Danica and Blaziken worked hard raising their two little ones and helping them learn how to control their powers, with the help of Blaziken's cousin of course. And before they knew it, a few years had passed. One particular morning, the couple was sleeping in for once. Blaziken had his arm wrapped around his mate while Danica smiled as she slept. All of a sudden, they were both woken up by a scream and an explosion.
"Huh?!" Danica gasped, sitting up in bed in surprise. Blaziken sighed and rubbed his eyes before opening them.
"Guess the kids are up..." he commented. Once the surprise wore off, Danica sighed and nodded in agreement.
"Seems like it..." she replied. Danica got up from bed and headed to the twins' room while Blaziken continued to wake himself up. She found the two kids glaring at each other angrily. Evie's hair had turned into a raging fire, as it always did when she got mad, and Eric had already broken the bedpost he was holding.
"I told you to keep your disgusting socks on your side of the room!" Evie yelled.
"Oh, it's just a few dirty clothes! Don't be such a baby!" Eric countered. Danica sighed and walked into the room with Blaziken, finally making their presence know.
"What's going on here?" she asked her kids.
"He keeps throwing his dirty clothes on my side of the room instead of in the basket!" Evie accused her brother.
"Eric." Danica said sternly.
"She's lying Mom!" Eric insisted. Danica took a glance around the room and noticed Eric's socks were indeed all over both sides of the room.
"Then why do I see your dirty clothes on your sister's side of the room?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"They just missed the basket is all!" he replied, pointing to the laundry basket against the wall in between their beds.
"That's not a good excuse to just leave them there." Danica replied. Eric groaned under his breath. "Now go and pick them all up and put them in the basket." Danica ordered. Eric grumbled again but did as he was told and started cleaning up his laundry. Evie smiled and calmed down, allowing her hair to finally turn back to its normal blonde and red. Danica watched Eric until he finished cleaning up all his laundry. As if on cue, Blaziken came in as soon as he was finished.
"Everything ok?" he asked
"Yeah. Just a little laundry mishap." Danica replied.
"They are getting older. Maybe we need to look into separate rooms." He suggested.
"I think you're right." She nodded.
"Well, we can talk about that later. How about some breakfast for everyone?" Blaziken smiled.
"Yay! Daddy breakfast!" Evie cheered.
"Sounds delicious." Danica agreed. Blaziken smiled and headed downstairs with Evie. Danica was about to follow when she noticed Eric hanging back, sitting on his bed.
"Honey do you want to come have breakfast with us?" she offered. Eric stayed quiet for a few minutes before finally speaking up.
"You always take her side Mom..." he grumbled.
"Only when she's right." She answered. Eric huffed under his breath and pulled the blankets over his head.
"...I'm not hungry...I'll pass on breakfast..." he muttered.
"You sure?" Danica asked.
"Yeah..." he answered. Danica knew he was lying, but she wasn't going to force it. She knew that eventually he'd get over it and come down. Or he'd just get hungry enough.
"Alright then..." she sighed. Eric rolled over under the covers and faced the wall as Danica left the room and headed to the kitchen. Blaziken was setting the food out on the table as Danica walked over. Sensing her concern for their son, Blaziken kissed her cheek, earning a smile from her.
"Where's Eric?" he asked.
"He said he wasn't hungry..." she answered.
"That's not like him." He commented.
"I know...I think he's upset because he thinks I'm always picking Evie's side..." she explained.
"Maybe I should go talk to him." Blaziken smiled.
"Thanks, honey." Danica smiled. Blaziken kissed her cheek and smiled at her.
"I love you." He reminded her.
"I love you too." She nodded. Blaziken smiled back and headed up to the twins' room, finding his son still hiding under his blankets.
"Hey, son." Blaziken greeted as he walked in.
"Hey, Dad…" Eric responded, still refusing to get out from under his covers. Blaziken sat on the edge of his bed and looked at him in concern.
"What's going on bud?"
"It's nothing, Dad...I'm just not hungry..."
"Come on now. I know you better than that." Eric stayed quiet, not responding to his Dad's comment. "Tell me what's wrong."
"...I just hate how Evie always gets Mom on her side..." Eric finally responded.
"Bud, your Mom doesn't always take her side. Why just a few days ago she gave Evie a time out after one of your arguments." Blaziken pointed out.
"Which only happens rarely..." Eric grumbled.
"Eric, did you know that Evie often says the same thing about your Mom taking your side?" Blaziken asked.
"She does...?" Eric asked, finally peeking out from under the covers.
"You have to understand that we're never taking either of your sides. We're just doing what we can to help you two get along. You need each other. More than you realize." Blaziken explained.
"Oh…I see..." Eric said, sitting up and getting out from under the covers.
"We love you both equally. Always have and always will." Blaziken smiled. Eric reminded quiet for a minute, prompting Blaziken to smirk and start tickling his foot. Eric gasped and started laughing and squirming. Blaziken upped the pressure and started tickling him all over. Eric squealed and laughed even harder until Blaziken finally stopped to let him breathe. Eric panted as he tried t catch his breath, but a smile was etched onto his face again. Blaziken hugged him and Eric hugged him back. "We love you, Eric."
"I love you and Mom too Dad." Eric smiled.
"Now, how about that breakfast?" Blaziken suggested.
"Sure thing!" Eric grinned. Blaziken smiled back and hoisted Eric up on his shoulders, causing the little boy to laugh as his dad walked them down to the kitchen.
"Hey girls." Blaziken greeted.
"Hi, Daddy!" Evie waved. Blaziken smiled at them and helped Eric into a chair at the table. Danica smiled at them and prepared a plate of food for Eric, who happily dove right in.
"So your Mom and I have the day off from work today. What should we do today kids?" Blaziken asked.
"Let's go to the park!" Evie suggested.
"I think we can arrange that." Danica chuckled.
"Yay!" both kids cheered. Everyone finished up their breakfasts and after a quick packing session, the family headed off to the nearby park. Evie and Eric ran right to the playground excitedly. Around the house and at the park were the only places they were allowed to use their powers freely, so they made sure to make the most of it. Eric grabbed and lifted up a huge bolder with his strength.
"Hey, Evie! Catch!" he yelled, throwing the bolder towards her. Evie gasped and fired off a stream of fire from her hands, exploding the bolder in midair. Evie glared at her brother but the two of them suddenly smiled.
"Target practice!" they said at the same time before running off. Danica and Blaziken smiled as they watched the two of them play together. The couple sat down on one of the benches to take a break. They watched as the twins did some target practice for a while, then decided to try skipping stones on the lake. Eric carried another bolder over to the lake while Evie made small balls of flames appear in her hands.
"Hey, Dad watch me skip this stone on the lake!" Eric called over.
"Sure thing Eric!" Blaziken waved. Eric smiled and chucked the bolder into the lake, skipping it across the water three times before it went under and sent up a massive wave of water across the park. Blaziken shielded Danica from most of the water, but Evie ended up getting soaked.
"Eek!" Evie yelped.
"You ok honey?" Blaziken asked.
"I'm covered in water! Of course, I'm not okay Daddy!" she yelled. Blaziken smiled sympathetically and pulled a towel out of their bag and wrapping her up in it. Evie cuddled up in the towel and smiled up at him. "Thanks, Daddy."
"Of course sweetheart." He smiled back, helping her dry off. "How are you fire lessons with Aunt Delphox going?"
"They're going great!" Evie giggled.
"Yeah? Show me what you can do." He smirked. Evie smiled and nodded before running back to the lake. She held up her hands and summoned a small amount of fire. She formed the fire into a sphere and sent it skipping across the water.
"That's amazing." Blaziken smiled.
"Thanks! I even learned to do this!" she exclaimed. She gently blew flames up into the air and made them sparkle and pop like little fireworks.
"Wow!" Blaziken grinned. He picked her up and spun her around excitedly, causing her to giggle. "Honey that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, Daddy!"
"Keep it up and you'll master it in no time."
"I sure will!" she nodded. Blaziken smiled and set her down before walking her back over to Eric.
"Did you see that Dad?! That was an amazing throw!" Eric beamed.
"I sure did. That was amazing." Blaziken smiled and Eric smiled cheekily back at him. "If you flick your wrist a bit more, you might be able to actually skip it along the water."
"Really?!" Eric gasped.
"Give it a try." Blaziken nodded. Eric nodded back and he ran off to get another boulder. He picked up one of the other boulders and then flicked his wrist a bit more in his toss of it across the lake, causing it to skip across the water several mow times. "There you go!"
"Alright!" Eric cheered.
"Nice work my boy!"
"Thanks, Dad!" Eric replied. The two boys shared a high five before the kids ran off to play some more. Blaziken smiled at them before he headed back over to Danica.
"They're only 5 years old and already they're so in control of their powers." Danica smiled.
"And they have your strength and courage to boot." Blaziken smiled.
"They have parts of you in them too. Like their love of adventure and their family." She countered. Blaziken smiled back at her and kissed her gently. Danica happily kissed him back as they held each other close. A few soft moans were exchanged as Danica wrapped her arms around Blaziken's neck and Blaziken stroked her back and gently grazed her butt. Danica gasped a little before moaning a bit louder.
"Want to take a short break and let me make you feel good...?" Blaziken whispered.
"Absolutely..." she nodded. Blaziken smiled and carried her off bridal style to a secluded garden nearby, where they could still hear the kids if they needed to. Danica giggled and the two spent some very well-earned quality time together. Soon afterward, the two headed back to the kids.
"See them anywhere?" Blaziken asked. Danica looked around the park until she spotted Eric still tossing boulders around and Evie practicing with her fire.
"Oh, I see them alright." She chuckled. Blaziken smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. Danica smiled back and rested her head against his chest.
"That's my girl." He winked.
"And that's my man." She retorted, stroking his chest with a little bit of flirt.
"Mommy!" Evie suddenly yelled. The two parents turned their attention to their daughter as she ran to them and hid behind Danica's legs. Within a moment, a little Charmander toddled after her, causing them both to smile.
"Evie there's nothing wrong here. It's only a little Charmander." Danica informed her.
"He keeps following me!" Evie complained. The Charmander ran around Danica to get to Evie. Evie yelped and ran again, this time hiding behind her Dad.
"Evie, there's nothing wrong about him following you. He probably just likes you." Blaziken offered. Charmander grabbed onto Evie's leg and nuzzled her excitedly.
"Eek!" she yipped, falling over as she tried to get away. Danica and Blaziken laughed a little at the situation as they watched. "Daddy! Tell him to stop!"
"There's nothing to be afraid of sweetie." Blaziken replied.
"I don't want him to follow me!" Evie insisted.
"Why not?" Danica questioned her.
"I don't know him! And I don't know why he's following me!" Evie reiterated. Danica looked at Charmander a bit closer as he hugged Evie happily before looking back to Blaziken.
"You know, this kinda reminds me of when Gardevoir first fell in love with you." She commented. Blaziken looked at Danica in surprise, not having noticed until she pointed it out.
"You don't think...?" he slowly asked.
"That this little Charmander could have fallen in love with Evie when he saw her practicing with her fire? Could be..." Danica nodded. They both looked at each other in concern for a minute, but both took a deep breath and relaxed. After all just because things ended that way with Gardevoir doesn't mean they'd end that way for them.
"Evie honey why not try to make friends with him?" Blaziken suggested.
"But..." Evie gulped.
"There's no harm in making friends with him right?" Danica added. Evie glanced down at the Charmander who in turn simply smiled at her.
"I...I guess I can try..." she finally relented. Eric suddenly started laughing hysterically.
"Evie has a Charmander boyfriend!" he teased, causing Evie to blush bright red.
"W-What?! No, I don't!" she argued.
"Yeah you do!" he laughed. Blaziken raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, looming over his son.
"And what is so bad about having a Pokémon boyfriend Eric? Your Pokémon Father is all ears." He warned. The tone of his voice shut down Eric's laughter very quickly. The little boy sweatdropped nervously and scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with an explanation.
"F-Family trait I mean…seeing how Mom attracted you Dad…you know?" he nervously smiled.
"And there's nothing wrong with that. Right?" Blaziken continued. Eric lowered his head sheepishly and nodded.
"Right…"
"Don't tease your sister."
"Fine..." Blaziken nodded and looked back to Danica.
"How about you give Evie a Pokéball and see what happens?" he suggested. Danica nodded in agreement and she pulled a pokéball out of her bag before giving it to Evie.
"Give it a try Evie." She encouraged her daughter. Evie took a deep breath and then tapped the pokéball on Charmander's head. Charmander smiled as he was sucked inside the Pokéball. It shook three times before it let out a ding, signaling a catch.
"Congratulations honey. You caught your first Pokémon." Blaziken smiled.
"Thanks, Dad." Evie said finally smiling a little.
"What do you kids say we all head home and have some lunch?" Danica suggested.
"Can Daddy cook it?" Eric asked hopefully. Blaziken smiled and nodded.
"For you kiddos, absolutely I can." He winked. Both the twins cheered as he hoisted them up, each onto a shoulder, and carried them home, Danica following them with a smile towards her family.
To be Continued...