Melinda knocked on the door of Vanilla's house, wondering to herself what Val’s reaction would be after having not seen her face to face since she saved Cream. She knew from the way Amy spoke during her phone call the day before that there was no bad blood and Cream wanted to see her, but none-the-less she was still a bit nervous.

The door slowly creaked open, pulling her from her thoughts, and Vanilla gave her a smile.

“Come in, dear,” she ushered Melinda inside, “it makes me feel better that you came to pick-up Cream yourself. She is excited about spending some time with you.”

“Thank you, even though things are safe again I figured it would make everyone feel more comfortable,” Melinda smiled and slowly stepped inside.

“Melinda, dear,” Vanilla placed a hand on her shoulder, “thank you for saving her.”

So many things ran through Melinda’s head, the right words escaping her and anger building up. Anger at herself and wondering if she should even be thanked when she could easily blame herself as the one Isa wanted to get to. Tears burned her eyes and the wall threatened to break as she looked down.

Before she could react, she felt Vanilla's arms around her.

“Kai told me some of what happened, he told me you saved someone from that monster a long time ago,” Vanilla said softly

“It’s makes me wonder if it was my fault,” Melinda replied, hugging her back.

“Nothing was your fault, and you despite how scared you must have been you still stood up to him in order to protect my daughter and your son. That makes you a hero just like Sonic as far as I’m concerned.”

“Thank you,” Melinda whispered.

The two broke apart and Melinda wiped her eyes on her sleeve, a feeling of relief washing over her.

“Like I said before, I won’t pretend I understand all this immortal stuff yet, but it makes me feel safer knowing that there’s people like you and Kai around using your gifts to protect people,” Vanilla smiled.

“I’m just glad it’s over and he didn’t hurt them,” Melinda said.

“I think I can guess how it ended, and all that matters to me is that you’ve saved my daughter and ensured that he won’t harm any more innocent children,” Vanilla patted her shoulder.

“In the end, that’s what matters,” Melinda managed to smile, “and thank you for not holding what I am against me like some would.”

“Immortal or not, you’re still my friend and still just Aunt Mel to Cream,” Vanilla sat on the couch and motioned for Melinda to join her, “she was excited you invited her over.”

“Amy said she that maybe spending some time with me would help her, and I figured I could talk to her some more about all this, and talk to her about the funeral.”

“Yes,” Vanilla giggled, “I admit, when you told me it was a little exciting, like when the hero in a mystery novel has to fake his death to lure out the bad guys.”

“I guess I’m like a walking supernatural thriller so it’s not far off,” Melinda laughed.

“I bet you have so many stories to tell, we should have some girl time with Amy one of these days and you can fill US in on more of this immortality stuff.”

“Maybe,” Melinda finally sat down, “it does feels like a relief I don’t have to hide it from all of you anymore.”

“I feel bad for Tails, though. Trying to help cover for you while you explained like that.”

“You should’ve seen him trying to talk Amy down up at the workshop, I thought she was going to go full Thor on somebody,” Melinda chuckled, “she thought I was a ghost.”

“Oh My,” Vanilla placed her hand over mouth, “at least she seemed to have taken it well after you explained.”

“Yeah,” Melinda suddenly remembered Val’s reaction, “OH, and sorry about making you faint, and then almost faint again.”

“It’s no trouble, It was just a bit of a shock that went away with how happy I was to see you okay and Cream taking it well.”

“I felt bad about upsetting her, but it was such a relief that I was able to regain her trust so fast.” Melinda sighed.

Before she could say anymore her attention was drawn away by a door gently closing and movement upstairs.

“She must be finished packing her things for the night, I told to pack a nice dress because you were going somewhere special in the morning and that you would explain,” Vanilla said.

“Thank you,” Melinda smiled and turned her eyes to the stairs and saw Cream emerge from the second floor, wearing a well-stuffed purple backpack

Cream smiled and waved, hurrying down the stairs and over to the couch.

“Hello, Aunt Mel,” she said.

“Hey Cream, excited for the sleepover?” Melinda asked happily.

“Yes, I’m glad we all get to spend the night together since I didn’t get to talk to you much after you saved us,” Cream climbed up on the couch and hugged Melinda after dropping her bag off on the floor.

“I thought we could also talk about immortals and stuff since I never got a chance to explain to much to you,” Melinda smiled and hugged her back, “Kai told me he explained some of it the best he could, but you might still have questions.”

“That sounds nice, it is all confusing,” Cream said.

“There’s also something I need to explain about where we’re going in the morning since it might be a little scary, okay?” Melinda said.

“Mom told me to pack something nice to wear, is it somewhere important?” Cream asked.

“Yes, I’ll explain more once we get settled in with Miles but I guess it’ll be sort of like going to church,” Melinda explained

“It can’t be that bad, then?” Cream smiled as she pulled away.

“No, it’s just that there’s something about it that may be a little weird.” Melinda rubbed the back of her head.

“I’m sure it’ll be okay since you’ll be there, to.” Cream smiled.

“Everyone will be there, actually.” Melinda said, “Your mom is meeting us there along with Sonic, Amy, Kai, and even Knuckles if someone can drag him there.”

“Then it shouldn’t too scary.” Cream said.

“Okay then,” Melinda nodded and stood up, “ready to go?”

“Yes,” Cream nodded before sliding down off the couch and hugging her mom, “See to tomorrow, mama.”

“Be good for Aunt Mel, okay? I’ll take care of Cheese while you’re gone.” Vanilla hugged her back.

“Thanks, mama, and I will,” Cream hurried off the couch and put on her backpack before taking Melinda’s hand.

“Ready,” Cream said.

“We get to ride the train today,” Melinda smiled.

“Sounds like fun,” Cream said.

“I’m glad,” Melinda said, “Since your Aunt Mel still doesn’t have a new car.”

Cream giggled as the two left.