You& me, and our mate

ch 23; Woah-... What are you doing here?!

'

Knuckles would love asking Mephiles if he could consider to marry him... But-... There is one nagging thought who keeps harassing his mind.
What if Mephiles would think Knuckles sees him as the second choice?!... Someone he would marry due Shadow turned him down?!
Which wasn't true!
The biggest reason he wanted to ask for Shadow's hand, and not Mephiles' was-... Mephiles gave birth to their son...
While Shadow most likely won't give him any child...
Of course Knuckles sees Shadow as Silver's dad!... That's not it... It's only that... Shadow would probably never be pregnant.
Therefore Knuckles wanted Shadow to be the one who got married in the church...
And few years later, Knuckles wouldn't mind having a second wedding to renew the vows... But with Mephiles on his side.

But now-... How would Mephiles even see his proposal?...Would that do more harm, than any good?
Maybe he should wait longer before getting married with any of them... Since he doesn't want anyone believe he immediately walked from Shadow to Mephiles to propose...

***

It's October the 31st, and Mephiles and Knuckles were enjoying a movie at the evening.
Eating candy while an horror movie is on play.

The summer came and went in a blink of an eye.
And nothing particular happened during those months.
Sonic actually left them alone, except a few curious glances from the street.
... The only thing that happened during the summer, that would count as something special would be how much Silver grew.
From an infant who could only scream and squirm a little-... To a baby who could somewhat sit up while babbling unrecognizable words.
The hoglet even understands simple things as-... Throwing the ball back to the other person who passed him the ball.
Which is so adorable, and Knuckles gets harder and harder time to leave the family in the morning to get to the master emerald. And then coming back in late afternoon.
At least his small family could join him few hours here and there during the summer...

Knuckles was about to shove a handful of skittles in the mouth when someone rung the bell.
The echidna rolls the eyes.
" ... I wonder how young those children are... Since they obviously can't read the note 'Don't ring the bell- the baby is asleep'..." he mutters, and stands up when the bell shortly rings again.
Knuckles sighs loudly, and starts walking toward the door while he could hear low whimpering from the nursery.
The echidna growls.
" Either the parents are idiots for letting very young children out now-... Or it's an idiot at the door..." he mutters under the breath.

While Mephiles walks toward the nursery, Knuckles grunting pulled the door handle down without looking out through the window in the middle of the door.
" Hey!-... Can't you read?!-... The note S-sai-..." he says rudely while swinging the door opened, where he grunting blinks confused at the visitor.
An older echidna male smiles widely at him.
" Knuckles!-... I have missed you.. It's been so many years since last..." he says and embraces the shocked echidna.
"... F-father?" Knuckles asks confused despite that couldn't be possible due his parents died.
The other echidna chuckles, and let's go of him.
" Not quiet right-... But we are related though... I'm your shitty brother who bought a plane ticket and left..." he explains with a sad look where guilt was in the eyes.

Knuckles stares surprised at him.
"... C-charles?"
The much older echidna nods.
" That's me-... I'm back..." he says with a nervous laugh.
The younger echidna raises an eyebrow.
" What plane ticket?'... I thought you only moved to the next town in nearby, or something like that?"
Charles shrugs.
" I did spend few months in a neighbor town... At least until I've had enough money to buy a ticket and leave the country... I have actually been traveling around the world, where I only stayed in a town few months at the most... Until I have earned enough money to move on... Or wait-..." he flinches.
"...- I actually stayed a year on an island since I found love there... But we broke up due culture differences..." Charles adds.
Knuckles nods slowly.
"... And now you are here-..."
Charles brights up.
" And now I'm here!-... And couldn't wait until I met my little brother..."