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“Where’s Rouge the Bat?!” a black and red hedgehog demanded.
He had just returned from a lengthy but relatively mundane mission when he received word that his fellow agent had been admitted to the on-base hospital. Within seconds of hearing the news, he arrived at the reception counter with a blast of chaos energy, leaving the entire staff surrounding him in utter bewilderment.
The woman at the desk began hurriedly typing on her keyboard to pull up the information he needed. “What’s your relationship to the patient?”
“You know damn well what my relationship to her is!” the hedgehog snapped, using his hover shoes to gain height to stare the poor woman down.“I’m her husband!”
“Oh, right, of course," The receptionist said, looking back to her computer. “She’s on the fourth floor, down the hall, and to the left. You can just stay in the waiting room. Someone will be out to talk with you shortly.”
Not wanting to cause any more of a scene, the hedgehog gave a thankful nod to the receptionist before gliding off toward the nearby elevator. Chaos control would’ve been quicker, but he needed a moment to take in everything. In his rush to get to her, he’d neglected to ask anyone why Rouge was brought here in the first place. Now, he stood in a crowded elevator, running down all the possibilities, each worse than the last. More than anything, he was left wondering why he even went on that mission in the first place.
Once he arrived upstairs, his attention turned to the giant E-series robot standing in the waiting room's middle. The robot’s mechanical eyes lit up when he saw the frantic hedgehog approaching him.
“SHADOW, I BROUGHT ROUGE HERE AS SOON AS I COULD.”
“As soon as you could?” Shadow asked, still fuming from the lack of answers given to him. “Omega, what’s wrong with her!?”
“SHE CONTACTED ME, BEGGING ME TO BRING HER TO THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE SHE WAS LOSING THE BABY.” Omega paused, so the hedgehog standing beside him could process the information. “I FOUND HER ON THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR, TERRIFIED AND IN GREAT PAIN. THERE WAS A LOT OF BLOOD.”
Shadow struggled to gather his thoughts together to form a coherent response. Before he could get even a single word out, he fell to his knees onto the linoleum floor. He didn’t want to stand. He didn’t even want to look up at his robot friend. More than anything, he didn’t want any of this to be happening.
It didn’t make any sense. Two weeks ago, Rouge was perfectly fine. Sure, her back ached, her ankles swelled, and her mood was all around erratic. Still, the doctors assured them that those were just typical pregnancy-related issues. The only strange thing about her pregnancy up to that point was the child she was carrying. A child fathered by an alien hedgehog hybrid artificially created in a lab fifty years ago aboard the Space Colony Ark. A child fathered by the ultimate life form, who, seven months ago, didn’t even think he could have biological children.
He still remembered the last moments they spent together before he left on his mission. Rouge embraced him, tightly, and gave him a brief Eskimo kiss (the first kind of kiss he ever got from her.) He didn’t want her to let go, even if her round belly made it difficult to wrap his arms around her waist. But she urged him to get going, reminding him that it would only be two weeks and that they could still keep in touch whenever they had free time. Although neither were able to find much free time—Rouge continued to work for both G.U.N. and the president, albeit at a much more limited capacity—Shadow always looked forward to their short long-distance conversations. They were a reminder that he’d be returning home to her, his close companion of over a decade, now his wife and the soon-to-be mother of his child.
Today was the day he was supposed to reunite with the bat. Instead, he was kneeled over on the hospital waiting room, numb to his surroundings, wishing he’d never left her embrace two weeks before.
An indiscrete amount of time passed before Shadow felt a cold metallic hand brush over his quills. Although he still refused to look up off the floor, he could tell who it was.
“ROUGE IS VERY STRONG, EVEN THOUGH SHE IS JUST A NORMAL BAT. SHE WILL BE ALRIGHT.”
A small sigh was Shadow’s only response. Omega was right. Both of them had fought alongside Rouge long enough to know that was true. Still, neither knew if her body would be strong enough to carry a child with Black Arms D.N.A. Even two weeks ago when everything was going smoothly, the doubts always weighed on Shadow’s mind. Now, all his worst fears continued to play in his head, just as they did on his way upstairs.
Before Shadow could say anything else, he was suddenly lifted off the floor by the E-series robot and plopped into one of the empty waiting room chairs.
“THIS IS BETTER THAN THE FLOOR, SHADOW. YOU COULD BE HERE A WHILE.”
Once again, Omega was right; well, at least, about the chair. Because it only took ten minutes of contemplative thought for Shadow to get some more answers.
“Mr. Hedgehog?” An older man in surgical scrubs called out from across the waiting room.
Shadow headed in his direction, unsure as to whether or not he’d met this particular doctor. After having to bring Rouge here every other week or so, the staff's names and faces had started to blend. Either way, he stood beside the man, waiting for him to spill all the details.
“Well, first thing’s first, congratulations,” The man pulled down his mask to reveal the warm smile he had on his face, “you have a beautiful baby girl.”
“A girl…” Shadow trailed off a bit. Though he didn’t realize it at first, he was smiling harder than he ever had in his entire life. It wasn’t until he saw the man's knowing look that he quickly reverted to his usual stern expression.
Even though he and Rouge had decided not to know the sex, Shadow had always suspected that it was a girl, especially after he first felt her moving. Her fast but strong kicks reminded him so much of her mother’s signature style of combat. This short memory brought him back to the reality of the situation, which caused the remaining light in his expression to vanish.
“What about Rouge?” Shadow felt a slight pain in his chest as he asked.
The man in scrubs cleared his throat before easing the black hedgehog's mind. “Rouge is still being looked after in intensive care. She lost quite a lot of blood on the way to the hospital,” his glance turned towards Omega, who was still standing alone in the middle of the waiting room, “I’ve gotta be frank with you, Mr. Hedgehog. If that robot hadn’t brought her in as fast as he did, I don’t think she would’ve made it.”
Shadow was left conflicted and unable to respond. He wanted to feel relief, but instead, an overwhelming sense of guilt washed over him. Just the thought of Rouge on the verge of death, while he was overseas dealing with a fairly routine mission, was enough to make him sick.
Upon noticing the hedgehog’s visual distress, the man in scrubs continued to speak. “The good news is, we expect her to make a full recovery.”
Suddenly, the relief Shadow expected to feel set in. But he was still unable to think of a proper response. The rollercoaster of emotions subjected upon him today was beginning to rival the moment he finally remembered the true promise he’d made to Maria, as the Ark was falling on a collision course to Earth. It even rivaled the moment when he remembered that he was, indeed, the ultimate life form, right before destroying the evil entity that played an integral role in his creation. After a brief minute, Shadow simply replied with, “Thank you, doctor.”
The man nodded. “You’ll be able to see Rouge once she wakes up from the anesthesia. In the meantime, would you like to see your daughter?”
“My daughter…” Shadow silently mouthed the phrase to himself. It felt so surreal coming from him. “Yes, bring me to her.”
The man stepped forward, directing the hedgehog to follow. Before Shadow did, he looked back at Omega, still standing by himself. The robot looked back at him, slightly intrigued. “Is it alright if Omega comes with me? He’s my family, too.”
The warm smile from earlier returned to the man’s face. “Of course.”
The entire way over, they warned him that she would be small, fragile, and in constant need of care. They told him not to be too shocked by her appearance; that she wouldn’t look like a regular newborn.
Shadow honestly didn’t know what to expect. He never did. The fact that he could even have children still baffled him to this day, even after all the tests they performed that confirmed it was possible. And the alien part of his genetics made it impossible to know how a child of his would look if it even survived after birth. His daughter was never going to be a regular newborn, even if she wasn’t born two months early.
Still, when the team of nurses stepped away from the incubator, Shadow felt his heart sink deep into the pit of his stomach. The baby bat was so tiny, and the tubes that hooked her up to the giant surrounding machines and monitors made her look even smaller. She had her eyes shut tight while she cried out helplessly, too quiet for anyone to hear. Shadow continued to look at her, causing a few tears to well up in the corners of his eyes. He wanted to get her out of that incubator and hold her tight, never letting go. But he didn’t want to risk harming the little girl by doing that. Instead, he just stood there, staring down at his child while the tears flowed freely down his cheeks.
Omega, who’d been standing next to the hedgehog the entire time, could sense the longing in his friends eyes. Immediately, he signaled for the lead doctor to come over.
“SHADOW WOULD LIKE TO HOLD HIS OFFSPRING!”
The lead doctor, an older woman carrying a clipboard, tapped her pen to her chin. “It might be a little too soon for that.”
“THAT WASN’T A QUESTION!” Omega scolded, turning one of his arms into a homing gun.
“Hey, calm down!” The clipboard soon fell to the floor, scattering papers around the woman’s feet. She didn’t notice, as she was too busy calling for the rest of her team. “We’re gonna get everything sorted out.”
Pretty soon, Shadow was seated in a chair pulled up to the incubator. Omega stood to his left while two nurses stood to his right if something were to go wrong. The hedgehog barely noticed any of them, as he was too fixated on the little bat nestled against his chest, not much larger than one of his hands. He’d brushed away his tears from earlier, though he was sure a few more may have slipped out when his daughter was first handed to him. Besides, he didn’t particularly care about maintaining his usual demeanor. Right now, he was busy trying to comfort the whimpering baby in his arms.
“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered to her while looking around at all the intimidating machines connected to the baby, “I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you.”
The little bat struggled to open her eyes before immediately closing them, still sensitive to the ceiling lights. In the few seconds that she had them open, Shadow could tell that they were red, like his own. They matched the red streaks on her arms and legs, the corners of her eyes, and her ears' tips. Her tiny wings even had a slight red tint to them. Aside from that, she was mostly dark gray with a few lighter tufts on her head. As surreal as this whole thing still was to Shadow, there was no mistaking it. She was, indeed, his child.
Omega bent down slightly to get a closer look at the baby, held securely in his friend’s arms. “WHAT DO I CALL THIS SMALL CREATURE?”
Shadow didn’t respond for a bit. He’d had a name in mind for a while now, but now just wasn’t the right time to reveal it. Instead, he explained that “Rouge needs to see her before we can give her a name.”
“UNDERSTOOD.” Omega took two steps back, to provide some additional space for Shadow and his daughter. “I WILL REMIND YOU BOTH LATER.”
“Shadow?” a faint yet familiar voice called out.
On cue, the hedgehog slowly entered the room and headed towards the bed where his wife lay. The closer he got to her, the more he couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. Granted, she wasn't exactly looking the best at the moment—baggy eyes, disheveled fur, deflated abdomen which previously housed their daughter, blue hospital gown that, no doubt, concealed an incision scar. Even with all that, the bat was still just as lovely to him as before. Now, six hours after Shadow had returned from his mission, the couple would finally be reunited.
As soon as he got close to her bedside, Rouge reached out to hold his hand. Shadow took it immediately, still struggling to maintain his composure in her presence.
“Long time, no see.” She said, meekly, before giving a knowing smirk.
With that, Shadow lost it. Soon, he was draped over the bed, tightly hugging his wife. “Oh, Rouge, I thought I’d never see you again.”
Rouge was a bit taken aback by the sudden embrace. She winced slightly, still sore from the C-section. Upon realizing he was causing her pain, the hedgehog reluctantly let go. Instead, he opted to lay beside her on the bed.
That’s when his wife noticed the tear remnants that remained on his cheeks.“Have you been…crying?”
“Kind of..." Shadow muttered. Of course, he didn’t want to tell her how much he was crying earlier. He never particularly enjoyed being emotionally vulnerable, even to those closest to him. He didn’t want to think about how many people on staff had seen him like that today.
“Tell me what’s wrong!” She demanded. Unfortunately, after all their years together, Shadow wasn’t the best at hiding his emotions from the bat.
“I…” the hedgehog rested his head on her shoulder, eyes shut, reflecting on everything that transpired since he arrived back from his mission, “I-I didn’t want to lose my family again.”
One more tear fell from his eyes, and Rouge immediately understood what he meant “Shadow,” she whispered, resting her forehead against his, “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
The two of them kissed and then continued to lay together, silently, for a little while, Shadow still resting his head on Rouge’s shoulder.
“You meant what you said, right?” Shadow asked. He kept his eyes shut, not wanting the moment to end.
“Of course. That goes for both me and for…oh my gosh!” Rouge gasped. the hedgehog immediately sat up and saw the panic-stricken look on his wife’s face. “Shadow, what happened to our baby?!”
“Rouge,” Shadow grabbed both her hands in his to calm her down, “the baby is going to be just fine.”
“Really,” her body's tenseness began to subside, “how do you know?”
“There’s an entire team looking after her. They even let me hold her for over an hour.”
The bat’s ears perked at his words. “We have a daughter?”
“Mmmhmm,” Shadow kissed her hands, “and she’s beautiful.”
Rouge just stared at her husband, briefly, before suddenly yanking her hands from his grasp. Shadow felt the bedsheets get pulled out from under him as the bat struggled to sit up. “I’m going to see her.”
Surprised by her apparent boost in energy, Shadow rushed over to the other side of the bed, where she was attempting to stand up. “I don’t think you can stand up just yet.”
“No no, it’s fine,” Rouge said, setting her feet firmly on the ground, “after all, I’ve been walking my entire li—“
As soon as she attempted to step forward, her feet gave out from under her. Shadow immediately rushed in to catch her before she fell to the ground.
Having realized that walking wasn’t going to get her anywhere, Rouge sat down dejectedly on the bed's edge. “Guess I’m not gonna be able to fly anywhere either.”
Shadow shook his head in response. He could tell that she had the same longing look that he had when he first saw their daughter, helpless and alone in her incubator. Once again, he took her hand in his. “I’ll have Omega bring someone over to take you to her. He’s extremely persuasive.”
Unfortunately, Rouge wasn’t able to meet their daughter as quickly as Shadow would’ve liked. Due to the life-threatening complications she’d endured, the doctors wanted to keep a close eye on her condition. Still, after almost two hours, she was finally cleared and, soon enough, all three members of Team Dark were reunited. Shadow and Omega watched on opposite ends of Rouge’s wheelchair as a nurse carefully handed the tiny bat to her mother.
“Hey there, sweet girl. I-I’m your mama!” her voice cracked at the end of the sentence. She stared mesmerized at the baby, held snug against her chest, and, within seconds, broke down into tears. “Shadow, you were right. She’s perfect.”
The hedgehog simply responded by kissing the top of his wife’s head. Soon after, his attention switched to the E-series robot standing next to him. “I never got a chance to say this earlier, Omega, but thank you.”
Omega stared at Shadow, somewhat confused, “IT WAS NOTHING.”
Perhaps, it was a bit silly to expect a heartfelt response from Omega, but Shadow wanted to make sure he understood how grateful he was for his actions. “If you hadn’t brought Rouge here, I could’ve lost both her and our daughter.”
“I WAS ONLY RESPONDING TO HER CALL. THAT IS IT.” the robot turned his attention to the little batgirl in her mother’s arms, “ALRIGHT, YOU TWO HAVE TO NAME HER NOW.”
“Alright, Omega,” Rouge, who’d just pulled herself together, turned to her husband and smiled, “How about…Maria?”
Shadow’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “H-how did you know?”
The bat shook her head. “Shadow, I’m not an idiot. Besides, I think it’s a lovely name.”
“Then it’s settled,” Shadow knelt to look at the baby, “her name is Maria.”