A/N- 4 years have passed. The ages are as follows:

Rouge- 22 (she was 18, 4 years ago instead of 17.)

Knuckles-20 ½

Sonic-19

Amy-16

A/N- This story is actually an experiment with a deep and serious Knux/Rouge relationship. I had this thing sittin' on the laptop for 3 1/2 months before it conked out on me, and this story was recently salvaged from the laptop's hardrive on another portable computer.

A/N-I always wanted to use the title! ^^

Disclaimer: Sega owns all characters related to Sonic. Not me!

The Babysitter Affair

On another warm and slow day, Rouge the Bat, now a mother of two active children sat comfortably in her favorite patio chair while sipping iced tea. It had been two months since she had been a stay-at-home-mom, and even that hasn't been long enough for her to get used to it. She was tied down with two athletic and competitive boys, fraternal twins, both at the age of two and a half. She sighed and took another sip of her tea. Even though her children were much older than the few months she had been caring for them, she had paid a plethora of babysitters to watch them for half years at a time.

Before she or her husband, Knuckles, had a real job, they would go out treasure hunting and excavate bounty to pawn off for money to pay bills with. It took them around six months to scrounge for items of high enough value to pawn. So after the children came, Knuckles would go out looking for a job, while Rouge went to various places looking for good spots to dig. It had only been two months that he had gotten and kept a job, so paying bills and caring for the children was a lot smoother. Even though Rouge was happy with her little busybodies, who looked exactly like their father, her mind would still drift to the memories of the days she and Knuckles spent together looking for treasure and frolicking under the sun.

She smiled. Those were the days. There were times when she wanted to leave the house to her husband and go off on an adventure of her own, like she used to before she met Knuckles.

There needed to be some sort of miracle, for something like that to happen, but it all paid off in the end.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Quickly rising from her chair, Rouge adjusted her hair and tightened her robe, then began making her way to the door. The doorbell had rung several more times before she got there. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" she called, slightly becoming annoyed. Out of the two children she had not one of them bothered to answer the door. "Hmm…they take after their father" she whispered, standing on her tippy-toes to look out of the peep-hole. "…And speaking of whom…" She opened the door, and only allowed it to be ajar enough for her head to stick out. "You're back early."

With a chuckle, Knuckles smirked at her. "How perceptive. So, are you going to let me in, or do I have to find another way?"

Warily, Rouge stared at her husband. He hardly ever used the front door. Because of the outdoor patio, he usually flew right to it and made his way into the house through the sunroom. "It doesn't matter…You hardly use the door anyway. So what's different this time?"

He grinned slyly with a glint in his eyes. "Let me in and I'll show you."

Rouge amusingly raised an eyebrow. "Ohhh, I know that tone."

"Oh really?"

"Yes…it means a lot of fun for you and more babies for me…" she replied sarcastically, opening the door for him and letting him in.

As soon as he stepped foot in the door, he cupped his wife's cheek and kissed her quickly on the lips. "I'm sure that can be arranged…."

With a mock smile, Rouge pressed herself against her husband and groped a place that made him wince. In a thick, erotic voice, she purred: "I need to get you neutered"

Knuckles nearly choked on his words. "You'll do WHAT?!"

"Shhh! You'll wake the children!" she playfully lied, in an attempt to change the subject.

With a forced grin, he gave his wife a rather scowling look. Rouge deliberately ignored it and began walking towards the living room.

"So…what have you got this time?"

Becoming both annoyed by his wife's sarcastic behavior and aroused by her "come-and-get-me" attitude, he eagerly followed close behind her. "Just something for the kids."

"Oh really?" she asked, slightly turning to him in such a way that showed off her curves at a rather suggestive angle. "What did you get them?"

"Oh…" he started, steadily moving closer to her with a look of yearning glistening in his eyes "Just a few toys."

"Mhm" she cooed, tugging on the belt of her robe and draping an arm around his neck. "And what do you have for me?"

With a throaty chuckle, Knuckles eagerly pulled her close into his arms and pressed his hips against her.

"Ooh.." Rouge murmured, glancing down at her husband "…I see.."

"Mmmhmmm" he replied with a deeply erotic tone to his voice. "I've had a long day…How about you?"

"Maybe, but it doesn't matter. You're here to sweep me off my feet. You just can't get enough of me"

With a toothy grin, he chuckled. "You said you always wanted a daughter…"

"I did?"

"I heard you mumble it in your sleep"

"And when was this?"

Knuckles grinned at her and touched his nose with hers. "Doesn't matter…" he replied with such powerful sensuality, Rouge found herself feeling a bit weak in the knees.

This was new! Even after the day they got married, Knuckles was never so romantically straightforward. Of course, that was something she wouldn't be complaining about, but, she could tell that he was trying exceptionally well to hide something.

Figuring he'd tell her after he got his needs met with her, Rouge set aside the thought and tauntingly kissed him on the lips. Knuckles, who became impatient with her game of playing hard to get, presented her moist lips with a hungry kiss of his own and gently pressed her against a wall. Feeling himself grow hotter with anticipation, he gently took hold of Rouge's leg and slipped his hand up the length of her thigh. A small chuckle escaped her from the way his glove tickled her fur. But her laughter soon changed into a low moan as Knuckles' mouth left hers and went to suckle on her neck instead.

'That's more like it…' he thought.

Getting his message, Rouge draped her arms around his neck and lifted a thigh to his waist. With a lick of her lush crimson lips, she moaned and bucked her hips. "Take me already."

Briefly, he left her neck, licking his lips, and lifted his wild and hungry eyes to hers. "You don't need to tell me twice."

"Glad to hear it." Rouge replied, already lacing a bare leg around him. "I don't know about you, but staying pinned to this wall while you perform foreplay doesn't exactly tickle my fancy."

Knuckles smirked and rubbed her other thigh. "Then we'd better get you someplace more comfortable…"

With a sound of amusement, Rouge gracefully wrapped both her legs tightly around Knuckles' waist, as he supported her weight and led them to their room.

*

An hour after their explosive lovemaking, Rouge sighed and snuggled upto Knuckles' heaving chest. "Mmm.." she moaned lightly, tracing her fingertips over the white ring across his chest "You really know how to rock a gem-lovers world…"

With a tired smirk, Knuckles encircled an arm around her and touched his nose with hers. "My name isn't Knuckles for nothing…"

With a laugh, Rouge gave him a small push. "You idiot. That was so corny."

"You think so?"

"I do."

"Heh…Well it came from your mouth first!"

"And so what if it did? There's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh yeah?" Knuckles grinned and began tickling her in that tricky spot on her ribs. "Then what do you say to this, huh?"

Unable to control herself, Rouge squirmed and writhed under his embracing assault and tried to speak coherent words in-between her laughter. "Kn-Knuckles stop it! Stop it right now! You-you know what that spot does to…" she trailed off as her voice melded into a low moan.

Seeing his attempt successful, Knuckles chuckled and climbed on top of her. Holding both her arms down, he stared intently at her and leaned closer with a dark smile on his lips. "What're you gonna do now?"

Amused he had her pinned, thinking that he'd accomplished something, Rouge looked up at him with a sly expression playing across her features. "Oh…you think you have me, do you…?"

Knuckles grinned mischievously and tauntingly brushed her lips with his. " I believe I do, Bat-Girl."

Without saying a word, Rouge lashed her tongue at his lips, then claimed him again for a second taste. Before Knuckles could retaliate, Rouge's moist lips had already covered his and her uncontainable tongue thrashed about wildly in his mouth, capturing his own.

Becoming drawn in by her game, Knuckles released his grip from her arms and cupped her face as he deepened their kiss. The moment her hands were free, Rouge laced them around his neck and pulled him closer. Knuckles soon became distracted by her heated invitation and hardly noticed her legs wrapping around him. "You're mine now…" she whispered breathlessly against his lips.

"Oh…?" Knuckles responded just as breathless, and gently rubbed one of his protruding knuckles against the soft flesh of her ribs.

With a shiver, a moan escaped her mouth as her hands were placed on the top of his head, then pushed him downwards.

"I can't take it anymore…" she moaned, lifting her legs to his head and squeezing lightly. "You know what I want.."

Not saying a word, Knuckles brushed his lips against the petals of her moist flesh to tease her, then pressed his mouth to it and set loose his tongue to raid her heated depths.

Rouge responded with a low moan as her body arched and squirmed without her knowing. "Mmm baby…"

Indulged in his feast, Knuckles gave no verbal reply, but chuckled and slid his hands up her thighs. Feeling her body shiver as she cooed in pleasure, he parted her petals with his fingers and hungrily lashed his weapon about inside her. Each moan and cry that escaped from her mouth fueled his ambition to increase his wild taunting, and he eagerly savored the hot and thick reward he got in return.

With a low moan, he paused and lifted his face to her. Allowing a few more pants of ecstasy to pass, Rouge looked down to him in question, but felt her face grow hot as what her eyes beheld. With a smug grin on his face, Knuckles chuckled a bit and licked his lips, only able to savor a small taste of her as the rest of his face was dripping with her honey. Seeing his woman at a loss for words, Knuckles chuckled and rubbed his taunting fingers against her thermal entrance. "What's the matter…?" he quipped, slowly sliding his fingers in, then out at a moderate pace "You couldn't have had enough already…"

Knowing that he was toying with her, Rouge squirmed under his probing and tried to focus her dazed eyes on his. "You stopped, first…"

"No…you did." he said, licking his lips again "You came as if though we were done…" With another chuckle, he slid another finger deeply inside of her, causing her to arch her back and cry out.

"…But…we're far from being done… Unless I was too much for you to handle before…" he grinned, then vibrated his fingers inside of her. " 'Ohhh, baby, that's it! Give it to me harder! Make me want it! Make me crave it!' " Knuckles mocked, heightening his voice to imitate her.

Irritated, Rouge tried to glare at him, but the pleasure she was receiving canceled just about everything else she felt out. "You…idiot…!" she managed to pant, sitting up to grab one of his dreadlocks. "You've got a lot of nerve mocking me like that!"

"Oh yeah? And just what can you do? Nothing but take and enjoy the intense amount of pleasure your man is giving you. Unless you want me to stop?"

With a playful half-frown, Rouge grabbed Knuckles by the head and pushed him down between her legs again and clamped them around him. "Quit yapping and start lapping, already!!"

"Yes ma'am!" he replied with muffled words.

Laughing to herself, Rouge felt her body quiver as she got what she wanted. Whispering his name, she led a hand to his head and ran it through his dreadlocks. Clenching a group of them with a fist, she began to slide her other hand through them, when something ruffled and lacey brushed her hand.

"Knuckles stop…"

The echidna paused at her command, and half-heartedly looked up at her with his lips brushing against her warmth. "…What is it, now?"

Fighting back a faint moan, Rouge tugged at the lacey object in his dreads while trying to keep a straight face. "…What is this…?" she muttered lowly.

"What? I can barely hear you." Knuckles responded, lifting his face and licking his lips. "Speak up…I thought you wanted me so bad…"

With an annoyed groan, Rouge clenched the lacey object in his dreads and yanked it off.

. "Owww…! What did you do that for…!" he groused, rubbing his head. "You could have told me you were done, Rouge! What's the matter with you?"

"Knuckles, what is this?!" Rouge demanded, holding up the lacey pink band for them both to clearly see. It was a shade lighter than his natural red color, so it could be blended in his dreads without much notice. Her eyes narrowed when she realized how easily it could have been kept from view. "Well?"

Knuckles had only glanced at it at first, focusing more of his attention on the pain in his head. "What about it?"

Rouge glared at him. Why was he being so nonchalant about it?

"Idiot!" she yelled, hitting him upside the back of his head "Don't try to play your 'selective amnesia' games with me! Now tell me, where did this band come from…?!"

Knuckles was about to retaliate when he finally gave the band a good look. "What is that doing…" he trailed off in a whisper. Nervously glancing upto Rouge, he took the band from her and tried to change the uncomfortable situation around. "Oh…it's just a good luck charm…"

Rouge raised a skeptical eyebrow. "…A good luck charm…"

"Yeah." Knuckles lied, curling his fingers around it "It's supposed to insure that we have a daughter. Just like you always wanted."

Rouge wordlessly gazed into his suspecting eyes as her anger towards him gradually subsided. Part of her wanted to believe him, but something was still amiss.

"Oh really. As sweet as that sounds, Knuckles, what was it doing in your hair?" Her eyes then lowered, as did her voice. " If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to hide it from me…"

Knuckles opened his mouth to answer, then quickly shut it, as he asked himself the same question. Then an answer hit him. 'She must have put it there when she hugged me' His eyes narrowed as his thoughts continued and he averted his gaze from Rouge 'That girl…'

Watching her husband take too much time before giving her an answer, Rouge pushed him off of her and got out of the bed. Before Knuckles could realize what was happening, Rouge had already halfway finished dressing herself.

"Rouge, what are you--"

"Get out."

"What!" Knuckles retaliated, standing to his feet and grabbing Rouge by the arm. "Listen to me, I wasn't hiding it from you!"

Rouge gave him a fake laugh. "You're lying to me!" she chirped in a forced singsong tone and pulled herself out of from his grip. "I still want you out of here." She added, leaving the room and storming down the hallway.

"Rouge, wait!" Knuckles called, running after her.

"I don't want to hear it!"

"Just wait…" he repeated, stepping in front of her. "Just…hear me out, ok?"

Angry, and almost heartbroken this was happening to her, Rouge looked away from him for a moment, and crossed her arms. "…Knuckles…" Rouge stated lowly, trying to fight back a sudden sting of tears behind her eyes. "Tell me and tell me the truth. Are you having an affair?"

Almost hurt by her words, Knuckles sighed heavily and looked away from her. "Rouge…"

"Are you seeing someone else?!"

He paused before answering. "No…"

"Are you!?"

"No! I'm not seeing anyone else, Rouge!" he shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders. His wild eyes searched hers for an understanding.

"…You're lying!!" she yelled, trying to push him away.

Knuckles growled while trying to hold her steady. "Why won't you believe me?!"

"Let me go!"

"Not until you tell me!"

"I said let me go!" Rouge vociferated, kicking him squarely between the legs.

With a muffled cry, Knuckles bit his lip and sunk to the floor.

Half-smiling, Rouge nudged him with her foot and leaned down. "You wanna know why I know you're lying? Because no man of mine would be proud to wear something pink and lacey in his hair. And especially not in places where his beloved wife, which would be me, can't find it!"

Knuckles frowned and tried to speak, but, a wheeze was all he could muster. At that point, he considered Rouge to be lucky that he painfully had to withhold the slew of curses that would have flown out of his mouth.

Watching him writhe on the floor near the steps, Rouge felt her lips curl into a frown. The thought of kicking him down them crossed her mind.

"…Our marriage was already on the brink of going downhill, and you just gave it one more good push…"

A distant chuckle rose from Knuckles as he finally managed to look up at her.

"Oh I get it…" he murmured in a raspy tone "You think this is all my fault, huh? Calling me a liar. You want some truth, Rouge? Huh? Do you?!" he spat, while forcefully pushing himself off the floor. "Well I'll give you some truth… I got fired from my job today."

Rouge narrowed her eyes. "You what…?"

"Yeah, that's right. I got fired. And you wanna know why? Because those scruff-necks above me couldn't give me the decent raise I deserved. Instead, my earnings were always given to those under me. I wasn't going to just stand there and let my life be run by some pencil-pushing job that doesn't suit me! I got tired of it, Rouge!"

Trying to take his words in, Rouge shook her head. "…I don't believe you! This has been going on for only months now! Why can't you just keep a fairly decent job for once? 6 months isn't going to cut it, especially when you're living in a house that you never paid for and have to leech off of my savings over the years; pay the bills and support two children with a proclaimed other on the way; and let's see what else? Oh yeah, continue to support your wife who seems to be taking a back seat to another woman!"

"That's ENOUGH!!!" Knuckles roared. Disgusted, he clenched a fist and glared at her, his eyes wild and offended. "See, that's why I didn't want to tell you! You were going to jump to conclusions and start pointing fingers! I'm doing all I can, Rouge! Maybe if YOU decided to get off your lazy butt and start looking for work, this may never have happened!"

"Stop it, Knuckles!!" she hissed, and angrily slapped him across the face. "The nerve of you throwing that garbage at me, you've lost your mind! And guess what? You didn't deny your other woman friend this time." She spoke in a steady acidic tone and smiled faintly.

Wordless and angered by her behavior, Knuckles growled and forced himself away from her. Rubbing his cheek, he headed towards the front door. "I don't need to hear this, Rouge… I've already told you, but you won't listen!"

"Won't listen?! You haven't explained anything about this fling of yours. So tell me, how long has this been going on? A month? Two months?" She shrugged." …A year, maybe?"

Knuckles sighed heavily and unlocked the door. "…Rouge…"

"Gee, I wonder when you were going to tell me this Knuckles. Maybe you wanted to surprise me. Or maybe you THOUGHT you could keep it from me. Or better yet, maybe you should have told me one of the many times you had my legs spread, and impaled me on that baseball bat of a seed shooter of yours! Yeah…" she nodded, sarcastically smiling with a thin film of tears building in her eyes. "…That would have been the perfect moment to tell me… The perfect time to tell me that my husband's greatest pride had gotten lost inside another woman…"

Feeling the impact of her words, Knuckles had to hold himself from breaking and leaned his head on the door in defeat. He didn't want things to get out of hand the way they did, but he knew that she was right. Even if he were seeing someone else, he would never sleep with them. But Rouge wouldn't accept that, and for once, he couldn't blame her.

"…Rouge, look…" he muttered, his voice wavering as he tried to look at her. The pain in her eyes met with his for a split second, before she turned her face away from him, the second her tears broke through their barrier and traveled down her cheeks.

"I don't want to hear it…" she whispered in a low and cracked voice. "…Just go…"

"Rouge… Rouge…!" Knuckles called after her, but she turned her back to him and ran back to the bedroom.

Watching her go, he groaned in disgust and leaned his back against the door. "…What have I done…?" he muttered, only for his ears to hear. "…I can't stay here…" Facing the door, he pulled out his cell phone and, with a shaky finger, quickly punched in a number.

The other line rang several times before the receiver picked up.

"Hey Knucklehead, what's up? You got my number on speed-dial or somethin'?"

Knuckles frowned at the joke. "…Sonic…listen to me for a second…"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"...If you're not doing anything, let me come over."

"What, now?"

"…I'm serious, Sonic."

"Sure, come on over. I'll help out in any way I can. Oh yeah, and Amy was asking about you."

Knuckles flinched at her name. "…Allright, I'm leaving…"

With that, he hung up and opened the door.

*

As soon as the door closed, Rouge sat up on the bed and briskly wiped her tears. "Knuckles…?" she called, then mentally kicked herself for doing so. "No, forget about him… He's gone…" After letting a few moments pass, Rouge pushed herself up from the bed and trudged out of the darkened room and down the hallway. She almost had to stable herself against the walls, she was so emotionally torn. "…I knew something like this would happen…" she muttered, struggling to pull herself along. "…I knew…he would lie to me…like that…I knew his ignorance would make me suffer…But I married him anyway…thinking he could change for the better, following my example…" Reaching the stairs, the paused and looked to the front door. A faint smile came to her lips as she forced herself to chuckle. "…This is what we get. …The joke is on us…for being stubborn." After a moment of laughter, she hung her head and sulked down to the top step, and slumped against a wall. "…But the joke's on me most of all…" she uttered, her lips trembling.

Warm tears stung the backs of her eyes and she effortlessly allowed them to be released.

Closing her eyes, she brought her knees to her chest and hugged them. After a few moments of anguish, she lifted her face from the hiding place of her arms with a newfound emotion burning in her eyes. With a scoff, she stood to her feet and composed herself. "That's enough wasting time. …I need to get out of this house for a while."

With a deep sigh, Rouge pushed every trouble and indecency away, then walked down the steps to where the children's' rooms were.

Cracking their door slightly ajar, she peeked around to see if they were still sleeping, but much to her surprise, they weren't even in bed.

Concerned, she stepped into the room and looked around. It was almost pitch black, save for the slither of light spilling through the blinds. But her eyes were keen enough to cut through the darkness, and she walked further into the room.

"…Akai! Amethyst!" she called.

At the sound of her voice, the door of a closet in the room creaked open and out stumbled two smallish echidnas.

One was the exact same color as Knuckles and had red eyes to match, while the other was a mix of pink and light purple with white streaks right above his plum-colored eyes.

Staring at them, Rouge placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "Why were you two hiding in the closet?"

"Well…" Amethyst began, looking at his brother who pointed a finger at him.

"It was his idea!" Akai bluntly stated, poking him in the shoulder to get him to confess.

"Akai! Cut that out!" Amethyst cried, trying to push his brother's finger away when Rouge stepped between them and pulled them, aside. "Alright, that's enough! Now, one of you tell me what you were hiding for. Amethyst?"

The pinkish echidna tossed an unreadable look at his brother before answering. "Well, we were in bed, when he heard daddy's voice rumble through the house."

Rouge's breath got caught in her throat at her son's words, but she nodded to him to continue. "Go on…"

"And…well…then…"

"…Then we heard your voice and daddy's yellin'." Akai finished for his brother.

"Yeah" Amethyst nodded. "And we thought we two were gonna separate and get a dee… um…a diverse."

"Yeah, a diverse." Akai chimed in.

Hearing her two sons be so innocently truthful almost broke Rouge's heart and it took all she had to not cry in front of them. Trying to smile, she gave them both hugs. "No no, sweethearts. Your father and I are not getting a divorce."

She paused after saying those words.

"What's wrong, mommy?" Amethyst wondered, tapping Rouge on the arm.

"What? Oh…it's nothing." She lied, snapping out of her trance. "Listen, you two, why don't we go for a drive? Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Yeah!" Amethyst cheered.

"Yeah. But only if we can go to a toy store and eat lots of candy too!"

Amethyst looked to his brother, then back to Rouge with a nod. "Yeah, a toy store!"

With a smug expression, Akai nudged his brother in the arm, causing him to jump.

"And candy too!" Amethyst added.

Watching those two behave so playfully got Rouge to really smile for the first time since her and Knuckles' argument. With a giggle, she hugged them again, then led them out the room and to the front door. "Sure. You two can have all the candy and toys you want. Mommy's treat."

"Yeah! Awight!" the twins cheered in unison.

Rouge gave them another broad smile before grabbing the keys to the SUV off the door and heading outside.

--

Well, I finally did it. This story almost didn't see the light of day since I've never really experimented with Knux and Rouge, and to then just jump into them being married with children like that… That was like a blind leap of faith. …Kinda like what's in the 3-d Sonic games today. Plenty of leaps of faith there, or else you lose a life from fallin' off a ledge you never thought or saw was there.

It's funny how I really just started to get more chapters in depth in my mind for this, and already, I have a sequel planned and laid out already.

Oh, and for the children's names, Akai means red in Japanese and Amethyst is…well…a synonym for purple.

Welp, things may get a lot deeper here on out… As long as it's quality work, there's almost no limit to what I put in here.

Oh yeah, and for those who wonder…Even though it's Rouge's house, the Master Emerald is in the backyard. ^_^

-Mel