Me: Forget what I said at the beginning of the last chapter. I'm not alive, I'm definitely dead.

Sonic: You look alive to me.

Me: I mean it metaphorically. I'm brain dead. Between all the different things I have to do, and my brother always on the computer with his coding, and having no energy by the end of the day...

Me: *sigh* I've got a lot of things going on right now.

Sonic: Sounds like you need a break. How about I take you to a...um, (pulls out note) celebratory dinner. Wait, what exactly would we be celebrating.

Me: Is that the new dare?

Silver: Yeah. Uniatra De La Torre 24 gave us a bunch of money!

Me: (shrugs) Well, at least their not harping on Shadow anymore.

Sonic: (hides paper behind his back) Um, yeah, right.

Me: We can go after the chapter. Readers, this is technically an Easter chapter, even though it's been almost a week since Easter. Sorry, but enjoy!

...

When Sonia first told Knuckles she wanted to be a parent, he'd tripped and fallen off the shrine in shock.

Course, he shouldn't have been too surprised; she'd mentioned before how she wanted to have children. He just hadn't expected her to want kids so soon.

Yeah, three years after their wedding was too soon.

After a lengthy conversation, Knuckles had given in. Being a father couldn't be that hard, right...

...

"Thorsten Echidna, you get down here this instant!" Knuckles shouted at his son, who had managed to climb up a tree; and was now sitting there with a smug expression on his face.

"No!" The two-year old replied, grinning. "Thor strong!"

"He certainly takes after his father." Sonia smiled.

Her husband groaned; normally he would be proud of his son, but Knuckles was pretty sure he hadn't climbed trees when he was that age. Or if he had; they definitely weren't old and rotting trees that looked like any more weight would snap them.

"Thor, you have till the count of three to get your tail down here!"

"No."

"One!" His father called, "Two!"

"Hey Thor!" Sonia interrupted. "Do you want to help mommy clean the house, before everyone gets here for Easter?"

"Friends?" The young echidna asked.

"Friends." His mom confirmed.

"Yay!" The rose red echidna climbed down from the tree and brushed some of his long dreads away from his purple eyes. Even though he was small; the kid had inherited both his parents' strength, and could dent boulders with his fists. Thor had white gloves covering his hands, and purple shoes on his feet. He also had a white crescent on his chest, just like his father, over which the kettle drum medallion hung.

Thorsten looked up at Sonia, "Help mommy."

She picked her son up . "Then come on, the house isn't going to clean itself."

Knuckles just stood there gaping at his wife. He'd been trying to get the kid out of the tree for the past hour, and she'd gotten him down easily. What had he been doing wrong? How do you convince toddlers to do something?! It was a mystery to the father, even after two years of raising Thorsten.

Knuckles tromped back to the two-story wooden house he'd built with his own two hands. Sonia and Thor were already inside; picking up all the young echidna's toys, which were scattered all over the living room.

Thor ran up to his father. "Daddy! Friends! Sonic!"

"Yay, Sonic." His dad deadpanned. "I still haven't forgiven him for the last time he was here; I keep finding chili stains in the weirdest places. And I'm pretty sure Manic stole my rare geode collection, as well."

"He did." Sonia sighed. "And he should be bringing it back today, unless he wants to take it up with me."

The doorbell rang, and Thor rushed to the door. "Friends! Sonic!"

"I'll get it." The older echidna told his wife as he opened the front door.

"Knuckles! Buddy, how've you been?" Sonic asked, giving his friend a side hug.

Behind the blue hedgehog; were Amy, Manic, and The Chaotix with their families. Thor ran over to his aunt, who scooped him up into her arms.

"You've gotten so big!" The pink hedgehog gasped. "You need to stop growing, this instant!"

"I tan't."

Knuckles ignored everyone and focused instead on his other brother-in-law. "Where's my geode collection, Manic?"

The thief blinked and turned to his brother. "Sonic, what's a geode?"

"I have no idea, little bro."

"Oh for the love of!" The echidna grabbed the green hedgehog by his new, red, jacket. "You know I know what you stole, now give it back!"

"Chill bro, I was just taking a look at those fancy rocks of yours. I don't see why anyone would want a bunch of pebbles, but that's your business." Manic reached into his pocket and pulled out a jar full of geodes.

Knuckles snatched it, and let the hedgehog go. "If you dare steal from me again, you're gonna get it."

"get what? Some rocks?"

" No! It!"

"Calm down, Knuckles." Sonia said, kissing him on the cheek. She turned to everyone else, "It's wonderful to see you too sis." Sonic hugged his sister. "How have you been holding up? I know you usually like to be in the same vicinity as a spa, or something similar."

The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes. "Sonic; unlike you, I've matured."

"So you don't mind if I do...this!" Manic asked, flinging a mud clod at his sister.

"MANIC THE HEDGEHOG!"

...

"The rules are simple." Espio explained to Thor and the twins, who'd never participated in an egg hunt before. "You look around this field for eggs, and put them in your basket. Whoever has the most eggs wins; okay?"

"Okay." The young ones affirmed. They snatched up their baskets and took off.

The chameleon strode back to where the other dads were watching the kids hunt. All the moms were following the toddlers, and recording their every move.

"So, Sonic." Knuckles said, trying to spark a conversation. "How goes the life of a king?"

The blue hedgehog gave a self-conscious chuckle. "Um, it goes. I guess."

"He has to get mom's advice for every little thing!" Manic blurted. "Even picking out suits!"

"Manic!" His brother yelled, covering his mouth before he could reveal any more secrets. That didn't stop his wife from speaking up, though.

"Your brother has a point, Sonic. You shouldn't need help picking out clothes day after day."

"I need to make a good impression for my people; how am I supposed to know which outfit will do that for which occasion?!"

"Daddy! Egg!" Thorsten cried, running over with a plastic, blue egg in his hand.

"Yeah! First egg of the hunt, that's my boy! A treasure hunter through and through." Knuckles cheered, rubbing his son's head. "Go find some more eggs, buddy."

"Kay!" The young echidna ran off and dove into a bush on the edge of the field.

"He's so cute." Amy gushed. She turned to her husband, "Sonic, can't we..?"

"I've told you a million times." Sonic gave an exasperated sigh. "There's no way we can handle having a baby along with all the responsibilities of ruling a kingdom."

His wife pouted. "You do realize Rouge and Shadow are looking into whether Shadow's fertile, right?"

The blue hedgehog looked at her, confused. "Looking into whether Shadow's what?"

Amy shook her head, "They're trying to figure out if Shadow can get Rouge pregnant."

Sonic's eyes widened. "They're what?! But...Shadow told me himself, he doesn't want kids."

"He must be making an exception for Rouge, then. Cause I know she wants a daughter. But either way, if Shadow can be a parent so can you, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog thought about it; she was right. No way he could let that edgy hedgy beat him at anything! Even parenting! Besides how hard could being a parent be? Actually, he didn't want to know the answer to that question, just yet.

"I see your point, Amy. But can we wait just a little bit longer. I was just crowned a month ago, we should let things settle at Mobotropolis first."

The pink hedgehog sighed, but nodded. "I guess I can wait a little longer."

"Hey! Dat egg is mine!"

"No! Mine!"

"Mine!"

The twins were at it again. Midnight had found an egg, and Hunter was trying to snatch it away. Lilly took the egg from both of them. "If you two don't behave, I'm taking the egg away."

"Mom." They whined.

"But egg is mine!" Midnight complained.

"My egg!" Hunter argued.

"No! Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Since you obviously can't behave, I guess I'll just give this egg to Bay." Their mother said, slowly walking away.

The chameleons yelped, and quickly ran after their mom; trying to convince her to give the egg to them.

"Are they always like that?" Sonic asked Espio, who sighed.

"Some days are better than other." He shrugged. "Hunter's just very curious, and as such; can get into a lot of mischief. He likes dragging his sister into that mischief with him."

"Like a certain someone I know." Sonia called over, looking away from her son for a second. "Two someones, in fact."

"Aw, thanks sis!" Manic called back with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Egg!" Thorsten cried out again. He put it in his basket along with the other 6 eggs he'd already collected.

Bay looked at his friend's basket and sighed. "I can't find any eggs!" He shouted, sitting down right next to a bush that hid a yellow...

"Egg!" The echidna said, pulling it out of the shrubbery. He turned to his friend and held it out. "Egg?"

"Thanks." Bay said, taking it and putting it in his basket.

It was at that moment that the sound of a plane could be heard overhead. A certain fox had arrived. He landed the Tornado and ran over to his friends. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was giving Cream something for Easter."

"Aww." Manic cooed, making Tails blush. "You still got a crush on the little bunny, Tails? Well, I guess she's not little anymore, but..."

"We're just friends." The fox argued, his cheeks bright red.

"Uh, Tails." Sonic grinned. "I invented that phrase. I know what you actually mean by it."

His twin-tailed brother was saved from an embarrassing response by another shouting match between the twins. It took about 10 minutes to get them to lay off on each other; and in that time, Thor found the rest of the eggs. He won the hunt 10 to the twins' 8 and Bay's 2.

"Well, that wraps it up." Sonic said, stretching. "Let's get inside for some Easter dinner. I am in the mood for some grub."

"Bro, you're always in the mood for food." Manic smirked.

Thor followed his dad toward the house, looking extremely pleased with himself. The other kids, though, sulked all the way there.

Amy came up to them. "Are you three alright?"

"Thor won." Bay said simply.

"He's the Easter king." Hunter added sadly.

"Oh guys, Easter isn't about collecting eggs." Amy explained. "I's about new life; new beginnings in nature. That's why a bunny is the mascot, feral rabbits have a lot of babies this time of year."

"Bunny?" They asked.

"Yeah, a bunny."

"No! Bunny!" Bay pointed toward the forest where a grey, mobian, rabbit with a basket in his hand; was staring at them with an 'Oh-no-I've-been-caught!' expression.

"Bunny!" Thorsten cried, running at the bunny, who quickly started hopping away.

The other kids followed the young echidna's lead, chasing the Easter bunny through the forest; their parents at their tails.

"Well, I guess there's that to." Amy shrugged.

...

Me: Late Easter chapter checked off my to-do list. Alright, so where are we going Sonic?

Sonic: *shrugs* We'll find out when we get there. And then I've got a, um, race with Shadow afterward. He challenged me to a race by the beach.

Me: Sounds like fun. Anyway, sorry for the long wait, readers. I guess I broke my promise. Shadow's gonna kill me. I'll try to be quicker. Bye!

Sonic and Silver: Bye!

OC Template:

Name: Thorsten the Echidna

Nickname(s): Thor

Species: Echidna

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Fur Color: Rose red

Eye Color: Purple

Quill Style: Dreads

Alignment: Good

Powers/Skills: Super strength

Weapons: His fists

Weakness/Fear: That he won't be a good guardian for the Master Emerald

Personality: Easy to anger, but he calms down quickly. Loves to point out the obvious. Very loyal and friendly.

Family: Knuckles the Echidna (dad), Sonia the hedgehog (mom), (?), (?), (?), (?)

Friends: Hunter, Midnight, Bay, TH, CP

Love Interest: None

(For now. I have a few ideas, though)

Rivals: TH

Enemies: Ilene Robotnik and VJ

Song: Live Long Enough to be a Hero by Natewantstobattle

Notes: He's TE. As the oldest, he's pressured to be the next Emerald Guardian. But he prefers to ditch training and play with friends.