I Think One's Enough
MADDIE: AGE 6
"Hey there, Brock! Come on in," I told our best friend as he walked through the front door. Having the day off from work and nothing else to do, he had stopped by to spend a few hours with us.
'UNCLE BROCK!" I heard my daughter yell as she ran down the hallway at a lightening pace.
"Hey there, Maddie," Brock greeted her when he picked her up. "How have you been? I swear you get bigger each time I see you. How old are you now? 9?"
"6," she told him, trying to count six fingers on her hand.
"That big huh?" he teased before setting her back down. She didn't budge from his side, though.
Maddie always loved when Brock would stop by as he was one of her most favorite people in the world. I had always known Brock to be good with kids, as he basically took care of Ash and I on our own journey, but he seemed to be exceptionally good with Maddie.
"So what's your secret, Brock? I asked him when Maddie ran off to get something she wanted to show him.
"For what?" he asked a bit confused.
"How are you so great with Maddie?" I clarified.
"Oh that? That's easy. Years of practice," he explained.
"From raising your siblings?"
"Well, yeah, that too. But I was talking about the years I spent taking care of you and Ash. Watching Maddie's just like taking care of you two put together, but with less arguing. Just like Ash, if you mention Pokemon you got her attention, where as just like you, if you mention going swimming, you become her best friend."
"Ha ha. Very funny," I said sarcastically.
"Speaking of which, where is Ash?"
"He had to run to the office to grab something. He should be back any minute now. We can go wait in the kitchen if you would like," I suggested.
Nodding in agreement, Brock and I walked in the kitchen where I poured us some tea before sitting down at the table to wait for Ash or Maddie-whoever arrived first. Shortly, though, we heard the door to the garage open as Maddie came running into the kitchen with whatever she had wanted to show Brock.
"In the kitchen," I yelled to Ash.
"Hey Brock," he greeted Brock as he walked into the kitchen, sitting down in an empty chair. "What's up?"
"Maddie was going to show me something," Brock explained, acknowledging the anxious Maddie.
"Oh really?" Ash asked.
"Yep!" Maddie confirmed, handing Brock a picture frame. "Grandma gave it to me," she explained.
For Maddie's birthday, Delia had gotten her a framed picture of me, Ash and Brock when were little. Maddie had demanded it be set on her dresser so that she could always see it when she went to bed.
"Man is this old," Brock commented, observing the picture from almost eighteen years ago. "This is very nice Maddie. Thank you for showing me." He handed her back the picture before she climbed onto a chair and set it on the table. "So what's been going on around here lately?"
"You mean with Mommy and Daddy or me?"
"How about Mommy and Daddy. You always seem to have good stuff to share." What has Maddie been telling Brock that he would call 'good stuff"?
"Well," she began, leaning on the table so she could get closer to him. "They've been making wishes." Oh no. A previously uninvolved Ash was now awake and alert.
"Still?" Brock commented. Take that back Brock. "Your Mommy and Daddy used to make wishes all the time while we were traveling.
"Really?" she wondered. "Did they lock you out of their room, too?" In normal instances, Maddie's innocent curiosity would have been seen as adorable, but right now, I would pay anything to have her stop talking.
"Maddie," Ash groaned from across the table. "Stop talking." But it was too late. Her and Brock were no longer on the same page.
"Lock the door?" Brock asked, not following anymore. "No."
"Oh. Well that's what they have done to me a few times," she whined. "But I guess it's okay because guess what Uncle Brock?"
"What?"
"Their wish came true! Isn't that exciting?" She was beaming as she stood on the chair, arms spread out wide.
Unlike our gleeful daughter, Ash and I were not smiling, our faces bright red and on fire.
"Maddie Claire Ketchum, get down now. You're going to hurt yourself," Ash chastised her. Having Maddie around had started to make him realize all the stupid things he had done as a kid.
"Fine," she huffed, sitting back down on the chair.
"What was their wish Maddie?" Brock asked. Please don't answer that Maddie. Please don't answer that.
"You don't know?" she asked, now the confused one.
"No," he replied, shaking his head.
"Oh. Well, Daddy says that if a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much they make a wish. Then Mommy takes a test that tells her if the wish came true. And there's this special camera." Only my daughter could manage to explain what 'making a wish' was without mentioning the key word that would clarify everything.
"I still don't understand what the wish is, though." Why couldn't Brock have just given up on understanding?
"A BABY!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the kitchen. "They locked me out of their room so they could make a wish for a baby." Losing all hope, Ash smacked his head against the table with a 'Maddie', refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Why did she have to have a big mouth like her father?
"Oh." I don't think Brock knew how to respond.
"Maddie, can you go upstairs and get changed?" I suggested. "We're going to Grandma's for dinner tonight, remember?"
"But I'm already dressed," she argued.
"Maddie."
"Fine," she grumbled, marching out of the kitchen and up the steps.
When she was out of earshot, Brock being Brock, turned the conversation back toward us. "Wait, 'making a wish' is now doing it?" Did he have to phrase it like that?
"Yes. To her it is," Ash sighed, finally looking up. "And thank you for telling her that we used to do it all the time as kids. I can't wait until she lets that one slip. Knowing my luck, my mom will be the one she tells. You know how much she's going to freak out on me?" I had never thought about that. If Delia thought Ash and I had been hooking up long before we even dated or got married she would flip out.
"Sorry," Brock apologized, scratching his the back of his head with his hand like Ash always did. "But in my defense, I didn't know exactly what she was talking about. You two might want to let others know how you decided to explain where babies come from to your daughter."
"She was 4 when we explained it. I didn't think she'd actually remember," Ash argued back.
"Well, guess what? She did," I added sarcastically. She remembered all right.
"Well if the wish came true, I guess a congratulations is in order."
"Thank you," I responded, although I hadn't planned on him finding out this way.
"You ready for another one Ash?" Brock teased.
"I thought I was. But Maddie seems to always surprise me."
"I just hope this next one is more like me. Then we wouldn't have so many problems like this," I commented.
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Ash questioned.
"Exactly what it means. She has a big mouth like you."
"I do not," he tried to defend himself.
"Do, too!"
"Do, not!"
"HEY!" Brock yelled. "How are you two going to raise another kid if you continuously act like one?" he sighed.
"I don't know," Ash shrugged. "Maddie turned out fine."
"Mmhmm," I agreed. Things had gone a lot better than I had originally thought.
"I guess." We sat there in silence for a few seconds before Brock had to make another stupid comment. "So, how often does Maddie get locked out, huh?"
"Brock!" I yelled, smacking his arm. "Don't make this day any worse than it's turning out to be."
"Oh, Misty. I'm just teasing." I just grumbled and rested my head on the table. This was not how I had thought my day was going to turn out. I imagined, too that if Ash knew what was going to take place when he got home, he would have stayed at work and let me face the embarrassment our daughter had caused us. In the silence that followed, we heard Maddie's voice flow into the kitchen from the hallway where she was talking on the phone.
"Oh, they're busy talking to Uncle Brock about Daddy and Mommy making wishes," Maddie explained to whoever she was talking to. "That means they are wishing for a baby! Did you know they have been making wishes since they started traveling? I didn't." This day could get worse.
"ASHTON SATOSHI KETCHUM!" we heard Delia's voice burst through the whole house.
"I hate kids," Ash commented before going to face his very angry mother. "Do they have a refund policy on them?"
"ASH!" As angry as I tried to sound, I had to admit that didn't sound so much like a bad idea right now.
I just prayed that this next baby wasn't this troublesome, or Ash and I would have to be very careful with what we said.
"Here," I heard Maddie tell Ash in a very cheerful voice. "Grandma says you're in big trouble."
"Thanks Maddie." I can assure you that it was all sarcasm in that thank you.
It was going to be an interesting dinner tonight.
