DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon.

A/N: Thing to note – I'm not actually sure if this is the proper title of this chapter, I'm uploading this at the house I babysit at so I'm not sure. Well, I'm pretty sure, but ah well, either way it works. Reviews, flames, whatever's on your mind I'd love to hear at the end!

Chapter twenty-seven – A Quest for Happiness

Ash, Andrea and I returned to the hotel that very day and then went straight to the airport where Delia had booked us a flight back to Pallet Town. Brock was catching a later flight to Pewter City so we said our goodbyes at the airport with the both of us promising to keep in touch with him. Brock had officially declared himself Andrea's almost-uncle and he handed me a small box before we boarded for our flight at 6pm.

"This is for Andrea. Don't open it until you get home" he instructed.

"It better not be expensive" I said warningly.

"Too bad if it is cos I've already paid for it" Brock grinned.

Andrea was an angel on the flight. I was dreading the prospect of her screaming the whole way and causing once content passengers to transform to disgruntled complainants. But she slept the whole way in my arms. When we landed, she had officially been in our care for six hours. And when we got home, Ash experienced his first diaper-changing session.

"Now remember, you were the one who said you wouldn't mind looking after her and that you wanted to keep her" I reminded him as his face went a pale shade of green.

While he was doing this Delia was setting up Ash's old crib that was to be Andrea's bed until we bought some stuff for her ourselves. We would have to buy a lot of gear before we even considered moving out - a bassinette, clothes (we'd hurriedly bought a small supply in Cerulean before we left), baby monitors, a high chair, a walker…

I swore Ash's account would be hollow by the time we were through.

"She's all changed and in her pajamas!" Ash beamed as he walked back with Andrea in his arms.

"I don't believe it. You put her in her pajamas?" I asked in genuine amazement.

"I'm not totally incompetent, you know" Ash muttered.

"I know" I smiled, briefly kissing his lips and taking Andrea off him. "Hey Andie D" I cooed quietly. She was so tired. Even I, the most inexperienced person at looking after babies, could see that. "Come on, we better put you to bed. Say goodnight to Daddy." Ash kissed his daughter on the cheek and bade her goodnight. She would be sleeping in the room next to us (yes, Ash and I were finally sharing a room, but the 'rules' still applied, which I guess was fair enough) and by the time we made it upstairs, Delia had put the whole crib together.

"Thank you Delia" I said softly as I gingerly laid Andrea down. Almost immediately she closed her heavy eyelids in a slumber that would later be broken. I couldn't stop looking at her, even with those mesmerizing eyes closed.

"Would you still have given her up?" Delia suddenly asked.

"I wouldn't have wanted to, but I was so worried we would muck this up somehow. I thought she'd be better off with people who knew what they were doing" I explained.

"Well I know what I'm doing. By the time you two get out of here you'll know way more about babies than other kids your age" Delia said assuredly.

"Do you really think we can look after her on our own?" I asked worriedly as we walked out of Andrea's room.

"Sweetie, if you and Ash love her, which I know you do, then I assure you that you can look after her. And I'm always here for the three of you, don't you ever forget that."

"I do love her" I smiled.

"I've seen the way you've handled her in this short time and Ash has grown up so much since you came back into his life. You will all be fine, though I have to warn you, there will be times when you feel like you're going snap. But you get through that" Delia shrugged.

Well let me tell you, there were a million and one times I could've snapped in the month that followed. Delia was right, I became an expert at looking after Andrea and had absolutely no qualms about agreeing to keep her. But she was a newborn baby and with that title came the dreaded practice of waking up every three hours to feed her or comfort her or rock her back to sleep. Ash and I took turns getting up to her but we both woke up anyways and the lack of sleep tested my patience in everyday things.

I cried if I dropped the washing basket. I yelled at the TV if something I didn't like came on. I yelled at Delia. I yelled at Ash.

I did a lot of yelling in those first couple of weeks.

But things finally started falling into place when Ash found a small apartment in town that we could afford to rent. It was perfect, two bedrooms and in easy access of shopping malls and doctors and all that. We moved in two weeks after Ash signed the rent contract and just before Andrea turned six weeks old.

Oh bliss. She fell into a sleeping pattern a week before we moved. I managed to get about six hours sleep a night, which was double what I was getting before. And I'll confess, we took a LOT of photos of her. All three of us became incredibly camera-happy around her. She hadn't reached any milestones or anything but she was too gorgeous not to capture on film.

As we were packing boxes and clearing out our stuff, I stumbled upon that present Brock had given me before we'd left Cerulean. I had hurriedly put it in a drawer and now here it was, as untouched as the day I had last seen it.

"What's that?" Ash asked as he dumped a box by his feet to see better.

"It's the present Brock got for Andrea. I totally forgot about it" I explained.

"Well don't just stand there, open it!" Ash commanded excitedly. He couldn't stand seeing an unwrapped present and I laughed as I started peeling away the paper to reveal a velvet box. "Woah, hold up, you don't think she's a little too young for jewelry?" Ash asked.

"I don't think it's an engagement ring or anything serious like that so just chill" I grinned. "Still, I don't really know if anything would be tiny enough to fit her." With a shrug of my shoulders I opened the box and drew in a breath at what was inside. It was a gold identity bracelet. It wouldn't fit her for years but it was so precious I had to hold back my tears.

"Wow, Brocko does alright in the present department then" Ash said. I could tell he was impressed too.

"I warned him about it being expensive" I muttered, picking it up and examining it closely. Her name was engraved on the front and there was something on the back too.

A.D.K. 4.15.02

Her initials and date of birth. Man, Brock had really gone out of his way to get that done so quickly. And if you're wondering about the 'K' at the end, Ash and I had decided she would keep Ash's surname. It was so much easier than double barreling it - Andrea Delia Waterflower-Ketchum. Sheesh, what a mouthful that would've been.

It was at that point Andrea stirred and then fully woke up. I put the bracelet back in the box, handed it to Ash and went to soothe her cries.

"Hi darling" I said quietly as I picked her up. "Look what Uncle Brock got you, aren't you a lucky girl?" I cooed. I couldn't help acting mushy or goofy around her. She had me completely head over heels.

"Ah yes, very pretty but not for another couple of years yet" Ash said when she reached out to grab it. He laughed at her startled eyes as he held it out of reach. She looked absolutely shocked at not being allowed it.

"Isn't your daddy mean?" I said sympathetically. Now Ash was the one looking shocked and our roles were reversed when I started laughing. Sometimes, I thought to myself, it just wasn't fair. If we were just a little older and more experienced, we would look almost perfect. But image isn't everything and that was a lesson I had had to learn by ignoring the looks people gave us when I was pregnant or when we took Andrea out by ourselves.

We were young, but we weren't entirely stupid. We couldn't afford to be.

We packed the rest of our stuff in no time - we didn't have much, Andrea might have had more than us - and we arrived at our new home at 5pm. We had already set up our bed and Andrea's crib, but apart from that the apartment was pretty bare. That was the last thing on my mind. Andrea had been unsettled since we'd arrived and I swore she would never stop crying. I pleaded with her, I rocked her, cuddled her, fed her, changed her, I did everything I could think of and nothing seemed to work.

"Have you fed her?" Ash asked as I frantically paced around the room with her in my arms.

"Of course I have, Einstein!" I snapped over her wails. Ash reeled and went to…well, I don't know where he went. Possibly to escape my inevitable wrath. "Come on Andie, shhh, please settle down…" I quietly pleaded. Nope, she wasn't listening. I didn't realise babies could be as stressed as adults when it came to moving but hey, I guess I was learning quickly.

She must have got tired because her cries finally died down at about 7.30 and I used that as my opportunity to put her to bed. She would sleep until midnight, have a feed and then sleep until 6. Like I said, bliss.

I flopped onto our one and only couch next to Ash, who had finally found it safe enough to venture out to my presence. Delia had left an hour ago after her attempts to settle Andrea also failed and she promised to check up on us ASAP. I didn't actually take into account that she took the phrase ASAP literally.

"Mom's already called my cell phone" Ash announced with an amused smirk. She would have to, we didn't have a phone connected yet.

"You're kidding! Oh God, she's done enough. Tell her we're fine" I said. I leant my head against his shoulder, desperate for sleep and desperate to know in advance if we really would be fine. This was still early days yet.

"Hey, don't fall asleep there. I've got champagne" Ash happily declared.

"Champagne?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Ash pulled a bottle out from behind his back and I wrinkled my nose. "Yuck, now it'll be warm."

"Well you don't have to have any but I sure am" Ash said. He also miraculously produced two plastic cups and I burst out laughing when I saw this.

"Champagne in plastic cups. How posh" I commented. Ash filled the cups and handed me one with an unfamiliar glint in his eye.

"May I propose a toast?" he asked formally.

"I'm not gonna stop you" I shrugged, my tone the total opposite to his. Ash held my spare hand with his and smiled a smile that thawed any worries that had once been invading me.

"To our new life. To our daughter, who we are so blessed to have. And to our love that will mould our lives forever" he said softly. His fingers were running over the back of my hand, a touch still as electrifying as it had been when I first felt it, and I gulped away all my tears but one. It slid down my cheek on a path of eternal gratitude before Ash kissed it away. "I think this is the part where we clink glasses. Or cups, in this case."

I let out a sort of half-sob half-laugh and clinked my cup against his in agreement to all his words. This was our new life, it was what we had strived towards, and I had worked too hard and endured too much to worry about troubles that hadn't even come our way.

The champagne was delicious - sweet on my tongue and delightfully slightly acidic on my throat - and I put my cup down to cuddle up to him again. The walls were a disgusting pale yellow, I suddenly realised.

"I'm gonna re-paint the walls" I decided out loud.

"You shouldn't take on that much. You're too fragile" Ash commented.

"What did you just call me?!" I exclaimed in horror. I flashed intimidating eyes at him, eyes he hadn't crossed paths with since our Pokemon journeys, and he instantly backed off.

"I'm sorry, Miss Independent Woman" Ash apologised.

"So you should be" I said haughtily, but he saw my smile emerging and squeezed me tight, causing me to involuntarily break out into giggles.

"Well no matter how much of an independent woman you are, I am not letting you go again."

"Darn right" I softly replied. He bent down and kissed me, his lips still tasting of champagne and his hands starting to make a half-familiar trail over my body. I didn't stop him. This was uncannily like the situation that night at Washbay. It had started innocently enough on a couch but this time I didn't need a trigger or anything to make me realise what was happening.

And I confess, I didn't pull away or think twice this time. If anything I only encouraged it.

"God Mist, you're beautiful" Ash somehow managed to mumble in between the increasing amount of passion we were creating. I didn't want this to ever have to stop. His hands had found their way under my shirt and all I could do was beg for more when, of course…

Knock knock. Had to happen, didn't it?

"No, not now" I groaned in immense disappointment. Ash's hands immediately withdrew from me and I looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "Can't we leave it?" I whispered, tracing my finger down his jaw line, towards his chest.

"Christ, Misty" Ash moaned. He was obviously torn in two but he didn't have to be for long when a voice called through the door.

"Nothing urgent peachpie, just wanted to see how you were getting on. I can come back later."

"Dad?!" I exclaimed in shock. He must've thought I was busy dealing with Andrea. I practically fell off Ash and staggered towards the door while trying to make myself look less tousled. I opened the door and hugged my surprised father the second I laid eyes on him.

"I didn't know if you were home or not. It's so good to see you" Dad said as he hugged me back.

"Come in, view our new home" I grinned, leading him inside where Ash was looking very calm and relaxed on the couch. Nothing gave any hints that certain actions were accumulating only minutes before.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, uh…sir" Ash said hesitantly. Dad accepted his outstretched hand with a warm smile.

"You can call me Jeff, you know."

"Oh, okay then" Ash smiled. He was instantly relaxed and the three of us sat on the couch, me seated between the two most important men in my life.

"Um, I'd offer you a coffee or something but the jug hasn't been unpacked yet" I admitted.

"That's alright, I just came by to tell you something quickly." Dad's eyes scanned the room before coming to rest on the framed photo of Ash, Andrea and myself we had placed on the kitchen bench. "Is that her?" he asked.

"Yup. That's Andrea Delia" I beamed.

"Wow. She's an absolute gem" Dad said softly. He turned back to me and Ash with eyes that spoke of many ordeals and pains he had been through. This was when I started to get worried. Dad had come by to tell me something and already his eyes were telling me it was serious.

"Daddy? What did you wanna tell me?" I asked timidly.

"It's nothing too bad, Misty. You were probably expecting it actually. Your mother and I are filing for divorce and I'm planning to move to Cinnabar Island" Dad announced.

Divorce? Cinnabar Island? Too many things for my brain to work through in an instant and I stared at him with wide, confused eyes. About five seconds later I managed to speak.

"Divorce? You're leaving Mom?" I asked shakily. I had never wanted our family to split up in this way, it was almost as if it meant the end of all togetherness. Well, not that I had been around lately, but I still considered myself a bit of a Waterflower. What would I consider myself if Mom and Dad went separate ways?

"It shouldn't be such a surprise to you. I'm leaving her for the same reasons you did - she's controlling, power-hungry and she stops at nothing to get what she wants. I'm sick of it" Dad sighed.

"I didn't realise she was getting to you that much" I said.

"Misty, she sued my daughter's boyfriend on a desperate claim in the hope to somehow destroy your already damaged lives. It was the final straw. When the court was adjourned that last day we argued all the way back home and for three hours afterwards. She knew she had had it. Lily, being the peacemaker that she is, tried so hard to make us see a solution but I honestly can't see one. The other two are devastated but I think they see me as too much of a softy on you anyway."

"Oh Dad. I'm so sorry" I whispered.

"What on earth do you mean by that?" Dad asked.

"It was my fault the stuff got repossessed and you moved and that you're divorcing Mom. I'm too stupid and naive to think about the consequences of my actions and for that you can ignore me for the rest of your life" I said sadly. The reaction I received was the last thing I expected, because Dad burst out laughing. Okay, so my father was totally demolishing my attempts to be remorseful. The question was, why?

"Misty, oh my gosh, I didn't realise you were the major drama queen of our family" Dad said jovially. "Stop blaming yourself this instant. You are here with a guy you love and a daughter you cherish, and none of that has anything to do with this divorce. It would've happened sooner or later because I was already unhappy way before any of this happened."

"What? Are you serious?" I asked in amazement.

"Of course I was. She controlled my every move. I mean, I agreed that the whole idea of the four of you going to Washbay would be a good thing, especially for you, but a video camera? I had to wonder." Dad smiled and grasped my hand. "I wanted you to be happy because I wasn't. And now it's my turn to be happy. I hope you can understand that. Divorce is an ugly word, an ugly thing, but if it's my key to happiness I'm more than willing to take it."

I looked at my father for a long time. I had never seen the worn lines that shouldn't have been there yet, the black hair subtly streaked gray. And now that I had seen them, I didn't care if Mom ended up on her knees begging him back only to have him flatly refuse her invitations. He had every right to do what he liked in his quest for happiness, just as I had had to do for my own.

"Dad, I don't care what it takes. You are the only member of my family who wants me to be happy, no matter what the cost, and I want you to have the same. I don't care what Mom thinks or does. You be happy, you deserve to be." This was weird. I was almost repeating what he had said to me in that letter he'd sent over Christmas. But I don't think that mattered because he was hugging me again and I suddenly realised that already he was happier.

"I know she's probably asleep, but do you think I could take a quick glimpse at my granddaughter?" Dad asked as he pulled away.

"Of course, sure. She sleeps really well" I informed him as all three of us stood up. Ash hadn't actually had a word in but I think he understood that it wasn't his place to comment at the moment, no matter how much damage Mom had done to him or how much he agreed with Dad. He couldn't just butt in and say, 'Yeah brother, ditch that bitch, you can do better!' Not that he would or anything…

We tiptoed to Andrea's room and slowly walked through in a main objective not to wake her. She never stirred as she had her first encounter with her grandfather. I held back my tears as Dad gazed at her in awe and obvious love. She may have had a bit of a dodgy background when it came to her parents, but that didn't matter when she was the most loved little girl in the world.

"She is beautiful" Dad whispered. "She almost looks exactly like you" he said to me.

"She's got Ash's nose, the poor thing" I sighed. Ash gently nudged me in mock offence and I laughed quietly.

"Well I hope that isn't the only good trait she has from her father" Dad said softly. I could see Ash was trying not to look too pleased at the comment but really, anyone wouldn't be able to help it.

Dad left ten minutes later (because, like I said, it is impossible to tear yourself away from Andrea when you first see her) and I promised I'd keep the emails and letters going. He wasn't too far away either. Cinnabar Island was a few miles south and only took a short car trip and a boat ride to get there. Visits would hardly be impossible.

"That man is incredible" Ash commented as he stood with me by the now closed door. "He still likes me, even after I persuaded you to keep Andie. I'm surprised he hasn't placed a restraining order on me to stay the hell away from you because I'm a potential threat to your sanity."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself" I giggled. "He likes you because you've made me happy. He thinks happiness is the most important thing in the world, and that's what he's trying to find right now. It's just a shame he has to find happiness at the end of love instead of with it, like we have."

"Trust me, he'll be a lot better off without that witch around" Ash shuddered.

"I know" I agreed, wondering why the hell I had ever worried about divorce in the first place. Maybe the word just scared me when I was younger because I had heard horror stories of custody battles and blended families not working out.

There was a comfortable silence that surrounded us before I let out a yawn against my will. It was a big one too, and I tried to shorten it but it just couldn't seem to stop.

"Okay Mist, bed time" Ash announced when I finally shut my mouth.

"I won't argue with you on that one" I replied. He grabbed my hand and tried to walk me to our room but I found my feet refusing to co-operate with me. "I can't move" I whined.

"Oh." It was all Ash said before he stood before me and, in a blur I couldn't grab a hold of for a few seconds, hoisted me up in his arms and was holding me above the ground. I had to hold in my squeal of shock and delight in order not to wake up my sleeping daughter three doors down.

"Ash! What are you doing?" I hissed through a smile.

"Helping you move" Ash replied simply as he started walking towards our room.

"You're a head case" I muttered.

"Maybe so, but remember, you're the one who has repeatedly told me you're in love with me. So don't go making a head case sound like a bad thing when you love one" Ash pointed out. I sighed in happy exasperation (doesn't sound right, does it?) and once again managed to keep in my squeals when Ash practically dropped me onto the bed.

"What are you trying to do, break my back or something?" I asked through my laughs.

"No" Ash said as he laid down beside me. "I'm trying to let you know how much I love you."

"By flinging me on a bed and potentially threatening to break many a bone in my body? Wow Ash, I love you too" I grinned.

"Misty" Ash said seriously. The grin instantly vanished from my face thanks to his staid tones and I intently waited for him to go on. "I really do love you."

"I know. I love you too" I said softly. I stroked a finger over his cheek and found myself unable to avoid locking eyes with him. "I love you so much I've come this far in the name of it all. I never ever envisioned myself living with my boyfriend at the age of sixteen, let alone my daughter as well. But I don't care. I'm loving every minute of it."

"We've only been here three or so hours" Ash pointed out.

"So? I love it. And I love you." I hungrily planted my lips on his, probably taking him by surprise, and pulled away to trace my finger on the original path it had been on before Dad had knocked on the door. "You're a part of me, Ash. You always will be." I was ready to pick up where we had left off before Ash eyed me seriously.

"Now Misty, as much as I love Andrea, I don't think I'm quite ready to handle two at a time" he said. I burst out laughing and pulled his forehead close to mine.

"I thought that might be the case. So I came prepared" I announced. Ash raised an eyebrow at my comments. I rolled my eyes in frustration at his dimness and reached over to my bedside table (the only other thing we had unpacked) to produce a box of…okay, I'm gonna say this…condoms. There, I did it, I said it. For some reason the word niggles at me. My face had sweltered in horrific embarrassment when I had bought them a couple of days ago but I knew, from a lesson well learnt, that it was better to be safe than sorry. And I also knew that tonight would be inevitable. For nine months we had had to hold off and now nothing was stopping us.

"Wow Mist, you were really getting ahead of yourself there. You can't be that tired then" Ash said mischievously.

"Oh for God's sake, these kill enough romance as it is, can you please just -"

"Misty, it's okay, I'm sorry" Ash genuinely apologized. "Just forget I've been a sarcastic pain in the ass. I love you, and I think you're brilliant to be so, uh…equipped as you are. The thought never even occurred to me."

"That's the second time you've done that" I grinned. Ash reflected my smile but I think that was about where conversation minimilized or perhaps just stopped full stop. He kissed me slowly and carefully then, like I was fragile and needed to be handled with care. Maybe I did. Something inside of me was still scared, most likely because of what had happened last time I'd been in this situation. But what did I have to worry about? We had protection, Mom was well out of our way.

I relaxed and kissed him back, letting his hands explore places they hadn't been in so long. I melted at his touch, I succumbed to any sort of power he involuntarily had over me and no matter how scared I had been, I suddenly found myself feeling safer than I ever had in my life.

"I love you" I whispered in his ear as he slowly, tantalizingly undressed me. I was a gift that only he could have and I was determined not to disappoint him in any way.

"I love you too" Ash whispered back. His breath tingled my skin in the same way his hands did, running all over me, loving me as only he could. His lips followed his hands and reality meshed with fantasy in my mind. I was his for tonight, forever, and his kisses over my exposed body only confirmed this.

He was never going to take advantage of me. They call this making love for a reason.

Again it was magical, unbelievable, and about ten times better than it had been the first time. Again we were a union of body, mind and soul. We were happy, sated, overwhelmed by love as we lay there in each others arms. I didn't fall asleep almost straight away like I had last time. I just loved the feeling of having him with me and of knowing that this was definitely the beginning of our new life.

Dad had set out on his quest for his first lot of happiness that day. Ash and I had confirmed that we'd found our own happiness not for the first time on the same day. I fell asleep to the feeling of his arms around me and the sensation of love running rampant throughout me.

A/N: Only the ep to go! Wowee! As usual I don't have much to say except keep an eye out for the ep and AAML forever! Man I'm original, lol.