Thank you for the criticism. You know who you are. It hurt, but it was greatly appreciated.

Any criticism is appreciated.

Any grammar or spelling errors are completely my fault. Please correct me if you see anything.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic or any others related to him. I only own Chelsea.

Chapter 2: A Bundle of Joy

"What in the name of volleyballs is a child doing in my house!"

Chelsea was standing by the doorframe of the room she used to use when she was a child. She gripped the white wood and could feel the dent she had made when she walked straight into the wall.

She took three deep breaths and readied herself for what she was about to see. Chelsea slowly peeked inside the purple tinted room to see a brown wooden crib next to the queen sized bed. She could clearly tell the crying was coming from this room. She gasped and quickly brought her head from inside the room. The 22 year old shut her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"Ok ok…calm down Chelsea. It's just a baby. Don't be afraid."

The child's cry grew louder.

"There is a BABY IN MY HOUSE! Ok, ok, let's not get freaked out. Mom always said to count to ten when stressed. 1…2…3…"

The baby's crys turned into screams.

"4…5...6…"

The screams of the child increased in volume.

"Haaahhh this is not working! Ok, I'm coming!"

Chelsea ran over to the crib and abruptly stopped right in front of it. She gasped. She could see a blue blanket wrapped around something small. She decided whatever baby that was in the crib had to be premature male. It looked smaller than her forearm.

She slowly placed her hand on the bundle and the screaming seemed to lower into a less horrifying cry. Chelsea mentally let out a relived sigh. Anymore of that screaming would've caused her to go insane. After a minute of just touching the being she gathered all her courage and lifted it into her arms. The movement caused the soft blanket to drape over her forearm and off the now whimpering child.

Chelsea almost dropped the baby.

There in her arms was not a human being, it was a hedgehog…a baby hedgehog, and not just any hedgehog, it was Shadow the Hedgehog. Her breathing turned into gasps. She looked like she was hyperventilating. Chelsea grabbed hold of the edge of the crib and was shaking horribly. There was no way Shadow the Hedgehog was in her arms as an infant. There was just no possible way. Maybe she was dreaming. Yes, that might be it, but just to make sure she pinched her cheek.

Well she defiantly wasn't dreaming.

Suddenly her eyes narrowed. Was this some kind of sick trick? Was she being played by her brother? "Chris, if this is a joke it's not funny. Get out here right now," she bellowed. A few minutes passed and nothing but silence answered her question. She needed to sit down. Her stomach felt as if it were doing back flips into the horizon.

This isn't possible. Shadow the Hedgehog is a character. A cartoon character owned by SEGA. He was created by a company to entertain. He was created from imagination. He wasn't real.

But here he was, in her arms snuggling into her bosom, and he felt real.

A sigh escaped her lips. She looked down at the little hedgie. He was finally quiet at least. Chelsea smiled when Shadow raised his arms up to her. She lowered her face into his tiny hands and smiled when he reviled his fiery crimson eyes. A giggle came from the infant and she laughed. Shadow looked into her brown eyes. He stared at her with curious innocence only a child could pull off. His face twisted into confusion when he noticed her teeth. On impulse he grabbed on two bottom teeth and pulled on it. Chelsea winced shoved her head away from the ebony hedgehog. Shadow giggled again as Chelsea massaged the skin covering her teeth. "I know that you were only curious but that hurt Shadow," she scolded. The red streaked infant ceased his giggle fit and whimpered quietly. He lowered his ears, sat up in Chelsea's arms and wrapped his arms around her waist or attempted to.

Chelsea's chocolate irises widened. Shadow looked the size of a baby a few days old and he could already sit up on his own. Ah, but she had to remember, she was dealing with a Mobian. Mobians are smaller than human beings.

"I-I sah-wee"

Another smile crept onto the young adults face.

Well if he can speak, he must be older than he looks.

"It's alright Shadow, just don't do it again okay?"

Shadow fiercely nodded and once again snuggled against Chelsea. Chelsea returned the embrace and rubbed small circles on his back. Shadow purred and soon fell asleep.

Chelsea sighed, got up and held the sleeping hedgie. A thought suddenly came to her mind. How in the world had Shadow arrived? Well obviously someone put him there, but how did the person put a crib in a room next to hers without waking her? There wasn't a crib there before and she didn't think she was that heavy of a sleeper. Was she? The doors allowing entrance to the house were all downstairs and she slept upstairs. She couldn't have possibly slept through the commotion. Wait. If someone put Shadow there then they must've broken in her house, right? Someone broke INTO her house! Terrified of the thought, Chelsea put Shadow into his crib and scrambled downstairs to check all of her doors. To her surprise none of the doors seemed disturbed in anyway. She checked all the stuff around the doors and even the floors to check if anyone left tracks. Nothing. Everything seemed normal.

But this was far from normal.

Chelsea was back up in her old room sitting on the edge of the bed. Her hands were twitching with freight. Something teased her brain and she didn't like it. She didn't know the first step to taking care of a baby. She was 22, single and alone in an empty house. She did babysit a few times for her friends and nearby neighbors but the children she babysat were at least seven. Chelsea got up and searched for any kind of note. Surely the person who left the child left a note. She looked in the crib and even carefully lifted the sleeping infant but she couldn't find anything. Chelsea stepped on the blue blanket that must've fell and picked it up. She saw a piece of yellow paper fall out of the cotton sheet and caught it before it hit the ground. The note read:

Greetings ,

We are very sorry if dropping off this project has caused any inconvenience. We had no choice but to drop it off here.

Chelsea's brow furrowed. A gnawing feeling tugged at her chest. Shadow is not an 'it' neither is he a project. They can't say that about my child….my child?

There is a great war going on in our world and we needed the project safe and away from harm. If you look under the crib you will see we filled two bags with supplies needed for taking care of the infant. We also left a card so incase money is a problem just charge it on the card. We will replenish the bank account every month.

The young women looked under the crib and there, like the note said, were two plump black and red duffel bags. She lifted them onto the bed and huffed. They were quite heavy.

We hope you plan on keeping this baby. Although we have looked at your files and you seem like a reasonable woman.

Okay…I feel violated.

Thank you again , and we give you our greatest appreciation.

~MRF~

"Who the heck is named mrf? Wow I'm stupid. That's probably the name of the facility or company or whatever."

Chelsea huffed in frustration. This note had answered some of her questions but they had no right to just dump Shadow here, call him a project and most importantly look at her records. That was violating her second amendment rights!

In all her anger, accidentally, smashed her head against the bed frame and shouted in pain which startled the young Shadow and made him wail in terror. Chelsea groaned.

Motherhood starts in 3…2…1.

Thank you for reading.

~God Bless You~