Sonic's eyes blink open with the rising sun. With a small groan he slides his feet out of bed, and rubs his eyes. Suddenly he remembers what happened to Amy, and looks over at her crib. He quietly pads over in bare feet, and looks in. Her eyes are closed, and her mouth widens in sync to her quiet snoring. He smiles, and heads down the hall to the shower. As he steps out he hears Amy crying, the sound of water must have woken her up.
He heads back into his room to find Amy reaching out of her crib. He pats her head, and she nuzzles his hand. He chuckles, and picks her up, sitting on the edge of her bed.
"G'morning Amy, and how are you feeling today?" She baby-talks something at him, and he laughs, "That good, huh?"
He cradles her in his arms, and says in a serious voice, "Hey, thank you for protecting me yesterday. I know you'd be there for me if I was in your shoes, so I'm not going to abandon you, okay?"
She babbles something unintelligible, and pats his cheek. He laughs, and heads downstairs. Cream, and Tails are just waking up in their cots. Tails is wearing orange pajamas with red airplanes on it, and Cream wears a simple white nightgown.
"Morning, guys," Sonic says, and they wave to him. As they get ready for the day, Sonic sets Amy in her high-chair, and fetches a bib for her. He finds the open thing of baby food, and reheats it. Amy is a little stubborn to feed this morning, but she doesn't complain too much. Cream gives Amy her morning diaper change, and bath while Tails helps Sonic make breakfast for the three of them. There's not much in the fridge, and so they make scrambled eggs with toast. They put Amy in the playpen while they eat, and discuss what they're going to do today.
"I think we should the others some time to wake up before calling them over," says Tails.
Cream nods, "I agree, but in the meantime we should do some shopping. If we're going to stay for any longer we'll need to get some more food."
Sonic nods, "Okay, then that's what we'll do. Is there anything we'll need for Amy while we're out?"
"Well, are you going to take her with us while we're out," Cream asks, and takes a bite of toast.
"If we do then people are going to see her," Tails reasons. "So I think it depends on if we want to risk one of the others seeing her while we're out."
"Well it's not like we're keeping this a secret from them," Cream says. "Anyhow, I don't think we have a stroller for her, so one of us would have to carry her while we're out."
"Maybe one of us should stay here with her," Sonic says, downing his milk. "It would be a little inconvenient if we have to shuffle her around with bags of stuff."
"Yeah," Tails frowns thoughtfully. "It would be huh?"
"Okay then," Cream carries her used dishes to the sink. "One of us should stay to take care of Amy, while the other two go out for food, and a stroller."
"So who's staying," Tails wonders. "I don't think I can take care of Amy without her ripping my face off, so I'd like to go shopping."
"In that case, Cream, would you mind taking care of Amy?" Sonic looks at her from over his shoulder, "If I go out then it will be a shorter shopping trip. Plus I'd like to stretch my legs a little."
Cream nods, "Okay then, I'll do what I can here while you two are out."
"Well," Sonic says while standing. "Now that that's taken care of, what are we gonna eat?"
They continued like this for a few minutes, and put together two shopping lists. Tails flies off to go grocery shopping, since Sonic has no idea what some of the stuff on that list even is, and Sonic speeds of to the baby store. Once there, he looks over the different stuff on the list, comparing it to the merchandise.
"Can I help you with something?"
Sonic turns to see a chocolate colored bat standing behind him. She has on black sweatpants, and a green shirt with a name-tag that reads "Cocoa".
"Yeah," Sonic scratches his head. "You see, I recently got a baby to take care of, but I don't know how long she's going to be around. So I'm wondering if I should go with a jogging stroller, because I like to run, or the cheaper stroller."
Cocoa smiles, "Everyone knows that you like to run, Mr. Sonic. In my professional experience, most couples who shop here end up getting both on a "Just in case one breaks" basis." She helps him pick out a royal blue jogging stroller, and a sky-blue walking stroller. He picks up some more baby food, and some formula for bottle feeding before paying for it, and dashing back home.
As he approaches he sees a familiar van pulling into the driveway. Vanilla step out of the driver seat, and Sonic comes to a stop in front of her.
She looks him up, and down; he has a stroller under each arm, a box of baby food in one hand, and a box of powder formula in the other.
Vanilla giggles, "Well look who's ready to be a father."
Sonic groans, rolling his eyes, "Not you too!"
"Sorry," she takes half the load off of him. "But it was too precious to pass up."
"If you say so," Sonic walks inside to hear Amy crying. He walks into the living-room where Cream is trying to comfort her with various toys. Amy looks up, and starts crawling towards Sonic.
Cream sighs with relief, "She started the minute she realized that you were gone, Sonic. Nothing I tried worked!"
Sonic puts his purchases against the wall, and picks up a babbling Amy, "I don't doubt it, has Tails gotten back yet?"
Cream shakes her head, ears flopping, "Not yet. Hi Mama!"
"Hello, Cream, how are you? Did you sleep well?"
Cream nods, "Amy was an angel last night, she only woke up when Sonic was in the shower."
Vanilla raises her eyebrows, and smiles, "I'm glad to hear it, you have it easier than most. I don't think that you cried much as a baby, Cream."
"Chao!"
"Cheese!" Cream cries out, and hugs her pet Chao close. "I'm so sorry, in all the excitement I forgot that I left you at home."
"Chao Chao!" The little blue creature cuddles up to Cream much like Amy is in Sonic's arms. No wonder Cream is good at this mothering stuff.
Tails walks in the front door with groceries hanging from his arms. He takes them into the kitchen, and walks out to join the others. Vanilla has Amy in her lap, and is playing Peek-A-Boo with her. Cream, and Sonic are watching with smiles on their faces.
Sonic looks up at Tails, "Hey buddy, did you get everything alright?"
Tails nods, "Yeah, getting it back here was an adventure though."
Sonic checks the clock, it's about eleven in the morning.
"Looks like it's time to call up the others, huh?" The rest of them check the clock, and Vanilla stands, passing Amy to Cream.
"Then I'd best get out of your hair. Best of luck!" As she gets in the car, and pulls out, Sonic Calls up the others on his home phone, telling them to meet in the park by noon.
After he disconnects his last call, he says, "I'll stay with Amy, would you guys mind bringing them here? I don't like the idea of having to explain this more than once."
Cream, and Tails nod before walking out of the front door. Sonic picks up Amy, and bounces her on his lap.
"Well, this is the big moment, huh Ames? I know you probably wouldn't want them to see you like this, but they need to know what's up if they're going to help us out."
Amy summons her hammer, and starts whacking one of the stuffed animals near Sonic, completely oblivious to what he's saying to her. He smiles, and starts tickling her, making her giggle. They play for a little while longer, and then Amy starts yawning. Sonic carries her up to her crib, and texts Tails to let him know that Amy just fell asleep. He texts back a few seconds later to let him know that they'll be quiet when they get back.
Sonic decides to pass the time with his X-Box, and starts a new campaign on Halo. At about 12:15 they finally show up. Sonic watches as Tails, Cream, Rouge, Shadow, Knuckles, Silver, and Blaze file through the door.
"Alright," Rouge says with her hands on her hips. "So what's the emergency?"
"Is it time to put the beat-down on Eggman?" Knuckles cracks his fists, and his neck.
"Sonic," Blaze looks around. "What's all this about?" She gestures at the baby stuff.
"Well," Sonic scratches the back of his head. "It's kinda hard to explain..."
Shadow glances around, "I notice that Rose is the only one not here. I'm going to take a guess that you finally gave in to her, and know she's with your kid."
Sonic jerks, "What the- no!" He speaks in a harsh whisper, "That's not it at all!"
"Well, what's up then?" Silver looks at Sonic, tilting his head to the side.
"Just let him spit it out," Knuckles raises his voice, and Cream hurriedly shushes him.
Too late, Amy starts crying upstairs, and Sonic goes up to get her. When he gets to the crib, he picks her up, giving her a pacifier. He takes a deep breath, and heads back downstairs to the others. Their reaction is raised eyebrows all around, and Amy looks at all of them with wide eyes. She doesn't remember them, so the sight of so many people scares her a little. She curls closer to Sonic, and he gives his friends an awkward grin.
"...I guess you can kinda figure the rest out for yourselves?"
Blaze blinks, "What happened?"
Sonic explains what happened at the bank, and no one says a word until he's finished.
"So what's the plan," Knuckles scratches his head. "I mean, we gotta do something, right?"
"We don't know anything about what that beam did to her," Blaze reasons. "Obviously it turned her into a baby, but it could have done something else too."
"Yeah, like what," Rouge asks the purple cat.
"I've actually given this some thought," Tails speaks up. "We could either try to reverse the ray's effects now, or we could wait it out. If we decide to wait it out, then she could either go through a rapid regrowth to her normal age, or she could just grow back at a normal pace."
"But we don't know if that could even happen," Silver points out. "What if something happened to her that stops her from growing at all?"
Tails nods, "It's possible that the beam may have done something to slow, or even halt her cellular reproduction. That means that her cells would be reproducing too slow for her growth to be noticeable, or not at all. I don't think it's a good idea to run any tests on Amy, but if we monitor her growth, then we'll have an answer in a few weeks, maybe a month."
Shadow crosses his arms, and says, "But that doesn't answer the question, what if we can't just wait it out?"
Tails licks his lips, "Then we'll have to find a way to reverse it ourselves. It would help if I had some understanding of how Eggman's laser works. I can work in my lab though, build some prototypes, and test them on plants to see if I can replicate that laser."
"That's a good idea Tails, why don't you get a start on that as soon as you can," Sonic pats the quivering Amy in his arms. "Maybe Vanilla can give us some idea of how a baby is supposed to grow, and then we'll know where we stand. This way we'll at least have a head-start if we have to turn her back ourselves."
Tails nods, and Knuckles says, "Well, It's a plan anyhow."
Rouge steps forward, and holds her hands out for Amy. Sonic gingerly passes her to rouge who cradles Amy in her arms.
Rouge smiles, "I'll tell you this much kid, you're a pain, but you make a beautiful baby."
Amy suddenly whacks Rouge between the eyes with her hammer. With a startled cry, Rouge accidentally drops Amy. Sonic dives to catch her, but luckily Silver has already got her with his telekinesis. Amy moans around her pacifier as Silver floats her to him. Silver pulls her out of midair, but holds her away from him.
"Um," he says. "I think someone needs a new diaper."
Cream takes Amy up into the bathroom, and Sonic notices Knuckles chuckling.
"Does she do that to you," Rouge asks, rubbing the sore spot between her eyes.
"Only when she's hungry," Sonic replies. Rouge, and Knuckles start laughing.
Silver lightly punches Sonic in the arm, "Thanks for telling us, now you know we got your back."
"Yeah," Rouge says, still laughing. "Because Amy's got daddy's front all to herself."
Sonic frowns as she, and Knuckles laugh harder. He turns to Tails, and gives him a "What did I tell you?" look. Tails gives him a sympathetic smile, and shrugs. Cream comes back down with Amy, and Sonic puts her in her playpen. Sonic notices that Shadow isn't laughing with with the white bat, and the red echidna. Sonic knows that Shadow doesn't laugh, but he's not even grinning at Sonic's discomfort. He's just staring at Amy with a frown.
Blaze puts a hand on Sonic's shoulder, "Well, if we can help in any way, then all you have to do is ask. You know that, right?"
Sonic smiles up at her, "Yeah, thanks Blaze."
Blaze smiles, and then her eyes slide to Amy when she sees the baby reaching up for her. Blaze reaches into the pen, and pulls Amy out into an awkward cradle with her arms. Amy touches Blaze's face, and then spits out her pacifier, giggling.
"Looks like she's picked out her new mommy," Knuckles chuckles.
Blaze fixes him with a look that kills his laughter in an instant, and says, "You're lucky my hands are full, or you'd be toasted."
Silver chuckles as Knuckles goes a little pale.
Over the next few hours they all hang out in Sonic's living-room. They take turns holding Amy with varying results. Rouge, and Tails don't want to hold her, so they're content to watch. When Blaze passes Amy to Silver the baby reaches up to pet the odd quills growing out of his forehead. He smiles at her, stroking her quills while making cooing sounds. After a few minutes, Amy reaches her hands out to Knuckles, curious. Silver passes Amy to him, and Knuckles holds her awkwardly with his hands under her armpits.
"Um... Hi?"
Amy cracks him across the jaw with her hammer, Baseball-Style.
"Ah," he says, flexing his jaw, and passing Amy to the next person, who happened to be Shadow.
Shadow carefully takes Amy from him, and holds her so she's sitting on his arm, and he has a hand on her back. Amy's tiny hands make fist in Shadow's chest fur, and she snuggles into it with a sigh. A few minutes later, Shadow raises his eyebrows when he realizes that Amy has fallen asleep.
Rouge grins, and whispers, "Wow Shadow, it's too bad you're not the fatherly type, huh?"
Shadow gives her a hard look before gently giving Amy back to Sonic. Then he turns, and quietly leaves the house. Rouge raises her eyebrows, and follows after him. Knuckles stands, and mouths "Good Luck Daddy" to Sonic before leaving. Sonic rolls his eyes before carrying Amy back up to her crib.
He come back down to find Silver, and Blaze still there.
"Hey," Silver says, scratching the back of his head. "Blaze, and I were wondering if we could stick around for a while. You know, see Amy when she wakes up?"
Sonic nods, "I don't see why not."
"I better head to the lab," Tails says, hopping off of the couch. "You were right, Sonic, the sooner I get started on this, the better off Amy will be."
Tails waves goodbye to them, and quietly leaves.
"Well it wasn't as bad as you were expecting, was it Sonic?" Cream smiles up at him from the floor, Cheese in her lap.
Sonic shrugs, "Eh, it could've been worse, yeah." they don't want to wake Amy up, so they leave the TV off. Instead Sonic pulls out a deck of cards, and they play a few different games.
Cream is in the kitchen, making lunch, when Amy wakes up again. Blaze goes up to get her this time, and brings her down with her pacifier in her mouth.
Sonic's a little surprised to see that Blaze has a maternal side, but then again he guesses that most women do. He finds himself smiling as Amy crawls across the floor, chasing Blaze's swishing tail. Silver makes some building blocks levitate, and circle around Amy. He even makes a stuffed monkey move on its own, making it dance for Amy's delight.
A few hours pass, and the sun begins to set. Blaze, and Silver say their goodbyes, and leave. After another diaper change, a bath, and dinner they begin to start settling down for the night. Cream sleeps on the couch tonight, Sonic found her a blanket, and pillow.
With Amy in her crib, and everyone else set, they fall asleep to await the next upcoming day.
Eggman strikes again, but this time his nefarious plan has turned Amy into a baby! Sonic feels it's his responsibility to look after her until they find some way to turn her back.
