Chapter 4 New Crib
*T.W. Forced infantilisim

Shadow claps away the particle dust from his hands, placing the still, slightly dusty digits on his hips. He overlooks his newly renovated guest bedroom with an accomplished air. Everything is finally set up for his charge.
The previously bare and sparsely decorated guest bedroom was now a fully furnished nursery. He couldn't hold back an excited laugh imagining how his rival would look laid out in the crib or changing table or Sonic's shocked and humiliated expression at finding that this would be his room during his recovery.
Shadow laughed so hard tears appeared, and he had to grab hold of the railing on the crib to stay upright. He was looking forward to babying the blue hedgehog til his lesson sunk into that thick prickly skull. Oddly enough, this was the most excited Shadow had felt about anything since...well, since the A.R.K.
Some excitement and nerves were expected at having this golden opportunity to tease his rival unprohibited. Still, the amount the dark hog felt was on a level with a small child the night before Christmas. Practically vibrating and filled with so much anticipation from the inside that he burst into semi-hysterical laughter and had to grab hold of the nearest stable object to keep himself upright.
The alarm on his communicator suddenly beeped, and the ebony hog heaved in a few breaths to compose himself. He didn't want his behavior to deviate too much from the norm and give the blue blur any suspicion that Shadow had something up his sleeve. If Tails noticed Shadow was showing a suspicious amount of emotion than expected, the fox might call the whole thing off despite their arrangement, and well, that couldn't happen now, could it?
After a few calming breaths, The Ultimate Lifeform centers himself, face falling back into its usual grimace along with his military posture.
It was time to pick up his new baby. His heart fluttered like the wings of a hummingbird at the thought.
Concentrating on the Chaos Emerald in his possession, Shadow pictures the hospital's front doors and calls out, "Chaos Control!" With a zap and a flash of greenish-white energy, the Ultimate Lifeform disappears—Rematerializing before the doors of the G.U.N. hospital.
He doesn't have to wait long before Tails walks out the revolving doors with a bag hanging on his shoulder and a nurse beside him pushing a very floppy and dazed Sonic in a wheelchair. The blue blur dosed up more than he had been over the last few days to help override any pain he might experience during the trip to Shadow's home.
"Hey, Shadow!" Tails cheerily greets, waving; the dark hog gives a brief wave of his own, then nods at the blue blur who says with a slur, "Hey, Shado~."
Tails cuts in, handing over the extremely light duffle bag, "Ok, so all of the info you need is in his bag along with the medications he's taking and the instructions. He doesn't need much, so I just packed his grooming comb, toothbrush, and some extra pairs of socks." the fox pauses looking over the dark hog's shoulders, searching for a car or some other vehicle. "Do you need any help getting him to your place?" he asks perplexingly. Shadow shakes his head as he adjusts the bag over his shoulder and picks Sonic up bridal style. The hospital gown covers everything while the blue hedgehog makes a startled yip, then relaxes, realizing he is now in Shadow's hold.
"Ok, I think that's it then. If you guys need anything, you have my number. I'll talk to you later, Sonic." The brothers say their goodbyes before parting. Shadow grunts an acknowledgment before stepping back and focusing on the Chaos emerald again, imagining the nursery, "Bye, Taiws." Sonic flops a hand in an uncoordinated wave as the Ultimate Lifeform calls out the command, "Chaos Control!"
In the blink of an eye, the two are back at his home; Sonic emits a confused grunt, head swaying and hitting against Shadow's chest as a green tint appears on his cheeks. No doubt disoriented from the sudden change in surroundings. Chaos controlling can be unsettling enough for a healthy individual, let alone someone high on pain meds. He burbles a "Wha...whern...where?"
"We are at my home. You will be staying with me for a while." Shadow reminds him, walking toward the changing table and slowly laying his rival on the pastel-colored baby block-covered padding. "...oh... okay. Thanks." Sonic slurs, unfocused eyes fluttering closed, swallowing away his nausea, ready to fall back into a drugged sleep. Working quickly, Shadow removes the sanitary gown and slightly wet diaper. He tosses both in the trash before pulling out a clean diaper and footie jammies adjusted for Sonic's casts with a smirk as he puts them on the mostly asleep hedgehog.
Sonic sighs with a contented purr when the zipper is pulled up, and Shadow has to bite his tongue to keep from bursting into laughter. He doesn't want to awaken the totally out-of-it-blue blur and spoil the surprise just yet, that will come in the morning. After the hospital-grade medication has worn off, Sonic will be more coherent to take in his new environment.
Gently picking him up, the dark hog transfers his charge from the table to the ready and waiting crib. He places a purple and yellow duckling baby blanket over Sonic's body and pulls up the rails, locking him in for the night.
Despite having picked up Sonic in the early evening at the hospital, Shadow's home was on the other side of the country, and thus, several hours ahead, the sun had set a couple of hours ago in Florida. So putting the hedgehog to bed seemed appropriate.
The ebony hog looks at his rival, tempted to place one of the pacifiers into his mouth but decides that that can wait until later.
Silently Shadow creeps out of the room, turning the lights off and closing the door. He heaves a sigh, stretches his back with a yawn, and then checks the time. 9:45 pm enough time for me to eat and finish that book before bed. He muses, heading for the kitchen, determined to enjoy the last few hours of quiet time that would disappear once Sonic awakens tomorrow.
The fun would officially begin then.

Shadow wakes up early the following morning, well-rested and ready to start his big plan. Beginning the day with his usual morning routine, making the bed, showering, then preparing a balanced breakfast for two. (For the foreseeable future) After eating, he quickly checked on his guest, who was still sleeping.
He won't fully wake up till later this afternoon. I should check his diaper while I'm at it. With careful movements, Shadow enters the room and lowers the crib's bars; thankfully, his charge hasn't moved much during the night, giving Shadow easy access to the snaps at the crotch. He sticks two fingers into Sonic's diaper, finding it very wet.
Not wanting to wake him up too soon, the dark hedgehog gathers the changing supplies deciding to change Sonic in bed instead of doing it on the table. The blue blur doesn't stir throughout the change, limp as a ragdoll besides the occasional snore. Shadow disposes of the dirty diaper wiping his hands with a baby wipe, and watches Sonic sleep for a few moments.
Despite the casts on the blue blur's arm and leg, his bedraggled quills, and pink cheeks while lying on his back painted an innocent picture of the tiny hedgehog; that, for some reason, made Shadow smile.
Before leaving, he grabs and turns on the baby monitor. With Sonic taken care of for the next few hours, the Ultimate Lifeform returns to the kitchen, puts away Sonic's portion of breakfast in the fridge for later, and does the dishes. While in the kitchen, Shadow decides to make a bottle filled with medicine, adding a bit of sugar and vanilla to mask the taste. He isn't sure why he does s,o as the other hedgehog could still choke down the medicine without the flavoring, but not having to do so would be a mercy. Shadow doesn't mind bestowing on his rival as he used to do for Maria. It doesn't take him more than a few minutes before he's finished with nothing else to do.
Shadow glances at the clock that now reads 8 am; he contemplates what to do now. He had finished cleaning the whole house yesterday; the cabinets and fridge were stocked for the next two weeks, there were no chores left to do, and he had no assignments or paperwork for the G.U.N. commander had given him a leave of absence to take care of their ally since Sonic had been hurt on the job. They were using Shadow's voluntary temporary caregiver role for the hero as a convenient alternative form of payment for his sacrifice. Paying the for the needed medical treatment and giving the dark hog FMLA was cheaper compensation than paying the blue blur outright. Shadow had nothing pressing to do for the first time in months until Sonic woke up.
Well, I guess I can work on my list again. He muses, looking at the whiteboard on his fridge filled with the latest list of subjects and popular topics on which Rouge has suggested he educate himself.
This was a very helpful system Shadow and Rouge had cooked up to help him catch up with the rest of the world. The Ultimate Lifeform would research the topics on the small list Rouge would give him relevant to the last 50 yrs, varying from politics and scientific advancements to fashion and culture. He found Jeopardy was also an excellent way to pick up little pieces of information here and there when he could. Besides a bit of help from the bat, Shadow has become quite the Googleier. But because of his busy schedule, a list containing 4 or 5 subjects would take months, and once he finished, Rouge would give him another list.
He's learned much since coming out of stasis; still, 50yrs of history is a lot to catch up on. It's a good thing the professor had instilled in him a love of learning; otherwise, the amount of work ahead of Shadow would be daunting.
Scanning over his current topics, Shadow picked out one from the last 3 he hadn't crossed out yet. "Hmmm, Glass Blowing artist Dale Chihuly? Glass blowing? That sounds interesting." walking into the living room, Shadow picks up his laptop from its spot on the coffee table, places the baby monitor next to him, and begins his research.
A couple of hours later, the sound of rustling fabric and quiet moans come from the baby monitor at last. Shadow checks the time, closes his laptop, puts it back in its spot, then crosses out his list before going to the nursery.
Opening the door slowly to not give away that the blue blur is being watched, the dark hog stands still in the doorway as the figure in the crib comes to his senses. Sonic huffs and grunts as his limbs jerk and move clumsily, trying to rub his sleep-crusted eyes. Shadow is blown away by how much Sonic looks like an infant waking up, rolling around the crib in a swollen diaper. He curses at how adorable the blue hedgehog appears; that wasn't his intention.
Extinguishing the warmth tickling his chest Shadow watches on as Sonic comes to, blinking in confusion and slight fear from finding himself in a crib. Green eyes widen as they bounce from the crib to the other parts of the nursery, "What the hell?!" he hears Sonic whisper to himself.
Thinking now would be a good time to announce his presence before the other hedgehog jumps to conclusions, The Ultimate Lifeform flicks the light switch and clears his throat, speaking calmly. "Good morning, hedgehog." Sonic yelps, startled by the unexpected voice, "Shadow?! Wha-what the hell is going on here? Did I hit my head or something? Or am I hallucinating? Please tell me I'm in one of those dreams where you wake up, but you're still in the dream and haven't really woken up yet?" The blue blur rambles, pulling himself upright by one functioning arm and pulling the other close to his chest protectively as he grew more disturbed by his surroundings.
"Calm yourself, hedgehog. Everything is alright. This is no dream, hallucination, or illusion. Everything is real. Here see!" Shadow steps to the crib and pinches the blue blur's arm to be cheeky, "Ow! Hey! Ok, I believe you!" Sonic roughly pushes the dark hog away, annoyed by the added pain to his broken body. Shuffling away, the blue blur's ears twitch to the sound of crinkling; puzzled by the noise, Sonic twists and turns his head, looking for the source, only causing the crinkling to increase in frequency.
Shadow has to bite his lip to keep a straight face and from laughing at Sonic. He acted much like a babe hearing a strange sound for the first time until he finally realized the noise was coming from his diaper. "What the hell!" Sonic screeches, cheeks turning pink as he attempts to close his legs, but the diaper is much too swollen.
Shadow seizes Sonic's wrists when he grabs the diaper, stopping him from ripping it off, and the blue blur glares at him, pulling back, "Alright, haha, you're so funny. You got me. Now let me go, Shadz!"
Shadow rolls his eyes. Of course, that idiot thinks this is a prank. "No. This is not a trick, hedgehog; I cannot allow you to take it off. You need it." the blue blur growls, still tugging his hands in his rival's grip, "The hell, I need this stupid thing!"
"Sonic, I'm serious!"
Sonic jolts to a stop staring at him in shock; Shadow has NEVER called him by his name before. The Ultimate Lifeform must be serious; unlike himself, who uses nicknames affectionately, Shadow calls people by condescending nicknames such as; idiot, fool, or whatever their species name is. The only time Shadow uses someone's actual name is if they are someone of authority or if he is completely serious.
Reluctantly Sonic lets his hands go limp, indicating he wouldn't try to remove the diaper again for now. As surprising as it is, he continues to glare (not pout) glare at his rival.
"Ok fine." he huffs, trying to cross his arms several times before giving up, frustrated because the cast is in the way, and letting his arms rest in his lap instead, mumbling. "You aren't the pranking type anyway. So what's with all the baby get up? I'm injured, not brain-damaged."
"Yes, but you wouldn't be like this if you were not even slightly as immature as you are."
"Ah, hello! Earth to McJagger, I saved all of our butts from Eggbutt."
Shadow almost quirked a brow at him, not understanding the reference but still kept his face composed. "After you were explicitly told not to engage with him. You knew we were outnumbered, but you put yourself in danger anyway." Sonic throws his not broken arm in the air, "What was I supposed to do, Shadow, just let Egghead use his ridiculous robot army and take over the world?!"
"No, but if you had stopped so we could regroup and plan, we would have come up with a better solution that didn't risk you almost committing suicide because that's exactly what you did!" Shadow shouts, pinching the space between his eyes, wishing he could pick up the stubborn hedgehog by the throat and strangle him! The blue idot wakes up from his drugged stupper, and this is the first conversation Shadow has with him! What would it take for this fool to realize he didn't have to put his life on the line every time Eggman attempts one of his schemes?
"You're just stupid!" Sonic sneers turning away from Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform's neck snaps up, red eyes blazing in a fury, "This! This attitude is exactly why I'm treating you like the immature hoglet you are."
The blue blur straightens up at that, "What!? You can't do that!" he yells, grabbing hold of the bars and gaping at his rival in disbelief, "I can." Shadow counters unwaveringly, "Until the doctor clears you for the next few months of your recovery, you are under my guardianship. And as your temporary guardian, I will do whatever I think is necessary to help you."
Shadow can see in Sonic's eyes the realization and horror that he was stuck here in The Ultimate Lifeform's care for the next few months. Being treated as an infant until either he understood the seriousness of his reckless and thoughtless actions and how they affected others or until he could go home with Tails again. Either way, Shadow was well prepared to deal with whatever Sonic gave him.
"But-you can't! I-I-I'll tell-"
"Who are you going to tell? What are you going to say? That I'm taking care of you? Treating you by how old you behave? You're seriously going to complain that I'm changing your diapers because you can't keep them dry." he punctuates by yanking off the snaps at the blue blur's crotch, revealing a very wet swollen diaper.
By the way, Sonic's face dropped and turned an embarrassing shade of red. The dark hog could tell that he had no idea his diaper was wet.
With a huff, Shadow picks up the hedgehog carrying him over to the changing table; they both stay quiet, mulling over their argument. The ebony hog changes Sonic's diaper with a clinical touch, not looking into those emerald eyes as he takes off the footed sleeper and puts a onesie on instead. When he finishes, Shadow looks at his rival's face seeing despair, anger, and helplessness. He doesn't like it.
Despite what many people think, Shadow does really care for Sonic. Finding the hedgehog broken and beaten as he had, had scared him, which was no easy feat. That's why he is doing this. He wants the blue hedgehog to understand that he doesn't have to almost sacrifice his life for everyone whenever something wrong happens or treat every mission like a suicide mission! He is still so young, and no one should have to make that choice, just like Maria shouldn't have had to make that choice. It was too late to do anything for her, but Shadow could still help his rival to see he could depend on his allies and that there was always another way out.
The Ultimate Lifeform gulps, fiddling with the inhibitor rings on his wrists for a moment; he thinks of taking Sonic's hand to comfort him but decides against it. He shouldn't coddle him right now, and the hedgehog most likely wouldn't welcome the touch anyway.
"Do you remember what happened? After the battle?" Shadow softly asks instead. Sonic licks his lips thoughtfully, looking everywhere but at Shadow, speaking equally as quiet. "I uh...I don't remember much. It's mostly fuzzy. The last thing I remember clearly is shooting out of that dragon before blacking out, then waking up and you guys talking about me staying with you back at the hospital and stuff, that's it."
The dark hog taps his fingers on the table, "What do you recall of your diagnosis?"
"Umm, my arm and leg are broken, obviously." he gestures by lifting each appendage, "And something about me almost breaking my spine, and that's why I have back pain?" Shadow nods, "Yes, the cluster of nerves in your lower back were damaged. That's why you can't tell when you need to go and why you're wearing the diaper." he punctuates by poking the plastic.
"Look..." Shadow sighs, "I'm not doing this," he points to the diaper again, then waves his hand to the nursery, "to humiliate you. I'm doing this to help you improve and see that you need to stop being careless. So get over it and think about your actions for once! Understand?"
"Yeah." Sonic sullenly mumbles, not looking at Shadow, obviously not believing him. The dark hog pushes his frustrations aside; it has only been 1 hour, and a single one-sided talk after waking up from heavy-duty pain-blocking drugs will not have any impact. Breathing in the baby powder smell letting the scent calm him, Shadow picks the blue hog up and sets him on his hip, careful not to let the broken leg bounce around too much. "Good. Now let's get something to eat. I saved some breakfast for you."