Hello! I'm back!

I apologize for the long wait, but here I am! Let's just say that I "maybe" became obssesed with PNF again and "maybe" wrote a fic for it- but anyways.

I hope y'all enjoy this new chapter. Updates are going to be a little more scarce cuz I've already started my internship, and cuz I'm going to start school next week. I'll try to update montly tho.

But enough of my very boring life, hope y'all enjoy this new chapter :)

After Sonic entered the world of slumber, Tom and Maddie went to the bedroom and slowly but surely started talking in bed, continuing until way past the sunrise.

They had welcomed two aliens into their home.

Tom thought that was only supposed to happen in movies. That aliens were only something that mankind came up with—not actual reality.

But the alien hedgehog, whose adopted alien fox son and the aforementioned hedgehog were sleeping on their couch, proved otherwise.

And they were both very much traumatized.

And so, they had a lot to talk about. The alien hedgehog, Sonic, had to have gone through some major trauma. And when Maddie told him he had been on Earth since he was three, Tom had to admit he had been shaken to his core.

Sure, Crazy Carl had talked about him for years. But he hadn't thought it had been that much, andneither did Maddie.

Maddie also noticed how… thin Sonic looked. Tom had too, back when he had first seen him in their cave, but he was still processing everything else to really stop to think about it.

"Sonic has to give most of the food to Tails. There's no other way." Maddie told him at a certain point.

Tails was the one who actually looked somewhat… healthy.

Her wife couldn't even imagine how much Sonic (and Tails, even though Sonic definitely must've tried his best for Tails to suffer as little as possible) had to go through to find the food.

A lot of it had to have been food from the trash; rarely were there complaints about theft on Green Hills.

"At least we found the raccoons." Tom said, trying to lighten up the somber mood that had followed after the realization of how much struggle they must've faced.

"Maybe they've stolen food, too. Of course it's wrong, but it's not like they have much of a choice anyway." Maddie replied. Tom had been with her for over ten years, and he understood that she was trying to cope with their ordeal. He knew his wife had a big heart, and it was hard for her to face what they probably had to go through.

And the thought of them occasionally having proper food to eat made her feel better. And sure, stealing was illegal and morally wrong. But could they blame them?

Obviously, they weren't going to call the cops or the government on them.

But other Green Hills' residents… could've done that.

Especially Crazy Carl...

"It's unlikely, Madz. There has never been much theft around here. And besides, it's Green Hills—hardly anything happens here." Truth be told, crime in Green Hills was quite rare, to say the least. "Besides aliens, apparently." Maddie laughed softly at her husband's joke. "But, anyways… we don't need to worry about their health anymore. We'll give them everything they need."

"Right." Maddie simply said, smiling softly at her husband. It seemed like his little 'speech' of his was already working. She seemed better already.

And then they continued talking, their subject gravitating more and more towards Tails.

How did Sonic find Tails?

How did Tails and Sonic get here?

What even is their home planet like?

How traumatized were they?

How was Sonic, a 15-year-old, a parent? And how did he seem so good at it?

There were so many questions whose answers were a total mystery to them.

One thing was certain, though.

Sonic and his son would never have to worry if they had food or if their basic needs would be met again. Neither would they have to worry again about the loneliness they for sure had to endure, especially Sonic before Tails came into his life. They would make sure of it…

Sonic opened his eyes, as the sun had already shone for hours on end. His mouth still felt dry, but his headache felt lighter for the first time in days.

He coughed, but it didn't hurt as much.

The medicine was definitely working, but he also felt guilty.

They had done so much for him already, and yet they insisted that he and his son stay with them. Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady had been so persistent (and Tails had been so excited about it) that he gave in.

It wasn't like he didn't want to be with them. Quite the contrary, in fact. His future looked even brighter than it did when his son came to Earth. But he still wanted this to happen without bothering them so much.

At least he might actually get what he has dreamed of for so long.

He got up, shook his head, fluffed his quills, and then looked around and saw that Tails was nowhere to be found.

His son probably woke up already, Sonic reasoned with himself. The kid was an early riser, after all. Tom and Maddie were probably awake as well. They said they weren't going to work today (because of him), and Maddie was an early riser (when Sonic couldn't sleep properly because of the cold that sometimes surrounded his cave, he got up early, and she was always awake doing some, which he now knows is called 'yoga'), so she definitely had to be awake by now.

"Dad, you're awake!" Tails exclaimed, dashing towards him and disrupting his thoughts.

Sonic smiled as Tails quickly hugged him with so much speed that he almost fell over. His son had the biggest, cutest smile ever.

"Good morning, buddy." Sonic said, once they finished their embrace.

"Good morning, dad! Do you feel better?" Tails asked, his happy face now filled with hints of concern over his well-being.

Concern that was misplaced, thankfully. He was genuinely feeling better.

He just hoped his son would believe him.

"I do, actually!" He replied as sincerely as he could. His voice, rough from days of sickness, is finally beginning to smooth out. His less sick voice and higher energy seemed to make his kid believe he was getting better, thankfully. Before his kid could say anything, however, he briefly looked to the glassy table right by his side and saw some meds. "Are these for me?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah. But Maddie said you need to eat first, Dad. She has already made food for you to eat." Oh. Tails was probably going to wake him up. "And it's the best food you'll ever have!" Sonic felt slightly guilty that what was probably just a normal meal made his kid so excited… but it wasn't like he could do much before with the food rests of the Green Hills residents. "She made it for me too, and it was so good! She's waiting for us in the kitchen! Let's go!" Tails finished, full of energy and happiness.

Something that Sonic would never get tired of seeing. His kid happy and content. While Sonic knew it couldn't always be possible, he wants his kid to never feel like he felt back in their encounter—sad, lonely, and lost—and, for that reason, he has always tried his best for Tails to have a good life.

And it certainly paid off! However, there was something that needed to be addressed.

And this was the right opportunity…

The right opportunity for a much-needed apology to his kid

"Buddy, before I go-" Sonic coughed with way less force than on previous days. And Sonic could notice his son looked once again relieved.

Tails shouldn't even be worried about him to begin with.

Sonic is the only one who should be worried. He is Tails' guardian and parent. Not Tails. Why didn't he just tell the truth to Tails back then? The kid is a literal genius; he probably would've understood.

It wasn't worth it to dwell on the 'what-ifs' and what he could've done better, however. What mattered now was making things right with his son and being truthful to him from now on. Better late than never, he supposed.

"-eat, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay." His son replied, taking his now full attention towards the hedgehog.

"I know I haven't been fully honest with you, kiddo." Sonic started, suppressing a slight itch to cough. Tails looked a bit surprised by his sudden heart-to-heart. "And I'm sorry. I promise that, from now on, I'll always be truthful. I really meant it when I said that, in a few weeks, I would be alright."

"It's alright, Dad." Tails started smiling brightly at him.

Except… It wasn't.

"I forgive you." His son was so forgiving and loving. How could he not love him?

And, most importantly, how were Tails' parents ever capable of leaving him?

"But why did you lie and say you weren't hungry when you were, Dad?" Tails asked, curiosity overtaking his voice.

How was he going to answer this? Tails was incredibly smart, so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to understand. However, he really hadn't thought of how to explain.

"Well, kiddo…" Sonic began, kneeling down to meet Tails' size. "Kids, like you, need more food than us to grow up healthy." He stopped briefly after feeling a sudden itch in his nose, so he picked up a tissue and blew his nose. "And you still have a long way to go to be all grown up. I've mostly grown up myself. So it doesn't matter that much if I don't eat for a day or two. That's why I pretended that I wasn't hungry. But I should have said what I just told you from the beginning."

"But it's not fair that you starve because of me!" Tails replied, clearly annoyed that… he was being the parent here!

"It's not fair that you starve, either, kiddo. You need it more than I do. And besides, I need to take care of you too. I'm your dad, after all."

"But-"

"No buts, Tails. It's my decision, not yours." Sonic said it more harshly than he had intended to.

Tails flinched.

He doesn't want his kid to be afraid of him. He really hoped he hadn't given Tails any kind of flashback to when his biological progenitors yelled at him.

"Sorry for scaring you, kiddo." Sonic said this in a calmer, gentler way, ruffling Tails' head softly and coughing afterwards. Tails was about to say something along the lines of 'it's fine', but Sonic beat him up to it.

Because it wasn't 'fine'.

"I really appreciate that you care for my well-being, bud. But I'm the one who's supposed to worry about ya. Not the other way around, okay?"

Tails looked like he wanted to say more but decided to only say 'okay'.

"However, since I'm still a bit blue as a parent, if I do something that bothers you, please tell me, Tails. I'll try my best not to do it again, I promise. You can do that for me, kiddo?"

"Of course! You're the best dad ever!" Tails replied, hugging Sonic tightly. Sonic felt warm inside as he processed the kit's words.

His kid really was the best.

"I love you, buddy." Sonic said it with such sincerity that no one could argue that it was fake.

Once they finished their embrace, they did a little fist bump—an 'unbreakable promise' as Sonic had told Tails...

As the days passed and Sonic slowly but surely got better and Tom and Maddie began getting to know Sonic and Tails better, some people in the town started to get suspicious.

Tom and Maddie had tried their best to make it seem like they didn't have a teenager and a kid living with them, but both of them had been starved of food. And so they had to buy a lot more food.

And that meant they had to go on more shopping runs. And the supermarkets had the same people who knew him for decades. And the same cashiers for years.

In other words, Green Hills had a pretty good idea of how much their family of two (and Ozzy) needed to buy… and now having to buy for two aliens, led some town people to speculate if Tom and Maddie were going to throw some kind of party, and there were even other people who thought Maddie was expecting a baby. And how does he know this?

They were not very discreet about it.

The people of Green Hills would either hint at it or ask them directly about one or both speculations. He and Maddie would deny it, of course. They would just say they wanted to store more food.

And he really hopes Green Hills' residents will buy it. And, thankfully, it seems like it's working.

The only one who is concerned is Wade.

He trusts Wade… but Sonic doesn't feel ready to expose himself and his son yet.

The 'problem' with Wade is that, since Wade is his best friend, he knows something is wrong. Wade didn't say anything.

But Wade is anything but subtle, and Tom noticed that Wade thinks something is fishy.

He believes that Wade wouldn't freak out (that much) and would keep Sonic and Tails a secret, but obviously, Sonic not feeling comfortable with that made things harder.

The rest of Green Hills, especially Crazy Carl, was another story...

If they find out about Sonic and Tails... Tom's not sure what could happen. Things could go downhill fast, and… to be honest, he and Maddie have gotten attached to Sonic and Tails. Both of them are really good kids.

Even though Sonic put himself through the responsibility of being a father at an incredibly young age, he is genuinely a good father, and he really likes being a dad too. They love each other unconditionally, and they make each other happy. Their relationship is actually very cute to see.

And sure, Sonic rambles quite a bit; he's not the best conversationalist, and he could be more responsible (besides, as a parent, he's honestly a bit overprotective over Tails), but he had been alone for so long that it was somewhat of a trauma response for him. To regain, in a way, the childhood he had ultimately lost... And, to be fair, Sonic was funny, kind, and compassionate.

But he was also very innocent—an unusual innocence for someone his age—which made sense, considering all the isolation he had faced...

And his son is an incredibly sweet and kind kid. But more reserved and not as talkative, compared to Sonic.

And he's also… quite an insecure kid (the complete opposite of his father, who was a bit cocky sometimes). The only thing they knew was what Sonic told them. And the only thing he had said was that Tails didn't want him to tell other people about his past. And for a four-year-old to not want his dad to share something, then it has to be really bad. But besides the awful trauma the poor toddler had to go through, Tails was a happy kid (and Sonic, too); it was clear Sonic wanted the best for Tails. And they helped each other.

Aliens were definitely way different from what movies depict them as, appearance- and personality-wise.

And Sonic and Tails were just normal (ignoring a teenager being a father by choice) kids that happened to be aliens.

They could see that. But if Green Hills would see Sonic and Tails the same way they did...

Tom had no idea if that could even be possible…

Tom sighed, cast away his thoughts, got out of the empty speed trap, and went to the cafe for a quick break.

As he was getting closer to the local cafe, he noticed Crazy Carl talking to himself. He caught a brief 'I wonder where he is…' coming out of Carl's mouth. He was carrying some bags from the supermarket and was probably heading to his house.

Tom really hoped he wasn't talking about Sonic. He probably was—it had been a week, after all. And Sonic did tell them he, almost on a daily basis, had fun with him—not that Tom blamed him; he was trying to capture Sonic, after all (but in Carl's defense, he thinks Sonic is dangerous).

Crazy Carl, then, greeted Tom, with Tom doing the same, and, after Carl headed towards Tom and put the bags on the ground, they began talking.

His suspicions were right—he was talking about Sonic. It was time to pretend he didn't know Sonic was real. Or that he's living with his kid, who Carl doesn't even know about, in the house right now.

If he, for whatever reason, had to reveal Sonic to anyone, Crazy Carl would be the last one to do so. While Wade would be the first.

"He has to be planning something big." Carl began in his 'conspiracy theory' voice. "Otherwise, why would he stop coming from my traps?"

"He could've just gotten bored, Cr- Carl." Tom replied. Before he knew Sonic was real, he would sometimes just go along with what Carl said. He decided to do the exact same thing today; it was just the easier way to avoid suspicion.

And maybe he could try to make Carl more palatable to Sonic and Tails. He has to think of ways to do that later…

"No, he couldn't. I haven't seen him for more than two weeks, Tom. It's not normal. Something really bad is going to happen to Green Hills—I can tell!" Carl exclaimed, by the end. Truly believing something awful was going to happen to them.

He really needed to think of how to convince Crazy Carl...

"I'm sure nothing is going to happen, Carl." Tom said, trying to relieve Carl's anxiety and fear of the future. "Here, do you want help to bring your groceries home?" Tom finished, changing the subject.

"No need, Thomas. I appreciate it, but I'm still not that old. But don't say I didn't warn you when he attacks."

Knowing who Carl was talking about made Tom almost laugh in response.

Sonic was just a traumatized kid who was raising another traumatized kid.

Sure, Sonic had powers (as he eventually told them) and ran really fast, but he was still just a kid…

Even though Wade was aloof, very easily distracted, and not the most intelligent person, he wasn't stupid.

Tom had been hiding something for the past two weeks.

First it was some Green Hills residents casually telling him they think Maddie is pregnant or that Tom is throwing a town party, then it was the cause of those same speculations.

Wade didn't press on it, of course.

But he does wonder what it could be that Tom is hiding. With so much food, maybe Maddie is expecting a baby? He's honestly a little bit hurt that Tom hasn't told him whatever he's hiding yet.

They have always told each other everything since they were little kids. So Tom's stopping doing that all of a sudden was really strange.

But, hey, maybe he was just making a surprise for him. And for some reason, that involved... food?

It would definitely explain why he was hiding things from him now…

Wade sighed and cast his thoughts aside. He still had to complete some very tedious paperwork, and then he could finally go home. Tom had already done all of it. Tom's efficiency shook him sometimes.

As he finished the last pieces of paperwork and the sun was already long gone, replaced by the moon, Wade got up and prepared himself to go home when he noticed Tom's forgotten wallet on one of the desks the office had.

Since Wade had forgotten to charge his phone yesterday and he did have the key to Tom and Maddie's house, he figured he would drop by real quick and give him his wallet.

He drove to their house, and once he got there, he picked up their key, unlocked the door, and then clicked on the doorbell to make his presence known.

What he didn't expect to see was a… BLUE ALIEN?! Who just ran to the door at an insane speed with a YELLOW ALIEN by its side?!

"Pretzel Lady! You're fina-" The… the alien stopped once he (she?) looked at him…

Thank you for all the support you've been given on my fic :) I really appreciate it :3