An uneasy silence hung in the air over the dinner table. On one side sat Espio and Vector, on the other sat Ray. Mighty was still in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Ray and Vector both seemed a little uncomfortable, but Espio seemed right at home. "How are things at work?" the chameleon asked, as if nothing was wrong.

"Oh, things are good!" Ray replied quickly. "At the rate things are going, I might finally be promoted in… a few years or so." He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"It's not easy becoming a doctor, is it?"

"Not really, no. Even though I've been working there for a while, I'm still just a nurse."

"What's being a nurse like?" Vector asked, interested.

Ray eyed him carefully before replying. "Well, it has it's ups and downs. Some days can be tougher than others, especially with some of the people that come in to get treatment. Often times they assign me to deal with patients they don't trust around the girls."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Not too often, but sometimes we do get an old guy or someone with a record coming in. We can't exactly turn people away from getting medical assistance, even if we might want to." He rolled his eyes. "If we could, I'd demand my boss kick out that old woman who keeps looking at me dirty ever since she saw Mighty give me a kiss when he dropped me off for work."

"I'd throw hands with her if beating an old lady wasn't a bad look!" Mighty called from the kitchen.

The flying squirrel smiled. "I know you would, bae!" he called back.

"It's messed up that you're treated differently for that," Vector said softly.

Ray raised an eyebrow at the crocodile, but didn't respond. Once again, a silence fell over the table.

"Who's hungry?" A voice yelled from behind Espio and Vector. The two looked over their shoulders. In the entrance to the kitchen stood Mighty the Armadillo. He wore black gym shorts, a yellow tank-top, and a big, pink apron littered with red hearts. In his hands were two frying pans full of food. "It's beef and bell peppers night!" Mighty said with a smile. He glanced at Ray. "Or just bell peppers, if you're vegetarian."

Ray smiled back. "You know me so well," he said cheerfully.

"I've got some rolls and steamed carrots in there as well," Mighty continued as he set the pans on a pair of mats on the table. "I'll go get them real quick and we start chowing down."

"Great! I'm starving."

"Us as well," Espio chimed in. "All we had for lunch were some gas station chili-dogs on the way here."

As Mighty set the food on the table and everyone began to dish themselves up, it all hit Vector at once. Mighty was there, grown up, happy with the man he loved. He was smiling, holding hands with Ray, talking to Espio while they ate. He had a nice life. A nice life that Vector never got to see unfold. Mighty turned to face him. "Are you gonna eat and keep staring off into space?" he asked, a frown on his face.

Vector snapped back to reality and looked down at his plate. He hadn't even realized it had been filled. "Sorry," he muttered, embarrassed.

Mighty watched as he took a bite of his beef and bell peppers, the fork and knife almost comically small in his oversized hands. "What do you think?"

"It's delicious. Where'd you learn to cook like this?"

"Culinary school, actually," Mighty replied with a smile. "I work as a chef these days."

"When he's not working out," Ray added.

"That's good to hear," Vector said, a soft smile on his face. "You always had a thing for cooking. I remember when ya used to make those giant… err… What were they? Lots of dough and cinnamon…"

"Elephant ears?"

"That's the one! You were trying to make fair food at home and Charmy asked ya to make that."

"How is the old bee doing these days?"

Vector stiffened. "He's uh… he's good. Dating Cream now."

"That's nice."

The four passed the time just talking as they are, though Vector remained unusually quiet. He continued to enjoy his meal, but for the most part he simply stared down at his plate. When he did look up, his gaze turned to the armadillo diagonally across from him. Seeing him happy, laugh, at peace… it made the old crocodile feel like everything would be ok, somehow. Once he finished his plate, he turned to Mighty. "You're an amazing cook, Mighty," he said softly. "Best meal I've had in ages."

Mighty turned to him and smiled. "Thank you, Vector."

Vector looked at him and instinctively took off his hat, holding it in front of him. "Hey, uh… Mighty?"

"What's up?"

"I've umm… I got something to say to you and Ray, if you don't mind."

"Go for it."

Vector glanced at Ray, then Mighty, the finally Espio. The chameleon nodded to him in approval. The crocodile took a deep breath, then lightly exhaled before looking at the two men across the table from him again. "I…" he said nervously. "I just wanted to say to you both that… I'm sorry for how awful I've been to you in the past. Now, I'm not a fool, that just one simple apology won't fix everything, but… I should've apologized to you years ago. I didn't because I was scared. Of what, I couldn't tell ya. Facing the truth, I guess." He paused a moment before continuing. "Throwing you out like that was a lot like how my folks threw me out. For being different. They didn't wanna understand me. You were different, and I didn't wanna understand you two at the time either. Maybe I was doing what I had learned to do. Thing is, I had awful teachers."

He let out a sigh. Saying all of this hurt, but he knew he needed to say it. "But I know that ain't a good excuse. There's no excuse for saying and doing all I did. Mighty when I told you that you're not my brother, I… I really didn't believe myself. I tried to convince myself for a bit that I really did think that way, but I never once stopped seeing you as family. Not even when I wanted to for a brief period." He paused, rubbing his hand across his face. He had to get to the point sooner rather than later. "Coming here tonight, seeing you all happy and jolly and holding hands with the man ya love, it really warms my heart. For the longest time, I thought you were somewhere sad and angry at the world or something, but… you're doing just fine. I'm glad that you're happy."

"I'm glad that you're happy without me in your life," he thought. He didn't say it, however.

"Recently, Charmy and I, we had a sort-of falling out, ya see," Vector continued. "It's just got me thinking and thinking and thinking and… I make a lot of mistakes. I say make, because I keep doing them. My biggest mistake was kicking you to the curb for being in love with someone. People keep telling me I got good intentions, and I do appreciate that, but I don't be a guy with good intentions that makes a lot of mistakes. I wanna be a guy who does the right thing every time."

The croc sniffed. He had to finish now. "Mighty, Ray, I once again just want to say how sorry I am. I truly, genuinely am sorry. If there's ever anything I can do to make up for what I have done, I will do it. I'm not afraid of facing my past anymore. You don't have to do it all at once, but… I hope you can eventually forgive me."

At last, his speech was finished. Not a moment too soon either, as he has begun to feel his eyes water a little. The four sat in silence, letting Vector's words process. Mighty stood up, then walked off through the kitchen and down the hall. Vector put his hat back on and closed his eyes in defeat. What was he expecting? He should've known it would've ended this way. He didn't deserve any kind of forgiveness.

"You remember this, big guy?" a voice to his left asked him.

Vector's eyes shot open and he turned to face the person who spoke. There was Mighty, holding a dusty old photograph. It was the two of them, a lot younger, with big grins. Mighty was in mid air, jumping to high-five Vector. "Espio over there took this after our first case together, remember?" Mighty asked.

Vector nodded slowly, a look of surprise on his face. "I thought that was gone for good," he muttered.

Mighty shook his head, a soft smile on his lips. "I kept it. Haven't looked at it in years though, kinda hurt after a while. But I kept it on the off chance my dumb older brother came to his senses."

The armadillo set the photo on the table and looked up at the crocodile, who seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Ray and I have talked a lot about this," Mighty continued, "whether or not it would be good to welcome you back in our lives. We knew you remorseful for your actions because Espio has been visiting us behind your back pretty much since day one.

"To no one's surprise, really," Ray added. "The guy is a free spirit."

Espio simply replied with a shrug and Mighty continued. "I'm sure a lot of people in our position would turn you away, and I don't blame them at all. I think you'd be very understanding if I asked you to never come back." Vector nodded softly and the armadillo continued. "But, I'm a believer in learning from your mistakes and giving others second chances. If you wanna learn from your mistakes, then I wanna see that happen. I want to see my older brother learn and grow again. And… I think he wants to hang out with his little brother and brother-in-law again."

Vector couldn't take it anymore. He took Mighty in for a hug and cried on his shoulder. Mighty hugged back the best he could, but couldn't quite wrap his arms around the crocodile's frame. He signaled to Ray to join in and the flying squirrel obliged, getting up from his seat and hugging the other two. "You too, Naruto," Ray said to Espio. The chameleon rolled his eyes at the comment, but got up and joined the hug regardless. After a few minutes, they all broke up from the group hug.

"Don't expect everything to go back to how it was all at once," Mighty cautioned, "or ever for that matter. Things will be different, but that doesn't mean they have to be bad."

"I hear you loud and clear, little bro," Vector said with a smile. He thought for a moment. "Hang on, what was that about a brother in law?"

"You didn't notice?" Mighty held up his gloved hand, showing a golden ring around his ring finger.

"I thought they were obvious," Ray chimes in, showing off his own ring.

"We got married when we turned eighteen," the armadillo explained. "We had a private wedding, so it wasn't just you who wasn't invited, but-"

The armadillo was cut off by the giant croc picking him and his husband up with his giant arms, hugging them both close to his chest with each arm, almost crushing them. "MY LITTLE BRO'S A MARRIED MAN!" Vector yelled, tears of joy erupting from his eyes. "I GOT MYSELF A BROTHER IN LAW! I CAN BE AN UNCLE TO YOUR GUYS' ADOPTED KIDS ONE OF THESE DAYS!" He paused. "Assuming you'd let me, of course. BUT IF NOT, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND! GAH, I'M SO HAPPY!"

"The death hugs…" Ray wheezed. "I forgot about them…"

"Better get used to it, hun…" Mighty breathed out. "I get the feeling we're gonna be getting a lot of them…"

Espio watched as Vector hugged the two of them tightly. A smile crossed his lips as a thought crossed his mind. "This moment needs to be immortalized." He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the scene. The jolly crocodile suffocating the two married men with kindness would no doubt be getting printed off and hung up on the fridge at the agency.

"I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH!" Vector cried, squishing the armadillo and flying squirrel a little more. "I'LL NEVER DO ANYTHING TO HURT YOU TWO LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

"That's good to hear, Vec…" Mighty gasped. "Could you let us down then? We can't breathe…!"

"Or at least let me down first!" Ray exhaled. "I know CPR, after all…" He winked at his husband.

Mighty frowned. "Suffocating is not the time for flirting!"

A devious look crossed the flying squirrel's face. "You didn't say that the other night…"

Espio shook his head at the trio. He looked outside. Pitch black. There was no way they were heading back home tonight. He sighed, and made his way to the closet to get some extra pillows and blankets so he and Vector could sleep in the living room.

"Everything turned pretty alright in the end after all," the chameleon thought with a smile.

Author's note: This one's on the shorter the side. As compensation, more fox and hedgie next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed and thanks again for the nice reviews. Remember to read & review.