Judas

Summary: Three years after Eggman's defeat, it is quiet. Knuckles and Rouge are married, Cream and Tails (young as they are) have fallen so much in love, and Sonic is finally ready to settle down and marry himself. But, when a new evil villain suddenly threatens the land…the most unlikely candidate begins to doubt himself!

(Why am I still doing that? Anyway…)

Chapter 4: Baby

"No way!" Rouge pressed the corded phone closer to her ear, unsure if she'd heard that right. "Are you serious, Amy?! You're pregnant?!" Knuckles, who had been asleep on the couch, sat up now in surprise. While Rouge was ending the end of her term, Amy was just beginning hers? "No way! That's awesome! Oh, we have to prepare a baby shower and, and…"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Rouge!" Amy laughed. "I never knew you were such a loving person!"

"Ah, well. It comes from age and marriage. So, I've gotten soft, pinky. Are we having a baby shower, or not?"

"Well…" Amy turned herself around in the cord. Sonic was reclining on the couch, dozing off from their afternoon session. He probably couldn't hear what she was saying, and that's what she was counting on. "I dunno. I haven't even told him yet..."

"You haven't told Sonic he's going to be a father? You, who have been waiting for this moment since you two started dating?! You, Amy Rose, haven't told your boyfriend he's going to be a father?!" Rouge was getting worked up rather quickly. Knuckles stood and began to massage her shoulders to calm her.

"Rest, my dear." He whispered in her ear. "You've been wearied enough by that baby. Much less Amy. Now, relax."

Rouge took a deep breath and spoke into the phone. "Amy, when, exactly, were you planning to tell him?"

Amy bit her lip, fumbling with the pregnancy test in her hand. "I don't know…after it happened?"

"Amy Rose!" Rouge was shocked.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?!" Amy cried, feeling the tears come to her eyes. She tried her best to lower her voice. Sonic's ears were very acute to tears and cries of any kind. "I gave him my love as a present, to calm him, to make him feel loved, to make him relax, and to make him forget all this ridiculous traitor nonsense! If I tell him I'm pregnant…!" She sniffled, trying to control herself. Her silk bathrobe was stained by the salty water of her tears.

"Okay, Amy." Rouge soothed. "It's all right. Shhh, we'll think of something. I may be close to having this baby, but I'm still the best spy G.U.N. ever hired! If I can't figure this out, no one else will be able to!" She added with pride. Knuckles hugged her and kissed at her neck, causing her to blush. "I-I can have Knux pick you up and take you here, if you'd like. I don't want you to be alone in the house if Sonic leaves again…"

Amy peeped at her blue lover. "I don't think he will…not yet. With the promise of sex every night, he has no reason to--"

"Listen to me, Amy." Rouge hissed sternly. "I don't want you having any more sex with him. It could damage the little baby, or worse."

"What could be worse than that?!" Amy's voice hit a high octave in worry.

"Never mind." Soothed the older bat. "Call me when Sonic leaves next and I'll send Knuckles down to get you, all right?"

Amy nodded, and then remembered she had to speak. When she did, her voice was full of emotion. "Yes. Thank you, Rouge. That means a lot."

"Don't mention it." Rouge replied, sounding really tired. "Be sure to get plenty of sleep. I'll see you soon."

"Okay. Bye, Rouge. Good luck." Rouge's end went dead, and Amy went into the living room to wake her blue beau.

~J~J~J~

Things were happening so fast. Calls were being made, people were rushing around…Knuckles had a thought that maybe this was what Sonic say when he was running around the world. Little events made into a huge, gigantic rush. Here he was, flying off to the hospital as fast as he could go, with Rouge breathing heavily in his arms. It wasn't two minutes before she got off the phone with Amy then she started having contractions. Her water would break soon.

Amy and Sonic hitched a ride with Cream and Tails, Sonic riding on the wing of the X-Tornado and Cream riding in Amy's lap while Tails piloted. Amy, while looking out the window, noticed Sonic was staring straight ahead, a green scarf outlined against his cobalt fur, his eyes and pose serious as he stood magically, as if he was glued, to the plane's wing. He was stunning to behold…she couldn't help but imagine what their child would look like.

Cream pulled her out of her blue-furred babe fantasy by hopping excitedly in her lap. "Ooooh, I'm soooo excited!" Cream tittered happily. "I wonder if it'll be a girl! Or maybe a boy! Oh, aren't you excited, Amy?"

Amy looked down at her little sister and smiled, hugging her as best as she could while being confined by straps to her seat. "Yes, Cream." She replied, almost unable to hold her tongue about her own pregnancy. "Yes."

~J~J~J~

Things were moving fast again. Knuckles anxiously greeted his friends, waiting while the doctors worked hard to help his wife give birth. He was pacing unendingly, with Sonic joking to him about how he was going to wear a hole in the floor, and Amy and Cream soothing him, telling him that it was going to be okay, and Tails endlessly calculating, for he was too shy to joke and speak right now. He wasn't equipped to give strength, as Sonic and the others were, so he kept his mouth shut, in hopes that he wouldn't be noticed.

Then, it came. Knuckles was allowed into the room, and the others clambered for a spot at the door, to listen anxiously. Sonic and Amy, pressed against each other at the heavy door, clasped each other's hands and crossed fingers for luck. Everyone closed their eyes, not even daring to breathe…

Then, there was crying. A tell-tale sign of a healthy baby. Maybe it wasn't exactly happy, but it was alive and well. Nothing was wrong. They heard Knuckles and Rouge talking quietly, while the doctors congratulated them on a healthy baby boy.

Suddenly, the door fell open. A tumble of blue, pink, orange, and yellow fell in and rolled all over each other, grumbling and attempting to right themselves without hurting someone. All sheepishly looked at the parents and doctors. Sonic, red faced with embarrassment, was the first to attempt a complete sentence. "Um…hi guys! Congrats on the baby?" He smiled sheepishly.

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You never did give me a moment's peace, blue."

"How can I, when your life gets interesting at long last, red?" He asked, chuckling.

The tense atmosphere was broken, and the girls began to hug Rouge and coo over the baby while the boys stood around, staring at the miracle of life.

"Soooo…" Sonic elbowed Knuckles in the ribs repeatedly. "It's a boy, huh? What's his name gonna be?"

"Rosario Topaz Echidna." Responded Rouge with finality. "Is that okay, Knuckles? I'd been kinda thinking about possible names for a while…" She almost seemed sheepish. Sonic and Tails looked to each other in shock. They had never seen Rouge this way. The brothers looked with uncertainty at Knuckles.

The red echidna smiled and bent over to kiss his wife and the new baby bat, who was almost dark pink in color. "Sounds like a fine name to me. Welcome to the world, Rosario Topaz. Welcome, my little Rio."

"Rio. What an adorable nickname." Rouge kissed Knuckles back and hugged her baby close.

"Awww," Cream giggled as the baby Rio yawned. "How cute!"

"Okay, guys." Sonic waved the others out of the room. "Let's give the new parents privacy, mmkay?" When the others had filed out, Sonic remained at the door, one foot tossed over the other. After a moment of silence, he added: "You owe me, Knux." Before speeding away faster than the speed of sound.