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When Sonic and Shadow had told Maddie that they wanted to make a ‘nest’ in the corner of her and Tom’s bedroom, which they and their brothers wanted to sleep in tonight, she’d had no idea what to expect. In her mind, she’d pictured a bird’s nest, complete with branches, leaves and whatever the two hedgehogs could scrounge up from the yard. With that mental image, she’d been reluctant to allow it, knowing how hard it would be to clean up later, but it was so rare for them to actually express a desire to do anything these days, so she and Tom had both agreed to it, coming to terms with whatever monstrosity was about to be built in the house.
As it turned out, the reality of their ‘nest building’ was less messy, and far more soft than she’d imagined.
The two hedgehogs and their brothers gathered up every single blanket in the house, including the comforters off every bed apart from Tom and Maddie’s. They used pillows to soften the center, and used the largest blankets to construct walls, keeping the circular shape of a nest. The remaining blankets were piled into the center to be used later.
Tom and Maddie watched them work silently, trying not to laugh at how seriously Sonic seemed to be taking this. He instructed his brothers as they worked, teaching them, utilizing skills that Maddie could only assume had come from Longclaw.
“You guys really slept in a nest the whole time you were gone?” Tails asked, readjusting the pillows in the center.
“Yep.” Sonic said, carrying over another blanket from their pile. “Wasn’t like we could find a mattress out there.”
“Was it not uncomfortable?” Knuckles asked.
Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but Shadow beat him to it.
“It wasn’t terrible.” He said, fixing the walls until they were more even. “It was annoying, digging moss out of our quills every morning, but it kept us warm enough.”
“Moss?” Tom questioned from the bed.
Sonic grinned. “Hey, we had to use something to soften the sticks, and keep ‘em together. Moss, leaves, mud, pretty much anything I could bring back to the hut.”
Maddie’s heart broke just a little, imagining Sonic gathering all these materials alone, making this nest for him and Shadow while his little brother was still fighting for his life.
“I bet it creaked really loud whenever one of you moved.” Tails snickered.
Sonic groaned. “It did.”
Shadow scoffed lightly, shooting Sonic a knowing look. “It wasn’t like we were getting much sleep anyway.”
Sonic tensed a bit at that, but he was quick to laugh it off. “Fair enough.”
Maddie frowned when she noticed it, but she didn’t bring any attention to it. She wouldn’t have been surprised to hear that they’d both been having nightmares during their time away from home. Even before being taken by GUN, Shadow had still had nightmares on good days, and she could only imagine how much worse it had been during such a traumatic time. Though Sonic had never really struggled with nightmares in the same way Shadow had, instead dealing more with an inability to sleep, the things he’d witnessed recently had certainly been enough to fuel quite a few night terrors.
This nest might help a bit with that, though. The boys had slept better in the tent than they had in Tom and Maddie’s bed, and they’d had their whole family close by. Maybe they just needed that little bit of extra support while they recovered.
“I hated waking up and seeing your empty bed every morning.” Tails told Sonic, namesakes drooping unhappily. Quietly, he added, “I still don’t like it. Sometimes, when I wake up, I forget you guys came home.”
Sonic had a guilty look in his eyes as he frowned. “Sorry, I just…”
“I know.” Tails said, giving him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”
“Take whatever time you need to return to the attic. We are happy to wait for you.” Knuckles said, then glanced at Shadow. “Both of you.”
Shadow’s smile was small, but Maddie caught the way his tail flicked behind him, almost a wag.
The boys finished constructing their nest before lying in the center of it, quickly figuring out their positions and getting comfortable within their pile of pillows.
“This is… weirdly nice.” Tails said, curled up on his side near one of the nest’s walls, cradled between blankets and pillows next to Sonic. His namesakes were tucked close to his body like a little blanket.
“I know, right?” Sonic said, grinning. He was lying on his back between Tails and Shadow. “Super warm and cozy.”
“Warmer than the nest in the hut.” Shadow agreed, resting on his stomach between Sonic and Knuckles. “Sonic and I had to stay pressed together all night just to keep warm.”
“How big was the nest in the hut?” Knuckles asked, lying on his side, facing Shadow.
Sonic answered, “A little bit smaller than this, but the walls of it were taller. It took all day to build.”
“How come there were two nests?” Tails asked.
Sonic blinked. “Hm?”
“When I was in the hut, I saw two nests. If you guys were sleeping in the same nest, what was the other one for?”
Sonic’s smile froze on his face, and he glanced up at the ceiling with a faraway look in his eyes. “That- um…” he sighed. “The other one was… Longclaw’s.”
Tails’ ears folded back. “O-Oh.”
“It was too old. We slept in it during the first night, but the twigs were too brittle, and the old nest was cold. I made a new one the next day.”
As far as Maddie knew, this was the most Sonic and Shadow had been willing to talk about their time in the hut since they’d returned home. She shared a look with Tom, and she knew that he was thinking the same thing. They stayed silent, not wanting to disrupt them when they were finally beginning to open up, however long or short the moment would last.
“It was… weird making one without her.” Sonic continued. “That old nest- we made it together, you know?”
“It must have been very strange to be there without her.” Knuckles commented in a knowing tone.
Sonic shrugged. “I mean, I wasn’t really thinking about it much. Those first few days, maybe, but I was more worried about Shadow.”
Shadow shifted just a bit closer to Sonic, purposefully bumping the side of his head against Sonic’s shoulder.
“It was… kind of terrifying, being out there alone.” Sonic said, voice dropping to a near-whisper. “But I’d do it all over again if I had to.” He glanced to Shadow, and his smile returned, small and fragile, but real. “I would’ve spent years in that hut if it meant protecting you.”
Shadow made a wounded sound in the back of his throat, and in the blink of an eye, he was turning on his side to throw himself into Sonic’s arms, head tucked under Sonic’s chin. He caught Shadow easily, like he’d done it a hundred times before.
Their brothers were quick to join the embrace, wrapping around the two hedgehogs protectively, as if they were shielding them from the outside world.
Maddie rested her head on Tom’s shoulder, both of them watching their kids with pride in their eyes. Their resilience was something she was constantly amazed by. Even facing one horror after another, they always ended up back here, safe, home, curled up together, ready to protect each other from whatever the universe would throw at them next.
Tom suddenly chuckled under his breath, turning his head to whisper to Maddie, “Cuddle puddle.”
She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Her boys looked so sweet like this, and she didn’t want to disturb them.
She was just about to stand up, wanting to get ready for bed, but she paused when she noticed Shadow’s quills bristling, seeming to shift a bit.
Slowly, the bent ends began lowering toward his back, flattening just a bit more than Sonic’s quills usually did. Without the sharpened points acting as natural defense, Shadow looked that much more small and child-like.
Maddie gasped softly when she noticed it. She’d only ever seen him let his guard down like this once, and he’d been asleep for it. Letting himself fully relax hadn’t been a conscious decision last time, but now, surrounded by his brothers in the little nest they built, he was finally allowing himself to let down his walls.
He was allowing himself to feel safe.
Maddie wasn’t the only one to notice it, as Tails lifted his head to rest his chin on Sonic’s arm, staring directly at Shadow’s quills with a curious expression on his face.
“What happened to your quills?” Tails asked.
“My quills?” Shadow blinked. “Is something wrong with them?”
“They are lowered.” Knuckles said, sounding surprised by this development, but not confused by it.
With a frown, Shadow lifted one of his paws, stroking over his own quills to feel the difference. His shoulders tensed when he realized what had happened, and glanced to Sonic with a panicked look, quills beginning to bristle again like they would raise back up.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Sonic soothed with a gentle smile. “It’s a good thing. Don’t worry.”
Shadow still looked concerned, but he let his quills relax again, tension gradually melting from his muscles. “…I don’t understand.”
“It’s a hedgehog thing.” Sonic explained. “Our quills get all spiky when we feel like we need to protect ourselves, and they go flat again when we feel safe.”
“Oh.” Shadow’s frown deepened. “Is it… bad that mine never look like yours?”
Maddie felt her heart clench.
“I wouldn’t call it ‘bad’.” Sonic said with a shrug. “It’s not really something that’s easy to control, so don’t worry about whether they’re spiky or not. Just… let ‘em do their thing, y’know?”
Shadow seemed to settle down at the answer, once again relaxing in Sonic’s arms. His quills stayed flattened, and he looked calmer than he had in a while. It was the same peace Maddie had seen during their camping trip, but it was different now. Stronger.
Home was becoming safe again.
It was clear to Maddie that the boys were all ready for bed. They’d already had dinner and brushed their teeth, already watched a movie they’d seen a hundred times before, slowly but surely falling back into their routines.
Tom and Maddie tried to be quiet as they got themselves ready for bed as well, listening to the boys’ quiet voices as they continued to talk. Maddie couldn’t quite make out the words anymore, but she thought she heard an annoyed groan from Knuckles and a quiet giggle from Tails.
By the time they were finished, Shadow and Tails had both fallen asleep already, while Sonic and Knuckles looked like they were minutes away from joining them. At some point, they’d all covered themselves in blankets, and Maddie couldn’t help but smile when she noticed the way Tails had buried himself in his own blanket entirely, with only his namesakes sticking out from under the edge.
Tom and Maddie whispered good nights to the two boys that were still awake, receiving their own sleepy replies. They got into bed and turned the bedside lamp off, listening to the soft sounds of the boys’ quiet breaths.
***
At some point in the middle of the night, Maddie awoke to the sound of something warping nearby. When she opened her eyes, adjusting to the darkness with the small amount of moonlight that bled through the windows, she spotted a small bundle of quills lying between her and Tom.
She laughed quietly, realizing Shadow must have teleported directly into their bed. She ran her hand over the little quill ball, waiting for him to uncurl.
His eyes peeked out from within his quills, wet with silent tears, but not glowing red, which she saw as improvement.
“Nightmare?” She asked quietly, not wanting to wake the others.
He nodded, ears pinning to his head.
She lifted her arm and whispered, “Come here, baby.”
He finally uncurled, shuffling forward until he was lying in Maddie’s arms. She stroked his quills, smiling when she felt that they were still flat against his back. She pressed a kiss to his forehead, and felt a silent rumble building in Shadow’s chest.
This was nothing like the sleepless nights she’d spent worrying about the two hedgehogs, nothing like the weeks spent wondering if she’d ever even see Shadow alive again.
Going back to sleep was easy now, lulled by Shadow’s purrs and the knowledge that her boys were all safe, securely tucked away in a soft little nest in the corner of the room.