It Started on Lazy Day

Part 9

PoV: Sonic

Amy had started shopping for her surprise bento she planned to make me and Ray. We weren't allowed to shop with her so we waited outside.

"There he is," I spotted the chili dog vendor, we made eye contact and he quickly threw an entire pack of hotdogs on the grill. He then slammed a tub of jalapenos onto the car behind him. He stood back with a smile and his arms crossed.

"I'm ready for ya this week," he scoffed and proceeded to flip the hotdogs, "How many?"

"I need 13 total," I slammed the money down in front of him.

"Hit me," he grinned as he took out his notepad and readied his pen.

"Four with jalapeno and cheese, three with cheese and bacon bits, two supremes, two vegetarian, and two with plain chili please," I grinned.

"Vegetarian? That sister of yours is missing out on the good stuff," He added more to the grill and started working on my order.

"She likes what she likes. But we're not related..." It didn't matter how many times I explained it, this guy couldn't get it through his head that Amy and I weren't related.

According to Amy, he would wave at her when she came by the grocery store. He'd even shout at her sometimes. He'd say things like 'No need to shop, you're brother bought your dinner for you! ' It made things just a little more awkward between us but it was easy to ignore for the most part.

"Order up!" He had finished making all of the chili dogs I had asked for.

"Thank you~" I took both bags just as Amy came out of the store.

"Eh? They smell pretty good," Ray peaked into one of the bags.

"Let's pick up a taiyaki and head back to my place so we can eat," I nudged Ray in front of us, "Lead the way."

---

"I thought we were heading to your place?" Ray asked as we stopped by the university, "Why are we at some fancy college?"

"I have to pick up Tails. Hold these," I handed them the food and quickly went in to get Tails. I would always find him in the warehouse. 

"Tails your brother's here!" One of the students shouted as I walked in. They all vaguely knew who I was. They just knew me as Tails' older brother.

"Sonic!" Tails quickly finished what he was doing and grabbed his things.

"Woah, it's really coming along," I had seen this project from when it was just a blueprint. He had almost finished building an entire plane in the school's warehouse.

"Yeah! In a few more weeks I'll be able to put on the outer frame and paint it! You got chillidogs for dinner right?" Tails' tails were both wagging he was so happy.

"Yeah, let's go eat em while they're hot," I took him back out to the others.

Ray and Amy were talking when we returned.

"A kid?!" Ray had the usual reaction whenever anyone picked up Tails with me.

"Who's that?" Tails asked.

"Tails, this is Ray-"

"Oh, the new friend you made lunch for!" Tails didn't need much of an introduction.

"Yeah, exactly. Ray, this is Tails. He's my younger brother. He's an incredible genius who's already in his first year at a university," I took the bags back from Ray.

"It's hard to believe..." Ray was in shock for the rest of our walk home.

---

"Dig in!" We laid out all of the food for everyone to eat.

Ray fell in love with his first bite. Tails ate all three of the cheese with bacon chili dogs, which was more than he usually ate. He must have worked hard today.

"So," Ray whispered to me as I washed our plates after putting the leftover chili dogs in the fridge for lunch tomorrow, "I noticed your brother is a whole different species. Can I ask why you're taking care of him?"

"Ah, that's a question we get a lot," I had been asked this question by Amy, Knuckles, Silver, and Blaze. It was something I had gotten used to, "He's not adopted yet, I can't legally take him in until I'm eighteen. But I found him when I was in middle school. He was all alone and crying after being teased at school. I cheered him up with some ice cream that day. After that, he would wait for me on the bench in the park at my home each day. Turned out, we were both in the foster system. When no one adopted me, I decided to live on my own. Tails was in between homes at the time and he just tagged along. Now we live here."

"Can minors even live alone?" Ray asked.

"No, but they believe there's a family taking care of us. Truth is the family moved away but left us this house. They send us money they'd get from watching us each month so we can watch ourselves. It's the best home we've found. They even said they'd give us the house once I turned 18 and could adopt Tails for myself," I finished the last plate and dried my hands. I felt arms around my waist, "Only three more years and you adopt me right?"

"No, two and a half," I ruffled his fur," "Your math is off buddy."

"Two and a half more years," he squeezed me before running off, "I'm taking a bath first!"

"Don't run in the bathroom!" I shouted at him but he was already gone.

"Will you guys still be brothers if you adopt him or is he gonna call you dad or mom?" I practically choked when I heard that, "You're a beta so he could call you either."

"No-no I think we'll stick with brothers," I blew it off as best I could but I really hadn't thought of that possibility.

"Really? If he asks, I think Mom suits you better than Dad. If you didn't have the button I would have thought you were an omega seeing you take care of him," Ray had a stronger intuition than I thought. He probably wouldn't be so surprised when I finally told him.

"Tails will know what he wants to call me when it's time," I answered.

There's no way Tails would call me mom or dad when I adopt him. We've grown up using the term brothers, it's what we're comfortable with. But... maybe this... No Tails will let me know if he wants to call me anything.

---

"Goodnight, get home safe," Tails and I waved goodbye to Amy and Ray.

"We'll see you at school tomorrow," Amy smiled as I handed her the large bento box and furoshiki that went with it.

"Take care of your brother Tails," Ray ruffled his yellow fur before laughing. He was taking home Amy's leftover vegetarian chili dogs and the last supreme, "Sonic. Thank you, these will be great to eat over the weekend."

"Yeah. Tails will take a plain one for lunch tomorrow. We're counting on you for lunch Amy," I said goodnight to them one more time before they finally went to their homes.

"Ray's nice," Tails sat down beside me on the couch, "Are you going to tell him soon?"

"You know, after seeing you he said he would have thought I was an omega. I think he'll figure it out even if we wait a while. I'll invite him over with everyone~" I yawned mid-sentence, "this Saturday."

"You're tired," Tails laughed.

"I can stay up a while longer. Let me take a quick shower," I turned on the TV for him, "Watch a cartoon while you wait, alright?"

"Okay. And I finished all my homework at school," his tails were wagging.

"You always do," I knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted dessert. I warmed up a sweet chocolate taiyaki in the microwave and left it on the coffee table for him, "Here you go. Dessert."

"Thank you," he picked it up and practically burned his mouth with the first bite.

"Tails," I stretched as I looked at the calendar, "How's lazy day Sunday sound?"

"Yeah!" He smiled with chocolate all over his face.

  This Saturday needs to go perfectly.

~~~

10/13/21