Maria having been sent to spend the day at Amy and Sonic's left Shadow and Sara time to go to the Mobian Research Center. Sara felt a bit awkward about going, but Shadow had become a bit bothered by their lack of success on having a second child. At this point, it certainly wasn't a lack of enthusiasm on his part. While Sara had attempted to downplay things, there had been a kind of tension working into their relationship centering around nocturnal activities.
The pair was soon let into the cozy office of Dr. Ericsson. The doctor was a bit younger than Dr. Garrett, whom they were used to, but the young Asian man had a friendly demeanor to him. "Ahh welcome, Shadow...Sara, is it?" The couple nodded. "I understand you've been having trouble conceiving?"
Sara nodded a bit shyly. "Yeah."
"...And how long has this been going on?" the human questioned mildly.
"About four years," Shadow put in, catching a guilty look from his mate.
"...I know it's me." She frowned a bit, folding her hands in her lap and focusing on them. Shadow lightly placed his hand on her knee supportively.
"Well, that is quite a long time. You don't have to say it's your fault though, ma'am," Dr. Ericsson comforted.
"Well it's not Shadow... He's perfect." Sara kept her eyes lowered as she spoke.
"Sara...! I've told you, you're fine," he snapped firmly, seeming even a bit angry at her implications. He never tried to rub in the "ultimate life form" thing with her, and this was a fine time for her to be insecure about that.
"Hmm..." The doctor wrote something on a sheet of paper and leaned over his desk. "It's quite all right. Female hedgehogs usually experience a sharp drop in fertility after their first child."
"...Really?" Sara glanced up.
"Yes. We've seen the same in a number of Mobian rodent species. It's perfectly natural," he assured her.
"So what do we do about it?" Shadow asked for her.
"Well... tere are certain things that can be done to help naturally encourage fertility. I'm going to ask a few personal questions, so please answer to the best of your ability. Is your home life stressed at all?" he inquired.
Shadow's crimson eyes wandered to Sara's. She shifted a bit uncomfortably in her seat. "No...not really...at least...not until recently...I think he's more concerned about having another child." She blushed.
"Mm hmm... Understandable. How often do you two engage in sexual activities?" he continued without batting an eyelash.
"Almost every night," Shadow replied.
"...Really? And how many times a night do you...?"
"Hmm... How many?" Shadow tilted his head to his blushing mate. "Ten?"
"Ahh...!" Sara's jaw dropped at his forward answer. "I don't believe you!"
"What?" He shrugged.
Sara turned red. "Come on, it's private...!"
"Pardon me, was this his idea?" the doctor inquired kindly, to which Sara nodded. "Well, it looks like your mate is being very supportive. I can't force you into any kind of treatment, but I am here to help suggest a few things if you're willing."
"I know...it's just...I guess...I didn't realize I was a bit...sensitive about it. See...Amy has another kid already, and he's only a year younger than her first," Sara admitted after a moment. Shadow seemed to have a bit of relief in his eyes at her confession.
"The matter of fertility is not something limited to you or Mobians in general. The study and research in trying to improve these conditions is pretty universal for humans and Mobians. As I've already said, you have a supportive partner there, so I'm fairly certain I can be of some assistance. Are you willing?" he asked gently while writing down a few more notes.
Sara glanced over at Shadow again, noting the warmth in his eyes. He wants this as bad as I do... A smile crossed her lips as she then looked back at the human. "...All right...make your suggestions."
"...Have you tried different positions?"
The TV was on, and Blitz and Rift were mostly paying attention to the episode of Rock Man EXE that was playing. Before them, a number of books were scattered on the floor along with various crayons and markers. Maria wasn't paying any attention to the TV, however, instead paying attention to the paper in front of her.
"Can I have the green?" She made a grab for a crayon that was just out of her reach, but Rift held onto it as he had a glazed look at the TV. "Crayon...please!"
Blitz looked up at the ceiling, then lay back suddenly, flopping onto a bunch of papers and yawning. "Aww, give her the crayon so she stops whining." He shrugged.
"Go Rokkuman!" Rift cheered at the TV, raising the crayon out of Maria's grip once more.
"Meanie!" Maria huffed. She set down the crayon and walked over to Rift, this time taking the green piece of wax from him. Rift then began crying.
"What's going on here?" Amy asked after a minute. By this time Rift and Maria were both crying and she and Blitz were in the middle of a sprawling fight on the floor. Though it was easy to pry the two apart, discerning the cause of the fight was a little harder to do. "Blitz! Maria! Rift! Now what just happened?!" she insisted as she looked for any injuries on the girl. Since Maria was the guest, she really didn't want any reason for Shadow to jump at them upon returning her, but she seemed physically unharmed.
"He tore my picture!!" Maria practically shrieked, sniffling at Blitz.
He was livid. "She hit Rift!" he barked.
"He wouldn't give me green!" Maria's crying gave way to indignation.
Amy sighed. "You guys... You all have to share, okay?" Amy stroked Maria's head gently, then Blitz, and finally scooped Rift into her arms while seating herself on the floor. "Now show me what got ripped."
Maria sniffled and picked up the torn piece of paper she'd been working on. "It was for Mama!"
The pink hedgehog looked over the ruined piece of art. It was a picture of Shadow, Sara, and Maria, with the little girl offering her mom a red mass of flowers. Obviously she needed green for the stems. The tear in the page ran down Shadow's misshapen crayon face and through the red crest on his forehead quills. "Ahh...I see why you're upset. This is a really good picture! I think I can help fix it."
A bit of tape seemed to placate the child after a while. "You fixed it! Aww! Thank you, Miss Amy!" She smiled brightly.
"There you go, now be more careful, okay?" She smiled amiably.
"Drawing's stupid." Blitz made a face.
"It is not!" Maria shot back in a hurt tone.
"Oooh! Don't you two start!" Amy warned. "Drawing is not stupid... Now come on, you guys were playing nice earlier."
The immediate crisis over, the kids got back to a more peaceful routine. Maria continued drawing while the boys finished watching Rock Man. Sonic had just gotten home about the time the cartoon ended and his sudden suggestion of Smash Brothers Brawl was met with cheering children.
"Did you have a good time at Sonic's?" Sara asked Maria warmly when the sleepy child was returned home that evening.
"Uh huh! We played lots of games and I drawed you pictures." She yawned and held up the crumpled mass of paper in one hand. Her other hand clung to the tail of her poor little pony.
"Aww, thank you! She didn't give you any trouble, did she?" Sara asked her blue cousin.
"Nahh... Well, yeah when she was using Princess Zelda on Smash Brothers, but otherwise she was cool." He grinned.
Sara made a face and laughed, "Right. Good night, Cuz!"
"Bye, Blitz!" Maria waved to the purple hedgehog in Sonic's arms, and he waved back before the door closed.
Sara took the tired girl to her bedroom after setting the papers on the coffee table. She tucked her little girl in bed, Maria's eyes closing practically the instant her head hit the pillow. The sky blue hedgehog smiled at that and pried the pony from her hands, replacing it with a matted up Care Bear plush, which now sported a button for one of its eyes. She returned to the living room then and sat on the couch next to Shadow to decipher the drawings. "Mmm...she gets worn out visiting over there."
"Maybe she'll sleep all night then." Shadow leaned against Sara, putting an arm around her gently. He only half paid attention to the drawings. Laughter left his lover's lips moments later, piquing his curiosity. "Huh?"
"Looks like she wants a little brother or sister too." Sara smirked.
"What?" Shadow glanced at the page in her hand.
"See? That's us...and that's her...so who's that hedgehog?" She pointed to a second girl hedgehog that looked like Maria's drawing of herself but smaller.
"Hnf…. She just drew herself twice, that's all." He rested his head on her shoulder.
Sara flipped the page and chuckled. "Uh huh... then why did she draw me with a round belly here?"
"...Because she can't draw for crap." He rolled his eyes.
"Nah, I look like a stick in all the other pictures." Sara chuckled. "And so do you."
Shadow wrinkled his nose, even though he was touched to be included in her drawings. "How do you even know what that is?" He saw her open her mouth to answer then cut in for her, "Because you're a mom?"
She smirked. "Yeah. My dad has a stack of scribbles like this too. I really couldn't tell you what I was thinking, but I got better. Amy's creativity paid off, you notice the Rose clothing line at Wal-Mart lately?"
The ebony hedgehog nodded lightly. "She's been designing it, right?"
"Mmm hmm... It was nice of them to start their own Mobian clothing line... The mall stuff is expensive."
"Tell me about it." He rolled his eyes again and glanced back at the messy crayon drawings. "...Is that her pony?"
"Ahh yep! Wystaria I think... And you said you couldn't decipher kid's drawings..." She chuckled lightly. Shadow's arms enveloped Sara gently and his tongue lightly grazed the back of her ear. "...Now?"
"Maria's in bed. I don't see why not. I bet another kid would provide a few more drawings to figure out." He said in his even tone, though he felt her shift uncomfortably in his arms. "...Sara?" His expression sank a bit at her pause.
"..If we were going to have another, it probably would've happened by now...don't you think?" she replied softly, a slightly saddened look in her eyes.
"You heard the doctor... Your fertility rate just probably fell a bit sharper than Amy's, that's all." he comforted, nuzzling against her neck. "We got some tips and those pills to try…." He felt Sara tense up at that.
"I really would like it to be natural, you know...if it happens...I just...don't think it's going to." She'd been a bit disappointed and uncomfortable with the idea of fertility drugs, though she'd been assured there wouldn't be any side effects.
"Then we keep trying." Shadow kept his tone soft and continued to lean on her, though he didn't hold her any tighter. "What's different between now and this morning?"
"...It's just...I mean, it has been four years. That is a long time...and it's not like we haven't been trying." She sighed a bit.
"So what's a little more? Come on...I didn't set up that appointment so we could quit." He held her more firmly now and let his tongue speak for him as it worked over the back of her ear firmly.
She began to loosen up at his advances. "I guess...we could...keep trying." She practically hummed after a minute of his treatment of her, "..Ahh...but could we move it to the bedroom at least?"
Shadow paused and thought about it for a minute. "... Maybe."