Silence

Not just any type of silence, Ash thought. The awkward, quiet-before-the-storm, type of silence; the kind that Ash had experienced far too many times before. It was short-lived of course, as surely any type of silence would be, when Iris was in the room. By now, Ash had enough experience to know that he had to duck behind the sofa, when the first of a myriad of eating utensils was thrown haphazardly at him.

From the other end of the kitchen, Iris had fallen into something half-way between a delirious bout of yells, and a fit of hysterical sobs, as she hurled whatever was lying on the counter, at her frightened husband, accentuating each of her (remarkably accurate) throws with an emphasized insult. It was astonishing that she hadn't begun to throw any glassware yet, but that seemed likely to change, since there were only so many utensils on the counter

Stopping to catch his breath, Ash glanced across the room to Pikachu, who shrugged nonchalantly, as if to say "Your wife, your mess"

Stopping for a moment, Ash decided to record something in his mental notebook, the one that never seemed to do him any good.

If ever he attended a wedding, he would grab the groom by the shoulders, drag him to a corner, and let him know with the utmost seriousness

If your ever wife walks up to you, looking a bit stressed, and gingerly tells you that she's pregnant, the absolute LAST thing you did, was ask her who the father is. And then after that, even if only to cover up your thoughtlessness, under no condition should you burst out laughing.

Now was hardly the time to muse over his (rather jarring) shortcoming as a husband, however. Iris's delirium was growing worse.

"All these past years, have been a joke to you haven't they? All this time, I've been in love with a scumbag, whose been sleeping around behind my back"

Ash popped up from behind the couch

"Iris, angel, don't you think that's…."

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT!" This time, an entire frying pan flew in his direction, narrowly missing his ear, as he dived behind the dining table, having successfully gotten a bit closer to his steaming wife.

"It was Dawn, wasn't it?" Her normally authoritative voice, which moved with champion-like command, was uncharacteristically weak, the first signs of tears, beginning to appear on her face

"That time you went too early, to drop her at the airport, you were really just spending time in a cheap hotel room, weren't you? That's why you think that I'd…That I…"

The next item to be thrown at the sofa was too small to be a saucer, or even a spoon. It was small, and shined with a brilliant purple spark.

Her wedding ring.

Now Iris was sobbing into her palms, her barrage of cutlery having temporarily halted.

Seeing his chance, Ash scooped up the ring, and swiftly, but quietly, made his way towards her. It was agony seeing her like this, and of the handful of times Ash had seen Iris cry, it hurt even more to acknowledge that it was almost always because of him. He and his stupid mouth, and his impulsiveness, and Iris's tendency to never take anything at face value.

When he was within a foot of her, Iris looked up and immediately raised the frying pan she had in her hand.

Grasping the opportunity, Ash leaped forward, and immediately planted his lips on hers. He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close. With the hand that had the ring in it, Ash painstakingly pried the frying pan from Iris's, now limp, fingers, and placed it on the counter. Then, using the one hand only, he skillfully placed the ring back into its appropriate place, feeling an almost palpable sense of relief, as it slipped snugly onto her finger.

The crisis having been mostly averted, Ash placed his now free hand, onto Iris's hair stroking it slowly, just the way she loved. They kissed tenderly, and passionately, a chaste, gentle embrace, not the slightest bit forceful, or intrusive. They kissed like they had, when they were teenagers and kissing was mysterious, like a magical gate to adulthood. It was a reminder of all the years they had spent together, from the early days, when they would sneak away from Cilan in the dead of the night, to their life as a married couple. It was a reminder, more importantly, of all the wonderful years they had left together, now as a family, instead of a duo, and how much of a waste it would be to throw all of that away.

When they finally pulled away, Iris snuggled into his chest.

"Am I going crazy, Ash?"

He chuckled into her hair

"Not at all Iris. You're under a lot of pressure, and I had to go and say the stupidest thing ever"

Then he did something, he'd been itching to do for the past few minutes. He pushed up Iris's shirt a bit, and lay a palm on her belly. She blushed immediately, and Ash grinned one his trademark, naive grins

"After all. There are two of you now"