FicWad

Sonic sat in the coffee shop, waiting for Manic to show up.
The waitress brought over their coffees that Sonic ordered for Manic.
“Thanks.” Sonic said. He checked his watch. “I hope he’s just running late.”
Manic finally slid into the seat across from Sonic.
Sonic grinned. “Glad you made it.” He said. “I hope you like whipped cream. I didn’t realize the iced vanilla coffee had a topping.”
“It’s fine.” Manic replied. “I’m sorry I was late. It took forever to get our wedding license again.”
“It’s fine.” Sonic said. “So what else do you have to do?”
“My GED and driver’s license.” Manic replied.
“So… do you need a best man for your wedding?” Sonic asked.
“You can come, but we’re just getting married at the courthouse like last time.” Manic replied. “We’re not into anything fancy. We thought we’d have a nice dinner with family at our house.”
“Makes sense.” Sonic said.
Manic sipped his coffee. “At least you won’t criticize us for wearing black.” He replied. “Surge’s family wasn’t thrilled with it.”
“No, I think it’s cool.” Sonic said. “I just want to be a part of it since I missed your last wedding.”
Manic stirred his coffee with his straw. “They arrested the porcupines’ a few days ago.” He said. “I wonder if they’ll plead guilty or not.”
“They ought to.” Sonic said. He sipped his coffee. “We missed eighteen years of your life because they… why did they do that?”
“Couldn’t have kids.” Manic replied. He scoffed and shook his head. “I guess it was too much of a pain to adopt or foster a kid.”
“They went through a lot of effort to ruin our lives.” Sonic muttered. “They did take care of you, right? They didn’t abuse you, did they?”
Manic shook his head. “Not unless you count kidnapping me and telling me I was adopted for years.”
Sonic nodded.
Manic finished his coffee. “So I guess it was you who was running beside our car once.” He said. “That memory popped in my head this morning.”
“Yeah, I was trying to rescue you.” Sonic said. “I tripped over a pothole and fell. I got distracted by the other cars and I lost track of you.”
“Thanks for trying to save me.” Manic replied.
“You’re welcome.” Sonic said.
“So we’re getting married on Friday.” Manic said. “We’ll have dinner at four. Can you come? You don’t have to bring anything.”
“Sure.” Sonic replied.
*
Sonic led the family, including Shadow and Sally, up the walkway of Manic and Surge’s little dark gray and cream house.
“He has a nice house.” Sonia said.
Sonic laughed. “I’m surprised it’s not black.”
Shadow stepped in front of Sonic and rang the doorbell.
Manic opened the door. “Glad you could make it.” He said, stepping aside. “Dinner’s almost ready.”
Everyone walked inside.
Manic closed the door behind them.
Sonia, Aleena, and Sonic handed Manic a stack of letters.
“What’re the letters for?” Manic asked.
“They’re the letters we wrote to you while you were gone.” Sonic replied. He set his letters on the table as Sonia and Aleena set their letters down. “It helped us cope. We saved them to give them to you.”
Manic looked over the pile of letters. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“I can tell you when to start.” Sonic said. “After dinner.”
Surge stepped out of the kitchen. “Hey, everyone.” She said, “Dinner’s ready.”
Everyone followed Manic into the kitchen.
Manic kissed Surge. “Looks good, Babe.”
Sonic noticed the takeout bags.
Surge noticed Sonic looking at the bags. “I tried to make dinner,” She said. “I burned the burgers and I don’t know what I did to the fries, but they were hollow inside.”
Sonic sat down at the table. “I’m sure it’s still good.”
Everyone else sat down.
“Sonic can’t say anything about that.” Sally said. “He burned the chili for the chili dogs last week.”
Sonic nodded. “It was a mess.”
*
Manic read through two of Aleena’s letters and looked through a few drawings Sonic and Sonia drew. He wiped his eyes. “That had to be torture for you all.”
Aleena, Sonic, and Sonia slowly nodded.
“The drawings are adorable.” Manic said. “You two did this not long after it happened?”
“Probably the day it happened.” Sonic replied.
“I remember drawing them and then getting ready for bed.” Sonia added.
Surge looked them over and chuckled. “They really captured your spines.”
Manic wiped his eyes as he read the letter.
Surge stroked Manic’s spines.
Manic set the letter down and hugged Aleena, Sonic, and Sonia.
“You don’t have to read them all right now, bro.” Sonic said, patting Manic’s shoulder.
Manic nodded.
Aleena looked at the clock. “It’s getting late.” She said, getting up. “We’ll let you all unwind. Thanks for inviting us.”
Manic got up. “I’ll show you out.” He replied. He walked his family to the door.
Aleena hugged Manic again. “We’re having brunch on Sunday, you and Surge are welcome to come.”
“We’ll be there, Ma.” Manic said.