You& me, and our mate

ch 24; telling Charles part of the truth

'

Shadow stands in the hallway while Knuckles gets Silver in the stroller.
Despite Knuckles proposed to Mephiles, where the hedgehog answered yes... Shadow is still looking intrigued at the silver ring around his finger. The white diamond sparkled.
It's a weird feeling... Having a ring on the finger. Which symbolizes one of the greatest love you could get from someone.
Even though Silver is the product of love-... The ring is still a reminder... Knuckles wouldn't leave their side.
They are a family. And will always be one.

Shadow starts smiling a little while eyeing the ring when Knuckles starts arriving with the stroller.
When he heard them, he lowered the hand in a hurry and pretended he had only been waiting for them.
"All dressed?" He smiles shyly at Knuckles.
" Yup-... I'm sure he won't freeze now... He might be overdressed, though... I wasn't sure how much he needed to not get cold..."
Shadow shrugs.
" I'm sure he will be fine... In the worst case, we will only remove the baby blanket..."
"BLANKET!" Knuckles facepalmed and leaves the stroller with Silver, where he walks back to the nursery to get the baby blanket.

Shadow blinks surprised a few times, then he let's out a low snickering.
" It seems your father is more confused today than usual..." he says and rubs the hand gently over Silver's ear. Causing the child to purr with a light chuckle.

Less than a minute later, Knuckles comes back with the baby blue blanket in the hand.
"... I can't believe I forgot the blanket-... I would be the worst parent ever if I made my child freeze, since I forgot something obvious as a blanket..." he shakes the head over his small mistake.
Knuckles starts wrapping the blanket on the front of Silver with the edges a little around the arms and underneath the hips.
Shadow shakes the head with a short snort alike laugh.
" Neh-... I'm sure everyone makes small mistakes like that... You wouldn't be a bad parent 'Cause of that... Besides-... I'm sure Silver would stay warm with the overall, the gloves and the scarf..." he shrugs and grabs the stroller to roll it out from the house the moment Knuckles would opened the door.

Knuckles nods slowly while starting to take the jacket down from the hook.
" Y-yeah-... You might be right..." he clears the throat and takes the jacket on.
Shadow smiles at him.
" Of course I do -... Can you, by the way, open the door when you are ready to go out?"

Knuckles opened the door a short while later, and they both walked out with Silver in the stroller.

***

Despite November is a winter month, it was still a beautiful day.
The last sun rays of the day are shining through the naked branches of the trees whose leaves fell a few days ago due to a strong wind.
Children are playing on the playground in the park, where Knuckles and Shadow are walking on the pebbled roads.

Knuckles is talking while Shadow glances curiously at the playground where children of many ages are either sliding down on the slide or enjoying the moment on the swings.

"Shadow?-..." Knuckles asks, confused due Shadow seems a bit distracted.
The hedgehog hums thoughtfully and looks asking toward him.
"Yes?"
The echidna looks slightly worried.
" I've asked you something-... Which you didn't answered... Are you alright? Or you aren't feeling very well today?"
Shadow starts blushing a slightly, which looks a little more purplish than pink due to the cold.
" Sorry-... I was kinda distracted... What did you asked?"
Knuckles inhales deeply to repeat the question again when approaching steps from further ahead started increasing in speed.

"KNUCKIE!-... It's such a great coincidence to encounter you here..." An older echidna greets.
Knuckles grunts confused, and looks toward him.
"Charles?!" He says, surprised by encountering him there.
The town might be somewhat small... But it's not that small.