Fated

Summary: Jessie finds herself in exile, forced into captivity with a mysterious stranger. With nowhere to go and seemingly no hope of escape, they share the stories behind their miserable fates. Hers is filled with questions. His is filled with answers.

Chapter 35: Colic and Car-Rides

He didn't have to wake up; he'd been up all night
Layin' there in bed listenin'
To his newborn baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and says
It gonna be OK

It won't be like this for long
One day we'll look back laughin'
At the week we brought 'em home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
'Cause it won't be like this for long
…Darius Rucker – It Won't Be Like This For Long

Jessie and Jack ate in silence until Jessie spoke.

"You know, you said that the next part of your story was a Christmas present. Here's mine: No one ever tells you that after the initial joy of becoming a parent, you soon become a walking zombie."

"Whaaaah!"

With deep bags under my eyes, my hair in all directions, and a dried spit-up stain on my pajama shirt, I attempted to calm my son. He had been crying for nearly two hours for absolutely no reason and showed absolutely no signs of stopping.

"Henry, please stop," I tried pleading with the baby, but he was having none of it. About two weeks after we brought him home, he developed colic, which is basically a short word describing every parent's hell. He cried constantly. He was not hungry, dirty, or ill. He just cried.

"Come on, Sweetie, Shhhhh," I whispered, walking around the room with the baby in my arms. I was met with more cries. I felt like crying myself. Sleep-deprived and feeling like a failure. Can't even calm my own baby down. The door opened and James appeared.

"How's he doing?" he asked. I looked at him. He looked nearly as dead as me, with his hair mussed, puffy eyes, and a little scruff on his normally clean-shaven chin.

"How's he doing? He's crying, as always! Ask how am I doing? I'm going out of my mind and I can't calm him down and I can't calm ME down-"

I broke off to take a breath to try to keep the tears away. I felt James dutifully rub my back, calming me.

"I'll take him."

"James-"

"I got him. You go lay down," he told me, taking Henry from me. It was sweet of him to do it, when he was as worn as I was. I moved to the bedroom where Teddy, Meowth, and Growlie were sleeping on the bed. Rose was in the bassinet, a gift from Delia and the Harrisons. She did not have colic, as we determined when we separated her and Henry. She did have a diaper rash, but that was manageable. I looked in on her and she stared back at me with her blue eyes that were so like mine. I gently stroked her cheek and she smiled, warming my heart.

"Tell me you ain't gonna wake dat one too," Meowth moaned.

"She was already awake," I told him, "She's smiling."

"Probably just gas," Meowth muttered, stretching on the bed. Growlie looked at me like he wanted in his pokeball just to escape the crying, which was amplified for both him and Meowth on account of their pokemon senses. I glanced over at Teddy, who was only sleeping because James gave him noise-cancelling headphones for Christmas. The man did have his smart moments. Meowth wandered over to me and looked down in the bassinet at the smiling baby girl.

"Cute, though, for gas," he added.

"She is," I whispered, "Meowth, how can one be so easy and one be so hard?" I asked, as if he had the answers, but in my defense, desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I dunno. Youse humans are all so different. You and James can be cool one minute and den a pair of dunderheads da next."

"Gee, thanks," I rolled my eyes, "I feel like a total failure."

"Pfft, don't let it getcha down," Meowth said, shaking his head, "Youse and James have lasted a lot longer den I ever coulda expected with all dat cryin' and feedin' and da diaper changin'. 'Sides Henry's just sick. Didn't da doc say it was dat colic disease ting?"

"It's a disease where there's nothing wrong with him," I moaned.

"Still, it'll go away eventually, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

"So when it does tings will get easier…at least until da teenage years, but I dealt with youse two dunderheads as teens so I imagine I can do it again," Meowth shrugged, "He'll be fine. You'll be fine. We'll all be fine."

"I hope you're right," I sighed, getting to my feet.

"Where are you going?" Meowth asked.

"Reminding myself that nothing's wrong with any of us," I muttered, opening the door to the living room where I had left James and Henry. I quickly shut it before Rose could hear her brother crying…well her brother and her father crying.

James had put Henry down on the floor on his back and James had his head in his hands, crying right along with Henry. So much for being the together one. I sighed and hugged James from behind. He lowered his hands and looked sheepish.

"I…I'm just so tired and he won't stop…" James tried to explain. I kissed his cheek, and for a moment, we both stared down at our son, whose little face was scrunched up tight as he cried.

"What do we do?" James asked helplessly.

"We survive until this colic thing goes away," I said. He let out a little chuckle.

"Five minutes ago, you looked like you were ready to jump out a window," he reminded me.

"Every once in a while Meowth knows what he is talking about," I replied, "He said dat dere is nothin' wrong with us," I told him in a poor imitation of the cat, "We just have to wait this out."

"I hate watching him cry," James whispered.

"Me too," I agreed, moving past my boyfriend to pick up Henry. Shocked by the movement, Henry's cries wavered a little and he stared up at me with his big green eyes. Like his dad's.

"Hi Junior," I said to him. His little mouth began to twitch again. I held him close to my chest and began to hum. I don't know what it was; just random notes that seemed familiar, as if someone had sang them to me before. He whimpered a little, and gave a final cry, and then he quieted.

"So that's what he looks like when he's not crying," James commented.

"He looks like you…when you're not crying," I teased. James just sighed and draped his arm over my shoulder. Henry, let out a warning cry when my horrible humming stopped, and I hastily continued. His eyes were wide awake, watching me.

Suddenly, James stood up and pulled me to my feet.

"What are you-"

"Don't stop," he whispered, pulling me and Henry close to him. Gently, he started to sway us in time to my awful humming. It was the weirdest dance ever, but it must have worked; for the first time in weeks, Henry was asleep before two am and stayed that way until around six.

0

"That's how Miya calmed Jessie," Jack supplied, "Humming and a lullaby, though she would swear up and down that she didn't hum."

Jessie nodded, remembering him mentioning that before, "What was the song called again?"

"Make a wish," Jack answered.

"Make a wish," Jessie repeated, smiling.

0

It was another couple of weeks before we licked the whole colic thing. Then we decided that it was time to leave the confines of Pewter City. So at the end of February, when the twins were almost two months old, I made James sleep over at the Harrison's on their couch where he would get a full night's sleep to prepare him for the drive the following day. We were going to his grandparents' home, where we would figure out our next move. James's grandfather used to be in real-estate before they settled on a pokemon ranch and would be able to help us out.

Teddy, Meowth, and I were not so lucky in the sleep department and the three of us were very grumpy as we loaded the car the next morning.

"How far is it?" Teddy moaned at 8 am.

"James says about four hours," I replied, covering him up with a blanket so he could sleep, "That could be longer if we have to stop."

He groaned. I tousled his hair and moved to the back, where I would sit with the twins. Rose was already asleep, but Henry was looking curiously around the vehicle. It was their first road-trip…first of many.

"We're ready," James announced, hopping into the driver's seat, "How are they?"

"Fine," I yawned, "Ready to go."

He threw the car in gear and we were off. He tried a few feeble attempts at conversation.

"So how were they last night?" he asked.

"Loud," Meowth griped, "Now shuddup so weese can get some shut eye!"

Meowth did not do well on no sleep, but despite his complaints, he was just as in much in love with the twins as we were. During the night, when I got up to feed the babies, even before they started crying, he would be sitting on the bedside table, watching the babies as they slept. Growlie would sometimes be with them. They had gotten more cooperative after the babies came along.

I smiled a little as James made a zipping motion over his lips. Then I closed my eyes and slipped off.

When I woke, the car was stopped and I was alone in the vehicle. I jolted awake as I looked at the empty car-seats. I fumbled with the seatbelt and bolted from the car. We were in a gas station parking lot. I rushed inside, where I saw Teddy and Meowth hanging out by the washroom door with a stroller that held one of my children.

"Hey, sleepin' beauty," Meowth greeted when he saw me. The smirk wiped from his face when he saw my livid expression, "Eh, Jess, ya okay?"

"Do I LOOK okay?" I shot at him.

"Actually, you look like a mess. Have you seen your hair? And…uh…your shirt…" he never finished as I seized him by the fur.

"Where is my idiot boyfriend and where is my son?" I snarled. Meowth pointed to the washroom and I dropped him to the floor.

"Youse welcome!" he called after me. I ignored him at entered the washroom without knocking. James looked up from the diaper he was changing.

"Hey, Jess, you're awake," James said, "This guy was getting pretty smelly and I didn't want to wake you-"

"So you left me in the car alone?" I glowered.

"You looked so peaceful-"

"Peaceful? Do you think me waking up alone and sore is peaceful?" I asked, gesturing to my chest.

Jack winced, "Too much info."

Jessie flushed, "Sorry."

James blushed, "Uh, Honey, maybe you should change your-"

Henry chose that moment to pee all over James. I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face nor the unladylike snort, followed by giggles that I was powerless to stop. Finally, I ducked out and stood with Teddy and Meowth, laughing until tears streamed down my face.

"Uh, Mom, what's so funny?" Teddy asked. I couldn't form words. I just kept laughing.

"She's finally cracked," Meowth observed, "I knew all dat sleep deprivation was gonna send her all loopy."

It took a couple minutes for me to finally calm down, "Alright, I'm going to take Rose to the car to feed her," I announced, "You guys can get some snacks," I said, passing the money to Teddy and picking up my daughter. Rose was smiling again, and no matter how many times Meowth said it was gas, her smiles still brightened by day.

"You have your dad's smile," I told her, "Not his stupid one, but the nice one that makes Mommy melt around him."

She gurgled and then spit up. I sighed and mopped her up. This mothering thing never got easier, despite Meowth's promises. James returned with Henry a few minutes later.

"You know, I am sorry," James said as he strapped Henry in. I noticed that he had wet down his face and hair and had bought a clean gas-station t-shirt.

"I know," I sighed, gently stroking Rose's little hand.

"I called my grandparents. They're really excited about seeing the twins," he told me.

"They're your grandparents on your mother's side," I clarified as I watched Teddy walk towards us, sharing his bag of chips with Meowth, who was perched on Teddy's shoulder. James followed my gaze towards his father's illegitimate son.

"That won't matter to them," James assured me.

"Okay. I just don't want to see him get hurt," I said. We stopped talking when Teddy and Meowth hopped into the car. It was another two hours before we turned into the long driveway of James's grandparents' estate. Though smaller than his parent's estate, it was still pretty big. In the rear-view mirror, I saw Teddy shrink into the backseat. This place was too similar to the one James took him from. By the time James put the car in park, his kindly old grandparents stood on the front staircase, waiting for us.

"Little James!" his grandmother cooed, as he leaned down to let her kiss his cheek. He towered over his grandparents.

"Hello, Nanny. Hi Pop-pop!" James grinned, "This is Jessie," he introduced proudly.

"Ah, I remember her," Pop-pop said with a knowing smile, "Your 'secretary', huh?" James flushed red at this and suddenly I remembered the last time we had come across James's grandparents. James's chimecho was ill and luckily we had been near their house. They didn't know at the time that their grandson was a member of Team Rocket.

"I do remember now your ma and pa tellin' us that you got engaged? Is she the one?" his Nanny asked.

"She looks like such a dear!" His grandparents smiled warmly at me over James's shoulder.

"And what? You pretended to be his wife?" Jack asked, unimpressed.

"Not exactly."

"M-me and Jessie?" James stammered, "I'd rather die!"

"Oh?" I growled. Any man would have been lucky to marry me.

"Jessie's actually my executive secretary and my personal manager is Meowth," James lied.

"Secretary?" I gasped.

"Manager?" Meowth grimaced.

"Secretary?" Jack laughed, "Ah, you two had such humble beginnings."

"I should tell you about our training days," Jessie commented dryly.

"One story at a time, I think," Jack chuckled.

"Not quite," I smiled, "It's nice to see you again-"

"Chiiime!" a little chimecho suddenly flew out of the house and wrapped its tail around James's eyes. Some things never changed. James's grandfather laughed.

"Ah yes, that little guy missed you," Pop-pop said, "And it's wonderful to see you again, Jessie."

I wasn't so sure about that. The last time I was here, Meowth and I tried to steal their grass pokemon.

"And where are the little ones?" Nanny asked kindly.

"Just sleeping," I said, opening a door so she could peer inside. Henry was fast asleep, but Rose had her eyes open. Teddy was still sitting stiffly in the backseat trying to blend into the fabric.

"Oh, they're just darlin'!" she gushed, "And hello to you, young man," she said to Teddy, who squeaked a little.

"This is Teddy. He's shy around strangers," I explained, "He wasn't treated very well after his mother passed away."

"Ah, poor little dear. And so thin. Why, I think we have some cookies in the kitchen. Oatmeal chocolate chip. Little James's favourite," Nanny said kindly, "Now why don't we all head inside?"

James beamed as he and I carried the twins' car seats into the small mansion. Teddy stuck close beside us, even as we all enjoyed cookies around the kitchen table. Nanny was holding Rose. She had been overjoyed when we told her that we named the baby after her. Pop-pop held Henry. It was nice to see them with some kind of family.

"So we were wondering if you had any ideas about where we could go," James was saying.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here, Dear," Nanny replied.

"We don't want to impose," I dismissed, "It would just be nice to have a place of our own."

"Aside from that, Mother and Father aren't exactly too fond of the situation," James added.

Pop-pop shook his head, "I still don't understand what is going through that girl's head," he huffed, speaking of James's mother like she was a rebellious teenager rather than a grown and rather intimidating woman.

"Ah, Koji, you know she's never been able to think straight when it comes to that Morgan boy," Nanny reminded her husband, and then to us, she explained, "James's mother met his father just after she started college. He was a might few years older than her, but she was smitten. She was interviewing him for her journalism class…yes, I imagine that's where you get that writing talent of yours, little James…and after that he was all she would talk about. She switched schools so she would be closer to him. Not long after, they were married. It was another few years before you came along, little James."

"But back to the task at hand," Pop-pop said, suddenly all business, giving the sense that this was a touchy subject for the kind old man, "Now, Silver Shoal is a great coastal community. I had no idea that them Rocket folks made their way there every winter."

"Well, it's going to be hard for us to live there knowing that they will come every year," James said, "and it's such a shame. I know we all really liked it there."

"There could be a way around that," Pop-pop mused, "Getting the law involved would help, I'm sure."

"Team Rocket would be ready for that. They don't back down easily," I stated, "And we can't talk to the police. We're ex-criminals and they think I kidnapped James or something."

"I'm sure we could help with the manhunt your parents have orchestrated," Nanny piped up, "I'm sure all it would take is telling the authorities that James eloped with someone else and was in conflict with his parents."

Pop-pop nodded in agreement, "Also, you could help yourselves by offering the authorities a deal. Maybe an exchange of information in exchange for protection."

"We can't do dat!" Meowth squawked, "Jess and Jim would be in da slammer and I'd get stuck with the rugrats!"

"Meowth's right," I said, "What if they decide to throw us in jail? Who would take care of our babies?"

"We can't risk it," James agreed, "Plus, we don't have that much information. We've been out of the inside circle for a LONG time."

"Alright," Pop-pop said, "but it is something to consider."

"Did you do it? Did you become a rat?" Jack asked. Jessie shook her head.

"We couldn't risk losing the twins," she said, "Even with the chance of protection, it wasn't worth it if we would lose our babies. Maybe that was the dumb choice, but how could we have known then what we know now?"

"Too true," Jack nodded.

Pop-pop said he'd look for more housing options for us and then he and Nanny retired for an afternoon nap, leaving me, James, Teddy, Meowth, and the twins to get settled. James, the twins, and I took a room to ourselves and, after some reassurance from James, Teddy chose the one next to ours, which he would share with Meowth and Growlie. The poor kid was terrified of this uppercrust lifestyle. His experience with James's parents really scarred the kid…on more than just his arms.

As I lay in bed with James, I couldn't help but ask, "Do your grandparents know what happened to Teddy at your parents?"

James let out a long sigh as he glanced over at the bassinet his grandmother had found for us, "No, not exactly. I just told them that we had Teddy because Mother and Father were having problems."

"It's hard to think that your mother could be the way she is when your grandparents are so warm and loving," I said.

"Nanny didn't tell you the whole story," James told me, "I barely know it myself, but in my father's world, it's pretty much unheard of for someone like him to marry the daughter of pokemon ranchers. She had to jump through all kinds of hoops just to talk with him. When she dropped out of journalism school, she moved and attended a snooty finishing school, just so she could be well-mannered enough or worthy enough or whatever."

"All that for one guy?" I wrinkled my nose. James chuckled.

"Wouldn't you do it for me?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What was it you said three years ago? That you'd rather die?" I reminded him.

"How did I know you were going to bring that up?" he laughed, "It's a good thing my feelings have changed."

"To what?" I asked, snuggling closer to him.

"To where I'd die for you without thinking twice," he vowed.

"I hope it never comes to that," I whispered back, kissing him.

"I love you," he said sweetly, leaning over to kiss me softly, which slowly turned into more…until Henry decided that he was hungry.

"I should have told him that I would have done anything for him," Jessie admitted.

"I'm sure he knew."

"I hope so," she said back.

That next morning, we got a very rude surprise in the form of Theodore Parker scrambling into our bed in between us.

"Ted, what are you doing?" James moaned as I buried my head in a pillow. It was nine in the morning and James and I were operating on a grand total of four hours of sleep, not that it was new at this point, but it still sucked.

"Th-th-th…here…here…" Teddy stammered.

"Teddy, slow down. What's wrong?" James asked concern dripping from every word. I lifted my head and saw that the sweet, happy little boy was reduced to a pale, shivering, stammering mess.

"Teddy?" I questioned. Teddy hugged my middle.

"I-I don't w-w-wanna go back! D-d-d-don't make me! I'll be good!"

This outburst caused little whimpers to come from the bassinet. I'd deal with that in a minute, but at that moment, James's brother needed me more than the twins. I pried Teddy off so I could look into his scared green eyes, "Teddy, you're not going anywhere. What's gotten into you?"

But he clenched his eyes shut and rocked back and forth on the bed. It was Meowth that answered.

"Hey, guys?" he said, watching as we tried to calm the kid, "James's parents are here."

We all froze, even as the little whimpers in the bassinet grew louder.

"And?" Jack prodded.

"And nothing…at least not until you tell me what happens next with Silver."

"Is that even remotely fair?" Jack scoffed, "I thought this was a Christmas present."

"It's two parts," Jessie shrugged, "One now, one after."

"Conniving thing you are, Jessilina. I will get you back for this."

"Try me."

TBC

AN: Ah, yes, the ever so wonderful Morgan parents...and I'm sure that they will be thrilled to learn what their son has been up to.

Next chapter: Jack makes a potentially deadly decision about his nephew's future.

Songs That Inspired This Chapter:
-It Won't be Like This for Long by Darius Rucker. Love it. Probably one of the most adorable songs out there.