Shadow woke up already irritated—not at anything specific, just at the concept of morning—and trudged into the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

A few minutes later, Neo Metal Sonic dragged himself in, half-asleep, and wrapped his arms loosely around Shadow from behind, resting his head between Shadow’s shoulders.

“…You’re awake this early?” Neo mumbled, voice glitchy from sleep.

“I need to be up for what is to come,” Shadow replied with intense seriousness.

Neo’s optics flickered. That was a line from one of Shadow’s dramas—meaning Shadow was in full cop mode.

At 6 A.M.

Not a good sign.

Neo tried, carefully, “Are you sure you’re—”

“I don’t have a full cop mode. I’m fine,” Shadow cut in stiffly.

Neo blinked.

“…Right. Well, you don’t have work today, so maybe we can just watch a movie. Relax. Do something normal. Like a normal family.”

Shadow nodded and started pulling snacks out of the cabinets… until the words caught up to him.

“We… aren’t a normal family?” he asked, deadly serious—and now a little offended.

Neo sighed. “Shadow, sweetheart, are you feeling all right?”

Shadow was just awake enough to hear the words, but not awake enough to process them. His eyes were open, but his brain was absolutely still in sleep mode.

Smiling awkwardly, Neo sent him to go wake Maya up so she could choose the movie.

Unfortunately, Shadow… did not understand the mission.

He entered her room, gently shook her awake—and when she refused to get up (because there was no school and Shadow had not mentioned anything about family movie day), he jumped straight into suspicion mode.

“What are you hiding?” Shadow demanded as he tried to sit her up. “Why aren’t you getting up? What aren’t you telling me?”

Maya, now fully awake and very offended by being interrogated at dawn, ran crying to Neo Metal Sonic.

“Daddy’s acting weird,” she signed frantically.

Since Shadow was still only half-conscious, sign language might as well have been ancient hieroglyphics. He stormed over and—still suspicious—began interrogating Neo instead.

Neo groaned, grabbed a small flashlight from the counter, and flashed it in Shadow’s eyes like a doctor checking a patient.

That finally snapped Shadow out of it.

He blinked, horrified. “I… interrogated a five-year-old.”

“I noticed,” Neo said dryly.

Shadow’s voice dropped, full of regret. “I’m sorry. I’ve just… been stressed. Everything feels suspicious lately.”

Neo softened. “Shadow. You’re sliding into cop mode the second you open your eyes. But you’re not at work today. You don’t have to do all that.”

Shadow sat on the couch, pulling Maya into his lap and brushing her hair while she sniffled against him.

He finally explained, “…Sonic gave me four days of paid leave. And while you were taking Maya to school, he called me. But it was muted. I couldn’t hear anything. Then he hung up. Makes me wonder what he’s planning. And with Sonic, it could literally be anything.”

His tone suddenly had the same quiet pain he used whenever he spoke about Maria.

Neo understood.

Shadow’s trust issues ran deep—Gerald, G.U.N., Maria’s death.

It took Shadow five years to fully trust Neo, even though Neo had tried from day one to be his friend. Now, married with a child, Shadow still struggled.

Neo placed his hand over Shadow’s.

“Look… whatever Sonic’s planning, you’ll be able to handle it. You’re the Ultimate Lifeform, remember? And you won’t handle it alone. We’ll deal with it together.”

Shadow cracked a tiny smile.

Just then, Neo’s phone rang.

“Why is Sonic calling me?” Neo muttered. He didn’t even have Sonic’s number saved.

He answered cautiously. “Hello? I’ve never had you call me before.”

“Neo!” Sonic said, way too excited for this hour. “Can you send me pictures of Shadow and Maya together?”

Neo bristled. “Why do you need pictures of Shadow and our daughter?”

Sonic hung up.

A text came through immediately after:

“Please. It’s for Shadow. In two days. We have a friend who wants proof Shadow is who we say he is.”

Neo sighed heavily, took three pictures of Shadow holding Maya, and sent them—with her face blurred.

Neo didn’t trust easily either. Eggman’s programming, his past as a killing machine… it all made him wary of sending photos of his child. Only a handful of Eggman’s old robots and some of Shadow’s relatives even knew Maya existed—and none knew her face.

But Shadow didn’t question Neo’s caution.

He was the same.

Shadow texted Sonic:

“Why do you need photos of me and Maya? You know what she looks like. And who is this ‘friend’ you’re showing them to?”

Sonic didn’t answer.

Shadow eventually let it go.

---

The three of them picked a movie, curled up on the couch, and Shadow ran around closing all the curtains to make the living room “more cinematic.”

The rest of the day was soft and warm:

Movies playing in the background

Blanket forts taking up half the living room

Too much chocolate

Maya giggling silently while Shadow pretended he wasn’t having fun

Neo humming quietly while wrapped around both of them like a heater

By night, the whole family had fallen asleep in one giant heap on the floor.

As Shadow drifted off, he whispered to Neo, voice barely audible—

“This is… the most content I’ve been since Maya was born. Maybe I should take time off more often.”

Neo smiled, tightened his arm around him, and Shadow fell asleep calm, warm, and safe.