James sat down hard.
"You... You're... We're..."
"Going to have a baby. Yes." Olivia replied calmly.
"But...but how...?" He stuttered, realising even as he spoke what a stupid question that was. Jessie seemed to agree because she rolled her eyes and looked at him witheringly.
"Do you need me to draw you another diagram?"
"No!" He almost shouted. "No, thank you! I've almost managed to repress the last one, I don't need a refresher."
Olivia's carefully composed mask slipped for a second before she caught herself. "There was a diagram?"
"He was very naïve." Jessie confirmed.
"Thank you!" James cut them both off, still white faced and slightly dazed looking. After a moment to regain his senses he looked across at Jessie.
"Can you give us a minute?"
She nodded and got up, grabbing Meowth who was peering nervously through the doorway and towing him with her into the kitchen.
James waited until Jessie and Meowth were out of the room before looking up at Olivia.
"How long have you known?" He asked quietly.
"A few weeks." She replied just as softly. He knew she was trying to keep the other two from hearing their conversation but she needn't have worried. Jessie really wasn't one for emotional discussions and he knew she would keep Meowth well out of it. She had become strangely possessive of the cat since she had been there and he wondered if she was worried about letting him and Meowth reconnect. He had always been closer to the scratch cat than she had and he knew she had sometimes felt pushed out.
He forced his thoughts back to his wife, recognising his own attempt to avoid the conflict that he knew was about to escalate.
"I don't know what to say." He admitted. He could already see Olivia's temper boiling just under the surface but he honestly couldn't summon any kind of reaction. He felt numb. Almost in shock.
"You don't know what to say? I just told you I'm having your child and you don't know what to say?" Her voice was calm. Dangerously calm in fact. "Well, I don't know what to say to you either, James. I don't even feel like I know you right now."
"Don't say that." He whispered, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Then talk to me!" She growled, still calm but obviously growing more frustrated. "TELL me what's going on in your head because I need to know. I DESERVE to know, James."
James just stared at her. He didn't even know where to start and was fairly certain that telling her any of the things going through his head right now was in no way a good idea.
"I just...I'm pleased, I really am... I just need some time to let it sink in. Its a shock, you know?"
Evidently this was the correct answer because her face relaxed and his internal terror alert dropped to amber.
"Alright." She said slowly. "Alright, I can give you that. I know its sudden to just have it dropped on you like that." They sat in awkward silence for a few more minutes before Olivia got up and squeezed his shoulder, murmuring something about making some tea.
James sat silently, still trying to process the information. He felt tears pricking at his eyes and hurriedly swiped at them as he heard the living room door open again. Looking up, he saw Jessie standing there.
She looked so uncomfortable and out of place that he actually managed to crack a smile at her. She looked relieved, clearly aware that she wasn't welcome in the kitchen, and moved to sit with him.
"Are you okay?" She asked, awkwardly.
"No." He replied, aware that it was the most honest thing he had said so far.
"You want to talk about it?" She asked, praying he would say no. He shook his head and she silently thanked whatever God had listened but her reprieve was short lived as she saw his eyes filling up and his cheeks flushing.
"Oh, God. James, don't cry!"
He just shook his head again in apology, unable to speak as the tears spilled over and Jessie sat there frozen to the spot, not having the first clue what to do as James seemed to fall apart right in front of her. She finally wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly against her as his body shook with sobs, hoping desperately that he would stop soon.
"I never wanted kids, Jess." He croaked against her shoulder.
"I know." She replied quietly, unsure what else to say. Neither of them had ever wanted any kids, albeit for different reasons and she knew his reasons; remembered well the night they had spoken of it.
"We'll have to catch up to the twerps tomorrow." James grumbled as he flopped onto his sleeping bag. It was completely dark and they were completely lost and had eventually admitted defeat and set up camp for the night.
"Yeah." Jessie muttered from somewhere off to his right. "Stupid brats are seriously making me glad I don't have any of them."
James snorted, imagining Jessie with a brood of pink haired kids running rings around her as she tried to swat them with her paper fan. The mental image vaguely reminded him of a game of whack-a-mole.
"Hey, Jess?"
"Hmm?"
"D'you think you'll ever have any kids?"
She rolled over to face him, despite the fact that she couldn't actually see him in the darkness.
"I don't know." She admitted slowly. "I don't think I want any. I'm not really the mothering sort."
James snorted again and she grabbed a pillow and smacked it in the direction of his laughter, smiling with satisfaction when her efforts were rewarded with a muffled yelp of pain.
"Besides," She added when he quietened down, "I wouldn't want my kid growing up a Rocket baby. Its not the greatest childhood."
"What if you weren't in Team Rocket? What if you left?"
"You know you don't just 'leave' Team rocket. Besides where else would I go?"
"Yeah but what if?"
"I don't know. Probably still wouldn't want kids. I don't think I'd be a great mother. What about you? I can totally see you as a Dad."
"No way!" He shot back vehemently.
"Whoa, okay, take it easy! What have you got against ankle biters anyway?"
"Nothing!" He replied, defensively, then more calmly. "Nothing. I actually kinda like kids but..."
"But...?" Jessie prompted, curious now.
"But kids mean commitment. Marriage and stuff and you know how I feel about that. Once you have kids you're trapped. You're responsible for them no matter what and I don't want that. I don't ever want to be tied to someone like that."
Jessie was silent for a moment before responding. "I guess I get that..."
Jessie lifted her head from her friend's shoulder and gave him a quick shake, hurriedly wiping at his tears with her sleeve as she heard the kitchen door close.
"Pull yourself together." She warned him.
He sat up straight, sniffed and raked his hands through his hair, attempting to look composed and like he hadn't just been crying. Thankfully the only one to enter was Meowth.
"You'se two got five minutes." He informed them, glancing over his shoulder. "We gettin' outta here or what?"
"What are you talking about?" Jessie asked wearily, resisting the urge to grab him by the throat and shake some sense out of him. She didn't have the energy for talking in code. Meowth looked confused.
"We's runnin' right? Jimmy ain't staying here, he just said...MEEEOWTH, what was dat for?!"
He gave Jessie an affronted look but refrained from scratching her due to the remote control she was still holding, which she had just slammed down with some force on his head.
"No, he didn't!" She snarled. "Its his choice, his family, don't you dare pressure him!"
She looked up to see James staring at her with bemusement.
"What?"
"My thoughts, exactly." James retorted. "What was that?"
She shrugged self consciously. "I know what you're afraid of. But do you remember that time you asked me what my dream was? If I could have anything?"
James nodded slowly.
"Its an awful lot to give up, that's all I'm saying. You want to run, we'll run. Meowth and I are with you all the way. Just make sure its what you want,"
James still hadn't said a word and she was getting that all too familiar urge to cause him pain. Finally he spoke.
"When did you get so..." He seemed to struggle for the word but she already knew what he meant and just shrugged again. "Its been hard, James. You were our family, you know that; our friendship meant everything to me and I'm not going to pretend I wouldn't give anything to have you back in my life but she's...they're your family too..." She trailed off, uncomfortably aware that she had revealed way too much and that James was staring at her like she had just grown another head.
"Look all I'm saying is you have a lot to lose here. We can't take that away from you."
"So you do have a shred of decency in you." The hushed words came from the doorway. "I was wondering what he ever saw in you. I suppose you had to have some hidden depths." Olivia's voice was cold, colder than James had ever heard it and somehow strangely flat as though all emotion had been drained from it.
"Um, Jess..."
Jessie glared back her own voice hard as stone as she replied.
"You'll never understand anything about us because you never had to rely on someone, never had to trust them completely even if you just had a massive fight and absolutely hated their guts right then. So why don't you just piss off back to your perfect life and..."
She was cut off abruptly by Meowth's claws cutting into her leg sharply as he hissed furiously at her.
"Jess!"
"What?!" She snarled, making Meowth recoil from her, obviously fearing retribution even as he frantically gestured towards the window.
"Company!"
James had never seen anyone pale so quickly before and scrambled to pull them both away from the windows, his heart thudding with adrenaline.
Outside a group of people were gathered and as James craned his head to get a better look at them one woman turned toward the house and he caught sight of the familiar uniforms and headsets.
He swore vehemently, backing away barely aware of Meowth's claws as the cat Pokemon clambered up his back to cling to his shoulders. Jessie grabbed his hand and pulled him against the wall where they couldn't be seen from outside.
"What are we gonna do?" Meowth's voice was high pitched with fear and Jessie looked like she might be sick but he could tell she was thinking. She had that look on her face, one he recognised mostly from seeing it just before she ordered him to wax his legs and stuffed him into a dress for some ridiculous plan to snatch Pikachu. He thought wildly that they could sure use a twerp and a Pikachu right now. Being blasted off had never seemed so appealing, at least not since he had last seen Jessibelle.
"Get upstairs!" She hissed, pushing him towards the hallway. "You live here alone, understand, you're married but he works away! Make up a name!" The last to Olivia who was visibly attempting to look as if nothing at all out of the ordinary was going on.
James paused to kiss her, hugging her tightly before Jessie shoved him forcefully up the stairs, nearly knocking Meowth from his shoulders.
He paused halfway up as the pounding on the door began, looking back at his wife, desperately wishing he could protect her.
"Move!" Jessie pushed him again. "They won't touch her, not if they don't think we're here, move!"
The banging grew louder and Olivia strove for an irritated tone as she shouted.
"Hold on a second, for crying out loud!"
James froze in the bedroom doorway, out of sight and held his breath, listening.
Okay, because I'm evil that's where I'm stopping. Sorry its been so long, I struggled a little with this one. Please R&R and I will have the next chapter up as soon as I can. This one is unbetaed and all mistakes are my own as I did not want to bother her over the holidays so please forgive any errors.
