(Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of the characters, all credit goes to Sega. Please support the official release).
(Note: I changed my mind, this story will have eight chapters long instead of six).
Chapter 4: The Ups and Downs of Parenthood
It had been a whole two months since Eggman had taken Gwen in, and while she was happy to have a new home filled with love and fun, something was bothering her.
Five weeks after her birthday, she hadn't seen much of Eggman. Every time she wanted to play, he told her to do so with Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic since he was too busy to do so himself. He said that he was going to start a big project and needed absolute solitude in order to work.
Gwen was disappointed because while she loved playing with her new robot "brothers", she really wanted to spend quality time with her new Papa. She had no idea what he was doing down in the basement laboratory in the base, all she knew was that it was important and that she had to stay away.
These concerns she had came up one evening after dinner, she sat in the lounge room with Orbot and Cubot, tired from their fun day of playing. Gwen laid back on a couch cushion, relaxing as she drank a bottle of juice while watching a cartoon about magic talking ponies that saved the world with the power of friendship.
Metal Sonic entered the room, returning from disposing of the dirty dishes, and joined the trio on the couch. The robotic hedgehog quickly scanned the young hedgehog's face, noticing her dismal expression.
Gwen sighed sadly through her nose; her gaze dropped as she set the bottle aside. "Feeling tired? Or is something wrong?", asked Orbot.
The young hedgehog fiddled with her plushie dog's arms in her lap, her face down in melancholy, "I just miss Papa is all", she said.
Metal let out a few beeps in acknowledgment, sympathizing with his organic adopted sister, "Yes, Boss is pretty busy right now", said Cubot.
"How long...will it be like this? Is he always this busy with these kinds of projects?", Gwen asked, curious and concerned at the same time.
"We can't answer that exactly. Before now, the doctor was always busy with projects unless he was fighting Sonic", said Orbot.
"Who?", asked Gwen.
The robots all shook their heads, it really astounded them that Gwen had no knowledge about exactly who Dr. Eggman was or any of the things he did or even who his enemies were. But then again, she did live on a small farm in the middle of nowhere, so it made sense.
"Nevermind. Anyways, Metal Sonic is actually the one whose spent most of the time with Boss, helping him with his plans and overseeing the construction of Badniks. They've spent many hours planning and devising plans for the destruction of his enemies, so this is nothing new to us", said Orbot.
Gwen then looked at Metal Sonic in confusion, "Wait, why aren't you helping Papa right now then?", she asked.
The robotic hedgehog's optics imitated a blink, "The Boss is working on a new project, and Metal doesn't have any knowledge or experience in working with this specific new concept. He was designed for battle and to help aid the doctor in plotting Sonic's capture or demise. We don't even know what he's doing right now actually", explained Orbot.
"Oh", Gwen said sadly, she only understood half of what he was talking about and that was the part where her new Papa was too busy to spend time with her, "I guess...does this mean we won't be able to see him much now? Not that I don't enjoy spending time with you all, it's just...I'm worried he'll forget me?"
All three robots looked at the six year old hedgehog with sympathy, Cubot reached over to give her a gentle pat on the head. "Hey, don't look so sad, kiddo. I'm sure he won't forget about any of us, especially you", he said.
"Yeah, I don't think we have anything to worry about", said Orbot gently petting the child's head to comfort her, "Boss will come back. Every day will not be like this, I'm sure he'll make time to spend with his newest adorable little bundle of joy".
Gwen smiled softly, letting out a sigh of relief, grateful that even when Eggman wasn't around, she could still talk to her robot brothers about her worries. "Okay, I was kinda getting worried. Thanks, big brothers!", she said with a smile back. Metal Sonic reached over to ruffle Gwen's head quills, making her giggle.
[Time Skip]
The days dragged by with Gwen seeing less and less of Dr. Eggman. At first, everything seemed only slightly different compared to when he first started to get busy. Gwen would see Eggman at breakfast, then they would meet again at lunch, and then go back to their activities until dinner before spending the evening together.
Then, Eggman started skipping lunch, having it delivered into his lab so he could continue working without any interruptions. Then he would miss dinner or stay in the lab until late at night working and then heading straight to bed after, instead of spending time with Gwen or even stopping by for even five minutes to say goodnight.
The doctor basically sealed himself away inside his lab entirely, never leaving and having Metal deliver his meals, and Orbot and Cubot providing his requested materials. Gwen rarely ever saw Eggman in the past few weeks, and she was beginning to feel as lonely as she did when she lost her parents.
If that wasn't bad enough, Gwen was beginning to suffer from nightmares, and they would get so bad that she had begun wetting the bed. It was a problem, which Metal Sonic had to remedy by putting pull-ups on her for the time being.
When she was woken up by a nightmare in the middle of the night, she had hurried over to the doctor's bedroom to seek comfort but she stopped herself before going in.
She stood in front of the door on the verge of tears, hugging Egglet and fighting with herself on whether to knock or not. Gwen would end up not knocking and instead retreated to either her room or the lounge room, wrapping herself in blankets and mindlessly watching TV to forget how lonely she felt until she fell asleep.
What Eggman wasn't aware of was that his actions were causing her to become very stressed out due to the lack of attention, which wasn't good for any child as young as her. It wasn't good for her mental health, especially after enduring the trauma that was witnessing her parents' murder, possibly being physically abused by the slave traders and nearly dying out in the wilderness after escaping them.
Gwen was starting to feel less sad and more angry at Eggman for neglecting her, he said he would be her new Papa and take care of her, but here he was burying himself in whatever it was he was doing and ignoring her. Soon, she began having behavioral issues.
One minute, she would pace around the room, frustrated with the situation, and feeling alone and abandoned. Then, she would start screaming and yelling about how much she hated Eggman, throwing her toys everywhere before breaking down sobbing in the corner.
And one day, Gwen had finally reached her breaking point.
One morning, after breakfast, she took a small pink backpack and went to the elevator, pressing the last button on the panel labeled basement. Slowly, it descended with a low moan as it took the young hedgehog down to the underground laboratory.
As it descended, Gwen grew more upset and resentful with each passing second. When the elevator finally stopped, the doors opened with a mechanical hiss. There was long, dark hallway in her view; she shuffled her feet, having second thoughts about this idea for a second.
But then, her resolve quickly came back and she began walking down the long hallway towards the lab. As she approached the door, her ears twitched in reflex when it opened up with a swoosh.
Gwen entered the facility, her eyes widened at her surroundings, taking in everything she saw. It was an ideal laboratory, like something out of a science fiction movie. Gadgets, tools, and all sorts of bits and bobs were available to use with plenty of workspace. Pressure tanks, chemicals, and light-sensitive materials were all neatly arranged at various stations. There were also computers, control panels, and other high-tech instruments, some probably made by the doctor himself, ready for his disposal.
As Gwen scanned the room, her gaze landed on a large drawing board where the person she had been looking for stood, scribbling on a dry erase board while a half finished machine sat near him, several wires and tubes sticking out of the base.
"Hmm...looks good, but I still need to work out the kinks. There's still the matter of the process stripping someone of their free will, need to fix that bug...", Eggman muttered under his breath.
Gwen had no idea what he was talking about, all she knew was that she was very upset that this pointless scribbling was preventing him from keeping his promise of being a good father to her. She quietly snuck over to the half finished machine and dug into her bag for something.
She then pulled it out, revealing it to be a bottle of orange juice. Double checking to make sure Eggman didn't see her, she opened the bottle and proceeded to dump the contents onto the machine, causing it to short circuit. It sparked and then suddenly burst into flames.
Eggman quickly noticed upon hearing the electrical noises, he shouted in horror when he saw the fire. He quickly ran to get a nearby fire extinguisher, pulling the pin and spraying the fire to put it out. Once it was out, he looked around for the cause of the fire.
That was when he spotted Gwen, holding the empty bottle. Eggman became displeased, "Gwen! Was it you who destroyed this machine? What is the matter with you? That was my unfinished prototype of a new Roboticizer!
"Not only am I going to have to spend more hours remaking it as well as working out the kinks, but you also could've gotten seriously hurt by the fire! Just what did you think you were doing?!", he said aggressively.
Gwen glared at him, "I was punishing you!", she shouted.
Eggman was shocked, "Excuse me? Just who do you think you're talking to in that tone of voice, little missy?!", he demanded.
Gwen threw the empty across the room, breaking one of the beakers in the process. "I was punishing you for being a bad Papa! For the last few weeks, all you've been doing is staying cooped up down here in your stupid lab, doing your stupid project!
"All this time, I've been so lonely without you with me! You said you would take care of me, but all you care about is your stupid grownup stuff that I don't understand! I hate it, and I hate you! You're a bad Papa, and I'm glad I broke your stupid machine!", she shouted.
At that moment, Eggman's face turned red with anger.
"Gwendolyn...the Hedgehog", he hissed, "Do you have any idea what you just did?!"
The light blue hedgehog hesitantly opened her mouth to respond, but the doctor cut her off.
"DO YOU?!"
Gwen's throat tightened, and she looked down at her feet guiltily. She wanted to teach Eggman a lesson for neglecting her, but now that he was so angry, she was beginning to have serious regrets.
She hadn't meant for this to happen, she was just trying to get the doctor's attention, and everything had gotten out of hand. Suddenly, Eggman picked her up by the back of her shirt and carried her over to a nearby computer chair, grabbing a ruler on his way over.
He then sat down and placed the young hedgehog over his knee, pulling down her pajama pants just enough to expose her rear and upper thighs. Gwen suddenly became very scared, her body started trembling.
"Mister Eggman...what are you doing?!", she shouted in fear, too afraid to call him "Papa".
"You've been a naughty child, and you need to be punished! I'm going to discipline you!", said Eggman as the ruler landed the first big spank on her rear.
"EEEEEEP!!!", yelped Gwen.
The ruler kept falling on her bottom and then her upper thighs, smacking them with liberal amounts of force which made both areas turn bright red.
"OWW! Oww, ouch! P-Papa, it stings! Please stop!", she whined.
Eggman ignored her as he continued spanking her for her disobedience and bad behavior. After about ten spanks, Gwen began to tear up; after another ten spanks, Eggman finally stopped and released her.
"Now get out right now! I don't want to see you in my lab again! You're grounded, young lady!", shouted Eggman.
"FINE!", Gwen yelled, tears blurring her vision. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears, and her throat was hurting from yelling so much, "I hate this place, and I HATE YOU!", she shouted.
She then ran as fast as she could back to the elevator; not looking back, she hit the up button until the doors open, and she dashed inside as the doors behind her before the elevator ascended. Once she was back on the main floor, she hurried to her bedroom, not seeing Orbot passing by and nearly knocking him over.
Once inside her room, Gwen fell to the floor sobbing loudly, unable to move. Her head hurt as she cried her eyes out, her chest began hurting as well. Her bottom also hurt, but the spanking she endured was nothing compared to the heartbreak she felt, it was like someone was tearing her heart out and stomping on it with no mercy.
Gwen curled up into a fetal position, gasping for air as her chest tightened. Her vision became blurry as she realized she was having a panic attack. She sadly began to believe that Eggman had been lying to her the entire time, that he didn't care about her at all or wanted to be her Papa.
After a few minutes of deep heavy breathing, the panic attack began to subside but she was still crying. She managed to crawl under the bed, instinctively going somewhere where she would feel somewhat safe from harm. Hiding in the small dark space, she cried herself to sleep, hugging Egglet close to her.
[Time Skip]
Back in the lab, Eggman looked over the damage that Gwen had caused, sighing in exasperation. Orbot, Cubot and Metal Sonic came into the lab to see what was going on; they were curious and concerned about what was going on after Gwen nearly knocked Orbot over when she ran passed him.
"Boss, what happened here?", asked Orbot as they looked at the smoldering remnants of the Roboticizer Eggman had been working on.
Eggman had explained to the three robots what he had been working on for the past several weeks: it was a new and improved version of the Roboticizer, only this one would be used to instantly replace lost limbs with robotic ones instead of completely turning someone into a robot.
It turned out that he truly was slowly beginning to denounce his evil ways, and now he was trying to build machines that would benefit people instead of hurt them. He was hoping to build this new Roboticizer and then present it to the world as a peace offering and a sign of his reformation.
It took him a few weeks just to come up with the design, and then it was taking even longer just to build it. Not to mention that there were still some issues he needed to fix, such as removing the machine's innate function to strip someone of their free will.
Then, Eggman had explained how he wasn't even halfway done with the project when Gwen came in and destroyed the machine, and then she had the audacity to argue back as if she did nothing wrong.
"She ruined everything! After all I've done for her, this is how she repays me? Barging in uninvited and causing a mess?! So I disciplined her, gave her a good spanking and grounded her to teach her a lesson!" Eggman complained as he paced the floor.
The three robots shook their heads in disbelief, "Sir...don't you realized what you've done? Gwen was just lonely and miserable because you had been so busy with this new project, she just wanted to spend time with her new Papa whom she thought loved her", said Orbot.
"Yeah, now you've done goofed! What you did probably traumatized her, and now she'll want nothing to do with you anymore", said Cubot.
Metal Sonic couldn't speak, but he nodded his head in agreement.
Eggman took in what was said and was slowly beginning to feel guilty, but he stuck to his guns. "I did what I had to, to make her understand what she had done wrong. When children misbehave, the parents must discipline them!", he said steadfastly.
Cubot hovered over to the smoldering remains of the Roboticizer and inspected it closely.
"You know, even though it's charred and soggy, this part of the machine is still salvageable. I don't think there was too much damage done", he said.
"He's right. This is unfortunate but still fixable. You have pulled through and overcome much worse than this. The ability for you to fix your relationship with Gwen, however, has a less than favorable outcome", said Orbot.
"What are you talking about?" Eggman groaned, stepping out of the way of some cleaning bots he summoned to come and clean up the mess.
If Orbot had a throat, he would've cleared it before speaking. "What I mean is that you're not seeing the big picture here: You have been neglecting Gwen! Boss, aside from twenty minutes ago, when was the last time you saw her? When did you last talk with her for more than a few seconds?
"When was the last time you interacted with her before today? Do you know what she's been doing? How she's been feeling? Or what's been on her mind? She has been missing you lately!
"Children have a far greater need for love and attention from their caregivers than machines, they also have very low limits to their patience. She has been waiting for you to finish and be present in her life again.
"But you never did. Finally, she got so fed up with you that she must've decided you deserved punishment, that would explain why she destroyed your unfinished machine. She wanted you to know how she felt", he said.
Orbot may not have been a genius, but he knew just enough about this stuff from downloading it into his memory banks to know he was telling facts. And Cubot and Metal Sonic agreed with him.
As the words sunk in, Eggman suddenly felt sick to his stomach as the guilt of what he had just done sucker punched him. "Oh Chaos! What have I done? She just wanted my love and affection, and I pushed her away!", he said.
The doctor facepalmed before he took off his glasses off and rubbed his eyes in frustration with himself for being so slow and not picking up the blaring signals right in front of him. "Chaos, I really messed up! For someone with an IQ of 300, I'm such a damn idiot!", he bemoaned.
He stood there for a few minutes with only the sound of the cleaning bots finishing up. Eggman shakily pulled a chair to sit down, feeling a massive weight of guilt overtake his body; it made him feel old and sick. The silence was deafening as he fully came to terms with what he had just done.
Putting his glasses back on, the doctor looked at his three robot companions. "All three of you, organize the Egg Pawns and start searching for Gwen. After what I've done, I wouldn't be surprised if she's gone and run away. I want you to search every corner, inside and outside of the base, you must find her at all costs!", he instructed.
The three robots acknowledged their orders and went to go carry them out, Eggman sighed heavily as he shut off the lights and left the lab, heading back up to the main floor.
[Time Skip]
It had been three and a half hours since Eggman had rallied his robots to search for Gwen, but so far they hadn't found her anywhere inside or outside the base. That they stop them from continuing the search, however.
They were robots, they didn't get tired or hungry, and they weren't susceptible to the cold, so they were determined to keep searching until they found the young hedgehog.
Eggman, meanwhile, had found himself slowly sinking into the pits of despair. After realizing what a fool he had been, he wanted nothing more than to apologize to Gwen for ignoring her and then wrongfully disciplining her for acting out when he was the cause of it.
He had tried searching himself but unlike the robots, he eventually got tired and needed to take a break. Eggman made his way to Gwen's room and sat down on the armchair in the corner, the doctor looked at the floor and spotted a piece of paper with a drawing on it. Snatching it up, his eyes began to water upon seeing the picture, and his heart ached as it filled with regret and shame.
It was a crude drawing of himself and Gwen holding hands and smiling in a flower field on a sunny day with a few tiny hearts floating around, the words "me and Papa" written above it in childish scribbling.
Eggman placed a hand over his mouth to hide his quivering lips, feeling overwhelmed with emotion recalling how Gwen had tried to get his attention for the several weeks: asking to be in his lap, if he would take a break so they could play together just for a few minutes and tugging on his sleeve with those big sparkly purple eyes.
"Gwendolyn, wherever you are, please come back. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.I didn't mean for this to happen; I was just trying to find a way for me to change, to give up being the evil mad scientist I've always been.
"After taking you in, I thought about all the people who I caused harm, especially the children! I then made a promise to do everything in my power to change so no more people could suffer, all with you in my mind. You were my motivation to become a good guy!
"But I took it too far and ended up becoming even worse than I was before, and I hurt you! I punished you for my selfishness! Gwen...I'm so sorry, please forgive me!", Eggman said as his voice quivered.
Tears began pouring from his eyes but he did nothing to stop them, he simply let them fall. "Please, my precious baby, come back. You don't have to forgive me. I just want to make sure you're okay...please come back! I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry", he muttered.
At the height of his sorrow, Eggman was unaware of the tiny blue hedgehog asleep under the bed who finally woke up and heard every single word he just said. At first, she thought it was all a trick but after hearing his heartfelt confession and apologies, Gwen slowly began to realize that he was telling the truth.
Hearing the love and sorrow for her in his voice made her tear up, and then she actually started crying when she heard him crying. Some moments after Eggman's heartfelt plea in the quiet room, he heard a muffled noise that sounded like someone was sniffling.
He looked to see Gwen slowly crawl out from under the bed, Egglet clutched tightly in one of her little hands.
"Gwen? Have you been under there the whole time?", he asked incredulously.
The young hedgehog nodded, "Yeah...I heard you, I heard everything you said. And... I'm sorry too", she said.
Eggman let out a mirthless laugh, "My dear Gwen, you have nothing to be sorry about. This whole mess is all my fault, simple as that! If I hadn't been such a moron and only thinking about myself, none of this would've happened!", he said as he facepalmed.
Gwen slowly and tentatively walked over to Eggman's side, "Mister...uh, I mean Papa, do...do you still love me?", she asked quietly.
Eggman gasped in shock upon hearing the question, but then he suddenly pulled Gwen right in his arms, hugging her tightly. The embrace instantly made him burst into tears; as he sobbed, Gwen held onto the doctor's jacket with the intent never to let him go.
"Oh my sweet baby, of course I still love you! You're the first thing to ever bring bring true happiness to my life, and I wouldn't replace you for anything else in the world! That's why I want to change, so that I can be a father you'd be proud to have!
"But I went about it the wrong way because all I've ever known is how to shut myself away and bury myself in my work, it's all I've ever done with my life. Having you here has made me realize how much of my life I wasted trying to take over the world and force others to bend to my will!
"Having you here reminded me of my brief time as Mr. Tinker...all those people who truly loved me, who looked up to me like I was their hero, who genuinely appreciated what I did for them. I didn't want to admit it but it felt good being someone people loved rather than feared and hated.
"And then, when I got my memories back, I threw it all away and unleashed that stupid Metal Virus! And for what? It didn't work obviously, and I suffered yet another humiliating defeat at the hands of Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends.
"But learning about what happened to you, Gwen...how it was the Zombots that I created that saved you from a life of slavery, it made me realized that maybe I can change! That I can make machines that help people rather than hurt them!
"But I never realized that in my pursuit to turn over a new leaf, I was hurting the feelings of the one who inspired me to be a better person. And then...I went and physically punished you for my mistakes!
"Gwen, I want to know and always remember one thing: I do love you, I absolutely love you with every fiber of my being. And I will always be your Papa, nothing will ever change that! I am so sorry for everything I've done to you!", he sobbed.
Gwen didn't know how to respond, she had assumed this whole time that Eggman no longer loved her and the spanking she received after destroying his machine certainly didn't help. But here the doctor was, genuinely apologizing and admitting his faults, understanding what he had done wrong.
He even said that he loved her and wanted to be her Papa again.
At that moment, the floodgates had opened and Gwen began to cry harder than she ever had before, even more than when she lost her birth parents. "I love you too, Papa! I'm sorry for breaking your machine and yelling at you and saying I hate you! I was just so lonely and sad and angry because you were ignoring me! I love you, Papa!", she shouted.
She continued to cry hysterically, showing no signs of stopping. Eggman calmed down from his own crying and began slowly rocking and soothingly shushing the crying light blue hedgehog curled up in his arms.
His lab coat was wet with tears, but he didn't care; Gwen's behavior worried him more. The young hedgehog actually sounded like she was in pain, holding the doctor's jacket with an iron grip, sometimes losing her breath and hyperventilating. It was as if all the negative emotions she held inside, brought on by all the horrible things she experienced, were coming out in one big burst.
Eggman continued to rock and guided her breathing, trying to calm the distressed hedgehog.
Two hours later, Gwen had once again cried herself to sleep, this time safely cradled in the doctor's arms. Eggman slowly got up and walked over to his room, sitting down on a rocking armchair he had in there, it was for whenever Gwen needed some comfort so he could hold her and rock her to make her feel better.
They stayed there, holding each other as she slept, the young hedgehog breathing softly with her head cuddled against Eggman's chest. The doctor gazed upon the small pained face, still red and tear-stained; he kissed Gwen's forehead, rocking back and forth, back and forth almost in a trance. He followed her example and fell asleep a few minutes later, feeling just as emotionally drained as she was.
A sleepy groan woke him much later; the doctor blinked the sleep away from his eyes, and he looked down to see Gwen stretching her cramped muscles just waking up herself. "Hey, feeling better now?", Eggman softly asked, caressing her blue quills.
Gwen nodded with a pout, rubbing her eyes. Eggman nodded and adjusted his hold to get more comfortable, "Can you tell me now what had you so upset before?", he asked.
The young hedgehog took a shaky breath before speaking, "Ever since you started ignoring me, I've been having nightmares. They started out with my parents dying and those scary men yelling and hitting me, but then they changed.
"You would appear and I thought you were gonna save me, but then you'd laugh and say you didn't need a worthless, useless little brat like me and left me alone for those scary men to beat up. I called out to you for help, but you yelled at me, saying to stop calling you "Papa" because you're no one's father! They got so bad that Metal had to get me pull-ups because I started wetting the bed", she said.
Gwen's head fell to his chest, she had spoken that with so much sadness and defeat in her voice that it silenced the doctor, who was at a loss for words; what could he even say to that? Eggman really had messed up this time, Gwen was suffering from nightmares and wetting the bed because he had neglected his newfound duty as a father and ignores her feelings.
Well, not anymore! He was now determined not to let the young hedgehog suffer a nanosecond longer! He had caused this, and he was going to fix it, no matter how long it took and with whatever means, he was going to reignite that spark of childhood wonder that was in her when he celebrated her birthday.
Gently, Eggman raised Gwen's head to look up at him, "Gwen, look at me", he said. She refused to meet his gaze at first, but slowly she moved her gaze from hef hands to the doctor's face. She couldn't see it, but there was remorse and warm affection shining behind those dark blue glasses.
"You are not worthless or useless, and you are certainly not a brat! I promised that I would take care of you and raise you as my own, and while I haven't done a good job of it, I certainly don't plan on breaking that promise! From now on, I promise to make time to spend with you.
"I will not bury myself in my work, and I will take much longer breaks to play with you and shower you with love. You're my baby, and I am your Papa. I will never abandon you or take you for granted ever, you can trust that I'm telling the truth when I say that", he said.
Gwen felt her face grow hot again, and tears shined in her eyes. She tried to blink them away because she was getting tired of crying so much, it hurt her eyes and her head to do it so often. Her breathing became more labored as she felt her chest tighten at Eggman's words, making it hard to swallow the lump clogging her throat. She whimpered softly, trying to hide her face in the doctor's coat.
"I'm so sorry for making you feel like I didn't care about you anymore. You are not something I could ever just throw away and forget or replace. Never! I love you, Gwen, so so much! Believe me; if I could, I would go back in time and fix all of the mistakes I've made today", said the doctor as he repeatedly kissed her forehead.
"You don't have to forgive me if you don't want to, but please let me try to make it up to you baby. I love you so much. And I'm sorry for spanking you for breaking my machine, that was wrong of me. After all, a machine is easy to fix, but a broken heart is harder. And I promise to never break your heart again", he said softly.
Tears began to pour out of Gwen's eyes again, and she cried out on Eggman's chest, unable to hold it in any longer. "I do forgive you, Papa! I don't want you to go away either, I want you to be here with me forever and ever! I love you, Papa!", she wept.
Gwen broke down crying, but it was out of happiness this time. She was happy that her new Papa still loved her and that he was sorry for ignoring her, and promised to never do it again. The young hedgehog eventually calmed down and closed her heavy eyes, pressing her face closer to the doctor's chest.
She listened to his slow, steady heartbeat again and smelling the mixed scent of rocket fuel and cedar that always seemed to cling to Eggman's body. She deeply breathed it in, the tension in her body unwinding as she nuzzled Eggman, who gently rocked back and forth in the chair.
The soothing motion calmed Gwen and made her feel sleepy, a wave of exhaustion rendering her muscles weak. A low growl interrupted the peace and quiet, coming from the tiny hedgehog's belly, "Hungry?" Eggman asked.
Gwen slowly nodded, "Yeah, but I'm too tired to sit down and eat something", she whined softly.
Eggman pondered this for a moment, "I know you're a big girl, but for just this one time, would you like some milk?", he offered, "It'll be easier for you to have that and then go right to sleep. Plus you're probably dehydrated from all of that crying, and it will help fill your tummy up".
Even if she was now six years old, a filling bottle of milk sounded perfect to Gwen. It was just for this one time only, and she really was far too tired to sit upright at a table and eat a full meal, so the idea was perfect.
"Yeah...that sounds nice...I want...milky," she confirmed sleepily.
Eggman nodded as he called upon a passing Egg Pawn and told it to go fetch Metal Sonic. Once the robotic hedgehog appeared before him, he instructed him to prepare a bottle of warm oat milk, also telling him to add extra oats to it to make it especially thick and nutrient rich.
Metal Sonic, relieved to see that the young hedgehog was alright, went to carry out his task. A few minutes later, he soon returned with a warm bottle of creamy oat milk, with extra oats. Eggman thanked Metal for his good work and took the bottle.
He then noticed that the hoglet was already half asleep, so he took it upon himself to feed it to her. This may have been a bit strange since Gwen was arguably already too old to be drinking milk from a bottle, but after all she experienced, she deserved at least one day to act like a baby.
Especially since much of her early childhood was stolen away from her by people who only saw her as an easy way to make money.
Gwen latched onto the nipple, the thick and creamy milk filling her belly up like a water balloon. The warmth growing inside her body made it impossible for her to open her eyes again, but just to add to that, Eggman began to sing another lullaby to her.
"Come little children
I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come little children
The time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows
"Follow sweet children
I'll show thee the way
Through all the pain
And the sorrows
Weep not poor children
For life is this way
Murdering beauty and passions"
The hoglet felt herself falling into a dreamlike space, the world just seemed to melt away and all she was aware of herself and her beloved Papa holding her.
"Hush now dear children
It must be this way
Too weary of life
And deceptions
Rest now my children
For soon we'll away
Into the calm and the quiet"
Safe and secure in Eggman's warm arms, Gwen curled up around the baby bottle, soaking in the peaceful atmosphere as she drank her oat milk. She hadn't felt this happy and loved since before her parents died, in fact, she was beginning to have flashbacks of them.
But these were good flashbacks this time. She remembered when her mother would let her taste test her cooking before dinner, how her father would tell silly jokes that didn't always make since, how they'd take Gwen to go play in the nearby pond.
She remembered when her father helped her catch a frog in that same pond and he let her keep it without telling his wife, but then it escaped the box Gwen kept it in and ended up in her mother's favorite shoes.
Gwen thought back to how upset her mother was, but then they all laughed about it days later like it was the funniest thing in the world.
In this moment, Gwen was re-experiencing the joy any child felt when they were shown absolute love from their parent. It almost felt like she had been...reborn.
"Come little children
I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come little children
The time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows"
As Eggman had finished the lullaby, Gwen had finished her milk. She let out a soft hiccup, followed by a burp.
"I love you, Papa", she softly whispered as she nuzzled into Eggman's chest.
He had to quickly swallow back his tears, he didn't want to cause a disturbance since Gwen falling asleep, but he was simply overjoyed to hear his baby girl say she loved him. He kissed her forehead one more time, nuzzling her cheek.
"I love you too, my sweet baby. Now go to sleep, I promise Papa'll be right here when you wake up", Eggman whispered soothingly.
"M'kay, Papa...", Gwen softly squeaked with a small smile. With a belly full of warm oat milk and a heart filled with love, she peacefully fell into a deep sleep.
[To be continued...]