A couple of hours later, after breakfast and after picking all the debris out of red quills, they had the boys packed in the back seat of the car and were on the road. The zoo was a good hour away from Green Hills. The back of the car was packed with water and snacks. Sonic and Tails were chatting back and forth, brimming with excitement. She watched as her oldest sat next to the window behind Tom, watching the trees and mountains go by as they drove. Here and there he would answer a question from his younger brothers but seemed perfectly content to quietly watch the world go by.
She continued to glance at him through the rear view mirror. She worried about him sometimes. It had been three weeks since their small family of three became a large family of five. In those weeks she had many chances to talk with Tails, her adorable youngest. Though he had a young life full of trauma, he seemed willing to slowly open up to her and Tom over the past weeks. It was slow at first, a comment here, a slip there, but eventually he began to come to her with his worries. He was long from healed, but he was coming along.
The eldest, however, was a different story. From what she could tell he was not much older than Sonic. He had also had a life of trauma and loneliness, but what she had learned so far came from Sonic and it wasn't much. He had yet to open up to her or Tom, and she wanted to breach his barriers desperately.
The first week had been about working through his guilt over the damage he had caused. He did not speak much the first week, and it was mostly to his brothers. Allowing him to help repair the damage seemed to help but she could tell he was still buried by his feelings. The second week she had mostly given him space, allowing him to come up with a routine, to begin to feel comfortable with his new home, allowing him to build bonds with his brothers. She could see flashes of pain, hints of sorrow, and occasional eruptions of anxiety that would come out at certain words, certain games, certain situations and would disappear as quickly as they arrived. He would stiffen at touch if it came unexpectedly, he would eye their movements suspiciously if he did not understand a situation, and even though his bonds with his brothers was growing, he still seemed to seek out solitude.
As she watched him from the passenger seat she could see his eyes widen in wonder as he looked at the scenery through the window. She smiled.