List: IHeartSonAmy, Jaydan the Hedgehog, Lupus Silvae, Rugtugba, Koollolly, Shizuku Tsukishima749, and Leah 'L's' the hedgehog!

For all you kitchen-exploding lovers, don't you worry! This is the last drabble until that one! I had to finish up this "Still My Son" stuff, which I really enjoyed writing...Anywho, thanks guys for the reviews! They brightened up my day. Anywho, onwards, march!

Chapter seven

Still My Son, Part Two

Grabbing his son by the shoulders, Sonic forced the boy to look at him. "Squirt, what's the matter?"

"Don't call me that!" the boy snapped, trying to push away from his father, but the blue hedgehog wasn't about to let the boy run off again. Looking a bit hurt, Sonic resorted to another method.

"Did ya get hurt? Does mom need to-?"

"It's not about mommy!" the boy cried out, and he started pounding at his father, hoping it would make the already stunned hedgehog let go of him.

"Nick." His father's voice was controlled and steady, but Nick could tell that Sonic was confused. And he wanted an answer. "Nick, what happened? Did something bad happen today?" The boy stopped hitting his father and looked down at his slow feet, ashamed. He had never deliberately hurt either of his parents before. Usually, that was something for the other two boys to do.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, tears streaking down his face, and suddenly, the boy was crying into his father's chest. Now even more stunned, the blue hedgehog sat there awkwardly with his son, until, cautiously, he put his own arms around the small boy.

"It's gonna be okay, alright Nick? Everything's all right. I'm here."

Slowly, the tears ceased, and cautiously, hoping his son wouldn't break down again, Sonic pulled away.

"You okay?" he asked carefully. The young boy nodded, and Sonic let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "What…what happened, sq-son?" The blue hedgehog caught himself just in time from calling the boy his normal nickname, having remembered that the boy didn't like it for some reason.

"Do…do you lwove me?" the boy asked slowly, looking back down at his feet. Again, the blue hedgehog was stunned.

"Of course," Sonic answered, blinking in confusion. "You're my son, after all!"

"The slow one," Nick barked. "The worthlwess one, who's onlwy good enough to be thought of as a squirt. The one you never notice. The one-"

"Nick," Sonic interrupted, and he smiled sadly down at his son. "You're still my son. You can be slow, worthless, tiny, useless, and I'd still love you." The small boy looked down again, not knowing if his father's sentence should be taken as a compliment or not. "But guess what?" You may be slow, but nothing else on your list was true. You understand me?"

"B-but," Nick stammered, but Sonic put a hand over his son's mouth.

"No buts," Sonic replied, smirking softly. "You're still my son, and I still love you." The boy had tears in his eyes again, and he hastily wiped them away with his arm, sniffling quietly.

"T-then, why don't you ever h-hang with me?" the small child asked, forcing himself not to start crying again. Sonic smiled sadly down at his son, hoping the boy wouldn't be able to tell how anxious and guilty he appeared.

"Well," Sonic started awkwardly, "I just…I don't know what you like. I mean…you can't run like I can or the other boys…" Nick looked down, ashamed, and Sonic instantly knew he had said the wrong thing. "But, I mean, I just don't know if you'd enjoy runnin' with me, since you can't…And there's nothing wrong with being normal! I just…" Sonic sighed, looking down at his own feet. The blue hedgehog was at a loss for words, which was something that rarely happened to him. If only Amy were outside, so she could try and explain to Nick what Sonic was trying to say. He'd never been good with emotions.

"Daddy?" Nick questioned, looking up at this father for the first time in a long time. "Do ya mean it…when ya say it don't matter if I'm normal, an' slow…?" Sonic nodded.

"Of course I mean it," he replied. "An' I'm sorry you didn't know that I cared about you…I've never been good with showing I love someone, have I?" Nick shook his head, and Sonic chuckled bitterly. "Well, how 'bout I do somethin' with ya tonight, instead of the other boys?" Nick's eyes brightened considerably, and he smiled.

"You mean it, Dad?"

"Absolutely," Sonic answered, smiling back. "What do you wanna do? Do you…um, want to read to me, or…I don't know." Sonic frowned again. He hadn't realized how much he didn't know his own son, and what he liked to do, besides read. Feeling guilt press at him again, he was about to apologize to the boy, when Nick asked,

"Can't you take me on a run?" Sonic blinked, confused.

"You're okay with that?" the older hedgehog asked. "Even though you wouldn't be able to run by yourself?" The young boy nodded.

"You know why I read a lot, Daddy?" the boy stated. "It's 'cause it's the only way I get the adventure I would like."

"Yeah?" Sonic grinned, suddenly finding something in common with the kid. "You wanna see the world?" The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Alright! Lemme go tell your mom what we're doing, an' then we can go, okay? You can put your book away while you wait."

"Okay, Daddy." The young boy was about to run off into the house, when he turned back to his father, and hugged him, similarly to how Amy had once hugged the blue hedgehog before Sonic had fallen for her.

And Sonic couldn't help but smile at the memory, in a way, glad to know that at least one of his kids had the same kind of hug Amy had.

Suddenly the blue hedgehog had no doubt in his mind; the boy was indeed his son. There would be no more secrets between the two of them.