16
After dinner was finished Tom said goodnight to everyone and promised to have tomorrow off so they could do something, Tails said goodnight as he headed to his workshop for the night, Knuckles said goodnight as he went off to patrol the property, and Maddie stopped Sonic as he tried to drag Shadow off to the living room. She had to put on his splint, since he took it off to bathe. She tightened it a bit and patted his head before going to her room, saying goodnight as she went. Sonic turned on the television as they sat on the couch, Shadow leaning against the arm and Sonic next to him. After a bit of channel hopping, Sonic decided on a show about multiple people in some kind of baking competition, it was chaotic and the contestants sucked at baking but every mistake that ending up in a mess, all made Sonic laugh which in turn made Shadow feel a strange warmth in his chest.
Shadow felt his eyelids grow heavy eventually and was lulled to sleep by the background sound of the show and Sonic's laughter every now and then. As he fell asleep he was completely oblivious to the way his head fell and rested in Sonic's shoulder, the hedgehog freezing for a moment before looking at Shadow's sleeping face and smiling, leaning his head on top of Shadow's. Sonic fell asleep soon after, a soft smile on his face.
_
Maddie woke up in the middle of the night, thirsty out of her mind. She got out of bed, careful not to wake her husband and went to get a glass from the kitchen, she drank her water as she looked into the living room, the TV was still on but both the hedgehogs were sleeping peacefully, she didn't want to disturb them but she had to turn the TV off, she didn't want it's clicking to wake them up, hopefully the light change wouldn't wake them. She set her glass in the counter and moved to grab the remote from beside Sonic. Clicking the power button the television shut off with a soft click but there was still a strange rumbling sound, she set the remote back on the couch and froze as she realized just what the sound was, it was purring. She looked over the blue hedgehog as he snored softly, moving her eyes to Shadow, his head rested between Sonic's shoulder and his head. His chest rose and fell gently, but as she listened closer the rumbling was one hundred percent coming from him. She smiled as she realized he felt comfortable, even if his cold expression usually hid his emotions it made her happy to here the sound coming from him.
She wouldn't call herself a hedgehog expert but she knew a lot about them, seeing as she wasn't just a vet but she lived with one, now two she guesses. She does know that hedgehogs make a clicking sound when feeling a lot of one emotion, fear, happiness, anger. She also knew they purred, it didn't happen often at the clinic but it happened occasionally, Everytime making her smile knowing they felt safe enough to do something like that. She kissed both boys foreheads and went back to her bed, wrapped her arms around her husband, and him hugging her back.
_
Tails shuffled into the house, deciding if he wanted to sleep in his bed then he should go inside now or he'll get carried away with his inventions and end up sleeping at his desk. He paused as he passed the living room, the TV was off but he could see Sonic's head silhouette over the couch and he padded over to wake his brother so he can also sleep in his bed. But he stopped when he saw the two asleep together, Shadow's head between Sonic's head and his shoulder. They looked comfortable enough so he decided to just snap a picture for later blackmail and went to his room to sleep in a proper bed.
_
Knuckles yawned as he entered the house through the back door, he did his hours of patrolling now it was time for him to get sleep so he could protect everyone during the day as well. When he walked into the living room he was met with the sight of Shadow and Sonic asleep on the couch, the former hedgehog had his head lodged between the latter's head and shoulder. If you asked Knuckles, he would say it looked super uncomfortable, sitting with your head at that angle for hours on end had to have a painful end result. He pulled an extra blanket from the closet and set it over the two in a way where they were both covered and hopefully warm, before going off to his bed, falling asleep almost as soon as his head met his pillow.
_
Sonic woke up really needing to pee, and as much as he didn't want to move Shadow and risk waking him, he couldn't hold it much longer. He quickly and equally as gentle, guided Shadow so his head was leaning against the back of the couch, and zoomed off to the bathroom, making it just in time. When he got back Shadow was in the exact same position he left the other in, good. Sonic lowered himself onto the couch and slowly pulled Shadow back towards him, leaning his head back on his shoulder and Sonic set his head back on top, smiling contentedly. He froze as Shadow grumbled something in his sleep but relaxed as he realized he was still asleep.
"Goodnight Shadow." Sonic whispered to the sleeping hedgehog.
The crickets outside chirped on as the streetlights flickered on and off, the bulbs almost out of power. The owls outside hooted and called as they flew through the sky, away from the disturbance in the trees. The squirrels scurried up the trees as the figure walked by, ignoring their presence completely. The emeralds sang from inside the house, calling to her.