THEIR STRONG BOND

That night, Silver decided to spend some alone time with Mephiles in his room. Sonic did the same.

Since they were scheduled to lay their eggs in one week, Annie decided to postpone all extraction schedule.

Shadow was sitting on the bed, he leaned back on the pillows while Sonic was sitting on his lap with his back facing him. His quills were relaxed so it was easy to move them a little out of the way. Shadow wrapped his arm around Sonic's body with his palm resting on the peach stomach.

"You've been purring for like an hour now." Sonic giggled at the vibrating sensation on his shoulder and neck.

"I'm just so happy that we get to have our own little hoglet." Shadow smiled. "But...I still want to apologize for my behavior...I didn't mean to tackle you that hard on the floor." He sighed.

"And you've apologized seven times now. That's okay Shadow, I understand that you were just being protective of me." The younger one smiled. "And I really love that."

Shadow blushed and looked away of embarrassment. "I just hate the fact that she used you for something like that...your blood shouldn't be taken so easily by a human."

"The extraction isn't even that painful, Shadow. I know this deal is...problematic...but thanks to her I get to survive from being all alone out there in the woods with little Silver." Sonic explained calmly before he closed his eyes like taking a trip to the past.

"Was it hard for the two of you?" Shadow asked.

"Very." The blue hedgehog chuckled lightly. "We were so skinny because we didn't know what to eat let alone know how to hunt...oh- and I found Silver hiding under a small gap of a tree."

His mate frowned and felt bad when hearing his story, he tighten his grip for a second.

"So...how did Annie found you?"

"Silver and I heard footsteps rustling through the forest's leaf-covered ground so we decided to climb a tree in hopes that no one could find us." Sonic trailed off. "Silver fell down and Annie caught him, that's when she rescued us from almost being starved to death."

Shadow had mixed feelings about Annie now that he had heard his story. Sonic and Silver seemed to genuinely care about her...like how he and his twin care about Maria.

"Anyway, isn't it going to be amazing that we're going to be the first to save our species? Well...with Silver and Mephiles too."

The way Sonic said caught Shadow off guard, he sounded very genuine and calm about it. Shadow gently stroke his mate's stomach and chuckled.

"It's amazing. I'm glad Annie found me so I could mate with you." He said while cuddling up with him. "Anyway...are you doing okay? Any painful reaction? Anything?"

"I'm fine for now, my tummy might have a slight ache or something but I can handle it." Sonic smugged.

"I don't believe you." Shadow narrowed his eyes, "I'm going to stick with you for the rest of the week. Annie can't take me away and she can't make me."

Sonic chuckled at the statement and hold both of Shadow's hands. "You're so sweet, I love you so much." He purred. "We're going to be the best dads ever."

"No doubt." Shadow added.

Being one of the last members of their own species, Shadow felt incredibly proud and responsible for restoring his kind. But suddenly a new question struck his mind...why and how were they even left all alone in this world in the first place? Where did the other Cross Hedgehogs go? Were they simply abandoned? Or was there something more?

After all this time, he now just thought about their mystery extinction.

..
..

Meanwhile on the other room, Silver was sitting on his bed while leaning back on the pillows. His lower half was covered with the blanket. Mephiles sat on the floor and rested his arms on the edge of the bed.

"Hey...you sure you don't need anything?" The pale hedgehog asked.

"No, thank you." Silver smiled. "I know my condition is not the best and I get sick easily...but I assure you that I'll be fine."

"I'm just so dumb today." Mephiles groaned and covered his face with his palms. "I shouldn't have squeezed you so tight, I was blinded by my anger and the instinct to protect you I-"

He stopped talking and pulled his hands away when he felt Silver's hand on his head. The albino hedgehog gently stroke his quills with a warm smile as if he was already a mother...or father.

Mephiles blushed at the calming sight of his mate and he looked away.

"I know you wanted to protect me, Mephiles. Stop blaming yourself about something you didn't do." He chuckled.

"I'm sorry..." Mephiles mumbled.

Silver leaned himself down and kissed his mate's forehead. "I love you."

This caused the older hedgehog to blush, he climbed on the bed and returned the kiss with his covered muzzle. "I love you too."

Mephiles laid himself next to Silver so they both could cuddle up. The albino took his mate's hand and rest it on top of his stomach. He let out a sigh of relieve and closed his eyes, leaning his face to the side where Mephiles' chest was.

"This reminds me of how Annie used to cuddle me to sleep..."

Mephiles' eyes widen for a second. He didn't expect to hear that statement.

"Really?" He asked and the other nodded.

"Before Sonic and I moved to this building, we lived in a small house with Annie. There was a thunderstorm and I got so scared...so Annie cuddled me up close almost just like this." Silver explained.

"It must have been very comforting." Mephiles chuckled.

"Now that I remember it...I miss those days. I miss the day when Sonic found me...the day when Annie rescued me from falling off a tree...when I first taste a good meal..."

Mephiles gently stroke his mate's stomach to provide more comfort, it seemed to work because he was yawning.

"Will you stay by my side like Sonic and Annie?" The smaller hedgehog looked up.

"I'll stay for as long as you want me to." He smiled softly.

"Thank you..." Silver mumbled as he slowly drifted away to sleep.

As the room got even quieter, Mephiles now thought about how bad he was for almost trying to decapitate Annie. As much as he hated the idea of the blood extraction used for medicine, he forgot that Annie was also the reason that Sonic and Silver was even alive today.