FicWad

Sonic hoped Manic still lived in the little duplex he was living in around East Mobius.



He hadn't seen his little brother since Manic's wedding and he hadn't talked to him much since they were busy and had drifted a bit (mostly on Sonic's end) when they were preteens for a number of reasons.



Though, to be fair, Sonic hadn't heard anything about Manic getting arrested for stealing again so he assumed (and hoped) his little brother had straightened himself out.



Sonic arrived at the duplex to find Manic, Tails, and a black and red male hedgehog sitting on the front steps.



The trio were drinking coffee and talking.



Manic only nodded at Sonic.



"That's odd." Sonic thought. "He's usually way more friendly to me. It has been almost eight years."



"So… uh… what brings you here, Sonic?" Tails asked.



"Haven't seen you two in a while." Sonic replied. He leaned against the little brick wall next to the steps. "I thought I'd drop by for Christmas."



Tails grinned weakly while Manic half smiled.



"I've been swamped with research work." Tails replied.



Manic still didn't offer to say much, though he looked like he wanted to say something.





Sonic chuckled nervously. "What?" He asked. He motioned to Manic's piercings. "Did you pierce your mouth shut?"





"Very funny." Manic replied. He motioned to the other hedgehog. "Oh, this is my neighbor, Shadow." He said. "He works at the tattoo/piercing shop with me too. Shadow, this is my brother, Sonic."



Shadow nodded.



"Well, nice to meet you, I guess." Sonic said. "I can see why you two hang out."



"Is everything okay?" Tails asked. "I figured you'd be home with your family."



Sonic sat down next to Manic. "Well-"



"Let me guess." Shadow said. "Sally's disappointed that you didn't make a big deal out of getting her presents and you don't get why."



"Did I ask you?" Sonic asked. "I'm here to see my brother, not you. How'd you even know that?"



"Manic mentioned it before." Shadow replied.



Manic glanced at Shadow.



"So I assume that's why you're here without your family on Christmas Eve." Shadow replied.



"Yes, that's what happened, Shads." Sonic said. "Not that it's any of your business."



Manic slid away from Shadow.



Tails eased off of the brick wall railing and stepped around it.



"Don't call me that again." Shadow said, narrowing his eyes.



"Anyway, I told you not to set the bar that high, Sonic." Manic replied. "You can never lower the bar and she won't take the "I had to buy presents for the kids too" reason for an answer because it looks like you're not trying anymore or don't even care."



Shadow and Tails nodded in agreement.



Sonic folded his arms. "So how did your advice work for you?" He asked. "Where's Jade anyway?"



Manic looked at Sonic incredulously. "Wow. Thanks for taking an interest in my life." He said. "I guess you didn't get Jazz and Jaxx any presents either."



"Oh, you and Jade got new pets?" Sonic asked.



Manic huffed. "No. They're my two month old twins!"



Sonic sat there, stunned. "You have twins?"



Manic got up, shaking his head. "Forget it. I knew you weren't here to work things out or congratulate me." He muttered as he headed back inside. He slammed the door behind him.



Tails looked at Sonic. "Do you not check your messages on Instagram?"





Sonic shook his head. "Not unless there's a notification." He said, opening his phone. "Oh, wow. He sent about… a hundred messages. I guess the app or something glitched. Why didn't he ever post anything?"



"Because Manic's private about his personal life and Jade has been harassed online often." Shadow replied. "I've known him for only a few years and only lived here for a little over a year and I knew that. He tried to call you, but you changed your number."



Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… forgot I didn't give him my number."



Tails nodded. "That's kinda why I haven't spoken to you in a while either, Sonic." He said. "We're here because we don't have family to celebrate Christmas with and neither does he and Jade."



"Manic has a family." Sonic replied.



Tails slapped his hand over his face.



"I know he hasn't talked to Sonia since she married Bartleby and turned into a full blown snob." Sonic said. "I know he doesn't talk to Mom much because of our stepdad, but I thought he did talk to her once in a while."



"The last time he mentioned your mom was a year ago." Tails replied. "He said he felt like she was phasing out contact because he got arrested that time and your step dad told him they didn't want to have anything to do with a troublemaker like him at Uncle Chuck's funeral."



"They completely cut ties with him this year." Shadow said. "Sometime before he told me that they were expecting the twins, Jade had tried to get them all to do counseling. That plan must've fallen through because he said Hell would have to freeze over before he told them about his twins and he hasn't said a word about what happened."



"He figured you cut ties too after you ignored him." Tails said. "It seems like that hurt him more than your mom cutting ties with him."



Sonic sighed. "I've really messed up."



Tails glanced at the window and stared for a bit.



Shadow looked at Tails. "What's he doing?"



"It looks like he and Jade are talking." Tails replied. "Poor Manic. I've never seen him this upset before."



Sonic shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Should I try to talk to him or give him a few minutes?"



"You ignored close to a hundred messages where he was trying to tell you about his first kids and didn't see them when they were born." Shadow said. "He even begged you to call or if he could call you. That doesn't get fixed with an 'I'm sorry'."



"He's right, Sonic." Tails said. He rubbed his arms. "It's getting late and cold. I'll see you tomorrow, Shadow. See you, Sonic."



"See you." Shadow replied.



"See you around, little bro." Sonic said.



Tails flew away.



Shadow got up and headed inside without a word to Sonic.



Sonic shook his head. He checked his watch. "I better head home too."
**
Sonic came home and found Sally, sitting up in their bed.



"Aww, you waited for me?" Sonic asked.



"No, I heard you running up to the house." Sally replied.



Sonic sat on their bed and kicked his shoes off.



"So how was Knuckles?" Sally asked.



"Oh, I guess he's fine." Sonic replied. "I went to see Manic. Poor guy. I didn't realize everyone had cut ties or that he's been sending me a ton of messages on Instagram."



"I've noticed it's glitching." Sally said. "I guess you didn't give him your number."



"At the time, I didn't want him constantly calling for bail money." Sonic replied. "I guess it doesn't matter. He's furious."



Sonic showed Sally the messages Manic had sent.



"Aww." Sally gushed. "They look like him."



"We didn't even acknowledge them." Sonic said.



Sally snapped her fingers. "We may not be able to get them anything new right now, but we can give them that bag of River and Lola's old things that we were giving away." She said, "We can get them a real gift after Christmas. It's just something to try to make things up to them. We'll go by his house tomorrow, after the kids open their presents."



Sonic kissed Sally. "Thanks, Sal. I love you."



Sally hugged Sonic. "I love you too."