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The concept of having kids still felt relatively new to Tom.
First it was a blue hedgehog with superspeed who became his somewhere between movie nights and donut runs. Then their first kid brought two more– a two tailed fox who loved to build things, and a gruff red echidna who was still learning the concept of a handshake. It wasn’t what he had pictured when he thought about his and Maddie’s future family, but it still felt right. Human or not, they were his kids.
And currently, his kids were sick, miserable blanket bundles.
Tails had been patient zero; he had come into Tom and Maddie’s bedroom while they were getting ready to sleep themselves, namesakes drooping and cheeks flushed beneath his fur. Maddie, being a vet, figured out the problem pretty quickly. They attempted to separate him from the other kids to minimize the likelihood of it spreading, but a household of teenagers spread germs pretty quick. By the next morning, Knuckles had a cough and Sonic was falling asleep at the breakfast table.
Maddie had volunteered to stay home, but a call from the clinic requesting overtime stamped that idea out pretty quickly. Apparently the same bug that was hitting their household was hitting the veterinary staff, and they didn’t have the numbers to let her take off.
That meant the care of the boys fell on Tom.
There wasn’t too much crime in Green Hills with Robotnik gone (for now); the biggest thing they’d had happen since was a suspected home robbery, and it turned out that Mr. Knox had just lost his watch between the couch cushions. Wade could handle the town for a few days.
But the real question was if Tom could handle three sick kids. The most experience he’d had was sitting with Jojo while Rachel was out picking up her medicine, and Maddie had been in the living room the entire time just in case. Now he was standing alone in the living room (well, besides Ozzie panting at him from the couch) trying to figure out what the Hell he was doing.
“Tom?”
He blinked, turning to see Tails padding down the attic steps, rubbing at his eyes sleepily.
“Hey, buddy. You’re supposed to be resting,” Tom bent down to his level, voice softening.
“Got lonely.. And Knuckles won’t stop snoring.”
Tom let out a snort of laughter, “Of course he is. Want me to pick you up?”
Tails nodded sheepishly, looking away and holding up his arms. Tom scooped him up, and the fox immediately burrowed his face into his neck, fur tickling the man’s chin. Tom smiled softly, adjusting his grip a little before fully standing up.
“Well, how about we go check on Sonic and Knux?”
He took the stairs slow. He was wearing socks, and falling down the attic steps while holding one of their sick kids would definitely get him a lecture from Maddie. It was quiet up there, besides the sound of Knuckles snoring (Tails had a valid reason for saying something about it. Tom wasn’t sure if alien echidnas could have sleep apnea, but he’d definitely be asking Maddie about it, cause holy crap he was loud).
Knuckles was sprawled out on his bed, mouth wide open, but otherwise looking somewhat peaceful. He was probably the best off out of the trio; clearly his incredible strength transferred to his immune system, cause he seemed to have caught the light end of it.
Tom’s eyes moved over to Sonic’s bed. For someone with boundless energy, he seemed to lose all of it the moment he got sick. He was curled up in a small ball, racecar blanket loosely wrapped around himself. He didn’t seem to be asleep, eyes still cracked open, but he didn’t really seem present.
“Hey, how’re you feelin?” Tom sat down on the edge of the bed next to him.
Tails immediately tightened his grip as if he were scared he’d be set down. Tom just squeezed him back, rubbing his shoulder for a second before turning back to Sonic. The blue hedgehog blinked, pupils lazily moving to his face, squinting hard.
“D’nut Lord?” Sonic mumbled, voice painfully scratchy.
“Yep,” the cop placed a hand on the top of Sonic’s head, brushing his quills back, “you’re burning up a bit, kiddo.”
“Tired..”
“I can tell.”
Glancing around the room, he started to notice that it may not be the most ideal place for sick kids. While they had beds, the attic was stuffy, which was rough on a healthy respiratory system, let alone an unhealthy one. And based on the way Tails was clinging to his neck, he wouldn’t be too eager to be set down anytime soon, and Tom would need to have access to the kitchen for water and meds. He could theoretically set all of them up in the living room, but it wasn’t the cosiest place at the moment– just a couch with a few throw pillows.
Pillows.
He could make a pillow fort.
Tom felt unreasonably proud over the idea. It wasn’t very original, but it would be (relatively) simple to set up, and hopefully make being sick a little more fun.
“Alright, how about we take a little field trip?”
+++++++
Building the pillow fort was a little harder than Tom had expected. For starters, he had to locate enough pillows to actually build one; even after taking every pillow from every room (Minus the one Knuckles was on top of), he had to add in a few blanket piles to make it work.
The other problem was Tails. The kid was a little clingy to say the least, looking ready to cry whenever Tom went too far. He managed to get the young fox to sit on the couch while he set up, but it took nearly fifteen minutes of gentle coaxing. Thankfully, Tails fell asleep when Tom was nearly done, namesakes curled around himself in a makeshift blanket. Ozzie curled up next to him, and Tom hoped that the dog’s presence would keep him somewhat calm.
After admiring his handiwork for a little more time than he’d care to admit, Tom headed back up the attic stairs. Knuckles was awake now, flipping through a comic book that Sonic had left out. He glanced up when Tom reached the top step, straightening up.
“Lord of the donuts,” He greeted, booming voice was a little scratchy, but overall okay.
“Hey, Knux. Keep it down a little, okay? Tails is sleeping downstairs.”
The echidna nodded solemnly, dropping his voice down to somewhat of a whisper, “Apologies.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tom pressed a hand to his forehead, “You don’t feel too warm. How do you feel?”
Knuckles puffed out his chest with pride,“I do not succumb to minor ailments. I am an echidna warrior, and can persevere through any challenge. A leaking nose shall not defeat me.”
“Okay, so runny nose and mild fever, got it. Anyways, I set up a pillow fort downstairs, are you okay with that? That way I can keep an eye on you guys.”
“Hmm, I am unsure what a ‘pillow fort’ is, but I shall make my way to the common space for your peace of mind.”
“Perfect. You okay with walking down by yourself, or do you need a hand?”
Knuckles scoffed, all though he did wobble a little bit when he first stood up.
“I require no assistance. I shall descend the steps to the fort of pillows and guard the young fox.”
“Okay, just be sure to keep it down. I’ll be there in a bit.”
He watched for a moment as the echidna wrapped his quilt a little tighter around his shoulders before marching down the steps with the regal stoicism of a sick knight.
Two down, one to go.
“Okay, Blue. Time to wake up,” he shook his shoulder gently.
Sonic’s eyes fluttered open, and he let out a small, questioning hum.
“Hey, Tails and Knuckles are downstairs; I made a pillow fort, and we’re gonna watch a movie or two. Feel up to coming down?”
“..M’kay..”
Tom expected him to sit up. What he got was two gloved hands reaching up at him. It definitely wasn’t what he thought would happen. Sonic never asked to be picked up; he was too much of a teenager, and despite only being around 3 feet tall, he fought tooth and nail against being treated as a child. For him to voluntarily ask, he had to be pretty exhausted.
“Alright, kiddo,” Tom scooped him up, making sure he didn’t lose the blanket. “You’re alright, I’ve got you.”
Sonic’s head immediately lulled against his shoulder, little body far too warm. He was a little heavier than Tails, but still light enough that Tom had no problem carrying him down the stairs.
In the fort, Tails seemed to have woken up enough to crawl over next to Knuckles. The red echidna was attempting to work the remote, while Tails sat by him drinking one of the gatorades Tom left out.
The cop sat down next to them, letting out a low groan as his knees protested the movement; he definitely wasn’t getting any younger. As soon as he was sitting, Tails nestled into the space underneath his free arm, effectively trapping him. There was no turning back now. Sonic weakly kicked at the blanket.
“Too hot..” he mumbled.
“Okay, okay, give me a sec,” Tom untangled him and the teen immediately relaxed, slumping back against the man’s chest.
“The hedgehog has succumbed to fever,” Knuckles observed, mouth shifting into a frown.
“He’s just worn out, he’s okay,” Tom reassured, reaching over to grab another drink. “You want some gatorade? We’ve got the grape one.”
“I will accept your offer of the grape flavored juices of hydration,” Knuckles agreed, taking the bottle from Tom’s hands.
“Tails, you wanna choose the movie?”
“Uhm… can we watch the one about the blue alien?”
“Lilo and Stitch?”
The fox nodded eagerly, grinning for the first time since he got sick. Tom smiled back, taking the remote from Knuckles’ extended hand and scrolling through their movie library until he found it. The movie started to play, and Tom watched as they all began to relax.
For the next four hours, Tom Wachowski didn’t move an inch.
He operated entirely in parent mode. Every half hour, he reached for the water bottles and gently coaxed a few sips into whichever kid was awake. He administered the measured liquid medicine with a plastic dropper despite Tails' sleepy protests and Knuckles' deeply suspicious glares. When Sonic's fever spiked slightly around two in the afternoon, causing the blue kid to shiver and mumble half-lucid nonsense, Tom simply pressed a cool, damp washcloth to his forehead and held him closer until the trembling stopped.
By four o'clock, even Knuckles' iron willpower had cracked. The echidna had slowly drifted from his upright warrior posture, slumping sideways until his dreadlocks spilled across Tom's outstretched legs, his soft snores joining Tails' rhythmic breathing. Tom rested his head back against the couch cushions, one hand resting on Knuckles' spiked knuckles, the other gently combing through Sonic's soft, warm quills. His back was stiff, his legs were completely numb, and he had a slight headache from the constant vigilance—but looking down at the three of them, peaceful and safe under the patchwork roof of blankets, he couldn't remember the last time he had felt more useful.
The front door opened at around 5:30, and Maddie slipped in quietly. Ozzie trotted out from the fort to greet her, and Tom was incredibly thankful that it didn’t wake the sleeping kids.
“Hey, how’d it go?” Maddie murmured, leaning over the back of the couch to give Tom a gentle kiss. “They all look pretty wiped out.”
“You know, I was a little nervous, but it wasn’t as catastrophic as it could’ve been.”
Maddie chuckled softly, before smiling at him fondly, “Look at you, super-dad. Seems like you didn’t even need my help.”
“Yeah,” Tom let out a small laugh, gazing at their snoozing kids. “I guess I didn’t.”