Shadow had fallen asleep in Sonic's bed that night. Sonic was snuggling close to Shadow in his arms, snoring away. Shadow thought back to what Rouge had said about the delivery. None of them had any idea how they would do it, and the dangers were pretty high. Shadow tried to shake the thought away and sleep, but his mind wouldn't let him. He was a ball of nerves growing larger by the minute. If only he could relax...

A movement made shadow jump and he looked at Sonic and smiled. The blue hedgehog had shifted in his sleep to snuggle closer. Shadow closed his eyes and tried to do the same but it was no use. He couldn't stop thinking! His mind was full of worries about Sonic and everyone's safety. He hated worrying. He hated caring. It only ever brought him pain.

The memory of Maria cut Shadow like a blade. He would never get over that. He would never fully heal. She was so soft and kind to everyone, and he couldn't save her.

Shadow winced and closed his eyes, seeing her face. He glared at the mental image, willing it to leave. The odd thing was, his mind went to Maria more often now than it had ever before. Perhaps it was all of these sappy emotions going around. Shadow doubted it though.

"Something's bothering you," Sonic mumbled. It wasn't a question, which meant Shadow needed to compose himself and keep his cool. He turned to Sonic and smiled softly, "How's the baby?"

Sonic's hand moved to his stomach, which was slowly starting to expand. In a few weeks they will need a perfected plan. This worried Shadow, but he tried not to show it.

"Just fine."

Shadow kissed Sonic softly on the forehead and snuggled closer to the blue hedgehog. They would have to leave the room soon. Sonic needed a check up with Omega and Shadow had a lot of planning to do. Both would have much preferred to stay there forever. However, Shadow knew they couldn't.

They reluctantly got out of bed and exited the room. Knuckles and Rouge were sitting in the kitchen quietly conversing. They had slowly gotten over the little emerald problem a while ago. Rouge gave up her thieving ways and worked to gain his trust. It was a long hard process, but they eventually came to a building friendship.

"Sonic! How are you feeling?" Amy said as she rushed to the blue hedgehog's side. Sonic and Shadow both rolled their eyes in unison. Sonic had a friendly smile but Shadow didn't. He turned to speak to Rouge, who sent him a small smile.

"Finally up sleepyhead?" She teased, hopping off of the stool. Shadow didn't respond. He jerked his head in the direction of the door, clearly telling her he wanted to speak outside. She nodded, all business, and followed him. The sun was low to the water, spreading golden light stripped with pink. The water reflected this with its sparkle. The scene was beautiful, however, Shadow didn't notice.

"I think we can cut it out if we do it properly," Rouge said before Shadow could say anything. She placed a hand on her hip and stared out at the ocean and sighed, "It's going to be a gamble no matter how we play the cards Shadow. All we can do is plan and strategize as much as we can."

Shadow nodded, his mind reeling in possibilities of complications. He shook the thoughts away. He couldn't afford to think like that, "Who will do the operation?"

Rouge hesitated, "Well, the only one who is capable is Amy..."

Shadow barely resisted the urge to growl under his breath, but he knew Rouge was right. Amy had natural mothering instincts none of the others had. She also might know how to preform a C section. The only thing that bothered Shadow was her love for the blue hedgehog. She might try to claim the child as well, as unpredictable as the pink hedgehog can be at times. The thought nearly angered the onyx hedgehog, but he held his famous, passive expression and nodded to rouge. He crossed his arms and turned to the ocean.

"Shadow..." Rouge said hesitantly. Shadow turned enough to show her he was listening, but didn't face her, "I can't help but notice... you're around Sonic all the time, yu seem to worry about him, and this all seemed to happen ever since the baby came into play."

Shadow panicked slightly. She knew!

"So I was wondering if you have a secret soft side..."

Shadow played dumb and turned to her, "For?"

She grinned in that seductive way of hers, "I think you have a soft side for children."

That wasn't what he'd expected. Shadow held his passive face while his mind took the surprise. Should he correct her, agree with her, or deny it all together?

Her smile widened and her eyes narrowed, "Well?"

Shadow huffed and looked away, "It's my mission and I take it seriously. I find this whole thing to be abnormal and insane. It's crazy scientists like Dr. Erickson that create disasters... like me."

With that, he returned to the house, where the scene had changed. Knuckled was training Tails to box and Amy was conversing with Silver. Sonic was sitting on a stool, inhaling a chili dog. Shadow wanted to go immediately to him, but that would only lead to more suspicion. So he moved to the computer rooom. It was the one room he hadn't seen yet. It was more for Tails. It was full of the latest G.U.N. equipment full of security camera screens, computers, and other mumbo jumbo. Shadow went to the computer and looked up the procedure for C section. The whole thing was complicated and risky. It wasn't a topic you'll find in a manual. So that tosses the chances of finding a C Section For Dummies. After about an hour of reading, Shadow gave up. He wouldn't be able to do this. He may have been created for a medical purpose, but not like this.

Shadow heard the chatter quiet down to whispers and he frowned. Why would they need to be secretive? He moved to the wall and pressed his ear to it, grateful for his super sensitive hearing.

"He said that?" Tails asked with shock.

"He thinks he's a disaster Dr. Gerald Robotnik created and the baby is the same," Rouge said softly. Shadow wasn't sure which part of the sentence was the topic of discussion, Shadow saying he's a disaster, or the baby. He hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Shadow can't say that about Sonic's baby!" Amy said angrily. She acted as if the baby was hers as well and not Shadow's. The onyx hedgehog's anger boiled. He would never say that about his child!

"I'm sure that's not what he meant," Sonic mumbled with uncertainty. UNCERTAINTY!

Shadow stormed out of the room and stopped in front of the concerned crowd with his arms crossed and anger fuming from his body.

Everyone stopped dead and watched him with the same shocked, almost frightened look.

Amy recovered first and stomped to Shadow, pointing a threatening finger in his face, "If you go anywhere near Sonic and his baby-"

Shadow snorted, "You mean my baby? I wouldn't harm either of them."

This shut even Amy up. Shadow noticed the shocked look on Sonic's face, but his anger and hurt brushed it aside. He leaned against the counter while everyone processed this new information. Rouge was the first to recover.

"Well, that explains how you've been acting lately, but how can it be yours Shadow?"

Amy's face went from shocked to challenging instantly. Shadow was finally shocked into reality. Can he really explain this to them? They wouldn't understand! Shadow locked eyes with a frightened Sonic, who suddenly feinted.

Shadow dashed to his side immediately, supporting his head and checking his vital signs. Sonic was fine, and he hadn't hit his head, Shadow had caught him before that happened, "Sonic!"

Sonic's emerald eyes opened and he smiled, "Sorry, felt a little light headed there. I'm fine now."

Shadow frowned, "You need rest. That wasn't a 'little light headed' that was bad news!" He scooped Sonic up and skated to their room, carefully setting him down on the bed.

"I'm fine Shadow, but we need to find an explanation for them," He whispered quickly. Shadow shook his head.

"Let them make their assumptions so long as they don't think me a threat to you."

Sonic nodded and sighed. Shadow stroked the side of Sonic's face and said softly, "You didnt' sound to sure when you defended me."

Sonic pressed Shadow's hand to his face, "I wasn't sure what to think. I was stuck on the part where you called yourself a disaster."

Shadow huffed, "I'm the Ultimate Life Form. I may be something important, but I am still a failure. I was created to save Maria. I have enhanced DNA that-" Just as Shadow was about to work himself up about his failure again, he realized something. His knees gave out as a memory flooded his mind.

"This is incredible! He is a complete success!" Dr. Robotnik beamed at Shadow, who was in a cryotank, but he could still hear.

Black Doom agreed, "Yes, but his DNA was designed specifically for your granddaughter. It would be nothing short of a miracle for his DNA to cooperate with any other source of life. I have done this for a reason. He will never be able to produce offspring. And if he tried, his spouse would die as well."

Shadow came back to the present with a deep fear in his heart. His throat closed up and his heart pounded. They can't remove the child without killing both, but if they don't... They will still die.

Shadow punched the first thing he saw, which happened to be a solid steel bed post. He winced in the pain, but made no other note of it. Sonic sat up quickly with alert, "Shadow! What's wrong?"

Shadow looked deep into Sonic's emerald eyes. He can't tell him. He cant! He wrapped Sonic into his arms tightly, feeling, for the first time in his unnatural life, tears come to his eyes.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked quietly. He returned the embrace hesitantly. Shadow couldn't bring himself to speak. He couldn't tell anyone. He could only prolong Sonic's life as long as possible. They sat like that for a long time, not moving. Sonic noticed Shadow's crying, because he was softly rubbing his back, murmuring comforting words. Nothing could comfort him. He had killed the only thing that mattered in his life! Now he could only make what was left of Sonic's life as amazing as possible.

When he finally pulled back, Shadow swallowed and rested his forehead on Sonic's, whispering the words he never thought he'd say, "I love you."