Chapter 6

It was barely even four months after Sonic had decided to stay with Eggman and Ivo Jr. It was that very same night he and Eggman had 'bonded' and the two had given each other both a night they would never forget. Sonic had lost his virginity and had already begun to undergo changes in his life every day, with raising his son and living with his partner. Ivo Jr. on the other hand was beginning to grow a bit more, starting to crawl. He had started to get into many things, ripping down shelves, smashing precious equipment, and ruining documents for later study. Eggman had become so frustrated with his attempts at trying to walk; he had boarded up almost everything in sight. Priceless documents, computers, equipment, and such had been moved towards different areas unavailable to Ivo. That's when Ivo became furious.

"TOP TOING TAT!'' He would scream whenever something was taken off of him. Sonic had been the only one to calm him, but inheriting the doctor's short temper, the little one was back at it again with his destruction. Eggman had gotten so tired of it, he scared Ivo into thinking that whatever he touched would activate zombies, so the young one started to get much wary of things he grasped anymore. But one day he would get too smart and see behind the trick.

"Eggy?" A whisper had sounded next to the large doctor in the bed. He slowly turned his head smiling at the sight to the right of him. Ivo had crawled under Sonic's arm and was asleep up against him, purring and snoring like there was no tomorrow. The older blue hedgehog had begun to clean him, licking the powder blue hedgie's fur flat. Eggman yawned and looked over to the two, chuckling lightly as Sonic's somewhat round belly slowly rose up and down. The two weren't sure…but it was looking pretty obvious.

"Awwwnh~" Ivo had opened his mouth widely as he yawned awake. He looked up to his fathers and blinked tiredly as his eyes ripened a fresh red. He seemed a bit aggravated, but the two had ignored it and greeted him like every other morning.

"Good morning Ivo," Sonic whispered when the little hedgie's head stuck up near his blue daddy's muzzle. "Nice sleep?" Ivo shook his head yes and yawned again, stretching and flexing out his claws. Luckily he had inherited Sonic's claws which would come in use for future events as defense. Sonic had lightly purred as Ivo stood up on all fours and nuzzled him across the cheek. Eggman smiled and gently pulled Ivo over towards him.

"Do you know what today is?" Ivo shook his head confused. The doctor lightly chuckled and softly pushed him away.

"Come on you know…" He teased lightly as Ivo stood back up and flicked his ears. It must be important, but how could Ivo forget so easily? Something, something, something, he knew he was told recently about it, but what could it have been?

"Remember? I was going to take you in the lab today. You'll be trying to make your first creation." Sonic's ears perked up and he looked at Eggman a bit confused.

"But he can barely walk, let alone build." Ivo had pushed Sonic and tried to distract him from not letting him go today. Ivo had really wanted to help out his father with building and such, but Sonic was always too strict on the idea.

"Pweese?" Ivo asked hugging Sonic's arm. Sonic heaved a gentle sigh and looked back and forth from the young hedgehog to the doctor. He wasn't so sure on the idea of letting a nine month old go and build things.

"Well if it's safe…" Sonic said rolling his eyes. Ivo had nodded quickly and jumped over to Ivo. He wagged his tail hoping Sonic wouldn't change his mind.

"Of course it's safe," Ivo reassured him. "I wouldn't allow him to get hurt. You know that." Sonic nodded and watched as Eggman quickly got up and got changed into a regular red shirt with his usual jeans. Ivo preferred being in his diaper 24/7, but since Sonic had started to come around, he always wore something. Sonic was so worried about diseases spreading and Ivo getting hurt. He honestly needed to give the kid a brake once in a while too.

"Come on," Eggman said grabbing the little one and pulling him up into a hold. Sometimes just for fun, Ivo would crawl on his head and sit there. But now he had gotten too big and needed to be carried. It wasn't as fun though as ridding on his head.

When the two had made it into the lab, Ivo was placed on the table as Eggman turned back to look for some tools. He would start simple, giving the child something safe and small. Ivo had looked around on the table and saw a few scattered tools with some scrap metal. Ivo placed his small backpack at the end of the table and observed the items before him. It was as if the scattered about objects called his name as he crawled over and picked up a screwdriver in one hand and a piece of sheet metal in the other. While Eggman was busy searching, the younger one had already begun making a little surprise of his own.

BANG CLANK CLITTER CLAT BANG

Eggman's head spun around quickly and he ran immediately over to the table. But when he had got there and saw what the little Ivo built, he was lost for words. Before him lied an arranged set of sheet metal created into tiny shapes and letters. When he had read the letters his heart stopped and he didn't know how to react. Did Ivo just make what he thought he made? And he made 3-D boxes of the letters without any guidance? How? It was already shown that Ivo was a hidden genius, just as Eggman was back around his age. But he had to cover his mouth as he re-read the arranged letter line over and over again in his head.

Daddy I love you

Was arranged on the small table in front of Ivo where Eggman was standing. How could he create something so, breath taking? Something so simple? Yet he wasn't even old enough to spell or read.

"Addy?" Ivo asked as he started to see Eggman standing there still. The doctor couldn't move in fear of tears threatening to spill at any moment. His heart had fully stopped. Someone who had never seen, never experienced, and never lived through the horrible time that Eggman had ruled had just told him something he would've NEVER expected in a million years. Heck he never even expected a son, let alone this. Through all the evil things and deeds he had done, all the lives he had taken, all the people he had betrayed, Eggman was still told he was loved. Had it only been an innocent child of his own that never experienced his Empire beforehand, it didn't matter to him. He was told by someone so much less, so much younger that he was loved.

"Addy ont try!" Eggman had lost it at the 'Don't cry' that Ivo had whispered. Through everything he had done and preformed, he was still loved. There was something he had that many others never had or will have. He had an innocent son, one who had never truly known the wrong he had done so many times over and over. Before Ivo could speak again, Eggman quickly pulled him into one of the biggest most special hugs he ever gave. He couldn't let go, not now, not ever. This was his son, his baby- his innocent follower that he had barely even know for long, but had become so accustomed to in such a short period of time. Why couldn't he stop crying though? The tears just kept pouring from his darkened eyes and Ivo had been confused as to why he was upset. Had he done something to upset his father? Was it him making something without asking?

"Orreh." But Eggman just hugged him tighter, ignoring the little one's huffs of boredom. After a good fifteen minutes passed, Eggman sniffed the tears barely there anymore. He placed Ivo on the table and weakly smiled.

"Sorry…I uhm...just had a splinter that's all. No need to worry, alright?" Ivo could tell he was fibbing, but he nodded and observed Eggman as he walked back over to the cabinets. Little Ivo had continued to watch as Eggman pulled out papers and such, going through a lot of things. Then finally, he came to a skinny vanilla folder and opened it, looking at the contents. Inside, he found a small set of pictures, one resembling him in his younger years with one of his first projects. He smiled and quickly walked back over to Ivo.

"This…this was me when I was two." Ivo's ears flicked as Eggman handed him the photo.

"I was a lot older than you are now, but you're a lot more mature and advanced. You grow faster than I did." Ivo nodded and continued to listen to the doctor's talking.

"That was my very first robot. I made it out of an old toaster, coffee pot, and calculator. It wasn't much, but I accomplished it." He looked at Ivo's curious face.

"Airs or ostache?"

"My what?" Ivo had pointed up to Eggman's face towards his mustache smiling.

"Tat!" Eggman chuckled.

"Well when I was younger, I didn't have a mustache yet."

"Ai naut?" The small powder blue hedgie asked looking at the somewhat worn out photo. Eggman grinned and looked down.

"Because, I didn't grow one yet. You can only grow one when you're really older, and it takes a loooong time before it gets as amazing as mine!" The doctor could see the confuzzled hedgie's expression and sighed, deciding to tell him later when he would understand.

"Now that's not important right now. What's important is that you go and build your own like I did, except I'll help you. Alright?" Ivo nodded, gently holding out the picture in his fist. Eggman only shook his head and pushed the hedgehog's fist back.

"I want you to keep it. It'll help you build your projects and motivate you along. I know it means a lot to me, but I can trust you, right?" With a slight nod, Ivo took the picture and placed it in his backpack he had from before on the table. He closed it and smiled, nodding again and hugging the backpack. Eggman smiled back and hugged him again before carrying him back out towards the bedroom. Along the whole way, Ivo had blown raspberries and waved to the occasional robots going by on their business. Ivo was a bit upset he hadn't seen Orbot or Cubot about, but he smiled once again as he saw Metal Tails walking by.

"Hello M.M." Eggman greeted Metal Tails by his nickname received from Ivo a while back. Metal Tails had bowed and looked at the small toddler in his arms. Metal Tails nodded, and grabbed Ivo's tiny hand.

AND HOW ARE WE TODAY YOUNG FLESH BALL?

Ivo giggled and pulled himself closer. He could only understand Metal Tails, due to his personality chip's voice speaker. That gave him a loud, but soothing voice good enough for little hedgie ears.

"Ooahd! M an M!" Metal Tails had smiled his artificial mouth as the younger one happily swung his arm and laughed some more. Eggman on the other hand was laughing as his side kept getting hit from their arms. It was cute, and no one could really complain. As long as Ivo Jr. was happy, everyone was happy.

I MUST GO NOW FURRLING. WE SHALL MEET AGAIN.

"Eighb eighb," Ivo waved as Metal Tails skipped off towards a different part of the facility. Eggman had sighed and continued walking with Ivo….

….Unaware of the bugs planted in the base, watching and listening to each and every one of their moves.