List: Leah 'L's' the hedgehog, Lupus Silvae, Zeldaskeeper, ZehHyperactiveAuthor, Flare The Hedgehog, Shizuku Tsukishima749, IHeartSonAmy, Jaydan the Hedgehog, and Koollolly!

So since you guys all freaked out about having two parts last time, just expect this chapter to be a long one. Good thing it's the kitchen one, eh? Anywho, thanks for the fantastic reviews everyone! And I hope this chapter is what you're all looking for! Part of the credit for the chapter goes to me, sure, but it also goes to Leah 'L's' thehedgehog. Hope you enjoy it! So, let's give her a round of applause! Anywho, onwards, march!

(Oh, and just a reminder; kids can't talk well at the age of five, so therefore, spelling is going to be a little…odd.)

Chapter eight
Orange Juice, Popcorn and Red Lego's

Eight years. It had been eight years, full of joy, pain, humor, and horror. Eight years full of laughter with a pink hedgehog, eight years full of tears with a pink hedgehog. In eight years, five children had been born to them, one adopted, and yet another one on the way.

And even after eight long yet short years of marriage between a blue and pink hedgehog, Sonic still wasn't bored. He still could look upon his wife, Amy, and blush at the memory of a simple kiss, of the simple words, "I love you" being exchanged between the two of them before they turned in for the night. Amy wasn't bored either, and she would still giggle at Sonic's playful smirk, would still blush at the nickname Ames, and would still get the butterfly feeling in her stomach. Their simple but strong love was what kept the two of them going, and also the kids going. Even though Dash would freak when his parents kissed in front of them, a feeling of security was always deep within the young hedgehog. A feeling of, "Mom and Dad will always be there for me and for each other."

And, maybe that was why the young blue hedgehog wanted to do this so badly. Maybe he wanted to honor his parents for staying together through thick and thin, through happiness and pain, and near deaths within the family multiple times. The speedy blue hedgehog knew that most of his friends either had one parent, or a step parent. But he was lucky enough to be able to say that he had both parents, by each other's side, by his side, and by his sibling's sides.

Opening a cupboard, the blue hedgehog debated on which cake pan he should use. Should he use the plain one? That one would probably be easier to deal with, but the heart shaped container sounded like a better idea to him, so he grabbed it out of the cupboard eagerly, a grin planted firmly on his muzzle.

His mom had been trying to teach him and the other kids how to cook, basically since they were born. Usually, Dash hated all the cooking lessons on how to bake cookies to perfection. The only good thing about cooking and baking, he had figured, was when you got to eat the food, which usually didn't happen very quickly. Cookies seemed to take forever to make. Therefore, Dash usually didn't pay much attention to the lessons on what was the difference between things like a table spoon and a regular spoon, between sugar and flour.

But today, he was going to use the little amount of knowledge he had to bake a cake for his parents' eighth anniversary.

He smiled once again at the thought as he opened the refrigerator door, and searched for a few eggs. He wasn't sure how many eggs he would need for the recipe he'd found on the back of an empty cake mix, for he had given up trying to decipher the words. He was only five, for crying out loud. He shouldn't be expected to be able to read to perfection.

If Kyler, the leader of the kids, knew he was baking a cake without any help, he knew she'd freak out, especially if she knew that he couldn't read the box's recipe anyway. That was how Kyler was. She was a perfectionist it seemed; a goody-two shoes, "Let's ask mom every single time for help," kind of person. And Dash was not like his adoptive sister, much to his joy. Dash also knew that if his mom knew he was doing this, she'd also panic, but in a much more, controlled, "Let me help you," kind of way. His father would probably give him a thumbs up and somehow end up helping the boy without Dash even knowing. And the other siblings…Violet would probably go tattle to Kyler or mom, and the triplets would probably make more of a mess of the issue by trying to help.

Which was why the boy was doing this completely alone, at four in the morning, when he knew not even his early rising father would be up. He chuckled excitedly to himself, proud that he had come up with this ingenious plan without anyone's help. Even if he couldn't read perfectly yet, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, he figured. After all, Kyler hadn't thought of this great plan, and she was three years older than him. Who was the smart one now? Him, obviously.

Cracking four eggs into the heart-shaped pan, the boy pondered what would come next. Milk?

Yes, milk sounded right. But it also sounded boring, so he figured orange juice could replace the boring taste of milk. Grinning, the boy opened the fridge door again and pulled out the orange juice carton. After a second of thought, Dash concluded he'd just pour the orange juice into the pan until he figured it would be enough. Besides, measuring cups were all confusing with their three-fourths and half's. Really now, who understood those fractions? Definitely not a five year old. Opening the carton, the boy stood back on his stool (which he had proudly figured he would need to reach the cabinet) and watched the orange juice quickly pour onto the unbeaten eggs. When the juice reached about half way up the container, Dash stopped pouring it, wondering if maybe he had overdone it, but only for a second. After setting the orange juice carton on the counter, Dash again wondered what else was supposed to go in a cake mix.

"Ah-ha!" he exclaimed, a little too loudly for this time of morning, but he hardly noticed as he rushed towards the flour container. He knew that the flour had a label on it, but since he couldn't really read the jumbled up letters quite yet, and since he didn't want to try, he refereed to looks. He was pretty sure the pink label was the flour, so he picked that one up, and dumped about half of cup worth into the batter, which by now looked like a messy glob of nothingness, mostly liquid. But the five year old was not discouraged as he set off towards the stove.

There was one more ingredient. One he would add, even though he didn't know of any cake with this ingredient.

Popcorn.

The boy loved popcorn. In fact, unlike his father who loved chili dogs the most, Dash's favorite food was popcorn, and he had always fantasized about having popcorn in something as good as a cake. So, the boy rushed towards the cupboard full of popcorn bags, ripped one open, and sprinkled a few kernels into the batter. Now, he was ready, and he turned the burner on high.

He giggled as the flames danced around in the air, and he rushed to the counter where he picked up the heart-shaped mix of batter, and put it gently on top of the burner, barely managing to not get himself burned in the process.

Standing back happily, he watched the batter for a few slow minutes, before getting bored and frowning. Why was the cake taking so long to bake? He had used the burner instead of the oven to speed things up, but the only thing the batter seemed to be doing was sit still. It wasn't hardening into a cake at all!

"Dafs?" The blue hedgehog froze. That sounded a bunch like Flash's voice. Turning to the doorway, the blue hedgehog met eyes with his groggy younger brother, who rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Dafs?" the young toddler asked again, and Dash muttered angrily to himself under his breath. He had been caught. "Waz tha' smeel?"
"A cake," the older brother answered in defeat. "But now it won't be a surprise since ya came an' ruinied i'."

"No!" the toddler cried out, seeming wide awake all of a sudden as he rushed to the cake mix. "I'z wanna healp."

"Well, ya can't!" Dash barked. "Ya don't know one thing 'bout bakin' a cake to perfecshin. I do." The older brother pointed to himself proudly. "Now, why don't ya go back to bed?" Flash's pout face immediately made Dash panic. If he didn't stop the boy from crying, someone would wake up and the surprise would really be ruined!

"B-bu' I wanna-" Flash started as tears came to his eyes.

"Okay, okay!" Dash barked. "Ya can help. Happy?" The younger boy's tears immediately dried up.

"Yeah!" he screamed in excitement. "Fun!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fun," Dash cut in, looking angry. "But quiet! We can't wake anyone up!" Sighing in defeat, Dash turned back to the cake mix, which by now was bubbling, as if it was starting to boil. Confused, the boy blinked. Maybe he needed more flour to solidify it up a bit more.

Suddenly, Dash was aware that Flash was putting something into the boiling batter, and he rushed towards his brother.

"Flash, no!" he yelled, but it was too late. The younger boy cried out in pain as his finger suddenly ran into flames, and whatever the boy had been adding to the cake mix fell into it without a sight, somewhere lost in the deep orange juice. "Flash, are you alright?" Dash cried, panic seeping through his veins. "Don't you know ya can't touch fire?" How the heck was he going to explain his brother's burnt finger without giving away the cake? Speaking of the cake, Dash looked away from his crying brother just long enough to see orange juice pouring down the sides of the oven, and his eyes enlarged. First a crying baby brother, and than an overrunning cake.

Gosh, this morning just wasn't his day anymore.

And suddenly, to make matters worse, a stern voice could suddenly be heard by the doorway.

"Dash the Hedgehog!" Kyler's voice. The boy lowered his ears.

'Goodbye life.'

"What's going on in here?" his sister cried out in alarm as she yanked Flash away from Dash's grip. Counseling the hurt boy with her soft voice, she turned back to her other brother, a glare planted directly towards him. "What do you think you're doing, up at this time? Mom and Dad will kill you!"

"I'm making a cake!" the young boy protested. "An' Flash wanted ta help an' he got himself hurt an'-"

"Three year olds can't bake!" Kyler screeched. "And neither can five year olds!"

"Yes I can!" Dash snapped back. "See?" He pointed to the overflowing pan, and he gasped as he realized how out of control it was, as popcorn suddenly began to pop right out of the pan along with the orange juice. Stumbling up, the boy flew towards the cake, telling himself to ignore the pain as steaming hot orange juice played with his bare toes. Grabbing the flour-or, what he figured was flour- he dumped five cups worth of it in the liquid-y batter, hoping to see it become more solid within seconds.

But, instead, the sound of a sizzling pan mixed in with a smoke detector beat the batter to solidifying, and suddenly water was everywhere. And, of course, so was popcorn.

The sound of children screaming-his children- was the first thing the blue hedgehog heard, before suddenly he could also hear a smoke detector. A nasty burnt smell found its way into his nose, and the blue hedgehog was wide awake in seconds as he stumbled out of bed and into the kitchen, followed closely by Amy, who had awoken only seconds after him.

"What's going on?" the half-conscious father cried as he skidded to a halt in the kitchen, where water, smoke, and popcorn flew in all directions. Gazing around the room in disbelief, his eyes fell on a crying Flash in Kyler's arms, who looked irritated as she tried comforting him. Shifting his gaze, the blue hedgehog turned to the stove, where Dash stood in his pajamas, crying silently as he poured flour into…something.

Amy immediately headed towards Kyler and Flash, and the older child stared up at Amy sheepishly, as if she expected punishment.

"What happened?" Amy whispered, trying to keep her temper down, ignoring the water as it poured down her back. Kyler bit her lip, and, like siblings usually do, she pointed at Dash, who, by now was trying to catch the fleeing popcorn.

"He started it?" Her sentence sounded more like a question, as if she were already questioning her punishment, but without those words, and she looked down at Flash, before handing him to her mother. "I'm sorry. I…"

Amy sighed angrily and turned to Sonic, who frowned back at her, shrugging.

"Deal with Dash, will ya?" Amy pleaded him, and she turned back to Kyler, gave her the look of, 'You're coming with me, young lady,' and the two girls and Flash exited the damp room, the siren blaring in their ears the whole time, Kyler staring down at her feet as she shuffled after her mother.

All this went unnoticed to young Dash, as he stopped adding flour to the mixture and stopped trying to catch the popcorn. He had been defeated, and he knew it. He had been defeated by orange juice and popcorn.

Suddenly the water stopped falling on his back, and the blaring smoke detector fell silent. Looking up, the young hedgehog came face to face with a stern looking blue hedgehog, who tapped his foot impatiently a few feet away. Dash quickly looked back down.

"Care to explain?"

Dash shook his head. At least he was honest.

A weary sigh escaped Sonic's mouth, and he put a hand up to his forehead, rubbing the precipitation off of it slowly.

"You know how worried we were?" Sonic continued. "And then, what do we find? A five year old kid trying to blow up the house, a crying toddler, and an eight year old who can't properly hold her baby brother."

Silence.

Sighing in defeat, Sonic gently pushed the small boy away from the burner, and he turned it off like he had the sprinkler system and the alarm with a quick flick of his wrist. Looking down at what was in the pan, the blue hedgehog raised a confused eyebrow when he saw bubbling orange juice, popcorn kernels, a red Lego, unbeaten eggs, and something white.

A smirk was dying to escape the father's lips, but he knew he had to stay firm. So, in the most controlled voice the hedgehog could muster, he asked the boy,

"What were you trying to…erm, make?"

"A cake," Dash whispered back, staring down at his feet, where he also found orange juice. He glared at it, but the glare was more miserable than angry to do any good.

"A cake?" Sonic echoed, confusion written across his face as he turned to Dash. "With orange juice and popcorn and a Lego?"

So that was what Flash had put in the mix. Dash nodded slowly.

"I wanted a cake that wasn't boring with milk," the boy explained, "and I like popcorn so I thought…"

"And the Lego?" The blue hedgehog couldn't help but ask about that.

"Flash must've put it in when he got hurt," Dash explained, sighing sadly. Tears were in the corner of his eyes. "I…I wanted to make ya guys a annivesey cake…" The child sniffed sadly.

"Anniversary," Sonic managed to correct, before he suddenly was breaking out into laughter. The young hedgehog looked up from his feet in confusion. Why the heck was his father laughing at this? He had made a disastrous cake, had hurt Flash, had woken them up…

"Um…Dash?" The blue hedgehog finally managed to gain his composure, and he stared up at his son with amusement. "Ya do know that orange juice, popcorn, and Lego's don't mix, don't you?" He pulled his son into a hug, and the boy bit his lip, still not understanding his father's laughter. None of this seemed funny to him!

"I'm sorry," the boy choked out, tears rolling down his face. If he were a wimp he knew he would've been crying his heart out on his father's shoulder, like Nick sometimes did, but he wasn't a wimp in any form. Or…was he?

"Hey, sport," Sonic answered, gently wiping away his son's tears. The boy tried taking a deep breath to stop his tears. "It's alright. I just didn't know you thought you could make a cake out of that stuff."

"Why can't you?" the boy whimpered, suddenly embracing the idea of cuddling into his father's warm chest. He was exhausted.

Sonic blinked, not knowing how to answer his son's question.

"Erm…they just don't," Sonic replied weakly, glad that his son wasn't old enough to know that his answer was poor. "And I guess you learned that tonight, eh?" The small boy nodded.

"I'm sorry ya guys will not have a cake," the boy said sadly, looking away from his father and trying to push himself out of the embrace. Sonic smiled gently at his son.

"Hey, why don't you an' I make one ourselves?" the blue hedgehog asked. "I can teach ya, and we won't have to set the sprinklers off."

"Bu' I wanna do i' by myself," the boy answered stubbornly. "I thought I could…but I guess I can't."

"Sure ya can!" Sonic comforted. "Ya just need a few pointers, that's all." Sonic winked at the boy, and suddenly Dash knew his father had convinced him. "But we should do it tomorrow mornin', alright? It's too early now, and you need your rest for tomorrow."

The young boy nodded, again feeling sleepy as his father slowly picked him up off the ground. Wrapping his arms around his father's neck, the boy nuzzled into his father and closed weary eyes, glad that his dad wasn't mad at him. After all, he knew his mother would be, but with his dad on his side, his mother wouldn't have as big of a lecture for him in the morning.

"Thanks, Daddy," the boy murmured as Sonic set him down on his bed. Sonic smirked lightly.

"First thing tomorrow, you an' me, alright?" Sonic winked again as he tucked the youngster in his small bed. "And we'll use milk, chocolate chips, and fluffy icing."

"Not orange juice and popcorn and red Lego's," Dash giggled, and then he yawned slowly. "Happy Annivesey, Daddy."

"Thanks sport."

And even as Sonic headed back to the kitchen to clean it up before a rather irked Amy would come in and help him clean up the rest, the blue hedgehog smiled dumbly, remembering a time when, he too, had practically burned the house down with sugar and flour.