Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The small room was far too cold thus causing the fur on the back of the female squirrel’s neck to stand on end. The almost blinding bright lights made her want to dig her fingernails into her already pounding head. Sandy sat in a chair next to the examination bed, as she waited for the doctor to return with her test results. The large gray wolf had likely only been gone for 10 minutes but for Sandy it had felt like hours in her current sickly condition. She only prayed he’d be able to prescribe her something to take the edge off of the dreadful bug she had come down with.

Sandy let out a sigh of relief after hearing a light knock on the door before it slowly opened. The browned furred woman gripped her knees tightly as she watched her doctor walk back into the room while looking over some paperwork on the clipboard in his hand. “So can ya give me anything ta function properly until I get better?”

The canine doctor stopped and flipped through a few sheets of paper before looking back at her and nodding a yes. “Vitamin B6, which you can get from sweet potatoes, nuts, or lean meats should help you feel a bit better. Also, ginger should help soothing some of your symptoms. With the information you gave me I’m guessing you’ll likely be dealing with this at least another 6 weeks, and after that…” The male wolf paused and gave her a grin over his clipboard. “You’ll more than likely have different issues to deal with.”

Sandy looked at her physician confused. “What do ya mean?” She questioned as she leaned her weight to her left side as she filled with worry.

“You’re pregnant. Maybe around 8 weeks along.”

Disbelief filled Sandy’s mind as she looked away from her doctor and to the wall next to her. There was no way should could be pregnant as Shadow told her he was infertile before they even got married. She had only ever been with him so this just wasn’t possible. “I can’t be.” She stated forcefully while looking back at her primary caregiver. “The test is wrong.”

“These tests are very rarely wrong Mrs. Robotnik. However, after we set you up an appointment for next week, with your OBGYN for an ultrasound, you’ll find yourself having a harder time staying in denial.” The doctor walked over to her, as she was still in shock, and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Congratulation, Sandra.” He then walked out of the room leaving her spiraling as she waited for the nurse to return with her discharge paperwork.

--

Sandy walked out of the doctor’s office, papers in hand, to find her brother, Randy, sitting on a bench by the entry door watching the busy street in front of the clinic. Randy looked back at the sound of the automatic sliding door opening and jumped up at the sight of his still distressed sister.

“Hey! What’s tha verdict?” He grinned as she walked pasted him very noticeably upset.

“I don’t feel well.” She quietly replayed as she made her way to his truck.

“Well yeah… That’s why I drove ya here.” He laughed as he followed behind her.

Sandy ignored her brother’s attempt at humor and opened the door to his beat-up white Ford truck before she jumped in the passenger seat. After hooking up her seatbelt she looked out her window blankly and stayed silent. She just wanted to go to sleep, and forget about this day.

“What’s wrong?”

Sandy jumped after feeling her brother’s hand fall on her knee. She hadn’t even noticed him enter the vehicle with her. “Nothing.” She gave Randy her best fake smile. She always hated to lie, and especially to her family. “I just gotta wait this out.” She looked back out her window and tried to meditate as her brother started his truck and made the way back to her house.

--

Sandy attempted to take a nap after her brother dropped her off at her house. She found herself just staring at the ceiling as Rune cuddled up next to her. Try as she might she couldn’t wrap her mind around her diagnosis. It seemed so unreal. She was just ill off and on throughout the day; how could that translate to her having a growing life inside of her?

The fact she was having so much trouble dealing with her current medical condition made her worry even more about how Shadow would take things. They had only talked about children a few times. Mostly him explaining he was shooting blanks, and he was thankful as he didn’t think he’d make a very good parent. He’d also grumbled his irritation on a few occasions about the children causing a commotion around them. After that she never really brought it up, as she married him for his company, and not with the intent of producing offspring with him. She’d felt mostly ok with the idea of them growing old, and childless, together.

It was true she’d thought about being a mother back when she was in elementary school, as most girls did, but by the time she became a teenage she became far more focused on her studies and the hopes of what should could accomplish in life with regards to a career. Family was nice, but she already had one. Now, her whole world had been thrown into disarray as she hadn’t even fathomed the idea of children. How was she going to continue on with her work, and deal with a baby? How was Shadow going to deal with a baby?

Sandy closed her eyes and tried to stop over thinking things, but try as she might her mind refused to stop barking. She was so long in thought she didn’t notice the sound of the front door opening and Rune get up and make his way to the living area to greet his male master. She nearing jumped out of her skin as Shadow entered the bedroom. “GAHH!” She blurted as she jumped to her feet in shock before relaxing in relief to find her now amused husband leaning against the bedroom doorframe.

“You seem to be doing better. I take it the doctor prescribed you some pills?” A small grin pushed across his lips, as he rarely had the opportunity to sneak up on her.

“He said the sickness it’ll pass, and then just gave me eating advice.” She sat back on the edge of the bed avoiding eye contact with him. She didn’t have to tell him yet, did she?

“Eating advice?” Shadow walked further into the room so he was now standing across from her and leaning slightly back on their dresser. “For the flu?”

“It ain’t da flu.” She looked down at the ground still trying to find her nerve to address him about the issue at hand.

“What is it then?” His voice seemed confused and somewhat concerned.

“Well, I guess ya could consider it closely reminiscent of a parasite, but not really as most medical experts don’t look at reproductive health as a host verse dependent being.” She finally looked up at him to see his face even more confused than he had sounded earlier.

“What?” He seemed to have not understood any of what she had just said, but honestly that was kinda of what she was going for.

She opened her mouth to respond to him but nothing came out at first. She then closed her mouth stood up and clasped her hands together in front of him. She looked down and took a deep breath before looking back at him. “I’m pregnant.”

Shadows expression stayed the same as he continued to look at her confused. “How?” He finally asked calmly, far too calmly in Sandy’s opinion.

She placed her hands on her hips now becoming a bit irritated that he seemed to be playing stupid. “Well ya see…” She started as she cocked her head to one side. “When a man loves a woman, and a woman lov-“

“NO!” He now yelled as he cut her off. She knew it would be far too unlikely he’d stay calm for the remainder of the conversation. “How long have you been unfaithful to me?” His fists now holding on tight to the dresser tops that he was leaning on.

“I’ve never cheated on ya Shadow!” Her hands now clenched tightly in fists as well. She took a step towards him as her eyes narrowed. “How could ya even suggest that?!”

“I’m infertile!” He protested.

“Guess again!” She yelled back as he turned to storm out of the room.

“It can’t be mine.” He mumbled to himself as he poured himself a stiff drink. He looked over as Sandy sat on the couch and burred her face in her hands. He then took a few drinks as felt his nerves start to clam a little. He then made his way to the couch and took a seat next to her as his continued to sip on his drink as she cried almost silently next to him. “How long?” He questioned again as he looked at her.

“She removed her hands from her face and scowled at him after wiping tears away. “I already told ya I didn’t cheat on yer sorry butt!”

“NO! no…” He quickly finished off his drink and set the glass down on the coffee table. “How far along are you?” He asked his face becoming somewhat hopeful.

Now Sandy was confused. “The doctor thinks around eight weeks.” She responded as his nerves became less on edge at the softer tone of her voice.

“Good.” He nodded his head and took her hand. “Then we still have time.”

“Time fer what?” She felt herself getting dangerously close to the edge again.

“To have it taken care of.”

Sandy pulled her hand away from him then stood up and took a few steps away from her husband. “Ya better not be suggesting what I think ya are.”

“Sandra, we have no business having a child. We both work far too much, and…” He trailed off as he stood to make himself another drink.

“How can ya be so selfish? We’re talking about our baby!”

“It’s not really alive yet.” He didn’t even bother pouring the liquor into his glass and started to drink directly from the bottle.

“Ya can’t be serious! It’s growing inside me. That sound like it’s alive ta me!” She grabbed her shoes and put them on.

“At 8 weeks an abortion is the same thing as birth control.” He took another swig as he made his way back to the couch.

“Stopping something from happening and killing it after it’s happened are two very different things, ya ass!” She finished putting on her shoes and then made her way into the bedroom to throw some of her things in a bag. She’d be damned if she was going to stay here and listen to him plot their child’s demise all night.

“This isn’t fair! I should have a say in this too!” He yelled at her from the other room.

“Maybe ya shouldn’t have told me ya couldn’t make babies, and then we could have planned properly!” She shot back as she zipped up her bag and grabbed her wallet and car keys.

“There is still time to fix this!” He told her as she walked out the front door.

“Seems like we’re far past that.” She then slammed the front door before jumping in her jeep, and making her way to her brother’s house.

Chapter Text

By the time Sandy had shown up at her brother’s apartment her twin was already seemingly heavily intoxicated, as well as his two feline roommates. The female rodent fought against her initial reaction to just turn around and leave and agreed to come in for an hours’ time and watch the three males consume more alcohol in that little time than she had likely ingested in her whole life. She held off on bringing up the fight she’d just had with her husband and just listened to the drunk men’s back and forth about their day. Seems that the two seemed to recount the same event that had taken place earlier in the day very differently, and each man was dead set on getting her to believe their side of the story. For some odd reason.

When she finally said goodbye, she wasn’t fully sure if any of them had actually heard her farewell as they were still arguing about a seemingly miniscule detail about their outing only hours before. The musty air in the carpeted hallway connecting 6 units on the 3rd flood was a breath of fresh air next to the stink of old beer cans that polluted every breath she took inside her siblings living space. Despite the irritation of dealing with the drunken young men for a short period of time, it at least served the purpose of distracting Sandra from the huge fight she’d just had with her husband. That was... until she made it past the threshold of the apartment’s main door.

She couldn’t go home. Not just yet, and she couldn’t stay with her brother for the night, as his loud arguing was giving her a headache and the lack of cleanliness, he, and his friends, wallowed in was pushing her back to the point of feeling nauseous. She knew she could always turn to Mei or Krystal, but if either of them found out the about the fight Mei would give Shadow and earful, as was her MO in regards to the two, now married, lovers’ relationship. And that left her with just one more choice. A choice that her husband would throw a fit about. But after this latest dust up, Sandy hardly cared. Besides, Static for some odd reason almost always managed to put her mind at ease. His over-the-top swagger, and over all friendliness towards her had brought her out of more than a few bad moods in the past. Hopefully, he was available this late in the week to work his magic on her once more.

--

A good 15 minutes had passed, unknown to Static, as he kept looking at his reflecting in the mirror and striking different poses in his new suit. He’d occasionally add a little extra hair product and adjust the longer fur on the top of his head before going back to admiring himself. It was his typical ritual before going out on a big date. However, this time he hardly had to do any leg work as his father had put the meet up together as a family outing. This all came about after the eldest Electro man found out that the younger male Electro thought one of their powerful clients’ daughters was cute. Proton, Static’s father, had been on his son of nearly 23 years of age to find a suitable mate since he’d graduated college three years earlier. Static was far from ready to settle down after losing out on getting his first love, and was still only looking to have a bit of fun. Of course, Static would never admit this to his father, or mother, but was more than willing to accept, and enjoy, some attention from good looking prospective mates his elders pushed his way.

“All set!” Static finally declared as his large smile still lingered in the mirror before he flexed to himself once more. That was until the shock of his front doorbell rang out causing him to lose focus on his favorite thing, himself. The young rich man let out a sign of irritation expecting to find his parents on the other side of the door, as they had done a few times before, in an attempt to make sure he was properly prepared to shine as their family name demanded. Needless to say, Static found himself shocked as he opened his front door and found Sandy to be the one calling for his attention on a Thursday night at half past 7 PM. “Sandy!” Static spoke wish surprise, but finding a far truer smile cross his face than the one he wore while looking himself over in the mirror.

“Oh wow!” Sandy laughed nervously after noticing her friend was dressed up. “I’m sorry Stat, I’m sorry ta bug ya. I didn’t know ya were heading out fer da night.” Sandy took a step back and bowed slightly before turning around and yelling out over her shoulder. “I hope ya have fun!”

“No! No! No!” Static sang out as he ran up and grabbed Sandy by the arm, seemingly surprising her, before turning her stride around and head back towards his open front door. “I just got a new suit for a big meeting next week, and wanted to make sure it fit right.” Static lied in a cool steady voice as he easily hypnotized his female friend as she allowed him to take the lead herd her wherever he’d fancy. Hell, sometimes he wondered if he’d be able to take her right to bed at times, but even he didn’t want to risk the backlash if she resisted. Losing her completely would be too much for the young man... he already lost so much of her after she married. The wrong man.

“I don’t wanna bother ya if yer busy.” She sighed as Static lead her through his front door and then closed the door.

“You’re never a bother!” Static cooed happily as he couldn’t help but look at her in awe as his brain started to undress her with his eyes. “She’s really here!” He screamed inside his head excitedly. Sure, she was married now, but he was more than aware they were far from totally happy. Then again, he was also aware that hooking up with one person would breed many fights, but he preferred to see her marriage woes as all Shadow’s fault as he was more than eager to be her rebound once she finally admitted he was the POS that Static always saw him as. “Is everything alright?” Static asked after leading Sandy to his couch and lending her a hand to seat herself comfortably.

“Yes.” She affirmed far too fast before her body went lax and she looked down at her knees nearly hunched over. “No.” She now spoke again meekly feeling embarrassed that she was about to fall apart.

“Hey now!” Static stated with far too much eagerness behind his voice as he fell on the couch, right next to his female friend, while wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. He wanted to comfort her, she was very important to him, but it’d be a lie if he held back that he wasn’t hoping this interaction could lead to him fully comforting her. And keep her for himself. “What’s going on?” He asked again, but now as his voice took on a softer tone, and ditched his still current feel of excitement. “I want to help.” He spoke again as Sandy wrapped her arms around him and cried lightly into his shoulder. This had only happened a few times before, but enough that Static knew she had a very bad fight with her husband, and was more than eager to play the good guy in the stage that was set up for him to become a player on.

“I’m pregnant.” Sandy sob lightly into Static’s shoulder causing the cocky young man’s grip on her to losses a bit as the smile on his face slide off to give way to a look of terror.

“How?” Static asked without thinking, but quickly came to regret it as Sandy’s grip on his shoulders tightened to that of anger. “I just mean...” Static started in panic after realized his mouth moved faster than his brain. “I thought you two agreed not to have kids.” He blurted out and was thankful to find Sandy’s angry grip subside.

“You sounded like him fer a minute.” Sandy sighed disappointed, and causing Static to frown unaware to her.

“I didn’t-“ He started but was cut off by Sandy after she pushed back off him and wiped away more than a few tears.

“I know. And I’m sorry ta bother ya about this, but...” She tried to keep her composer but already felt it faltering as she looked away.

“It’s ok!” Static yelled far too loudly. “I’m here for you.” He stated again with a far more steady voice despite the fact his mind was reeling in disgust by the thought of children, and women when carrying them. He never wanted any, and part of his fantasy of stealing Sandy from Shadow was on of her being child free. Only now that was up in the air as he wasn’t sure of what side of the “to keep it or not” argument she was on, but he had a bad hunch it was likely on the side he prayed she wasn’t eager to join.

“He wants me ta get an abortion.” She stated... seemingly calm but then quickly went back into a crying fit while pulling him close and adding more moistness to the left side of his suit.

“Fuck!” Static thought, while knowing full well if he was in Shadow’s place, he’d ask for the same, but then again the squirrel male never wasted an opportunity to paint Shadow as a devil and himself like an angle in Sandy’s eyes. “He’s an ass.” Static affirmed Sandy as he petted her head as she continued to cry. He held on to her tight as his own mind now started to question just how much he wanted her.

Static didn’t want to deal with a child, and certainly not someone else’s child. But Sandy was latched onto him and opening up far more than she usually did and even his worries about this child situation could get him to stop looking at her with worry, and love, as he continued his attempt to comfort her. “What is wrong with me?” He thought for only a brief moment... before she looked up at him again apologize for bothering him.

“It’s ok.” Static smiled down at her now finding his emotions settling to that of content. “I’m really glad you dr-“ Static was cut off as his cellphone started to ring from his bedroom. “Oh! Ahahaha.” Static stated a bit nervous as he stood up and looked down at Sandy as he knew full well, he was caught in his lie that he wasn’t planning to go out for the night. “I better answer that.” Static sighed while giving her an apologetic look as he’d pretty much been caught. “Have you eaten?” He asked not caring that the call obviously went to voicemail, as he wanted to show she was his current focus.

“Nah... I never got around to it after...” Sandy stopped herself while looking away from Static. “I’m real sorry for ruining yer night.”

“You only made it better.” Static smiled as he dropped down to one knee and took Sandy’s hands in his own that caused her to glance and him while they both smiled. “You’ve only enhanced my life.” The male smiled shamelessly while kissing both her hand’s and then standing up to head to his bedroom. He knew full well it was his father calling, and likely with anger as Static was late to this meeting. Fury would fly after Static informed him, he wouldn’t be showing up at all, but the younger Electro male didn’t care. Sandy was the woman he cared about... and that was none of his family’s business. At least not until the time he finally convinced her to marry him.

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