DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon.
A/N: Yay, another chapter! THE REACTIONS! GASP! Thanks so much for the awesome reviews so far, they are such a lift to my days, and now we continue the fic! Woohoo!
Chapter Fourteen - When Grown Men Cry.
It was another two days before I finally found myself able to face up to Mom and the news I had to break to her. Calling Ash and asking him to come over was the easy part. I just didn't know how to prepare myself for the most important part of it all.
I had been home for a day and a bit, getting around on crutches thanks to my "impressive" (as Lily still labeled it) break. I hated the crutches, they slowed me down so much, and I continually got more than a tad frustrated going up and down the stairs.
But now I didn't have time to think of my crutches, that were leaning against a wall in my room. I was sitting on my bed with Ash, him silently holding my hand as we waited for the fatal slamming of the front door that would indicate Mom's arrival back from the supermarket.
That finally came to pass fifteen minutes after Ash had arrived, and as the door slammed my head shot up to meet his eyes.
"She's home" I whispered in a panic.
"I know Mist" Ash said quietly. I knew he was trying to keep a cool exterior, but I also knew that he was just as scared as I was.
"Misty! I'm home!" Mom called out. I could hear her dropping the supermarket bags on the kitchen bench and checking the phone for messages.
"I know Mom!" I called back. The sound of her footsteps coming up the stairs implanted a new kind of fear in me, like each step she took was an injection of anxiousness and fear mingled together, and I squeezed Ash's hand, silently praying for some kind of miracle.
"How are you getting on with your…" She stopped herself as she walked in, literally turning white at the sight of Ash sitting next to me. No words transpired for a moment as I waited for someone to speak. "What is he doing here?" Mom demanded to know.
"Um, Mom, we kinda have something to tell you" I started.
"Oh God, don't put this on me Misty. That boy stresses me enough being outside my house let alone in it, so if you think for a second that he can stay because he's desperately in need of accommodation or whatever, you can think again, young lady!"
"MOM!" I shouted. I hated it when she jumped to conclusions, especially in a situation as serious as this. "Please, it's nothing like that. But it is important. You might wanna sit down."
"Is it that bad?" Mom asked wearily as she seated herself opposite us in my desk chair.
"Um, I guess so" I said nervously.
"Before Misty goes on, Mrs Waterflower, I just want you to know that this is as much my fault as it is hers" Ash spoke up.
"I wouldn't be surprised" Mom muttered, not meeting his eyes for a second.
"Okay, well…you remember at Washbay how you found us…you know…" I mumbled, indicating myself and Ash.
"Like I could forget" Mom groaned.
"Well, something's kinda come outta that and I…I, um, I don't know how to break it to you" I stuttered, staring at the ground.
"Come on Misty, don't you dare put this off in front of me. I'm your mother, I have a right to know" Mom pointed out. Her voice was already scaring the shit out of me, I could only imagine what it would be like once I actually told her.
"Mom, I'm pregnant" I finally whispered. The whole room was engulfed in a stony silence and Ash's reassuring squeeze on my hand did nothing to calm my nerves. I slowly looked up, scared of Mom's reaction, which was that of a vacant stare in my direction. "I'm so sorry Mom, I never thought this would happen, I never wanted it to…"
I trailed off as I saw her slowly stand up, that blank expression still etched on her face. I was frozen in silence by this expression, one I had never encountered before. Sure it was blank, but there was something…chilling about it. Something that made me look up at her towering figure in a frightened awe. No amount of apologies would rectify this.
"I'm sorry" I whispered, still looking up at her. But this wasn't enough, as I knew it wouldn't be, and the next thing I knew I felt a hard impact hit my cheek, an impact so hard I fell back on my bed. It took me a moment to realise she had slapped me, that my cheek was raw and stinging from the blow, and that the tears forming in my eyes were from both the physical and emotional pain that had hit me in that moment. Mom had never slapped me before. She had yelled and threatened and cursed, but she had never physically slapped me.
"Misty!" Ash exclaimed, bringing his hand up to my stinging cheek with the most concerned expression on his face. "Mist, are you okay?" he asked quietly. I couldn't reply. It was like the slap had knocked all sort of speech out of me. I just stared up at the ceiling, feeling a tear trickle down my cheek but not bothering to wipe it away.
Mom was still standing by my bed, looking down on me with no remorse or shock on her face at all. Just pure anger dominating every inch of her being. Ash turned to her, a mask of anger also temporarily substituting his nerves.
"With all due respect Mrs Waterflower, you had no right to do that to your own daughter!" Ash exclaimed, standing up to face her.
"I had every right to! She's so bloody stupid, she hasn't got a clue what's coming to her, maybe that will knock some sense into her!" Mom yelled.
"Well you shouldn't just take it out on her. This was my fault too, I am as much to blame for this as she is, maybe more so" Ash said. Don't, Ash I silently pleaded. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.
"You're right, you are. And since you care about her so very much, you won't mind having to help her find a place she can stay, since she won't be staying here" Mom said sarcastically.
"You're kicking her out?" Ash asked. It was as if I had suddenly vanished into thin air, and I slowly sat up, not quite comprehending the words.
"You think she deserves to stay? After all she's put me and our family through? This is the final straw. I will not have my fifteen year old daughter going through an illegitimate pregnancy under this roof. She can learn about the real world, since this is giving her a huge kick into it" Mom announced.
"You really want me to leave?" I whispered.
"I don't want you to leave, I need you to leave. If you care about the reputation of this family, of the well-being of everyone here, you will leave. In fact, you don't have a say in the matter" Mom said coldly. "I am your mother and I am legally entitled to tell you what to do."
"But…but where will I go?" I asked meekly.
"That's not my problem. You put yourself in this mess, you can face the consequences. Get that boy out of my house as soon as possible, I'm going to call your father." And with that she swung around and strode out of my room, slamming the door behind her as she did. I sat quivering on my bed as Ash sat down beside me, biting his lip and looking at the ground.
"Well that didn't go according to plan" he mumbled.
"She's…k-kicking me out" I stuttered. "I've got nowhere…no one will…"
"It's okay Mist, I'll sort this out" Ash said soothingly as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Maybe she just needs some time to cool off."
"No she doesn't" I shook my head. "She'll never get over this, I'll never be allowed back. She's dead serious about all of this."
"Come on, it's no good you staying here. Let's go for a walk, I'll try and figure something out." Ash stood up and grabbed my crutches before helping me up. I weakly leaned against the crutches as we walked out and slowly made our way down the stairs, avoiding meeting Mom's furious eyes as she talked to Dad.
Poor Dad. I would never mean to hurt him. He was going to be absolutely shattered when he heard this, because he had always been so proud of me, no matter what happened. But I somehow got the feeling that he would not be proud of this in the slightest.
As soon as we walked out the front door the stares started. The world's youngest Pokémon Master was out walking with the youngest Waterflower sister. The gossip would run rampant before the truth was even revealed, and even when the truth was revealed it would probably be better than the gossip itself.
"Um, know somewhere kinda quiet?" Ash asked, noticing the glances and the excited whispers.
"Yup, I can arrange that" I replied. I lead the way to a place in Cerulean that very few people had heard of and that even less knew I had heard of. Even my parents didn't know about my special corner away from the world.
It wasn't much. There was a canopy of trees shielding the sky, an occasional bird flying past, but to me it was a different world. A small section cut away from the Cerulean forest, covered by bush and plants that made me invisible to the rest of the world. There was a small lake, but it was only knee deep, and I chose a spot of grass near the lake to lie down and stare up at the ceiling of trees.
"What is this place?" Ash asked as he sat next to me.
"It's my place" I said, closing my eyes and taking in the few sounds that surrounded us. "No one knows I come here. I found it when I was about eight."
"It's nice. I can see why you like it" Ash smiled. He intertwined his fingers with mine and I smiled up at him, even though tears were still glazing my eyes.
"What are we gonna do?" I asked quietly.
"First of all we are going to keep our heads high and our nerves calm. We can't let fear bring us down this early" Ash said sensibly. I nodded and he kissed my forehead before he next spoke. "And now I am gonna ring Mom."
"You're going to ring Delia?" I asked in shock, now sitting up to face him. "Are you sure you wanna tell her right now?"
"Putting it off would be worse, Mist" Ash pointed out as he started dialing out the numbers on his cellphone. He was right, but I was once again ravaged by nerves as the phonecall started. I couldn't hear Delia, but I could pick up enough to understand what she might have been saying.
"Hi Mom…yes, I'm fine, do you hafta ask me that every time I call?" Ash laughed. There was a silence and Ash smiled at the words that were going through his ears. "Well I do have a reason to call and it's really quite serious. Um, Mom, you know how at Washbay I met up with Misty again…yes yes, I do, I really do" he smiled wider, looking at me as he did. "Well we've just found out…um, I was with her yesterday, after the crash…no no, she's alright, she's only broken her leg. But they discovered something else. Mom she's
nearly three months pregnant and I'm the only one who can be the father."
There was now a huge pause and I gulped, dreading that Delia would be ranting and raving at the son she loved so much. I started to think back to the times when Delia would welcome me with open arms and a cheery smile. I swore I was never going to see that again.
"Yeah…she's fine, she's right here beside me…I dunno." Ash wrinkled his nose at the last two words before listening intently to his mother again. "Her Mom just kicked her out" he said solemnly. There was another long pause, one that almost killed me with the possibilities of what she could be saying.
It was about half a minute later that Ash turned to me with a broad grin and gave me a thumbs up sign. This only caused me to frown in confusion. What was he looking so happy about?
"Uh-huh…yeah, okay…we'll say a day or two, I really don't want her hanging round her mom much longer…are you sure…thanks so much Mom, thank you…okay, well I'll give you a call later. Love you too." The call ended and I looked at him with curiosity almost radiating from my eyes.
"I bet she hates me" I said glumly.
"Nooo, quite the contrary actually" Ash said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "She's invited you to come live with us. Well, invited probably isn't the right word…more like calmly and kindly commanded."
"What?!" I exclaimed in disbelief. "In Pallet Town? She wants me to get in her way for the next six months?"
"She loves you like you were her own daughter. I told her about your mom and she's so worried she wants you up there as soon as possible" Ash announced.
"Oh my gosh, really?" I asked breathlessly.
"She's not the only one who wants you to go" Ash grinned, planting a small kiss on my lips. I blinked through the tears in my eyes and shakily exhaled before I next spoke.
"Thank you, Ash."
"Huh? For what? Breaking your heart over and over, winding us up in this situation, stressing your family…" Ash trailed off.
"No." I shook my head as I wrapped my arms around him and leant against his shoulder. "Thank you for being the one person who understands me. Thank you for teaching me how to be strong and true to myself. But most importantly, thank you for returning the love I feel for you, no matter what the situation."
"Miss Waterflower, it is no trouble at all" Ash said softly.
We stayed by the lake a little while longer, just holding each other and savoring this quiet time. No doubt in the next few months peace and quiet would be hard to come by. Ash moved his arm away from me to check his watch and sighed as he realized the time.
"Come on Mist, I better get you home" he quietly suggested.
"Why?" I asked timidly. You can understand why I didn't wanna go home, right? Cos if you can't, well, then I guess all I can do is pray for you. We'd been out for nearly an hour but I was nowhere near ready to go back and face them all. Mom, my sisters, Dad…oh no, not Dad.
"Because I do not want to get you in more trouble than you already are. I think you'd want that too" Ash pointed out. I reluctantly nodded as he stood up, handing me my crutches and helping me to my feet. "How long do you have to have these things again?" he asked, obviously as annoyed as I was at their inconvenience.
"Four or more weeks" I sighed. "Aren't they the biggest nuisance ever?"
"Well maybe so, but at least they keep you moving."
"They'll need to, now that I'm moving out altogether." The sentence caused involuntary tears to well up in my eyes and I marveled at the irony of it all. I had once so longed to get away from the gym, I had been desperate to escape Mom's icy clutches. And now here I was with no choice at all but to leave, and I was wishing this was all some sort of horrible nightmare.
"Don't dwell on it, Misty. Let's just get you away from that bitch and into a life you deserve" Ash said as we started walking.
"I don't deserve anything" I whispered, almost repeating one of Mom's general criticisms.
"Misty -"
"No, I deserve shit all" I shook my head as I spoke. Ash had been walking beside me but he suddenly ran in front of me and grabbed my shoulders, stopping me in my slow tracks. His eyes were level with mine but I couldn't meet them.
"Misty, I don't want to hear you talk like that ever again, you hear me?" Ash said sternly.
"But isn't it the truth?" I asked, thinking it was a rhetorical question.
"Don't be stupid. You deserve everything you've never had. You deserve love and warmth and a family that's there for you no matter what. Instead you got a mother who despised you, sisters who ignored you until only a little while ago and the only blessing you can count is your father."
"I can count you" I pointed out.
"You couldn't a year ago" Ash replied. I went quiet and he loosened his grip on my shoulders, though his hands still stayed there. "So don't go talking about how you deserve nothing. You've had a bad run so far and despite all this I'm going to do my damndest to somehow make it up to you."
"You don't have to do that. It's not your fault I'm not good at pleasing Mom."
"I don't care. You're good at pleasing me in any and every way possible and the least I can do in return is try to make your life a little better through all of this" Ash said. I finally met his eyes and saw the promises imprinted in them, the determination that was with him in whatever he was doing. I also knew that the League had been somewhat deprioritised to him, it would have to be if he was promising me all this, but I had to wonder if it was in light of me falling pregnant or just in light of me. As much as I would love the latter to be true, something was still niggling at my mind about it, and I couldn't bear wondering.
"Ash…are you doing this because of me or because of me falling pregnant?" I asked seriously.
"What are you talking about? I love you, you know that."
"Okay, so if it comes between me and the League again like it did two years ago, what would come first?" I was expecting some sort of uncomfortable mumble of an answer after a long hesitation, but I was in for a shock at his instant reply.
"You." That one word brought a smile to my face and I hugged him tightly.
"Yeah, that's why you're going back in two months" I said sarcastically, laughing it off.
"Well the tournament -"
"Ash, it's okay" I interrupted him, still locked in his embrace. "I know they need you up there, especially now. So don't give it a second thought. Delia will take good care of me." I pulled away from him, still smiling despite the fact I now had to go home.
"You know I'll call every night and write you and -"
"Ash" I interrupted again. "Don't think about it now. We've got tomorrow at least, just savour this for now."
"Okay, but you know I'll hafta start calling round for some sort of way to get there" Ash pointed out as we started walking back towards the gym. "It might have to be a bus, I didn't exactly bring a lot of money."
"That's okay" I replied. "I'm not expecting a private jet or anything."
"Well that's a relief" Ash grinned. We quietly made our way through Cerulean, trying to ignore the whispers by not talking about them but we both knew they were playing on our minds. Do people have nothing better to do than gossip? Obviously not in Cerulean.
The gym gates suddenly looked impending and I grasped onto Ash's hand as we stopped out the front. Dad's car was now in the driveway, a forecast for disaster and broken hearts.
"Do you want me to come with you or do you wanna do this by yourself?" Ash asked.
"No, I'll go by myself. Dad can only cope with so much" I sighed. Ash hugged me again, holding me for longer than he had before and tighter too.
"Be strong. I love you" he whispered.
"I love you too. Do you want to meet me somewhere tomorrow or something?" I asked, thinking of how we would be planning our escape.
"No, don't you worry about that. I'll organise all that first and get in touch with you tomorrow" Ash said. He kissed me softly, the both of us so badly wanting to prolong it but knowing that we couldn't. We easily could have. I reluctantly pulled away and gave him one final sad glance, as if I wouldn't be laying eyes on him again.
"Bye Ash" I whispered before I walked through the gates. He waved to me as he walked away and I slowly walked through, scared of what was beyond these gates, beyond that door. The gym was all lit up, so everyone would be home. This was confirmed as soon as I opened the front door to witness my whole family sitting round the kitchen table. I caught my father's eye first and had to keep in my gasp.
He looked like he had aged fifty years in a day and his face wore an expression that was more than sad - it was downright heartbreaking. It was as if someone had grabbed his heart and done the most amount of damage possible to it. And, I thought with a guilty cringe, that someone was me. His eyes were also undeniably swimming in tears. I'd never seen my father cry before, or any grown man for that matter, and I didn't want to be the first to make him cry.
"Misty" he croaked out. He kept that sad stare on me but I didn't, I couldn't, move an inch. "My baby girl is pregnant." He shook his head before burying it in his hands. My mother rubbed his back reassuringly, sending me a glance full of venom, and my sisters couldn't even look my way.
"Daddy, I'm so sorry, I can't tell you how sorry -"
"Shush Misty" Dad said sternly. I stopped talking in both surprise and fear of what he would do and he met my eyes again. "You're not sorry."
"But I am! Dad, I truly am, I'll never be sorry enough!" I exclaimed, gulping back my tears as I did.
"Are you sorry you slept with Ash?" Dad asked.
I paused. That was a tough call. I wasn't sorry for sleeping with Ash, I was sorry for what had come out of it. Did that ultimately mean I was sorry for sleeping with Ash?
"Well…um…"
"I didn't think so" Dad sighed.
"No Dad, please, I -"
"Just shut up, Misty" Mom snapped, much more blunt than my father. "Can't you see you've put all of us through enough? Your words won't change anything." I kept quiet, letting two silent tears spill over.
"Am I still moving out?" I whispered after an unbearably long silence.
"You sure are" Mom said coldly.
"Dad?" I asked timidly. He had always been on my side.
"Yes Misty, you are" Dad replied flatly. "I think you can learn to pay for your mistake this way." I couldn't speak. His words had literally rendered me speechless and had glued my feet to the floor.
"Dad…" I started, not quite sure how to finish.
"Leave it. Go up to your room, I can't even look at you" Dad said softly, turning his back on me both literally and metaphorically. Two more tears were let loose before I made my slow ascent up the stairs, my damn crutches not improving anything. It seemed to take an eternity to reach my room but I had never been so grateful to see it, and as soon as I walked through the door, I shut it firmly, locked it, and finally let the sobs escape that had been building up for so long. Only in the confines of my room could I be this true to myself.
Déjà vu instantly hit me as I sat there wailing. I hadn't cried like this since running into Ash for the first time at Washbay. That didn't seem half as bad as what was happening now. My whole life was in a shambles and the only person who was gluing it back together was Ash, yet at the same time he was part of the reason I was crying.
It was all too confusing, and with my head, heart and soul raw with pain, I fell asleep, curled up on my bed like a lost child. That was a similarity that wasn't far from wrong.
A/N: There you have it! A bit longer than the last one (which was really kinda short, sorry bout that) Hope you liked and more on the way soon. AAML forever!
