CHAPTER 2

Avery went back into the waiting room with a bottle of pills to help with her morning sickness and a manual on pre-natal care. Like this was some sort of sick joke. As though the unintended baby conceived by ugly circumstances was a beautiful thing. She cringed. Just as she was about to leave, her doctor came running back out.

"Wait a second! Some more tests came back on...your son." She wheezed. Avery turned around.

"We did a DNA test on him and well...this is very unusual but...your son appears to be part-jackal." The hedgehog said. Avery closed her eyes trying to hold back the tears. That was the final bullet that killed any lingering doubt. He was definitely the father. The doctor noticed that Avery was upset and tried to defuse the situation. Unfortunately, she did not understand why the trembling dog was distraught.

"Now, now. It's okay. None of the staff here will hate you because of your choice of partner. This facility has a firm policy against discrimination against interspecies couples. I personally do not have an issue with the fact that your lover is a jackal." The hedgehog said calmly.

Lover!? LOVER!? HE FREAKING RAPED ME YOU DUMB BITCH! Avery thought. She turned around, jolted out of the clinic and ran back to her car. Tears were streaming down her face as she pulled out of the parking lot. She wasn't just emotionally devastated, she was also furious. Avery wanted to make that jackal PAY for what he did to her...if he was still alive that is. She was speeding at certain points during her trip back home, but she didn't care. Avery didn't care anymore. Even though the war was long over and he could be dead, he was still tormenting her.

When Avery arrived home, she dashed up to her bed, flopped down and just cried. What was she gonna do? Abortion was out of the question. Avery always had a crippling fear of invasive medical procedures such as that after a nasty childhood accident involving a rusty piece of scrap metal. Then a ray of hope hit Avery. She knew what to do to tarnish that monster's memory. Her son will know nothing of his father and he won't grow up to be like his father. If he was still alive, then Avery would make sure her son has no contact with him. She was going to make him pay in a personal way, much like he personally harmed her. What better irony?

Her hope died when she realized something. She had a post-Resistance meeting to attend. She wasn't planning on missing this one since she'd already missed four in a row. And they'd eventually know she's pregnant because it would be visible in a few months. She might as well come clean and get it over with. Avery didn't care if she was ostracized for making love with Eggman's second-in-command. She'd gone through enough already. Nothing worse could happen to her now. It was like she was walking slowly to the noose that would hang her.

TWO HOURS LATER

Avery walked into the former base that she'd had meetings with all of her allies to discuss missions during the war. All of their eyes were on her. She was even more distressed than she usually was the few times they saw her. And everybody in the room still thought it was just shellshock.

She had her seat. Avery was practically having a meltdown as everyone stared at her trembling body. Rouge spoke first. And it wasn't about the usual stuff about rebuilding or Eggman's whereabouts. It was about the elephant in the literal room: Avery's problems. Rouge was tired of remaining quiet about Avery's issues. Nobody else had dared to talk about it. But Avery was going to be causing problems for them if she kept on skipping meetings.

"We all know something's wrong with you. I've lost track of how many meetings you've missed already. And when you do show up, you're all twitchy, anxious and you always leave early. And now here you are today. You look like you just crawled out of a grave. If you have something to discuss with us, you might as well do it." The bat stated bluntly.

Sonic then tried to brighten the mood. He knew how to handle this. "It's okay buddy. We beat Eggman together last month, remember? I know you can get through this. Nothing's impossible for you to overcome."

Don't act all happy Sonic. That masked monster freaking broke me down into the quivering mess of person that you see now. And now I'm having his baby! There's nothing to be happy about. It's not gonna be okay. Be realistic for once! She thought. Silver then butted into the conversation.

"Didn't think I would see a case of shellshock this bad." He muttered.

"That's because it's not! It's not just the w-war," Avery interjected. She was finally gonna come clean. "I-I-I-I got back from the d-d-docter a couple hours ago. And..I'm-I'm-p-pregnant..."

The response from her allies was rather mixed. Some were surprised. Others were cheerful. After all, babies make everything better. Right? They could all chip in and help Avery raise the kid. Be one big happy post-Resistance family. Little did they know...

"That's amazing!" Tails stated. Still cheerful as ever even in Avery's traumatizing situation. Of course he didn't know...yet.

"Who's the father?" Amy asked. That question from the bubbly, pink hedgehog made Avery's blood run cold. Oh God...I'm gonna have to tell about the father... she thought.

Her mouth dropped open and nothing came out. The dog's eyes began to get all watery and she was visibly trembling in her seat. All of her friends stared at her, all confused. What was it about the father that made her so emotional?

"Do you know who the father is?" Espio asked. Avery slowly nodded her head.

"Who is it?" Sonic questioned. Avery began to tremble even more erratically than before. Just get it over with and let them know the truth. I shouldn't lie to my friends. Even if they hate me for it, telling the truth is the best thing to do.

The blue hedgehog began to try to calm the panicking dog again. "Listen. Everything is going to be alright. You can tell us about the father. We'll understand. We-"

"INFINITE! Infinite is the father..." Avery interjected. The whole room fell silent. All of her allies were trying to grasp that thought. Silver silently mouthed the words "Holy shit." Jaws were dropped open in shock, even the normally stoic Shadow was no exception. Music began to fill the room. Vector was turning the volume up on his headphones. The crocodile didn't want to hear anymore about this and Avery didn't blame him. Even though it was only a minute, it felt like eternity.

It was then that Knuckles stood up. The red echidna was visibly outraged. "There better be a VERY good explanation for th-"

"HE R-R-RAPED ME! He raped me..." Avery yelled almost incoherently. The room fell silent again.

Avery proceeded to explain herself. "Be-Before K-Knuckles got me in Me-Metropolis, I-Infinite d-defeated m-m-me and...things happened..." She was almost out of breath. She heard an audible slam against a wall. Knuckles. He was pressing his head into a wall in despair.

"Damn! This is my fault. I-I just thought that Infinite beat her u-up. I didn't think...Oh no..." The red echidna loudly muttered. "If I had only got there sooner none of this would have happened." Tails walked over to console him.

"It's not your fault Knuckles. You didn't get Avery pregnant. Infinite did..." the small fox said.

"...and if he's still alive, he will pay..." Shadow grumbled. Avery normally butted heads with Shadow on a lot of things, but for once, she agreed with him. Avery hated everything about Infinite. She hated his face. She hated his smell. She hated his voice. She hated how he hurt her. She hated how he tormented her. She hated that he knew how to make her feel good. She hated the arousing way he kissed her. She hated the pleasing sensation of his body pressed up against her...

"So...what are we gonna do about the baby?" Silver asked.

"I decided to keep him. It's a boy," Avery said, a confidence in her had suddenly returned after being gone for a month. "And I have decided that he will know NOTHING about his father, he will never MEET his father if he is still alive and he will never BE like his father!"

"That's the spirit partner! Glad to see the real you back. It's been a while. I know you can get through this. Want to talk about what else you planned about the kid?" Sonic asked Avery while putting an arm around her.

"Hold on a moment!" Shadow interrupted. "That baby has got to go!"

"Sorry Shadow. You're not the pregnant one here." Sonic said with a sly grin on his face.

"I don't think you've been paying attention to what's been going on. AVERY AND INFINITE MADE A BABY! Enough said..." the black hedgehog put it bluntly.

"Sorry Shadow. I've already made my choice. The baby's staying. And what better way to desecrate Infinite's memory than by having his own son be the exact opposite of him!" Avery retorted.

Avery continued. "I think I've had enough here. I'm leaving early...again." She confidently abandoned her allies and went home.

There's a very good reason why I decided to make Avery a dog. I would have used that punk bunny girl from the later trailers...but a rabbit can't get pregnant from a jackal. A dog can, however. I've been told that jackal-dogs are sometimes born in Eastern Europe. Plus a half-breed baby adds more angst.