Rouge The Bat: Mature Goddess

Rouge and Tom have been married for twenty two years and four month
as of this chapter.

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"Morning, birthday girl!"

Teal rolled out of bed. "One more hour, please..."

"Come on, Teal, sis wants to have a party for you today and you KNOW
everyone's gonna show up." June opened the curtains, Teal's eyes
flinching from the sun. "Anyway, she's got that doctor appointment today
and you should be there for her."

"Right, mom's getting her checkup on the twins today. Hope they're
still doing fine!" Shaking off sleep, Teal stood.

June said, "those babies in her will be fine. Better be." Reaching for
her work clothes, Teal paused. It was Saturday. No work. "Tiff's out
finding you a gift. After we get that done at the clinic I'm gonna go
buy you a cake. You like anything special?"

"Huh? Oh... lemon cake if you can find one."


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Buttoning her shirt, Rouge was pleased. Her two babies were doing
fine, although the strain of having two of them inside her was already
taking its toll on her body. She was eating heavily and already had the
clothes dragged out that she should be wearing in the later months.
At the very least, she'd found pregnancy clothes made in her size that
could accommodate twins.

Tom, however, suspected he should get a wheelchair in case she needed
it. Rouge thought the idea unnecessary. Opening the door for her,
Tom led her into the waiting room. "They're doing just fine."

"Good to hear, sis," June said.

"Now, Teal... you have a birthday party to get ready for!" Rouge
commented, hugging her daughter.


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Amy bent down, patting Rouge's stomach. "Amy, they're babies, not a
good luck stone!"

"Right... shouldn't slap at it so hard," she said, gently rubbing.
"Sonic would've come but the boys are both sick. But I thought I'd show
up anyway, since it is Teal's seventeenth."

"I didn't invite too many people, I didn't want to drag this out.
Teal probably wants to go on a date anyway." Rouge made a neat stack of
empty gift boxes.

Karen watched her daughter tie the loose ribbons into neat bows. "Tom
doing okay? I know he kinda had trouble last kid you had, you know."

"He's doing fine," Rouge said. "Or... better than he did before. Huh...
can you two help me up?" They both took her hands.

"Bathroom?" Amy asked.

"You know it!"


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Tom sat, Knuckles looking out the window. "Teal's growing up good.
I think Slate's gonna stick with her."

"Yeah, she's been a good kid all these years. Mostly responsible. A real
handful as a baby..." Tom responded, thinking back to when Teal learned
how to fly. "Now I have two more on the way."

"That's gonna be painful," Knuckles commented, "I mean, I had two
cracked ribs, it hurt to breathe for a while, but... childbirth, wow..."

Tom wasn't listening. "I'm forty-three... when these little girls turn
eighteen, I'll be... they'll be born near my birthday, I guess, so when
they turn eighteen I'll be sixty-four years old."

"Oh... I never thought about THAT. Karen and me are gonna stick at three.
But... wow, you'll be grandparents before they become adults."

"If I live that long," Tom said, a bit sad. "If either of us do."

"Don't say that! You take care of yourself, you work out... and you
were able to deal with Rouge in her wilder days. She could be a REAL
trial to deal with back then... I mean... hey, I had to guard the
Master Emerald! She..." Knuckles was overly defensive. "... it wasn't
hers to have. I did what I had to do."

Tom said, "I don't want to think about this anymore right now... so,
about that big mess in Station Square..."

"Yeah, I was there on business for the island when I got caught in the
middle of it." Proud of his contribution, he said, "I did what I had to
do to help stop that!"

"Right," Tom muttered. "I didn't get to go into the gunfire. Never
did. But at least people like me are around to fund the cleanup."


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Teal led Victoria into the living room. "Vic! Didn't think you'd
make it!"

"Ted couldn't find a babysitter so I had to watch his little boy for
a bit. Wow, you look... big!" Vic said, laughing. "Oh, Teal, your gift!"

"Thank you," the girl said, leaving her mother alone with her old
friend.

"You doing good, Boss?"

Rouge replied, "of course. Just strained... and my feet hurt. My back
hurts..."

Taking a seat, Vic blurted out, "Boss, you know that I won't be able to
run the casino floor forever.... I think it's time I train my
replacement."

"You have someone in mind?" she asked.

Vic answered, "not yet. But I have a small list of employees I want to
try, find the one that'll best be suited to the job and train them.
It'll take a few years so I want to get an early start."

"Vic," Rouge said, "you were running that place before I owned it.
Before the scumbag crime lord I arrested was sent away for life. You
know what's best for that place, so I trust you."

"Tom here?" Vic asked. She hadn't seen him.

"He's taking a quick nap. I thought I'd let him get some rest. I'm
carrying two kids, he's worrying for two people."

"Great. Anyway, I need to get back to the floor for the night shift
tonight. I'll stop by when I get time away and see how you're doing,
okay?"

"Sounds good, Vic," the bat said.