"AUGHHHH! UGHHH! SHADOW!"

It's been nine months and hospital rooms flashed rapidly before her eyes. Lying on a stretcher, her husband, Shadow the Hedgehog, running besides her as the nurses besides the stretcher rush her to a maternity room.

Anxiety grew on the ebony hedgehog's face; he couldn't stand seeing his sweet Amy Rose in pain. All the way, from Tails' Commemoration Party held by the Mayor of Central City, followed by the sudden ride in the ambulance, to the doorway of the emergency entrance, he held that precious pink hand, never letting go of it as though in fear of losing her.

"Amy! It's going to be alright. You're going to be okay. Think of the baby and remember to breathe…", he assured.

Amy looked up at him. "Oh honey…I don't know if I can make it…"

"I promise, you are going to make it, and so is this baby. After all, he-"

"Or she-"

"Is the child of the Ultimate Life form, remember?"

Amy smiled at what he said, but then interrupted by an upcoming contraction.

Amy began breathing in a certain rhythm until a sharp pain hit her. She yelled uncontrollably, starting to suffocate Shadow's hand circulation with hers. They finally arrived to a birthing room, inside the obstetrician and the midwives awaiting her. Amy entered with a screaming entrance, but a burgundy cat nurse halted Shadow at the door.

"I'm sorry, but you have to stay out here in the waiting hall."

Everything then suddenly went to a standstill, as if he did a Chaos Control unconsciously. His mind went blank. He was with his wife this whole time, took care of her for nine months, comforted her on her most unhappy hours, even attended Lamaze classes ( he shuddered at those memories) with her. And now these doctors are telling him that he can't be with his troubled beloved, to help her with the birth?

"Wait a minute! How come I can't come in there with her? She's in pain; I can't leave her like this!" Shadow looked angry now, ready to tear down this hospital.

"I'm sorry, but hospital regulations. We can't let the fathers in; it'll just make the room more stressful for the laboring mother. It's especially more stressful if we let in first time fathers in too, like you", the nurse explained.

Shadow was listening until he heard Amy yell, "Shadow? Where's Shadow? I have to see Shadow. Shadow!"

He tried to barge in to get to her, but the nurse held him back. Now he was going crazy in his mind, altogether mixed with the urge to slap this nurse out of the way.

"Let me in there! Can't you see her now? She needs me in there!"

"Mr. Shadow, control yourself! Now wait here, she'll be all right. We'll notify you when the baby's born."

With that, she went inside so that the procedure could begin. Shadow, fuming with rage, ran to a near wall and slammed his fist against it. After calming himself down, he looked for somewhere to sit down and waited.

Hearing the bloodcurdling screams from Amy's room and the obstetrician's voice commanding her to push (not to mention the annoying PA's over voice), the black hedgehog's mind went numb. For the first time in his life, the one fear he has now is becoming a father. He won't have to do his missions as much at GUN, and he'll have to be prepared to take care of a family, both financially and emotionally. Is he going to become a bad father, his child in the future catching his father's bad habits and attitudes? Certainly Amy wouldn't put up for it, not for one second. Also, when he first sees the baby, will he love it, or would he hate it for the rest of his life? All these 'what ifs' were driving his mind crazy.

"Always thinking into space, aren't you Shadow?"

Shadow looked up and his frown grew deeper at his unexpected visitor. A blue hedgehog walked over to him, taking a seat right next to him. He had a smirk, meaning that was a joke he just told.

"What do you want, Sonic? There's already causing enough trouble as it is; I don't have time for you right now."

Sonic looked a bit guilty, and he put a hand on his rival, but Shadow shook it off with no regret. Shadow hated Sonic for a long time, but he despised him the most when he watched him abuse Amy like a boy toy and kept her running and running helplessly after him, hoping that she would catch up to him, but Shadow knew. He knew Sonic didn't have a care about that poor pink hedgehog and, instead of just telling her to stop going after him, he played the cruel game of Endless Tag, whereas Amy would never catch up in her lifetime and inside Sonic would just laugh and laugh at her, laugh at how ridiculous and embarrassing she made herself. Then, when Sonic heard that Shadow and Amy was an item on the newspaper, all of a sudden he tried to fight Shadow, but Shadow defeated him. Ever since then, Shadow never forgave Sonic for what happened in the past.

"Hey…you're still mad about the last few months? You know, when I tried to beat you up?"

Hostility filled the hallway as Shadow gave the confused hedgehog a death glare.

"I guess not. You know, I did care for Amy, I really did."

"Then why didn't you show it? All you did was play around with an innocent girl, whose beautiful personality she wanted to show to you so badly, play around with her with a cruel game. From what I can call, that's really low, especially for a person like you."

Shadow then looked away from Sonic, trying his hardest not to kill him if he looked again.

Sonic sighed exasperatedly. Right now, he's trying to explain the truth, but this stubborn hedgehog won't even let him. "Come on, Shadow. Let's at least have a decent conversation before this gets out of hand."

"Look, I liked Amy before, but not all the time. I had a life, a duty I pledged to the world. I'm running because I escaped my fears and worries, not because I don't like her. To tell you the truth, I loved her too."

Shadow snorted in disbelief, thinking that this hedgehog would make him believe that sob story.

"Wait, I'm telling the truth! It's just that Amy can be a bit annoying at times…and demanding of her. With that coming on, it's impossible to even spend a afternoon with her. You can understand, can you?"

Silence.

"Anyway, when I heard that you and Amy are going out, I got a little jealous. I mean, I missed a pink hedgehog chasing me all over the place, and I thought that you were going to take her away from me to spite me. So I went over to where you were, and we started to fight. Of course you won, but that's when I realized that you weren't using her to make me angry. I knew right then that you loved her, and that strength was from the rage that you had for me when you saw that I kept ignoring her all the time. From then on, I still resented you, but I respected you. Not for you, but for Amy's sake. I respect you because I love and respect Amy that much."

Shadow, after hearing Sonic's explanation, was now trying to keep down that dangerous full throttle Chaos power that always comes when he's angered. Okay, so does that mean I forgive him or not?

Shadow turned slowly to Sonic, still frowning, but remembering what Amy said about hating others.

'It's a waste of time to hate someone because it takes a lot of energy out of them, and it makes the people who resent them seem lifeless. It's better to forgive because it takes less energy and it makes the forgiver become wiser and kinder every time. That's why you should forgive Sonic, because I do.'

Shadow's expression then changed into remorse, his Chaos power wearing down. His tense body released into a calm stature, clasping his hands to his forehead. Sonic took this as his way of saying, 'I forgive you' and patted him reassuringly on the back.

Minutes pass by and a voice is suddenly heard.

"Mr. Shadow? You can come in now."

Shadow got up abruptly, nervous about seeing his first child. He walked into the room and saw Amy, relieved that she was alright.

Amy was lying in bed, exhausted from doing the hardest, most painful job a woman could ever endure. She had an almost goddess like aura around her, smiling down first at her husband, then looked at a bundle in her arms. He thought she looked as gorgeous as ever to his eyes.

"Shadow, would you like to hold our newborn daughter?" Amy held out the bundle to him, motioning him to hold it.

"Daughter?" He went forward and held the wriggling infant in his arms. It was a black hedgehog, but with pink stripes instead of red. She had glistening ruby eyes, like her father, but her hair was like her mother's. She also had a cute tuft of white hair like Shadow, but her expression was gentle, like Amy's.

As she opened her eyes, she reached out her hand and, almost by automation; he held her tiny hand in his. Joy filled all over his body and love encased his heart, which is all of a sudden all out for this little one. For the first time in his prolonged life, he smiled.

"I…can't believe this. This is what we made…out of our love…for each other. And she's ours…to keep forever."

Amy smiled at this growing father-daughter bond happening before her eyes. "Well, this name I got for her, I got it from a beautiful city we once visited and I thought it was perfect. It called Soleanna. Don't you think it suits her?"

Shadow, still not taking his eyes off of the baby hedgehog, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… Soleanna. It's perfect for the offspring of the Ultimate Life form."

Amy beamed, and then said, "Shadow the Hedgehog?"

"Yes?" he answered.

"I love you"

He beamed back at her. Then he walked towards her and kissed his maternal angel on the cheek.

"And I love you, Amy Rose"

They both cuddled, watching, in both their arms, baby Soleanna the Hedgehog sleeping peacefully.