CHAPTER 45

A few weeks had passed and everything was slowly starting to go back to normal for everyone it had seemed.

It was early in the morning and Rouge was in the kitchen wearing her work uniform. She was beginning to get ready for another day of work at the detective agency. She leaned over on the kitchen counter and observed the small pregnancy test she had held in her hand. A disappointed look had overcame her face when her eyes caught sight of the one line that the test had showed. She sighed softly, "…Not again." Her heart raced when she heard Shadow's footsteps coming down the stairs. She didn't want to start off the day giving him depressing news. She quickly tossed the test into a nearby trash can. She had then tried to act like nothing special was going on.

When Shadow had came down the stairs, he came into the kitchen and caught sight of Rouge smiling at him. "Nice to see you up and early this morning."

"I could say the same for you", she spoke with the same smile on her face. She then saw him spin around and wrap his arms around her waist. She couldn't help but to softly giggle when he gently kissed her bare neck and shoulder. "You're in a good mood this morning."

He took his lips away from her neck. "What? I'm not allowed to be in a good mood?"

She couldn't help but to blush slightly as he held her in his arms. "Heh, I didn't say that."

He looked at her with a relaxed expression "I don't know. It just feels like everything is finally going right. Business is steady, there's been no hateful tension between anyone at work, and best of all…" He once again gently kissed her bare shoulder, "I get to have sex with my beautiful wife again."

She giggle as his lips traveled from her shoulder and to her neck. "Heh, you know we both cheated like two days early."

He arched an eyebrow towards her. "Look who's talking? You were the one who wanted me to start sleeping with you again."

"What? It was weird with you sleeping on the sofa! I just wanted some cuddles."

"Oh yeah right! It was a total trap!"

"No way!"

"You slept naked and kept grinding your butt against me!"

She giggled softly, "It was an honest accident."

"Yeah right!"

She began to burst out into laughter when he began to tickle her sides. "Shadow! Stop! I'm ticklish there!"

Despite her begging for him to stop, he continued to tickle her. "I know you are! That's what you get for seducing me!"

When he had started to stop tickling her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss.

He held her body closer to his as the two shared the intimate kiss.

She slowly took her lips from his and gave him a silent and serious look.

He had noticed how she was looking at him and figured something was wrong. "…What?"

She slowly shook her head, "Nothing it's just…I love it when you're smiling like this."

Even he had to agree with her. Everything seemed to go so much more smoother whenever he was in a good mood. "What can I say? You make me feel ways I haven't felt in a long time."

She leaned her head close to his, "I love you, Shadow."

"I love you too, babe", he spoke softy before pressing his lips against hers once more.

She felt his hands slowly traveling down her body. She slightly quivered when his hand had caressed her inner bare thigh. She knew where things were leading up to and there simply wasn't enough time for them to fall into the heated moment. She gently pushed his body from hers. "Okay, you. Let's not get too carried away. We just got done making love like two hours ago."

He made a small smirk towards her, "Yeah two hours ago."

She stood there with her arms crossed giving him a teasing look.

He shrugged his shoulders. "What? We had to quit sex for almost two weeks! We gotta start making this up."

She softly giggly and kissed his cheek, "You're too much, baby. You know that?" She walked over to the chair that was at the table and took a black trench coat and a pink jacket off from it. "We gotta start heading to work. We wouldn't want the manager of the Chaotix to be late." She handed him the black coat and then began to put on her pink jacket.

After when he put on his coat, he walked over to the door and opened it. "Ladies first."

She formed a small smile, "Oh you're too kind." While she stood in the doorway she turned to him. "By the way, do you have any idea why Espio gave Nails fifty dollars the other day?"

He slightly shook his head in annoyance when he had stepped outside with her. "…Remind me to kill him and your sister."

Meanwhile at Nails' apartment, she and Tikal were in bed with each other. The two not too long ago had gotten done with an early morning session with each other.

Nails saw Tikal laying at the end of the bed looking up something on her laptop. She slowly made her way beside her and kissed her bare shoulder. "So what are you up to, cutie?"

Her eyes looked over to her and gave her a teasing smile, "You don't need to know."

Nails arched an eyebrow and gave her an interested look .

She giggled as she noticed the look she had given her. "It's a surprise!"

"Oh? A surprise? For me?"

Tikal bit her lip when she figured that she had already said too much to her. She figured she might as well just tell Nails what the surprise was about. "…Okay I'll tell you, but only, you, me, and the girls know. You can't tell anyone else."

"Fine I swear not to tell anyone. Just tell me already!" She spoke in an eager tone.

"Okay! Okay!" She giggled softly, "Well as you know, Charmy got accepted into that fancy school in Industrial City."

"Oh that's right! He's going to be leaving soon right?"

She made a nod, "Yup! So before he goes, Tonya thought it would be a good idea to throw him a little going away party."

Nails clasped her hands together in excitement. "That is exciting news! Oh Charmy will be so thrilled!"

She saw Nails slightly bouncing up and down on the bed. A small blush formed on her face as she couldn't help but to look at her breasts jiggling from her actions. "Now remember, Nails. This is supposed to be a surprise."'

She made a nod, "You got it! My lips are sealed!"

Tikal had made a seductive look. "Seal it with a kiss?"

"Now you're talking!" She leaned over to her and pressed her lips against hers.

Later on at the Chaotix in the lobby, Charmy was sitting on the surface of the desk telling Midnight, Ker, and Appex how excited he was about leaving for school.

Ker gave the bee a pleased look. "I'm so happy for you, Charmy!"

"You must be pretty stoked about this huh?" Midnight spoke with a smile.

"Yeah!" Charmy exclaimed, "You bet! I leave the end of the week! I'm so excited!"

Shadow and Espio stood next to each other and watched Charmy talking with the other detectives from across the room.

Espio smiled warmly at the sight, "It's so good to see that smile again."

Shadow made a nod as he agreed with him. "Yeah, it's good to know that he's decided to go and do something he loves."

"Better than him living on the streets and turning into a total junkie."

He crossed his arms and turned to him. "I told him if I caught him doing that dumb shit again, I'd knock his head clear off his shoulders."

"Sheesh! Aren't you Mr. Sensitive?" When he saw him beginning to walk off, he had followed behind him.

Meanwhile, Rouge was talking with Tonya in the break room. They were both sitting at a small round table drinking cups of water.

Rouge sadly looked down at the table. "I don't know anymore, Ton." She looked away from the table and turned to the purple cat who sat across from her. "We went the whole two weeks without sex and still nothing."

She arched an eyebrow. "Almost two weeks you mean?"

She made a small nod, "Well…yeah." She sighed heavily, "Maybe I'm just getting my hopes up for nothing. Maybe it's just time for me to face facts and realize that Shadow and I will never have a child of our own."

She remained silent and gave her a sympathetic look.

Tears began to swell in her eyes, "I'm not trying to blame him or try to get upset but…I just really wanted us to have a baby together."

"Uh oh!" Tonya stood up from her chair when she saw tears streaming from her face. "Oh, sweetie…" She stood next to her and hugged her in comfort, "It's going to be all right."

She tried to wipe away her tears while she softly sobbed. "I'm sorry to be bringing this all on you. I just didn't want him to see me like this."

She gently stroked her fingers through her hair while she hugged her. "It's okay, hun. Just let it all out."

With them not knowing, Shadow was standing outside of the room and had listened to everything that they had said.

In The Next Chapter…

Charmy: I'm really gonna miss you guys!

Tonya: Um are you okay, Rouge?

Rouge: I'm fantastic!

Nails: This is hilarious! She's wasted!

Espio: Dude! Control your drunk wife!

Shadow: Knock it off, Rouge! You're making a scene!

Rouge: No! I'm mad at you!