Once again, Shadow found himself hanging strings of brightly colored paper around the edges of the living room, with streamers falling down about halfway. Ash was helping him this time, at least, by blowing up balloons. Shadow cringed a bit as another one "accidentally exploded."
"Are we going to have any balloons left by the time you're done?" Shadow asked, tacking up another streamer and beginning to twist the next strand.
"Sorry, Pop. It was an accident." Ash's smirk gave him away, and Shadow rolled his eyes at that.
"I want at least three in each corner, so stop fooling around." He didn't have a trace of anger in his voice. As he worked on the pink and purple streamers, he wondered at how being coupled to Sara had changed him. On his own, there were a lot of things that he wouldn't have ever done, handling pink streamers being just one of them.
"Yes, sir." The now teenage hedgehog looked away so he wouldn't catch the glare his father gave him and went back to blowing up balloons.
Shadow rubbed his temples before working on some of the finer, glittery decorations. After that, he grabbed the few balloons that hadn't been "accidentally" popped and began hanging them around the room. He had a feeling this was the last time he would be doing this for his daughter as he added the final decorations to a blank wall--a Sweet Sixteen cardboard banner covered in glitter.
"Well...how is it?" He looked over at his sky blue and black son.
"Girlie. Very girlie," he commented dryly.
"It's what your mother wants." He smiled a bit and went to check on Sara in the kitchen. He found her covered in flour and confectioner's sugar and quite a bit of icing while she attempted decorating the cake. "...Getting any of it on the cake?" He wrinkled his nose.
Sara chuckled a bit. "Yes."
"We could've just ordered one, you know." He stood just behind and to the side of her. He looked over her shoulder at the cake; it was heart shaped, made in a Valentine's mold, and the icing was largely pink with white trim. Sara was currently attempting to add some pastel pink roses to the upper left corner of the heart.
"Yes, but this is a special occasion." She frowned as the icing bag accidentally hit her rose, ruining it. "Open wide," she said suddenly. She took advantage of his momentarily gaping mouth to force the gob of icing into his mouth, laughing while she did so. He choked down the icing rose and attempted to wipe off any remaining bits from the corners of his mouth. He really wasn't as much of a sweet fan as Sara, not by a long shot.
"Do you and Sonic live to humiliate me?"
"Well, you're still here, so I'd say you can't be feeling too bad about it." She smiled.
Shadow wrapped his arms around her waist gently and kissed the top of her head. Her sweet smell was mixed with the scent of cake icing. "Mmm...I don't mind licking icing but..." He took a couple laps at the back of her ears.
Sara laughed a bit, "We'll have time for that after the party...now let me finish this before Maria gets home!"
Shadow's house was a bit more crowded than usual. Sonic, Amy, Blitz, and Rift were present, of course, with Grandpa Chuck arriving as well. Maria had made a few Mobian and human friends who had shown up as well. A lot of them came from either the arcade or the Gear park. Race the Swallow was of them, Grace the giraffe was from the arcade, and Shiba the cat worked at the local GameStop. Kelly and Angie were two human friends the girl had befriended in art classes at the museum before she became an illustrator. With that many people in the house, the place seemed kind of cramped. None of Ash's friends were there, which was part of where his attitude came from. The final guest arrived with the birthday girl as she and Chase entered the house.
"Happy Birthday, sweetie!" Sara smiled proudly at her child, who was now quite mature. She looked over her 16 year old daughter; her birthday always brought about memories of her at earlier stages of growth all the way back to the womb. It was hard to believe 16 years had passed, but the full figure wearing the purple and yellow V neck shirt and matching skirt was proof of it. My little girl, huh?
Maria smiled at all assembled, especially her parents. "Oh wow...I haven't seen decorations like this since I was ten!"
"And you haven't had my strawberry cake since you were nine, right?" Sara smirked.
"You made that?!" Maria practically squealed.
Shadow twitched an ear against the noise. "Yes she did."
"When do we eat?"
Laughter sprouted up all around. "How about you tear open some presents first?" the green swallow put in.
"Yes! I can't wait 'til ya open your gifts! I want to see what ya got!" Angie said enthusiastically. She had caramel hair and green eyes and slightly resembled a certain pizza man.
It wasn't long before a trail of wrapping paper and ribbon was strewn on the living room floor. Maria's gifts included clothing, a new iPod, a pretty little cell phone strap, a charm bracelet, a few gift cards, etc. Possibly the best gift, or at least the one with the most thought behind it, was a scrapbook from her mother. Like she'd done for Shadow over 14 years ago, a collection of pictures and pieces of her life were laid with care in the pages of the book, outlined in craft paper and ribbons. No matter how much laughter there'd be over her baby pictures, it still made the teen smile. "How long did this...?"
"Sixteen years," Sara replied. She laughed at Maria's shock. "I have one for Ash too, when he reaches your age."
The boy's quills flared and everyone laughed at that. "Mom!"
She smiled and continued, "I add one to three pages every year and work on it just after your birthday." She smiled a bit. "I keep adding pages to the one I made your father too."
"Really?" Maria looked over at her dad.
Shadow scratched the back of his head. "Ahh...yeah." He took a glance at his mate. "She has a way of catching the best memories on paper."
"I want to see it some time." She beamed.
"Tell me my book doesn't have ribbons and lace…PLEASE!" Ash pursed his eyebrows together, giving his mom a horrified look.
"Hmm... You'll have to wait 'til you're 16 to find out." Sara smirked.
"No way! You are totally burning every baby picture! Now!" Ash whined.
More laughter picked up, and when it died away, Maria was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Well, how about that cake now?"
Sara nodded, and the guests convened in the kitchen for cake and ice cream. It had turned out well, in spite of Shadow looking over her shoulder and making her nervous toward the end. A round of Happy Birthday was sung as per tradition.
"Make a wish!" Sara exclaimed.
Maria blew out the candles and mild cheering reverberated through the group. "What'd you wish for?" Chase asked.
"I'm not supposed to tell." She grinned. "But I wished..." She blushed a bit. "I'd like to have a wedding."
"W-What?" Shadow wasn't the only one in shock.
"I want to have a wedding. I know I don't need one, but I want one." Maria smiled softly.
Shadow looked a bit concerned at that; he was specifically aiming his gaze at Chase. "A wedding?"
Maria knew what he was looking at, and her expression softened even more. "It means a lot to me. I know Mobians usually just mate and the scent says it all but..." She looked over at her boyfriend and then her dad. "Chase gave me my birthday present today." She held up her left hand, and a small emerald ring was sitting on her ring finger.
There was a sort of sinking feeling that washed over Shadow, understanding what that meant. As benevolent as he'd been toward Chase since the car accident, this was the true test of his feelings and restraint. He'd guessed quite rightly that this would be her last birthday in the house. He looked directly into the yellow eyes of the orange teen.
"It's not like I can deny her, but I do have one thing to say to you...okay?"
"Uhh...sure…." Chase said uncertainly.
"Treat her well or I swear I'll put your lights out." His words were an echo of something a wiser man than he had said once upon a time. The threat wasn't backed up with a feral growl, but the oddest sight imaginable; a smirk.
"...Are you all right, hon?" Sara put her hand on his forehead.
"Yeah." His smirk remained. "Don't worry about it…I've learned to let things go."
July 2nd was beautiful and sunny, a perfectly lovely day, with just a bit of overcast. The breeze kept things at a tolerable level, and it was a good thing too, as guests showed up for the event. There was a rose trellis in the shape of an archway set up in the middle of the garden they'd chosen for the wedding. It was covered with white blossoms and pink roses, a fine white mesh fabric tied in a bow at the top of it and spanning out to the sides. Similar floral arrangements were added to the already existing garden. Chairs were set up in rows, saving room for the isle, which was a red brick path. Many human weddings had been held on this property, a mansion that was open to the public as part of a park, but this was the first Mobian wedding it had ever seen.
Shadow stood under a shady part of the building, watching the Mobians and humans filter into the chairs. The one he was least eager to see was Duo, though he knew he was an unavoidable part of this arrangement. He sighed, thinking how much simpler normal Mobian unions were. Just scent alone would mark a girl as having a mate or not, and nobody had to have witnesses to the event to know it happened. He remembered Chris' wedding and how big it was; this wasn't nearly that scale, but he still felt himself being smothered by the crowd, and he'd yet to do anything.
"Shadow...?" Sara approached him, wearing her silky white dress. It had to be modified, however, to accommodate a growing, round belly.
"Hey." He put his arms around her gently.
"It's almost time." She nuzzled him.
"Yeah." He glanced over at the bright open garden, waiting for the blessed event. "Are you sure you wanted one of these?"
Sara chuckled a bit. "More complicated, isn't it?" she asked gently.
He nodded. "I've got a knot in my stomach. It's worse than when I asked your dad about courting you."
"And you're not even getting married." She smirked a bit, then turned back to the outdoor wedding.
"I like our way of doing things better."
"Well, this is what she wants." Sara shrugged. "And before you ask why...I'd think it's obvious…. She grew up here on Earth, she has human friends... Like Amy and I said, it's romantic."
"It's a pain in the ass," Shadow said flatly, but then caught sight of his daughter.
Her white gown had puffy shoulders and "angel wing" sleeves; a pale blue sash was around her waist. The dress wasn't much more ornate than the one Sara had, its main differences revolving around some lace trimmings and pale blue accents. Her bangs were parted down the center and she'd had them straightened somewhat. Her veil wasn't down yet, but it had some teardrop shaped beads at the hair clip part.
"Whew...you're not supposed to be the one with cold feet trying to hide out today, you know!" Maria scolded her dad lightly, but she was smiling. "Everyone's here!"
"Congratulations, dear, I'll be watching for you." Sara gave her girl a kiss before heading back to the crowd.
Her ruby eyes beamed at her father. She was almost as tall as her mother, and she might have had an inch or two left before she was truly full grown. She certainly didn't have to look up so far to see her dad any more. "Ready, Papa?"
He shifted in his white tuxedo jacket and sighed. "I guess so."
Music started playing and the ceremony had begun. Chase walked down the brick path to the altar in a traditional black tuxedo. He looked a little nervous, but managed to make it to the front okay. Of course, all eyes were on Maria as she walked arm in arm with her father down the aisle. She was positively radiant, and Shadow's expression, which was usually neutral, slipped to a slight, if sad smile. She gave her dad a kiss on the cheek as he let go of her hand and took his proper place for the rest of the ceremony, by his mate.
The pastor they'd chosen was a human, the same man who'd married Chris and Helen. The hardest part of the ceremony for Shadow was at the beginning of it, as the pastor recited a traditional part of the wedding...
"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?"
There was a slight hesitation in the air. For a hedgehog who'd once blown up part of the moon, who'd faced off against the giant Biolizard, who could warp time around him and do unimaginable things...saying the next two words seemed strangely difficult. "...I do."
He sat back down numbly next to Sara, who gently took his hand and smiled at him. He returned the smile mechanically and turned his eyes to the ceremony going on. The vows of better or worse, of love through all conditions...he didn't need to hear those from Sara when they'd become partners, but it was different now that the words were leaving his daughter's lips.
As he watched the beautiful young lady he'd helped raise, his mind wandered. The dress she'd chosen...reminded him of something...someone, rather, whom he hadn't thought about in a long time. For all the time that had passed, she might have worn a similar gown, if she'd had the chance this Maria had. He suddenly saw a blonde human standing where his daughter had been, surrounded in a white light. Maria….
The dreamy visage of a grown up Maria wearing the wedding dress turned, with a bouquet of roses in her hands. She smiled. "Thank you, Shadow. You've given her the life I always wanted." She turned back around, and the vision faded, the hedgehog Maria receiving her wedding ring and smiling broadly.
Sara noticed a couple tears running down Shadow's cheeks, though he kept his focus foreword. "Are you okay?" she whispered.
Shadow nodded silently. He looked over at the bump that was his mate's belly and smiled. "I hope it's another girl," he whispered softly.
All attention was soon on the pastor as the final vows were said. "You may now kiss the bride!" he announced, the two gladly joining lips.
"I'm sure Maria's happy," the ebony and crimson hedgehog said quietly to Sara, though the phrase carried a double meaning. There was a certain finality as he watched his "little girl" and her very soon to be true-mate rush down the aisle. He'd see her soon at the reception, but there was a certain emptiness welling up in his heart just the same. It seems I gave up one Maria...and now I've given up another, he thought, with a measure of both sadness and a strange sense of peace.
...The End.