Baby Sonic One-Shots

Adoption

Adoption is no picnic.
All those pesky rules and regulations to consider and take into account. Then there was the whole home inspection crap, plus that horrible court case that could have just as easily ended in disaster. It made him wonder why the heck he was even going through with it. What in the world had gotten into his brain to make him think he could do this?! He hadn't even had a parent of his own! How was he supposed to parent someone else?! In the middle of a full fledged panic attack, the black hedgehog braced himself against one of the walls in the little room. There weren't even chairs to sit on, just a steel table, like one of those interrogation rooms in police stations.... Only those had chairs. Crazy, this was just crazy.
Then a purple echidna social service agent walked in with the little guy by the hand. His blue quills had been combed back neatly and he had a sour look on his face. But when he saw the tall dark figure standing there, he smiled big. "Shadow!" He exclaimed, and tugged his arm out of the agents grasp and ran over.
Shadow knelt and scooped him up, letting himself smile openly as the kid wound his arms around his neck.
The agent looked at them, confused, she wore a black skirt suit with a pair of black high heels. She glanced down at the spot the little hedgehog had been a moment before, then back up, surprised to find the little guy all the way across the room so suddenly.
"Well," she regained her composure, laying a file on the table in front of Shadow. "If you'll sign here, Mr. Shadow." She said, holding out a pen.
He set the kid down on the table.
The little blue hedgehog swung his legs and looked up at the black and red hedgehog impatiently.
Shadow took the pen the agent offered him.
"This form signifies that from October 4th 2016, Mr. Shadow Hedgehog will be the parental figure and sole guardian of Sonic Hedgehog." The agent said.
He signed the paper.
"Thank you." She took her pen back.
Shadow waited for something else, there was always something else.
But she didn't say anything, just put the paper back into her file and tucked it under her arm.
"So, that's it?" He asked suspiciously.
"Yes." She said primly.
"No more, inspections, or rules, or standards?" By that time Shadow had fully accepted that the adoption process may never be fully complete, so he was unwilling to blindly accept her word.
"That's it." She said with a hint of a smile. "You're free to take Sonic home now." She turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, but a word of advice, don't use the b word when it comes to, uh, cleaning up."
B word?! Shadow thought.
Before she walked out the door, she looked over her shoulder. "And incidentally, I think you're going to be great dad."
Dad. To be honest, he hadn't really thought of using that title when he applied for guardianship.
He looked down at Sonic.
He was getting really impatient. Shadow could tell he wanted to leave, like, right that second.
He smiled. "Thanks."

Being a dad couldn't be that hard. Right? Just make sure the kid was healthy and happy. Easy.
Sonic ran ahead of Shadow on the sidewalk. He kept speeding up, then stopping and looking back impatiently at his new guardian.
Shadow just strolled along, in no particular hurry.
But he quickly realized that there was no such thing as a relaxing walk now that he was responsible for a kid.
Sonic ran far ahead again, only he didn't come back this time.
Shadow started to panic, but calmed himself down. Sonic was probably just exploring, or something had caught his eye. Shoot! First 5 minutes on the job and he had to go and lose the kid!
"Sonic! Sonic?! Where are you?!" He shouted, running down the sidewalk as fast as he could.
To other pedestrians, he was just a shouting blur of black and red.
"Sonic!"
"Shadow!"
He ground to halt, gaze landing on the little blue hedgehog.
He was on the ground, tears pouring down his face, hands pressed to a skinned knee.
Shadow hurried over, kneeling beside the kid. "Don't run off like that." He scolded, then felt bad for it when more tears flowed freely down the little guys face.
"It hurts!" Little Sonic cried. "Shadow it hurts!"
For the first time in his life, Shadow wished he carried a box of band aids around with him. "Ok, ok. Uh, it's alright. Come on, let's go patch you up." He picked up the crying toddler.
Sonic buried his face in the fur on Shadow's chest and bit down on his sobs.
Shadow hurried home.

It took just under 2 minutes to run across town and to his house. He raced inside and took a moment to gather his wits, then raced for the kitchen when Sonic's crying got louder. When he reached the kitchen, he set the kid down on the counter and searched around for bandages. A full minute of searching produced an unopened box of bandaids.
Sonic had stopped crying and wiped at his wet face with the back of his hand, leaving wet marks on his gloves and cheeks.
Shadow quickly cleaned the cut and stuck a bandaid on before he could start crying again.
Sonic looked down at the bandaid, then back up at Shadow, then he smiled.
Shadow grinned back.
He turned and fished around in the freezer for something, he came out with a grape flavoured popsicle and unwrapped it.
Sonic's little eyes widened hungrily.
Shadow chuckled and took the wrapper off and handed it over.
Sonic took it eagerly and stuck it in his mouth. Then he happily smiled up at Shadow with purple lips.
Ok, so maybe being a dad wasn't going to be all that easy. But at least it would be worth it.