"Daddy comes home today!" the redhead tells her 18 month old as she feeds her. Ash has been gone for two weeks on a League business trip, leaving Misty alone to take care of their daughter, Maya. The baby looks just like a female version of Ash, so the two decided to name her after Misty.
Maya coos and gurgles out the baby food Misty feeds her. Although she looks just like Ash, Maya definitely does not have his appetite. The baby is such a picky eater, but Misty has realized that Maya eats when Ash feeds her. She really is a daddy's girl, which makes Misty miss Ash even more. Whenever Ash is home, Maya is less fussy, and Misty has help with her and the gym. Plus, Misty really misses her husband because she loves him dearly.
The door opening gets her attention, so the woman exclaims, "Daddy's home!" Grabbing Maya from the high chair, Misty rushes into the living room where she sees her husband and Pikachu.
Ash is looking at the ground as he takes off his shoes, but when he hears someone enter the room, he looks up with a grin. Of course, he knows it's his wife who would quickly rush over to welcome him home; however, she's frowning at him while their daughter is gurgling in her arms. Maya is grinning and squealing happily as she reaches her stubby arms out to Ash, which makes Ash smile. He's really missed his baby.
Pikachu hops onto Misty's shoulder to nuzzle her before using his tail to play with Maya who is still in Misty's arms. Ash approaches his family with a grin on his face. "Hey, Mist."
"What is that?" Using one arm to hold Maya, Misty points her other hand at Ash's face.
He raises a confused eyebrow at her. "What? Is there something on my face?"
Still scowling, the redhead says, "Yes."
This makes Ash pull out his pokenav to turn on the front facing camera, but he doesn't see anything. "What are you talking about, Mist? There's nothing on my face."
"I don't remember marrying a hairy man."
"Ohhhh!" Ash seems to realize what she's talking about. Being the last minute person he is, he forgot to pack his razor before leaving for the business trip. And then he was too busy to buy a razor, so he just grew out his scruff the past two weeks. Grinning at Misty again, Ash uses a hand to brush his beard. "Ya like it too, Mist?"
"No."
His smile falls because she didn't even hesitate to answer. When Maya gets bored of Pikachu's tail, her attention returns to her father who she hasn't seen in a long time. She whimpers in Misty's arms, which gets Ash to look at her outstretched hands to him. "You still love daddy, right Maya?" Ash coos to his daughter. If Misty won't give him love, he can always count on his baby girl.
However, Misty quickly turns away from her husband before he can grab their daughter from her. "You are not kissing my daughter with that nasty thing on your face."
Ash rolls his eyes at her coldness. It's just some facial hair, but he won't give in to her. Ash Ketchum doesn't give up without a fight, especially with Misty Ketchum. "Our daughter. And she wants me!" He knowingly tells her as Maya starts crying.
Misty inwardly groans because Maya has been very fussy these past two weeks without Ash. However, she will not give up on this argument. That beard needs to go. "Shave first, and then you can have her all you want."
"I like the beard." Ash shrugs and walks around her to try and see Maya again.
Much to his dismay, Misty keeps moving away from him. "I don't. And I'm not about to have your face scratching up my baby's sensitive skin." It's not that hard to shave, idiot! Misty thinks to herself about how he's making this into a battle that doesn't need to happen.
However, Ash isn't going to quit. He likes his beard, and it's his face, so he can do whatever he wants with it. Misty should respect him, like when he respects her haircuts. Although he likes her long hair, she likes to keep it short. It's not a problem to him, so his beard shouldn't be a problem to her.
"It's not scratchy! It's soft now because the hair is long enough." he tells her, which is true. While Ash isn't a hairy guy, he does grow some facial hair. It grows slowly; thus, he has scruff that's a few millimeters in length on his face. The first week and a half, his face was rough, but the hair has grown long enough to be soft now.
"I don't like it, Ash. And if you want any kisses, it needs to go." Misty glares at him while trying to hold onto the bawling baby in her arms.
Ash hates hearing his child cry. It just hurts him so much, so he says, "Just give me Maya. She's crying."
"She'll fall asleep soon. I'd rather she cry right now than get scratched up from that thing on your face." The woman replies with disgust before walking back into the kitchen.
Ash follows with a groan. This is such a stupid argument, but he's in too deep to back down to Misty now. "It's my face, Misty! And I think it makes me look less like a kid. You always say how I have a babyface."
She shoots him another glare while trying to feed the crying Maya. "I married a man with a baby face, so I expect him to look the same every day we're married."
Seeing as how this argument is going nowhere, and Ash is tired from his trip, plus hearing Maya cry for him is becoming too painful, Ash decides just take a break now. Throwing his hands up, he mutters in annoyance, "Fine. I'll just take a nap until you cool down enough to talk about this."
As he walks up the stairs angrily, Misty shouts, "There's nothing to talk about until that thing goes!"
Once Ash is gone, Maya's crying slows down, but the baby still won't eat. Sighing, Misty tells her, "It's for your own good, baby. You have mommy's sensitive skin, and daddy's beard will hurt you." She uses her thumb to brush against the baby's soft cheek, and soon, Maya sniffles herself to sleep. Misty lets out a long breath as she picks up the baby.
Pikachu looks up with concern at the frowning redhead. "Pikachupi?"
She gives the little mouse a small smile. "Why is he so stubborn, Pikachu?" Pikachu can only look away because he knows both his trainer and his trainer's mate are stubborn people. Hopefully Maya doesn't grow up like them, but she's already stubborn enough with always wanting Ash.
After placing Maya in the nursery's crib with Pikachu watching over her, Misty heads back to her room to change out of her shirt. Maya's fit during meal time had gotten a decent amount of baby food tossed on her. When she walks into the master bedroom, she spots her snoring husband on the bed. He's always the most peaceful when asleep, but then it takes forever to wake him up too.
Misty washes her face and some of her hair in the master bathroom sink before changing her clothes. Due to Ash being gone, she's had to get up constantly in the middle of the night for Maya. Plus, the baby wouldn't sleep with Ash gone since she loves falling asleep in his arms. Therefore, Misty has been exhausted.
Laying on the other side of the bed, she admires the man she's supposed to be upset at. Yes, his beard isn't something she's a fan of, but he is right when he says it makes him look more mature. Misty blushes as she realizes it makes him look really sexy. She already finds him sexy since years of traveling and training makes Ash's body very nice; however, with this scruff on his face, he just looks a little more sexy.
Shaking her head, Misty tells herself that the beard needs to go. She can't let Ash think he won the argument just because she finds him slightly more attractive with it. That'd boost his ego, and any compliment coming from her makes her husband's arrogance worse than Gary Oak's. The beard needs to go. She soon slips off to sleep.
When Misty wakes up a few hours later, Ash isn't beside her anymore. She brushes her teeth before checking on Maya in the nursery, but the baby isn't in there. Misty's face flares up in anger as she realizes Ash must've taken their daughter. He better have shaved!
Storming down the stairs, she spots Maya on the couch while Ash is kneeling on the ground in front of her. The baby is giggling as she brushes Ash's facial hair, especially when Ash leans forward to kiss her and roughly nuzzle her face. The scene is too adorable for Misty to interrupt. Ash really is a great dad, even though he was the one worrying when Misty got pregnant.
Sighing, the woman approaches her family with her arms crossed, which gets Ash's attention. He grins up at his wife victoriously, much to her annoyance. However, that scruff really does make him look very sexy now that she's not as angry. She always finds Ash the most desirable when he cares for their daughter, and now with this facial scruff, he's looking even better.
Maybe the scruff won't be so bad, she thinks. Before she can say anything, though, Maya starts whimpering; not like an I need attention whimpering, but more so a something's not right whimpering. Both parents instantly turn their concerned gazes to their daughter where they see her cheeks slightly puff up in irritation.
"What's wrong, Mist? Is she allergic to something?" Ash frantically asks his wife who is now kneeling beside him.
Misty reaches a tender hand out to touch Maya's cheeks, which doesn't seem to hurt the girl. Relieved to see this, Misty lets out a breath. The skin is just mildly irritated, so Maya should be fine after a while. "Her skin is just irritated, Ash." She tells the concerned man.
"Why? From what?" How can Misty be so calm about this when their daughter's face is red? Ash worriedly looks at his daughter while his hands gently hold her in place. He hates it when anything happens to Maya, no matter how small it can be.
Misty sighs because she was just starting to like her husband's beard. Telling him now will either make him shave it or have them argue again because he'll believe she's just blaming his beard so that he'll shave it. "It's your beard."
"No way! You must have fed her something bad!"
Misty glares at him, but she had expected this. "I would never harm my daughter just to prove a point to you, Ash! And if you look at her cheeks, you can see the little lines from your beard!" If Maya was really allergic to something, her face wouldn't have the little scratches.
When Ash studies Maya's face more closely, he notices the small lines. Touching his face, Ash rubs his beard and it feels more rough than soft now. Yeah, Misty is right, but he won't let her know that. Ash Ketchum does not back down from Misty Ketchum. "Fine!" He angrily exclaims. "If you hate it this badly, I'll just shave!" Furrowing his brows, he stands up to head to the bathroom.
Misty rolls her eyes at her retreating husband's back. Picking up the frowning Maya, she follows Ash into the bathroom where he annoyedly shaves his beard. "Good. Get it all off." Forget the fact that the beard makes him look slightly sexier. Misty Ketchum will not lose this battle.
Eventually, Ash turns around with a grin on his face. "It's gone."
She glares at him while clutching their daughter close. "Not all of it."
"You just said the beard, Mist." Ash smirks, which makes the mustache scruff tilt upwards, much to Misty's dismay.
"Shave. It. All." she hisses through clenched teeth. The full scruff made Ash look hot, but this mustache scruff is very disgusting. Misty is not a fan of mustaches, and she never will be, so he needs to get rid of it.
"No."
"Okay." Misty breathes out and looks down at the concerned Pikachu. "Babysit, Pikachu." She tells the mouse who follows her as she places Maya in the middle of the queen sized bed. Pikachu hops on the bed to make sure Maya doesn't fall off, and Misty heads back into the master bathroom to her smirking husband.
"We need to compromise in marriage." He knowingly tells her, but when she hits him on the head with her mallet, Ash whimpers in pain. "Ow! Not fair, Mist!"
"Your scruff made our daughter's skin irritated, so shave it all off!" she demands.
"It's just a mustache now! It won't hurt her because she won't ever touch it!"
"It'll touch her when you kiss her!"
"You're overreacting!"
"Fine! No kisses from me or her until all of your facial hair is gone!" She turns around to walk back out and check on Maya when Ash grabs her waist and pulls her in front of him closely. Even after all these years, Misty finds herself blushing just by touching this man.
"C'mon, Mist." He gives her a small smile. "It's been two weeks since we've kissed. I'm sure you've missed it too." Ash is inwardly grinning because he knows Misty is about to give in soon. Of course, he doesn't like the mustache since it makes him look creepy, but he wants this win!
She pouts while looking into his playful chocolate eyes. "I have a much stronger resolve than you, Mr. Pokemon Master."
Knowing she's right, Ash chuckles weakly as he avoids her gaze. Looking into those intense cerulean blue eyes always weakens his resolve, but he doesn't mind it. He loves this woman. Stealing a quick kiss on her lips, Ash lets go of Misty and grabs his razor.
She hits his back while giving him a disgusted look. Even though she barely felt the mustache, it still disgusts her knowing that it touched her. "Good. Shave it off before I kill you."
"You should've given me those options from the start." Ash tells her as he wipes his face dry.
"You still would've chosen to not shave your scruff." she replies while they make their way over to the bed where Pikachu is frantically trying to keep the fast baby from crawling off the bed.
Ash lays down before grabbing his daughter, whose face is now less red, and lifting her in the air above him. She giggles, and some drool falls on Ash, but he doesn't care because he's missed her, and he loves her. "No. I would've shaved it off."
Misty rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms. "You're just saying that now that it's gone."
Still looking into his daughter's matching brown eyes, he shakes his head. "I could never leave Maya. Not willingly and not by death, Mist." The man grins at the gurgling girl.
Sighing, Misty lays down beside him. "I can't kill my best babysitter." She lightly kisses his shoulder. "And that beard did make you look sexier."
This makes Ash turn his head to look at his blushing wife. Shooting her his signature grin, he says, "I knew you'd like it eventually!"
"Don't bring it back." glares the redhead. She turns her attention to Pikachu. "Don't ever let him bring it back." Pikachu lowers his ears in fear as he nods.
Ash chuckles and kisses Maya before laying her on his chest. He loves his family so much, which all came to him because of Misty. She came into his life when she fished him out of that river all those years ago. They only became a couple because she confessed to him first since he was too scared to. Maya came into his life because Misty had convinced him to have a baby.
After being married for 6 years, she grew fed up with waiting for him to come around. Even though he was scared of being a terrible father, like his was, he's glad he listened to her and had Maya. Their baby girl brings joy to him every day, and he can't ever leave her. This two week long business trip was already unbearable enough. In the end, Misty is right, like she always is. When she told him he'd be a great father, when she told him they need to have a baby, and when she told him he needs to shave. She can have this win because she always knows what's best for him.
Looking over at his wife again, Ash plants a kiss on her forehead, which makes Misty frown. She sees Ash is immobile with Maya on his chest, so Misty moves to plant a long passionate kiss on her husband's lips. Without the scruff from earlier, this is a kiss she remembers knowing and loving. Oh, how she's missed his kisses, even though it's only been two weeks.
When they pull away, Ash notices the sleeping Maya on his chest. Grinning at his wife, he asks, "Can we have another?" Of course the baby would instantly fall asleep on Ash. Maya loves her father a lot. When Ash comes back in the room after laying Maya to rest and leaving Pikachu with her, he closes the master bedroom door. Hovering above his wife on the bed, Ash kisses her again. Mew, he's missed her touch so much.
Before Ash can remove any clothing, Misty grabs his face to look into her fierce cerulean eyes. "If we have another one, you can never grow a beard again."
Chuckling as he plants another kiss on her lips, the raven haired man replies, "Deal."