Thanks for the kind words, Tropicallight! I really appreciate it!

Misty's heart was hammering in her chest and Butterfrees were flittering around in her stomach. She wasn't known for being a nervous person, but this was a situation she hadn't been prepared for.

It had been a little over two weeks since she'd found out she was pregnant. The young woman was still in a sort of state of shock because it had completely come out of left field. She hadn't been to the doctor yet, but she guessed she was around six to eight weeks.

Her life was going to change completely in about seven months and her husband was completely in the dark. She felt awful, holding this ginormous secret from Ash, especially since it would affect him just as much as it would her. Plus, this was his child and if their roles were switched, Misty would want Ash to tell her.

She sighed, glancing down at her finished project. It was a medium sized box wrapped to perfection in blue wrapping paper and topped off with a pink bow. Her hope was that the two colors would give Ash even the tiniest bit of speculation to what she was trying to tell him. Deep down inside she knew it wouldn't help at all, but what was nestled within the box would give it away.

Misty wished she could just look her husband in the eye and tell him herself, but she hadn't even said it out loud to herself. Maybe once Ash knew, he could help Misty make sense of everything.

In the midst of her thinking, she almost missed the sound of the front door opening and closing. She immediately sat up in her chair as she heard Ash's shoes thump against the wall. The gift sat like a rock in her lap as she waited for him to walk into the kitchen.

"Hey, Mist," He greeted, his smile brightening at the sight of his wife before going straight for the cupboard. It was part of his daily routine, get home from work and have a quick snack before dinner. "How was your day?"

"Fine." Misty squeaked, mentally cursing herself for sounding weak. Ash didn't notice, however, as he rummaged through the cupboard for something appropriate to eat.

After a few seconds, he pulled out a bag of pretzels and instantly stuffed a handful into his mouth. With his growling stomach somewhat satisfied, he could finally give his wife the attention she deserved. Once he noticed the deep set frown on her face and the way her leg was bouncing up and down, he made his way to her side.

"Mist? What's wrong?" He asked seriously, sitting down in the seat next to her at their kitchen table.

"I have to tell you something." She replied in a low whisper.

Ash's eyebrows furrowed and a crease formed above his nose, something that happened whenever he was confused. Misty was never, ever, this quiet which meant something had to be wrong.

"Alright," He started off slowly, realizing that Misty refused to make eye contact with him. He placed a hand on her bouncing knee which only seemed to make his wife more nervous. "You know you can tell me anything, Misty."

Misty released a heavy sigh then gave a terse nod in acknowledgement. She placed the present on the table and pushed it over in his direction. Ash glanced down at the gift before offering up a puzzled look.

"Open it." She encouraged.

After flashing another confused look, Ash began to carefully untie the ribbon. As he moved to tear off the wrapping paper, Misty felt a wave of nausea wash over her body. She brought a hand up to cover her mouth as the white box underneath became known.

Ash gave the box a thorough look over, racking his brain to find a reason for the present. It was early April, which didn't hold any dates of great significance. Ash's birthday wasn't for a few more months and they had celebrated their six-year anniversary last month. Maybe April had some sort of special holiday he'd forgotten about?

He gave Misty another quick look, watching as she kneaded her knuckles and her face was almost a sickly green color.

Sucking in a deep breath, Ash warily lifted the lid of the box. Inside was a plain white t-shirt nestled within a mixture of blue and pink tissue paper. Giving up on guessing what was going on, he gave an exasperated noise and started shaking his head.

"Mist, if you wanted to give me a shirt, you didn't have to wrap it," He explained with slight irritation. It wasn't the first time Misty had brought him something home to wear since she was always complaining about how he never had anything decent. Ash couldn't remember the last time he'd actually bought his own clothes. "I mean, I appreciate it and all, but you didn't have to go to all this trouble."

For the first time in almost three weeks, Misty felt her nervousness start to dissipate and start to be taken over by anger. She'd been sitting in this kitchen for the past three hours waiting for Ash to get home and, of course, he couldn't do the simplest of tasks. All she needed him to do was pick up the shirt, that's it. How hard was it to open a gift? Was her husband really this incompetent?

"Just look at it." She bit, her teeth grinding together as she spoke. The seriousness in her tone seemed to kick Ash into gear because he picked the shirt up out of the box to give it a full look.

Misty watched as his facial expression froze, light brown eyes widened, and his mouth went agape. After a painful three minutes, he finally broke away from his stupor and looked up to Misty. In a swift movement, he turned the shirt around so front was facing her.

In bright, perky blue letters with an exclamation point at the end were the words, "World's Greatest Dad!"

"I'm going to be a Dad?" He whispered, voice filled to the brim with disbelief and revelation. As the words continued to process in his brain, he started to feel hot tears pressing against the back of eyes.

Misty, who had her own tears threatening to spill over, simply nodded. The Butterfrees in her stomach kicked into overdrive and she instinctively placed a hand on her midsection.

The simple action caused the tears in Ash's eyes to escape their barrier and in mere beats was out of his seat, pulling Misty into a tight, loving embrace.

"Thank you," Ash murmured into her ear, elation carrying over in his words. His left hand left her waist and slowly settled right below Misty's bellybutton. "Thank you so much."

Misty set her chin on her husband's shoulder, closed her eyes, and for the first time in nearly three weeks; she exhaled.