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Dash wiggled in his seat as she watched his mom set up the computer in his room. It was a special one that his mom, Amy Rose, had Uncle Tails made for him. It was little more than what it seems but Dash didn’t care because all this was going to be used for was for one thing- calling his dad, Sonic the Hedgehog.
“Alright, that should do it!” Amy wiped her forehead as she powered on the device.
Dash sat on the edge of his seat as the screen turned on, reading the home screen. Amy clicked a button with the ‘call’ sign on it with her finger. She typed in a number and a ring started to sound off. It was a few agonizing moments before the screen changed from black and switched on to show a very familiar blue hedgehog.
“DAD!” Dash practically jumped out of his seat. Amy had to quickly grab him so he wouldn’t fly into the very expensive and custom-made computer.
“Hey, how’s it going my speedy lil’ buddy?” Sonic waved. “How long has it been since our last chat?”
“Couple months.” Amy rolled her eyes.
“Wow, that long? Oops.” Sonic let out an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry bud!”
“It’s fine, dad! we’re chatting now!” Dash’s tail started to wag, Amy just chuckled and shook her head.
“Wouldn’t miss our birthday chats for all the chili dogs in the world.” Sonic smiled.
“Sonic, I need you to- Oh. is it one of those days?” A voice came from off screen. A familiar voice.
Amy tensed up immediately, she tried to keep an even expression but it was hard too. Dash bit his lower lip, sensing his mother’s change in attitude. Sonic however, did not catch on or he chose not to acknowledge it.
“Jet! perfect timing, I’m just having a chat with my son. It’s his birthday, come say hi.” Sonic gestured for the figure to come into view.
A green hawk stepped into view, because Sonic was sitting down, Jet had to lean down just to get in frame. Amy balled up a fist when she saw the green hawk, face contorting into a sour expression. Jet shot Amy a look before glancing back at Sonic. The blue hedgehog seemed to fail to read the tension building on the call that was plainly obvious to Dash. He just hoped his mother didn’t end the call early. Like she did a couple months ago.
“Say hi Jet!” Sonic elbowed the hawk in the side.
Jet scoffed before giving a weak wave. “Hi Dash, happy 6th birthday. Hi Amy.”
Amy took a deep breath in before forcing a smile. “Hello Jet. Lovely to see you.”
“Yep, nice to see you too.” Jet said flatly.
A sort of hush came over the call with Amy glaring daggers at Jet. Dash is uncomfortable as she shifts in his seat. Dash never liked it when his dad would bring Jet into their calls. It always either ended with Amy screaming at the both of them and ending the call early or Jet would leave and his dad would end the call just to go after him. Dash didn’t want his birthday call to be ruined again.
“Ah, well, Amy! How's the cafe doing?”Sonic moved away from Jet, sitting a little farther from the green hawk.
“Fine, doing well enough to support myself and OUR son.” Amy's words dripped venom as she spoke. “It’s doing so well you can stop sending your pity money.”
“Nice, then can you send it back? since you obviously don’t need OUR money to get by.” Jet’s words knocked the wind out of Sonic and forced Amy to express shock as she put a hand on her chest.
Not wanting to ruin her son’s call any further, she proceeded to calm herself down. “So lovely to see you two, hope you’re both very happy.”
Amy got up and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Dash watched his mother leave and winced when she slammed the door. Behind him, Dash can hear his father talking to Jet very quietly.
“What’s wrong with you? Why did you have to say that?” Sonic hissed as he whispered.
“Maybe don’t bring me onto a call with your ex-wife next time.” Jet snapped back.
“You are insuff-” Sonic saw Dash turn back to the call. “Hey! well, that it’s just us- how’s it going bud?”
Dash looked down at his fingers on the desk, tapping them as he spoke. “FIne.”
“That’s great! Did you do anything interesting in school?” Sonic kept a forced smile on his face as he tried to salvage this call.
“No, not really.” Dash took a quick glancing up at the screen.
“Great!” Sonic drummed his fingers on his desk. Suddenly he got an idea. “Hey Dash, I was going to wait til christmas to get you this but I figured you deserved to see your gift early.”
Dash perked up at the mention of a gift. “A gift? what is it?”
“I put it away somewhere, hang on, I'll go get it.” Sonic got up but then stopped.
He looked at his son and down at his seat before smiling. He grabbed Jet by the collar of his jacket and pulled him down on his seat.
“Jet will keep you entertained, be back!” Sonic speeded out of there before Jet could even protest.
Jet sighed heavily and snuck into his chair. The two didn’t really speak, hoping Sonic would be back soon. As the silence went on, Dash stared at Jet. The green hawk either didn’t care enough to call him out or just wasn’t paying attention to him. Dash could feel contempt welling up inside of him. Dash always felt a certain amount for Jet, he didn’t understand why his dad always insisted on bringing him into their conversations. He wasn’t ever going to see Jet anymore as then just the problem that caused this.
“It’s kind of late, did you have a birthday party before calling?” Jet asked.
Dash nodded. “Yeah, had a big party.”
“Nice, kids your age should have big parties.”
“Yeah.” Dash agreed, looking down at his hands.
Jet twiddled his thumbs as he tried to think of another topic. “Soooo, how fast can you run?”
“...” Dash frowned, keeping his gaze down.
“Can you run as fast as your dad?” Jet leaned forward, trying to look interested to engage Dash.
Dash finally had enough, he slammed his fists down on the desk. “Why does my dad always force us to talk?”
Jet was startled by the sudden outburst from this 6 year old. He thought over the question since the little hedgehog sounded serious.
Jet shrugged. “Sometimes, I wonder why too.”
Dash scrunched his face up. “I don’t like you, you’re mean to my mother and my father loves you so much that I don’t understand it.”
“I’m only mean because Amy treats me like shit. Don’t see why I shouldn’t return the favour.” Jet leaned back in the chair, not really liking this child acting like a brat all of a sudden.
“She hates you because you ruined my life!” Dash screamed, slamming his fists on the desk again.
While Jet would just let this kid have his temper tantrum, he sat up and narrowed his eyes. “What did you say?”
“You ruined my parent’s marriage and you took my dad away!” Dash cried tears starting to form.
“Oh.”Jet sneered. “Is that what you were told?”
“It’s the truth! you forced him to choose you! You’re the reason I don’t have a dad anymore!”
“Hey I’m back!” Sonic’s voice came through off screen.
Before the blue hedgehog could come into frame, Jet rose up from his seat. “Sonic, can I talk to you about something?”
Dash could see either the Blue hedgehog or the Green hawk anymore but he did hear their argument. They were speaking low but they weren’t out of earshot of the computer.
“I always wondered what you told that kid of your’s about me, I wondered why he was so bitter- now I know.” Jet’s voice was struggling to be kept at a low volume.
“I mean, kids say the darndest things. He's still trying to get used to the arrangement.” Sonic sounded very defensive.
“Really? So he just happened to have told me that I took you away. I forced you to leave your family. I'M the reason you don’t have custody anymore?”
There was a brief moment of silence before Dash could hear the faintest of his father’s voice. “I… I might have bent the truth a bit.”
“‘A bit’ so slandering me just so you can have a better relationship with your son is ‘A bit.’” Jet barked. “So throwing me under the axle for decisions YOU made is completely fine?”
“Babe please, can’t we talk about this later?” Sonic tried to plead, his voice barely audible.
“Don’t ‘babe’ me. I put up with a lot of shit from you, how is it that after all this time- I’M the one who grew up.” Jet took a deep breath. “Now you can either get over there and tell him the truth or you can get the hell off my airship.”
There was another brief pause of silence before both Jet and Sonic walked into view. Sonic sat down on the chair with Jet standing behind him, arms crossed but their head obscured from view. Sonic looked nervous as he was looking everywhere but at the screen. Eventually after some nudging by Jet’s elbow. Sonic spoke.
“Hey uh, I got some things to tell you buddy.”
Dash frowned, he heard their conversation but he still couldn’t believe it. His father wasn’t a liar. He was Sonic THE hedgehog, world class hero. Heroes don’t lie…
Sonic sighed heavily. scratching the back of his neck. “Look Dash, I haven’t exactly been truthful to you.”
“... What do you mean?”
‘I… I haven’t told you the whole truth about why Amy and I divorced and why I haven’t seen you for a whole year.” Sonic turned his head slightly to look at Jet. The green hawk gestured to him to go on.
“...you lied to me?” Dash felt his heartbreak. “So then what’s the truth!?”
“Yes, I lied. And Dash, the truth of the matter is that, well…” Sonic stalling but the truth had to come out. “I cheated on Amy.”
Those words hit Dash like a ton of bricks. He’s heard of cheating from his other classmates. How someone’s mom or dad didn’t love their partner anymore so they ran away with their lover. Dash believed his father when he said Jet was the one who tore their family apart. He wanted to believe his father was given no choice but- deep down, Dash always knew. Dash started to tear up, lowering his head into hands. Sonic tried to reach out to comfort him but forgot that there was a screen that separated him. Sonic let his son cry it out, allowing him to gather the courage to continue.
“Before you start asking if it’s your fault- It’s not.” Sonic knew his son well enough to know that Dash was pretty quick to lay blame on himself. “It had nothing to do with you. I loved you so much it’s just… I just didn’t love your mom anymore.”
“How’s that even better? Do you hate my mom so much?” Dash cried. “What did mom do to deserve this?”
“You got the wrong idea! Amy didn’t do anything, she’s a great friend and I loved her once but, I just- I don’t-” Sonic threw his head in his hands. “I don’t know, I can't find the words.”
Dash stared at the screen, teary eyed where he looked at this dad and the looming figure of Jet. “Are you just doing this just for my sake? If I wasn’t born or.. if I didn’t ask to see you… Would you have stayed gone? With him?”
Sonic’s head snapped up from his hands, shocked at what son was saying. “No! Of course not! Dash, I tried for the entire year to get in contact with you. I fought tooth and nail for Amy to even let me speak to you. I never wanted to abandon you but-”
Dash saw Jet’s hand placed on top of Sonic’s shoulder as Jet leaned into view. “Look, kid, I don’t know what my word means to you but it’s true. For the entire year Amy kicked Sonic out, he’s been calling day and night just to try and speak to you. He even tried to bug friends to ask about you and how you were doing.”
Dash bit his lip, he didn’t know what to believe, after it now coming out that his dad has been lying to his face this whole time and even told lies before his mom kicked him out of the house. He’s mixed on Jet now but he just wants to cling to any truth he can find.
“Look kid, your dad is a sack of shit. a lying, cheating bastard that likes to throw his current lover under the bus- but he’s not a bad father.” Jet’s words caused Sonic to be taken aback but just how reassuring he was. “Take it from me but as much as he is pathetic- he has never shut up about you for the entire year. He told me multiple stories about you. All your firsts and even embarrassing bath time stories.”
Dash’s face briefly contorted to horror. Jet chuckled at this. “Yeah, he chatted my damn ear about you. So, cheating bastard as he may be- but he’s not like the others, he’s actually trying to still be a good dad.”
Dash shifted in his chair uncomfortably. He was unsure how to take Jet’s word. He wasn’t even entirely sure if the Hawk can be trusted but when he looked at the screen, seeing the love and adoration his dad looked at him with- it had to be true.
“... What about mom?” Dash asked, wondering how she factored into this.
Sonic shrugged, an awkward smile as he spoke. “I don’t know, Amy and I are just going to have to find a way to make this work. I may not have custody of you but I still want to be a good dad.”
Dash let himself smile, wiping his tears away. “Okay… Jet?”
“Yeah?”
“... Does my dad make you happy?” Dash leaned into the screen, trying to emphasize the seriousness of his question.
Jet tilted his head to the side, thinking on it. with how long it was taking Jet to answer, Sonic scoffed. “Gee, thanks Jet!”
Jet just chuckled. “Yeah, even before I found out he was a lying, cheating scumbag-”
“You are never going to let me live that down.” Sonic sighed.
“-He makes me plenty happy. And I like to think I make him happy.” Jet allowed himself to nuzzle his forehead against the blue hedgehog. “Don’t worry about your little head. I’m taking good care of your dad.”
Dash couldn’t help but smile. As much as he was still conflicted about Jet, he can clearly see that there is love there. “So- dad, what did you want to show me before?”
Sonic’s eyes lit up as he pushed Jet out of the way and grabbed something off screen. Sonic held up a mini Extreme Gear board. Dash was stunned before the widest smile ever creeped onto his face.
“You got me a board?!”
“Even better! I had Wave- Jet’s mechanic- make it from scratch for you. It is a custom made, Babylon standard board!” Sonic looked so pleased with himself. “When Christmas rolls around, Jet and I can show you how to ride it! and if Amy allows it- we’ll take you riding with us!”
Suddenly the idea of Jet being in his life as well wasn’t so bad. Dash nodded his head. “I can’t wait for Christmas then!”
Just then, Amy opened the door to Dash’s room. “Dash, time for bed. Say goodbye to dad.”
“Okay mom!” Dash turned back to the screen. “Sorry, I have to go now. Can we call again soon?”
“Sure buddy, whenever you want.” Sonic smiled. “I’ll be here for you.”
With that, Dash switched off the computer. Giving a big sigh as for the first time since his parent’s divorce- things were looking up for the little Hedgehog.