technically they were strangers, they could tell her anything. Amy was relieved the workshop existed, the website even featured pictures of the staff and she recognized Shadow, Sonic and Aleena, so they had told her the truth.
"Well, what about you, Amy? You said you were a teacher?" Amy asked, nodding. "Yes."
Amy told Shadow and Sonic about her teaching job at the local grammar school in her hometown. When Amy ordered another glass of wine, Vector brought the bottle over to their table with his left hand.
"Here, lass, drink as much as you want, you are the only one here drinking wine tonight anyway!" Vector said then he left again.
Amy looked confused at Shadow and Sonic.
The 2 hedgehog brothers shrugged.
"The people here prefer ale, mead or even stronger stuff, like whiskey and corn schnapps. But of course there are exceptions. Uncle Charles, for example, likes the dry, red wine they serve here and mom and Chuck also drink wine, although mom prefers white wine and Chuck the sweet ones." Sonic said.
Amy raised her left eyebrow. "You mentioned this Chuck before, but I'm afraid I don't really understand how you are related to him." she said.
Shadow and Sonic exchanged a look for a moment.
"Well, it's complicated." Shadow said. "Technically we aren't, that's why we like to refer to him as a family friend. But you will find out for yourself soon enough."
Amy decided not to press Shadow and Sonic further on the subject, instead she started to talk about her own family, that she and her older twin brother shared an apartment, explaining that her parents were not divorced but living separately, her mother even in another country, that their only other living blood relatives were a grandfather and a grandmother, the grandfather being their father's father, the grandmother their mother's mother, but they weren't really close.
By the end of the evening, Amy had emptied the wine bottle to 2/3s and Sonic had already finished his 3rd pint of ale whereas Shadow was still drinking number 3. Shadow, Sonic, and Amy decided to call it a night and after settling the bill, left.
"So, I can't believe you will spend the night at our home." Sonic said as he, Shadow, and Amy walked down the street.
Amy remained silent as she was brooding, not fully understanding why she agreed so quickly to staying at Shadow's and Sonic's house. Shadow and Sonic were strangers to her but the fact that she had already met their mother somehow let her feel safe with them.
"Shh, quiet, if we wake up little Manik, mom and uncle will have our heads." Sonic said after unlocking the door with his right hand.
"Little Manik?" Amy asked.
"Our... baby brother." Shadow said.
Amy stared unbelievingly at Shadow and Sonic. "Baby brother?" she asked.
Sonic nodded enthusiasticly. "Yeah, he is almost 6 and really cute!" he said.
Surprised, Amy shook her head. "I didn't know you had another brother." she said.
Shadow shrugged. "Well, he was the reason for our wish to become fathers." he said. "When he was born, we were grown up and acted rather as surrogate fathers than big brothers when we babysat him."
Amy nodded, trying to imagine what it would be like to be a part of such big family.
Sonic seemed to read her thoughts. "Tomorrow morning you are going to experience our family life first hand, at breakfast. If we are lucky, Chuck will be making his famous buttermilk pancakes." he said.
Amy smiled. "That sounds great." she said, really looking forward to it.
...
Guest Room.
Morning.
Amy woke up because somebody knocked at her door.
When sitting up in bed Amy needed a moment to figure out where she was. Of course, the guest bedroom in Shadow's and Sonic's house.
"Yes?" Amy asked through the closed door.
"Good morning! I hope you slept well. Breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes!" Shadow said.
Amy took a look at her watch on her left arm, lying on the bedside table. It was 8:45 a.m. "Thank you." she said and started to get up.
The guest bedroom Shadow and Sonic had given Amy last night had a small bathroom attached to it, complete with a toilet, a sink, and a shower with shampoo and body wash. Shadow had given Amy some fresh towels, a toothbrush and toothpaste whereas Sonic had shown her that there were some spare clothes in the old wardrobe, a faded blue shirt and light grey pants, in the bedroom which she could borrow then they had left her alone for the night.
When going out, Amy always took clean underwear and other daily necessities with her, so taking a shower and freshing up was not a problem.
...
10 minutes later.
Amy went down the stairs as her quills falling down her back in a simple braid.
Downstairs, Amy almost collided with a small sky blue hedgehog boy as he was wearing blue pajamas with red and green planes printed on them, holding a greyish brown knitted teddy bear in his arms and stared at her from big, dark blue eyes, the same blue as Aleena's eyes.
Amy froze.
That was surely little Manik.
"Oh, hello, there." Amy said, smiling.
The little hedgehog boy smiled shyly back then vanished through one of the 5 doors, leading away from the corridor.
"Manik? Hey, Manik! Come on, you have to get dressed for the day. We are all dressed. You can't run around in your pajama's when we have a guest!" Sonic asked, coming from behind one of the other doors. Soon after, Sonic walked onto the corridor, almost instantly smiling as he noticed Amy.
"Hey, Amy, good morning. Did you sleep well?" Sonic asked.
Amy smiled back. "Oh, yes, thank you." she said.
Sonic and Amy fell silent for a while, just looking at each other. Amy started to feel uncomfortable, when Sonic suddenly seemed to remember, why he was here.
"Oh, by the way, did you see a little boy running around in his pajamas? My task is to dress him, but he has escaped while I was putting out his clothes." Sonic asked.
Amy nodded, saying. "Yes, he just ran into there." she said while pointing to the door the boy just had gone through with her left index finger.
Sonic looked relieved. "Thank you so much, Amy. See you at the breakfast table!" he said before he went through the same door like Manik did a couple of moments ago.
Amy still didn't know which way the kitchen was so she took it upon herself to try the different doors until she was lucky.
The kitchen was rather big, of course bigger than Amy and Scourge's kitchen, but even bigger than the kitchen in her parents' or father's, to be more precisely house. Shadow was already there, as was Aleena, both of them busy with putting finishing touches to the table which was set for 7, while a slightly tall grey-blue hedgehog with a friendly face was piling pancakes on several plates.
"Good morning." Amy said to get their attention.
All 3 adults looked into Amy's direction, Shadow smiling slightly, Aleena scrutinizing her, then nodding into her direction, the slightly tall grey-blue hedgehog man beaming at her, putting pan and pancake turner aside, wiping his hands on his brown apron.
"Good morning, Amy, I'm Chuck!" the grey-blue hedgehog said walking towards Amy, his right hand extended.
Amy shook Chuck's right hand with her left hand. "Nice to meet you, Chuck." she said. "So, this is the family friend." she thought to herself.
"You are right on time, the pancakes are ready! Oh, by the way, do you drink coffee or tea?" Chuck asked.
Amy smiled at Chuck. "Coffee, please. Can I help you somehow?" she asked.
Chuck shook his head. "This is not necessary. You are our guest. So, please sit down!" he said, gesturing to the table until Amy did just that.
Apparently there were no fixed sitting arrangements in the Hedgehog household.
Only a moment later, Shadow placed a pot with hot, black coffee in front of Amy with his right hand, then sitting down next to her while Chuck handed her a plate with pancakes with both hands.
"Thank you." Amy said to both Chuck and Shadow.
Chuck smiled at Amy. "You're welcome. And, oh, you should try those with Aleena homemade marmalade. She is a goddess in the kitchen!" he said, looking at Aleena admiringly and Amy wondered for a moment if they were lovers. Amy put a small blob of the marmalade onto her plate with her right hand.
Then, the door to the kitchen opened and the same little sky blue hedgehog boy Amy had encountered before rushed into the room, still only half-dressed, wearing his pajama bottoms and a dark blue jumper. Sonic was hot on his heels, but he was not alone. A somber cobalt blue muscular hedgehog male with a regal poise accompanied him.
"So, little Manik beat you again at this let's-not-get-properly-dressed-game." Shadow said, sarcastically.
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Well, yes, it seems he has mastered that discipline." he said, before sitting down in a chair next to his older brother, while the little hedgehog boy headed right into Chuck's direction, wrapping his short arms around the older hedgehog man's leg, giggling.
"Daddy!" Manik said.
Amy looked questioningly at Shadow and Sonic.
Sonic simply shrugged. "You explain, brother!" he said.
Shadow sighed. "There's not much to explain. Chuck is Manik's father and our mother is his mother as well, but they are not really a couple in the classical sense, I think, although Chuck is living with us." he said.
If Amy was honest, she would have to admit that this explanation didn't make anything any clearer to her. The brothers started eating their pancakes. Amy's confusion, however, must have shown on her face, because Aleena elaborated.
"I love children, always wanted to have 3 or 4, but didn't find the right partner. I have to admit that Shadow wasn't planned, I was only 20 when I had him, and my boyfriend at that time, Shadow's biological father, was not the kind of guy you would introduce to your parents, let alone marry. So I became a single working mom. And I loved it to be a mother! So that was when I decided to have another child, Sonic. His father and I had a brief affair, it was nothing serious. But by then I knew I didn't need a partner or husband at my side in order to raise children, I had my family, my brothers, who supported me after all and were father figures to my sons." Aleena said then paused and let her gaze wander to the blue-grey hedgehog male who was still standing on the threshold.
Chuck smiled slightly and Amy noticed how handsome he actually was, despite being in his early 50s. Amy could see the family resemblance between Chuck, Shadow, and Sonic.
"This must be their uncle." Amy thought.
Then Aleena continued. "Of course, being a mother of 2, working full time in the family business and being a part-time student at the community college took all of my time, so that I delayed my plan of having more children. Especially after our parents' and brother's death, Charles and I had to work harder than usual to keep the workshop up and running." she said.
Aleena paused again and Amy realized that the hedgehog man had taken his place at the table, between Sonic and Aleena, eating breakfast.
Chuck sat next to Aleena, with Manik on his lap. "I met Aleena and Charles when I moved here to start my new teaching job as an English teacher." he said. "Sonic was one of my students and he struggled with this subject. I was concerned and had several talks with his mother and uncle and together we developed a strategy on how he could improve his performance, taking his disorder into account." he took a sip from his tea with his right hand.
Sonic cleared his throat. "I think you should know that I'm dyslexic, Amy. Of course, no one ever noticed before, all my teachers simply thought I was too stupid. But Chuck noticed and he helped me, contacted experts, linguists, speech and language therapists he knew from his university days, and tutored me. Now reading and writing doesn't bother me anymore. Of course, I make still mistakes when I'm nervous or stressed, but who doesn't? Thanks to Chuck, I learned strategies how to cope with my disorder." he asked.
Involuntarily, Amy thought about her own older twin brother who was diagnosed with dyscalculia. Poor Scourge as he also had to face people who thought he wasn't very intelligent due to his difficulties at dealing with numbers. Amy felt sorry for Sonic who had received a similar treatment.
"So that was how Aleena and I became friends." Chuck said.
In the meantime, Chuck had placed Manik on the chair next to him with both hands and cut his pancake into little pieces with his right hand which the 5 year old hedgehog boy started to eat happily.
"We talked about other things, then about our private lives, and at some point Aleena confessed her wish for another child. Me, I've always dreamed about being a father, but since I'm not that into women, never had a real relationship with one, I thought it would always remain just this: a dream. But thanks to Aleena, it didn't. Our little Manik is the proof of that!" Chuck said then he ruffled the little hedgehog boy's sky blue quills affectionately with his right hand.
Amy started to understand. That was the reason why Shadow's and Sonic's mother was so open-minded about her sons' decision to become co-parents. Amy's way of becoming a mother was not so different from that.
"So, now that you know half of our family story, I'd like to introduce myself. I apologize for not doing it sooner, but I didn't want to interrupt my sister or Chuck. I'm Charles, Shadow's and Sonic's uncle. And you are Amy, the potential mother of my grandnephew or grandniece. It's nice to finally meet you in person, since my nephews, especially Sonic, couldn't stop talking about you." the light blue hedgehog said.
Amy blushed again as she had the feeling that the younger of the 2 hedgehog brothers was falling for her. "Nice to meet you too, Charles."
...
20 minutes later.
They finished their breakfast in silence. Amy had to admit that Chuck's buttermilk pancakes with Aleena marmalade had been really good. Afterwards, as Sonic helped Chuck cleaning the table as they refused Amy's offer to help since she was their guest and Shadow decided to apply himself to the task of getting Manik dressed.
Aleena turned towards her with a serious expression. "So, Amy, do you have the required documents with you? It's not that I don't trust you, but business is business." she asked.
Amy nodded. "Yes, of course, I have some of the documents, but not all. I'm still waiting for some of the test results." she said, rummaging around in her handbag with her left hand for the folder she had compiled for this purpose and, after finding it, handed it over to Aleena, who grabbed it with her right hand and to her surprise, the hedgehog woman didn't open it. "Um, don't you want to take a look?"
Aleena smiled at Amy. "Of course, but I want to wait until Shadow and Sonic have finished their tasks and can have a look at it as well. After all, this concerns them more than me, doesn't it?" she asked.
Amy nodded.
Aleena was right. After Amy's first encounter with Shadow's and Sonic's mother, she got the impression that she had to deal with Aleena when it came to the formalities of this arrangement.
Charles stood up. "I'll go and get Shadow." he said.
Aleena nodded then turned towards her younger son. "Sonic, come have a seat. We want to have a look at Amy's folder." she said.
Sonic didn't need to be told twice, almost overturning a chair in his enthusiasm.
A short while later Shadow entered the kitchen, a smug smile on his face. "Guess what, little brother? I was able to convince Manik to take off his pajama bottoms and put on his shorts and shirt. He is now playing with Charles." he said as he sat down next to his mother.
Sonic glared at Sonic but, after a stern look from Aleena, remained quiet.
Amy felt nervous while the 2 hedgehog brothers and their mother took a look at all the papers she had put together, her graduation certificate, her university degree in English, her employment contract, pictures of her and some with Scourge as a child, her negative test results for HIV and Hepatitis.
"Well, boys, that looks great so far. Doesn't it?" Aleena asked her 2 sons.
Shadow simply nodded while still reading one of the documents.
Sonic on the other hand couldn't get enough of Amy's pictures as a child. "You were such a cute little girl! And your brother, this is your brother, isn't it? You looked also rather cute. I can only hope that our child will look like you!" he asked.
Amy blushed. "Well, thank you. But when I think of your and your brother's pictures, I can only say the same." she said.
Sonic looked up from the picture, beaming at Amy.
Shadow cleared his throat. "So, when will you get the other test results?" he asked.
Amy shrugged. "They are due next week." she said.
Shadow nodded, contemplating Amy's answer. "That's great! It means we can sign the contract before Christmas!" he said as he smiled at Amy
Amy returned the smile.
That meant that soon Amy would also somehow be a part of this unusual family.
End of Chapter 2.
Please Review.
No Flames.