Chapter 8

"Mommy May?"

Another hour had passed in a very hectic day. It was nearly 6:00pm, and the group was getting hungry after all the hard work the Professor put them through to make up for lost time. Ash had quickly fallen asleep in Brock's arms soon after May was turned back to her normal self. Earlier, Brock had placed Ash very comfortably next to Pikachu as they were both resting in Max's bed in the guest room.

May just finished picking up all the scattered metal cylinders that littered the floor after Team Rocket's uninvited appearance. Brock and Max were back to the same chores they were doing earlier that day, only at twice the speed as before.

The Professor walked into the middle of the main floor and put his hands on his hips.

"Hustle! Hustle! Nearly five hours of work was lost today due to all these mishaps we've been having. If you kids want to get out of here on time, you better pick up the pace!" The Professor instructed.

May placed one last metal cylinder into a small bag and wiped her brow. Her brother walked up to her to see how she was doing.

"Finally picked those all up, eh?" Max snickered.

"At least some of us get our work done you know," May replied sarcastically.

"I wonder why the Professor is making you clean up all the mess Team Rocket made."

"Maybe because I was the one who touched that gun thing to begin with? I guess I caused the biggest trouble, since you and Brock spent so much time taking care of Ash and me when we were infants that no work was being done," May sighed as she placed the bag of cylinders onto a conveyor belt.

"It's really hard to believe that everything happened in just a few hours. This is only our first day of work May, and we've already dealt with you and Ash turned into infants, I had to go run out and spend the last of our money on diapers, then there was Team Rocket breaking in, and then turning you back to normal! Hopefully our next six days of work aren't as big a handful as today was," Max said.

"Yeah, I barely got to see Ash as an infant because he fell asleep so quickly. I mean, of course I saw him when I was an infant too, but seeing him now when I'm myself again is like a completely different experience. Heehee, Ash is cute as a baby isn't he?" May smiled as she turned to her brother.

"Well…yeah. Now I know how Mom and Dad felt when we were younger. Taking care of little babies is a lot of work!" Max said.

"Heh, I hope when Ash wakes up he remembers that I'm older again. I hope he isn't disappointed that his "little friend" isn't there to play with him anymore," May jeered as she recalled playing with him as an infant.

May and Max started walking down the hall as they watched Brock on his hands and knees turning a wrench underneath a machine. His head was leaned under the bottom of the machine as he was stretching to see if he was turning the right bolts. The Professor appeared on the second floor railing, overlooking the main floor.

"BREEEAAAAAAAAK!" the Professor shouted happily.

"Break?" May and Max asked.

"What?" Brock asked as he lifted his head up only to bang his head on the bottom of the machine. "OUCH! GAH!" Brock rubbed his head in pain as he looked up at the Professor.

"You heard me. It's dinner time," The Professor stated.

"But I thought you wanted us to finish our work?" Max asked.

Brock placed the wrench on the side of the machine, "Yeah, didn't you want us to get our work done that we missed earlier?"

The Professor raised an eyebrow, "What is this? I put you kids into harsh child labor that is probably against the law and you complain. Then I decide to be nice and give you guys a break and you complain anyway. You really are a weird bunch of kids..."

"Dinner sounds GREAT Mr. Lenient!" May said cheerfully as she ran between Brock and Max, "What's wrong with you two? We haven't eaten all day practically! I'm starving."

"Hey I won't complain. C'mon Max," Brock motioned.

As the gang walked up the stairs following the Professor, they noticed some crying coming from the guest room.

"That's Ash!" May exclaimed.

"He didn't sleep for very long at all," Brock sighed.

The Professor walked toward the kitchen as May, Brock and Max opened the guest room door. Inside, Pikachu was desperately trying to get Ash to stop crying. The Pokemon was patting Ash's body but the infant was as stubborn as ever and starting kicking and pushing it away. Pikachu looked a bit astonished as it saw May enter the room.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu shouted happily as it ran into May's arms.

"Oh hey, Pikachu!" May said as she hugged it tightly, "You didn't know that Mr. Lenient turned me back to normal, did you?"

"Heh, that's right. Pikachu slept through the whole thing!" Max said.

"C'mon Ash, calm down," Brock said as he picked Ash up from the bed. Brock started cradling Ash in his arms in an attempt to get him to stop crying.

"Brock, you're doing a good job taking care of babies. I remember when you sat there playing with Ash and me while my brother was running out to get diapers," May said as Pikachu jumped out of her arms.

"Well I did have to take care of my younger brothers and sisters back at the Pewter Gym. I kind of grew up taking care of little ones when my father and mother…errr…left us," Brock said, still cradling a crying Ash in his arms.

Ash continued to kick and scream as he apparently wasn't satisfied.

"Maybe Ash is hungry. He didn't eat a thing all day either," Max said.

"That could be it," Brock said as May walked over to greet the little infant.

"Hey, Ash, remember me?" May grinned as the infant looked up at her curiously.

Ash sniveled as he slowly stopped crying while looking up at May. Brock held Ash out more while May tried to comfort him.

"You don't have to cry," May said softly as she moved her finger under Ash's eyes to take his tears away.

Ash's face beamed as he felt May rubbing his cheek softly with her finger. The boy then started lifting out his arms and reached for May.

"Looks like Ash wants you to hold him," Brock said as he edged Ash over to her.

"What? Me?" May asked as she looked up nervously.

Ash continued to reach out his arms frantically, trying to get May to pick him out of Brock's arms.

"Sure. It looks like it's the only way he'll calm down too," Brock added.

May nodded as she walked closer to Ash. She lifted out her hands and picked Ash up out of Brock's arms. May held Ash joyfully in front of her at arms length.

"Heeheee!" Ash pulled toward her as he wanted to hold onto May's body for warmth.

May blushed nervously as she brought Ash closer to her chest and hugged him tightly, "I've…never really held a baby before…let alone Ash as a baby." she said.

Brock, Max and Pikachu watched contently as Ash wrapped his arms around May's chest. The infant pressed his face against her breasts as May hugged him even tighter.

May squealed a bit as she continued to blush, "Ash, you're adorable! When I was an infant I couldn't realize this, but now that I'm older I can see why Brock played with us so much!"

Ash smiled blissfully as he continued to hold onto May, while the girl continued to hold her arms around his back and torso. For some reason holding infant Ash in her arms made her feel elated, she continued to smirk as she squeezed him tightly against her body.

The Professor entered the guest room with an impatient look on his face. "What's taking you guys so long? Do you want to eat or not?"

May and Ash suddenly looked up nervously as they were both snapped out of their dreamlike experience.

"Well…you see we had to calm down Ash," May said as she walked toward the Professor holding Ash in her arms. She looked down at Ash and waved his hand, "Say hi to Mr. Lenient!"

"Hiiiiiiiii!" Ash smiled at the Professor as May waved his hand.

"Quite," The Professor winked at the boy, "I need food in my belly, hurry up."

A few minutes later the gang were standing around the same small kitchen table that the cookie was sitting on a few hours before. Max sat down on a chair while Brock put his hands on the back of another. May continued to stand there wading her body while holding Ash.

"Let's see, what do I have here," The Professor opened his refrigerator.

"I hope you're going to cook us something very good like last night!" Max rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Max!" May snapped, "Be polite! Mr. Lenient is doing us a favor by cooking for us."

"Well scratch that," The Professor said as he closed the refrigerator door, "All I have in there is a stick of butter and a can of olive oil. I knew I was forgetting to buy food. Oh well, guess I'll order something in then."

Ash gleefully started to move his hands along May's face as she nibbled on his fingers playfully.

"That's getting you back for nibbling on my fingers as a baby, Ash. Now let's see you picking on someone a little older than you," May giggled.

"Ohoohoho," Ash said as he started pressing his hands against May's bosom.

Ash noticed that May's chest was a bit different from the chest he was used to leaning against, which was Brock's. Ash curiously pressed his hands against May's curves wondering what they were and why they were there.

"Uh…Ash?" a jittery May blushed as she turned and tried to hide what he was doing from the others.

Ash then started rubbing his face against May's chest as he realized it made a nice cushion. May blushed heavily as she wasn't used to someone pressing against her in that manner.

The Professor caught notice and said loudly, "Looks like the boy thinks you're his mother! Either that or he's hungry, babies like breastfeeding you know."

Everyone in the room jumped slightly off the Professor's remark.

"Hey! Wha? What are you…saying? Breast…..feeding?" May gasped as she struggled to hide her embarrassment.

"Heheee!" Ash shouted as he buried his face in her bosom.

"Relaaaaax," The Professor motioned, "It was a joke. You can't breastfeed anyway, but I do suppose the baby is really hungry."

Max looked around the room more confused than anything. He didn't quite understand what the Professor meant.

"Uh….ANYWAY…." Brock interrupted as he tried to change the subject, "Just what ARE you ordering anyway? And I hope it's something our little infant friend here can eat too."

"Well don't expect me to order anything expensive. You're not on vacation, you know. Hmmmmm….how about pizza, that little tyke can chew on the soft cheese if you break it apart. He…does have teeth doesn't he?" The Professor asked curiously.

Ash suddenly opened his mouth and chomped hard on May's skin through her shirt. May's body jerked as she closed one eye and said, "Y-es…he has teeth. Pretty sharp ones too…eheh."

"Then that's that. I'll place the order. Sheesh, I really hope you kids appreciate all the things I'm doing for you," The Professor sprang across the room to a phone as he started dialing.

May pulled out a chair next to Max as she sat down with Ash in her arms. May started tickling Ash's body as the boy giggled loudly. He waved his hands and arms in the air as May moved her fingers underneath Ash's black t-shirt so she could tickle his skin.

"Hahahahahaha!" Ash roared with laughter as May quickly moved her fingers against his chubby stomach.

"Wow, May is really good with babies," Brock said to himself as he sat on his chair at the end of the table.

May noticed Max leaning over to her as if he wanted to ask her something. May looked at her brother and asked, "What's the matter?"

Max shyly began to open his mouth but then shut it again. He started scratching his shoulder nervously as he finally got the courage to ask his question.

"Uh, May….what did the Professor mean by breastfeeding?" Max asked nervously.

"!!!" a surprised May responded.

~*~*~*~*

The pizza had arrived almost ten minutes after the Professor made the order. Everyone was sitting at the table eating a slice. Pikachu peeled the cheese off the pizza and brought it to its mouth.

May had Ash sitting on her lap, having him face the table. She had taken her slice and cut it into little pieces small enough for Ash to chew. She peeled off the cheese and set it aside as she gave him the small pieces of pizza. Ash picked the small pieces from the table and started chewing them the best he could. May smiled contently as she started eating the other half of her slice that she set aside for herself.

The Professor was eating his slice quickly with his mouth open. The others at the table noticed how many sounds and grunts the Professor made when chewing. The chewing sounds almost disturbed Ash, as the infant kept looking up at the Professor curiously.

The Professor caught notice of everyone staring at him at the table. He swallowed what was in his mouth and glanced about the room, "Uh…yes? I appear to be the center of attention. I know I was quite the looker when I was younger but since then my face has gone to hell and back. So uh…what is it?" The Professor burped as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"You…don't have company often do you?" Brock asked.

"Who me? Almost never. All my relatives are long dead, ha! And I certainly do not invite little kids to my lab like I did with you four. I guess I'm not used to eating with other people," The Professor said as tomato sauce dripped onto his shirt.

"Even I eat better than he does," Max thought to himself after swallowing a piece of cheese from the slice.

The Professor got up from the table and picked up his plate. He walked over to the sink and dropped his dish inside. "Well I'm done for the night. Guess I still have a lot to learn about table manners…never could quite get those down in the last couple of decades."

"Byeeeee!!!" Ash waved as the Professor walked out of the room.

May looked down toward Ash and winked at him, "You're doing a great job eating your dinner, Ash!"

Ash nodded as he swallowed another small piece of pizza.

"Well of course he's eating well," Brock said, "This IS Ash we're talking about. He eats just as much as a baby as he did when he was older!"

"Ha, eating and battling with Pokemon are the two things Ash likes to do best," Max said, "But still, I never would have thought I'd ever see Ash as an infant. It's just…really crazy just thinking that the Professor created a device that does that!"

"It's not really as strange as you might think Max," Brock said as he just finished the last bit of his slice.

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"For one thing, since I've been traveling with Ash over the years all kind of crazy stuff happened to us. In fact, Ash got turned into a Pikachu once by a witch," Brock told them as he crossed his arms on the table.

"Re-ally? You got turned into a Pikachu, Ash?" May asked as she looked down at the infant.

"Yep, it was back when we were traveling through the Johto region. You remember don't you, Pikachu?" Brock asked.

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu nodded.

"That's crazy!" an amazed Max said.

"Not only that," Brock continued, "But I was also turned into a plastic doll by a psychic Gym leader once."

"You're kidding," May raised an eyebrow.

"Nope," Brock replied, "I'm not lying, Misty and I were turned into plastic dolls when Ash tried to challenge a certain psychic Gym leader back in Kanto. We narrowly managed to get turned back to normal!"

May and Max looked at Ash. Max raised his glasses back up on his nose.

"That's nuts, I guess Ash and my sister getting turned into infants wasn't such a strange thing after all then," Max said.

"Guess not," Brock said cheerfully.

"D-one!" Ash slapped the table with his hands.

"Heh, all finished, Ash?" May asked as she noticed him finish eating all the cut pieces of pizza she gave him.

"Y-ea!" Ash shouted.

"Hey, May, let me hold Ash for a bit! You've been holding him ever since he woke up practically," Max said impatiently.

"Hey, I had to have Ash sit on my lap so I could watch him eat. I didn't want him to choke, you know," May scolded her brother.

"Yeah alright, but I really want to hold him now. I really wanted to play with him again but never got the chance. Come to me, Ash!" Max said as he reached his hands toward Ash.

Max closed his hands on Ash's arms as he tried to lift him out of May's lap. Ash suddenly looked nervous and a bit frantic as Max tried to lift him.

"Nononononononononoono!" Ash shouted as he tried to pull away from Max's grip.

"What's the matter, Ash?" Max asked still holding onto him.

"NOOOOO!" Ash screamed as he pulled out of Max's grip and grabbed May tightly around the chest.

Ash gripped onto May's body tightly as he looked toward Max with the corner of his eye, trying to make sure he didn't reach for him again.

"Looks like Ash doesn't want to leave your arms, May!" Brock said exuberantly.

May stood up from the chair and held Ash above her in the air, "Awww, you like me best, don't you, Ash?"

Ash giggled as May brought him back toward her body and hugged him around tightly.

"But that's no fair! May was holding him all night, I want to hold him for a while!" Max said frustrated as he got up from his seat.

May laughed as she rubbed her cheek against Ash's small face affectionately, "I can't help it if he likes me best, Max, he won't even let me put him down now!"

"Ash must really feel safe and secure with you. He certainly seems more attached to you than when I was holding him," Brock said.

"Ahaaa!" Ash smiled as he gripped May's hair and tugged on it.

May started jovially prancing around the room holding Ash in her arms as Brock put the rest of the dishes in the sink. Max watched as he could feel himself getting more and more upset that Ash didn't want to play with him.

"Hey, remember not to pull on my hair too hard, OK?" May reminded the infant.

Ash grinned and purposely pulled on her hair a bit harder, "Heeheee!"

Max got up from the table as he was too upset. He kicked the table with his foot and started marching out of the room. "My sister always gets to do everything," he muttered as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Max…wait," May looked over to the doorway only to see Max already left.

Pikachu jumped off the table and quickly ran after Max to try and comfort him. Brock walked next to May as Ash continued to hold her around while his right hand tugged on her brunette hair.

"Looks like Max is getting a bit jealous that Ash is giving you so much more attention," Brock said softly.

"I…know," May said, staring into Ash's little eyes, "But you saw how Ash didn't want to leave my arms and go to him. I can't help it if Ash would rather play with me."

"It's not uncommon for babies to show favoritism to people they feel more comfortable with than others," Brock said, "Ash has certainly gotten along a lot better with you than with me, I don't think I've ever seen him as cheerful as he is now. He's even not getting himself into as much mischief as before."

"But…why is that, Brock? Does Ash really like me more than my brother?" May asked in a stern voice.

Brock sighed, "Well I imagine he still has some faint memory of you as a teen. Not to mention he played with you when you were both infants, although I'm not sure if he made the connection that you're the same person who was playing with him before when you were both babies. On the other hand, I guess he notices all the warm affection and kindness you've shown him since you held him, and he's just returning those same feelings to you."

May rubbed her hand through Ash's black hair and looked at him passionately. She turned to Brock, "But what should I do about my brother? If the Professor is going to make another batch of that formula, he could turn Ash back to normal sometime late tomorrow. My brother would be devastated if he didn't get to hold him at least one more time before infant Ash is gone forever…and…I don't want to make it look like I'm keeping Ash all to myself…I want you and my brother to play with him too a lot more before he gets turned back."

"Heh, don't worry, May. Ash may be really attached to you, but I'm sure we can get him to open up to Max again sometime tonight or tomorrow. Anyway, I might as well go check up on your brother. Pikachu followed him, but who knows where they went. Your brother looked really depressed and heartbroken too. I'll go check on him and cheer him up," Brock said as he started walking toward the doorway.

Ash let go of May's hair and started resting his head against her shoulder. The little infant was apparently getting sleepy once again. May's eyes watered as she felt Ash's warmth leaning against her.

"Brock!" she called out suddenly.

"What is it?" Brock asked, turning around.

"Th-thank you. Thanks for helping with my brother," May smiled.

"No problem. Now you just have to take care of Ash in the meantime. He looks like he's about to fall asleep, why don't you head back to the guestroom for the night and rest with him?" Brock told her.

"You're right…maybe I should," May said as she rubbed the infants' back with her hand.

Brock walked out of the kitchen but stopped half-way in the doorway, he turned back one more time to May and smiled. May noticed that Brock was about to say one more thing.

"Remember, as an infant, Ash is seeing you through completely different eyes. At this point of time…you're his whole world May."

"Re-really? He thinks I'm…his whole world…?" May asked confused.

"Sure, keep that in mind as you put him to bed. You're pretty much everything to him right now…don't let him down," Brock gave May a thumbs up just as he walked out of the doorway.

May stood there silently holding a half asleep Ash in her arms. Ash lifted his head from May's shoulder. He let out a yawn and began rubbing his eyes.

"Ash," May said softly as she carried him out of the room.

***

The Professor was walking through the hallway on the second floor as he saw a rampaging Max running his way.

"Hey there, kid, finished eating?" The Professor asked cheerfully.

"Get out of my way!" a distressed Max said as he pushed the Professor aside and ran down the hall, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"Gee, what's got him so upset?" the Professor scratched his scalp, "These emo kids these days, what a handful."

"Pika pi!" Pikachu shouted as it ran between the Professor's legs and after Max.

"Would'ja watch where you're going you little mouse! You almost made me trip!" The Professor shouted as he struggled to regain his balance.

Pikachu turned it's head while still running after Max. The Professor shook his head and turned to the right just as Brock nearly ran into him.

"The hell!" The Professor exclaimed as Brock nearly fell over him.

"Sorry, Professor, I'm in a bit of a hurry. Max came down this way right?" Brock asked while turning the corner.

"Yes, yes. What's the matter anyway? Someone ate his slice of pizza when he wasn't looking or something?" the Professor asked sarcastically.

"Nah, nothing like that," Brock replied as he continued to run down the corridor.

The Professor rolled his eyes, "These kids are going to be the death of me….sheesh." He then walked down the hallway scratching his behind as he went.

*~*~*

May walked up to the guest room door as she turned the handle with her right hand while still holding Ash. She turned the light on in the room and placed Ash on her bed.

"Wha…no…?" Ash said softly as he sat up on May's bed.

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere, Ash. I just want to take off my shoes and my bandana before I put you to sleep," she said.

May walked up to the dresser and noticed Ash's little hat and blue sweatshirt that was placed there earlier in the morning. May picked up Ash's miniature hat and smiled, "Heh, good thing Ash and I had our Pokeballs in our carrying bags, otherwise our Pokemon would have shrunk when that ray gun hit us too…hehe."

May realized that she couldn't put Ash to sleep in his sleeping bag since he was an infant. She had to sleep next to him, so she decided to let Ash sleep with her in her bed for tonight.

Ash watched contently as May untied her bandana from her head. Her hair began to flow down more freely now, as he brunette hair was no longer confined by the red bandana. May fixed her hair as she placed her bandana on top of her fanny pack on the floor. She also took off her shoes and socks and placed them next to her fanny pack.

Ash almost dozed off sitting there watching her, he was struggling to keep his eyes opened. May looked at the clock and noticed it was 7:30pm. It was still pretty early, but May felt tired herself after all that's happened in one day, and was willing to turn in for the night.

"Might as well get undressed too and put on my sleeping clothes," she said.

May opened her fanny pack and took out her yellow T-shirt. She felt a bit uneasy changing with Ash in the room, but she realized he was only an infant and it didn't really matter much. She unzipped her red outfit and pulled her arms out of it's sleeves. She stood there in her pink bra as she placed her red outfit inside her fanny pack. May pulled a bit on the cup of her bra in order to fix something that was bothering her all day. She turned her back toward Ash's view as she quickly unstrapped her bra. Ash watched naively as she then quickly pulled her yellow T-shirt on over her body. She then slid off her white skirt which was over her blue shorts, which she then placed away but decided to leave her shorts on to sleep in. She looked down at herself and pressed down on her yellow T-shirt to make sure everything was on and glanced back at the infant.

May turned to Ash as she noticed he was watching her the entire time. "Heh, I'm almost ready to sleep too. Just wait until I finish brushing my teeth ok?" May winked at the infant as she headed toward the bathroom.

Ash nodded as he held onto his feet, waiting for May to return. A few minutes later, May had quickly finished brushing her teeth and was walking back to her bed. She climbed up onto her bed and opened the covers.

"Ash…do you want to sleep with me?" May asked softly.

Ash smiled and spoke a single word, "Yea."

"OK, you can sleep next to me in my bed. After all, you can't sleep in your sleeping bag on the floor as a little infant could you? I don't think you'd want to sleep anywhere but near me tonight either, huh?" she giggled.

Ash smiled and crawled toward her. May reached for him and picked him up. She then placed him on the pillow next to her, and brought the covers back up so it covered them both just up to their shirts. May rested herself on the left of the bed while Ash was curled up to the right of her.

"I'll hold you ok, Ash? We can sleep together tonight," May said softly as she brought her arms around Ash's little chubby body and brought him closer to her own.

Ash's back was pressed up against May's chest, as both of them were facing toward the right while resting their heads on the pillow. May's hand was holding onto the boy's torso under the covers, as she made sure their bodies were always in contact.

May leaned her chest against the boy while he leaned his back against her. May whispered softly, "Goodnight, Ash."

Ash smiled and closed his eyes, placing his little hand on top of hers underneath the blanket.

The two of them slept together in the same bed, with May holding onto Ash the entire night. The boy felt content as he could constantly feel May's warmth sleeping next to him. He felt secure and protected with May beside him, as he didn't cry or wake up the entire night. Side by side they slept together peacefully, as if there was not a care in the world.