Chapter Text
It was a slip of the tongue. No seriously, it was!
The word ‘mom’ is pretty similar ‘Maddie’, well not really, but they both start with ‘M’! Plus, Sonic usually called her pretzel lady so nobody could expect him to not have a few flubs here and there, right?
Said woman blinked as the blue hedgehog continued to verbally backpedaled as fast as he could run, his peach fur doing little to cover his now extremely red muzzle.
“...andI’veheardsomanyotherkidssayingitsoIguesseditkindajustkindaslippedintomymind, and...um…” The hedgehog’s words awkwardly trickled out, his hand fiddling with his quills and his eyes suddenly finding the random smudges on the kitchen walls very interesting to look at.
“Sonic.” Maddie started, and said hedgehog looked like he wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball. His eyes then widened as he felt warm arms encircle him and pull him into a hug.
And for a moment, soft skin felt like soft feathers that would’ve tickled his face, and the sunlit kitchen seemed to turn into a small, yet warm hut. Sonic’s breath hitched, tears welling in his eyes before spilling over as he choked back a sob.
Small flicks of blue static danced across trembling arms as Sonic slowly, but surely, returned Maddie’s hug.
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“Thanks, Da-uhhhhhhh-onut Lord.” Tom raised an eyebrow at the now nervously smiling hedgehog.
“What was that?” He asked, though he was pretty sure that both of them were well aware of the word Sonic nearly said.
“Donut Lord. I said Donut Lord.” Tom silently wondered if he should drop it and leave the mobian be. Oooooor...
“Really,” Tom airily replied, before cracking a small smirk. “I do-nut think that’s what I heard.”
Sonic’s eyes fell half-mast as he sent the cop an extremely unimpressed look. “No.”
“What’s wrong?” The cop continued. “No need to act so prickly.”
Sonic narrowed his eyes. “Stop.”
“But, it would make sense that you would feel a little…”
“Donut Lord, I swear if you finish that sentence-” Sonic started, threateningly pointing at the grinning man.
“...on hedge .”
For a moment, Sonic stared in silence at Tom, then buried his face into his gloves at superhuman speed. “Oh my god, I’m so done.” And there it was, a golden opportunity and one Tom would happily take.
“Hi, so done.” Tom said, his grin completely overtaking his entire face. “I’m Dad.”
“No! That is it! Goodbye!” The only thing that signified the hedgehog’s former presence was a quickly fading blue streak, and the man couldn’t help but laugh.
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Tom looked away from the movie when he heard a faint snore, turning to see that Maddie had already picked up the sleeping hedgehog.
“I can take him to his bed.” She mouthed. Tom nodded, then silently cleaned up the living room.
A few moments later, Tom walked through the hallway to see Maddie looking up at the attic doorway with a soft smile on her lips.
“You know,” She whispered, putting a hand on Tom’s shoulder. “This isn’t how I expected to become a parent.”
“Not that that’s a bad thing.” Tom added.
“Oh, definitely not.” She concurred. For a moment, they silently stood there.
“It’ll be hard.” Maddie muttered. “He’s been through a lot, and we’re all probably going to have to go through a lot more.”
Tom gave a neutral hum. “Plus, I’m pretty sure we’ll have to fudge a few things for his adoption papers.” He quipped.
Maddie shook her head and huffed in amusement. “Well, we’ll burn those bridges when we get there.” She responded, and gave Tom a peck on his cheek.
A few weeks prior, just days after learning of his existence, Sonic had admitted that despite them not knowing him, he saw them as family. And, although it might’ve been ten years late, the Wachowskis unequivocally accepted him as their son.