Wachowski Family ONE-SHOTS (Sonic the Hedgehog SCU)

Storytime

"Hey Sonic, what was your favorite book growing up?" Tails asked. He was lying backwards on the big red beanbag chair in their room, his head upside-down as he peered at his older brother curiously.

Sonic glanced up from the comic he'd been absorbed in. "What?"

"What was your favorite book when you were little?"

The hedgehog shrugged. "I dunno. Didn't read much at all until a couple years ago."

Tails gasped, flipping himself right-side-up again. "Seriously? Didn't you always like to read? You spend so much time reading nowadays."

"Nah. Just didn't know how."

The fox kit frowned thoughtfully. "How old were you when you learned?"

"Uh . . ." Sonic frowned. "I think . . . I was around nine or ten when I finally had it down."

Tails hesitated before asking his next question. "Didn't . . . didn't Longclaw teach you?"

Sonic bit his lip as he closed and set down his comic book. "No. I was two when I last saw her. She probably wouldn't have started teaching me until I was five or six."

His eyes grew a little distant as he spoke, and his voice lowered as he finished speaking. Quickly, Tails moved on with the conversation.

"So, have you read 'Treasure Island'? I just finished reading it last night; Mom got it for me from the library! I think you'd really like it."

Interest glimmered in Sonic's eyes. "What's it about?"

Tails lit up, and he spent the next forty-five minutes telling his older brother all about the main character and the story. He was explaining around the plot when he suddenly froze.

"Wait! I still have it!" With a sheepish giggle, he flew across the room, grabbed an old book from his nightstand, and flew back to the beanbag. "Can—Can I read it to you?"

Sonic hesitated with a tiny grin. "I . . . I dunno, buddy. You're the little guy. I thought it's supposed to be me or Knuckles who reads to you."

Tails sat back and pouted. "I guess. But I really wanna! I wanna be the one to share it with you and watch your reaction! I'll never get the chance to read to anyone younger than me. Pleeeeaaaasse?"

His big blue eyes were far too shiny and pleading. Sonic stared at them for a moment, then shook his head with a sigh. "Fine. You win." He got up, meandered to the floor in front of the beanbag chair, and sat down comfortably. "Ready when you are."

His little brother looked so excited, it entirely erased the "shame" of being read to by your little sibling. Tails opened the book to the first page, and was just about to start reading when Knuckles' voice from the other side of the room startled them both into pausing.

"May I join? This legend sounds fascinating. And it reminds me of the stories my tribe used to tell around the fire."

"Of course," Tails replied enthusiastically.

Knuckles walked over to join them, seating himself on the floor a couple feet away from Sonic. Their little brother's tails waved happily through the air as he began to read aloud, "'Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!' in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars . . ."

—

As 7:30 rolled around, Tom started heading upstairs to let the boys know it was Tails' bedtime. He was just about to step up into the room when he heard thumps and a deep shout of  "Ha! Take this, Sir Hawkins!"

Knuckles?!

"That's Mister Sir Hawkins to you, my good fellow!" Sonic's voice shouted back. Another crash sounded, and Tom hurried upstairs.

Tails was standing on top of the bean bag chair, a look of both excitement and confusion alight in his eyes, watching as Sonic and Knuckles fake-sparred with a wooden sword and a diving flipper. "Guys, they're not even enemies in the story!" the fox was protesting. "Just because I said they kinda reminded me of you guys doesn't mean you can change the story!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tom called, and all three boys froze. "Time to settle down, guys. Tails needs to go to bed."

Tails' shoulders slumped. "Aw, man," he whined. "But we didn't get to finish reading yet."

Tom smiled in amusement, while Sonic and Knuckles meekly put away their play weapons and came to stand beside their dad. "What book are you guys reading?"

"I was reading them 'Treasure Island.'"

"Oh, that's a good one." Tom moved forward and scooped his youngest up into his arms, just as Maddie joined them all. "You don't have to worry. You can keep reading it to them tomorrow."

"But what if the book has to get returned to the library before we're finished?" Tails moaned pitifully.

Maddie walked over and mussed her hand through his bangs. "There's something called 'renewing' a book. That means I can tell the library I'd like to hang onto it for a bit longer until I'm done with it. It won't be a problem, baby."

Tails still sighed, although the hope was back in his eyes. "Okay. I just really wanted to finish it tonight."

"That's a tad unrealistic, buddy," Tom laughed. "Think of it this way; now you guys will get to enjoy this reading adventure for longer than just a few hours!"

The little fox smiled, even as he started yawning. "That sounds nice."

"It does. Anyway, time for goodnights, kiddo." Tom hugged Tails close, and Tails closed his eyes and hugged him back around his neck. "Sleep well. We love you."

"Love you, too, Daddy," Tails mumbled sleepily, even as the rest of his family crowded in close and echoed Tom's words. Maddie took Tails into her arms for a snuggle of her own, and even Sonic and Knuckles reached up to each give him a quick hug as well. Tails looked as content as could be, despite his earlier complaints.

Sonic and Knuckles crept downstairs as Maddie brought the fox to his bed and tucked him in, complete with a goodnight kiss on the forehead. Her heart absolutely melted as he whispered, "G'night, Mommy. I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart," she whispered back, inwardly squealing and jumping up and down with happiness even though this wasn't the first time he'd called her that. The lamps were turned off, the fairy lights were unplugged, and they quietly slipped back downstairs.

As she joined the rest of her boys in the living room, she heard Tom asking Sonic and Knuckles for some context on why they'd been battling with a fake sword and a flipper, and she couldn't help a laugh. Sitting down on the couch next to Tom, she said, "It makes me happy that you two let your little brother read to you. Not a lot of boys let their little siblings do that."

"It took a bit of convincing," Sonic giggled. "I still can't say no to his baby eyes."

Tom groaned. "Neither can I. At least in this case, he wasn't trying anything fishy."

"Tails likes fish?" Knuckles questioned.