List: Sonic5521, XoxoSonamy4440oxoX, Satora-wolf, IHeartSonAmy, Darkspine Sonic759, GalexiatheChao, and C1of7!

.Alive.

Well, hardly. I got writer's block still with all of my other stories, but that's normal, I suppose. And sure, this one took a while to write, but I think it's worth the wait…hehe. Anyway, thank you all for your patience and support with this story. Loved your reviews, like always! They always cheer me up. Onwards, march!

Chapter thirty-three

The Shopping Spree Fiasco- Part One

"Count to ten," she whispered to herself softly. "Count to ten and everything will be better…"

"Mom!" Dash yelled.

"One…"

"Ow, stop pushin'!" Rose cried angrily at Flash.

"Two…"

"Mom, can we buy this?"

"Three…"

"MOM!"

"Will you guys stop yelling?" She snapped, eyes on fire, nostrils flaring as she turned to the main culprits, Dash and Flash. "I know you don't want to be here, but neither do I. Just deal with it, please."

"She made it to three this time," Violet whispered to Kyler who stood beside her, staring blankly at the millions of times of cereal before her.

"I know," Kyler replied back, holding back a smirk. "Must be a record."

"But Mom, how can we deal with it?" Dash drawled, eyes lowered in impatience. "We've been here forever! I need to run!"

"'eah, me too!" Flash agreed, always the copycat of his older brother.

"Oh, I'm sure," Amy answered, rolling her eyes. Typical, she figured, that they had to get Sonic's genes and not her own. "Don't make me get out the restrainer."

"No!" the boys cried simultaneously, their hands waving in the air. "We'll be good, honest!"

"Then stop yelling," Amy ordered, as she turned back to the shopping cart and began to push her way towards the bakery. "It's giving me a headache. And Dash, what did I say about holding your brother's hand?" Sighing, Dash reached for Flash's hand again. He hated being responsible for the boy who couldn't be his own person, who always had to follow him around, but Amy had said he'd be helping if he did so. And, fortunately for Amy, Dash hadn't grown out of wanting to help his parents.

But of course, she realized as Nick helped her push the cart into the shelf, there was always the one helper who became bothersome. A dozen boxes of cereal were suddenly on the floor, no thanks to Nick and gravity, and Amy groaned as she reached down to pick them up. Nick, sensing he had done something wrong, helped her pick them up, whereas Kyler mentally added the incident to her checklist of, "Things That Can Go Wrong While Shopping" list in her head.

"Nick, I know you're just trying to help," Amy started wearily, "but when you push the shopping cart with me it only makes things harder, and that's why we ran into the shelf."

"Swo''y, Mama," Nick said, eyes filled with sorrow as he looked down at his shoes.

"That's alright, hon," Amy replied, resting a hand on his shoulder for a minute to reassure him. She turned to Flash then who was starting to head down the aisle, away from the group. "Dash…"

"What?" he asked, as he turned to her, looking impatient, but upon seeing her unfaltering gaze he merely rolled his eyes before rushing after his little brother and yanking Flash's hand back into his. The little boy pouted, his lower lip gutted out angrily. "Little trouble-maker got away 'gin," Dash responded, chuckling nervously under his mother's stern and steady gaze. "No biggie…"

"Keep him by your side," she lectured- for the fifth time that day, according to Kyler's count. "I have enough trouble keeping you in my sights."

"Actually, Mom, he hasn't run away yet today," Kyler informed her mother, and Violet giggled beside her sister as their mother turned to the oldest of the kids.

"And you, young lady," Amy began, addressing Kyler, "quit being a smart-aleck." Kyler huffed, frowning, but she kept herself quiet as they finally began moving again, Nick grasping her hand obediently as Rose held Violet's, whereas Flash continued trying to pull himself free from his older brother's clutches.

"Now let's see…" Amy said to herself, looking down at her shopping list. "We still need milk, eggs, chili, hot dogs…" She stopped in front of the canned chili, glancing at all the different options and looking for Sonic's favorite brand.

Sonic…Oh, man, she was furious with him. Or, rather, he was furious with her. Either way, she was only buying chili and hot dogs because she knew that if she made his favorite food tonight he might forgive her.

Their argument the night before had been rather pointless anyway- both knew that. But for some reason the two had avoided each other all day, like a cat avoids a dog, every now and then catching the other's confused eyes on them before they'd both glare at one another and pretend to loath each other. Kyler happened to think it quite funny, for she knew what their argument had been about, and had promptly notified Violet about it herself. Although only a year younger, Violet didn't think it was all that funny; she was too young to understand arguments and their power- or, lack thereof, in this case. Kyler had tried telling Violet that the fight wasn't going to keep their Mom and Dad from each other for very long.

"Dad sleeping on the couch is an exception," she'd tried to explain, "not the rule. Just watch- they'll be back to embarrassing us and especially Dash by the end of the day." But no amount of comforting words had changed Violet's mind, and so Kyler had given up in a matter of minutes. Just as she had turned away, however, Amy had come upon the girls, telling them to get ready to go shopping with their siblings for a little while, because they needed to get some groceries and their Dad had decided to go on a run without informing her. And so, the six kids, the oldest being seven years and the youngest being two years, had been dragged by an irritated mother to the local grocery store.

"Isn't this the right kind?" Violet asked her mother, and she picked up her father's favorite kind of chili. Amy nodded, smiling at the child for a second before taking the can from her hand and tossing it into the cart, grabbing four more off the shelf so that they'd be stocked up for a little bit. She was just about to continue on with shopping, when she chanced a glance behind her, hoping to see all six kids.

But she only saw four.

She didn't know which emotion came upon her first: anger or alarm. But it really didn't matter, for both emotions led to the same thing, and that was a hysterical mother.

"Do any of you know where your brothers went?" she frantically asked the other children, who were just starting to notice their siblings' absence themselves.

"I didn't see 'em leave," Kyler answered truthfully, and beside her Violet shook her head forlornly as their mother sighed, putting a hand on her forehead. She had already felt a bit fatigue beforehand, but now her back seemed to be hurting more than usual, and her feet felt so swollen that she really didn't want to go search for the two troublemakers Sonic had had to influence by his genes. Oh, she'd get him for that someday.

But right now, she could only think about getting the boys, and so she roughly turned the cart 180 degrees, assuming the boys had not sneaked off ahead of her but behind, and with a wave of her hand she had the other four children following behind her. At least they were obedient, she figured.

She knew by experience that when the boys escaped they never went far. If Dash had his way however, he would, but with the responsibility of caring for Flash in his shoes, he could never roam the store too far away from their mother. Flash was only a toddler, and although he loved the freedom Dash granted him on almost every shopping spree (for he could never get away from the family on his own accord, that was for sure), his need for his mother was still too strong, and he wouldn't take more than 100 steps from her without at least knowing she'd come back to get him- or find him, in this case. And with Dash's little hand controlling their moves, the boy really didn't know if Amy would be able to find them if they wandered too far.

A few minutes of panicked searching followed, before finally, Rose called to her mother saying that she had found the boys, hiding in the boy's clothes department, of all places. Even though she'd lost sight of the boys thousands of times before, thanks to their speed, Amy had never really gotten used to the feeling of loosing them, and so she could only pull them into a warm hug at first before she got to the lecture.

"You guys really need to stop doing that," she said to begin with, her anxiety quickly being replaced by anger. "I've told you a thousand times before: Stay by me and the others." The boys merely looked down at their shoes, shifting from side to side every now and then restlessly. They weren't really sorry, but they were sorry for themselves, for they knew what was coming, so they played the role of innocence easily enough. "Now then." Standing up, Amy looked down at the two of them sternly, before reaching into her purse and producing two child harnesses, one leash representing a lion and the other a puppy. "I really wish I didn't have to use these every time, guys," she explained as she shrugged on their child harnesses, and she told herself to ignore their glares as they tried pulling the thing off of themselves. "But you know as well as I do that I can't always hold both of your hands."

"Then don't," Dash whined, huffing angrily. "Let us roam freely."

"You know I can't do that," she replied as she stood up, holding on to the end of their harnesses. She sighed, running a hand through her spines in exasperation. She was glad there were only a few more things on the list. With an aching back, swollen ankles, and irked children, she didn't know how much more she could take. If only Sonic had taken the boys on his run. But no…

Reaching for the cart, a stab a pain forced her to wince, and she clutched her large belly, recognizing the pain almost immediately. Over the last week or so, the signs of false labor had driven her up the wall. If only the baby would just be born already; then she'd be thin and slender again, then she'd be able to bend down and comfort Nick when he injured himself, then she'd be able to fall asleep on her stomach, then her ankles wouldn't force her to frequently take breaks while walking, then Sonic could hug her properly…

Another pierce attacked her, and she blinked hard, forcing herself to stay strong in front of the children. It was absolutely nothing to worry about, she told herself. It was just false labor. She had already gone to the doctor once during this pregnancy, claiming to be going through labor, and she'd been extremely embarrassed when they'd discovered it to be what it was. She would have thought that on her fifth pregnancy she would've known the difference between false labor and real labor, but apparently she'd been too anxious to get the baby out into the world to go through the checklist of signs, and she'd managed to scare the heck out of Sonic, her mother, and Tails the babysitter in the process. No reason to panic them all again.

"Come along, everyone," she ordered then, wanting to get home as soon as possible, and she began pushing the cart towards the milk and egg area. "Let's finish this up."

"Yeah!" Rose agreed eagerly, letting go of Violet's hand and instead grabbing hold of her mother's pant leg, and Amy smiled down at the child despite her tiredness that she was only just starting to notice.

Reaching for the milk, she took two gallons, knowing they'd be gone within a few days anyway. Meanwhile Kyler with Nick trailing behind her looked through the eggs, determining which carton would be the best. Finding one, Kyler grabbed it and gently set it down in the nearby cart, avoiding her other two brother's angered glares.

"Why do they getta roam around?" Dash demanded at his mother, pointing at the culprits.

"Because they're helping me and not running away," Amy replied nonchalantly, tightening her grip on their harnesses as she began searching for the hotdogs. Another swift stab in her lower back, and she winced. False contractions usually didn't bother her like this, one after the other. She really needed to get home soon.

"Mama?" Rose was pulling at her pant leg, holding something in her hand. She held it up to her mother, wanting to buy it no doubt. It was a Barbie toy that had somehow found its way into the cheese section they had just passed, and Amy rolled her eyes. If people would only put these toys back, then her kids wouldn't run into half the toys they wanted. Hypocritically, she took the toy and set it back in the cheese section, feeling too lazy to go find where the doll had been and put it back, especially when she was towing around six children who loved toys a bit too much and couldn't be trusted in the kid aisles.

"No, honey," she answered, taking her daughter's hand in her own, leading her away from the toy she could've sworn already sat at home covered in dust. "C'mon, we need to find the hotdogs." Turning back to the cart, she was surprised when she heard a familiar sonic boom, and looking down at her hands, she realized that Dash had managed to fiddle his way out of his harness, allowing it to fall to the ground in a heap in his hast. She closed her eyes, willing herself to stay calm and to not start screaming her son's name at the top of her lungs and attract attention to herself. Kyler and Violet exchanged glances, and Flash huffed, angry that his brother had deserted him so unfairly.

"Sometimes I think he annoys me on purpose," Amy mused, telling herself to get the hotdogs and then go look for her disobedient son, and she began pushing forward again, her grip on Flash's harness tightening just in case he got any ideas. His fingers were still too weak to be able to unbuckle himself, so her only concern was whether he would use his speed to pull away from her grip or not. Rose, still wanting the toy doll, pulled anxiously at her mother's pants, but when she didn't turn back Rose grabbed the doll herself and threw it into the shopping cart, before getting into step with the rest of the family again. Kyler raised an eyebrow at her sister, knowing full well that their mother was already going through enough stress thanks to Dash, and before her mother even noticed the doll Kyler reached for it, and gently placed it in what was now the meat section. Luckily, Rose was too busy skipping happily over her success to notice.

"Here they are…" Amy murmured to herself, and she bent down for two packets of hotdogs, her back screaming in pain. Throwing the packages in the cart, she placed a hand on her lower back, trying to pop it back into shape, but it stubbornly stayed put. Sighing, she began to move again, hoping to find Dash quickly and easily within the next five minutes. She had known before she had left to go shopping today that she shouldn't go too far away from home in her condition, but she had needed the chili and hotdogs, so she had made the choice to go anyway, hoping she'd be able to survive through her weakened form. Apparently, she had been wrong.

Without Flash to worry about, Dash suddenly had the whole store at his mercy, and Amy was fully aware of this. If Sonic had been there, she would've sent him out to find the troublemaker and bring him screaming and kicking back, but, of course, just when she needed him most, he wasn't there. She considered calling him up on his cell phone, which he had slowly learned over the years to always leave on and keep with him, no matter what. But it was only for emergencies, and even though she didn't think she could take much more, she wasn't crying yet. And she usually was on 'emergencies'.

She reached the front of the store uneventfully, and so was therefore more ticked with Dash. Stopping just before reaching the check-out lanes, she scanned the front with fiery eyes, hoping to catch a glimpse of brilliant royal blue zooming past her. But Dash was smarter than that. He'd look both ways to make sure his family wasn't nearby before running out into the public aisles.

"Mama, what if he doesn't come back?" Violet asked. "I mean, in time. I wanna go home. Now."

"I do too honey," Amy sighed, scanning the room once more. "We'll find him soon, don't worry."

Meanwhile, Dash was having the time of his life. It wasn't often that he managed to escape from his mother and that darn harness-something he preferred to call a leash. Walking through the aisles- for once free- never felt so exhilarating, and he made sure to go through the sport section, video game section, and toy section at least twice. It was rare for him to go through any of the three on a given shopping day, for his parents had long figured out the dangers of taking their kids to Child Heaven. Currently, he was on his third run through of the toy department, anxiously looking for something he might've overlooked before. Oh, if only he had cash with him right now, then maybe he could get that cool looking robot…thing. He wasn't too sure what it was, to be honest. But it looked cool, and being cool at four years old was a rare but honorable thing, so he had to have it. Looking at the price tag, the boy managed to find a price of about $35, and even at his tender age his eyes bugged out, and he took a step back. Oh, why did everything cool and modern and fancy have to cost so much money? Even if his parents were there with him, they'd never go for it.

"Too much money for something you'll have broken within a week anyway, sport," his Dad would say, tousling his hair for extra measure, and then they would move on to something cheaper, like a football or something. Sighing, the child glanced around the aisle, looking for something cool yet cheap that he might be able to convince his Mom into buying for him, even though he knew she'd be furious by the time he decided to head back to her. He shivered at the thought, letting his ears fold back for a second in fear, and then he bit his lip. Maybe he should head back now, before her temper got too out of control. After all, with her being pregnant her temper had become a lot worse in the last nine months. But before he could think any further, a familiar voice filtered into his brain.

"Dash Paul Hedgehog, you come over here this second!"

His ears found themselves folded down again, and he sighed. Well, there went his fun. Not even looking up, he shuffled his way towards his mother's voice, and he tensed upon hearing Kyler's snide chuckle not too far away from his mother.

"You is mean," Flash spoke hotly, not meeting his brother's eye, for he had still not forgiven his brother for leaving him with Nick and the girls all alone. For a two year old, there could be nothing worse.

"Ooh, Mama's gon-e get 'a!" Nick cried out, pointing a finger at his older brother and giggling, and Dash glared at the boy as he stopped in front of his mother, who stood before him tapping her foot impatiently, just the way his Dad often would.

"You know the drill," Amy began, and she bent down to put the harness back on the boy, her fingers stumbling in her anger and haste. "No long runs with Dad for a week." With the harness safely double-knotted, Amy rose back to her feet, slapping Dash's hand a few times so he'd get the message. The boy shook his stinging hand angrily, fuming inside, but he followed behind everyone else as they turned to go. He knew Flash's eyes were on him, glaring at him, although secretly wanting a story about his ten minute freedom, but Dash made sure not to make eye contact with anyone. He just wanted to get home and pout, maybe win his Dad's affection in the matter.

Suddenly, Amy yelped, and Dash, forgetting his anger looked up at his mother with alarm, who was clutching her swollen belly in pain.

"You okay, Mom?" Violet asked worriedly, and Amy nodded, painfully, but she did nod, and she turned to send a wavered smile at her daughter.

"I'm alright," she answered, and she took a few deep breaths. "I need to sit down for a while though. I really don't think I should push myself too much more." Kyler nodded, understanding, and she started walking towards a nearby bench, plopping herself and Nick down on it while they waited for their slow mother to join them. Dash growled in agitation, and Flash copied, going a step further by crossing his arms as his mother led them slowly and awkwardly towards the bench.

"But I'z wanna go home," Rose whined, but Violet promptly shushed her, also understanding that something was wrong.

"You could try countin' to ten," Kyler joked, hoping to lighten the mood, and Amy chuckled slightly.
"You know as well as I do that it won't help," she teased back. Pain shot through her once more, and she cringed, shutting her eyes, hoping to rid the pain that way.

"Is i' time?" Nick asked, his eyes wide as he stared at his mother.

Amy considered the boy's question as steadily as she could, while under such stress. The pain was in her lower back, she realized, not in the front of herself, and the contractions seemed to be steadying. Maybe they had been arriving every five minutes or so. And even though she was sitting down, the pain was still there, if not worse, and she forced herself to breathe in, breathe out, steadily- she must keep herself steady.

By the time she made her decision, she had practically forgotten that the other kids were there, crowded around the small bench in wonder and alarm. All she could make sense of was the steady beat she knew as labor, and the phone number she dialed in her cell phone as quickly as her fumbling fingers would allow.

"Be in cell phone range, please," she mumbled to herself, putting the phone up to her ear. The seconds went by, with nothing from the cell phone. And then, softly, the sound of ringing.

To Be Continued…