Could It Be? ((Part 27))

~Sonic's POV~

I listened to what the nurse said... "Well..." She frowned, eyeing her clipboard... "Everything was able to be fixed for the most part... but for the baby... I am so sorry to say but there just... wasn't one."

The door then opened and poked Shadow's head... I fought back tears as he came inside and took a seat beside me... We'd done this before it felt like... He took my hand and the nurse began to explain that the most appropriate answer that the doctor had was it was basically like a miscarriage... Just really early in the pregnancy... Once the nurse left together Shadow and I mourned for our child... We spent a few days at the hospital a few days before eventually we were discharged... Leaving with heavy hearts we barely exchanged words... We picked Maria up who was worried sick about the both of us... She then noticed the bandages that Shadow had across his eyebrow and pointed them out... Shadow then proceeded to tell our little angel that he had to go save me but everything was fine in the end... We had to lie to her about the baby though... Because that was the first thing she asked me when we left Amy's...

"Daddy?" She was in Shadow's arms as we walked side by side... I gave her a sweet smile before answering.

"Yes, Maria?"

"How is the baby?"

My heart broke as Shadow and I exchanged a quick look... Then I made up an excuse... "Oh... It's fine sweetheart... It's just asleep right now.. and we don't know when it'll wake up..."

She bought it...

A few months went by and together Shadow and I healed over time... However there would always be a little hole within our hearts for our child we lost... And it didn't make it any better as our friends left and right began surprising us with news of their own personal pregnancies... Rouge and Knuckles were expecting... Blaze and Silver were expecting... The only ones that weren't was Tails and Cream... But only because they were still young and had their lives ahead of them...

Eventually, I felt comfortable enough to try for another baby... But I was a nervous wreck in the bedroom... However though while everybody else was getting ready for parenthood for the first time... We got lucky again; however I worried about who the father was... I just hoped that it was Shadow... If I carried Mephiles' child full-term... I don't know what I'd do...

A few days went by after we announced our pregnancy again... Shadow and I were together in the living room late one night, watching something that I couldn't exactly remember, obviously nothing important that I couldn't remember the exact details about... We heard a shriek come from upstairs and I was the first one up the stairs and into Maria's room... If Mephiles showed up again I knew I was going to fight back this time... I didn't care how cramped it was in this room... Shadow ran in right after me and he flicked on the lights... Maria hid under her covers and slowly uncovered her tear stained face...

"There's a monster under my bed!" She cried out... Shadow forced me aside and knelt down, peering underneath her bed... I was expecting him to yank out Mephiles but all he pulled out was a lost glove... I sighed in relief and gave a nervous chuckle.

"...Oh, man.." I sighed, placing a hand on my chest, exhaling hard...

"...." Shadow sighed, standing up, his knuckles white as he clutched the glove tightly... We didn't exchange words on what we thought it was... but I knew we both thought Mephiles decided to drop by again to say hello... Or something worse... Our daughter then spoke up to break the silence...

"C-can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked, frightened obviously...

"...Of course." Shadow said gently. He then looked over at me, his face softening. "It's late anyways... and I feel slightly more comfortable by the idea of Maria sleeping with us anyways..."

"..Same..~" I said with a smile...

Within a few minutes, the three of us climbed into bed and Shadow wrapped his arms around  Maria and me... I felt my nerves melt away until I felt finally calm... I listened to Maria's little snores before I eventually fell asleep, gently holding onto Shadow's arm in my sleep... Together we created a blockade around our daughter...