Chapter 12:
Ash couldn't help but smile as he continued to walk down the hallway in the doctor's office back to Serena's exam room. He was overjoyed by the news that he and Serena would be having a son soon. Ash even started to think ahead to all the awesome battles and training he could do with him. Of course Ash loved Kelli with all of his heart she was his daughter after all but Ash would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed when Kelli showed more interest in performing and contests over actually battling. Kelli really did take after her mother so the young trainer and current Alola champion couldn't help but hope their son would be different. But as all these thoughts continued to race through Ash's head he finally arrived at the door to the exam room where Serena was waiting and as he stood there he remembered that he promised to keep the gender of their new child a secret from Serena because she wanted to keep it a surprise until the day their child came.
So with that in mind Ash pushed the fact they were going to be having a son to the back of his head before knocking on the door. As Ash waited to hear a response from Serena the trainer dawned a more neutral look on his face to try and hide this information from Serena which would be difficult for Ash because he knew that Serena was extremely skilled in reading his face and mind so much so he even sometimes questioned whether his wife had ESP or not.
But as Ash continued trying to compose himself he finally heard Serena's voice call to him from the other side of the door; "You can go ahead and come in Ash." Hearing that Ash opened the exam room door and saw Serena sitting in a chair and smiling at him before getting up and walking over to him. With Ash's auburn eyes locked on Serena's electric blue eyes Ash smiled at Serena and reached over to the counter to pick up Serena's white sun hat and placed it on her head before taking her hand and asking Serena if she was; "ready to go!?" A question that Serena answered with a nod before the honey blonde haired performer took Ash's hand as they walked out of the exam room and down the hallway to check Serena out of the doctor and return home where Kelli was waiting for them.
As the young couple returned home they stopped to pick up Kelli who was really excited to see her parents as she begged Ash and Serena to finally tell her whether she was having a baby sister or baby brother. Neither Ash nor Serena could help but laugh at their daughters behavior as they too shared her excitement but unfortunately for little Kelli Ketchum her mother Serena didn't know and while her father did know the answer to her question. He couldn't tell her because he promised Serena to keep it a secret and no offense to Kelli but she was terrible at keeping secrets. So the young parents decided at the end of the day it was just easier to keep their daughter in the dark and told her she would just have to wait causing the little Honey Blonde girl to sigh in disappointment as the Ketchum family finally arrived back home.
The next few months flew by for the young Ketchum family as the weeks continued to pass by rather uneventfully. Just the usual public appearances and the occasional battle and battle exhibition for Ash; while Serena opted to take some time off from her performing and coordinating career so she could focus on her and Ash's second child who would be coming into the world soon. As the days continued to pass Serena began to grow more and more inpatient not because of the honey blonde haired performer's increasingly frequent morning sickness spells, rather it was her anxiety to know whether she had a little boy or another little girl growing inside her. Anxiety that did not go unnoticed by Ash who couldn't stand to see Serena like this but he promised her that he wouldn't tell her. Tell her that the child growing inside her was in fact a little boy. Besides even if Ash wanted to tell her or even hint it Serena would immediately shut him down. To this day Ash still couldn't understand why Serena wanted this to be a surprise so badly but, she did so all Ash could do is keep his promise and wait by Serena's side and help his wife with whatever she needed.
Until finally the day arrived it seemed like any other day for the Ketchum family it was warm and sunny day on Alola's Milli Milli Island. Ash and Pikachu were outside the champion's residence with Kelli pulling weeds from Serena's flower garden while Serena was lying down on the living room couch listening to music in an attempt to try and stay off of her feet which was driving the young performer nuts. After all Serena was always the type of person that needed to be on her feet doing something but, once the current song playing on the radio ended Serena began to feel cramping in her stomach again which immediately caused the young woman pain. However at first Serena didn't think anything of it Serena just thought it was just another spell of morning sickness as she began to sit up and make her way to the bathroom down the hall but once Serena stood up she felt a warm feeling run down the side of her leg. It was a feeling that made the honey blonde woman's eyes mist over and dilate as she quickly went down to her knees before screaming at the top of her lungs for her partner Braixen who was currently enjoying a nap in the specially built room in the champions residence for Ash and Serena's Pokemon;
BRAIXEN... BRAIXEN... COME QUICK...
Hearing Serena screams Braixen quickly made her way through the Ketchum household until she came to the living room where she found Serena on the ground breathing heavily and groaning in pain. Seeing her trainer like this immediately panicked the Kalos Pokemon as she turned her head frantically looking for Ash or for that matter anyone until Serena finally spoke again forcing the fire fox to focus on her trainer once again; "Braixen... the baby is coming... Please go get Ash quickly he's out in the flower garden with Kelli... I'm begging you!"
Braixen understanding the seriousness of the situation nods to her trainer and although the fire fox didn't want to leave Serena like this she knew what she had to do so Braixen quickly bolted out the back door of the champions residence and down to the bottom of the hill where Ash and Kelli were still tending to the flower garden. Braixen ran down the hill as fast as her paws would carry her until she finally came to the small wooden fence that surrounded the flower garden before she frantically cried out for Ash and Kelli's attention. Seeing Braixen act like this immediately worried Ash and Kelli as they asked her if something was wrong with Serena? A question Braixen answered with a nod as she ran back up the hill full speed. Ash was even so worried about Serena he didn't even bother opening the gate instead Ash just jumped over it before following Braixen. While Kelli set the basket of weeds her and her father collected down first before opening the gate and following her father back up to the house.
Once inside the champion's residence Ash followed Braixen into the living room where he saw Serena lying on the floor on her side groaning in pain. A sight that terrified Ash as he quickly ran over to her and grasped her hand as he heard Serena groan out; "As... Ash... Th.. The.. baby... The Baby...is coming..." As Ash felt Serena's grip tighten on his hand until it got to the point where he swore he felt Serena breaking the bones inside his hand but he didn't care about that right now all he cared about was Serena as Kelli finally came running into the room. Seeing their daughter was a welcome relief to Ash and Serena and before Kelli could even ask a single question about what was going on she heard her dad instruct her to quickly call for the medics! Instructions the young Ketchum girl followed and before the young family knew it the medics arrived and managed to get Serena into the ambulance and to the hospital before the baby came.
Once at the hospital and after about another hour of waiting which to both Ash and Serena but, mostly Serena felt like an entirety; Serena finally heard the doctors instructions for her to; "PUSH!" Instructions Serena complied with as Ash sat beside her and held her hand. Although at the time Serena didn't realize she was crushing Ash's hand to the point where Ash no longer had any sensation in his fingers but he didn't care about that right now he was concerned for Serena and the baby. Serena truly didn't mean to hurt Ash she was just happy to have Ash there by her side during this whole ordeal holding her hand and reminding her to breathe until a soft cry began to fill the hospital room and, once the crying began Ash felt Serena finally release his hand much to his internal relief.
After a couple more minutes the doctor finished cleaning off the newborn and with the assistance of a nurse wrapped the child in a light blue blanket before bringing the little bundle to Serena who began to cry tears of joy as Ash smiled happy that Serena finally got her answer and her "surprise!" The doctor then handed the little bundle off to Serena as the young parents smiled and thanked the doctor before the nurse spoke to the young parents; asking them what they'd like to name the child a question that caused Serena attention to turn to the sleeping child in her arms Serena whispered; "he looks like a Kyle... doesn't he Ash?" As Serena turned her head to look at Ash who was standing next to her as Ash finally took his eyes off the bundle in his wife's arms to nod at her in agreement. While the nurse responded; "Kyle Ketchum it is then..." as she smiled and wrote the child's selected name down on the forms resting atop her clipboard as her and the doctor walked out of the hospital room leaving Ash and Serena alone with their newly born baby boy. The smile on Serena's face continued to grow as she began to pull the blanket back just a little bit more exposing more of a small light colored face before tracing her fingers around the child's chin and cheek causing him to turn towards Serena before finally revealing his electric blue eyes that he clearly inherited from his mother. It was then Serena could feel tears running down her face once again not tears of sadness or pain but tears of joy as she whispered to the small child; "Hi there Kyle... I'm your mommy Serena!" As Ash smiled and began to kneel down next to her and whispered to the small child resting in her arms and almost like instinct little Kyle Ketchum's eyes drifted towards Ash as he introduced himself to his newborn son saying to him; "And I'm Ash Kyle I'm your daddy..." As even now just like Serena Ash too felt tears of joy running down his face as the young parents spoke to their newborn son almost in unison; "We're so glad to finally meet you Kyle."
Now of course as the parent's continued to get acquainted with their new baby boy their daughter Kelli sat in the waiting room with Lillie who was the first of Ash and Serena's friend in Alola to arrive at the hospital. While outside droves of media surrounded the hospital; anxious to get news updates and to get the first pictures of the newly expanded Ketchum family as the news of the birth of current Alola champion Ash Ketchum and world famous Pokemon performer Serena Ketchum's second child spread across not just the Alola region but the world like wildfire.
A/N:
And there we have it Kyle Ketchum has arrived everyone. Sorry for the long wait on this chapter everyone I sincerely meant for it to be released sooner but once again life got in the way I guess... Anyway hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hope you all stay tuned to see what happens with Ash, Serena and their newly expanded family next time but until then everyone; as always Templars74 signing off have a great day everyone and I'll talk to you all next time.
