Espio the Chameleon pulled his motorcycle into Vector's driveway. His former boss always enjoyed meeting his associates, even Mighty and Knuckles. Espio shut the engine down and kicked the stand to Vector's driveway. Motorcycles didn't balance themselves.

He approached Vector's front door, confident in his plan. A certain someone had told him that he looked good in his traditional white shouzoku uniform. He knocked and waited, hoping for Cream.

Espio was delighted to see his guess was right. The instant her face was visible past the hinges, Cream smiled widely. "Espio! Hi!" She squealed, unable to contain her excitement. Cream leaped to Espio, holding onto him right when she could.

Her crush on the chameleon was no secret, so when Vector and Vanilla saw this, they weren't surprised. What did surprise both Cream and the adults was Espio's response. He had never told Cream no, but now Espio hugged her in return. He liked the warmth of her sweater. The other three smiled. "You're so sweet, Espio." Cream sighed.

"I've tried my best." He replied. Espio quickly let go and entered the house. Cream trailed behind him and closed the door.

"What brings ya in here?" Vector asked. "You didn't bring your sword, so not business."

"I did want to discuss business of sorts." Espio hinted. "Is there a private office we can go to?"

The other three had all gathered in front of Espio, none more excited than Cream. "There's no secrets in my family." Vector countered, gesturing to the badge on his police uniform. "You can trust all of us, not just me."

"I would rather talk about this only to you and Vanilla."

"Me?" She asked, confused. "Cream will be leaving soon; can this wait?"

"No. It really can't." Espio decided. He walked to Vector's back office and gestured to Vanilla to follow him. Seemingly respecting him as authority, she did. She closed the doors behind her and Vector as Cream went to her room to give them privacy.

"Alright, kid. What's this all about?" Vector huffed. He didn't like his former subordinate bossing him around in his own home.

"You do have a sense of urgency." Vanilla added.

Espio chuckled. "True statement. I'm not going to waste any of your time. And I'm sorry if this bothers any of you. It is easy to notice that Cream has had feelings for me for a few weeks now. And to tell you the truth, sir, I find myself missing her on occasion. What I'm asking about here is-"

"Yes." Vector interrupted. "Absolutely yes. Man, as an officer, one of my worst fears is someone will hurt my daughter. As a ninja, although you are in a prime position to do just that, you are also well suited to protect her, as I know you will."

Espio smiled, leaning back in his chair. "I did not expect this level of positivity."

Vector also leaned back in his chair, this time to reinforce dominance in his home. "When I heard she had a crush on you, I had honestly hoped you felt the same way. I wanted her to have a quality husband. I can't trust this generation."

Espio crossed his arms to signal nonviolence. "Hey, don't separate yourself from my generation. You're not old, just experienced."

Vanilla spoke up. "What Vector means to say is that we would support you two. He may have jumped to a conclusion by saying 'husband,' but there's hardly a better man out there."

"Yes. We do give you permission to date her. Just remember: she is my daughter first, your girlfriend second. Anything she says about you will have you answer to me. Understand?"

Espio stood up. "Yes, sir." He turned to face Vanilla. "I can see where she gets many of her virtues, not to mention her looks, from."

"You're a sweet man, Espio." Vanilla restated. She met Espio on the side of Vector's desk and hugged him tightly. "And you are an ideal man for Cream."

Vector joined the two of them for a group hug. "I hope you come back, with another important question to ask us someday." Vector suddenly remembered something. "Wait. It's her twentieth birthday today. Her friend Anya is picking her up any minute now. Well, perhaps you can pick another day, kid."

Espio smirked. "Now that is not a true statement. I've gotten Anya to text Cream exactly what I told her to. I will be the one taking her to her birthday party." He countered, pointing to himself to emphasize. "She has no idea yet."

Vanilla laughed. "You just knew we would say yes. Take her there and keep her safe. We hope you enjoy yourselves."

Espio bowed to her parents. "I will have her back here no later than eleven. Promised."

Vector squeezed Espio's arm for confidence. "She's in her room now. Go ahead and ask her out, kid.

"I'll ask her out later today. And I'm 25, sir." Espio protested. Vector blew it off as he and Vanilla watched Espio call Anya. They watched as she picked up and waited for Cream to respond to Espio's knocking on her door. They watched excitedly as she answered and Espio passed her his phone.

"Cream, we have just finished setting up decorations. I've contacted my dad and he got Principal Carter to let us use our old high school for this event, so change of plans. You're not coming to my house, we're gonna play hide and seek, laser tag, you name it."

"Wait, run it back." She insisted. "Our old high school? Laser tag? That's awesome! But when are you gonna be here?"

"Oh, I'm not picking you up. I sent someone else to do that. Your ride's already here, just look out your front door. Have fun!" Anya hung up.

Confused, Cream handed Espio his phone back. She ran to the front door and opened it to see only Espio's motorcycle still in the driveway. Its engine and front light activated as it was turned on remotely. She turned back to Espio, who was smiling with the keys in his hand.

"Are you ready to go?" He joked, holding up the invitation card Cream had mailed to him, too, although just as a hope. She never expected him to actually show up, much less take her there. He happily observed as her face changed expression from confused to excited.

"Espio! Yes!" She squealed again. She threw her arms around him. "You're the best!"

"Well, let's get going then!" He replied, matching his excitement level with hers. "Don't want to keep the others waiting. Already got location from Anya, so that's taken care of. Bye, Vanilla! I'll keep in contact with the business, boss!" Vector and Vanilla waved their goodbyes. Espio wrapped his right arm around Cream's back as he led her out, closing the front door behind him. Without hesitation, he entered the garage to find Cream's red motorcycle helmet that she would wear when Vector took her on rides around the city. He put it on for her.

"You're spoiling me, Espio." Cream giggled. Espio found this cute.

"Not unintentional, birthday girl." He teased in return. He mounted his motorcycle, Cream getting on just behind him. "Hold on." He warned teasingly.

Cream set her hands around his shoulders excitedly. "What were you talking about in there?" She asked. "I wanna know."

"All in good time, you'll be told." He replied. "Let's say… family business. The information isn't public yet, but you'll be the first to know when it is."

PART ONE