Baby Sonic One-Shots

Being Dad Part 1: Supper

"I want a chilly dog!" Sonic stomped his foot.
"No." Shadow growled. He'd eaten chilly dogs for the last two meals to keep the kid from throwing a fit, plus most of the meals of the past few days. But enough was enough.
Sonic huffed and prepared to run out of the kitchen in another tantrum, but Shadow quickly scooped him up and set him down on the chair with 3 phone books stacked on each other so he could reach the table.
He put a plate in front of the little blue hedgehog and dug into his own.
Sonic sniffed at the steak, pushed the potatoes around the plate, and rolled the corn on the cob around on the table.
It hadn't even occurred to Shadow that a little kid wouldn't find steak appetizing.
"Stop playing with your food." He told him.
Sonic pouted and put the corn back on his plate.
"Eat." Shadow said, pointing his fork threateningly at the little hedgehog.
"Don't wanna." Sonic pushed his plate away. "Not hungry."
Shadow resisted the urge to let his head fall on the table in frustration.
Everything was a fight with Sonic. He was uncooperative just for the sake of being uncooperative!
"Eat. You're. Supper." Shadow growled through his teeth, really not wanting to lose his temper.
But Sonic seemed to be determined to make him do just that. He hopped off his chair and ran into the living room.
Grumbling to himself about why he couldn't have just gotten a dog, Shadow dropped his fork and stood, then walked into the living room after Sonic.
"Come on, Sonic." He found himself begging into the empty room. "Stop being so difficult."
No response.
Shadow heaved another sigh and went upstairs.
His room contained no little blue hedgehogs, so he checked the bathroom, then Sonic's room, finally opening the hall closet to find the little guy hiding behind the vacuum cleaner.
"Alright, come on." Shadow said, pulling him out.
"Let's play hide and seek!" Sonic said, smiling brightly, hoping to distract his parent.
Shadow just rolled his eyes and picked the toddler up, taking him back downstairs.
"You count and I'll go hide." Sonic tried to wriggle out of Shadow's grasp, but Shadow held firm until they got back to the kitchen.
"We're not playing hide and seek, you're not going to run away again, and we are going to sit here and eat. Or else." He said threateningly, setting the little guy back on his chair.
Sonic frowned, crossing his arms grumpily. "You're no fun." He complained.
"And you're disobedient." Shadow said right back, then almost slapped himself in the face. He was starting to sound like a, like a...dad.
Sonic continued to glare at him, until Shadow couldn't hold it in any longer. "If you don't eat your supper, you're not getting any desert." Again, he wanted to smack himself. That was such a generic thing to say.
"No fair!" Sonic cried.
"I make the rules around here, buddy." Shadow told him. "Now eat."
Sonic ran again, only this time he went out the front door.
Already panicking, Shadow chased after him. Last time Sonic went off on his own outside of the house, he got hurt...that was...when he first brought him home. Shadow realized he'd have to get the kid out of the house more often or he'd become a social outcast for sure. But he could worry about that later. Right now he had to find the little Speedy Gonzales.
"Sonic! Get back here!" He called.
It was already getting dark and Shadow wasn't really a big fan of the dark...not that he was afraid or anything.
Sonic wasn't down the street, he wasn't near the house, and he wasn't in the road...thank goodness. Shadow went back to the house, hoping he'd gone back and was waiting on the front step.
He wasn't.
Shoot! Shootshootshootshooooooooot! What if he'd really run away? What if he got hit by a car? What if some lunatics picked him up?!
"Boo!"
"Ahhhhhh!" Shadow screamed, falling backwards and hitting the pavement, hard.
Sonic collapsed, laughing hysterically. "Ahahahahaaaa! You fell for it!"
Shadow growled and picked himself up, then grabbed the little brat by the arm and hauled him back inside.
Back in the kitchen, he picked Sonic up and put him back on his perch on the phone books. "If you don't sit still and eat your diner, I will tie you to this chair!"
Sonic sat still for a little while and watched Shadow. Finally, he picked up his fork. The first bite, Sonic gagged and fell out of his chair, rolling around on the floor and clawing at the tile.
Shadow ignored his antics.
Sonic, giving up on that tactic, climbed back into his chair. He stared at Shadow across the table, unblinking and disgruntled.
Shadow stared back.
After a few moments, Shadow blinked.
"I win!" Sonic shouted. "You blinked! You blinked!" He stood up on his chair and pointed, tipping precariously on his pile of phone books.
Shadow glared, unimpressed. "Eat. You're. Food."
Sonic slumped back down on his chair, disappointed at the failed distraction.

10 minutes later, Sonic's plate was still full and Shadow had lost all patience. He got up to do the dishes, and Sonic happily hopped off his chair, glad that mealtime was over.
But Shadow could be just as stubborn as Sonic could. "Sit. Down." He said threateningly.
The tone of his voice made Sonic scramble back to his chair and look at his guardian with wide eyes.
Shadow grinned at the sudden power. "You're not leaving the table till you clean your plate."
Sonic's jaw dropped.
It was a power struggle, and Shadow was determined not to let the 5 year old win.
Sonic looked down at his plate. By now the food had gone stone cold. He looked back up at Shadow with pleading eyes.
Shadow ignored the look and turned back to the dishes.
Dejectedly, the little hedgehog picked up his fork, speared a potato, sniffed it, made a face, took a tiny bite.
Shadow watched over his shoulder.
Another minuscule bite. "K I'm done!" Sonic dropped the half eaten slice of potato and went to hop off his chair again. One look at Shadow's glare made him reconsider.