Chapter Text
"I said hold it!"
"I'm trying, It keeps twisting around!"
"How can it be so hard to get up?!?"
"shove it in harder, it keeps popping out..."
" Hold on... Yes! Yes! I got it!! "
Tom and Maddie Wachowski stepped back and wiped the sweat from their brows, having finally erected the gazebo frame in their back yard. It had taken them half an hour to get the blasted thing together, and in the hot summer weather they had worked up a hell of a lather.
Tom ran a hand through his moustache. "Well it's a little crooked," his chest heaved, " but I think we made a decent job of it... "
"Hey, we're not finished yet," his dark-skinned wife flashed him a look from beneath cornrowed hair, "we still need to get the cover on, then set up the barbeque, and then..."
" Okay, I get it... " Tom said in exasperation. He wrapped an arm around his wife's waist. "Drinks first though?"
She nodded. "Drinks first."
He pecked her on the cheek, the woman recoiling slyly from the tickle of his moustache.
"Thanks honey," he said as she went to go inside. "I'll have another beer!"
"Fancy that, " came her reply.
Tom limped on over to the wooden picnic table, leaning back and resting his middle-aged paunch on his thighs. He was getting to damn old for this manual labour malarkey. They had considered waiting for the kids to arrive before putting everything together - it would have taken considerably less time - but it hadn't felt right to put them to work. Today was a special day.
Tom chuckled to himself. "God damn it," he muttered. "Ten damn years. who'd have thought..."
He absently reached for the remnants of a warm beer, but as his fingers grazed the can a blue wind streaked around the table. He frowned as he realised the beer had vanished.
"Lost something, old man?"
Tom grinned as he turned around. a shoulder-tall blue figure stood before him, tauntingly holding the beer between gloved fingers.
"Now you give that back young man," the sheriff slowly stood and began to approach the figure, hands authoritatively on hips. "You wouldn't want your father to dehydrate now, would you?"
"Considering that gut you have going on, I might be doing you a favor!"
"Come here, you cheeky little..."
Tom and the blue space-hedgehog closed the distance and embraced in a tight hug. Pointed ears tickled his chin, and he felt a prick from very long blue quills, but didn't care. The man was just happy to hug his kid again.
Today, ten years to the day since becoming a Wachowski, Sonic had come home.
"Jeez, why do you still have that thing?" Sonic teasingly gestured to Tom's face. "It looks like somebody left a turd over your top lip!"
The sheriff drank from his fresh beer and wiped froth from his moustache. "I think it makes me look dignified," he said defensively.
"I'm not sure 'dignified' is the correct word," a voice absently sounded from across the table. Tom pointed to its owner, can still in hand.
"Oh, so the screen-ager's awake!" He said loudly, "Miles, put that thing away and say hello to your mother."
Yellow ears pricked and blue eyes flickered upwards in surprise after being absorbed in some gadget or another. The eighteen year old fox-boy returned to reality and slipped the device back into it's pouch as Maddie returned from the kitchen with a fresh tray of drinks. She wrapped an arm around the teenager and pecked him on the forehead. She didn't have to lean down far; the yellow fox had grown a hell of a lot these last few years.
The whole family was now gathered around the table, trading stories about life and drinking. It had been a while since the Mobians last visited home, busy adventuring on their homeworld.
"Oh, you know... smashing robots, saving the world, defeating evil geniuses... You know, the usual." Sonic winked when the human's had asked what the two had been up to.
"Well last week I had to write a parking ticket," Tom said, snapping open a fresh beer. "So that was pretty exciting."
Sonic snorted. "The incredible crime-fighting career of Green Hills' own Road Warrior," the hedgehog said cheekily .
"How's the car running, Tom?" Miles perked up at the mention of automobiles, eagerly invested in the conversation now that he had no gadjets to distract him.
"still runs like a dream, kiddo." Tom affirmed. Miles leaned back confidently and folded his arms with a smirk.
"You know, the offer still stands," he began, " I have my tools with me. While we're home I can-"
"Tails... " the cop raised a finger, "as much as I appreciate it I don't need any anti-gravity boosters, death rays, or atomic force field generators attached to my car. Not exactly road-legal."
"Oh come on!!" The fox protested, "it's just a simple internal-combustion engine! with a few slight adjustments I can-"
"You can fix the radio," Tom said sternly. "That's it. "
Sonic chuckled to his left, feeding treats to a pair of young golden retrievers - Tony and Bill.
"Yeah, Tails!" He said, petting the pups. "You know Wachowski Senior can't go too long without his fix of 'old fart ' FM!"
Tom raised his finger authoritively. "do not," He said with mock seriousness, "speak such slander of the rock and the roll."
The family sat in silence for a moment, just happy to be all together for the first time in months.
" So, Sonic... " said Maddie mischiecously, pouring herself a glass of wine, "how are things working between you and Amy?"
"Come on, mom..." Sonic protested, throwing treats for the dogs. "You know there's nothing to 'work between!' she's just a friend! I don't care about any of that relationship stuff, I'm a free hedgehog!" a sly grin crept onto his face. "Tails and Zoey, on the other hand..."
Miles launched a spray of beer from his lips in a perfect spit-take. SONIC!!!
Evil grins split the humans ' faces, while Sonic looked exceptionally pleased with himself.
"OooOOOoo!" Maddie cooed, cradling her wine. "who might this 'Zoey ' be then, Tails?"
The fox extended a finger accusingly at his older brother. "You said you wouldn't tell!"
Sonic sipped his juice and shrugged. "Gotta break it out sometime, little buddy. You two have been going steady for weeks now!"
" Come on, kiddo! " Tom leaned over the table, mischievous glint in his eyes. "Now you've got us all hanging!"
They couldn't see it beneath the white fur of his muzzle, but everybody could tell that the teenager was redder than a smacked ass. He fidgeted with his hands, twin tails swishing side to side.
"Just some girl back home... Been on a couple of dates I guess... But nothing serious!!! We definitely are not 'going steady', Sonic!!"
Sonic stuck his tounge out. "They're totally gonna get ma -rried!" he sang.
Miles wore his most appalled expression.
"Oh..." Maddie wrapped her arm around her adopted fox-son and smiled . "Our little munchkin's all grown up!"
Tails clapped his face in both hands and groaned.
"I hate my life..."
They sat and ate their meals beneath the gazebo as the day wore on, the fur-covered members of the family needing an escape from the sun. The afternoon marched into evening, and those who partook began to turn a little wobbly.
Maddie ordered the guys to tidy up, though they decided to leave the gazebo up for the next evening. Miles crashed on the sofa, the novice drinker unused to more than one or two drinks at a time. He drooled a little as Maddie kisses him goodnight, then wobbled into the kitchen for more wine. Sonic, ever the teetotaller, laughingly hugged his mother and then retreated upstairs with Tom, heading for the attic.
Sonic grinned as he entered his childhood room. The old racecar bed he'd slept in for so many years had been packed away, ready for the day any Wachowski grandkids might come to stay (Maddie has demanded that Tails send them pictures of his 'girlfriend', adding further to the Fox's embarrasment), but other than that the room remained the same as it always had. Tom stood beside the hedgehog, a hand rested on his shoulder.
"It's good to have you back, kid."
"It's good to be back, donut lord..." Sonic replied happily.
" How long you panning on staying this time? "
Sonic shrugged. "Few days, maybe a week... If that's okay, I mean. We don't wanna intrude for too long.
Tom chuckled. "How could you ever be an intruder in your own home? We love it when you two come to stay!"
There was a brief pause, as Sonic chewed his lip in thought.
"Maybe next time..." The hedgehog said inquisitively, "You guys could come to us? Meet everyone back on Mobius? That is, if you're comfortable crashing on an alien planet for a few days?"
Tom nodded warmly. "would love to, kiddo. We'll see what we can do."
The two stood in silence, as the night fell, happy to be together again. Then they joined in a tight hug.
"Love you, dad."
" Love you, son. "